Super Gene Ⅱ: Evolution

"Younger brother, from now on, no matter where you are, you must call me Manager An. This is also the last time I call you 'younger brother.' From now on, you are the Chief of the Heavenly Institute," Mr. An 6 suddenly said seriously to Lin Shen.

"Mr. An 6?" Lin Shen said, slightly taken aback.

Mr. An 6 grabbed Lin Shen's hand, forcefully stuffed the Reincarnation Ashes back into his hand, and then said earnestly, "You and I are both servants of the Heavenly Emperor. We only need to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to serving the Heavenly Emperor. Let's dispense with these worldly formalities."

While he said this, he was thinking, "Just by taking a small favor from you, I've been chastised by the Heavenly Emperor. If I took these Reincarnation Ashes, how would I ever be able to face the days to come!"

"I am already a Nirvana Body; these Reincarnation Ashes are of no use to me but of great use to you. There's no need for any more words. Once I return from the City of No Light, we can meet again," Manager An said and then prepared to leave. As he was leaving, he turned back to Lin Shen and said, "Remember the old saying, 'Loss is a blessing.' Keep that in mind."

"Alright, Manager An, I've taken note of your words," Lin Shen replied, understanding his meaning and nodding.

"That's good. When I return from the City of No Light, I hope you will already be the true Dean of the Celestial Master Institute." Having said this, Manager An directly flew away.

Watching Manager An's retreating figure, Lin Shen was lost in thought.

"I've made it!" At the summit of Mount Ascension, Tian Xin's exhilarated roar could be heard—he had finally succeeded in reaching the top.

Lin Shen shifted his gaze to Wei Wufu, who had just entered the pond area and was making his way toward the waterfall.

Although Wei Wufu's endurance wasn't as strong as Lin Shen's, it was still much better than the average Ascender's. Even with such strenuous exertion, he tenaciously powered through it.

As the number of lifetimes reflected in his Life Base increased, both Wei Wufu's strength and speed were also enhanced. Adorned in a White Robe, he forcefully broke through the turbulent currents and approached the waterfall and, after several attempts, finally managed to grab onto the rocks.

After emerging from the water, despite the waterfall's stronger impact, it became easier for Wei Wufu to handle.

Lin Shen let out a long sigh of relief, knowing that Wei Wufu was most likely going to be alright.

Only then did he have the time to check his own Life Base. As a Fifth Turn Contrarian, only his Attribute and Innate Skill had been enhanced; no new skills had appeared.

At the Sixth Turn, the Inheritance Fan already had six moves associated with its Innate Skill.

The first was "Open," the second "Disperse," the third "Merge," the fourth "Spin," the fifth "Lock," and the sixth "Shake."

Lin Shen was already very proficient with the first two moves. The third, "Merge," was used to close the fan while either "Open" or "Disperse" was active.

The closed fan bones did not simply return to their original state; instead, they retained the feathery light tips, merged together to form something akin to a Light Sword.

In the "Merge" state, the Inheritance Fan's strength, speed, toughness, and hardness were all enhanced, representing the most powerful combat state.

The fourth move, "Spin," was a skilled technique that leveraged the rotation of the fan to increase its destructive power, or to deflect force. The specific application required skill and was highly technical.

The fifth, "Lock," was an even more enigmatic skill. It allowed the user to lock onto an opponent's Life Base or weapon, but its effectiveness needed to be tested in actual combat.

And the sixth, "Shake," was peculiar in that it was a supportive-type skill—strangely enough, a single shake of the fan could bring a hero to his knees.

Lin Shen dared not test these new skills just yet, especially not near the Ascension Pool; he would have to wait until he returned to experiment with his new abilities.

Although one Life Base was at the Fifth Turn and the other at the Sixth, together they nearly bestowed upon Lin Shen a boost comparable to that of a single, Tenth Turn Life Base.

A Ninth Turn enhanced one's attributes by eighty percent, whereas a Tenth Turn could double them; the Tenth Turn was quite special in its own right.

Tian Xin flew back, landing beside Lin Shen, and casually asked, "Has your Life Base reached the Tenth Turn yet?"

"The Sixth Turn," Lin Shen replied.

"How can it only be the Sixth Turn?" Tian Xin was taken aback for a moment. His Life Base had already reached the Eighth Turn. When Lin Shen surged upwards earlier, the water flow was even stronger than when he had ascended. He had thought Lin Shen must have reached the Tenth Turn by now.

"There must be some problem somewhere, I feel like there's something off about the Ascension Pool today," Lin Shen said.

"Indeed," Tian Xin thought about it and indeed something seemed amiss. Then he quickly perked up again, "You're merely at the pitiful Sixth Turn, I've already ascended to the Eighth. From now on, if you follow me, I'll cover for you."

"Even if you ascend to Nirvana right here and now, you'd still have to call me uncle as per the family hierarchy," Lin Shen said with a smile.

"You…" Tian Xin was about to swear but held back, snorting coldly instead, "I can't be bothered to argue with you today."

The two watched as Wei Wufu ascended the mountain against the current without any apparent problem, much more easily than while in the water. After not too long, Wei Wufu disappeared into the mist, presumably close to reaching the summit.

Sure enough, after a while, Wei Wufu flew back.

"Did you reach the top?" Tian Xin eagerly asked.

Wei Wufu nodded, which was somewhat expected.

"What Turn?" Tian Xin asked again.

"The Ninth." Wei Wufu's response deflated Tian Xin immediately. When they had set off, he had more cycles of rebirth than Wei Wufu, but now Wei Wufu actually surpassed him by one Turn.

"What a lousy Ascension Pool, it's all messed up," Tian Xin thought; but remembering that Lin Shen was only at the Sixth Turn, he felt better again.

The three left the Ascension Pool and went back to the hotel. Tian Xun was waiting for them there. He was surprised to hear that Lin Shen had only reached the Sixth Turn.

"Judging by what you said, there really might be some issues with the Ascension Pool, but it's unknown whether they're man-made or due to some other reasons," Tian Xun said, frowning in thought.

"Tian Xun, you know that person who claims to be called Xiao Liuzi, Manager An, right?" Lin Shen asked, wanting to find out more about what kind of person Manager An was.

"Why are you asking about him?" Tian Xun was surprised.

"He seemed to quite enjoy talking with me and even gave me some things. So I thought I'd ask," Lin Shen said, taking out the water skill book Manager An had given him and handing it to Tian Xun.

"Manager An is the Head Manager of the Imperial Palace, a Pet Official by the Heavenly Emperor's side. But aside from this role, he has another identity which you should know about," Tian Xun said.

"What do I know? What should I know?" Lin Shen asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Since you know he calls himself Xiao Liuzi and his surname is An, don't you understand?"

"An 6... The sixth strongest member of the An Family..." Lin Shen hadn't considered this before.

Tian Xun spoke earnestly, "His ranking as number six dates back to several decades ago. Over these decades, An 6 has not initiated any challenges. Being in the Imperial Palace, no one from the An Family challenges him either. Thus, how strong he is now is unknown to most.

However, there are rumors that he has gone through eleven Nirvanas without losing his humanity, almost making him an invincible existence among those at the Nirvana Level. If it weren't for his duty to serve the Heavenly Emperor, preventing him from leaving the Imperial Palace, he would likely have broken through already."

"Manager An is that strong?" Lin Shen was taken aback. He had thought Manager An was just a favored official by the Heavenly Emperor's side, not expecting him to be so powerful.