Chapter 00062: The Stone Monkey That Was Killed
# The Stone Monkey That Was Killed
Chapter 62
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 62: The Stone Monkey That Was Killed
Ding Huan's eyes had healed, and his spirits were high.
After roasting a fish and eating it, he continued his secluded cultivation of the *Luo Shi Scripture*.
Just as he had anticipated, after only two days of cultivation, he felt his meridians on the verge of splitting apart.
The searing pain of internal fire once again surged through him.
Ding Huan was familiar with this sensation.
It was the same agony he had experienced when he had advanced to a second-level gene cultivator.
It seemed he was about to break through to the third level.
While the *Luo Shi Scripture* was manageable, the process of advancing was terrifying.
Fine blood streaks began to appear on Ding Huan's skin.
Only he knew the kind of torment he was enduring.
Each cycle of the *Luo Shi Scripture* sent waves of fire burning through his internal organs, and these flames continued to spread throughout his body.
But Ding Huan knew he couldn't stop now.
If he did, breaking through to the third level would become nearly impossible.
The energy within him surged violently, threatening to burst his body apart, but the circulation of the *Luo Shi Scripture* just barely managed to carry away this terrifying energy.
Though the energy continued to burn and torment his body, it was still better than the alternative of being torn apart.
This torment lasted until the third day, when even Ding Huan's eyes began to bleed.
At that moment, he felt a new passage open within his body.
The violent energy finally found an outlet, spreading throughout his body in an instant.
A sense of renewal filled him completely.
Ding Huan let out a long breath.
He had successfully advanced to the third level of gene cultivation.
He continued to circulate the *Luo Shi Scripture* to stabilize his newfound strength while pondering how to modify the technique.
Two more days passed, and Ding Huan's cultivation stabilized at the third level.
He stopped trying to modify the scripture, realizing that his current level of understanding was insufficient.
With his current abilities, attempting to alter a technique like the *Luo Shi Scripture* would be akin to courting death.
The techniques he could modify now were of a much lower level and wouldn't be of much use to him.
Exiting his tent, Ding Huan began practicing the *Wind Control Technique*.
Ever since he had obtained this technique, he had wanted to master it, but he had never had the time to dedicate to it.
Now that he had reached the third level of gene cultivation and had no immediate prospects for further advancement, he decided to focus on mastering the *Wind Control Technique* in the depths of the cave.
The technique wasn't particularly complex, requiring only internal energy and a specific method of energy circulation.
Mastering it would simply require repeated practice until it became second nature.
Ding Huan was a patient man, his two centuries of wandering through the universe having tempered his resolve.
Half a month passed, with Ding Huan practicing the *Wind Control Technique* during the day and continuing to cultivate the *Luo Shi Scripture* at night.
After advancing to the third level, Ding Huan felt his progress slow significantly.
Even so, it was still faster than cultivating outside.
One day, as Ding Huan practiced the *Wind Control Technique*, he effortlessly rose thirty meters into the air before slowly descending like a leaf.
Ding Huan was pleased with his progress.
If he pushed himself, he could traverse over a hundred meters in the air.
With his current abilities, he believed he could rival even those so-called innate experts.
Facing Antonov now, Ding Huan was confident he could escape easily.
No, escape? He was a third-level gene cultivator with both the *Wind Blade Technique* and *Wind Control Technique* at his disposal.
Why should he fear Antonov?
Looking up at the sixty-meter-high cliff where the monkey-like stone was located, Ding Huan's figure blurred as he shot into the air.
With a single push off the cliff face, he landed effortlessly beside the stone monkey.
As a third-level gene cultivator, Ding Huan's vision was exceptionally sharp.
Even before ascending, he had seen clearly that the stone resembled a monkey.
In fact, it looked as though it had been carved to resemble one.
This was what had piqued his curiosity.
Generally, stone carvings of monkeys wouldn't be placed inside a cave, let alone in a crevice sixty meters up a cliff.
"It really does look like one," Ding Huan muttered to himself as he stood on a protruding rock, examining the stone monkey.
It wasn't just similar to a monkey—it was identical.
The craftsmanship of nature was truly unimaginable.
Ding Huan reached out to touch the stone monkey.
Since it was a natural formation, he had no intention of disturbing it.
But as soon as his hand made contact, he sensed something was off.
Without hesitation, he sent several wind blades slicing around the stone monkey, then grabbed it and leapt back to the ground.
Closing his eyes, Ding Huan placed his hand on the stone monkey's head and focused.
Within moments, he was certain: this was no ordinary stone monkey, nor was it a man-made carving.
This was a flesh-and-blood monkey that had been petrified.
Why petrified and not simply dead? Ding Huan had his own theory.
After years of experience, his intuition was sharp.
Though the monkey had been dead for who knew how long, Ding Huan sensed that it had been full of vitality at the moment of its death.
It had been killed at the peak of its life force, not just killed but seemingly frozen in place.
Examining the monkey more closely, Ding Huan felt it resembled a human with a monkey's face.
Its hind limbs were longer, while its forelimbs were shorter, much like a human's.
A real monkey's limbs would be more evenly proportioned.
Ding Huan's gaze fell on the monkey's head, where there appeared to be a mark from a blow.
He examined the mark closely, running his fingers over it.
To his astonishment, he detected the imprint of a spell.
This monkey had been killed by a Daoist technique.
Ding Huan's ability to recognize this was likely due to the knowledge he had gained from the ancient scroll.
The indentation he felt had a specific, orderly pattern—something only a Daoist technique could produce.
With his current strength, he wouldn't have been able to detect such a mark otherwise.
If he were stronger, he might even have been able to deduce the specific technique used.
Ding Huan was thrilled.
The fact that the monkey had been killed by a Daoist technique further confirmed his suspicions: ancient immortals had indeed existed, but they had either vanished or left Earth due to some cataclysm.
This monkey had been dead for countless years, yet it had turned to stone while retaining its flesh-and-blood essence.
What did this mean? It meant there was a chance Ding Huan could bring it back to life.
Of course, his idea of "bringing it back" might differ from the traditional sense.
But that didn't matter—as long as it served his purpose.
With his knowledge of gene theory and genetic manipulation, as long as the monkey's genes remained intact, he could extract them and fuse them with another monkey's genes.
Ding Huan wasn't interested in fully reviving the monkey.
He only wanted to extract its memory genes to learn about its origins and the era it had lived in.
Extracting memory genes from a monkey would require sifting through a vast genetic library—a task most would find daunting.
But Ding Huan had his own method: the *Gene Dissolution Technique*.
When he had extracted the poison-resistant genes from the golden-faced stump-tailed monkey, he had used this technique and completed the task in just two days.
Extracting this monkey's memory genes would likely take no more than a day or two.
The only difference this time was that Ding Huan didn't plan to fuse these memory genes into himself.
Unlike ability genes, memory genes were purely for information.
He intended to find a new host for these genes.
In other words, if he could successfully transplant the monkey's memory genes into a new host, it would be as if the monkey had been reborn.
Rebirth, in simple terms, meant the restoration of memories.
The more complex aspects, such as the soul, were another matter entirely.
Ding Huan set the monkey aside, deciding to take it with him when he left the cave and return to Yujiang University's laboratory.
With his current strength, there was no need to hide.
Who could stop him from openly returning to the lab?
The only reason he hadn't left yet was that he found the cave's environment ideal for cultivation, with its abundant natural energy.
Thinking of natural energy reminded Ding Huan of what Steve had said back at the Puhai Gene Alliance's headquarters.
The reason the Gene Alliance had been so easily wiped out was that its strongest members had been away, exploring the Kunlun Mountains in search of ancient Daoist ruins...
Back then, Ding Huan hadn't been strong enough to investigate.
But now, as a third-level gene cultivator, his thoughts turned to the possibility of finding those ruins.
He had long suspected the existence of ancient immortals based on various clues.
He had also heard that the top ten academies on Blue Star had once found natural energy stones in the Kunlun Mountains—precious items that contained natural energy and could accelerate cultivation.
He wondered if the Gene Alliance had found the Daoist ruins.
If they had, he might as well go and take what they had discovered.
If they hadn't, he would search for them himself.
He had already planned to uproot the Gene Alliance.
If he was going to plunder their treasures, his current strength wouldn't be enough.
He would need to reach at least the fourth level of gene cultivation before venturing out.
For now, he would continue his secluded cultivation in the cave.
(End of chapter.
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(End of chapter.)