Shepherding Humanity

Xu Zhi was slightly shocked.

A Tyranis hero?

Didn’t you need to seed an entire planet with spores for a few of them to be born out of countless species and hundreds of billions of life forms?

My place is so small, how could one be born so quickly?

With these odds, does this mean that I've hit the jackpot?

Xu Zhi was a little excited.

Every Tyranis hero was a unique existence born from mutation, and they were among the strongest beings in the long evolutionary history of the Tyranis.

However, the Tyranis Hive Mind replied, "The specifics are unknown. While it’s similar to a Tyranis hero, it’s also extremely different."

The Tyranis Hive Mind explained that the previous Tyranis civilization had focused on technological development, and the Tyranis heroes who appeared naturally focused on technology. Each of them had evolved brains with computing power comparable to that of a planet’s, and could simultaneously command countless fleets. Additionally, they could modify their own genetic sequence and had turned themselves into terrifying biological weapons.

The Tyranis had never focused on developing supernatural abilities.

After all, this took too long. Xu Zhi was only now evolving some species that barely counted as supernatural creatures. Had he focused on technology, and evolved super powerful brains to push the limits of technological innovation, then in less than half a month, he would have been able to rule the entire Earth, form a fleet, and head to outer space. He wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark like he was now.

Xu Zhi shook his head. "A technological civilization is too dependent on external tools. While the initial speed may be fast, in the later stages, it obviously doesn't have as much potential as a system that focuses on developing super powers."

The previous Tyranis Queen was also proof of this. She had failed and regretted it in the end, declaring that this evolutionary path was a mistake.

Xu Zhi was the next Tyranis Patriarch and naturally wanted to take the correct path. As the Creator, he wanted to lead the Tyranis to prosperity and build countless brilliant and shining civilizations.

The Tyranis Hive Mind continued: "Under high temperatures where normal living creatures cannot survive, the life-form in front of you has unlocked its potential on the verge of death, and evolved to become the first supernatural species that can live in fire. This evolution has never appeared before in my database, but it’s far weaker than the traditional Tyranis hero, and is unable to adjust its own genetic sequence. It can only be counted as a pseudo Tyranis hero. "

Xu Zhi was shocked.

Akina’s Speedster has really survived.

"To think that even this could not kill him."

Xu Zhi's eyes were full of emotion. The probability of getting a true Tyranis hero was too low, so getting a pseudo hero was already reason enough for celebration.

Xu Zhi felt that if he were to compare this to a gacha card game, then a Tyranis hero who could regulate its own genetic sequence and had unlimited potential would be an SSS card, while a pseudo Tyranis hero could be considered an S rank card. So what if it couldn’t regulate its own genetic sequence?

It was already a big leap forward when compared to the other garbage species.

"What a pleasant surprise."

Xu Zhi felt he had bullied the players enough and was no longer in the mood to mess with them.

After all, his large sandbox took priority, and he wanted to see what the new species was capable of!

In the next second, a notice appeared before the players.

"This game is now under emergency maintenance, and will go offline immediately after three seconds!"

In the oven, Akina’s Speedster was also surprised that he had survived the cruel furnace. He was about to study himself when the screen went black. He had been kicked offline and was back in reality, dripping with cold sweat.

All of the other players in the sandbox had been kicked offline as well.

"Again?"

They were all pissed off and raised a ruckus. What kind of game had an emergency system maintenance of the first day of the second beta test?

Xu Zhi did not pay any attention to them. He frowned, silently put on heat-resistant gloves, and opened the oven. A bird enveloped in crimson flames was quietly lying in the center of the lunch box.

After a certain someone's consciousness had been kicked out, the creature left behind was now Xu Zhi’s property. He had shamelessly stolen the results of Akina’s Speester’s hard work.

"This appearance… Is it the legendary phoenix?"

Xu Zhi was startled, and hurriedly pulled up the genetic characteristics of this species from the Tyranis Hive Mind’s database.

Characteristics: Immortality, Poisonous Flames, Immunity to Fire, Reborn in Flames.

(Its genetic sequence cannot be adjusted, it’s one of a kind.)

Xu Zhi wasn't surprised that it did not have the infinite potential for growth that came with the ability to adjust its own genes. Something else did shock him, however. "Even the Tyranis Queen couldn’t achieve immortality and live forever, yet this creature could?"

When he looked more closely, it turned out that it hadn’t achieved immortality after all. It was only ‘kind of’ immortal.

This single creature was an entire species.

Every time it was on the verge of death, it would turn back into an egg, and its descendant would inherit its body.

It was not truly immortal, only its body was.

"Generation after generation, all sharing the same body…" Xu Zhi marveled at this wondrous life-form, "It's a pity that such a powerful and unique life-form cannot reproduce."

Every Tyranis hero was a singular and unique existence.

"I can't believe that a phoenix appeared when I used the oven to heat up my lunch box." Xu Zhi laughed, "Looks like the magic world is in for a treat."

Xu Zhi lifted up the beetle-sized phoenix with one hand. The more he looked at the beautiful crimson phoenix, the more he loved it.

With its fiery red color, it was stunningly beautiful. Its beauty stirred his soul.

This is the magical species that I’ve evolved using the high-temperature environment of an oven!

Xu Zhi studied the phoenix for ten minutes before putting it down and looking at the phoenix's precursor species, the Pallbearer Chickens. The poisonous birds with fiery red feathers were all well roasted at this point, and there were a dozen or so of them in the lunchbox.

Although a unique variant, the Phoenix, has appeared, he still wanted to test the original species for toxicity as planned.

He picked up a small rooster with his chopsticks and ate it.

"Delicious!"

An exquisitely fresh and tender taste exploded on his taste buds, and the meat was incredibly juicy.

Akina’s Speedster has evolved to become incredibly delicious in order to make it easier to poison Xu Zhi. He was like the puffer fish, and people would still want to eat him even if they knew that he was extremely poisonous.

Xu Zhi couldn't help but devour his meal like a ravenous beast. "This species has evolved to be so delicious! This is awesome! It looks like after Chen Xi leaves, I’ll have an all-you-can-eat buffet I can enjoy every day. This is so awesome! …By the way, Hive Mind, how's its toxicity?"

The Tyranis Hive Mind replied, "It’s extremely toxic! Even supernatural species will instantly die after eating it!"

"They will?" Xu Zhi happily smiled. It had been a wonderful harvest, full of pleasant surprises.

It was true that the most delicious ones were also the most poisonous.

Right now, he had a new species of extraordinarily poisonous birds, and a pseudo Tyranis hero, the Phoenix. He felt as if he had become wealthy overnight.

This phoenix was the first truly high-class Tyranis he had serving under him!

Even though it was only a pseudo Tyranis hero, he was already satisfied.

Gilgamesh and the Three Witches couldn't reach this level and could only die after reaching the end of their short life spans, but this newly evolved species has transcended that limit.

He had been afraid that his lie would be revealed one day. It would have been very embarrassing if the inhabitants of the large sandbox found out that the God of Wisdom, Hermes, was the only god in the world. 

Now, he had a candidate for a second god ruling over flames.

"It's time to introduce the new species, the Phoenix, and the flock of highly poisonous birds serving under it."

Xu Zhi thoughtfully walked to the edge of the large sandbox.

Normally, it was quite difficult for him to introduce a new species.

As a colossal giant, he would cause panic if he entered the sandbox. And he had taken advantage of the lack of life after the Great Flood to introduce the Evil Eye and modify the terrain, secretly creating a swamp without being seen by anyone.

But in the current Kingdom of Babylon, sneaking into the sandbox was almost impossible.

"However, this species can fly. I don't need to enter and can just throw them in. I won’t have to worry about them falling to their deaths."

When Xu Zhi’s thoughts reached this point, he grabbed the Phoenix, as well as a few Pallbearer Chickens, and threw them deep into the large sandbox, "Phoenix, as my first subordinate, hurry up and gain sentience. You are destined for a glorious future."

Swish.

The birds flapped their wings as they fell from the sky. They glided swiftly and crashed down into a lush forest filled with giant trees.

Chirp!!!

A resonant phoenix song cut through the deep blue sky.

After the phoenix descended, the heat of its breath scorched the surrounding forest. For Xu Zhi, only a few seconds have passed, but several days have already gone by in the sandbox world. Millions of giant trees withered and died where the Phoenix rested. The land slowly turned barren, and a giant desert eventually formed.

Among the countless trees, one giant tree survived the mass extinction, passing nature’s test. It became fire-resistant and could withstand scorching heat. The Phoenix would turn this giant tree into its perch and water it with its own blood. In the future, this tree would come to be called the Firmiana Tree.