Super Gene

Han Sen was taken aback when he saw what emerged from his Sea of Soul. It was an umbrella. It was thin-framed and elegant, like the sort you’d see fancy women use.

Its color was blacker than the filthiest coal, though. Even its handle was.

When the umbrella appeared, it flew above Han Sen’s head. Beneath this umbrella, Han Sen felt a veil or shroud envelope him.

The cold and the shriek were gone.

Han Sen noticed, if he was able to stay within the umbrella’s covering radius, all the negative and detrimental effects were filtered and kept away.

“Is this the geno core of the Dongxuan Sutra?” Han Sen quickly reviewed the information of the geno core.

Self Geno Core: Bronze Bulwark Umbrella

Beneath the protective canopy of the Bulwark Umbrella, no power was able to breach the defense and ravage them. Bao’er had returned to normal, and she seemed surprised by the sudden disappearance of the cold and sound. She examined the umbrella that now shielded her.

Han Sen went over to check on the Dragon Lady and Cheap Sheep. The lady was now doing fine.

The sheep was breathing in a raspy wheeze. It looked like the umbrella had manifested just in time, as the sheep had to have been hanging on to its life by a measly thread.

Han Sen healed Dragon Lady and Cheap Sheep as best he could for the time being. For the Dragon Lady, chunks of ice and frosty air were expelled from her mouth and various orifices. She was doing well, but the same could not be said for Cheap Sheep. He was doing poorly, despite the healing. He couldn’t even speak.

“Are they gone?” Dragon Lady said, with a strained voice.

“Not yet,” Han Sen replied, taking a look outside the bowl.

She couldn’t sense anything outside, but that may have been a result of her condition. Han Sen, however, even though he could not detect much, could just feel a battle continuing to rage.

Fortunately, the Bulwark Umbrella had appeared to protect them when it did. With relief for their newfound safety, the group rested for a while as Han Sen tended to the sheep.

But suddenly, a sound that was as loud as a toppled mountain was heard. And then, a soft and unnerving silence enveloped them.

“It sounds as if there might have been a victor,” Han Sen thought to himself.

He wasn’t yet going to move from where he was, though. He didn’t know who was fighting or what the fighting was about. If he emerged, and the winner was in a foul mood, he’d be foolish to reveal himself.

So, they waited where they were for a few hours. Nothing stirred for the duration of that time.

Han Sen decided to return the umbrella, and Dragon Lady her bowl.

To cut and shovel their way through the snow that had almost buried them, Dragon Lady employed her various kitchen utensils.

Everything around them was white. The mountains, the trees, the fields; all of it was perfectly blanketed in virgin snow.

“That was scary,” Han Sen thought to himself, now that their frightening ordeal was over. If it wasn’t for the Bulwark Umbrella, they’d be dead.

Han Sen wondered if the shelter Dragon Lady had mentioned might have suffered the same freezing fate. If it had, it was very likely the occupants of the shelter would not have survived.

Han Sen hurried Dragon Lady to guide them to the shelter, but not out of concern for the inhabitants. Had they all died, it’d make for great, easy pickings. There’d be plenty of flesh and geno cores for the taking.

Dragon Lady started taking them there, but it was a struggle. The landscape was vastly different now, having been buried by so much snow, and she feared that she might lead them astray

For a thousand miles, the snow lay thick across the land.

Dragon Lady had decided to find the shelter by choosing a direction and following it, as a crow would fly. But it was difficult for them, for they’d have to dig an entire trench that led there. The snow was too thick and too soft for them to delicately journey across.

Han Sen really wanted the treasure, though. And after a few hundred miles of non-stop walking, they thought they should have been close. Unfortunately for them, they were lost.

But at least they were not in danger. It seemed as if the snow had reset the land, and everything within the snowglobe radius had been killed. There was nothing left alive to threaten them.

“Never mind, then. Forget the shelter. Let’s just get out of this place; there’s nothing else for us here,” Han Sen said, with a dismal tone.

They selected a new direction and decided on leaving the snow-devastated landscape behind, opting to find fonder pastures. After a thousand miles of walking, they discovered nothing. They might as well have been back where they started, for each horizon was another line of white.

“Oh, wait a minute! Something is up ahead.” Cheap Sheep, who was doing better now, drew their attention.

Han Sen and Dragon Lady climbed a slope that the sheep had pointed to, and there, in the snow, was an anomaly.

Looking closer, they realized it was a tree.

“Let’s take a look. If it survived when everything else didn’t, it must be something pretty special. If it bears fruit, we’re rich!” Han Sen quickly jumped before it, ensuring he’d be the first to grab its treasures.

The tree was ten meters tall, and pink flowers dressed the branches. It was like an oversized, pink bonsai. It possessed a lovely scent.

It was strange, seeing this tree stand out amongst the snow that had covered everything else.

As if it had a Bulwark Umbrella of its own, it seemed as if the tree had been shielded by some force that provided it a radius of protection. There was no snow circling it on the ground, either, and you could see the grass below as clear as day.

There were a few creatures beneath the tree, as well. Han Sen imagined they had been hiding there, using the eaves for shelter.

Unfortunately, the tree must have only protected them from the cold and snow, but not the noise. The creatures looked as if they were drunk, falling asleep.