Chapter 00021: The Dangerous Beilong Mountain
# The Dangerous Beilong Mountain
Chapter 21
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 21: The Dangerous Beilong Mountain
"Jin Qiaosheng is really lucky. He actually found a mutated gene herb, the Qingtian Flower, for his son in Beilong Mountain."
Ding Huan hadn't yet started cultivating the Luo Shi Scripture, but upon hearing about the mutated Qingtian Flower, he immediately became interested.
In his previous life, Ding Huan was merely a disposable gene experiment subject, but that didn't stop him from knowing about the mutated Qingtian Flower.
He had never seen this mutated Qingtian Flower in the Changyi Continent before.
It might be a unique product of Earth.
It was said that the Qingtian Flower contained genes that could perfectly integrate with the human body.
Consuming the mutated Qingtian Flower could expand the dantian and make the meridians clear and resilient.
Expanding the dantian and strengthening the meridians would make martial cultivation much easier.
The first innate martial artist on Earth, Yan Xia, was said to have consumed the mutated Qingtian Flower, which allowed his martial prowess to skyrocket.
In just twenty years, he reached the pinnacle of martial arts, becoming an innate martial artist.
Thus, the value of the mutated Qingtian Flower was absurdly high, to the point where it was nearly impossible to find.
Even the best gene potions couldn't compare in price.
Was there really a mutated Qingtian Flower in Beilong Mountain?
Ding Huan's gaze fell on the speaker, a middle-aged man, accompanied by two others of similar age.
"Who wouldn't want that? I just hope we have some luck tomorrow. Even if we can't find the mutated Qingtian Flower, finding some other gene herbs would be good too," sighed one of the men beside him.
"Exactly. I just hope to find some decent gene herbs for my useless son. The entrance exams are only two months away, and I'm really anxious."
From their conversation, Ding Huan understood that these people had come to Beilong Mountain in search of rare herbs.
As for the exams, it was obvious they were referring to the entrance exams for the top ten academies on Blue Star.
Of course, the best rare herbs were gene herbs.
Ding Huan stood up.
He couldn't just sit here and wait.
He needed to enter Beilong Mountain tonight.
Earlier, Qu Yi had mentioned going to Puhai to try her luck.
It was highly likely she was also planning to take the entrance exams for the top ten academies on Blue Star.
No, it wasn't just likely—it was certain.
Because the entrance exams for the top ten academies on Blue Star were held in Puhai.
If Qu Yi was going to Puhai, she would definitely leave early tomorrow morning.
Given that, Ding Huan needed to enter the mountain tonight to search for the necessary herbs and prepare a spiritual root gene for Qu Yi.
Otherwise, she would leave Anhe tomorrow.
Ding Huan would never agree to use his own heart's blood to refine a spiritual root gene for someone else, but for Qu Yi, he was willing.
If Qu Yi could fuse with the spiritual root gene, it would be far better than simply consuming the mutated Qingtian Flower.
While consuming the mutated Qingtian Flower could significantly enhance the potential of a gene cultivator or martial artist, it was uncertain whether it could help them achieve gene foundation building.
However, if one fused with a spiritual root gene and combined it with the Luo Shi Scripture, Ding Huan estimated there was a high chance of achieving gene foundation building.
Ding Huan never hesitated once he made a decision.
He immediately set off.
He believed that with his strength as a first-level gene cultivator and his experience, as long as he was careful, he should be safe in Beilong Mountain.
Back when he entered Qianluo Mountain, he was just an ordinary student, nothing special.
...
"Yiyi, that guy left. I thought he was staying in the lobby to wait for you."
At Yilan Hotel, the girl who had been with Qu Yi returned from gathering information, sounding somewhat pleased.
Qu Yi shook her head, "Xiao Fei, you're overthinking it. He probably didn't have any ill intentions. It's just that I've been trying to remember, but I really can't recall where I've met him before."
From Ding Huan's expression, Qu Yi could tell that he seemed to recognize her, but she genuinely couldn't remember where she might have met him.
Her social circle wasn't large.
If she had met Ding Huan before, she should have remembered.
"You always think the best of people. There are so many creeps out there, Yiyi. We should be careful. Let's leave early tomorrow morning to avoid that guy coming back."
The girl named Xiao Fei spoke firmly.
...
With gene beasts running rampant, the outdoors were extremely unsafe.
In places like Anhe, not only had walls and protective gates been built, but electronic defense systems had also been installed.
Every night at dusk, the protective gates were closed.
Moreover, four soldiers stood guard.
At the first sign of trouble, the alarm system would be activated.
When Ding Huan left Anhe County, the protective gates were just about to close.
Ding Huan quickened his pace and managed to slip out just in time.
A soldier standing guard at the gate called out to him, "If you leave now, there's nowhere safe to stay around here. And this is Anhe—it's different from other places."
The soldier meant that the area outside Anhe County was teeming with gene beasts, far more than in other places.
Leaving now meant a high chance of encountering gene beasts.
"Thank you," Ding Huan waved to the soldier who had kindly warned him, then turned and quickly left.
The soldier sighed.
He had done his duty by warning Ding Huan.
Now, he could only hope Ding Huan would be lucky.
"Why are you sighing? There are plenty of people looking to die. One more won't make a difference. That guy clearly came from a safe zone. He's never been beaten down by gene beasts," one of his companions added.
"I'm not sighing for him. I'm sighing for the state of the world. In just half a century, how did we end up like this?"
Not just their parents' generation, but even when he was a child, he never had to worry about his own survival.
...
The reason Anhe was far more dangerous than Luohe was that Beilong Mountain was less than ten kilometers from Anhe County.
After leaving Anhe County, Ding Huan ran at full speed.
He wanted to return to Anhe by tomorrow morning and find a way to accompany Qu Yi to Puhai.
Once in Puhai, he could rent a gene lab and refine the wood-type spiritual root gene for Qu Yi.
The main reason Ding Huan dared to run at full speed was that his strength had increased.
If a first-level gene cultivator couldn't protect himself, then the situation in the wild would be truly dire.
Just as Ding Huan was thinking he could protect himself, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
A white flash shot toward his head from the side.
In a panic, Ding Huan twisted his body, barely managing to dodge.
The close call sent a chill down his spine.
He quickly stopped and grabbed a short knife from his bag.
He had been paying attention, yet he had almost been hit by that white shadow.
Before Ding Huan could steady himself, the white shadow attacked again, this time even faster.
Fortunately, Ding Huan was fully focused on the white shadow this time.
As it lunged, he leaned back slightly and swung his knife.
A sharp, piercing cry rang out.
Ding Huan saw a gray shadow dart out from the grass on the side and disappear in an instant.
Ding Huan's gaze fell on the white shadow.
It was a mutated gene beast.
It looked somewhat like a leopard, but Ding Huan was sure it wasn't.
Not because of its color—after gene mutation, even white leopards could appear.
The beast he had just killed was likely a mutated lynx.
What a terrifying creature.
Ding Huan's eyes followed the direction the gray shadow had fled, his heart still pounding.
It wasn't just that the lynx's sneak attack had nearly succeeded, but its strategy sent a chill through him.
A beast that could use tactics—no wonder entire villages had been wiped out by gene beasts.
If he weren't a first-level gene cultivator—in other words, if he were still at the level he was when he entered Qianluo Mountain—he would be dead by now.
The white lynx had launched a sudden sneak attack.
Because he was a first-level gene cultivator, he had managed to lean back and strike.
Otherwise, he would have had to dodge sideways.
And that was only if he could dodge.
Otherwise, he would have been killed instantly.
If he had dodged to the side, he would have fallen right into the jaws of the gray lynx lurking nearby.
Seeing that Ding Huan had killed its companion, the gray lynx immediately judged that it was no match for him and fled without hesitation.
Based on Ding Huan's understanding of gene beasts, the fleeing lynx would likely try to ambush him again.
Whether or not the lynx would seek revenge, Ding Huan didn't care.
He didn't put the knife back in his bag but continued toward Beilong Mountain, though he slowed his pace a bit.
The soldier hadn't lied to him.
The outskirts of Anhe were at least ten times more dangerous than those of Luohe City.
Along the way, Ding Huan encountered several more gene beast ambushes.
Though they were just ordinary gene beasts, it only highlighted the danger of Beilong Mountain.
It also showed that the true threat of gene beasts to humanity had yet to arrive.
In his previous life, after his eyes were healed, he had been taken by the Gene Alliance to explore the vast universe.
Of course, they took him because the Gene Alliance needed to conduct gene experiments while searching for new habitable planets.
An hour later, Ding Huan arrived at the foot of Beilong Mountain.
Along the way, he had killed at least seven gene beasts, the most formidable being a mutated wild boar.
Otherwise, the journey would have taken him only about ten minutes.
(That's all for today's update.
Goodnight, friends!)
(End of Chapter)