Rebirth: Super gene

Power comes in different forms, such as pure physical might or flexible, lucrative means.

One of its most fundamental forms was knowledge—having information no one else could even dream of.

That was the main power Bian had as he came to this new world. He knew about the miraculous encounters of Han Sen and took full advantage of them.

After leaving Ghost Mountain with Han Yan and Man Tian, they rode on the back of the Golden Growler to Thorn Forest, traveling for several days until Bian found his target.

A super creature in the form of an ape with temporal powers. It could speed itself up when it ran and cover large distances at an astonishing rate.

He didn't stalk the creature for the life essence. No, there were bigger stakes at play. Besides, Han Yan had maxed out all her gene points, just like Man Tian. Now Bian's super gene points were at eighty.

With the activation of Jade Body, he would be physically stronger than both Han Yan and Man Tian. So there was no need to worry about fitness for now.

They stalked the Time Ape for days, following it as it went to a secluded part of the forest, up a mountain that led to a waterfall.

They followed along and saw an entrance behind the waterfall. After breaching the entrance, they were introduced to several hundred trees hosting fruits of different colors.

"Welcome to your home for the next three years!" Bian said as they moved deeper into the valley. The entrance they came from faded away, trapping them inside.

Oh oh ah ah!

The bellows of hundreds of apes were deafening. The Time Ape was the only super creature with a thousand followers behind it. From the looks of it, they didn't take too kindly to these intruders.

"Are you sure we brought enough meat for all of them?" Han Yan asked.

Bian scoffed. "If it's not enough, they should learn to ration. If they aim for a fruit, decapitate them!"

Man Tian frowned a bit. Bian was a little bit tyrannical in his actions. He shrugged his shoulders the next second.

In the sanctuaries, the ironclad rule had always been kill or be killed. Their survival was at stake here, so they couldn't afford to be soft.

Like they rehearsed, the trio dropped a large sack of meat for the apes. None of the apes touched the meat but inspected it with curiosity.

Meanwhile, Han Yan and Man Tian each plucked a fruit and ate, while Bian stood guard.

They took a few moments to adjust to the inflow of power and circulated their various methods. Each of them gained a self gene point.

Most of the apes were now bored with watching the trio. A tall and lanky ape, who was feeling hungry, went towards one of the fruits.

Han Yan opened her eyes and slashed out with a blade. The head of the ape reaching for a fruit flew into the air with blood trailing behind it like a rocket.

The three of them couldn't care less about their reactions. Both Man Tian and Han Yan who had just eaten a fruit felt their bodies could handle more.

Slowly, the three of them began alternating as they ate the fruits, which helped them open more of their gene locks.

The apes were frightened but didn't learn their lesson until a dozen more of them perished for attempting to grab a fruit.

By now, the super Time Ape was aware of the fact that Bian and his team were responsible for its fellows' deaths. The woman always struck out before one of their own died.

It didn't know how the woman was killing them, but it was infuriated by her actions.

Surprisingly, the ape didn't choose to fight against them. Instead, it let its fellows eat the meat in the sacks the humans brought.

The meat was of high quality, with the lowest grade being mutant meat. This allowed them to gain more nutrients from smaller amounts and could be managed properly if they had sense.

Eight months passed by in a blur. Bian, who had been practicing and eating the fruits, had unlocked the eighth gene lock of the Dongxuan Sutra after much effort.

The Dongxuan Sutra required life-and-death moments to gain insights, but Bian couldn't engage in such fights.

He was usually too strong and wasn't willing to throw away his life while seeking enlightenment in battle.

Thankfully, he was quite talented, and with the Soul Pillar being active, was able to progress with the Dongxuan Sutra.

The energy from the fruits acted as fuel, which satiated his hunger and supported his growth while he used past scenarios in his mind to push himself further.

In under a year, he managed to stabilize his shaky foundation, caused by rapid growth. The cracks around his face and body had healed up, making him top-model material.

Han Yan made significant progress in the Blood Pulse Sutra and Falsified-Sky Sutra. She reached the sixth gene lock in the former and the seventh gene lock in the latter. Her Dongxuan Sutra was the slowest to progress, still at the fifth gene lock, but luckily, Bian was there to give pointers.

Finally, Man Tian also advanced by leaps and bounds. Although Bian didn't know which methods he was practicing, his main technique had reached the seventh gene lock.

Around this time, the apes foolishly finished all the meat in the sacks instead of rationing it. They were getting reckless, and an attack could occur anytime soon.

Although the three of them were strong, they couldn't guarantee coming out unscathed if they were ambushed by a super creature aided by a thousand creatures.

The tension was rising slowly.

Bian thought to himself, 'Maybe we should just kill 'em all. Save ourselves the trouble and paranoia.'

He had this thought on several occasions but was slightly afraid to enact his plans. What if this led to the birth of a tyrant who killed wantonly just for convenience sake?

Bian had no issue killing those who opposed or angered him, but he couldn't kill the apes whose spot he had intruded on and whose opportunity he had stolen. Not to mention, the apes weren't your usual bloodthirsty savages and had some sentience.

After he shared his concerns with his friend and girlfriend, they agreed to come to a compromise with the apes.

Each ape could take one fruit every three days. The fruits had enough vitality to last them that long as long as they didn't overexert themselves.

The three of them couldn't possibly finish all the fruit in the valley but needed to ensure they had enough.

Communication was rough, but eventually, the Time Ape agreed to this arrangement. Not like it had much choice otherwise. It had seen the giant gold lion the three of them were on and knew it was no match for such a beast.

With all issues settled, time flowed by like a river. Man Tian gave the couple some privacy by staying with the apes most of the time.

He examined the large jug, cauldron and other earthen wared in the cave. Meanwhile, Bian got some privacy with Han Yan.

Meditating so close to each other made Bian's heart skip a beat. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Han Yan breathing, her chest rising and falling.

For the first time in a while, the Soul Pillar slowed down to normal functioning. Bian couldn't focus on meditation as long as he was feeling this way.

One day...

"Hey, Han Yan. You still awake?"

"Yeah," a sleepy voice answered him.

"After we deal with Executioner Green, I will propose to you!" Bian said with conviction.

Once they dealt with this looming threat, he would be free to plan out their marriage.

"Do you know I can see the chain of cause and effect around every living being?" Han Yan suddenly asked.

"Okay, but why bring that up?" Bian didn't know how their conversation had reached such a point.

"It's because the usually neutral chain around you turned black the moment you finished speaking earlier."

Han Yan turned to face him, her eyes slightly red like she was about to cry.

Bian realized he had fired a death flag, and it was a very real thing. He felt so stupid for only thinking about how he felt and other emotional stuff like that.

"Sorry about that," he said, unsure of what to do now.

A hand suddenly went around his waist and pulled him closer. He and Han Yan were now face to face.

"You know, being too much of a gentleman is a turn-off." She placed her lips on his, making the first move since Bian didn't.

And that move was all it took for the engine to start operating.

Bian felt chains around him breaking, but he couldn't care less about anything else other than this moment.

He used the Dongxuan Sutra to remove their presence from the cave, forming a small black ball that couldn't be perceived through.

Man Tian, who was hanging on the other side, just smiled and went back to training. All his worries about Bian faded instantly.

Now he could bring up the fact that he was already married without it pressuring Bian.