Chapter 42 Breaking Through the First-Level Genetic Lock of Lifeforms

Qin Hao placed the blood beside the bed, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to calm his mind, directing the energy within his body.

Gradually, he sensed a unique energy—this was star energy.

Star energy lurked in every part of the body, circulating through the meridians in various ways to activate physical power and strengthen the self.

This was something the Martial Arts bestowed by the Peace Alliance could never provide.

For they knew nothing of the human body's meridians, only seeking out bio-techniques from creatures with bodies vaguely similar to humans, modifying them and selling them as commodities.

Star energy stirred his life force, widened the meridians within Qin Hao's body, and unlocked his potential.

In this state, Qin Hao’s robust physique visibly grew thinner, the muscles seeming almost drained of moisture, reduced to a thin layer.

Yet Qin Hao knew his strength had increased.

But as the energy flowed through his meridians, his life force became scarcer, no longer sufficient.

Suddenly, Qin Hao’s mental touch sprang into action—he opened the bottle of Thunder God's Blood and drew up the liquid.

A crackle sounded.

It was as if lightning flickered around Qin Hao, a divine might roaring in fury.

“Gene Devouring Technique,” Qin Hao thought, focusing his mind.

The Gene Devouring Technique consumed the Thunder God's Blood, fusing it into his body.

Normally, no matter how much blood he absorbed, it would quickly become part of him, but this Thunder God's Blood seemed to resist, its disappearance agonizingly slow.

Yet every thread that was absorbed filled Qin Hao with boundless vitality.

Star energy, now infused with this vital force, surged again through his meridians, unstoppable.

Something seemed to shatter.

[Ding! You have broken the first genetic lock of the flesh.]

At last, Qin Hao had unlocked the genetic lock of his body.

Compared to the ease with which the divine-level psychic gold power had opened the mental genetic lock, unlocking the body’s genetic lock was a true ordeal.

Now, the energy within Qin Hao formed a cycle, endlessly drawing power from the Thunder God's Blood, transforming his body at an astonishing rate.

He swelled and shrank, again and again, ten rounds of tempering, until his physical strength could erupt at ten times its usual power.

Not only that, the Gene Devouring Technique also drew the thunder element from the Thunder God's Blood into his body, granting Qin Hao mastery over a third element.

The element of thunder.

These thunder elements coursed through Qin Hao’s blood, even more abundant than the gold element within him.

Yet gold remained his strongest means of attack.

For gold was omnipresent.

Thunder, however, had to be conjured from nothing.

As for the poison element Qin Hao had acquired from the Venom Demon Spider, it was now almost negligible by comparison.

He exhaled a deep, turbid breath and opened his eyes.

He sensed his strength had increased severalfold over before.

Yet, even after compressing the quality of his life force, he had not reached the limit of a first-level evolver.

He still needed to absorb more monster genes.

His next target was naturally the Venom Demon Spider.

But there were too few of them—he would have to hunt ten thousand Serpent Demons before midnight for the space rift to detect the Serpent Demon Curse.

The Serpent Demon Curse was a title acquired through the hero system’s translation, after slaying ten thousand Serpent Demons.

A new plan began to take shape in Qin Hao’s mind.

A knock sounded at his door.

“Mr. Qin, it’s time for dinner.”

“I’m coming!”

Qin Hao opened the door and saw Zihui standing there.

Her expression was rather downcast, and though she tried to hide it, Qin Hao saw through her at once.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You noticed?” Zihui sighed subconsciously. “You’ll see when you come downstairs.”

Qin Hao followed Zihui to the 35th floor, finding the place much changed. Thick curtains hung at every window, soundproof panels lined the walls—who knew where they’d gotten them—and the number of tables and chairs had increased, no longer the bare floor as before.

Everything had been arranged quite well. To one who’d survived the apocalypse, Qin Hao would not call it crude.

But those present were clearly dissatisfied.

Surveying the room, he saw more than three hundred people. Over fifty evolvers were missing, replaced by nearly a hundred and fifty ordinary people.

These, evidently, were the families of Zihui’s fans.

They were anything but quiet, a noisy commotion rising in the hall.

“Girl, I’ve told you since you were young—you’re so stubborn, you’d run into a wall and not look back. This time, not following the army, coming to this Sky Dome Base—look around, what does this base have? Not even a bed! Why come here and suffer? If the army builds houses in the suburbs, won’t we be left with nothing?”

“Mom, just listen to me—stay one night. After that, you can decide whether to leave or not, all right? Besides, the army can’t save everyone in a day or two—our city has over ten million people!”

“Son, have you been bewitched by that little starlet Zihui? She was a celebrity—does that still matter now? If you can marry her, fine, I’ll stay.”

“Dad, please, don’t say that! If you keep talking like this, you’ll get beaten! This time, you must listen to me. Do you want your son, or do you want to follow the army? Make your choice.”

“This is a matter of life and death!”

“Do you even know how dangerous it is out there? Those man-eating monsters! What do we do without the army?”

“I don’t care—if you leave, I’ll die right here just to show you!”

“You children are beyond control now.”

Zihui’s fans were all quite young—some only seventeen or eighteen, others twenty-three or twenty-four. At that age, they could hardly shoulder the burden of a family, nor did they have any real authority at home.

This meant that, even as evolvers, these young fans could not become the masters of their households.

Qin Hao didn’t need Zihui to explain. He instantly understood where the fifty missing evolver fans had gone.

They had all left with their families.

At this stage, the numbers of Fang Demons and Serpent Demons were still not high, giving those who’d remained at home the illusion that these monsters would eventually be wiped out by the army.

Little did they know, it was all wishful thinking.

Qin Hao entered the dining hall.

With each step, his aura spread—an overwhelming physical presence that made it hard for people to breathe.

Some who were still standing collapsed to the ground, while those without seats tumbled down.

Even the evolvers felt that Qin Hao now radiated a pressure more terrifying than the Venom Demon Spider.

He was like a god on the verge of wrath, exuding an aura that threatened to annihilate everything.

“If you want to die, keep arguing. I’ll send you out myself, so you don’t get others killed,” Qin Hao said coldly.

Those who had just joined, far from daring to show anger, did not even dare to betray the slightest hint of it.

Was this man even human?

Why did he look more like a ferocious beast, a force of nature?