Super Gene Hunting Ground

The giant snake's head was tightly grasped by Yang Xiao's soul skill, Five Finger Sky Explosion; it couldn't even make a sound, as its massive body struggled fiercely. With a whoosh, it swept the railings on both sides of the Kongming Bridge, breaking a stretch of several tens of meters.

Yang Xiao's will surged, and the fist formed by the Five Finger Sky Explosion immediately increased in strength.

Boom!

With a loud bang, Yang Xiao directly crushed the head of the giant snake. Then, releasing his grip, the snake's body fell, lying limp on the bridge, motionless.

From Yang Xiao charging forward and using the Five Finger Sky Explosion to the final crushing of the giant snake's head, it took only about a minute.

Gong Yu, Xia Luo, Xiao Zhe, Zhao Gang, Long Yongjun, Huang Wen, Qin Yu, Deng Xiao, and others were dumbstruck.

After a brief mental short-circuit, a huge question mark appeared in everyone's mind. What had Yang Xiao experienced in the desert to become so terrifyingly powerful?

Gong Yu, whose cultivation realm was higher than the rest, and being at the intermediate stage of Enhanced Genes himself, naturally felt that Yang Xiao's realm had once again made a breakthrough. He came forward and said enviously:

"Yang Xiao, congratulations! I can't believe you've already broken through to the intermediate stage of Enhanced Genes. That was incredibly fast!"

Yang Xiao turned around, smiling faintly, and said:

"You've been at the intermediate level of Enhanced Genes for a while now, I had to progress too, otherwise, I'd be left far behind by you."

"You're making fun of your brother here. Right, the skill you just used was a new soul skill of yours, wasn't it?"

Yang Xiao nodded.

By then, Xia Luo and others gathered around, and Huang Wen, Qin Yu, Deng Xiao, and others also descended from mid-air, reverted back to their human form, and everyone felt happy for Yang Xiao.

The giant snake had always been a boulder weighing on everyone's hearts, causing endless anxiety. Now that it was finally slain by Yang Xiao, everyone suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Because of the threat posed by this giant snake, the entire defense network of Nanmu City couldn't be established, as no one could contend with the snake.

Xiao Zhe said:

"Boss, now that you've killed this giant snake, we can relax too. We can now build our defense zone along the Star River, planning to create a defense area centered on the three Genetic Stores in Nanmu City's district. We'll clear out the monsters within the defense zone and then establish outposts and patrols outside of it. This way, the people inside the city can live in peace. What do you think of this plan?"

Yang Xiao nodded and said:

"That's right, this is the way to do it. Let Long Yongjun bring back a thousand elite soldiers from Star Moon Town to help you guard Nanmu City's district. The outpost personnel around the city can also be relocated within the city. The Genetic Store outposts in the suburbs only need small teams of several dozes to stay on guard for now. Everyone can form various small teams, hunt near each outpost..."

While talking, Huang Wen and Qin Yu walked onto Kongming Bridge, picked up about a dozen Genetic Balls beside the dead giant snake, along with a sword and a golden scroll, and brought them over to Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao only took the golden scroll, letting Huang Wen identify the sword herself.

The golden scroll read "Extreme Cold Ice Fog".

This was a skill from the Ice Element Magic. Yang Xiao hadn't expected to actually get this from a giant snake. He had killed no less than a hundred sand worms in the desert, and had never gotten any Ice Element skills like the Extreme Cold Ice Fog.

Now, Yang Xiao suddenly possessed both the Lightning Ball and Extreme Cold Ice Fog elemental skills.

Yang Xiao took the golden scroll.

"Have someone pull this snake back. We're having snake soup tonight."

Everyone laughed.

With the Giant Snake gone, everyone's mood lightened up. After all, other monsters currently posed no threat.

Seeing it was getting late, Yang Xiao and others went back to the office near the Genetic Store and called a meeting with the core team members.

"Xiao Zhe, of Nanmu City's 20,000 people, how many are capable of fighting?"

"Boss, there are about 300 people with Primordial Gene Primary Level and above, including 100 at Intermediate and 30 at High-Level. There are over 3,000 Elite Soldiers, and the rest have evolved their Genetic Attributes to some extent. However, our evolution resources are limited right now and can't meet everyone's requirements."

"That's easy to resolve now. Starting tomorrow, gather all the Elite Soldiers, lead everyone to clear out the hidden Mutant Monsters in the city, then form several squads. Each squad will have a few experts with Primordial Gene or higher to lead some Elite Soldiers and the general populace. From now on, everyone will have to secure their own Evolution resources."

During this period, the influx of monsters into the city, particularly the immense psychological pressure from the Giant Snake, left everyone somewhat fearful, even a master like Gong Yu felt a bit helpless.

Now that Yang Xiao was back and had dealt with the Giant Snake, the rest of the problems seemed to fall into place.

Immediately, everyone's morale soared, eager to turn the tables on these invading Mutant Monsters.

The Giant Snake weighed several thousand pounds. Xu Nanqiang led the logistics team to stew ten large pots of snake soup. Yang Xiao, Gong Yu, Xia Luo, and others gathered around, enjoying the soup while discussing other matters.

After the meal, Yang Xiao asked Xiao Zhe to distribute a pile of weapons in the conference room to those with Primordial Gene Primary Level and above. He also kept a sword and a bow aside, then called Huang Wen to his room.

"Huang Wen, how are Yang Ying and Yang Kai doing?"

"Don't worry, those two are alright; both have entered the Primordial Gene Primary Level."

"Give this bow to Yang Ying, as I remember she possesses a Bird Beast Soul. And this sword, give it to Yang Kai."

Huang Wen took the bow and sword, smiling:

"The two kids think about you all the time. They'll be so happy knowing you brought them gifts. Aren't you going to see them?"

"In a few days. Right now, I'm a bit tied up with things. By the way, this Fox Armor is for you."

Yang Xiao took out the Fox Armor from his Space Ring and handed it to Huang Wen.

Huang Wen was stunned as she took the armor. It was indeed a fine item. She felt a sweet warmth in her heart and shyly said,

"You still remember to get me a gift?"

Yang Xiao replied with a smile:

"You are the captain of my palace guard team. How could I forget about you?"

Huang Wen looked up, shyly glared at Yang Xiao, and chided:

"In your dreams!"

She pretended to punch Yang Xiao with her tiny fist.

Yang Xiao chuckled, caught Huang Wen's hand, and took a closer look at her. Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise, noticing something was amiss.

Huang Wen used to be merely decent-looking with an average figure, at best pretty but not stunning—ordinary with neither ugliness nor brilliance, her standout trait being an air of scholarly pride.

But after over a month apart, Yang Xiao suddenly realized Huang Wen seemed like a different person. Her typical East Asian complexion had become much fairer, her features more delicate, and coupled with the self-assured aura from nearing the Enhanced Gene Primary Level Cultivation Realm, she struck Yang Xiao as completely transformed, as if she had shed her old skin for a new face.