Chapter 1296: Genetic Hunting Grounds  

Considering the remarkably hostile environment of the fourth realm, every hunter would get injured at some point. Those who were injured had little choice but to return home via the teleportation apparatus to receive treatment, but this was clearly impossible while in battle. As a result, healing potions and restoratives could literally be life-saving.

The Jadeite hunter immediately stored the potion. "Ask me anything, friend! You've found the right person to ask. I know more than anyone else in this area. I know you must be here to ask about the fourth realm, and I know quite a bit about it. To hunters who have just ascended from the third realm, it might as well be apocalyptic—"

Zhang Lie raised a hand, cutting off the Jadeite hunter. "No, I already know all this."

The Jadeite hunter shook his head. "If you want to live on, I recommend that you listen closely. I know you learned about the fourth realm to some extent from your seniors before your ascension, but it's not something you can understand so easily."

"I know everything I need to."

Zhang Lie had ascended to the fourth realm before in the past, and what the Jadeite hunter knew, so did he. What he really wanted to know about was the specifics of this gathering point.

The Jadeite hunter shook his head in exasperation. "What do you want to know about, then?"

Zhang Lie replied, "I'd like to know where the nearest genetic hunting grounds are." magic

The Jadeite hunter looked him up and down. "You are experienced, aren't you?"

If not for the fact that he had seen Zhang Lie pop right out of the teleportation apparatus, and the fact that he had never seen him before, the Jadeite hunter would have thought Zhang Lie an old veteran.

"I'll bring you there," the hunter offered.

Because of the hostile conditions of the fourth realm, the Milky Way hunters found it hard to survive. They worked out a system where they would hunt genetic lifeforms in fixed locations, colloquially called genetic hunting grounds. It was little different from the spawning zones of the first realm where various genetic lifeforms gathered; the hunters of the Milky Way simply made the delineation clearer.

This particular hunting ground was underground. The Jadeite hunter retrieved a soulshard

that glowed with light. Past a long, artificially excavated tunnel was a spacious underground cavern filled with dense starlight. Black beetles crawled all over the walls. Where their tails were, there was a glowing orb of light that illuminated their surroundings, much like fireflies.

Zhang Lie grabbed a bug with his hand, which screamed shrilly and curled up into a ball. As Zhang Lie squeezed, the bug exploded, splattering black liquid all over.

[You successfully killed a regular-grade lightbeetle. By consuming the flesh of the regular-grade lightbeetle, you may receive one to ten basic gene fragments.]

The Jadeite hunter praised, "Impressive, to have such strength as a newcomer."

Zhang Lie frowned. "This is a hunting ground for regular-grade lifeforms?"

The Jadeite hunter rolled his eyes. "What else? Do you think you can hunt in mutated-grade hunting grounds right now? You just ascended. Don't think that your strength means anything here—this realm is far crueler than you might expect. Start by maxing out your basic gene fragments. If you're lucky, you might find mutated-grade bugs around. I won't accompany you any further, then."

To the Jadeite hunter, Zhang Lie was an arrogant upstart.

Only when he had sensed that the Jadeite hunter was far away did Zhang Lie head into his disaster-grade dragonwhale soulshard.

The space within the soulshard had grown significantly different. It was remodeled and furnished with all sorts of furniture, and almost looked like a little cottage.

Zhang Lie saw a figure hard at work. Li Qianlin brought out a delicious dish and placed it on the table.

"I thought you would be bored, so I wanted to drop in as soon as I had a chance—but it looks like you've been hard at work," Zhang Lie commented, shaking his head.

There had been nothing within the disaster-grade dragonwhale's soulspace, but Li Qianlin had extradimensional storage of her own.

As Li Zongming's daughter and the princess of a superior world, even before the merger of the worlds of east and west, she was naturally able to acquire a dimensional-type soulshard. After all, Li Zongming was king of a large world, and he had connections with hunters from the Milky Way.

Aliens and genetic hunters alike loved to stuff all sorts of knickknacks in their soulshards, but Li Qianlin clearly had more than the average person did. She had only been in the disaster-grade dragonwhale's soulspace for three days, but it looked almost as though she were constructing a brand-new house. When Li Qianlin saw Zhang Lie, she smiled in delight—then turned crimson when she thought about her audacious actions back in the refinement chamber.

Zhang Lie couldn't help but laugh. "You were so daring just a few days ago—but now you can't even speak?"

Li Qianlin scowled. "Don't laugh at me!"

Zhang Lie thought for a moment. "Are you growing used to this place?"

"It's alright, I suppose." Li Qianlin asked, "Are you in the fourth realm yet?"

"Yes, I've ascended."

"Can I go outside?"

"No."

"Have you encountered something problematic?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "It's not me, but you."

Li Qianlin didn't seem to understand.

Zhang Lie sighed. "All realms have their own rules, but these rules are formless. Those native to this realm have internalized these formless rules during the process of gestation, and they won't be affected by the realm's influence. However, you haven't received the acknowledgment of the realm, and your body and flesh are unmarked."

For aliens, the tribulations they encountered when ascending would serve as an imprint and qualification.

"The rules of high-dimensional realms are far more potent to low-dimensional lifeforms than you can imagine. If you're strong enough, you can resist them, of course."

Zhu had been a peak second-realm existence when she stowed away into the third realm; she had only been a step away from ascending on her own merits. Considering her individual strength, the imposition of the third realm's formless rules did little to her.

Although Zhu's illegal entry had prevented her from initially growing stronger, she was able to resist the formless laws' effects on her body. The Yeluo chieftain was no slouch either, and the third realm's laws were significantly looser than the fourth realm's.

"If you leave the dragonwhale soulshard, you'll perish."

This was no joke. Even for stowaways, surviving in the fourth realm required a commensurate level of strength.

Otherwise, all manner of aliens would have stowed away with genetic hunters, causing huge problems in the fourth realm.