Three Years

Stuck there in the valley, with no immediate concerns, Han Sen was bored and had nothing to do. Aside from chatting with Thorn Baron and taking care of Bao'er, he spent all his time practicing the Blood-Pulse Sutra.

Perhaps it was because he had a lot of fruit, the speed in which he could practice had vastly increased, and he unlocked the next gene lock in a few short days.

His Blood-Pulse Sutra was developing very quickly, but the same could not be said for the Dongxuan Sutra.

Han Sen put a stop to his practice of the Dongxuan Sutra to wholly focus on the Blood-Pulse Sutra, for the time being.

And that was all he could do. As boring as it may have been, at least it was beneficial for his personal growth.

When he was a little worn out, though, he'd take the time to investigate the valley and examine the earthenware a little more closely, and perhaps even see if he could unearth a clue or come up with a solution to his dilemma.

But the items that were strewn across the valley lacked markings or telltale signs of their former owners or makers. Without any leads to follow, Han Sen seemed to forever remain at square one.

There was, however, one item he came across that was interesting. It was a broken tablet that had been entirely buried beneath the ground.

He caught sight of a monkey taking a leak nearby. It dug a hole and did its business, and when it was done, Han Sen noticed the corner of the fragmented tablet the monkey had inadvertently dug around to answer the call of nature. Unfazed by the monkey pee, Han Sen went over to uncover the rest and dig it all up.

The tablet was big, just like everything else in the valley. It was ten meters wide and two meters tall. The text on the tablet was written in an ancient human language, one that Han Sen had little knowledge of. The only word he could decipher, was the word knock.

It was fortunate Han Sen had once taken the time to educate himself about ancient languages. If he hadn't, he would have passed the text off as nonsensical scribbles.

"Hmm, this is an ancient human language. Was this thing created by humans?" Han Sen was shocked at the discovery he had made.

On the word knock, Han Sen noticed there was a blood-stain. It was a melancholy sight to see.

He then looked at the craftsmanship of the tablet. He couldn't guess what tools had been used to carve it and etch the ancient characters, but the work was remarkable. It was all very smooth. It was strong, too, and even if Han Sen exhausted all his power on the tablet, it was likely he couldn't break it. He'd probably not even be able to leave a mark.

Aside from this curiosity he had found, no other item he had seen in the valley had words etched upon them.

Han Sen and the monkeys were still stuck there, and with no daytimes or nighttimes, it was impossible to determine how much time had passed.

Han Sen continued his practice, and things came along very well. With his fifteen-hundred fitness level, he managed to open six of his Blood-Pulse Sutra gene locks.

He also made sure to eat a lot of fruit, too. When his self geno point tally reached a sum of nine-hundred, it appeared to become significantly more difficult to increase.

No matter what fruit he ate, he could not increase his self geno points. As far as he could tell, he had maxed it out.

Even Thorn Baron helped herself to the fruit of that valley, and her development came along quite a bit. She managed to open nine gene locks.

The blue monkeys had done well for themselves, also. They all looked like fierce primate warriors; they were terrifying!

But because they had all been in the valley together for the same amount of time, trapped, they had become friendly. All of them were in the same boat, and both parties acknowledged there was no need to make matters worse by maintaining their hostilities.

With no day and night cycle to mark the passage of time, Han Sen had made sure not to lose track of the calendar, though. He counted the hours that passed in his head, and every time the count hit twenty-four, he made a mark.

It might not have been the most accurate calendar, but it had to be fairly close.

They were there for a long time, so long. Han Sen believed they had all been stuck in that valley for three years. His Blood-Pulse Sutra was up to its ninth tier.

There had been no advancement with his super king spirit mode. It was still at nine hundred, and Han Sen was still unable to earn any more points for it.

Unfortunately, his fitness was still stuck at fifteen-hundred. His sacred-blood and super geno points had not increased one tiny bit. Still, the fact he had managed to open so many gene locks with such a low fitness level was a remarkable accomplishment, and one that was extremely rare.

But even at seven gene locks open, Han Sen's body could not support the surge in strength it provided.

Super king spirit mode did not have this negative effect, though. So, Han Sen was able to use that as freely as he could. With all of its gene locks open, Han Sen could use super king spirit mode for at least a whole hour.

If he did use it that long, though, Han Sen required a whole week of rest to recover before he could use it again.

After three years, Bao'er was still the baby she had always been. But Han Sen understood her lifecycle might have been different than a typical human's.

On this day, as he frequently did, Han Sen took a stroll all around the valley. He did this every day, trying to spot even the slightest difference in the place, which seemed to be stuck in time.

And over the course of the three years, there had not been a single change. That is, except for the fruit they had all eaten. The trees were bare and the valley looked glum and dead, following their three year occupation of the place.

If they didn't find a way to leave the valley soon, there was a possibility of a simian uprising, and Han Sen and the apes would end up fighting again.

But on this day, when Han Sen approached where the entrance of the valley had once been, he had his breath taken away.

Han Sen almost cried tears of joy. The flat wall, which had blocked his return once before, now led into a tunnel. It was the exact same one he had traversed to get to the valley three years ago.

"After three long years, we are free! Bao'er come, we can leave this place!" Han Sen ran to Bao'er and picked her up as hastily as he could. He was afraid the cave would disappear.

He returned Thorn Baron to the Sea of Soul and called over to the monkeys, saying, "Come on, let's go! We can leave!"

Han Sen did not know whether they understood or not, and neither did he care to stay and find out. He raced back to the tunnel as fast as he could.

As he ran through the dark tunnel, the roar of a waterfall began to echo around him.

When the literal light at the end of the tunnel greeted Han Sen's eyes, and the sound of that waterfall caressed his ears, Han Sen felt like crying.

Over the past three years, he had become far stronger and had advanced a considerable amount. But still, it felt as if he had spent the time in jail. He had been stripped of all freedom. Now, he had been given that freedom back, and that sensation trumpeted through every cell of his being.

Han Sen ran out through the waterfall and flew into the sky with Bao'er in his hands. He went up and up, shooting through the clouds.

"Han Sen is back! Haha!"