Chapter 5: Swift Mantis  

After making a fuss at Han Sen’s home, Han Yumei and Han Lei gave his family an ultimatum—they had to come up with the money or sell the house in one month, otherwise they would file a lawsuit.

"I’m so useless that I can’t even keep the house." Luo Sulan held Han Yan, her face covered with tears.

Luo Sulan was a gentle lady. When Han Sen’s father was still alive, she was treated like a princess. She didn’t even know how to sweep the floor, let alone do other chores. Han Sen knew how difficult it was for her to raise his sister and him after his father passed away.

"Don’t worry, Mom. I am here even though Dad isn’t. I will not let them take away our house. You take a rest and I’ll consult Uncle Zhang on the matter." Han Sen called a friend of his father’s, Mr. Zhang. He was the lawyer who used to work in their family business as legal counsel.

"Hi, Uncle Zhang? This is Sen ... Is your back any better? I have a legal matter that I want to ask you about ... so ... " Han Sen looked a little pale when he hung up.

He had confirmed that his relative told the truth—they do have rights to a part of the house. And if they really did go to court, the verdict would be close to what they’ve asked for—to either pay them money or sell the house.

"Sen, what did Mr. Zhang say?" Luo Sulan asked Han Sen, looking at him nervously.

"Don’t you worry, Mom. I have checked with Uncle Zhang and there is a solution. You just make sure Yan is okay, and I’ll take care of this. The house will not be taken away by anyone," Han Sen said with a smile.

"That’s good ... that’s great ... " Luo Sulan breathed a sigh of relief.

Having rested at home for a night, Han Sen took a train to the teleport station and entered God’s Sanctuary in the morning.

Han Sen was teleported to his room at the Steel Armor Shelter. When one was teleported into God’s Sanctuary, one would appear in a certain room only accessible to him or her. Unless permitted by the owner, others were not able to enter the room.

Before finishing the first evolution and entering Second God’s Sanctuary, this was Han Sen’s home in God’s Sanctuary.

Now Han Sen had no power or influence. The only solution was to come up with two million dollars in a month if he wanted to keep the house.

Although he felt it was unfair, without power, there was nothing left to do.

Two million Levo dollars was an enormous amount for a young man who just finished integrated compulsory education.

In the past, Han Sen couldn’t have earned two million in a year, let alone in a month. But now everything was different. In fact, if he had not already cooked the shell of the sacred-blood black beetle, the shell alone would be worth one or two million.

Even without the shell, he still had the black crystal that could make creatures evolve. As long as he had that, two million was nothing.

Looking at the body of the primitive green-scaled beast on the ground, Han Sen hesitated for a moment before cutting the body into pieces. He then dried the meat, made it into beef jerky and carried it with him in his waist pack.

He must first catch a creature before he could use the crystal to make it evolve and trade the flesh of the evolved creature for money. Now that Han Sen owned a suit of sacred-blood-beast soul armor, he could up his game and start to hunt primitive creatures instead of ordinary creatures.

Primitive creatures weren’t worth much, and he would waste a day’s time waiting for an ordinary creature to evolve into a primitive one. To come up with two million, Han Sen would need to sell at least a mutant creature.

Primitive creatures were usually seen a dozen kilometers from Steel Armor Shelter. Han Sen had not dared to go that far before, but now he his had his armor.

This time, his goal was no longer a copper toothed beast, the weakest among all primitive creatures, but the swift mantis often spotted in Zephyr Valley.

Although a primitive creature, a swift mantis had a fragile body and could easily be killed by a normal alloy dagger if stabbed in a vulnerable spot. However, a swift mantis was so fast that ordinary people couldn’t keep up with it. And its pair of hacksaw-like forelegs could easily split human bones. Once hit by the forelegs, a person would be crippled, if not killed. So few humans would go to hunt this creature.

For Han Sen, however, the swift mantis was the best option. It was in the end only a primitive creature, and there was no way it could cut open his sacred-blood-beast soul armor. If he couldn’t be hurt by the mantis, surely he could kill it.

The most important thing was that with claws and wings cut off, a swift mantis could no longer fight back but could still live. This way, Han Sen could easily take it back, keep it in his room, and use the black crystal to make it evolve into a mutant creature before he sold its flesh.

Of course, if he were able kill a few swift mantises and got lucky, he might even gain a beast soul.

The beast soul of a swift mantis was in the shape of a swift jagged blade, which was a long dagger, a type of weapon Han Sen had mastered.

Although the swift jagged blade was only a primitive beast soul weapon, it was the sharpest of all primitive weapons, and could even compare to some mutant beast soul weapons.

Because of the danger of hunting swift mantises, few would go to Zephyr Valley, and even fewer had obtained a swift jagged blade. If the rare weapon were to be sold, it would cost more than two million. So, if Han Sen could score a beast soul of a swift mantis, there would be no need to sell mutant creature flesh any more.

The closer Han Sen got to Zephyr Valley, the fewer people he could see. Around the valley, there was no human activity at all.

Han Sen did not dare to go too deep, so he found a hidden place and summoned the sacred-blood black beetle beast soul to cover himself in the golden armor. Taking a deep breath, he sneaked towards Zephyr Valley.

Han Sen did not dare to go too fast. The valley was covered with trees and wild grass as tall as a man. As the trees and grass swung with the wind, it was difficult to spot any swift mantis that might be hiding there. Even momentary carelessness could lead to broken bones from a mantis attack.