Super Gene

“If you can promise me one thing, I can go,” Han Sen said.

There was a certain sternness in his voice, to the surprise of the others in the expedition. They all turned to look at him, confused why a person with only a bronze geno core would and could say such a thing.

“Little Han, these are no joking matters,” Mister Li said.

“You are correct, but if you can promise me this one thing, I will try it in his stead.” Han Sen paused, having achieved the focus of everyone’s ears, before proceeding to explain, “It’s because I’m lucky. I always have been, and I believe I have what it takes.”

“Okay, then what would you like to get promised? We can do what you ask, provided it’s nothing ridiculous,” Wang Zhao said, willing to give the boy a chance.

He would also prefer risking the life of another, if it meant his best friend might have been spared.

Han Sen responded, saying, “The shelter must have offered you a lot to come here. If you can pool together to provide me sixty sacred geno fruit, I will go.”

Sixty was not a small number. There were seven others in the expedition, and each of them had around ten.

“I have sixteen right here with me. I’ll give them to you,” Xiao Liuyu immediately answered, seeing as it was his life currently on the line. Then, he presented the fruit.

Discussions broke out amongst the rest, as they all wondered and tried to gauge whether or not it was a worthy bargain. They eventually decided to go along with it, and they amassed the tally of sixty geno fruits they could give Han Sen upon his completion.

“Little Han, I must repeat; this is no laughing matter. The stakes are high, but there’s always the chance we might find an alternate route,” Mister Li pleaded. He had come to like Han Sen, and he was worried about the young man’s wellbeing.

Han Sen smiled in return, telling him, “It’s nice of you to be so considerate, Mister Li. But me and Lady Luck have tangoed a number of times. The fortunes frequently smile on me.”

Han Sen accepted the fruit and approached The Wall of Destiny; their door and way forward.

He had everything to live for, even a baby on the way. Han Sen wasn’t going to risk everything unless he was 100% certain he’d succeed.

This wasn’t because Han Sen believed himself to be stronger than the others, or because he actually had more luck. It was because he had a theory he had kept private.

Han Sen had examined the text on the tower and mulled over it well. He recalled that there was no mention of explicit instructions, and no statement that in order to tackle the door you’d have to be the luckiest.

Everyone had luck, but good luck and bad luck were all tinged measures coming from the same pool.

Han Sen had already read the text of Life Door, and that gave him a keener insight into the words he had espied on the mural. It helped him understand one thing that was the crux to this entire issue.

To open the door of destiny, one must have already opened their Life Door.

Han Sen had secretly cast Life Door previously, and he felt his body metaphysically connect with The Wall of Destiny. It beckoned to Han Sen, calling out for him to come forward.

It brought ease to Han Sen’s mind, and without an urgent need to open it, he thought of a way in which he might net a few extra goodies in the service of others. He really wasn’t risking his life.

Han Sen believed that those who had ventured into the shelter before hadn’t even seen the wall.

And Han Sen believed that was because no one in the previous expedition possessed Life Door. If the wall had shown up, they would have been trapped there forever; it at least proved the shelter wasn’t a deliberate gauntlet meant to torture and slay all intruders. Or at least, that’s what Han Sen now hoped.

But this also led Han Sen to believe that they’d end up elsewhere, once the wall was removed. Perhaps the others, without Life Door, had been led to their doom. With Han Sen amongst them, they might make greater progress than the other team did.

Han Sen did not hate the people on his team, and he would prefer to help them rather than not. He just didn’t see a problem with extracting a few gifts while doing so.

His connection to the door increased and became more voluminous as he approached The Wall of Destiny. He could sense its tangible aura, and it tingled Han Sen’s fingertips.

Han Sen then summoned his Bulwark Umbrella, as he drew near it.

The Dongxuan Sutra did not tell him there was any danger ahead, but he still summoned it on the off-chance there was.

Everyone watched Han Sen, and their attention was particularly drawn to his left hand, with which he pushed against The Wall of Destiny.

His hand was brimming with the power of Jadeskin, and when it came into contact with the wall, electricity suddenly surged through him.

Han Sen quickly pulled his hand away and took cover behind his umbrella.

Everyone summoned their geno core for protection, expecting a fight or some sort to have been initiated.

Boom!

The Wall of Destiny let out a deep sound, as if something had been unlocked beneath the earth. And then it began to sink, receding into the ground it had originally emerged from.

Nobody there had expected the process to be that simple. They had half-suspected that Han Sen wouldn’t be alive to enjoy the fruit they had all given him.

“Brother Han, you are a man of good fortune indeed!” Xiao Liuyu proclaimed, upon witnessing his success.

The others all looked at Han Sen differently. More than anything, they were just bewildered to see it was he the weakest of their team, yet he had solved and sorted out their biggest issue in the shelter thus far.

There was the sneaking suspicion amongst a couple of them, though, that the entire wall obstacle had been a bluff. And that guts, rather than luck, were needed to near it, touch it, and open it.

“Yeah, it was all luck,” Han Sen said, as he marched forward to the exit of that maze.

Han Sen wasn’t going to tell them the true reason he was able to remove the wall.

The electric shock he had received from the door, however, seemed to have a lasting effect. It did not hurt, but he sensed it had modified his Life Door somewhat. Han Sen checked out his body, and he confirmed there was no permanent harm, but still, it was a strange sensation.

Everyone followed Han Sen towards the exit, which was somehow obscured by a blinding white light. What awaited them, none could guess.

Han Sen was not concerned with this, having been in situations similar to this in the past. His feet did not relent, and onwards he went. When he breached the veil of white, his eyes cleared to reveal what lay beyond.

But what he saw sent chills down his spine. He immediately wished to retreat, but an invisible barrier prevented him from doing so.

The team could no longer see Han Sen, but thinking the way was safe, they followed in after him.