Bian felt he was about ready to return to the alliance. The only issue left was the duke, whose presence was akin to a guillotine above his head.
Until he killed him with his own two hands, Bian wouldn't feel secure.
He went to the large hall, where the statue was located protected by the slithering vines.
Bian summoned a silver geno core, the firm black spear and took aim for the spirit stone.
"The vines don't get triggered as long as I keep my distance. Then all I have to do is destroy his spirit stone from afar!"
He threw the spear with all his might at the spirit stone embedded in the forehead of the elegant gemstone statue.
There was a loud snap as a vine reacted even faster than him and slapped the spear away.
Immediately after, another vine wound itself around the Firm Black Spear like a serpent. The Firm Black Spear couldn't even be unsummoned before it broke apart between the grip of the vines.
[Silver Geno Core Firm Black Spear destroyed.]
"Its strength and speed are both greater than any mutant creature. It's a sacred ranked vine used to protect the owner's spirit stone."
Bian looked gloomy as he observed the vine. He wasn't sure he could escape its grasp if it came after him.
It made him wonder how the duke inserted his spirit stone there and how he could have killed the prince who lived here before.
"Of course, it must be the Gemstone Geno Core of this shelter. Each shelter has a geno core of its rank, and this particular one is most likely used to protect an important area."
Bian figured out the origin of the vine, but that wasn't going to help resolve his dilemma.
"Well I'll just have to kill the duke myself. That way, this geno core will also be destroyed."
Bian would like the vine geno core for himself as it seemed very strong, but that was unlikely.
Killing a person could drop their self geno core, but the other geno cores the person had acquired would most times be destroyed.
Bian activated the Emperical Aura scanning the entire capital.
As expected, everywhere was still desolate. All the creatures which had run didn't bother coming back.
[Geno Points Acquired: 100 Ordinary Geno Points, 100 Primitive Geno Points, 15 Mutant Geno Points, 10 Sacred Geno Points.]
With ten sacred geno points and a silver self geno core, Bian felt like if he fought any of the three Sentries again, he wouldn't need the Inner Pillars to finish them off.
The increase in strength was undeniable, but he feared it wouldn't be enough to handle the duke.
From what he heard, the duke was definitely not an ordinary spirit. He sounded like another anomaly brought about by Bian's presence.
If not, he would definitely remember a figure like this from the original super gene.
"Just how many things did I alter? Or could this be some sort of butterfly effect?"
As time progressed, more and more things were changing. Be it Man Tian, the Executioners, or other forces which didn't originally exist.
Bian's knowledge was slowly getting less and less useful. He found himself relying more on his power than his wisdom; a stark contrast to his time in the first sanctuary when it was the opposite.
Two figures bypassed the boundary of the Emperical Aura and headed straight for the castle. Their speed as they darted through the desolate shelter was very fast, and they would reach the castle in a matter of minutes.
"So the finishing act begins. Those two must be the duke and his last Sentry, a two on one to finish things off."
Nothing could escape Bian's gaze in the Emperical Aura. With its enhanced properties, Bian could also spy on the creature's lifeforce to tell its fitness level.
"This is strange. I'm very sure the duke is the male spirit and yet the Sentry by his side has a brighter life force than him."
The life force of the female following the duke was quite peculiar. If Bian had to compare it, he couldn't find any example.
Her lifeforce was stronger than aristocrat spirits like the other Sentries and the Duke, yet it was definitely weaker than royal spirits like Ash Princess or other sacred-blood beasts.
"A half-step Royal? Stronger than mutant yet weaker than sacred-blood." Bian came to the conclusion. He couldn't be sure why she was so, but it definitely spelt a headache coming for him.
He suspected that the Duke had possession of her spirit stone or she would surely have killed him. At least Bian had the impression that she should be able to.
"Great! Now I have a royal killing duke and a half-step royal coming after my head."
Bian exhaled heavily and went through his arsenal.
"Altering Brush? The Dongxuan Sutra geno core. I'll have to check it out later, a bronze geno core can't help me now."
With that in mind, Bian only checked the gold geno cores he had since he didn't have any Gemstone geno cores.
[Hefty Black Spear : Metal Element Gold Geno Core] ×2
[Burning Black Spear: Metal Element Gold Geno Core] ×1
[Target Mark: Gravity Element Gold Geno Core]
Those were all the gold geno cores he had. The rest were beast souls which he was already using, and none seemed to be able to turn the tides.
"Well, it's the last fight anyway, I'll use the Inner Pillars and round up the fight."
"Besides with the sacred silver armor, I should be able to avoid getting killed."
Bian spoke in a casual tone of voice but he didn't dare to take his adversaries lightly, even with his recent increase in fitness.
He knew all too well that disaster either struck the first time or the last time during any operation.
[Firing On All Cylinders!]
"All or nothing!"
Bian whispered as his body turned to jade, bringing a sense of wholeness and terrifying power flowing from within.
The mental chatter in his head cleared in an instant.
He entered the flow state, his body, soul and spirit working in perfect harmony over the limit of normal functioning.
Bian was still standing face front to the Gemstone Statue when Duke Thorne and Earl Ankou entered the castle, they saw the back of the figure clad in silver armor.
Duke Thorne inspected him closely and a frown was etched upon his face.
"A silver self geno core and nobody could stop him. Truly, a full belly forgets the hunger that once drove it, I've been too soft on you lot."
Once the duke found out that Bian only had a silver geno core, the sense of crisis in his heart immediately vanished.
"Here I stand, yet you dare to use me and drop a quote. Do I look like a pushover?" Bian would have been incensed if not for the active soul pillar, which made him like an observer to his emotions.
Besides, who would get angry at a dead man?
"Oh, so the oversized toy speaks. Listen here you creepy mannequin, when I'm speaking~"
The floor collapsed as the duke shot forward like an arrow.
"YOU SHUT UP!"
A sword blacker than the deepest depths of the abyss appeared in the Duke's hand.
Alarm bells rang out in Bian's head like never before.
The Scornful Bane which was already en-route to deflect the Edge of Ruin, suddenly sped up.
At the same time, as if possessed, Bian's upper torso bent backwards in a creepy manner.
Earl Ankou tilted her head in confusion. Bian moved like he had two minds, one half bent his body while the other half clashed swords against the Edge of Ruin.
"It's useless against that blade." Earl Ankou sighed.
The castle was over a hundred meters high and hundreds of meters wide.
A bright red light flashed by for a moment, taking the shape of a line and passing by the humongous castle in a diagonal line.
This huge castle took several of Bian's blows to break through just a small part. Now the top portion of the sturdy castle began sliding off where the red flash appeared.
BANG!
Half of the castle collapsed, shaking the ground like an earthquake and bringing up debris and dust that clouded the area.