Awakening the Xenomorph Gene

Li Junshan blinked, put on a frightened look, and walked up trembling. Seeing him come up, Anna said, "Ask him yourselves. I was sleeping just now. By the time I heard the noise and came out, I only saw a figure flying out. I didn't get a clear look at who it was."

"Xiaoshan, did you see who it was?"

"Who was it?"

"Was it a man or a woman?"

The moment he went up, the crowd surrounded Li Junshan in the middle, every one of them tense. These people were all prominent figures in Windfire Town. The instant they heard that a Battle Master had appeared in Anna's tavern, they all wanted to come and rope him in.

"It was a man." Li Junshan's body trembled slightly, his face full of terror. "A middle-aged man, with a sword at his waist. I've never seen him in our Windfire Town before. There wasn't anyone in the shop just now either, so I was making Malatang for myself. That man came in and grabbed a handful to eat, but who knew that after eating it, he'd go mad? He stretched out his hand and struck out a streak of purple Battle Qi, throwing me up through the roof. He nearly scared me to death. This floor isn't sturdy either. When I fell back down, I smashed through the floor and dropped into the basement. It hurt like crazy, but luckily I wasn't injured."

A middle-aged man stroked his beard, nodded, and said, "No wonder they said the figure wrapped in purple Battle Qi looked very undignified when he fell. I was wondering how a Battle Master could end up like that. So it was you."

"Why? He's only a child, and he didn't provoke him."

"Exactly. How strange."

The group fell into deep thought. Anna blinked and cut in, "Maybe he ate Xiaoshan's Malatang and had never tasted that kind of flavor before, so he got a little excited for a moment and did something like that. Weren't you all the same before? The first time you ate Malatang, weren't you very excited too?"

Those people thought it over. Though they found it somewhat beyond belief, they couldn't come up with any other reason. They also knew Anna, and they were even less likely to believe that Fate, a junior mage, could create such a commotion. As for Li Junshan, there was even less need to mention him.

"Xiaoshan, if you see him next time, tell him the doors of our Wild Wolf Mercenary Group will always be open to him." The speaker was Harisa, the leader of a mercenary group in Windfire Town. His own strength was at the Grand Battle Master level, only one rank above Battle Master. Under him were more than a dozen high-level warriors and countless low- and mid-level warriors, making his group the most powerful mercenary group in Windfire Town.

When the others saw him speak first, they were too embarrassed to say anything. Only after he paced around a few times and left did they crowd forward, lowering their voices to give Li Junshan instructions. Their meaning was nothing more than wanting to rope in that mysterious Battle Master.

After making a round, Li Junshan had gained a few silver coins in his pocket. With great difficulty, he sent them away. By now, the sky had darkened. Anna shut the door, her face darkening as she said, "Bring Fate and come to my room together."

Li Junshan gave a few awkward laughs. Seeing that Anna's face was still black, he hurriedly ran to the basement, helped Fate up and shook him awake, then warned him not to speak recklessly for now. The two of them came up and walked toward Anna's room.

The three sat in the room, each with their own thoughts, and no one spoke. After a long while, Anna finally sighed and said, "Xiaoshan, we've lived together for almost half a year now, and I understand you less and less."

Li Junshan shrank his neck, feeling a wave of guilt.

"I know you were cultivating as a Summoner, and I was also clear about it when you later switched to cultivating Battle Qi. It's just, how did you suddenly become a Battle Master?"

Seeing that Li Junshan wanted to speak, Anna waved her hand to interrupt him and continued, "You're definitely going to say you don't know either. Sigh! Forget it. In this man-eating world, if you can become strong, that's a good thing too. But you have to remember, something like today must never happen again. Windfire Town's situation is so complicated, and I don't want you getting involved too early. You do have some strength now, but sometimes strength can't decide everything. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Li Junshan nodded. Anna's expression softened a little, and she said, "When you first came here, you looked miserable, but I could tell from your physical traits that you weren't an ordinary family's child. A commoner's child couldn't possibly have hands as delicate as yours were when you first arrived, and a child born into a noble family couldn't possibly cook delicious food that no one had ever tasted before. I originally thought that after we spent more time together, I should understand you somewhat, but who knew that the more I looked, the more confused I'd become."

Li Junshan laughed dryly a few times and said, "Aunt Anna, I've never treated you as an outsider. It's just that some things aren't ready to be said yet. Maybe I'm lazy, maybe I like causing trouble, maybe sometimes my mouth says one thing while my heart means another, but don't worry. I promise you, I'm absolutely not a bad person."

Anna nodded in relief, then glared at Fate and said, "Xiaoshan will definitely not be an ordinary person in the future. If you want to stay by his side, that little bit of strength of yours is useless."

Fate was embarrassed and lowered his head, not knowing what to say.

Anna stood up, took a box from under the bed, and tossed it in front of Fate.

"Boss lady, don't drive me away! I'll definitely study magic properly. Also, I'll work hard. I can use magic to wash vegetables, wash dishes, wash clothes, even scrub the floor..." Fate panicked, nearly dropping to his knees.

"Shut up." Anna said irritably, "You think I'm settling your wages? Dream on. You eat mine and drink mine every day, and you still want money!"

Only when Fate heard she wasn't driving him away did he finally relax.

"In this box are some magic notes my husband wrote in the past. Take them and read them. Perhaps they'll be of some use."

Magic notes were different from magic textbooks. They were manuals in which mages recorded the insights and experiences they had painstakingly researched, and they were especially detailed. Fate had long heard the legends about Anna's husband, so when he heard this, he was overjoyed. He thanked her again and again, then grabbed the box and hugged it to his chest.

Anna stared at them attentively for a while longer, then waved her hand to signal for them to leave.

After the two went out, Li Junshan explained the lie he had just made up to Fate clearly. Perhaps because he had obtained the mage's notes, Fate didn't ask why Li Junshan had suddenly become a Battle Master. He happily carried the box and left.

Li Junshan returned to his own room, stepped around the large hole in the floor, sat before the bed, and thought for a long time without finding any clue.

He tried controlling the Battle Qi as it flowed through his body. His body was covered in constantly shifting colors—gray, orange, purple, and unexpectedly even yellow. Li Junshan grew even more confused.

Battle Qi warriors of different ranks had different corresponding Battle Qi colors. Junior warriors were gray, mid-level warriors orange, high-level warriors cyan, Battle Masters purple, Grand Battle Masters blue, Battle Saints yellow, and Battle Gods red. As for powerful figures who broke through Battle God and reached Saint level, their Battle Qi was golden.

Looking through the hole in the roof at the sky full of stars, a thread of thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

His blood was corrosive just like a xenomorph's, which meant he possessed certain xenomorph genes. But for some unknown reason, he did not have their speed or strength.

His cultivation of spiritual power had made no progress, but when he switched to cultivating Battle Qi, he broke through the junior, mid-level, and high-level ranks all at once, directly reaching Battle Master. Could I understand it like cultivating martial arts inner force in novels, that Battle Qi opened up my meridians and released the xenomorph genes and power as well, only expressing them in the form of Battle Qi? At the same time, these things also affected my spiritual power. Is that how it is?

In other words, his Battle Qi cultivation had not truly advanced him to the rank of Battle Master. It had only activated the abnormal abilities that had been transformed by the xenomorph genes.

After pondering for a long while, Li Junshan felt that aside from this understanding, he had no other way to explain any of it.

Li Junshan tried to sense the dozen or so Xenomorph Eggs in Spirit Space that had spiritual connections with him. He could clearly feel from the ovary the Facehuggers' urgent desire to come out.

"I still have to be cautious and more cautious about this. If I mess up, I might turn myself into a host." As Li Junshan thought this, his hands subconsciously traced the contract gestures needed when summoning Magic Beasts.

Suddenly, an idea surfaced in his mind. The more Li Junshan thought about it, the more reliable it seemed, and he could not help laughing out loud.

"I'll try it tomorrow." Li Junshan chuckled. Feeling cold wind pour constantly through the large hole in the roof, he shivered and wrapped the blanket tightly around himself.

The Falling Moon Mountains' specialty was Magic Beasts. According to the late Saint-level Mage Alfred of the Yalan Continent in Travels and History of the Continent, Saint-level Magic Beasts even existed in the depths of the Falling Moon Mountains.

Saint-level Magic Beasts were peak existences among Magic Beasts, just like Saint-level powerhouses among humans, standing high at the very top of the pyramid. Of course, Saint-level Magic Beasts were not something ordinary people could subdue. Only Saint-level powerhouses had that ability. Adventurers and mercenary groups who went to the Falling Moon Mountains did not dare harbor that thought. Magic Beasts above level six were enough to make most people drink a whole pot of suffering.

Windfire Town was located at the very edge of the Falling Moon Mountains. Most of the Magic Beasts active in the forests outside the town were low-level Magic Beasts. Occasionally, one or two Magic Beasts above level five would appear, but within a few days, they would either be killed for their magic crystals or subdued by powerful mages or Summoners.

Over the past several decades, under repeated human cleansing, the forests around Windfire Town had long since lost any Magic Beasts above level five. Fortunately, low-level Magic Beasts had astonishing reproductive ability. Otherwise, this stretch of forest would probably have become a dead land.

After working busily for the entire morning, when there was no one left in the tavern, Li Junshan grabbed Fate and ran toward the forest outside town.

"Is something wrong?" Ever since obtaining Anna's husband's magic notes, Fate had become unusually diligent—perhaps he had also been provoked by Li Junshan, this abnormal human.

"Help me hatch magic beast eggs." Li Junshan ran out of town and, seeing no one around, circulated his battle qi and sprinted at top speed, nearly yanking Fate into the air.

Before long, the two of them had flown deep into the forest. Li Junshan stopped, only then noticing that Fate's long hair had been blown into a wild mess by the rushing wind, and laughed. "Wait here for a bit." After saying that, ignoring Fate, Li Junshan shot straight into the forest.

Although he knew there were no large magic beasts here, Fate was still somewhat afraid. He looked around cautiously, and also could not understand why Li Junshan, who had clearly said they were here to hatch magic beast eggs, had gone off to do who knew what.

He had not waited long when Fate heard bursts of rapid rustling from running. Then Li Junshan appeared from the south, carrying several magic beasts in his hand.

"Level-one magic beasts, Hopping Rabbits? Level-two magic beasts, Flame Chickens?" Fate's eyes widened, and he asked in surprise, "Why did you catch these low-level magic beasts? They're no use at all."

No wonder Fate was astonished. Aside from being able to jump a little higher and having tender, delicate flesh, Hopping Rabbits were utterly useless. Flame Chickens sounded as if they knew some magic, but in reality, the flames they spat could not even injure a domestic mutt.

"You'll know in a bit." Li Junshan smiled mysteriously, twisted and broke the legs of the two Hopping Rabbits and three Flame Chickens in his hands, then threw them down in front of him and sat cross-legged.

Taking a deep breath, Li Junshan's mind became clear and empty, and he began his first magic beast summoning in this other world.

Following the strange talisman patterns in the summoning book, Li Junshan concentrated, extended a finger, and rapidly traced over the head of the squealing Hopping Rabbit.

Although his cultivation of spiritual force had never made much progress, Li Junshan had done his basic training well. He had practiced these talisman gestures more than a thousand times by himself, so now, when he traced them out, it was naturally like steering a boat with the current, completed in one smooth breath.

A burst of dazzling white radiance flashed from the top of the Hopping Rabbit's head, transformed in midair into a crossed pattern, then swiftly sank into the Hopping Rabbit's head.

At the same time, Li Junshan felt that a subtle mental connection had suddenly formed between him and this Hopping Rabbit. He could even clearly sense the pain the Hopping Rabbit felt from its broken legs.

Success!

Li Junshan was wild with joy.