Rebirth: Super gene

The four of them waited for the Dragon Fish King to launch an attack. Although the enemies had not entered the range of the dongxuan sutra, Bian was sure they were lurking nearby.

They also waited for the Dragon Fish King, so it could associate them as friends and not enemies. Thinking of friends reminded Bian of Xie Qing King and Bao'er.

"Whatever happened to Bao'er?" he asked Han Yan.

"She is still in the alliance for now, Zero is taking good care of her. With the amount of pestering she does though, I might bring them both back to the sanctuaries," Han Yan responded.

After waiting for some hours, the day began to break. The huge goldfish finally reached them and paused for a bit.

They gestured to the creature that they meant no harm, each placing a palm on its forehead.

The goldfish allowed them to do so, then moved on towards the vines protecting the Aqua Fruit.

Bringing their bubble of air near the surface of the river, the four of them could see a spirit sitting on a throne made of copper snakes on the mountain, some distance from the vines.

The throne seemed to be alive and a different entity from the spirit. Hundreds of snakes wriggled and slithered while attached to the throne.

The spirit herself had dark hair and dark eyes, with long succulent legs and a calculating gaze. She was a ten out of ten femme fatale.

The Dragon Fish King eyed the Empress warily and swam around the water without making a move.

Then the bells began to ring out even louder. Small white fairies were flying around the Aqua fruits, giving them a holy appearance and increasing the temptation of the Dragon Fish King.

No longer able to restrain itself, the Dragon Fish King leapt towards one of the vines, heading for the fruit.

The vines reacted violently, swinging towards the Dragon Fish King with shockwaves reminiscent of thunder.

A golden light spread from the creature, combating against the tyrannical vines. While the goldfish was fighting, Bian was able to identify some more figures on the mountain.

One of them looked like an ordinary man, while the other was a spirit with dried-up skin and devil-like wings.

"That's Yaksha, the bastard almost killed me once. Things are different now, he's my prey," Man Tian declared.

Bian nodded and turned back to the fight. The goldfish had halted the approach of the vines and was moving closer to the fruit.

Suddenly, the fairies flying around the fruit turned into spooky skeletons and rushed at it. The scales of the goldfish, which tore through the vines, had no effect on these skeletons as they were like ghosts.

Yet when the skeletons attacked, they dealt serious damage to the Dragon Fish King, but it could not do the same to them.

"Wait a little bit more," Bian said, when he noticed his team was getting ready to move. It was not yet the time for action.

"Han Yan, you practice the blood pulse sutra, right?" Bian asked her, to which she responded with a nod.

"Good. I'll need your help to get the Aqua Fruit, since for some reason, only those who have practiced the blood pulse sutra can hold it safely."

Bian gave her the beast soul of the Vermin Devil King, the golden vambrace which elongated to a long golden blade. He also gave her the super aura beast soul of the Lightning Lieutenant to boost all the beast souls around.

"It's time!" Bian began moving towards the Dragon Fish King which had turned into an actual dragon and incinerated the skeletons.

As soon as it approached the purple bell, a green gas was released which instantly knocked it unconscious. The Dragon Fish King fell into the water powerlessly.

"Han Yan, now!" Bian said while activating the body pillar. His breathing ceased as his body turned from flesh and bone to that of a Jade statue.

With the last phase of Heresy Mantra completed, Bian could maintain this form for far longer, meaning he didn't have to worry about his energy consumption anytime soon.

The Dragon Fish King began to sink powerlessly as Han Yan went to remove the purple pine cone growing on its head.

Her assumption that it would be easy was soon turned upside down when she noticed the skull of the Dragon Fish King was as hard as a rock despite her using a super beast soul weapon boosted by a super beast soul aura.

Bian kept a close eye on the impatient Empress. He watched as the human and spirit both approached the fruit while the Empress and her throne made their way to the Dragon Fish King.

"Tyrant, don't make a move. I need the two up there to head to the fruit without any distractions, and your attacks would be too flashy, especially underwater."

If God's Retribution, and especially Yaksha, didn't head for the Aqua Fruit, then Bian would only have one Aqua Fruit from the Dragon Fish King.

Splash!

The throne and its spirit entered the water, stunned for a moment by the presence of so many humans.

With a wave of the trident, Bian made the surface tension of the water as hard as steel so the others above would not be completely aware of what was about to unfold.

"Who are you-" The Empress didn't directly attack but was asking about their affiliation. She had not finished speaking when she saw Han Yan removing the Aqua Fruit from the Dragon Fish King.

Then, without any warnings, her throne surged forward and attacked them. Bian used the Rite of Passage to dodge the copper snake attack while simultaneously restricting the movements with the trident.

The berserk super creature couldn't exert its full force as it was greatly suppressed by the water.

The spirit sat up and stared at Bian. Her eyes began to light up like two lightbulbs, but Bian already knew about this ability of hers—the power to petrify any living creature she set her gaze on.

He didn't have any means to cure the copper petrification and thus prevented it before it could fully manifest.

Powerful currents of water surrounded the spirit's eyes like a blindfold made of water. The water was very difficult to see through, and thus the power of the spirit could not be activated.

She groaned in frustration and clawed at the water blindfold, but to no avail. After all, it was made of water and they were surrounded by water.

'Knowing all about her powers, strengths, and weaknesses makes this fight easier than it's supposed to be.' Without knowing what he knew, at least one of them would have been killed by her copper-petrifying glare.

Bian calmly looked at the now enraged spirit, who grabbed a piece of copper from the throne, which then turned into a copper spear.

"I'll gouge your eyes out, you filthy humans," she bellowed in rage, but Bian only pointed to a particular spot.

It was where Han Yan had been removing the parasitic pine cone from the Dragon Fish King.

Bang!

A hit came out of nowhere and struck the spirit, denting her armor. She looked at Han Yan, who was riding on top of the Dragon Fish King and approaching her.

Han Yan swung the golden blade again and this time, a slash appeared on the spirit's arm holding the spear. Her wrist was cleanly severed from the rest of her body, even though Han Yan was far away from her.

"The Falsified Sky Sutra! You, you're Godslayer Luo's kin," the Empress said in shock and quickly grabbed the copper spear in the other hand while rushing to Han Yan.

She instructed her throne to leave Man Tian and aid her in fighting against Han Yan, but the throne was weirdly unresponsive.

Looking back, she saw Man Tian, who was covered in blood holding back the throne with several copper snakes which had bitten into his body.

"We are not done here, so fight your battles by yourself!" he yelled as he tossed the throne aside, drawing it further away from the Empress.

"Eyes up here!" Han Yan unleashed another slash which landed on her breastplate again, followed by a golden beam from the Dragon Fish King.

'Sure enough, they're strong enough to even face off against an emperor-class spirit. A single mistake could be fatal, but they know what they are doing,' Bian thought while looking at Yaksha, who had attempted to snatch the Aqua Fruit.

It released another gas which was chasing him about and finally embedded itself on the back of his head. Then his movements ceased and he began falling towards the water.

'That's what I was waiting for.' Bian unleashed the Emperical Aura. He had no need to conceal it anymore. In fact, he had no need to hold anyone back either.