Ding Huan didn’t stay anywhere else, he took a bullet train straight to Lu River.
Compared to its usual bustle, Lu River seemed somewhat serene.
The Baiyu Group in Lu River had experienced a major scandal, which had dealt a heavy blow to Lu River City.
If it weren’t for a few of the students from Lu River City ranking at the top in the assessments at the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges, the leaders of Lu River City would have had an even harder time.
Ding Huan wasn’t in the mood to visit the Baiyu Group after he learned that all the top executives of Baiyu Group had died overnight.
Only Ding Jie seemed to have disappeared, and Ding Huan suspected someone had protected him.
With so many people dead at Baiyu Group and such a disaster caused, Ding Huan knew that it couldn’t have been just Ding Jie’s doing.
There must have been others stirring up trouble behind the scenes. To think that the Cocoon Origin Gene could become globally popular just by Ding Jie alone, Ding Huan could only scoff.
Even if the Cocoon Origin Gene were impressive, it needed time to be proven, it couldn’t just become globally popular immediately after its development.
Ding Huan was almost certain that behind the scenes, it was the doing of both the Yongtang Biological Gene Company and the Ocean Life Gene Company.
As to who took the lead, he didn’t know yet.
What he did know was that a few months after the Cocoon Origin Gene Potion had blown up, Ocean Life teamed up with Yongtang Biological to release a new Genetic Potion, the Cocoon Origin Gene.
The uses of the Cocoon Origin Gene were almost identical to those of the previous gene, and it was even superior in anti-aging properties.
If anyone said that the Cocoon Origin Gene wasn’t modified from the previous gene, no one would believe it.
He would investigate all these later. He suspected that his father, Ding Baishan’s disappearance was related to this gene. For now, he simply lacked the power to investigate.
After arriving in Lu River, the first thing Ding Huan did was to visit Yujiang University.
If Geng Qianxing along with people from the Genetic Alliance were to come to take the documentation for the Endurance Gene Potion, they had to return to Yujiang University.
When Ding Huan got to his residence, he knew Geng Qianxing had escaped.
Because Geng Qianxing had carved two words on the door of his house, "Lao Geng."
This private joke was known only between him and Geng Qianxing. Originally, he had told Geng Qianxing that he didn’t call him "Lao Geng" for fear of Geng Qianxing misunderstanding that he was cursing him, so he called him "Xiao Geng."
Now with "Lao Geng" carved on his door, it indicated that Geng Qianxing was subtly hinting to him that he was okay.
Knowing that Geng Qianxing was safe, Ding Huan felt relieved and directly headed toward Qianluo Mountain.
With Ding Huan’s strength as a second-level gene cultivator, coupled with practicing Wind Control Skill along the way, he reached Qianluo Mountain in less than half an hour.
When Ding Huan arrived at Qianluo Mountain, it was evening. The sunset glow shot through the mountain ranges, casting a faint red carpet over Qianluo Mountain, creating a beauty that stark and enticing.
Standing at the foot of Qianluo Mountain, Ding Huan was silent for a long while.
Calling it stark because such a beautiful mountain range would no longer be easily approached by anyone. This place would gradually become a paradise for fierce beasts.
He had left Earth a year and a half later. Although he was being monitored and rarely paid attention to the news of beast tides ravaging cities and fierce beasts rioting.
He could vaguely feel that it was about this time that fierce beasts would become increasingly powerful and ferocious.
The Genetic Alliance organizing the fleet to go to space a year and half later might not have been without the intention of seeking a new habitat.
Ding Huan sighed and walked toward Qianluo Mountain.
The first and second times he came to Qianluo Mountain, Ding Huan was cautious, so he almost encountered no fierce beasts along the way.
Even if he encountered any fierce beasts, they were unnoticeable and harmless types.
The strongest among them was the Great Wilderness Golden Ape. If not for his understanding of the nature of fierce beasts, he might have already died in Qianluo Mountain.
Nearly half a year had passed, he wondered if that Great Wilderness Golden Ape had advanced in rank.
"Roar!"
Just as Ding Huan was thinking about the Great Wilderness Golden Ape, as if responding to his thoughts, a roar carrying a foul wind pounced toward Ding Huan from the side.
Clearly, Ding Huan’s unhidden entry into Qianluo Mountain had alerted some genetic beasts.
The one that pounced on him was a Mutated Fierce Leopard. Ding Huan didn’t turn around, nor did he stop his steps; he simply raised his hand and a Wind Blade sliced through the air.
A piercing scream followed, and the Mutated Fierce Leopard was split in two by Ding Huan’s Wind Blade.
Ding Huan scanned the bushes in the distance, and bursts of rapid fleeing sounds rang out, indicating that other fierce beasts in the bushes had been scared away.
Ding Huan simply deployed his Wind Control Skill, accelerating his pace.
Two hours later, Ding Huan stopped outside a certain cave.
The rubble blasted out by the Great Wilderness Golden Ape was still piled outside, but Ding Huan knew there must be a fierce beast residing in this cave.
Just as Ding Huan was about to enter the cave to see what fierce beast was inhabiting it, he saw a gray shadow rush toward him with incredible speed.
A first-level genetic beast?
Looking at the speed and momentum of the gray shadow, Ding Huan knew it must be a first-level genetic beast. This beast had strength comparable to the Golden Ape with Coarse Tail he had encountered in Beilong Mountain.
The difference was that Ding Huan was no longer at the same strength as when he was at Beilong Mountain; he raised his hand and a Wind Blade cleaved through the air.
For a first-level genetic beast, even without using the Wind Blade, he could blow it away with a punch.
"Poof!" A blood light exploded, and Ding Huan’s Wind Blade struck the dark shadow which astonishingly managed to twist in the air and escape in an instant.
Ding Huan gasped in surprise. The shadow somewhat resembled a giant squirrel, but a squirrel certainly couldn’t have such tough fur for defense, nor would its tail be so small.
Wasn’t this little creature’s defense too astonishing? It managed to withstand his Wind Blade and still escaped with injuries.
Regardless of what kind of Fierce Beast it was, Ding Huan was in no mood to chase after it.
He needed to block this cave entrance, then seclude himself inside for healing and cultivation.
He had prepared enough food for half a month. Even if he needed to come out, it would not be until half a month had passed.
Besides, once he started his seclusion, he would eat very little. Food meant for a day could last him a week.
Once he started cultivating, the food for half a month could even last him for several months.
To avoid being disturbed during his seclusion, it was essential to block the entrance.
...
Ding Huan was also worried about air circulation, so he intentionally left some gaps while blocking the entrance.
When Ding Huan picked up his mining lamp and walked deeper into the cave, he realized his worries were unnecessary.
A cold breeze blew from the depths of the cave, showing that the cave was originally interconnected.
He hadn’t practiced cultivation before and had only ventured about a hundred meters into this cave. Now, as a Second Level gene cultivator, Ding Huan planned to thoroughly explore the cave.
Ding Huan walked nearly five hundred meters, and the cave still hadn’t come to an end.
The deeper he went, the lower the temperature felt, and the terrain seemed to slope downward.
The cave was damp and dark, seemingly unsuitable for his cultivation.
After another two hundred meters, the beam from the mining lamp illuminated some bones.
These bones had weathered many years and it was unclear what animal they had belonged to.
Ding Huan slightly bent down and under the light of the mining lamp, he saw clearly—they were human vertebrae.
Was there danger here?
Ding Huan became even more cautious, significantly slowing his pace. He had only walked a few dozen meters when he heard the sound of flowing water.
The beam of the mining lamp revealed a larger space, but without any bright light, he couldn’t tell how extensive it was.
The flowing water seemed to be coming from above, indicating that this place was connected to the outside.
He scanned the surroundings with the mining lamp, but could only get a rough sense of the area.
A pond was in the middle, surrounded by various wild grasses and miscellaneous trees.
Ding Huan found a dry and flat area, and set up a tent from his big bag.
He would cultivate over the night and deal with other matters tomorrow.
There was a waterfall here; maybe there would be some light.
If there truly was no light, it wouldn’t matter. He was here for healing and cultivation. As long as his eyes recovered well enough to enter the Third Level as a gene cultivator, he would leave.
Cultivating the Luo Shijin, once he began, he would quickly enter an oblivious state.
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As the Primordial Qi circulated through his channels, the energy in Ding Huan’s Dantian also grew stronger.
Despite being in the middle of cultivating the Luo Shijin, Ding Huan could vaguely feel that the effects of cultivation here were far stronger than outside, meaning that the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi here seemed denser than outside.
When cultivating, time became invaluable, and the night passed almost in a blink.
When Ding Huan opened his eyes again, he actually felt some dim light outside.
He stepped out of the tent and was immediately delighted to discover that there indeed was light entering the place.
The area he was in resembled a basin, approximately one or two thousand square meters in size.
Above him, the ceiling was still made of rock, with miscellaneous trees and wild herbs growing in cracks in various forms.
Several beams of dim light sloped down from above, indicating direct connections to the outside, though these openings were slanted.
Although the seven or eight beams of dim light didn’t brighten the area much, for Ding Huan, it was enough.
He carefully examined the place again; the total area was roughly what he had estimated the previous night: about three acres. In the middle was a pond with a stream falling into it from above.
There were some fish swimming in the pond.
On the opposite side of the pond, there was a temporary wooden hut, which was already dilapidated.
Ding Huan suspected that the human bones he had seen earlier belonged to the former owner of the hut, and perhaps the fish in the pond were brought in by that person too.
Besides the area he had cleared last night, other parts including the dilapidated hut were covered with moss and miscellaneous trees.
Thinking he might cultivate here for an extended period, Ding Huan decided to spend a day tidying up the area.
He didn’t even need a knife for the miscellaneous trees; a series of Wind Blades could clear them effectively.
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