Strange Mountain

Han Sen planned to practice in the mountains. He didn't need to practice Teeth Knife, but there were too many spies occupying the base. If Han Sen stayed there without practicing, people might grow suspicious.

So, Han Sen headed into the mountains to train. But instead of practicing Teeth Knife as he had told everyone, he began to work on the Dongxuan Sutra.

His Mutant Blood and Jadeskin had reached Viscount class, but the Dongxuan Sutra and The Story of Genes hadn't. The Story of Genes couldn't be leveled up through mere practice, so he could only focus on the Dongxuan Sutra for now.

Han Sen didn't take anyone with him this time. He planned to push himself hard in order to breakthrough, which would make it dangerous to have others around him.

Fortunately, there were many resources on Planet Eclipse. Xie Qing King and others could venture out and hunt xenogeneics on their own. The people he had brought over from the sanctuaries could eat xenogeneic genes and use beast souls, so they leveled up faster than the people in the geno universe.

"Xenogeneic Gene Eaten; Iron Wolf; Viscount Gene +1."

Han Sen gobbled up some xenogeneic meat, and his Viscount xenogeneic gene tally increased. When one of his bodies became Viscount, he could increase that gene tally. Baron xenogeneic genes were currently useless for him. He had to eat Viscount materials exclusively now.

Killing Viscount xenogeneics was an easy task for Han Sen, and his Viscount genes were increasing quickly.

After six days of travel, Han Sen found himself more than a thousand miles deep into the mountains. He met strong Marquise creatures, but he was able to run away with the rabbit shoes. Overall, the venture wasn't too dangerous.

"What is this?" As Han Sen treaded along a path, he spied the presence of a strange mountain.

The weather on Planet Eclipse wasn't great. There was no grass growing, and so all the mountains were barren and rocky.

The mountain in front of him was very green, though. Trees were growing all over it. There were flowers, and some of the plants even possessed fruit.

There were birds and insects on this mountain. They were far away, but Han Sen could feel their lifeforce.

"Planet Eclipse has a mountain like this?" Han Sen thought it was weird. He examined the surrounding area and realized that it was the only mountain like this in the region.

Han Sen carefully approached it. There had to be a reason why it was so luscious. Perhaps there was a treasure or something; that thought prompted Han Sen to have a look around.

Han Sen trekked to the mountain. While he noticed that there were a large collection of lifeforces coming from the mountain, he could tell that the birds and the trees were completely normal. There didn't seem to be any xenogeneics, either.

"Weird. Xenogeneic plants are difficult to grow on this planet, and even xenogeneic creatures often have trouble surviving. And yet, how are these all alive? Especially since they seem so ordinary." Han Sen was quite curious about this anomaly.

Han Sen kept walking up the mountain, and the foliage was just as lovely as it had appeared from a distance. Normal plants and creatures were spread out all across the mountain, as if the entire mountain had been transplanted to Planet Eclipse.

After an hour, Han Sen was able to reach the peak. He was quite shocked by the view he now saw, though.

Atop the mountain, amidst a small grove of trees, there was an emerald field. A wooden house stood there, and it looked very old.

"Is anyone there?" Han Sen called out to the occupied house. He thought it was a strange thing to find, and so he thought to himself, "Who could build a house in a place like this?"

Han Sen shouted again, but he received no response. So, he walked to the house because the windows were open. He wanted to take a look at what was inside from there.

The decorations of the interior were simple and rustic. They were all comprised of wood, and the primary features were a table and bed. Even the teapot and the plates were made of wood. It looked as if the people there used wood to build everything.

The wood was not big, though. You could see it all in one eye. There was a room at the back of the house, too, but you could not see it from outside.

"Is anyone in here?" Han Sen asked. He received no response. So, he pushed open the door and it swung forward. A lock hadn't been fixed on it.

Han Sen walked inside and poked around. There didn't seem to be anything worth examining, so he decided to check out the back room.

Han Sen opened the door and froze. All of a sudden, he found a person standing next to the bed. They were facing Han Sen with their eyes open.

"I am sorry. I called from the outside, and I believed this place was empty." Han Sen explained, but his words were met with awkward silence. Something was giving him pause.

That was because the person next to the bed was a man: a human.

The man stood where he was and did not move. He didn't even look at Han Sen.

"Excuse me..." Han Sen looked at the man and spoke carefully. He wanted to know what he was, and why there might be a human there.

But Han Sen did not know for sure that the man was a human. He could have been a crystallizer, forgotten long ago.

Han Sen asked him a few questions, and each time he received no response. Han Sen would have thought the man was dead if not for his lifeforce.

"My name is Han Sen. What is yours?"

When Han Sen said that, the man suddenly moved. He put a finger in front of his lips, like a gesture to indicate he should be quiet. The man did not appear hostile, and that brought Han Sen much relief. He stopped talking and just watched the man.

The man continued standing there for a whole hour, without saying as much as a single word. He looked more like a statue than a living being.

"Is he practicing, maybe? Hmm, but it doesn't look like it." Han Sen felt very confused, but also very curious. He sat on a chair to watch the man and see what he'd do.

But ten hours went by, and still, the man did not budge.

"Friend, can we talk?" Han Sen could not wait any longer.

"Ssh!" The man gestured for silence again.

Han Sen's heart sank. He hadn't a clue what he was doing. He couldn't ask anything, as the man kept hushing him.

Han Sen looked around the room and noticed that it was all rustic, just like the rest of the house. Han Sen looked at a table and found something that was actually not made of wood. There was paper, alongside a stack of books.

"Friend, can I check this out?" Han Sen walked before the table and glanced over the books. There was a diary with many words scrawled on it.

But Han Sen didn't begin reading immediately. He still wanted to ask the man for permission.

The man looked very nervous, and he performed the ssh gesture again.

"If you don't object, then I'll assume you are agreeing." Han Sen went ahead to read the contents of the diary.