Chapter 598: Unlocking the Gene Lock Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio On the other side of the royal shelter was a large mountain. Past the far side of this mountain, however, there wasn’t much snow. There was another royal shelter there, controlled by another faction whose owner had unlocked their first gene lock. Developing a shelter on the other side was a difficult thing. The big mountain in between was called "Devil’s Mountain," and it was occupied by a number of powerful creatures. The slopes of the mountain were coarse, rugged, and steep, which put any would-be fighters on that terrain at a big disadvantage. Only a few people possessed what it took to hunt there, but even those never ventured too far. When Thunderdevil travelled across Devil’s Mountain, even he took the long route to avoid the more dangerous zones of that place. According to what Qi Xiuwen said, the owner of the royal shelter near the Devil’s Mountain, called Lu Hui, was the captain of the Blueblood Reserve Force. He was a powerful man, and although he had unlocked his first gene lock, there was a significant gulf in power between him and Thunderdevil. Han Sen didn’t have as many people as he would have liked; the workforce he had was barely enough to keep the royal shelter in operation. His lack of troops was what had driven him to cooperate with others to take the royal shelter. Now that he had taken the ice fields, with the Devil’s Mountain at his back for protection, he was near-enough a king of the ice fields. If he was able to maintain his hold on the ice fields, and stay in his current position, he would earn a lot of money. Han Sen: Super Body—King Spirit Stage: Evolver Lifespan: 300 Super Body Evolve Requirement: 100 Geno Owned Geno: Basic Geno, 100. Ordinary Geno, 100. Mutant Geno, 100. Sacred Geno, 39. Han Sen had benefited greatly from his assault on the royal shelter, and now his mutant geno amount had maxed out. His sacred geno points had also been given a boost, too. His sacred geno count had reached 39. Right now, if he had to gauge his fitness level based on the genos he possessed, he’d put it at 150. But that was not because of his training. This number was equal to top-level evolvers. If Han Sen reached surpasser state, he could ascend to become a Celestial Being with a fitness level of three hundred. But Ji Yanran told him that before he became a surpasser, the higher fitness level he had, the better. There was no need to rush the process. For now, Han Sen’s primary goal was to unlock his gene lock. If he didn’t, it would not matter if his fitness was higher than evolvers who had already unlocked theirs. He would still be handicapped and his ability to perform skills would be significantly lessened. "I have not been able to finish the first tier of Dongxuan Sutra in a reasonable amount of time, so perhaps it would be best if I do give Jadeskin another shot. I hope there won’t be any issues with it." Han Sen, with a renewed resolve, decided to try out Jadeskin once more. When he unlocked the first tier of Jadeskin, he should have unlocked his gene lock, as well. But this had not come to pass. Han Sen knew that the variant of Jadeskin he had learnt had some issues, but ever since he absorbed the ice powers from Xue Yikuang, the skill had changed somewhat. Perhaps through further practice with the skill, he’d be able to unlock his gene lock this time. What concerned Han Sen the most, however, was the possibility of his Jadeskin bringing him negative side effects. The last thing he wanted was to end up with the heart of someone from the Xue family. If he wanted to kill super creatures, which he did, doing so would be impossible for him if he did not unlock his gene lock. Han Sen had the Dongxuan Sutra, though, which meant he wasn’t too afraid to experiment with Jadeskin once more. Returning to the Alliance, Han Sen entered a training room and began to practice. With Jadeskin running again, cool air emanated from his cells. With ice coursing through his veins, his body felt as if it were being purified. A greater sense of clarity overwhelmed Han Sen’s mind, and he perceived the entire world in a different way. He couldn’t put finger on the exact nature of the change, though. Human emotions were dictated by greed, jealousy, lust, and desire. Under the effects of Jadeskin, things were different. Han Sen’s association with these cornerstones of human emotion seemed be dying somewhat; his emotions were getting colder. It made Han Sen feel keen, unusually keen. His vision, smell, taste, touch and hearing were increased as well, but it was the substantial amplification of his sixth sense that surprised him. Han Sen could now hear voices coming from another training room, which was something he had been unable to do before. Although he wasn’t cold, Han Sen’s body felt somehow chill. His mind was at greater ease. His emotions seemed to be fading away, and he almost didn’t feel human. The cells in his body were struggling, almost moaning. It was as if they were now in shackles. Han Sen never felt so... restrained before. And as these feelings started to increase, his body started to panic, and he wanted to shatter the chains that bound him. Han Sen felt himself touch the first gene lock, and he acknowledged that the Jadeskin was different than before. No matter how hard he had trained it in the past, it had never come close to making him feel as he did now. Han Sen believed that if he continued, he would unlock the first gene lock. But the further he went, the more his emotions were stripped away from him. He was afraid of becoming little more than an android, programmed to gain power through any means necessary – all without a heart. He was afraid that if he unlocked his gene lock, he would lose all semblance of his former self. He would be a husk of a human being, someone worse than the Xue family, even. At least the Xue family possessed some form of emotion. Right now, Han Sen couldn’t feel anything. He didn’t feel happy, sad, or even angry. If he used the Jadeskin to unlock the gene lock, he ran the possibility of never feeling such emotions again. His cells were struggling, and his sixth sense continued to grow. He felt his body shrink, as if he was going to be imprisoned for a thousand years. He couldn’t wait to break free from whatever haunting force choked the liberty from his being. "The last time I tried training Jadeskin, the Dongxuan Sutra is what woke me up. But right now, it isn’t doing anything. Maybe it’s because this time there is no danger? Perhaps I should push further and give this a genuine try." Under the effects of his seemingly inhuman sense of apathy, Han Sen started to strike against his first gene lock. All the cells in his being began raging, burning hot with a sense of power he hadn’t felt before. It was like pushing against an invisible force with immeasurable strength, and as it occurred, Han Sen’s teeth chattered and his body trembled. But despite the writhing of his cells, his mind was calm and cool like a marble statue. And that’s how he sat there, unmoving. His sixth sense was getting even sharper now, and its continued to grow larger and larger. At the same time, Han Sen’s mind conjured up a strange image. Through the wall, he could see the people in the next training room. Han Sen knew this wasn’t because he had been gifted x-ray vision, but through the accelerating growth of his seventh sense. Just by hearing the sounds, his mind’s eye could construct an image depicting exactly what was going on in the next chamber. That was the nature of the seventh sense. It was a person’s ability to analyze time and space, in their past, present, and future forms. Han Sen’s seventh sense was stronger than most people’s, and right now it had been amplified by an order of magnitude. It was sharper than the sharpest blade. Suddenly, the sound of broken ground sent a shockwave through Han Sen’s body. He felt something within him break. And now, he was overwhelmed with a feeling of release. It was as if he had been incarcerated for a thousand years and now, now he was free. He was feeling incandescent, as if he could command the skies, as if he could fly, as if he had been reborn as an angel.