Super Gene

In the drawing, a building resided beyond the gates and ramparts; one that looked like a tower.

It was very wide on the bottom, but became gradually thinner, all the way up. The entire thing looked to be approximately fifty meters tall. What stood out most to Han Sen was the mural that had been wrought into the stone of the construct.

It depicted an entity that very much looked like a human. It could have been a spirit or a humanoid creature, but to Han Sen, there was a distinct human-like quality to it that he could not shake.

Since humans were the only beings that would not get hurt when entering that place, Han Sen thought that the massive stone drawing most likely really was depicting the human body.

That made no sense, though. It was common knowledge that humans had only been in the sanctuaries for two hundred years. If that was so, how could there be an aged shelter with a massive mural depicting a human there?

What was most important and what was most striking about the construct, though, were the words written upon that mural. They were written in an ancient human language.

“God has returned…”

This was the opening line of the Life Door text. As to why text from a Blood Legion technique would adorn the mural of a demi-god shelter’s wall, Han Sen could not even hazard a guess.

“Another mystery for the pile,” he thought.

Han Sen glossed over the rest of the scroll he had received, hoping there were more diagrams and drawings that might elucidate and depict other angles of that mural, but there were none.

“Weird. This building looks to have been constructed a long time ago, but why would Life Door be there, I wonder? This doesn’t make any sense. I suppose there is the chance the leader of Blood Legion is a creature or spirit; especially given what the Vice-President was. Assuming Baby Ghost wasn’t lying about his position in Blood Legion, this could very likely be true. Baby Ghost himself was a spirit, after all.” Han Sen wracked his mind for any possible answers or theories he could come up with to explain the deepening mystery, which he was now starting to liken to quicksand.

Due to there being only that one line of text to be seen, Han Sen didn’t need to examine the drawing for long. So, his eyes moved on.

He noticed there were drawings of what appeared to be humans, all in the practice of Life Door. He could tell this by the different positions the humans had assumed, each one being a pose necessary for training Life Door. In total, there were ten people. The fourth human he could see seemed to have been depicted with his Life Door opening.

“The fourth has opened his Life Door, but what about the other six? Was Uncle Bug truly able to open his Life Door?” Han Sen frowned.

Han Sen was not intrigued and interested in the proposition of claiming another shelter. Instead, he wanted to learn more about Blood Legion and Life Door, and that expedition could reveal the answers he sought.

Han Sen now knew he was going to be a father, though. So, he decided on not following up with Qing Li, despite his lingering curiosity.

“Perhaps I’ll go there once they’ve done the heavy lifting and managed to secure the shelter. Going now is too much of a risk,” Han Sen thought to himself. The matter was settled.

Han Sen spent time with Ji Yanran every day after that and practiced his skills vigorously.

His fitness level had reached the point where his geno cores could become silver, but he still needed to obtain the bronze geno cores of the Blood-Pulse Sutra and Super King Spirit.

The Blood-Pulse Sutra’s bronze geno core, through Han Sen’s constant practice, was finally generating.

It was simple enough to get one for the Blood-Pulse Sutra, but as for getting one with his super king spirit mode, Han Sen had no clue how it could come about. That was a power that operated differently, and it was a part of his being. He couldn’t truly practice with it.

“Bossman Bub, we’ve located a mutant creature,” Cheap Sheep chirped, hopping its way over to Han Sen like a grounded cloud.

Han Sen flinched, still exhibiting fear whenever he was referred to as a boss by the sheep. He had repeatedly told the fluffy thing not to, but it had trouble abiding.

“What is it?” Han Sen had asked his companions to keep their eyes out for any mutant creatures they came across.

“It’s on Wind Mountain, bub. The sickly thing lives alone, and only comes out during the nighttime,” Cheap Sheep explained.

“Hmm, good job. We’ll check it out tonight, then.” Han Sen was grateful. He ardently wanted to kill as many mutant creatures as he could, but their rarity in the surrounding areas was rather dismaying.

Cheap Sheep led Han Sen and Bao’er to the location where the creature was said to reside.

Red Pony and Starsea Beast were too young and underdeveloped to come, so Han Sen left them behind in the shelter.

Wind Mountain had a valley or over-sized gulch, sundering the mountain into two parts. It was referred to as the Hellmouth, and the winds that gusted through there were enough to lift a man completely and send him to Oz.

Cheap Sheep brought Han Sen and Bao’er dangerously close to the Hellmouth, which was a craggy, near 90-degree dropped from the top of Wind Mountain, and said, “The mutant creature is down there, in a cave. It must enjoy the breeze. But don’t worry, it’ll come out when it’s night, bub.”

“Okay, you go on back.” Han Sen told the sheep, as he eyed the strange mountain they had scaled.

“I can’t leave you here all alone, bub. Let me stay and help,” Cheap Sheep pleaded.

Han Sen knew the sheep was a scaredy-cat, and this had to be an act to earn himself some brownie points.

“No, you’ve done enough. Good job finding it; I’ll handle the rest.” Han Sen, more than anything, did not want the sheepish character to bring him bad luck. His presence almost reminded him of his escapades with the terribly unfortunate Wang Yuhang.

Cheap Sheep did as he was told, but he kept on looking back at Han Sen during his departure. He was almost returning down the mountain backwards.

Han Sen found a place he could get comfy for a while, and there, he inflated an airbed for himself and Bao’er to rest on. They spent the rest of the day admiring the sky.