The blazing sun of the sixth day finally dipped below the horizon, and the long-awaited night of the seventh day arrived. Across the vast miniature ocean, the Violet Herograss continued to flourish.
It had eradicated nearly every competing species—99% of all marine plant life—emerging as the absolute victor of the second mass extinction. Under the sun and moon's 5,000-year cycle, it reigned supreme, perfectly adapted to this harsh and ancient world.
Its dominance came at a cost—and a consequence. With such widespread coverage, the photosynthetic output of the ocean plants surged, flooding the seawater with oxygen. For the first time, the sea was rich with the breath of life.
And life responded.
The first invertebrates emerged—jet-black beetle-like creatures, their shape eerily reminiscent of primitive horseshoe crabs. Their arrival marked a turning point. At last, animals had stepped onto the evolutionary stage. The Radiant Age of plant life was over; in its place, a new chapter began.
A great explosion of life followed. Evolution accelerated. Species diversified.
"Animals, finally. I've waited so damn long—two mass extinctions long."
Xu Zhi's tired voice cracked into a smile. The sight of those simple organisms filled him with joy. His exhausted body, deprived of rest for over a full day, couldn't hold out any longer. He returned to his room, collapsed into bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up, it was already the eighth day of creation in his evolutionary sandbox.
"Ugh… gotta wash my face and brush my teeth."
Dragging himself out of bed, Xu Zhi rubbed his stomach. He was starving.
Even if he was terminally ill, neglecting his health was a fast-track to an early grave. After freshening up, he hopped on his old bicycle and rode out under the morning sun. The countryside glistened with dew, and the air was sharp with the scent of earth and rice. Neat rows of paddy fields flanked the narrow road.
He had a light breakfast in town, then returned home. The clock read a little past nine when he stepped back inside.
Then, he turned to the sandbox.
In just one night, the ocean—forty square meters in size, no larger than a swimming pool—had transformed.
It teemed with life.
The Violet Herograss had evolved into countless variants of itself, forming bizarre aquatic flora in all shapes and forms. As the progenitor species, all marine plants shared its genetic signature. It was everywhere.
As for animal life, the ruling class of the ocean was now the arthropods. Encased in formidable exoskeletons, they dominated with unmatched armor and strength. Nothing could prey upon them—until now.
At the top of this armored hierarchy stood an ancient trilobite-like predator. It was the first organism to evolve something revolutionary.
Eyes.
"They've already evolved eyes?" Xu Zhi blinked, momentarily stunned as he munched on the last piece of his breakfast.
In modern biology, eyes are so commonplace they're taken for granted. But in the Cambrian period, no such luxury existed. Life then was blind, feeling its way through dark waters. To see—truly see—was a game-changer.
With their newfound vision, these creatures became unstoppable hunters. Eyeless organisms stood no chance. A single glance spelled their doom. In a blink, sighted species rose to the top of the food chain, thriving, multiplying, and wiping out the blind.
It was the first great leap of evolutionary warfare.
But the age of the invertebrates wouldn't last forever.
Another 5,000-year cycle passed, and with the rising of the ninth sun, the tides shifted again. A black fish glided through the water—sleek, silent, and different.
Unlike its exoskeleton-clad predecessors, this creature was soft on the outside and rigid on the inside. It bore a skeleton wrapped in flesh—a vertebrate.
It seemed suicidal to swap armor for exposed flesh. But what it lost in defense, it gained in mobility. Its internal skeletal framework allowed for unprecedented flexibility and agility.
"One side's got high defense but is slow as hell. The other's light and quick—you can't outrun 'em, and you sure as hell can't catch 'em."
Xu Zhi leaned back in his chair by the sandbox, peeling an apple as he watched the duel of evolutionary strategies unfold. His eyes gleamed with amusement. "Makes perfect sense."
The two forces held each other in check… until the tenth day.
That morning, balance shattered.
From the depths emerged a red-colored fish. It was not just faster—it was armed.
It had evolved a jaw. Teeth.
Its axial skeleton had matured, connecting spine to skull. Rows of teeth now lined its powerful jaws, capable of piercing even the hardest carapace.
The second revolutionary organ of the animal kingdom had arrived: teeth.
Eyes let them hunt. Teeth let them kill.
The armored arthropods, once invincible, were now prey. Their mighty shells shattered like brittle armor, exposing tender flesh beneath. The apex predators of yesterday fell in droves.
The age of vertebrates had begun.
This fish, this little thing that swam with effortless grace, wasn't just a predator. It was the ancestor of all fish—and all vertebrates.
Even hundreds of millions of years later, its descendants would still rule land, sea, and sky.
And right now, it was just… swimming.
Unaware of the legacy it would leave behind.
"Already, some of them are leaving the ocean—the great mother of all life," Xu Zhi whispered.
Some marine animals had begun to evolve into amphibians, crawling toward the empty coasts in search of less competitive habitats. Likewise, plants had begun their own migration, creeping ashore to turn the barren land green.
But due to the limitations Xu Zhi had placed on their genetics, even the tallest plants were no larger than a finger. Ant-sized creatures roamed between stalks of grass like titans in a miniature jungle.
After all, bigger wasn't always better.
He recalled what the Hive Mother had once said before her death: that some of the world's most terrifying beings were barely larger than grains of sand. Power compressed into small forms could transform into something transcendent.
These tiny primordial lifeforms held terrifying potential.
Xu Zhi made a note in his evolutionary journal, his handwriting clear and meticulous.
"The Revival Age."
This era ushered in the explosive emergence of animal life. The first marine creatures evolved and battled for supremacy. Invertebrates relied on armored shells to dominate, briefly ruling the oceans. But then came the vertebrates—with agile bodies and sharp teeth, they seized power and became the true kings of the Revival Age, reigning for countless epochs.
He closed the notebook and set it down.
Then, he turned and quietly walked away from the sandbox—the harsh world of survival, mutation, and extinction.
"It won't take long now. By the time I'm done with breakfast tomorrow, the spores will have reached land."
Even with such a limited space, the Tyranis spores had given rise to a burgeoning ecosystem.
Xu Zhi paused, a frown creasing his brow.
"How long will it take for intelligent life to emerge?" he muttered. "Now that an ecosystem exists… maybe I can run a few tests."
He glanced at his hand.
A thought occurred.
If I cut my finger and let a drop of blood fall in, the species that absorb my genes might evolve into humanoids…
He hesitated.
The idea felt… wrong.
"Human experimentation, huh? Yeah, no. That's sketchy."
Instead, another idea popped into his mind.
"There's a zoo in town. If I sneak in and collect some monkey hair, I could use that as a genetic sample…"
Decision made, Xu Zhi turned and headed out.
A new era was beginning—and he was ready to push it forward.
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