"Spirit Gene." Ji Yanran slowly spoke out both words.
"Spirit genes? You can obtain genes by eating spirits?" Han Sen's eyes opened wide, as this was the first time he had ever heard about something like this.
Ji Yanran laughed and said, "No! You can't get gene points from eating spirits. Eating spirits is pointless."
Han Sen did not respond, and quietly waited for Ji Yanran's explanation instead. The differences between the Second God's Sanctuary and the Third God's Sanctuary were too big.
"Annie, you should explain this." Ji Yanran could not explain it herself as she hadn't been to the Third God's Sanctuary; thus, she feared she couldn't describe it as efficiently as she might like.
Annie nodded and said, "The First God's Sanctuary and Second God's Sanctuary require you to kill creatures in order to increase your fitness. In the Third God's Sanctuary, aside from fitness, you must also open your gene locks."
"There are two ways to unlock gene locks. First, is through the hyper geno art you learn. When your fitness gets stronger, and you practice more and more with the same skill, you can unlock higher tiers of your gene lock. This method requires the geno points of creatures. The higher your fitness is, the higher the chance you have of unlocking a gene lock. It also has something to do with your hyper geno art. Some skills have three to four locks, whereas others have eight to nine."
Annie took a small break before continuing. Then, she said, "The second method of unlocking a gene lock is to get spirit geno points from a spirit. If one spirit has unlocked three of its gene locks, you can receive a hundred spirit geno points off them. This will allow you to unlock one gene lock. It takes three hundred spirit geno points to unlock three locks. The power you get from unlocking gene locks will be the same as spirits receive. Your element and hyper geno art does not matter."
"So, let me get this straight; if a spirit has unlocked nine gene locks, and grants me nine hundred gene points, that means I can be an elite with nine opened gene locks?" Han Sen was shocked by this vat of information he was receiving.
"That's how it is supposed to work, yes. But even if the spirit gave you a spirit geno point, you would need a fitness level capable of receiving that power. If it is too low, your body won't be able to contain the power. Your body will breakdown if it unlocks too many gene locks at once," Ji Yanran explained.
"Spirit geno points are important to spirits, mind you. They won't randomly dish them out to humans," Annie added.
"So, how can I obtain these spirit geno points?" Han Sen asked.
"You sign a contract with a spirit and become a member of their shelter's society. If you perform well, they can reward you with a fair amount of these spirit geno points." Annie looked at Han Sen with a pause in her speech, but then continued by saying, "Of course, if you are powerful enough, then you can take a spirit stone. If the spirit does not self-destruct and instead accepts you as its new master, you can command the spirit to provide you with all its spirit geno points."
"But spirits would rarely accept masters in the Third God's Sanctuary, and the possibility of that happening is extremely low. And furthermore, low-level spirits aren't very useful. The tiers they can aid you in unlocking are too low," Ji Yanran said.
"Would spirits really provide humans with spirit geno points?" Han Sen doubted this statement, finding it difficult to believe spirits were truly willing to provide humans—a different race—spirit geno points.
"They do, if you a sign a contract with them and accept the spirit as your master. In the eyes of spirits, humans are no greater than the creatures they generally command. They will treat you as they do creatures, and the spirits treat creatures as they do you. They provide creatures with spirit geno points. But the higher-tier spirits make it harder for you to obtain their spirit geno points. That being said, some humans have been known to unlock eight of their gene locks with spirit geno points."
"Can a spirit in the Second God's Sanctuary provide humans with spirit geno points?" Han Sen asked.
"In the Second God's Sanctuary, no such creature exists right now. But people have theorized if a spirit had the same strength as a super creature, they might indeed have spirit geno points. But one gene lock is most likely the max they can provide, and that isn't worth very much. And humans will most likely be unable to obtain a spirit of such power here, anyway," Ji Yanran answered.
"Spirit geno points can grant you powers unlike any you've ever had. But improving your own body to sustain such power is just as important. After all, the spirit geno points don't originally belong to you. You only make use of the powers they provide; you don't own and command the distribution of spirit geno points. Unlocking gene locks through your own strength is better, overall. Their tolerance and harmony with your body would be far more fitting. True elites always depend on the powers they have earned themselves. They unlock gene locks by channeling their own strength," Annie elaborated.
After talking to Annie and Ji Yanran, Han Sen had now learned a lot more about the basic structure of the Third God's Sanctuary.
Although the power obtained from spirit geno points wasn't perfect, it could be considered a shortcut. Assuming he could cut a few corners and obtain such powers in a quicker manner as she was suggesting, Han Sen was fond of the idea.
With stronger powers, Han Sen could kill creatures with greater ease and subsequently improve his own power through himself. There was nothing preventing such a thing.
But if you wanted spirit geno points, you would have to sign a contract with a spirit. If you didn't, they wouldn't provide you with any.
There were many pros and cons to weigh, when it came to the signing of such a contract. Ordinary humans didn't really have much in the way of choice, and they were forced to sign such contracts.
"I wonder what level the spirit that took the rhino was?" Han Sen thought to himself.
During Han Sen's time back in the Alliance, Councilman Zhou contacted the Ji family. He and his family were incredibly appreciative of Han Sen's effort to lead his daughter safely out of the Black Desert. In return, they sent them many expensive gifts.
Ji Yanran was shocked, upon seeing the lucrative gift list. She laughed and said, "It looks like Zhou Yumei is quite important in her family."
"I don't think this appreciation stems from her position in the family. I'd wager they're more concerned with her ownership of a pet super creature. If it grows up, it'd be incredibly powerful and that would indeed assert her as a prominent figure." Han Sen then proceeded to tell Ji Yanran the story of Han Sen's meeting and subsequent adventure with Zhou Yumei and Little Orange.
"Is such a thing possible? This is a big opportunity; I have to provide my family with this information." Ji Yanran and Annie had their eyes wide open.
"If you like pets, I can give you one." Han Sen laughed.
Annie rolled her eyes, not believing what Han Sen told her. The child of a super creature would be incredibly powerful, and raising one was sure to be harder than killing one. Zhou Yumei was just incredibly lucky, she assumed. Achieving ownership of one would be no easy task.