Chapter 66: The Strange Beast of Kunlun

Qin Hao had survived for twenty years in the apocalypse, making it to the very end. He had fought countless battles—against alien civilizations and, later, against the mutated beasts that rose to power on Blue Star.

Though this pool was concealed, animals in the deep forest were instinctively drawn to water sources. What’s more, the area was rich in star energy, and so it was only natural that many creatures would be lured here. Yet, at the pool’s edge, animal tracks were exceedingly scarce. Within the waters, there were bones that clearly did not belong to fish.

This was a sign that a formidable predator resided here.

Qin Hao didn’t even use his mental powers to probe the pool, wary of startling whatever beast lurked below. When he saw the creature emerge, his first instinct was to freeze it in place.

In the next instant, he yanked the monster from the depths.

A colossal creature, as thick as a barrel and over three meters long, was dragged ashore by Qin Hao. If not for its slender body and four claws, Qin Hao might have mistaken it for a serpent demon.

With a heavy thud, Qin Hao flung the beast onto the ground. The sheer force sent it bouncing off the earth, only to crash down again with a wet smack. After several such impacts, bones shattered within its body and blood welled from its maw.

Seeing the blood, Qin Hao’s eyes gleamed.

"Devour."

His mental power swept up the blood, drawing it into himself. The creature didn’t need to die; as long as Qin Hao obtained some of its blood, he could extract its genetic code. If by chance he acquired a divine-level gene, he might even spare the beast.

After all, if this Kunlun beast grew into a true dragon, it might one day battle alien intelligences. Kunlun was the dragon vein of China; such a place could not be easily conquered by outsiders.

But as Qin Hao hesitated, the beast wasted no time: it opened its maw and unleashed a jet of water. The torrent shot forth like a high-pressure cannon, immense in power. Qin Hao dodged, and the spray shredded the shrubs behind him.

At that moment, a crashing sound echoed again.

From the pool, yet another massive beast crawled out.

Splash after splash—the surface erupted as more and more beasts emerged. Qin Hao spread his mental power and realized the pool was not as small as it appeared. It was connected to an underground spring, a hidden realm teeming with bizarre life.

Now, nine such beasts faced him. Each resembled a dragon, yet was not quite a dragon. One among them, five meters long, bore powder-gray skin already armored with hard scales, and two small horns had sprouted from its head.

This was clearly the sign of draconic transformation.

This beast had already evolved to the level of a second-tier mutant.

With a chorus of hissing jets, the nine mutant beasts fired water columns at Qin Hao.

"Since they’re no longer unique, killing one or two shouldn’t matter," Qin Hao mused, and began his slaughter without hesitation.

Even the second-tier beast was no match for him. The apocalypse had only just begun—twenty days in—and Qin Hao was already in a league of his own.

"Ice!"

The air was saturated with water elements. Qin Hao compressed these, then, with a surge of mental power, infused them with cold. In an instant, sharp icicles formed.

He launched the ice spikes at the nine beasts.

Eight were pierced before they could even react, dying on the spot.

The remaining second-tier beast managed to dodge, but its body was torn open, blood flowing freely. Panic filled its eyes. Realizing it stood no chance, it turned and fled.

Its instincts screamed that if it stayed, it too would die.

Qin Hao watched it retreat, considered for a moment, but did not pursue. These were native creatures of Blue Star; what he required were genetic fragments, not their lives. There was no need to eradicate them all.

Had they been foreign predators, however, he would have shown no mercy.

Once the survivor had disappeared, Qin Hao summoned his metal powers to slice open the bodies of the eight dead beasts. Blood gushed forth.

With his innate ability, Qin Hao swept up the blood, absorbing it into himself.

From their blood, he extracted new genes.

He discarded the shape-related genes, retaining only those associated with abilities. In no time, Qin Hao had mastered a unique ability gene.

This gene granted him control over the water element.

Just as the Poison Demon Spider gene allowed him to manipulate toxins, now he could also command water.

Among the elements at his disposal, metal and ice were his most powerful, gifts directly bestowed by the gods. Lightning came next, its divine gene extracted from the blood of the Thunder God. Poison and water followed.

Even so, every elemental ability was unique in its own right.

Qin Hao did not disdain this power; on the contrary, he was quite pleased. The water element was an invaluable asset for survival in the apocalypse.

As he continued absorbing, a peculiar gene fragment caught his attention.

It was a divine-level gene fragment.

"A divine-level gene fragment? Could these creatures truly evolve into real dragons?"

Qin Hao didn’t even know what to call these strange beasts, but he had never imagined they could ascend to godhood.

Yet, any species could potentially reach the divine. Even the lowliest Fanged Demon, out of thousands, might produce one god, though that chance was slim and often snuffed out.

Every race had a shot at divinity, but the odds were one in trillions.

Qin Hao sighed inwardly, then analyzed the divine gene.

"This gene may not be suitable for my absorption."

It was a unique body-evolution gene.

Simply put, with this gene, those creatures could shed their weak forms and continually evolve toward divinity. Yet the gene contained a fixed morphogenic code that could not be circumvented.

Qin Hao named this the Draconic Transformation Gene.

"But if I forcibly suppress the morphogenic aspect, perhaps I can harness its unique abilities. This gene is powerful."

Having reversed time and been reborn, Qin Hao’s ambitions were boundless. He would seize every opportunity to grow stronger.

"Let’s try."

Without hesitation, Qin Hao produced a star energy crystal and held it in his palm, channeling his power.

In an instant, the star energy crystal dissolved into pure energy, which merged with his body, imprinting the divine gene into his own genetic code.

A tremendous force shook his very being as his genes clashed with the Draconic Transformation Gene, neither yielding.

Agonizing pain wracked his body, as though he might shatter apart. But Qin Hao gritted his teeth and endured, blood seeping from his pores.

Beneath his skin, faint golden scales began to appear.