Super Gene

“How… how could this…” Exquisite’s face was etched with disbelief.

She felt as if her connection with the universe was being severed. Under Han Sen’s fists, her will, and the power that bound her to the universe, was being taken away. Her oneness with the world was becoming blurred and difficult to grasp. She felt as if she was returning to her former self before she started to practice all this. The terror of the unknown and all kinds of bad emotions were slowly seeping into her. It made her feel fear, and restlessness, and despair, and pain. All this, and many more emotions she had never felt before, were starting to overwhelm her.

“How… why… I am already half-deified… Why am I still losing… why…?” The physical pain she was enduring was a pittance compared to the mental pain she was suffering

These emotions that she had never felt before were all inside her, mixing her up. They were ruining her ability to think. As she watched the shadows of the raging fists delivered by the man before her, she had never felt so weak before. She felt small, weak, and helpless. It was as if the universe and everything inside it had abandoned her. It made her far more frightened than the damage she would incur physically.

“So, what? Even if the whole universe is on your side, if you can’t smile, it is meaningless. Owning the universe is pointless if there is no happiness. Only your smile is eternal,” said Han Sen’s voice next to her ear. And then came his final punch. It struck her in the stomach. It was a nasty punch, and her whole body rose under the force of the impact.

Pang!

Exquisite was in the air. The black geno armor she wore shattered like frail glass, becoming a collection of shards dancing in the air. Her black and white air fizzed into smoke. Exquisite’s body rolled between the shattered pieces of armor. Blood poured came out of her mouth like rain, soaking the arena. The light of her Very High Eye had been extinguished. Her ordinary eyes had been closed, but now they were open again. And they were black.

Those eyes didn’t possess a strong will. They didn’t look emotionless and cold as they once had. They looked helpless. They looked lonely. They looked confused. There was a whole bevy of different emotions swirling within them.

Voila!

Shattered bits of armor bounced across the floor of the arena, and Exquisite’s body fell into Han Sen’s arms.

“Hopefully, the next time I see you, I can see that smile.”

Han Sen’s face was blurry above Exquisite. When she heard what he said, she passed out.

Sky Palace fell silent. A Very High half-deified, who should have been invincible to anyone who wasn’t fully deified, had been beaten. Han Sen had used his fists to obliterate her self-gene armor. It was difficult for the Sky to wrap their minds around.

Han Sen picked up the heavily-injured Exquisite and carried her out of the arena. The Sky Palace students that had been watching finally woke up from their daze.

“Against another of the same level, I am king… I can’t believe Brother Han could actually do it.”

“What do you mean he could actually do it? He has already done it. The Very High claimed themselves as the strongest in the universe, and a half-deified has just been destroyed by Han Sen, who is just a ninth-tier King.”

“That is scary to think about. With a fitness level like that, he is scarier than the strongest of the Dragons. You won’t be able to find anyone with a fitness level higher than Han Sen’s.”

“Don’t forget, this is Godfather Han. He can bless others and make them deified. He must be able to bless himself as well.”

Throughout Sky Palace, everyone was talking about this. The most commonly repeated phrase was “Against another of the same level, I am king.” Even a long time after, Sky Palace students fervently discussed the events.

Although the leaders of Sky Palace issued a stern warning to students not to leak this news to the outside, Sky Palace didn’t have steel walls. Despite their attempts to suppress the story, news of Han Sen’s victory leaked.

But most of the elites that heard about this fight didn’t care. No one believed that a crystallizer King could manage to fight a half-deified Very High and emerge victorious. Most of the nobles that heard about this thought that it was just a fabricated tale.

Only the Sky Palace students who had witnessed the fight understood just how scary Han Sen’s fitness was.

A Buddha deified heard about this incident, and his response became famous across the universe. “You’re the best too, Han Sen?”

That deified Buddha said this to mock Han Sen. He thought people were making up outlandish stories that were far too ridiculous to believe.

And then, for a long time, “You’re the best too, Han Sen?” became a quip that was used against anyone being hilariously boastful. The phrase really caught on, and it was used everywhere. People mocked Han Sen shamelessly, and many didn’t even know that the phrase had come from the Buddha.

“What a scary fitness level. How did he do that? How can a crystallizer have a body with that much raw power?” the woman said with shock. She never expected the fight would turn out this way.

“It must be related to the geno art he has practiced. His geno art was something Yisha asked me to take a look at. She wanted me to help her modify it. That geno art is nearly impossible to learn, though. When I looked at it, I didn’t think any creature could practice it. Even deified fighters wouldn’t have a body strong enough for it. In the beginning, I thought it was a prank. But I think now that Han Sen really has learned it. And that might mean he will become someone incredibly powerful. It is rather surprising.”

After pausing, Sky Palace Leader shook his head. “It’s a shame Han Sen doesn’t even know how he learned it. Otherwise, if he was able to share the secrets of this geno art, making a strong race wouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Is there no way to modify the geno art?” the woman’s heart jumped as she asked.

“I researched it before. It is impossible to modify. Plus, the geno art belongs to Han Sen. Without his permission, we can’t freely distribute it. That is a promise I made to Yisha,” Sky Palace Leader said.

“That is a shame,” the woman said, her voice full of regret.“Come on. We need to go kiss that kid’s *ss. And we need to comfort Exquisite to make sure that we haven’t just started a war,” Sky Palace Leader said.

After the woman left, Sky Palace Leader picked up a paper and pen. He wrote down “Han Sen” and then, after looking at it for a while, he drew two circles next to the name. He then placed a question mark beside them.

He looked at the name and then proceeded to write for a while. Sky Palace Leader spoke to himself as he did, saying, “Maybe he really is a suitable candidate.”

No matter what the outside world said, after that fight, Han Sen’s position in Sky Palace was elevated to even loftier heights. Although he didn’t have Sky blood in his veins, they essentially treated him as if he was one of their own.

Every time Han Sen went to teach geno arts, his lecture hall would be packed to the gills. Many pureblood Sky students would come and listen to him teach geno arts. Many Kings and even half-deifieds came to listen to any lecture that he gave.

Exquisite’s self-gene armor had been broken, and it would take a long time for her to heal. Han Sen thought he might end up in trouble, but Thousand Feather Crane told him that Exquisite wasn’t planning on coming after him. She hadn’t mentioned what had happened to the Very High.

“Owning the universe is pointless if there is no happiness. Only your smile is eternal… Hopefully, the next time I see you, I will see you smile.”

Exquisite sat in front of a window. She looked at the clouds, frozen in thought. She kept thinking about what Han Sen had said to her.