Super Gene

Han Sen reached the desert, map in hand.

It was very detailed, and there were many points of interest marked on it. Locating his exact position was not at all difficult.

Due to the silver fox’s continued absence, Han Sen traveled there with just Bao’er.

Holy-Sword Emperor had not come alone, though, according to what he was told. Still, provided no super creatures were accompanying him, Han Sen thought he’d do just fine.

What Han Sen most feared was the mountain he was headed towards. It had once belonged to an emperor spirit, after all. He had no idea what to expect or what he might find once he reached it.

Carrying a parasol to deflect the brutal heat of that region, Han Sen traveled. Bao’er, who was in his other arm, had her tongue out like a puppy. It didn’t seem as if she was too fond of the weather, either.

But suddenly, Han Sen stumbled across a dune that was littered with the remains of dead scorpions. They were muddy in color and fairly big. Each was about the same size as a small car.

There had to be at least three hundred of them all strewn about. Judging from the wounds they had incurred, each had been killed in a single hit.

Han Sen checked his map again, and it was noted that there would be a vast number of scorpions in a location that looked to be where he was at right now. He was on the right track.

“It looks like Holy-Sword Emperor passed through this way.” Han Sen checked the wounds again, to see if he could estimate when exactly they had died. From what he could tell, they had been slain no later than one day before. He was close.

They were sacred-blood creatures, but Han Sen didn’t bring any with him. They were inedible, according to Brother Seven.

This didn’t just apply to the scorpions, either. Curiously, almost every monster that populated that desert had the strange property of being inedible. Their drop rate for beast souls was awful, too. As such, he couldn’t expect to receive any, on his venture there.

Of course, that was what he had been told and what had been written on the map. Trying to have a nibble himself was the only way he could confirm whether or not it was true.

Brother Seven said, after killing a thousand monsters there, he had only been able to obtain one beast soul.

With the bodies there, at least, Han Sen knew he was headed in the right direction.

After four days of travel, Han Sen found himself almost walking in circles. One would have assumed Brother Seven’s abilities of cartography were very poor, at first glance, but it really was a strange route he had to take.

But after seeing those bodies, Han Sen was confident he would ultimately be led to God Mountain if he stayed on the funny route the map said he had to follow.

And he wasn’t wrong. Before long, a mountain came into view, its peak nestled above misty clouds.

It stood out, and was a striking sight. But it had just snapped into his vision in an instant, fairly close. He should have been able to see such a mountain from a long distance away.

As if it had appeared out of thin air, a massive edifice of stone was now ahead. He took a moment to take in its splendor, but wondered what was at the very top, at the peak that was hidden from sight.

The mountain was massive, though. It was difficult to comprehend its size, and it had to be many hundreds of miles in length.

It was decorated in a vast array of green plants, but the earth that composed it was like sparkling copper that gleamed in the midday sun.

The Phoenix Shelter had sealed up, and had indeed become a mountain like in the legends.

Not even other emperor spirits would be careless when approaching such a place. But the task that stood before him now was locating its entrance, and for such a big place, that wouldn’t be easy.

Han Sen used his Dongxuan Aura to scan the nearby vicinity. He couldn’t see any human or spirit ahead of him.

The map ended here, though. This was most likely because Brother Seven himself had never gone any further.

Regardless, Han Sen hopped to it. He had to find the entrance of that place as soon as he could.

Not daring to fly, Han Sen simply walked.

The mountain wasn’t too steep, but the slopes were still wide. After a whole day of traveling, he was still on what could be considered the foothills.

The plants he had seen were all around. They were lovely there, and it was pleasant to know there weren’t any nefarious beings lurking beneath their canopies. In fact, there were no creatures at all.

Han Sen grew concerned, though, unsure of how long it would take for him to circle the mountain, if that was what it was going to take to locate the entrance.

“Maybe I should head straight for the peak first?” Han Sen decided to venture straight up instead,

It took him a whole day of careful travel to get there.

Or so he initially thought, after reaching what he believed to be the peak, he saw an even higher one up ahead.

He continued his climb up this new mountaintop, but when he arrived at the top, it was to the realization that there’d be another peak to climb. The mountain seemed endless.

Han Sen decided to look down the way he had come. Even the clouds seemed far-off now.

“This peak isn’t leading to a sky palace, is it?” he wondered, despite knowing shelters did not have sky palaces.

All of a sudden, Bao’er leapt out of Han Sen’s arms. She kept on running in a direction, beelining there with sudden vigor.

“Bao’er, where are you going?” Han Sen called, chasing the runaway baby.

Something had clearly snared her attention and desire, and she crawled away so fast, she eventually disappeared from Han Sen’s sight.

Taking a moment to scan the area, Han Sen found her again. She was climbing a tree.

Strangely, it was just a pine tree. But from its boughs, Bao’er jumped and disappeared again.

“Bao’er?” There was only one pine tree there, so how could she have just disappeared?

“Daddy, come quick! There is treasure.” Han Sen heard her voice, but he could not see where she herself was. So, he followed where the sound came from.