War could eliminate the weak and allow the strong to obtain more resources. This was the God of War's point of view.
Sui Xiong was not unfamiliar with this point of view. Before he transmigrated, there were many similar points of view on the internet. According to one of his knowledgeable netizens, this was called "Social Darwinism."
At first glance, this theory seemed to make sense. Compared with natural elimination and biological evolution, it seemed quite reasonable, but … when Sui Xiong was still in school, he had learned how to refute it.
This was thanks to Professor Cheng, who liked to talk about everything under the sun. Although Professor Cheng taught "Art History" instead of "Ancient History," "Biological History," or "Revolutionary History," Professor Cheng liked to ramble in class, so Sui and the others learned a lot of other things besides Art History.
One of them was about this theory and its refutation.
Professor Cheng was also a very casual person. He always tested on what he thought was important. Syllabus? What could be eaten? During one of his final exams, he had actually been tested on this.
Thanks to that exam, Sui Xiong remembered this part.
He carefully recalled for a while and then broke the silence. "Wenner, I have a small question."
The God of War turned around and looked at him. "What question?"
"You said that nature eliminates the weak through war in order to select the stronger and more outstanding individuals and groups. Is there any reliable evidence for this?"
The God of War paused for a moment and replied, "Isn't this natural? In a pack of wolves, the strongest wolf gets the most food and grows to become the strongest. In the end, it will become the alpha wolf. In the entire pack, only the alpha wolf has the right to mate with a female wolf and reproduce. Anyone who has lived in the wilderness before would know about this. "
Sui Xiong laughed. "Then I would like to ask you a question. From ancient times to modern times, has the wolf species become stronger and stronger?"
Wenner was stunned. He closed his eyes and thought for a long time. Then, a confused expression appeared on his face.
"That's strange … Comparing ancient wolves to modern wolves … it seems like ancient wolves are stronger …"
Many of the gods present had lived for tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years, or even longer. With Sui Xiong's reminder, they began to recall.
The results of their recollections were naturally similar. Everyone had lived in the same era, and no one had come from a different world or a different World Line. Therefore, what they had seen and heard along the way was naturally not much different.
Seeing that all the gods were surprised, Sui Xiong smiled and continued, "As far as I know, from ancient times until now, the overall trend of the creatures on the Main Plane has been that individual strength has been declining, while the population has been increasing. The chances of outstanding individuals appearing in the population have been increasing, right?"
The gods nodded in agreement.
"Let's take humans as an example. In ancient times, humans were actually quite strong. They could even fight with low-level magical beasts with their bare hands without the help of any tools. This kind of power can almost be regarded as an excellent adventurer in the present age, and may even be close to the level of a middle-order. But in ancient times, when the God of Knights had just become a god and humans were almost suppressed by the orcs, basically all adults had this kind of power, right? "
A few of the elders among the gods, as well as some who were interested in history, nodded in agreement.
"And in ancient times, the ratio of magical beasts among the wild beasts was also much higher than it is now. Back then, if you randomly found a wolf pack in the wild, the wolf king would most likely be a magical beast, and there would even be a few magical beasts in the wolf pack, right? "
The older gods continued to nod.
"So here comes the problem. If, according to what the God of War said, the weak are eliminated through war, and the strong individuals and races survive, then the creatures in ancient times should be weaker than they are now. Why is the result the opposite?"
The gods looked at each other, and most of them did not know how to answer.
At this moment, the God of Water Element spoke, "I've heard of a saying that from ancient times until now, the magic density of the Main Plane has decreased, so the strength of the creatures has also decreased."
Sui Xiong smiled and said, "You are the oldest among the gods. These things may be history to others, but to you, it is nothing more than a past event. So do you agree with this saying? "
"Until just now, I still agree with it," the God of Water Element said with a bitter smile. "But now, I'm not sure."
"Why is that?"
"Because I thought about it carefully. Although the magic density of the Main Plane has indeed decreased a few times, it has also increased a few times. In general, the current magic density of the Main Plane is not much lower than the era when there were strong beings everywhere — this can be seen from the strength of the creatures at the peak. The top beings of the current era are not any weaker than those of that era. The powerful legendary magical beasts of this era, even if they were to return to that era, were also strong beings who could split up an area. "
He was an old senior among the gods, fully deserving of his seniority. With his status, these words would definitely not be wrong.
Thus, the gods were even more confused — if it was because of the decrease in the magic density that caused the creatures to generally become weaker, then it was understandable. But the actual situation was that the magic density of the current era was not much lower than before, so why were the creatures so much weaker?
Sui Xiong smiled and looked at the gods who were lost in thought. After a while, he spoke again.
"Regarding this, I have a theory. Why don't we discuss it and see if it is reasonable."
The gazes of the gods focused on him again.
"We all know that, except for a few legendary creatures, most species need to reproduce and rely on generations to continue the population. There is a problem here — what method can be used to ensure that one's next generation can be better continued? "
"One is strong enough?" A god asked tentatively. "As long as one is strong enough to protect the next generation, then of course there is no problem."
"This is a good idea, but how can one ensure that one is always strong and will never be defeated?" Sui Xiong continued to ask.
The god shook his head and could not answer.
No one could answer this question.
If there really was such a good idea, then everyone would have become great Divine Powers. How could there be so few great Divine Powers until now?
"I think, in the face of the changes in the world, in the face of unpredictable fate, in the face of all kinds of dangers, relying on one's own strength is not enough to ensure the continuation of the population. In contrast, the simplest and most reliable way is to have more children, "Sui Xiong said.
More than one god laughed heartily.
Of course, what he said made sense. More children was naturally beneficial to the continuation of the population.
"So here comes the problem. Having children is easy, but raising children is not," Sui Xiong said. "For children to grow up, they need enough food. If the race is too strong, how can they ensure that there is enough food to feed a large group of children who can eat?"
There was much less laughter, and many gods fell into deep thought.
"I know many dragons. They can eat a cow in one meal. If they eat every day, it will be a very terrifying amount of food. So they often sleep to reduce their consumption. And if a dragon starts to reproduce at the age of ten, and they reproduce once a year, with five or six to ten children each time, then how much do you think they can eat? "
The laughter disappeared completely, and the gods all fell into deep thought.
"So for the prosperity of the race, the simplest way is to have more children and at the same time, become weaker." Sui Xiong smiled and concluded. "More children, low consumption, resistance to diseases, these are the foundations of the continuation and prosperity of the race."
This last sentence was the question of the exam back then.
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