Super Gene

The black crystal in the Sea of Soul was like a blackhole, absorbing the lifeforce around it.

Han Sen was shocked. Ever since he found the black crystal, there hadn’t been anything amiss with it. But now, the black crystal was absorbing lifeforces, and it was quite terrifying to see.

The speed at which the black crystal was absorbing the lifeforces was alarming, and if its hunger was turned to Han Sen later, he’d be a skeletal husk in under a minute. Any other evolver would perish instantly.

Han Sen was rather concerned. If the crystal had hungered for him when he ate it previously, he’d have died a very long time ago.

The black crystal kept absorbing lifeforce, but Han Sen realized he did not know where the lifeforce was coming from. The black crystal spent quite some time absorbing it.

Han Sen was afraid the black crystal would absorb his lifeforce, but there was nothing he could do. He could not remove it from his body.

He opened his eyes, wanting to look around and see where that lifeforce was originating, for he did not believe the lifeforce of the atmosphere itself was that powerful.

But Han Sen could not be move his head. All he could see was the tree above him, which grew black shortswords. When he looked at the tree again, however, he was given a surprise.

The tree, once a rich emerald, had yellowed. The black shortswords had lost their lustre and attractive shininess and had now started to rust.

"The black crystal is absorbing the lifeforce of the tree!" Han Sen was gobsmacked, unsure of how the crystal was doing it.

But for Han Sen, this was good news. It showed that the black crystal was not interested in humans, just flora.

Still, he was a little apprehensive. The black crystal might not be interested in him now, but who could promise that it wouldn’t like a taste of him later?

Perhaps the black crystal believed he was too weak right now, and it was going to wait until he became stronger before chowing down on his energy.

Katcha!

The sword tree was getting more and more yellow, and its trunk was starting to rot. Many leaves departed their harboring branches, and the tree’s grip on the swords became weaker. One of them dropped dangerously close to Han Sen. It nicked his face right before sinking into the ground. He almost had a heart attack.

Seeing the many swords rusting and preparing to drop at any second, Han Sen planned on summoning Little Angel to carry him away. The last thing he wanted was to get impaled by one of those rusty blades.

But when he tried to summon her, he got no response. He looked back into the Sea of Soul, and for some reason, Little Angel was little more than a light. He had no idea when this had begun, but there she was, evolving.

"Strange? How can she evolve? I didn’t feed her a black crystal or anything." Han Sen pondered the conundrum, but still believed it to be a good thing. When Little Angel evolved, his life in the Third God’s Sanctuary was sure to be substantially easier.

"I don’t think Little Angel can be summoned right now, then." Looking at his collection of beast souls now, he was almost dismayed to only see Meowth and Golden Growler there.

The only spirit Han Sen brought with him was Moment Queen, but she was less than favorably-inclined towards him, so he did not believe she could help.

As Han Sen continued to think, the black crystal eventually stopped. He looked at the black crystal and found there to be some sort of liquid around it.

There was no color or smell to the substance, and it was translucent like an actual crystal. Strangely, it possessed a lifeforce of its own.

"Strange. Did the black crystal bite off more than it could chew? Is this a... secretion, stemming from an overload?" Han Sen wondered.

But the lifeforce had become a water in the Sea of Soul. Han Sen could not drink it, but if he possibly could, he’d have liked to consume it and see if it could benefit his body in any capacity.

For some reason, he decided to let Meowth have it. He wanted to see if it’d benefit Meowth first.

Meowth curiously licked it, but did not dare consume it properly. It was too strong for Meowth, and even after the casual lick, its body bloated with energy. If Meowth had actually consumed it all, it would’ve undoubtedly exploded.

Han Sen then let Golden Growler try it. He too licked it at first, and his body was filled to the brim with energy.

"This is good, but Golden Growler and Meowth are from the First God’s Sanctuary. I don’t think they can cope with this much energy. I’m unsure of the benefits it may impart, then." Han Sen looked at Golden Growler and Meowth, that were gasping in an attempt to digest the energy they had just accepted.

Han Sen focused his vision forward and noticed that the tree was completely dead. All the swords had dropped to the ground and all the leaves had left the branches. It had no more lifeforce, which had evidently all been sucked dry by the black crystal.

"No wonder it stopped; it’s bone dry!" Han Sen observed the dead tree and then heard a voice.

"Sister Lanxi, the ink sword tree that has been growing for three years is about to mature. There are thirty-four of them growing; think of the riches! We can sell them to obtain a large amount of ordinary flesh." A man was talking excitedly.

When Han Sen heard what he had to say, his face dropped. "Oh, crap! This tree was owned by someone else! But who does it belong to? A human or spirit? If it’s a spirit, I am so dead!"

Han Sen wanted to get up and run, but alas, he could not. Even if Han Sen summoned his Golden Growler, in the Third God’s Sanctuary, it would be slower than an average creature. It seemed like an escape would be impossible.

All Han Sen could do was hope that the owner of the tree was human, and if it was, he could pay the owner back in the Alliance.

"Yeah; the flesh should give us a lot of ordinary geno points!" A woman now replied to the man, and although she was quieter, there was audible excitement coating her voice.

"Oh, by the sanctuaries! I hope they won’t be too mad when they see the tree." Han Sen felt terrible. They sounded human, but the tree was clearly important to them. Han Sen could now only continue praying for divine protection over whatever was about to happen next.