Chapter 48

Ding Huan entered the top floor of the Dongxun Gene Center without a single obstacle.

On the top floor of the Dongxun Gene Center, Gu Xian, the vice-chairman of the Global Gene Alliance, was holding a meeting to discuss the Qianluo Gene Art and Basic Long Fist practiced by three students from Yujiang University.

Everyone seated in this conference room were direct members of the Gene Alliance.

Not a single word spoken here could ever leak out.

Directly ahead in the conference room was a massive electronic screen, displaying footage of Lü Zi fighting a martial arts robot.

"Steve, report on the cultivation status of the Qianluo Gene Art and Basic Long Fist," Gu Xian said, his eyes never leaving the live feed on the screen.

To be honest, he was utterly stunned. He was certain Lü Zi was at least a Level One Gene Cultivator, with an exceptionally solid foundation.

According to the intelligence they had obtained, Ding Huan had only trained the three Yujiang University students for three months.

In three months, he turned a student with zero foundation into a Level One Gene Cultivator.

Not only that, his combat ability was terrifying.

That martial arts robot was designed to mimic the combat capabilities of a Level One Gene Cultivator.

Perhaps in actual combat, the martial arts robot was even inferior to a Level One Gene Cultivator.

Lü Zi was merely a student who had trained for three months—yet he was overpowering the robot. Wasn't that beyond shocking?

A tall, thin man stood up and said, "Vice-Chairman Gu, I obtained the full content of the Basic Long Fist and Qianluo Gene Art from Geng Qianxing…"

Upon hearing this, everyone perked up, all eyes fixed on Steve.

Steve was the director of the Gene Research Division of the Gene Alliance; after they brought Geng Qianxing in, they had no authority to interrogate him.

Only Steve had the authority to interrogate Geng Qianxing.

Upon hearing that Steve had uncovered the reason behind the three Yujiang University students' rapid growth, how could they not be excited?

Three useless students had undergone transformation in just three months through this cultivation method.

Then what about us—those who had already fused alien genes and possessed some martial arts foundation? If we obtained this method, wouldn't we advance even faster?

Even Gu Xian's eyes gleamed. Though he was vice-chairman of the Gene Alliance, his cultivation was far behind the deans of the Blue Star Academy.

Those deans were routinely Level Three Gene Cultivators or Earth-Rank Martial Artists, while he, the vice-chairman of the Gene Alliance, was still only a Level One Gene Cultivator.

He too longed for a method to make his power surge.

But Steve showed no excitement; he spoke slowly, "Unfortunately, those techniques are useless to us. After I cultivated them, I made zero progress—not a single change."

Several geniuses in the Gene Alliance who tried cultivating them also made no progress.

Later, I interrogated Geng Qianxing again, and he revealed the secret.

It turns out Ding Huan gave these three students two gene serums—only by fusing both serums could one cultivate the Qianluo Gene Art and Basic Long Fist."

"Do you have the formula for making these gene serums?" Gu Xian asked immediately.

"No, the serums were formulated by Ding Huan himself—even Geng Qianxing didn't know them," Steve shook his head.

At that moment, on the large electronic screen, Lü Zi grabbed the martial arts robot and hurled it off the arena.

This move sent everyone into a frenzy—they must obtain this cultivation method at all costs.

"Vice-Chairman Gu, I recommend intensifying the manhunt for Ding Huan…" A blonde woman, driven mad by her desire for this method, spoke with trembling urgency.

"We agree to intensify the manhunt, but we can't rely solely on the Gene Alliance—we must also contact China's official authorities and the Martial Arts Alliance.

After all, this is China's territory; if we rely only on the Gene Alliance, we may be overreaching," Steve also longed to capture Ding Huan as soon as possible.

Compared to Basic Long Fist, Steve believed the Qianluo Gene Art was the true treasure.

He hadn't gained zero results from cultivating the Qianluo Gene Art—he had gained slight results.

But the results were weak, and since he didn't yet want to reveal such a valuable technique to everyone, he deliberately concealed part of it.

If he admitted the Qianluo Gene Art had any effect, everyone would demand it from him—who would bother hunting Ding Huan then?

Also, the Qianluo Gene Art he obtained only contained the first three levels—meaning even if it worked, he could at most cultivate up to Level Three Gene Cultivator.

A piercing scream erupted from the live screen, followed by chaos among the crowd…

"What's happening?" Even Gu Xian stood up—he too saw people collapsing and dying on the screen.

At that moment, Nong Yizhen from Zhenyu Academy stepped forward and calmed the chaos in Puhai Square.

"Is there something wrong with the gene serum? Is it Seliu Gene?" Gu Xian's voice trembled.

Where was Seliu Gene serum most widely distributed? Naturally, by the Gene Alliance.

To strengthen cohesion within the Gene Alliance, when the Seliu Gene serum first appeared, the Alliance distributed large quantities of it to junior staff.

Others had to rely on connections and wait to obtain Seliu Gene serum—but the Gene Alliance needed none of that.

All they had to do was send someone to Bai Yu Group—would Bai Yu Group dare refuse?

"Uh…"

One of the conference room's senior executives suddenly clutched his throat, then blood began flowing from all seven orifices, his features twisting grotesquely.

The next instant, the Gene Alliance executive collapsed dead—less than ten seconds had passed.

As if a chain reaction, two more people collapsed immediately after the executive's death.

Gu Xian's lips trembled—if this truly was Seliu Gene poisoning, then one-fifth of those seated here would die one after another.

"I thought it was your Gene Alliance doing this—but now I see your own people are dying too. I realize the culprit is someone else," a mocking voice echoed.

Then a herbalist carrying a backpack walked in.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Gu Xian was the first to react.

Before Gu Xian could finish speaking, a burly man lunged toward Ding Huan.

Anyone who entered the conference room without permission was guilty of death in the Gene Alliance.

Gu Xian was furious—were the guards outside all idiots?

Ding Huan didn't move at all; his short blade flashed once—Bai Mang—and the guard's body was split cleanly in two.

"Who am I? I'm naturally Ding Huan, the man you're all hunting," Ding Huan said, then suddenly hurled his short blade.

"Puff!" The short knife pierced through the throat of one attendee, and the man collapsed to the ground, his pistol sliding away.

Ding Huan walked over, picked up the pistol, then slowly withdrew the short knife before saying, "Whoever dares draw a gun again, next will be him."

As he spoke, he swiftly spun the short knife in his hand, weaving several blade flowers.

Someone still believed Ding Huan couldn't see every corner, and another man quietly reached for his pistol.

"Bang!" This time, Ding Huan didn't draw his knife—only raised his hand and fired.

A blood mark appeared on the center of the man's forehead, then blood trickled down, and he fell dead to the floor.

"Why bother? I can use a gun too." Ding Huan spun the pistol in his hand, then walked to Gu Xian.

"Teacher Ding…" Gu Xian stared at the pistol in Ding Huan's hand, his voice unsteady.

He had spoken with firm conviction when issuing the warrant for Ding Huan, claiming it was all for humanity's survival—but when his own life was at stake, it was an entirely different matter.

"Go on." Ding Huan lifted his foot and kicked Gu Xian flying.

Then, unhurried, he sat down in Gu Xian's chair and placed the pistol on the table before him.

"Where are your experts?" Ding Huan scanned the conference room, then said calmly.

He was also puzzled—here, the strongest seemed only a Level One Gene Cultivator. The strongest martial cultivators were merely Internal Force experts; not a single Yellow Grade among them.

Weren't the Gene Alliance supposed to have Level Five Gene Cultivators—even Primordial Martialists?

Gu Xian dared not wipe the blood from his lip, his voice trembling as he said,

"Teacher Ding, the Gene Alliance's strong ones have left under the Director's command to handle matters—they'll return soon. We can discuss everything calmly. Those minor conflicts just now mean nothing."

"Yes, Brother Ding. If there truly is some misunderstanding between you and the Gene Alliance, we can sit down and talk it through slowly.

With gene beasts rampant across Earth and human survival so perilous, shouldn't we avoid internal strife? It only drains our own strength." The blonde woman who had previously advocated increasing the bounty on Ding Huan spoke up voluntarily.

Her tone was sincere; she even stood, seemingly completely unfazed by Ding Huan's gunfire.

Ding Huan smiled. "You've spoken straight to my heart. Too bad—your Gene Alliance has too few like you, righteous and enlightened souls. Sit down. I agree with you…"

Upon hearing Ding Huan's words, the blonde woman immediately nodded to him, struggling to control her inner turmoil. "Thank you—I truly admire you, Brother…"

"Bang!"

Before she could finish, she felt a sharp pain in her forehead—then a trail of blood trickled down, and her consciousness slowly slipped from her body.

She stared at Ding Huan, her mind holding only three words: Why?

Hadn't he just called her enlightened and righteous? Why did he shoot so suddenly?

"Thud!" Her body could no longer sit—she collapsed to the floor.

The conference room fell utterly silent.

No one dared make a sound.

They had seen many Han Chinese; they'd dealt with them for years.

In their eyes, Han Chinese hated killing, were gentle and humble—even when wronged, they swallowed their rage and argued reason.

Thus, across the world, Han Chinese were known as the Land of Propriety.

But why was this Ding Huan such an outlier?

He didn't even pretend to reason—his killing methods were no different from a brute's.

Seeing no one dare speak further, Ding Huan gestured with a finger toward Gu Xian, who lay slumped in the corner. "Come here."

Though Gu Xian desperately did not want to move, he remembered what Ding Huan had just done—this madman could do anything.

He could only slowly rise, crawl to Ding Huan's side, blood still on his lips, forcing a smile through his fury. "Teacher Ding, we must truly have misunderstood each other."

Ding Huan nodded. "Correct. There truly was a misunderstanding. By the way, I'll ask you something—where is Teacher Geng?"

Ding Huan nodded. "That's right, there really is a misunderstanding. By the way, let me ask you a question while I'm at it—where is Instructor Geng?"

Gu Xian gasped—not feigning ignorance, but genuinely not knowing where Geng Qianxing was.

Geng Qianxing was under the jurisdiction of Director Steve of the Gene Research Bureau—he didn't know.

"Looks like you don't know. You're worthless." Ding Huan sighed.

Gu Xian's heart tightened—he was about to beg for his life—when he saw Ding Huan pick up a spray bottle and mist his face.

Gu Xian's heart clenched. Just as he was about to beg for his life, he saw Ding Huan pick up a sprayer and give his face a quick spray.

"This is my own insecticide. Let's test its effect." Ding Huan placed the deadly gene toxin calmly back on the table before him.

"This is a pesticide I made. Try the effect first." Ding Huan casually placed the highly toxic genetic agent back on the table in front of him.