Super Gene

Han Sen was wary about the idea of going, but he ended up deciding to do as Dragon King pleaded. He decided to go to Ancient Devil Shelter. He didn’t entirely believe Dragon King, but the creatures were indeed behaving strangely at the sound of that bell, and they were all headed in the same direction.

Aside from the Devil Fangs, Han Sen noticed many more creatures heading that way, too. They looked possessed, mindlessly going there.

Han Sen was stuck inside that realm, so he thought he might as well go with them to see what was going on and test his luck.

Besides, Han Sen still had firm control of Dragon King, and he did not believe the spirit could do anything to change that fact.

Han Sen flew towards the buildings, far beyond the black mist, and as he was going, asked, “What is that Qi Ling you mentioned?”

“Unless you were born powerful, most spirits and creatures share the same fate as humans in this sanctuary. They have to practice, train, fight, and learn in order to grow and open their gene locks. Once you have reached your seventh gene lock, though, things become much harder.”

Dragon King went on to say, “The Ancient Devil Bell can rinse their souls. While the emperor is present, each time it rings, creatures and spirits benefit immensely. If they have not unlocked seven of their gene locks, hearing the seventy-two bell tolls can result in the learning and opening of an additional two. Above seven? Well, that just depends on your luck.”

“That sounds too good to be true. And maybe it is. Why has it not worked on me?” Han Sen scoffed at the thought.

“You are already so strong, and with the distance of the bell, it is no wonder why it has not worked,” Dragon King said.

“If it’s useless for me, then why must you implore that I go there?” Han Sen still did not believe Dragon King.

But Dragon King said, “While Ancient Devil Emperor still occupied that place, the ringing of the bell signified he was going to test the genes of others.”

“Gene testing?” Han Sen wasn’t quite sure what he meant.

Humans had technology to gauge the strength and level of people’s genes, but he had never heard of spirits and creatures being able to do the same.

Han Sen then conjured the image of a creepy uncle spirit, bringing a pretty, young spirit to a dark house, saying, “Come, let me examine your jeans.”

“Holy sh*t! Is Ancient Devil Emperor some sort of pervert!?” Han Sen couldn’t help but speak this out loud.

Dragon King looked confused, and he asked, “Pervert? Who’s a pervert? What are you talking about?!”

“Oh, nothing. Um, keep going. Tell me about all this gene testing…” Han Sen had no idea why he started thinking of the things he just had.

Dragon King then went on to say, “Through an examination, he was able to determine the flaws of someone’s genes. He then provided advice on how to fix any discovered problems and how they might gain greater strength. What’s perverted about that?”

“Nothing. That all sounds good.” Han Sen coughed twice to hide his embarrassment over the outburst. Then, he shuffled the conversation along by saying, “Now that he’s gone, there’s nobody there to run the tests anymore. Isn’t that correct? Why do the creatures still go there?”

“The bell is a treasure. If it wasn’t destroyed in the war, it should have been taken. But it is still there, ringing loudly.” Dragon King was in deep thought.

The bell, by now, had rung almost fifty times. Han Sen was getting close, though, and he could make out the structure and buildings that composed the shelter. It was like a grand palace built atop the peak of a mountain.

There were supposed to be stairs leading up to the shelter, but they had been broken. Only fifty steps of the staircase remained, down near the bottom.

The palace was in poor condition, too. But despite its ravaged exterior, Han Sen could determine how grand and luxurious it must have been, once upon a time.

Many creatures flew past Han Sen, not displaying a single ounce of hostility towards him.

All along the palace walls, and assembled on the palace grounds, were legions of creatures. They all stood still, not making a single noise.

“The Ancient Devil Bell is a treasure of that emperor. Its ringing requires something special. It is not operated via a rope, so it’s not something any person can do. And since all the creatures came here, just maybe…” Dragon King said.

“Maybe what?” Han Sen asked.

Dragon King did not respond, so Han Sen flew high above the shelter. Looking down, he saw a hundred-thousand creatures inside the shelter.

The weakest creatures could only claim a spot on the rooftops, or were relegated to the shelter’s walls. The strongest creatures were the ones closest to the palace.

Creatures like Devil Fangs were situated atop the wall that circled the palace, as they weren’t very strong.

Inside the palace, Han Sen saw six creatures. He saw the armored creature amongst them.

These six were inside the palace and seemed to possess some manner of authority. There was a distance separating them from the other creatures, who all had to remain outside.

Han Sen checked out the other five creatures. One had a mostly humanoid shape, save for its tiger-head, four legs, and wings.

Its body was mostly black, like obsidian, but glyph-like creeks of lava ran across its joints. This monster was holding a greataxe, which was as big as a house.

To the left of this creature, there was a red dog with two heads. The heads possessed horns. One head had one horn, whereas the other head had two.

The dog with two horns breathed ice, whereas the dog with one horn breathed fire.