Refuge in the Tunnels

The Red-furred Cheetah circled around him several times, ensuring he was perfectly normal before releasing a low growl and walking back into the pathway.

The small monkey by the side pulled on the leggings of his armor, signaling for him to follow it while making some sounds.

Bian saw chunks of his armor fall off with that little probe. The super armor from the third sanctuary could barely stand the atmosphere in the fourth sanctuary.

It seemed it would collapse with the slightest touch, urging Bian to find a new set of clothing.

"Monkey!"

Bao'er said, clapping her fingers as they followed the monkey into the passageway.

It seemed unperturbed by her words, moving to pull some levers to close the passageway.

Looking at the thick iron walls all around, Bian realized he couldn't have broken through them even if he used the body pillar.

It was just too thick.

As they continued to walk forward, the Red-furred Cheetah unsummoned its geno core, and Bian could observe the ferocious creature in its full glory.

It was streamlined like a normal cheetah, but at least three times as big. While just walking, its shoulders were already reaching above his head.

Its muscles vibrated and shook under its skin, hiding ferocious combat capabilities.

Bian felt his throat go a little dry just by observing it.

A sacred-blood creature!

'Gotta lay low!' He reminded himself.

After several twists and turns, the tunnels widened out from barely five meters to over fifty meters.

Several creatures, small and large, were present here, all with some semblance of sentience.

The Red-furred Cheetah turned around and released another growl.

The small monkey walked away while Bian wasn't allowed to do so.

He kept following the Red-furred Cheetah as they moved towards the center of the large tunnels.

Several beasts turned to face the newcomer. A lot of them took in his scent or used other means to check his strength.

When they found out that he was just an ordinary creature though, most of them lost interest while a few developed malicious intent.

Like a two-meter black bat which summoned a syringe as large as a person's thigh.

The tip of the syringe released a cold light. It was extremely sharp and could puncture the scales of even the toughest ordinary creature.

Swoosh!

The syringe suddenly came flying towards him, disregarding the Red-furred Cheetah that was ahead.

"ROAR!"

For the first time, Bian heard the Cheetah roar instead of growling.

The entire shelter seemed to reverberate with its roar, and the syringe shook while flying towards him.

Bian used the back of his hand to slap it away, thoroughly observing the strength of the bat before moving with the Red-furred Cheetah.

The bat itself was dazed by the roar, only recovering after the syringe was tossed aside like a cheap toy.

Bian soon arrived at the center of the tunnels where a big gorilla stood guard.

The gorilla was more of a monster than an animal. Standing at six meters tall with vein-imbued arms as thick as tree trunks.

It spared them a glance before moving aside, allowing Bian to enter the chambers of who he assumed to be the leader.

The atmosphere changed from wet and moist to lush and fragrant.

It was as if Bian had stepped into a lush garden, and that was how her chambers looked.

Her residence was over a hundred meters in diameter and housed several trees and shrubs, some growing fruits while others were bare.

A forty-meter tree growing in the center of the garden caught his attention instantly.

A few of the other trees had fruits that piqued his interest, but only this tree's fruit made him want to jump over and consume one immediately.

The thirteen fruits on the tree resembled peaches, each emitting a soothing fragrance and an irresistible allure to consume.

"It looks like you haven't formed a geno core yet, for you to be so attracted to the spirit pericarp."

A pleasant voice spoke out.

Bian contained himself and turned to face the spirit who had just spoken.

She was a female spirit, wearing white glassy armor, as though it was created from quartz.

The shoulders, elbows, and knees had crystals jutting out of them. She looked regal yet savage at the same time.

A small ruby-red snake was slithering around her neck.

The snake was extremely small, about the length of a leg and the width of a baby's arm.

Still, the Red-furred Cheetah didn't dare get too close to the snake.

Even Bian felt threatened by it, which showed that the snake was a particularly ferocious sacred-blood creature.

Realizing he hadn't said anything yet, Bian cautiously spoke.

"My lord is right, I haven't developed a geno core yet."

It was a bold lie, but wasn't entirely without truth. He had formed a geno core, but not all the geno cores he could form.

The inner pillars and Dongxuan Sutra had yet to form geno cores of their own.

The spirit regarded him once more, scrutinizing him from head to toe, even glancing at Bao'er, before she smiled.

"How about this? I'll give you one fruit, and if you form a good geno core, you'll work for me directly." She laid out a proposal.

Bian feigned thinking about it for a moment.

A Geno Core could be formed during evolution if the person was talented enough. It could also be formed after accumulating a hundred ordinary geno points.

There were some other methods out there, but they were tailored to certain individuals and didn't apply to everyone like the first two.

Since Bian could form a Geno Core basically for free and he had to stay here anyway, he agreed to her proposal.

The spirit smiled even wider and placed a palm in front of the snake.

Hu~

The snake spat out a small black bead, which the spirit pushed towards Bian.

"This is the venom from the Mordant Ruby Viper. If this bead leaks in the body, then even a colossal mammoth would perish."

"You have to be willing to do at least this much if you want to stay."

She said.

Bian took the black bead from the spirit and swallowed it in one gulp.

Judging from her tone just now, refusal would certainly lead to death.

He could always find a way to remove it later, and besides, Jadeskin was particularly effective against poisons, toxins, and curses.

Wouldn't his jade body be even more effective against these things?

Seeing that he swallowed the bead without any tricks, the spirit's impression of him increased.

She walked towards the tree and plucked a Spirit Pericarp from a drooping branch.

"My name is Princess Ash."

She said while handing him the fruit.

Bian responded, "I am called Ken."

Then he completely devoured the Spirit Pericarp in three mouthfuls.

A warm sensation spread from his belly to the rest of his body. His spirit relaxed, and even his soul benefited from the fruit.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Deep within, the three inner cylinders sped up their operation, forming a bright light.

The black crystal melted down once more, releasing a flow of black liquid which fused with the glowing light.

The light began to take form and manifested into a rectangular box.

'No, it's not a box!'

Bian summoned it out, allowing everyone to see the bronze cauldron.

Princess Ash was instantly disappointed when she saw it was a utility-type geno core.

"What does it do?" she asked him, her voice no longer as cheerful as before.

"Well, I can feel that I'm supposed to place things inside, but I'm not sure of the exact purpose."

Bian answered truthfully. The last thing he wanted to do was anger a spirit who could kill him with a swipe of her hand.

She placed her hands into the cauldron, but it showed no reaction.

Next, she plucked some grass from the ground and placed it into the cauldron, then stepped aside and let Bian face it.

Bian interacted with the cauldron, he instantly sensed that it wouldn't react with inedible objects.

Despite knowing this, he still fooled around with it as if trying to figure out its value.

He was trying not to get killed, it didn't mean he was willing to become someone else's servant.

"I've seen enough. Get out!"

Princess Ash said. All pretense to be friendly was immediately tossed away when she found that Bian wasn't useful.

He was chased out of the central tunnels and left in the streets, watching the beasts move about.

There were also some spirits around, but they were far fewer than the creatures.

Bian watched an elephant trade blood for fruits while a palm-sized spider was weaving clothes from its silk.

Different creatures were moving about in this complicated ecosystem, and he wasn't quite sure where he belonged.

Soon the crystal shards up in the ceiling above, began to dim.

The day seemed to be over as the bright tunnels slowly transitioned to night.