Chapter 19 Thank You

After teaching Geng Qianxing and three others the basic Long Fist, Ding Huan decided to leave Heluo City in search of the Fire Lizard.

The Fire Lizard is considered one of the strongest limb-regenerating animals on the surface of the Earth, but Ding Huan knew that although the regenerative ability of the Fire Lizard was very terrifying,

it had a fatal flaw—sometimes the regenerated organs differ from the original ones, meaning they could not perfectly replicate the original body shape.

However, this was not a problem for Ding Huan. He could not only perfectly find the Alien Gene he needed but also complete the missing parts of the Alien Gene abilities.

The regenerative ability of the Fire Lizard was strong, but even without any flaws, Ding Huan wouldn't simply replicate it.

Before creating the Regeneration Gene Potion, Ding Huan also planned to find the regenerative genes of either a Mutated Cactus or Mutated Torch Grass.

These two were known to be immortal existences. As long as they were fused with the regenerative genes of the Fire Lizard, and recombined by him, adding in some compatible gene fragments, it would definitely perfectly match the human genome.

The Fire Lizard is also known as the Fire Salamander, and rumors say it carries a hint of dragon's bloodline, earning it the alternate name of Fire Dragon.

Whether it truly had dragon's bloodline was unclear to Ding Huan, but this did not affect his plan to extract the Fire Lizard's wound-regenerating genes.

Fire Lizards are now not considered rare, but that depends on the location, mostly found in Central Europe or Southern Europe.

It would not be possible to find traces of Fire Lizards in Heluo City. By comparison, the South had more.

This time, Ding Huan intended to head south to Lujiang City.

...

Ding Huan didn't have much money on him, and he even borrowed a few thousand from Geng Qianxing for this trip.

Therefore, he chose not to travel by plane or maglev, but by ordinary express train.

Even if he could afford to fly, Ding Huan would not choose to do so. Nowadays, with the proliferation of flying Genetic Beasts, flying was actually the most dangerous mode of transport.

Not to mention airplanes, even trains weren't necessarily safe.

Therefore, most trains passing through uninhabited areas operated during the day and halted at night.

Ding Huan didn't encounter any danger on the train ride, and arrived safely at Anhe County.

In order not to delay his Cultivation, he decided to rest for one night upon reaching Anhe County.

Anhe was a mountain city, not only built on a mountain but also surrounded by mountains on three sides.

The largest mountain near Anhe was Beilong Mountain. Compared with the top ten mountain ranges of Hua Xia, it was considerably smaller, but the mountain itself spanned two to three hundred miles and was extremely precipitous.

Before Earth's environmental mutations, Anhe was one of the poorest counties.

After the mutations, the remote mountain villages of Anhe County were basically ravaged by Genetic Beasts. The surviving villagers all congregated in Anhe County.

Despite its small size, there were many Fierce Beasts here, and the defenses of Anhe County were not much weaker than those of Luoh River City.

The mountains near Anhe, especially treacherous after the mutation, produced many extremely rare medicinal herbs.

In addition to these, the region was rich in Mutated Medicinal Materials.

These rare, mutated medicinal materials attracted many Martial Artists and gene cultivators to come here.

As the number of visitors increased, Anhe became more lively.

After arriving in Anhe, Ding Huan looked for a few hotels but couldn't find a room.

Anhe County was small to begin with, and although a few more hotels had sprung up due to the rare medicinal herbs produced in the outskirts of the county, they were still not enough to meet demand.

Yilan Hotel—this was the eleventh hotel Ding Huan had checked, and he thought that if this one was also full, he might indeed have to spend the night on the street.

"No rooms available." Ding Huan had just walked up to the front desk, and before he could speak, the young girl there said with a smile.

Clearly, she encountered this situation several times a day and had preempted Ding Huan's request.

Ding Huan felt quite helpless. He was about to turn around and leave when a voice came from behind.

"Xiao Fei, I plan to leave Anhe for Pu Hai tomorrow. I have to take my chances, no matter what. Are you coming with me?"

On hearing this voice, Ding Huan stood rooted to the spot as if struck by electricity; that voice had reverberated countless times in his mind.

Today, he finally heard it again.

"Why be so cruel, to break his legs and gouge out his eyes—, he's still so young..."

"When I die, please donate my eyes to him. He's still so young; let him see the beauty of the world with my eyes..."

She had only spoken to him twice; no—, maybe not to him, but rather she saw herself in Ding Huan.

She had met someone with a tragic fate like hers and expressed a monologue of deep, deep helplessness from the bottom of her heart...

She entrusted the faint thread of longing from the depths of her heart to Ding Huan, hoping he would survive, live on with her eyes.

These two sentences echoed in Ding Huan's mind countless times, and he also depicted the appearance of the girl who spoke them countless times in his mind.

He had never seen her, yet she had become the most important person in his life, his most familiar stranger.

Every time he thought of her painful struggle before death, her voice of despair, Ding Huan wished he could immediately return to Earth to obliterate the Genetic Alliance's laboratory, perhaps even the Genetic Alliance itself.

Not for himself—without the Genetic Alliance's laboratory, his death was certain.

He wanted to do it for the girl who gave him her eyes—, she was innocent.

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A laboratory that experiment with innocent lives for genetic research, should be annihilated ten thousand times over.

But even though he had become a fourth-level gene cultivator, he was still a hundred thousand miles away from returning to Earth.

Ding Huan dared not turn around, his eyes were somewhat red.

Two hundred years had passed, yet the sound of that voice was still so clear, less husky and desperate than in his previous life, but filled with a longing for the future.

Ding Huan slowly turned around, two girls standing side by side came into view.

Seemingly feeling Ding Huan's gaze, the girl who had spoken turned around.

The girl's face flushed slightly as she noticed Ding Huan staring blankly at her; she nodded to him and then turned her eyes away.

It was her, he had not misheard, it was definitely that girl.

Those bright eyes, untainted by even a speck of dust, assured Ding Huan he was not mistaken.

Yes, she looked exactly as he had imagined her countless times, like a clear stream, pristine and visible to the bottom.

Perhaps in terms of beauty, she could not compare to those other beauties he had seen before.

She did not possess a beauty that would bring nations to their knees, yet her clean and delicate face made Ding Huan think the saying "A hibiscus emerges from the water, naturally uncarved" must have been written for her.

In Ding Huan's eyes, those utterly pure eyes were the most beautiful.

She was the incarnation of an angel; no other girl could match her.

Such a girl, and yet the Genetic Alliance had taken her to conduct gene potion fusion experiments; the anger long buried in Ding Huan's heart was once again ignited.

Watching the girl's retreating figure, Ding Huan rubbed the corners of his somewhat sore eyes and murmured,

"Perhaps we are of a kind."

Just like when she saw his legs broken and his eyes gouged out, her voice carried that same sadness, heartfelt and profound.

But he did not know her; she was simply too kind, so kind that she could not bear to see others suffering even when she herself was in pain.

As Qu Yi approached the elevator, she couldn't help but look back at Ding Huan, who was still standing in place; there was something strange about him.

"What's wrong with this guy?" the girl beside Qu Yi noticed Ding Huan's odd behavior and couldn't help but ask.

Qu Yi shook her head; she didn't know what was wrong with Ding Huan.

As she pressed the elevator button to go up, Ding Huan finally snapped out of it and approached Qu Yi in a few quick steps.

"Do you need something?" Qu Yi asked.

She had been observing Ding Huan because from the moment he saw her, he had been staring at her without shifting his gaze.

Looking at Ding Huan's eyes, they seemed to be red, as if he was somewhat agitated.

"May I know your name?" Ding Huan asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Qu Yi smiled, "My name is Qu Yi."

The elevator doors opened, and Qu Yi walked in; she did not ask for Ding Huan's name. During her university days, she frequently encountered boys like Ding Huan.

"Yi Yi, has he fallen for you?" the girl teased Qu Yi as the elevator doors closed.

Qu Yi smiled but remained silent.

She had never been in a relationship, yet many had pursued her.

Truth be told, she did not see in Ding Huan's eyes the look of a suitor smitten with love.

What puzzled her was that she seemed to see an old, intimate friend's excitement and difficulty to contain themselves upon a first encounter.

The feeling was quite strange, causing her to question if she had seen things wrong.

Just as the elevator doors had closed, they opened again.

Qu Yi and her companion saw Ding Huan standing at the elevator entrance and made room for him to enter.

But Ding Huan did not walk into the elevator as they had imagined; instead, he bowed to Qu Yi and said, "Thank you, Qu Yi, my name is Ding Huan."

Qu Yi looked somewhat bemused at Ding Huan—why was he thanking her? She searched her memory diligently and was sure she had never seen Ding Huan before.

"May I have your contact information?" Ding Huan asked again.

Before Qu Yi could respond, her companion said, "Sorry, we can't give out her contact information..."

The elevator doors closed once more, and Ding Huan did not press the elevator button again.

He took a deep breath; no matter what, he had to find Qu Yi's residence and contact information.

If his fate could start over, he would not allow Qu Yi's fate to be destroyed by the Genetic Alliance again.

With nowhere to stay in the hotel, Ding Huan walked to a corner of the lobby and sat down on a sofa after placing his bag down.

Having no place to stay didn't greatly affect him. As long as the hotel's lobby would harbor him, he could cultivate there for the night.

Ding Huan had planned to offer some money if the hotel staff came to drive him away.

To his surprise, the front desk staff did not mind him resting in the corner of the lobby; perhaps this was something they often encountered.

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