1986 Red Coral

Thousand Feather Crane started to say something more, but the Jade Air erupted. The four of them focused on absorbing the Jade Air, which had become unusually strong around Han Sen. The Jade Air eventually turned back to normal, and there was no more pure Jade Air to take in. Han Sen was more sure about his line of thinking now.

When the first Jade Air ended, Yun Suyi came up to the seventh floor. There, they all discussed the exam and the unexpected entrance of Lone Bamboo.

“On your sixth fight, you will encounter Lone Bamboo. That will be a hard fight. I am worried for you, but I will admit I am looking forward to witnessing it. If you are going to fight, I am going to watch.” Thousand Feather Crane smiled.

“I agree with what Brother Crane says,” First Day said, while clasping his hands together.

Han Sen curiously asked, “What did Lone Bamboo do to suffer the nightmarish trial of torture?”

Han Sen knew that torture like that was worse than being killed. It was a miracle that Lone Bamboo was able to wake up in ten years. That was something that had never happened in Sky Palace before.

Nightmare was a deified xenogeneic dream beast power. Ordinary people could not resist it, especially after they had experienced the nightmares for a while.

“The elders do not talk about it. They avoid the subject. We can’t say for sure what happened. We only know that he broke the rules,” Yun Sushang said.

After talking for a while, Han Sen only heard the words strong and very strong. He also heard the words extremely strong. But that wasn’t very useful.

So, Han Sen did not keep any of that in mind. He did not think he was invincible, but weak or strong, he’d have to engage the man in battle if he was to find out. There was no point wasting any more time thinking about it.

When the second Jade Air came, Yun Suyi went back to the fourth floor. On the seventh floor, Han Sen absorbed the second deluge of Jade Air. He thought his Jadeskin was coming along quickly. After ten more rounds of Jade Air, he imagined he could bring it up to Earl class.

It was a shame that the Jade Air only happened twice a week. It wasn’t a process he could rush.

After counting the time, he realized it would take two or three months. Going from Viscount to Earl that fast would be something of a miracle for most people.

After leaving White Jade Jing, Han Sen went to Old Night Island to resume hunting. He didn’t care about anything else right now. Getting more genes and leveling up was better than anything else he could do.

There was only a week left before the exam, though. There was not much time, and Han Sen wanted to max out his Earl genes before attending the exams.

Just as Han Sen was preparing to take the legless crane to the island, Yun Suyi jogged over to him.

“Han Sen, are you going back to Little Jade Island?”

“I am going to Old Night Island to hunt xenogeneics,” Han Sen answered.

“Can you take me there? It doesn’t sound as dangerous as Xuanyuan Cave, and I am sure I can protect myself. I won’t take the loot, but I would certainly like to accompany you,” Yun Suyi said.

Han Sen agreed. Old Night Island wasn’t too dangerous, and if she wasn’t going to take any loot, bringing her along would do no harm.

Seeing Han Sen agree, she looked visibly delighted. She smiled and said, “Old Night Island does not permit Earl class mounts, so I won’t be riding Jade Wing Tiger. Can I ride atop your Jade Night Crane?”

“He is strong. Two people can sit on him, sure. He is just a little slow.” Han Sen smiled.

“It is okay to be slow.” Yun Suyi blinked.

When the legless crane took off, Han Sen hopped onto its back. Yun Suyi followed.

The legless crane had limited space atop its back. They sat together, shoulders touching shoulders. It made Yun Suyi blush.

One crane and two people disappeared into the clouds.

The legless crane flew a few hundred miles inland once they reached the island. And despite all the time it took, they were unable to locate an Earl xenogeneic. Han Sen missed Little Uncle at times like this. If he was there, they wouldn’t have to go out in search of the xenogeneics. The xenogeneics would come out in search of them.

While they were looking for xenogeneics, something shone atop a mountain. Han Sen quickly went there with Yun Suyi. The mountain was like a sword, raised eight hundred meters into the sky. There were some red coral plants growing across it.

The light they saw was the glittering of those plants.

When Yun Suyi saw the plants, she looked to be in shock. She said, “This is an Earl class xenogeneic plant. It is called Blood Coral. Xenogeneics love to eat this, as it is great for their evolution. They are eaten when they grow to the size of a hand. This one on the peak is three meters tall, and yet it hasn’t been eaten by a xenogeneic. That is strange.”

Han Sen looked at the red coral and said, “Ah. That’s why it hasn’t been eaten. There is a strong xenogeneic that owns it, and so all the other xenogeneics don’t dare come close.”

“I don’t see any xenogeneics around.” Yun Suyi looked around to confirm, but she still saw nothing. It was so quiet around, and there were no weak xenogeneics, either.

Han Sen pointed at the red coral and said, “Look at the red coral. It is there.”

Yun Suyi followed Han Sen’s finger. She looked, and then saw a stick. It was not really a stick, though. It was a red bug that blended into the red coral. It was similar to a mantis, and it was munching on the red coral.

“It is an Earl class Blood God Mantis. It is one foot long, so it isn’t physically large. But it is very strong for an Earl class foe.” As she spoke, Yun Suyi’s face changed. “I know! This mantis is guarding this red coral because he wants to use its power to evolve. He doesn’t want to be a Marquis; he wants to be a mutant. Kill it before it eats the red coral!”

Han Sen was very pleased to hear that, so he smiled and said, “If it wants to evolve, then let it.”

Yun Suyi wished to say something, but seeing Han Sen smile was comforting. She felt safe. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything. If Han Sen said things were okay, then she couldn’t keep herself from believing him.

The Blood God Mantis ate the red coral slowly. They waited for one hour, and after all that time, the mantis had only eaten a small part of the plant. But its body was glowing like a polished ruby.

“Han Sen, you are a crystallizer. But you are also Knife Queen’s student. Will you marry a crystallizer or a Rebate?” Yun Suyi asked jokingly.

“I have a wife. She is the same race as me,” Han Sen answered lackadaisically, as he looked at the mantis.

Yun Suyi’s face fell. She looked extremely disappointed. “Why didn’t you bring your wife?”

“My kids are young. She needed to take care of them, so she stayed at home,” Han Sen answered.

“You have kids?” Yun Suyi’s eyes opened wide.

Yes. I have two that are biological, and others that are… adopted,” Han Sen answered.

Yun Suyi’s heart was broken. She found herself struggling to breathe. She looked at Han Sen and sighed. She didn’t say another word for a long time.