Chapter 1397: An Unexpected Journey Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The spirit returned to his spirit stone, but Han Sen expected this. Regardless, Han Sen ventured up to the top of the mountain and began removing the black sand. There was a large mound of the stuff, and after much digging, Han Sen was able to find the lizard that had been buried. The lizard was not dead yet, but it was in poor shape. The black sand had suffocated it and crept its way into the lizard’s body. The lungs and organs were stuffed with sand, and its death was inevitable. The lizard’s mouth and nose were wet, caked in sand. It was a bad way to go out. Han Sen, wanting to put it out of its misery swiftly, took out his horn and plunged it through the creature’s heart. “Mutant Creature Cauldron Beast killed. Beast soul gained. Gold Geno Core acquired. Consume its flesh to gain zero to ten mutant geno points randomly.” Han Sen was delighted at the result. Things had gotten a little heated, but aside from ending up a little windswept, he’d be walking away from the venture with two mutant carcasses, a new gold geno core, and an extra beast soul to top it all off. Han Sen summoned his black unicorn and bundled everything together with his Gold Lock. This was a fine haul of meat, and it’d keep Han Sen full for some time to come. In the meantime, Cheap Sheep was still off in search of more mutant creatures for him. This would tide Han Sen over until then, for sure. A month later, Han Sen had almost finished consuming all the flesh. He had thus far received an additional sixteen mutant geno points, which brought his tally up to twenty-five. Currently, Han Sen was in the midst of his daily training regime with Red Pony and Starsea Beast. Over the past month, they had shown great diligence and development, and they took their training times with Han Sen very seriously. It made Han Sen glad to see them behave that way. “A, B, C.” Han Sen’s training wasn’t purely physical, and now he was holding up a board with the alphabet. “A, A, A.” Starsea Beast had been trying his hardest to learn, but it had been a struggle. He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, unfortunately. Han Sen looked dismayed. Finding out that many demi-god creatures couldn’t speak was disheartening, and he expected a far better literacy rate in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary. “Come on, this stuff is basic. You guys are going to have to learn eventually. Now come on, follow after me. A, B, C.” Han Sen was determined to make his followers speak. Red Pony did not seem very focused on the lesson. It didn’t speak, and neither did it follow along with Han Sen’s instructions. It seemed very disinterested. Starsea Beast, however, was trying its best. It was incredibly focused, despite being rather dumb. Still, all it could say in response to Han Sen was, “A, A, A.” Suddenly, Han Sen felt a wretched energy blanket the shelter. Not wasting any time in his response, he flew over to the gate to see what might have been approaching. There, he saw Qing Le and another spirit marching towards the shelter. The scary, menacing power was from the spirit that accompanied Qing Le. As much as he had thus far tried to resist, Han Sen had the sneaking suspicion it was only a matter of time before he was forced to go to that spooky shelter that only allowed humans. “Qing Le! I’ve been waiting for you, man!” Han Sen forced the biggest ear-to-ear smile he could, and fluffed his voice to be as welcoming as one could be. Qing Le looked at Han Sen with one eyebrow raised high enough, it could have pierced the clouds. “You... were expecting me?” “Yeah. I’ve been so busy this last month, I was unable to catch up with you for that expedition you said you were planning. You know the one; the human team, the creepy shelter, the fifty sacred geno fruits.” “I thought I said thirty,” Qing Le said. They had come there expecting to use force to get Han Sen to go along with their plan. This was most unexpected. Someone who was willing to go was always a better choice than someone who had been forced to. Communication was far better, in such circumstances. “I was going to accept the thirty you offered last time, but now that you’re here... Well, I can only suspect you’ve been to the shelter and failed. Clearly, the risk and danger of that place are far worse than you expected. Add an extra twenty for the hazard pay, and I’m your man,” Han Sen said. “My balls... consider them busted. Oh well, fine, I accept. Fifty it is,” the other spirit finally spoke. The way that spirit held himself was different from Qing Le, and it was clear to see he was of a higher rank. “How should I refer to you, sir?” Han Sen said, approaching the two in a casual manner. “The Emperor’s Sixth Son, Yu Xuan.” The spirit puffed his chest and put his chin up when he said this. Then, he lessened his threatening aura to one that was far more approachable. “That’s a mouthful. I’m Han Sen, nice to meet you,” Han Sen said. Yu Xuan then stepped forward to say, “I like co-operating with smart men. Pack up your things and we’ll head out.” “Okay.” Han Sen returned Bao’er to the Alliance, afraid there might be much danger on the road ahead. Particularly so, at their destination. Han Sen didn’t bring anyone else with him on that trip. He just went alone with the spirits. On the road, Qing Le and Yu Xuan explained many things to Han Sen, and what had occurred in their previous attempt at taking the shelter. They had ended up sending twenty-nine men to that shelter. Three had returned from that place, in a grievously poor condition. Even those were dead now. A few of those humans even had gemstone geno cores, but it hadn’t seemed to matter at all. They had all been killed. Sacred Shelter had also sent a bunch of humans, as well. Only one of those managed to crawl out, then later died. It was impossible for them to find a decent pool of humans to try to take the shelter individually, so the two shelters had now decided to co-operate for their next venture.