Super Gene

Han Sen was shocked. Ghost Bone Town had a statue of the Human Emperor, and now he had found a geno art that had a connection to the Blood-Pulse Sutra. What was the relationship between the Human Emperor, the Sacred Leader, and Blood Legion?

Han Sen couldn’t figure it out, but reading the geno art inside that red and misty orb made Han Sen happy.

Since Han Sen had begun practicing the Blood-Pulse Sutra, he had thought that it had little utility in the arts of combat. The most useful aspect of the geno art was the mere fact that he could pass on his stronger genes to his descendants.

But as he looked over the geno art inside that orb, Han Sen could see another branch of possibilities shooting off from the Blood-Pulse Sutra.

The geno art inside the orb was of the same type as Blood-Pulse Sutra, but it wasn’t identical. It was like a comparison between a flower and the individual leaves on the stem. They might have grown together, but they were different from each other.

If the Blood-Pulse Sutra was the flower, the geno art inside the orb was a leaf.

The duty of the flower was to bear fruit. The leaf, however, was for breathing.

The metaphor might sound beautiful and gentle, but the geno art was actually very cruel. The geno art inside of the orb could steal the blood of other creatures. The skill could plunder the Blood-Pulse of an opponent to provide nutrition for the user. The opponent would lose their own Blood-Pulse power and end up as a dull creature, sapped of vitality.

But to Han Sen, that savagery was merely a part of life; the geno art functioned on the same rules of natural selection that governed the sanctuary. In the sanctuary, life was about plundering what other creatures offered in order to make oneself stronger.

The geno art was obviously a more direct approach to that goal. Han Sen thought of Dragon Eight, whom he had once fought. If Han Sen wanted the man’s Gold Dragon Body, he would only have to use this new geno art to steal the Dragon’s Blood-Pulse. By doing that, Han Sen would steal the Gold Dragon Body for himself. It was a very simple process.

If that geno art went public in the universe, Han Sen would be an enemy in the eyes of all. No race would allow their Blood-Pulse to be stolen by another.

Han Sen memorized the geno art, which was called Blood-Pulse Plunder. He swore to himself that he would never allow anyone else to learn of the geno art’s existence. If anyone learned that he possessed such a dangerous skill, no one would come near him.

Because Han Sen had the Blood-Pulse Sutra as a base, he didn’t need to practice Blood-Pulse Plunder. He could use it immediately, although his lack of experience with the skill would keep him from being very adept with it at first. Both of the skills were the same at their core.

Pat!

Han Sen memorized all of Blood-Pulse Plunder, searing it into his memory. Then, he crushed the green orb in his hands. Keeping it with him would be dangerous. It was best to destroy it now and not leave any evidence behind.

But when the green orb was crushed, the blood smoke ran into the tips of Han Sen’s fingers. The smoke sank through his skin until it reached his blood vessels and blood.

Han Sen tried to stop it, but nothing seemed to work. The Blood-Pulse Sutra’s power and the blood mist were one and the same. They melted together immediately, and they refused to separate.

Blood-Pulse Plunder started to run. The process was so smooth that Han Sen felt as if he had already practiced it a million times.

“Whoever left this item behind was a very scary person. He seems to have known that the person who found the orb would destroy it. The red mist was prepared to aid a learner with the practice of Blood-Pulse Plunder. Even if the person that found the orb hadn’t learned the Blood-Pulse Sutra, this would allow them to understand Blood-Pulse Plunder very quickly.” Han Sen was shocked. Whoever designed the orb had clearly understood psychology quite well. After all those eons had passed, the person had still anticipated what Han Sen was going to do.

“But that means whoever prepared the orb didn’t expect the person who collected the orb to know of the Blood-Pulse Sutra already. In that case, this must not be an item that Blood Legion prepared for their own people. Maybe the Sacred Leader actually has nothing to do with Blood Legion, and he just acquired this through random happenstance?” Han Sen continued to think to himself.

Mister White and Crime were still leading the way. Han Sen had the blood kirin follow behind him.

Han Sen had been following Mister White for a very long time now, and no danger seemed to cross their path. They walked through another one hundred palaces, and then, they arrived at a checkpoint.

But this time, what they saw at the checkpoint froze them in place.

There was a big hole in the middle of the circular palace. If that checkpoint was the same as the first one, there ought to have been a giant statue in its place. Mister White’s eyes widened.

“It looks like someone got here before us and decided to destroy the hall,” Mister White said.

He rushed down to examine the hole, and Han Sen and Crime followed. They stood near him and looked down into the darkness. What they saw seemed to imply that it was a natural cavern formation.

Pieces of floor and broken statue lay at the bottom of the cave. It was just as they thought: a statue had stood there, but it had been destroyed.

“Let me go down and take a closer look.” Han Sen was curious. He didn’t know who might have come there first and made such a mess.

Han Sen went down to check out the cave carefully. He discovered that the cave had another three paths, which all led different directions.

Crime and Mister White ventured down, as well. Mister White looked at the pile of rubble that once formed the statue. “The statue has been broken, and whatever gift it had for us is gone. I cannot be sure who took it, though. The broken statue can no longer speak, either, so whatever message it had is lost to us.”

“What do we do now? Should we stick with the plan, or check out where these tunnels might lead?” Han Sen stared down one of the stone tunnels.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion erupted from the cave.

The cave began to shake as if there was a thunderstorm raging. It felt like their eardrums were going to break.

“Going into the caves is too risky. We should stick with the plan we have already established. If someone ventured this way before us, they would have to come back, even if they got the Sacred Leader’s treasure. We can still stand a chance.” Mister White didn’t look too cheery. He flew out of the cave.

Han Sen used his Purple-Eye Butterfly to examine the broken statue. He was unable to learn anything. He then looked down the tunnel that seemed to be experiencing a thunderstorm. Hearing more thunder, Han Sen decided to go back with Mister White.

Perhaps it was because someone had already been there, but Mister White calculated the next route much faster. It seemed as if he wanted to catch up with whoever was ahead of them.

Over the next few palaces, Han Sen and the others were able to confirm that someone had come there before them.

But Mister White quickly discovered that the mystery man didn’t seem to know the proper route. He had tried every single door of light, and he had made many mistakes. He had entered into some dangerous palaces before returning and taking the correct routes.

“This guy doesn’t know the proper way to the treasure, but he keeps trying and trying. He has made it an impressive distance into this maze. That means the person is very strong, and he has been here for a very long time,” Mister White said with a frown.

“That should be impossible! Before we entered the portal in that tree, the door was locked. Without Han Sen’s stone plate, how did he manage to gain access?” Crime asked with suspicion.

Mister White merely shook his head. He didn’t know. Han Sen didn’t say anything, either, and he just followed Mister White. Reaching the third checkpoint took them an hour less than it had taken them to reach the second checkpoint.

Han Sen carefully entered the third checkpoint and stopped dead. His eyes opened wide, and he almost screamed.