Super Gene

Dragon King told Han Sen, “Demi-gods return for genes.”

“Why would demi-gods require genes from the Third God’s Sanctuary?” Han Sen wasn’t sure how or why this would be.

Dragon King admitted, “I’m not sure, either. I have only seen this transpire once, in which a demi-god returned and went on a search for genes. To return, a sacrifice of many super creatures and king spirit stones was necessary.”

“What can demi-gods do?” Han Sen asked.

“The demi-god I saw would fulfill the wishes of the person who aided them in gathering the components of a sacrifice and doing the ritual. Often that service took the form of killing someone. But you must collect a lot for sacrifice, and I can only suggest that you don’t do it,” Dragon King said.

Han Sen said, “The demi-god you saw, was it a spirit summoned by Ancient Devil Emperor?”

“I cannot comment on that,” Dragon King answered.

Han Sen rebutted with a theory, saying, “If these sacrifices are so costly, were you offered up as a component of the ritual? Is that why you rebelled and betrayed Ancient Devil Emperor?”

Dragon King said nothing further, and simply went towards the egg. Han Sen didn’t stop him, though. He believed he was getting closer to the truth, anyway, and he had answered what he had initially wanted to know. Han Sen did not know how long it would take for the egg to hatch, but he gave it back to Thorn Queen and told her to hold on to it.

Han Sen stayed at Evil Lotus Shelter for a few days, and every spirit that arrived had their tenth gene lock open.

Han Sen recognized a few of the emperors from Divinity’s Bout. Four of the figures that were in the top ten of Divinity’s Bout had come, which made Han Sen wonder about those who hadn’t come.

But since the spirits around came from all the different corners of the Third God’s Sanctuary, Han Sen didn’t stick out too much. Many hadn’t a clue who he was or had never so much as heard his name.

When the event started, super creatures and emperors were everywhere.

Han Sen made a rough count of five hundred, but he knew there were countless emperors who hadn’t made the guestlist. It had to be a highly-curated list, that much was certain.

The top three from Divinity’s Bout were not seen there, and Han Sen couldn’t imagine why emperors so strong would not be invited or would choose not to come. And it was quite disappointing for him, too, as he really wanted to catch a glimpse of the notorious No God Emperor.

It was time for Lotus Empress to announce and reveal herself to all those who had come, and when she appeared before them all, everyone went silent. You could have heard a pin drop in the stillness that preceded her speech. When she did finally talk, she issued a command to her subordinates to begin distributing two fruits to each of the guests that had come.

Han Sen and the silver fox received two each.

While Little Silver gobbled them both up with nary a moment to breathe, Han Sen decided to spend some time inspecting them.

The fruits were creamy and semi-transparent, but they had the faint outlines of delicate patterns etched all across them. They were pretty things, almost like jewels.

And what’s more, Han Sen was able to see a hidden energy radiating from within. Then, Han Sen decided to take a bite. It was juicy and incredibly sweet.

After Han Sen ate the first fruit in its entirety, he heard a message play: “Gaining Self Geno Point.”

So, he proceeded to eat the other. He heard the same message play again.

“I only need fifteen more to max out. It’s a shame one person can only receive two,” Han Sen thought.

Han Sen looked around and noticed everyone had finished their fruit-lunch before him.

They all stood where they were, but they were turning left and right as if they were searching for something or someone, but what it was, Han Sen wasn’t too sure.

Then he remembered there was supposed to be a fruit that allowed one emperor to become a demi-god. The spirits were all looking around, hoping to find out who was fortunate enough to receive it. Whether they’d congratulate or scorn that fortunate person was another matter entirely.

“I can only suppose this is not your first time here. I have three thousand of these fruits, but I have only distributed one thousand. The other two thousand will have to be earned,” Lotus Empress said aloud, when no winner seemed to arise.

“We know the rules; hurry up!” an emperor boldly shouted back.

Lotus Empress smiled, and then a monster bearing a jade drum walked out.

Han Sen was both surprised and amused by the creature’s appearance, as it looked something like a cross between a turtle and a kirin. The jade drum it possessed was actually a part of the creature, too. It was attached, growing out of the creature’s back. Its lifeforce was strong, though, and it was clear that it had opened ten gene locks.

Han Sen had already guessed she possessed creatures with ten gene locks open, but this just confirmed it. His admiration for Lotus Empress was starting to grow.

“If you hit it once, you can earn a fruit. Who would like to give it a try?” Lotus Empress announced.

“Let me try!” An eager emperor jumped before the drum-beast and tried striking the instrument with all his might.

Han Sen was curious, wondering what was going on. This game that they were all playing seemed too simple to be true, and he was curious to learn if there was a catch. He imagined there would have to be, but that was just his suspicious nature.

The emperor was a moody-looking sort, and he wielded the element of fire. He leaped towards the drum, ready to unleash an impressive amount of power on it, with a fire that was even greater than the flames that wreathed Han Sen in his gold raven form.

Han Sen heard the beat of a drum sound, but it had almost completely escaped his hearing. It was very quiet, for some strange reason.

“Is that really a drum?” Han Sen thought it didn’t seem right for so much power to result in such a small amount of noise.