Chapter 96: The Number One Powerhouse

At the Martial Vein Mountain site, Li Wanran stared at the news on her phone, her hands trembling slightly.

Almost everywhere there was news praising Ding Huan and his disciples, yet not a single one of those reports mentioned her name. Did she not count as one of Ding Huan's disciples?

But that wasn't what hurt her most. What hurt most was that Ding Huan's disciple Seeing Qu Yi, on account of her outstanding battle merits, had been invited by the Puhai Security Bureau to serve as its chief.

Not only that, Seeing Qu Yi had also become an international Planet-Protector rank holder for her battle merits on the Human Corridor defense line, at the two-star rank.

Chief of the Puhai Security Bureau? Forget sitting in that seat—even standing in front of the Puhai Security Bureau chief would make her nervous and uneasy.

Such a lofty position—anyone can just step into it whenever they want?

Besides, when did Seeing Qu Yi ever become Mentor Ding Huan's disciple?

Fang Chong, just like Especially Especially Ai Xi, became a celebrity; they too earned international Planet-Protector ranks for their merits on the Human Corridor defense line, both at one star.

Fang Chong is Mentor Ding Huan's disciple, but when did Especially Especially Ai Xi become Mentor Ding Huan's disciple?

There was also news saying that Seeing Qu Yi, Fang Chong, Especially Especially Ai Xi, and even Lü Zi had all become Level Four or even Level Five Gene Cultivators.

Why was that?

She cultivated madly every day, pouring almost all her time, energy, and resources into cultivation, yet right now she was only a barely Level Two Gene Cultivator.

Setting all that aside, Mentor Ding Huan only taught them the first three layers of the Thousand Meridian Gene Art—so how did Fang Chong and the others cultivate all the way to Level Four Gene Cultivators?

No, she had to go find Fang Chong and Lü Zi.

Thinking of this, Li Wanran could no longer sit still.

Without getting to the bottom of this, she simply couldn't calm down and cultivate.

……

After the last primal-stone in Ding Huan's hand crumbled, he let out a sigh.

The primal-stones were used up, and he was still only a Level Five Gene Cultivator. Forget Level Seven—even Level Six was still a stretch away.

He seemed different from others; he didn't know if it was because of fusing several heaven-defying gene serums. Every time he advanced a level, the primal Qi stored in his dantian multiplied several times over.

His meridians would also grow smoother, which made his strength skyrocket after every advancement.

That was a good thing, but it also increased the consumption of heaven and earth primal Qi.

It was probably time to leave this place. He wondered whether that giant ape would stay by the shore waiting for him.

From Ding Huan's understanding of these fierce beasts, that giant ape would absolutely not let the matter rest.

Still, that giant ape was probably still suffering from serious injuries and hadn't healed, so it likely wouldn't recover its strength that quickly.

Ding Huan was about to call out to Qi Xinyue when he noticed Qi Xinyue was cultivating—and seemed to be attempting to break through to Level Two Gene Cultivator.

Practicing the Thousand Meridian Gene Art and already this fast?

Ding Huan was puzzled. The moment his divine sense landed on Qi Xinyue, he immediately knew that what Qi Xinyue was cultivating was absolutely not the Thousand Meridian Gene Art, but the Meridian Sense Scripture.

Didn't Qi Xinyue have no spiritual root and couldn't cultivate the Meridian Sense Scripture? How could she suddenly be able to?

Ding Huan didn't disturb Qi Xinyue; he walked out of the reef cave.

The reef island was very quiet. The fish-type fierce beasts in this area seemed to know Ding Huan wasn't easy to mess with and didn't even come near the edges.

Once Qi Xinyue finished cultivating, he planned to leave this reef island. No matter what, he had to try to get out of this stretch of ocean.

Only by leaving here and finding more primal-stones would he have a chance to reach a higher level.

A broken piece of a ship's hull caught Ding Huan's attention. This fragment had crashed into the edge of the reef island he was on and gotten wedged between the rocks; Chinese characters were written on it.

Ding Huan landed at the edge of the reef island and reached out to grab the fragment:

"I will never make it back to shore in this lifetime. If anyone can see the words I've written here, please tell the Security Bureau or tell the Martial Dao Alliance's Alliance Leader Qu Weimin.

I, Zhong Chi, was set up. The one who set me up was Shi Changyi of the Gene Alliance. Left by Zhong Chi."

Zhong Chi? That name sounded very familiar.

Ding Huan quickly recalled: Zhong Chi, Huaxia's number one powerhouse, rumored to have gone missing during a confrontation with gene beasts.

Everyone guessed that Zhong Chi had been killed by gene beasts.

Zhong Chi should have been an Innate powerhouse. An Innate powerhouse being surrounded and killed by a beast tide—that didn't quite make sense.

Forget an Innate powerhouse—even when he was only a Level Four Gene Cultivator, surrounded by beasts, he could still break out.

If it weren't for that giant ape, he wouldn't have had to flee into the sea at all.

Tossing the fragment aside, Ding Huan looked out at the sea. Everywhere was a vast, hazy expanse; waves slapped against the reef, producing a monotonous splashing sound.

Yet Ding Huan was wondering whether Zhong Chi hadn't died and, like Qi Xinyue, had escaped to some reef island.

There were quite a few reef islands around here. If that really were the case, he still ought to go look for him.

Thinking of this, Ding Huan took his Starry Sky Blade out of the reef cave, then kicked up that round log with his foot and burst out from the reef island.

Qi Xinyue still had some time left in her cultivation; he'd go search for a while first and see.

The moment Ding Huan shot out from the reef island, over a dozen arrow-light beams shot up from the sea, heading straight for him.

This time Ding Huan didn't speed up at all. The Starry Sky Blade in his hand traced out over a dozen shadows, and in almost an instant he tore apart those dozen-plus arrow-light beams.

Then Ding Huan sent out over a dozen wind blades in one sweep.

As if by prior arrangement, the moment Ding Huan slashed out those dozen-plus wind blades, another fifty or sixty arrow-light beams shot toward him.

Ding Huan knew that the later fifty or sixty arrow-light beams and the earlier dozen-plus hadn't been fired by the same batch of blade-back fish.

After these blade-back fish fired one volley of arrow-light beams, they needed several seconds to prepare before firing a second.

The dozen-plus wind blades Ding Huan had sent out seemed to have grown eyes, accurately and without error slicing down the dozen-plus blade-back fish that had been spraying arrow-light beams.

After the Starry Sky Blade once again split open those fifty or sixty arrow-light beams, Ding Huan followed up with another fifty or sixty wind blades.

At the same time, several more arrow-light beams shot up from the sea.

Plumes of blood bloomed across the sea surface. Ding Huan's volley of fifty or sixty wind blades still didn't miss a single blade-back fish, cutting them all down.

The arrow-light beams of these blade-back fish were fearsome, but they had one fatal flaw: to spit out arrow-light beams, the blade-back fish had to stick their heads above the water, which let Ding Huan kill them with pinpoint accuracy.

For the few arrow-light beams of the third volley, Ding Huan couldn't even be bothered to use the Starry Sky Blade. After dodging them easily, he tossed out a few more wind blades.

The sea surface had gone completely still.

Ding Huan did not speed up; he utterly despised these blade-back fish that could shoot arrow gleams. Right now he would welcome those blade-back fish coming to their deaths.

These blade-back fish were not entirely brainless either; once they realized fighting Ding Huan was a death sentence, they basically all fled far away.

Blade-back fish were plentiful, but blade-back fish that could fire arrow gleams were exceedingly rare.

This kind of blade-back fish needed to evolve again and again, only after enduring countless hardships could it evolve the ability to spray arrow gleams.

The result was being easily cut down by Ding Huan; even the dumbest blade-back fish would not dare come looking for death.

With no more blade-back fish ambushes, Ding Huan carefully searched this stretch of sea.

There were quite a few reef islets in this stretch of sea; wherever there was a reef islet, Ding Huan would go up and take a look.

……

Qi Qi Xinyue leapt to her feet in excitement—a second-grade gene cultivator.

She had heard Ding Huan say that cultivating to second grade took a month or two, yet she herself seemed to have done it in just a few days. Was it because her aptitude was better?

Hm, where was Ding Huan?

Only now did Qi Qi Xinyue realize Ding Huan was not inside the reef cave.

Qi Qi Xinyue's heart clenched and she rushed out at once.

Then a hollow feeling washed over her—Ding Huan was not outside either. This reef islet was not large; she had survived here for so long, of course she knew it well.

Given Ding Huan's strength, he naturally could not have been plotted against by fish. The only possibility was that Ding Huan had left.

Qi Qi Xinyue stared blankly at the boundless sea. The first time she had fled here, she had not felt lonely—only afraid that those people would chase her down to this place.

Now, instead, she felt a kind of loneliness. Although Ding Huan had not exchanged many words with her here, in just a few short days she had grown accustomed to his presence.

Now that Ding Huan had suddenly vanished, she felt out of sorts.

She did not blame Ding Huan. Leaving this place alone was already hard; taking her with him would have been even harder for Ding Huan.

Besides, on Earth, apart from Ding Huan, was there anyone who would not capture her?

On the contrary, she felt Ding Huan was too kind. He must have been afraid that saying it to her face would hurt her feelings, so he slipped away quietly.

"Good luck to you, may you get back to where you want to go." Qi Qi Xinyue murmured, her whole person seeming drained of spirit.

Perhaps going back to cultivate now would be best, but she had no heart for cultivation.

……

Ding Huan stopped at another reef islet. This time he did not go straight up to search; he was certain someone had once lived here.

There were signs of habitation at the edge of the reef islet.

Ding Huan's divine sense seeped in, and soon he spotted a man gripping a short blade, watching alertly in his direction.

His arrival had also drawn the other's notice.

Was this Zhong Chi?

The man looked to be in his early thirties, did not seem like any martial arts practitioner, carried a scholarly air about him, and looked more like a scientific researcher.

Judging by the aura around him, he was indeed a powerhouse.

Ding Huan went up onto the reef islet without hesitation.

"You are?" Zhong Chi did not keep hiding in the back, but stepped out from behind the reef and looked at Ding Huan.

On his neck there was a long scar, a slash that ran straight down from his neck.

Although the scar had already scabbed over, Ding Huan could still tell how terrifying the wound had been.

"Are you Zhong Chi?" Ding Huan asked.

"That's right, who are you?" Zhong Chi sensed Ding Huan's age—seemingly only a dozen or twenty years old. How could he have come here alone?

"My name is Ding Huan. I saw the words you left not long ago, so I came over to take a look. I didn't expect to actually find you." Ding Huan said with a smile.

Zhong Chi's eyes went wide; his gaze fell on the piece of wood behind Ding Huan, and after a while he said, "You traversed the sea to and fro with just a piece of wood?"

"That's right." Ding Huan nodded.

"How old are you? How did you cultivate to Innate?"

Zhong Chi was even more shocked. Innate could indeed do this; it was because his injuries were too severe and his poisoning too deep that he could not leave this place.

"I'm not Innate. If Senior doesn't mind and is willing to trust me, you can leave here with me first. I'm about to head for shore." Ding Huan said bluntly.