Super Gene

After using Jadeskin to unlock his gene lock, Han Sen had achieved super senses. For the bone elephant in particular, it allowed him to see through its head. He could faintly watch and trace the movements of the pink snake that swam around in its brain.

Han Sen could feel the bone elephant’s life force, and with this ability, he gauged the precise time he should cast his powerful attack.

Suddenly, Han Sen’s pupils shrunk. His body burst with power, like a raging scream. He struck the bone elephant’s head with his fiery palms.

Pang!

The powerful Elephant-Rex Strike was sent directly into the elephant’s brain. It was like a torpedo in the deep sea, detonating the brain from the inside.

”Super Creature Hunted: Saint-Bone Elephant. The beast soul has not been acquired. Consume its flesh to obtain a random numeric amount of super geno points, ranging from zero to ten. You may also collect the Life Geno essence.”

As the announcement played in Han Sen’s head, the pink snake launched out of the dead elephant’s ear. It was like a star, falling into the forest. It disappeared.

Han Sen saw traces of pink blood sprayed across the floor, so it looked like his palm had dealt it some decent damage.

He was overjoyed. Because his fitness was not as high as it could be, the Elephant-Rex Strike was only enough to mop up an easy kill. It wasn’t strong enough to kill a super creature at full health.

But Han Sen had damaged the thin pink snake, which prompted it to fly away. It was fairly obvious that the snake was heavily damaged. Perhaps it had already been injured during the scramble to get into the elephant’s brain, or being in there the entire time. Regardless, it seemed to have run off for good.

After all, the bone elephant was a second-generation super creature. Even if it did drill inside its body, the pink snake must have exhausted a lot of effort and strength to do so.

Han Sen was just glad that the pink snake was spooked. The snake must have had no idea such a strike was coming. Only being able to perform such a strike once, it was fortunate the hit was as effective as it was. Otherwise, Han Sen might have had trouble making his escape.

Han Sen quickly summoned his angel. He wanted to see if she’d eat the bone elephant, for perhaps this would be what it needed to evolve.

Han Sen did not take the retrieval of beast souls as seriously as he used to. Obtaining them was no longer as important to him. His biggest priority lately was figuring out how he could consume the Life Geno essences.

Angel saw the body of the Saint-Bone Elephant, and when she saw it, her eyes glowed red. With a ravenous appetite, she leapt onto it. She grabbed its bones and began munching on them with a rabid hunger, the sounds of snapping cartilage ringing through the air. Snap, snap, snap—she broke the bones, sucked on the marrow, and crunched on the tusks like glass.

Han Sen was frozen. He thought that the angel’s teeth were a bit too hard. Watching her nibble her way through a mound of super creature bones was a little frightening.

Han Sen summoned his Flaming-Rex Spike and hit the elephant’s skull with it, hoping to crack it open and obtain the Life Geno essence. That was all he personally needed; nothing else mattered to him.

But surprisingly for Han Sen, the bones were not as hard as he expected. It seemed that after the bone elephant’s death, the bones softened somewhat. The rex spike broke the top of the skull open like a pinata, letting out the run of white, creamy brain juice.

Han Sen was rather shocked, but at least he understood how the angel was able to eat it so ferociously. After death, the elephant’s bones really weren’t all that hard.

Han Sen drilled inside the brain for a while and rummaged through the muculent brain juice. After a fair amount of time, he managed to find the bone-like Life Geno essence he had been looking for.

Han Sen was so happy. But during this happiness, he heard a sound from all around him. A sea of snakes were slithering towards him. It looked like the pink snake was not too fond of Han Sen’s theft, and it seemed as if it had rallied its brethren to kill him.

The pink snake was riding the back of another snake. This mount-snake was a large titanboa. The pink snake was hissing at Han Sen with obvious anger and frustration.

Han Sen felt bad, seeing the angel munch upon the bone elephant. It would probably take a long time for her to eat it all. But with Han Sen’s current weakness, if the snakes attacked, he’d have no hope of repelling them all.

He considered whether or not he should quickly grab the angel and escape, leaving behind the bone elephant’s flesh in the process. But suddenly, he heard a bear roar. Looking to the top of the hill, he saw two bears, one big and one small, roaring in his direction. They rushed down the hill towards him, tearing up the legions of snakes in the process. Nothing could withstand their rabid claws.

They stopped near the body of the bone elephant. Not entirely sure what was going on, Han Sen thought he should summon his wings and fly away.

But the big black bear seemed really human; it nodded to Han Sen. And then the bear turned around and roared at the pink snake.

The pink snake hissed in response. They both groaned and made noises to each other, staring one another down. After a while of this, the pink snake gave Han Sen one last jealous look before turning around and leaving alongside the rest of its snakes. The tide of snakes washed away.

The big bear then roared to Han Sen. It picked up the cub, put it back on its back, and returned to the woods.

Han Sen was shocked, not entirely sure what had just happened. How and why would the two bears come all the way over here just to repel the snakes that had threatened him?

”Did they think the reason I fought the bone elephant was because I wanted to help them? Was this them returning the favor?” Han Sen didn’t know for sure, but this was what he hypothesized.

But regardless of why it had happened, it was a good thing. He had already decided to fly away with the angel and escape. This unexpected turn of events allowed the angel to munch on the elephant in its entirety.

Han Sen sat on the floor and rested, observing the surrounding area. He wasn’t simply taking in the view, though. He wanted to make sure the snake was gone for good and didn’t plan on backstabbing Han Sen by coming back once the bear had left.

But Han Sen was just being paranoid, and the pink snake made no plan to return. Han Sen’s energy was also nearing complete recovery, without the sight of a single other creature around.

The angel was still eating the bone elephant, and by now, she was almost halfway through her meal.

”The super creatures of the Second God’s Sanctuary are so... human. The children, especially so. They are appearing more and more intelligent every time I see them. What will things be like when I reach the Third God’s Sanctuary?” Han Sen was in deep thought, as he tossed the bone elephant’s essence in his hand.

It was a curious thing, like a fusion of bone and jade. But it was slightly transparent, too. This Life Geno essence did not look violent and red, and it was a whole lot more like the peaceful bone elephant he had once witnessed sitting beneath a tree, meditating. It wasn’t at all representative of the ordinary bone elephant he was used to seeing.

”I hope I can eat it this time. If I can’t, I’m really out of solutions for how I might collect the super geno points I need.” Han Sen gave the Life Geno essence a good lick.

The result was disappointing. The Life Geno essence did not change. It was still as solid as ever; it did not melt and it continued to look like bone.