1869 The Red Mist in the Valley Deep in the mountains on Planet Eclipse, Han Sen, Xie Qing King, Gu Qingcheng, and Little Silver, were traveling. After Xie Qing King and Gu Qingcheng became Viscounts, Little Silver became one, too. Now Han Sen was depressed. Little Angel, Zero, and he had not been infected. If they had, it was likely they could have leveled up to Viscount with much greater ease. They wouldn’t have needed to practice half as much. “The environment is stable for now, at least. Why don’t we bring more people to this universe, so we can grow and cultivate them? It will be impossible for us to become famous here with only a handful of people.” Han Sen was deep in thought. Han Sen could recruit many from the Alliance, but there were a few he did not feel safe with. One such person was Wang Yuhang. Han Sen was afraid that if he came here, the man would bring terrible luck down on him. Because Han Sen had provided many xenogeneic genes to his friends and followers, certain people in the sanctuaries had developed very quickly. But he had made sure to only provide such things to those who were close to him. Han Sen’s resources were limited, and he couldn’t fill the needs of everybody he knew. With the help of xenogeneic genes, though, many humans and creatures from the Fourth God’s Sanctuary had made it to the Alliance. That included Dragon Lady, Death Goddess, Red Pony, and Little Star. They had successfully ascended to the Alliance universe. The humans who had successfully ascended included Queen, Lin Feng, Wang Yuhang, Tang Zhenliu, and Yi Dongmu. They were waiting to go to the xenogeneic universe now. Ji Yanran and Luolan had eaten so many xenogeneic genes that they too had ascended to the Alliance. But Han Sen wasn’t yet willing to let them cross the divide. He was afraid that if they were there, they’d cause a big problem for him with their attempts to find Littleflower. The advantage of creatures from the sanctuaries was that they could level up rather quickly by consuming xenogeneic genes. Their biggest letdown, however, was the fact that their genes were unstable. There was no telling what a creature might eventually become. A xenogeneic that looked like a leopard came prowling out of the mountains. Gu Qingcheng, with her swordair, killed it in a single strike. Gu Qingcheng’s powers were of swordair and not swordlight. Her green swordair was weird, and it resembled something like silk. She could kill enemies at all manners of strange angles. “Save me some!” Xie Qing King blurted, clutching his silver book. “You are too slow,” Gu Qingcheng said, as she was in the process of cutting up the xenogeneic body and harvesting the xenogeneic genes. Xie Qing King did not say a word, and he merely closed his silver book. Han Sen looked at Xie Qing King. Xie Qing King’s geno armament and power had been consistently surprising to Han Sen, and they had interested him quite a bit. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 After Xie Qing King leveled up to become a Viscount, he had been able to use his silver light to draw pictures on the pages of his book. Whatever he drew could come to life, right out of the parchment. He could practically summon beasts to fight alongside him. But the shadows he drew did have limitations. For one thing, he couldn’t pre-draw a creature, then cast it when the time for battle came. So, he had to draw his desired summons during battle, and that took time. With Gu Qingcheng there, though, he couldn’t draw anything fast enough to fight. By the time he finished drawing something, she’d have killed the xenogeneic already. It was something that didn’t make him very happy. Han Sen was happy, though. He wasn’t interested in Baron or Viscount xenogeneics. He wanted to find light treasure. “What is this?” Xie Qing King looked up to the mountain, confusion etched across his face. Han Sen followed Xie Qing King’s gaze, and they examined a red mist hanging across the mountain. But the mist hadn’t come from the sky. It arose from the mountain itself, and it looked rather weird. “Perhaps we should go and take a look. There could be treasure!” Han Sen’s eyes shone brightly. “Careful. We are only Viscounts, remember. If we encounter a Duke or a Marquise, only Han Sen has a Duke beast soul pair of shoes that he can use to run. We lack such things,” Gu Qingcheng said. “Do I look like the type to run off and abandon you?” Han Sen was hurt by the comments. “Yes.” Xie Qing King and Gu Qingcheng answered sincerely. Han Sen shrugged his shoulders and picked up Little Silver. Carefully, he snuck towards the place he had seen. The red mist was like a cloud, but it rippled like a living fire. It was a stunning sight. After the three of them got close, they found that the red mist was rising from a valley. The valley, filled up with that mist, looked like heaven. What might have lurked beyond the strange vapor, however, was something they could not see. “Should we go in and take a look?” Gu Qingcheng looked down into the valley and frowned. She could not see anything. The red mist was too thick for their eyesight to penetrate. It didn’t actually hurt their eyes, but it did stop them from looking at what was inside. “I don’t know what lies inside. I’d wager it is too dangerous to go in, though.” Even with Teeth Rabbit shoes, Han Sen did not want to take the risk. He was still too weak, and carelessness could cost him his life. “Now you can watch me.” Xie Qing King spoke with absolute confidence. He summoned his silver book and began casting with his wonderful silver light. He was scribbling something rather quickly. Within a second, the shadow of a silver leopard leaped out from the pages of the book. It looked exactly like the one Gu Qingcheng had just killed. This one was just a silver shadow, though. It wasn’t comprised of actual flesh. “You can draw anything you like with this book?” Han Sen asked with surprise. “Yes, but they only stay around temporarily for now. I can only draw creatures that exist in the universe, too. The drawing has to be pretty accurate to generate the creature, as well.” After Xie Qing King said that, he commanded that the leopard head into the valley. “If you draw a King class xenogeneic, would it have King class power?” Han Sen asked. “Of course not. The shadow’s power depends on the caster’s strength—mine. That being said, some of the creatures I have drawn can carry their own element. Still, the power scales back in comparison to me,” Xie Qing King explained. “Whoa, that is already so very good!” Han Sen looked at Xie Qing King strangely. Xie Qing King was a man with a very bad temper. It was strange to see him take to drawing in a fight instead of immediately using his fists. Roar! The leopard had been inside the mist for a while when an awful screech was heard. Then, nothing. The valley returned to silence. Xie Qing King’s face changed. The leopard drawing in the book was shattered. “What happened?” Han Sen asked Xie Qing King. “I don’t know, but I have a connection with the shadow. I can feel what they feel, but I cannot see through their eyes. After he entered the mist, something killed him quickly,” Xie Qing King said