Super Gene

Han Sen placed the Dust Bug on his finger. The geno core was so small, he needed the Dongxuan Aura just to see it.

Dust Bug: Earth Element Bronze Geno Core

Making effective use of this geno core would require a certain level of proficiency with the element of earth.

Bronze was the tier of this geno core. There were four ranks of geno cores in total: bronze, silver, gold, and gemstone. People occasionally whispered the rumor of there being a geno core that superseded even the extremely rare and exotic gemstone-quality geno core. The details of what it might have been were scant, but the rumors never died. And if the mystical cores did exist, it was believed no human had possession of one.

Han Sen had many earth element geno points, so he could use his Dongxuan Sutra to make use of the Dust Bug.

However, this was not Han Sen’s geno core. It belonged to a creature that had been slain, and now it was forever locked in its current state. There was no room for its power to grow.

If Han Sen had a geno core he could actually call his own, its strength and power would grow in accordance with his own body.

Han Sen tried controlling the bug, and he quickly understood how it had hurt him earlier. The Dust Bug was so small, it’d undoubtedly slide beneath the notice of almost everyone. It could easily cut its way through the body of a creature or person without drawing attention to itself.

Han Sen was also starting to understand why Old Man Ji had told him not to underestimate a single creature he’d encounter. The grasshopper was only an ordinary-class creature, and yet it had dished out that much damage. What’s more, it had made its own lifeforce appear even less than it was.

He knew he’d have to be careful, and danger could find him at any moment. With things being this way, he understood why the survival rate for humans in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary was so low.

It was no wonder that only a hundred humans were currently surviving in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary and making a living which would allow them to go to and fro from the Alliance. Most people who made it to the Fourth God’s Sanctuary didn’t seem to live long enough to make it home.

There was always the possibility that there were many humans living in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary, who were just unable to find a way to return home. But even so, it seemed impossible for there to be many in such circumstances.

Attempting to return to the Alliance from the Fourth God’s Sanctuary required the same thing as in previous sanctuaries. They would have to either conquer a shelter or find one that was uninhabited. Of course, doing that was far more difficult in this realm than it now was in the others.

There was a sickeningly low number of shelters that were owned by humans in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary. Their numbers were few, and the chance of finding them was extremely small.

Han Sen wasn’t concerned with securing passage home just yet, though. He scanned the surrounding vicinity and told himself to collect one hundred ordinary geno points, first and foremost.

He wanted to get a geno core he could call his own. He had learned from his discussions with Old Man Ji that if he managed to collect one hundred geno points, his body and power would generate one for him. So, aside from the increase in strength, there was a tangible bonus that now prompted his urge to hurry in the collection of one hundred ordinary geno points.

He also wanted to do things in the proper established order. Han Sen didn’t want to skip around and try to take shortcuts like the ones that had benefitted him greatly in his early days in the Third God’s Sanctuary. It was too risky to do that in this place, so all he wanted to do now was knuckle down and knock out as many ordinary creatures as he could find, one by one.

It was not unheard of for many supremely talented creatures and spirits to receive a geno core right off the bat, following their traversal of The Ten Steps of the Holy Door.

Han Sen had hoped he’d be considered talented enough to receive one, but he was mildly irked when he emerged in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary with empty hands and just a face full of dirt.

But at least he had managed to slay the Soil Lotus and earn himself the Dust Bug fairly quickly. He didn’t bring the Cruel Bottle, just in case it was destroyed in his ascendance.

Either that or it’d become the Cruel Sand.

Han Sen looked at the body of the Soil Lotus and licked his lips. A grasshopper wasn’t the most appetizing creature, but it was his first kill in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary. He made a fire, cooked it, and ate it. It didn’t taste too bad.

“Soil Lotus has been consumed. Ordinary Gene +1.”

Han Sen heard the announcement play a number of times. He tried sharing some with Bao’er, but she didn’t want it. Han Sen ate the entire thing himself, and walked away with eight ordinary geno points. Not too shabby for his first meal.

Ordinary Geno Points seemed to have a much greater effect in the realm of demi-gods, it seemed. Already, he felt himself becoming much stronger.

“I need to find a safe place I can hunker down in. Out here, in plain sight, it’s too dangerous for me.” Then Han Sen took off in a direction, hoping to find someplace he could use as a den.

For the duration of his travel, he tirelessly scanned the environment all around him. He didn’t want to risk another chance encounter with a grasshopper like the last, or even worse.

And for a long time, he didn’t see anything. Whether that was luck or the field was just a quiet place in general, he did not know. But when he ascended a hill and got to the top for a clearer view, there still wasn’t much he could see. Plain, verdant expanses, as far as his eyes could see.

He could have flown to go at a faster pace, but Han Sen didn’t fancy doing that. It was too risky, and there was a high chance he could be spotted. Until he was familiar with the region, stealth would be his main mode of travel.

After an intense, continued scan, though, Han Sen finally caught sight of something. It was approaching. He threw himself into the grass to hide, and then he focused his vision on what he had seen.

At first he felt relief. It was a sheep, one that was as fluffy and as cute as the most darling sketch could bring alive. It had two black, twirling horns, and it was a plump little thing. It looked adorable, actually. And it looked docile, too. It didn’t appear to be aggressive.

Of course, having learned his lesson, Han Sen wasn’t willing to underestimate the creature. Its cute appearance could merely be a mask of deceit.

“Hey you! What are you doing down in the grass?” The mouth of the sheep moved, and it seemed to actually speak.

Han Sen looked around him, thinking it had been a coincidence. He thought maybe someone had approached and was talking to him, but he could see no one. The sheep really did seem to be talking.

“What are you looking at, bub? I’m talking to you.” The sheep’s eyes rolled, indicating it was annoyed by Han Sen’s lack of response.

“I was just… um, resting…” Han Sen sputtered, as he dragged himself back onto his feet, patting away the soil and blades of grass that still clung to him.

The sheep seemed to smirk, and then, it said, “What are you… Actually, you know what? I don’t care. Just tell me the powers you possess. If I think you’d make a valuable asset to my herd, you can come and graze with us, bub.”

Han Sen’s face twitched in shock, unsure if this was some strange dream he was experiencing or not. People had told him that the creatures in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary were crazy, but he didn’t think they would be this flavor of crazy.