Chapter 00038: Heading Towards the Tiger Mountain
# Heading Towards the Tiger Mountain
Chapter 38
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 38: Heading Towards the Tiger Mountain
Ding Huan carefully stored away the horn of the mutated fire lizard.
Just as he was about to leave, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed from the distance.
Looking up, Ding Huan spotted the third-level mutated black ape.
This third-level mutated beast, due to its massive weight, made a dull thud with every step it took.
This damn thing! Even though Ding Huan was in a hurry to leave, the sight of this third-level mutated black ape filled him with rage.
He was a second-level gene cultivator.
If it weren’t for this third-level mutated black ape leading a horde of tens of thousands of mutated beasts, he wouldn’t have been afraid of it.
Now, this black ape was alone, missing an eye, with blood continuously flowing from the wound.
There were more than a dozen other bleeding injuries on its body.
Ding Huan could tell that this black ape was severely injured.
You damn thing, daring to ambush human settlements! Ding Huan felt a surge of satisfaction but had no intention of letting the beast go.
Grabbing his short blade, Ding Huan charged at the black ape without hesitation.
Though the black ape had some intelligence, it wasn’t much.
As it fled, it saw Ding Huan approaching.
Instead of running away, it accelerated towards him.
In its mind, humans were useless except for those who wielded fire-spitting metal tubes.
It had seen them in Lujiang City.
This human in front of it had no metal tube, just a blade.
What use was that? Could it even leave a scratch on its body?
Ding Huan was momentarily stunned by the ape’s stupidity.
Even the golden-faced, thick-tailed ape he had encountered in Beilong Mountain had more brains than this black beast.
Didn’t it know it was injured? How dare it charge at him so arrogantly? Did it not take him seriously, or was it underestimating his blade?
It really had no sense at all.
As the black ape leaped towards Ding Huan, its massive jaws aimed straight for his head.
Ding Huan dropped his backpack, leaned back, and slid under the ape, his back scraping against the ground.
At the same time, he raised his short blade, which was already infused with his energy.
"Pfft!" The blade cut through the ape’s flesh as easily as slicing through tofu.
Ding Huan pulled the blade out and quickly slid past the beast.
As soon as he passed, the ape’s blood gushed out like a broken dam, instantly staining the ground where Ding Huan had been.
Ding Huan sighed in relief, narrowly avoiding getting drenched in blood.
The black ape, already on its last legs, had mustered its remaining strength to attack Ding Huan.
Now, with its belly slashed open, its massive body collapsed to the ground, letting out low growls.
Brushing off the dirt from his clothes, Ding Huan walked over to the ape, pulled out his blade, and with one swift motion, split the ape’s head in two.
No matter how tough the ape’s skull was, it couldn’t withstand Ding Huan’s blade.
Ding Huan used his blade to poke around inside the ape’s head.
Within seconds, he was delighted to find a white, round bead.
Although this black ape was a third-level mutated beast, Ding Huan hadn’t expected it to have a beast core.
He had only opened its head out of curiosity, but to his surprise, he found one.
Even if it was the lowest-grade, barely-formed beast core, it was the first one he had ever obtained on Earth.
Beast cores had many uses.
Ding Huan quickly wrapped it up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and hurried away.
About half an hour after Ding Huan left, several soldiers armed with explosive spears arrived.
"Captain, is this the black ape?" The soldier at the front spotted the ape and quickly approached it.
The others followed closely behind.
"Yes, that’s it. Damn, who could have split this gene beast’s head open with a single strike?" The captain, wearing a badge, exclaimed in shock.
"Must be at least a Xuan-level martial artist, right?"
"Maybe even higher. But it’s not surprising. Lujiang has seen a lot of strong people recently."
...
Ding Huan ran for two hours before finally stopping.
He needed to figure out his next move.
He didn’t need to ask to know that after his students achieved good results, someone would definitely come looking for him.
Whether their intentions were good or bad, he shouldn’t show himself now.
This left Ding Huan feeling helpless.
After seeing that Lü Zi was a first-level gene cultivator, he realized he had underestimated the effects of the gene potion he had created.
He hadn’t expected the hastily concocted potential-enhancing gene potion to be so powerful.
He also knew that the influence of the Blue Star’s top ten academies was significant, but after witnessing the Puhai Martial Arts Plaza, he truly understood just how vast that influence was.
Returning to Yujiang University in Luohe would be too dangerous.
Yan Xia was already so strong.
How many powerful figures were there in the Gene Alliance and the Martial Arts Alliance?
But he needed to find a gene lab.
Without one, how could he turn the mutated fire lizard into a gene potion?
He had collected many herbs in Penglu Mountain, and now he had the mutated fire lizard.
All he needed was to refine them into a gene potion.
After resting for a long time, Ding Huan still couldn’t figure out a good place to hide.
If it weren’t for the need for a gene lab, he could have just hidden in a large mountain range to cultivate.
With his current strength, surviving in the mountains wouldn’t be a problem.
In the end, Ding Huan decided to disguise himself as a slightly shady medicinal herb merchant.
Two days later, after bypassing Lujiang City, Ding Huan arrived in Jintang.
Before even entering the city, he saw his own wanted poster on a massive electronic billboard outside Jintang.
The poster not only detailed his appearance and photo but also clearly stated that he worked at Yujiang University.
The charges were severe: during the Blue Star’s top ten academy entrance exams, he had entered a hotel to rob and kill, murdering two innocent people.
He was accused of stealing several bottles of gene potions and an unspecified amount of cash.
The reward was staggering: an opportunity to enter a planetary academy or the Wumai Mountain Academy, one million alliance coins, and a top-grade gene potion.
This reward was just for providing his whereabouts.
If the information led to his capture, the reward would be even greater.
Ding Huan frowned.
Who the hell was behind this?
But then he saw the organization responsible for the wanted poster: the Gene Alliance.
Alongside the Gene Alliance, four of the Blue Star’s top ten academies were also involved, including Wumai Mountain Academy.
The poster deliberately misled people, suggesting that Ding Huan had killed during the academy entrance exams, implying that the victims were candidates.
Generally, people were protective of candidates.
For Ding Huan to rob and kill candidates was beyond despicable.
And Wumai Mountain Academy—Ding Huan remembered it was one of the Blue Star’s top ten academies, located within China.
Why would a Chinese academy collude with the Gene Alliance to target him?
What made Ding Huan speechless was the claim that he had stolen gene potions.
Couldn’t they have come up with something else? The Gene Alliance’s potions were so worthless that he wouldn’t even bother picking them up if they were lying on the ground.
Ding Huan entered Jintang City, knowing full well that this wanted poster was issued during the Blue Star’s top ten academy entrance exams, likely a joint effort by the Gene Alliance and several academies.
In his previous life, Qu Yi had died in a Gene Alliance lab.
Ding Huan had been sold to them for human gene experiments and then forced into space for further testing.
If not for his sheer luck, he wouldn’t be alive today.
If he didn’t take down the Gene Alliance, he would never be at peace.
The Gene Alliance had two headquarters: one in America and one in Puhai, China...
As Ding Huan thought this, he suddenly paused.
He felt like he had grasped something.
For the Gene Alliance to issue this wanted poster, they must have held a meeting.
They couldn’t have done it on their own.
The Gene Alliance’s leader was a foreigner, right? They must have used the entrance exams as a cover to hold their meeting.
Their headquarters was in Puhai...
Thinking of Puhai, Ding Huan realized what he had to do.
Going anywhere else now would be unwise.
First, he wouldn’t find a suitable gene lab.
Second, with this wanted poster out, every place would be scrutinizing strangers.
Even in Jintang, he couldn’t stay for long.
The reward was simply too tempting.
Only Puhai made sense.
Puhai was where the wanted poster had been issued, and it was also the location of the Blue Star’s top ten academy entrance exams.
It was easy to imagine that Puhai was now filled with unfamiliar faces.
Nearly ten million people from all over the world had gathered there.
How could there not be countless strangers?
Moreover, with the entrance exams ongoing, who would dare to search Puhai or investigate randomly?
As a world-class metropolis, Puhai had countless high-end gene labs.
Renting one wouldn’t be difficult.
Going to Puhai had another advantage: hiding in plain sight.
Everyone would assume he had fled as far as possible.
Who would think he hadn’t run away but instead gone right under the Gene Alliance’s nose?
The third advantage was that in Puhai, he could keep an eye on the Gene Alliance.
In his previous life, Qu Yi had been taken by the Gene Alliance after the Blue Star’s top ten academy entrance exams.
This time, by being in Puhai, he could secretly look out for Qu Yi.
Decision made: he would go to Puhai.
(End of Chapter)