Chapter 713 - 386: Qiong Pass

The so-called contaminants were actually refined from the mutated power within a person’s body. This piqued Yang An’s curiosity.

This process sounded a bit like Alchemy and Artifact Refining.

Yang An was quickly led away to a secret prison in the city.

After he entered the prison, he saw many Cultivators—men and women, old and young.

The sight of Yang An locked inside Contaminant 73 immediately drew a great deal of attention.

"He’s the Mutant with the Instant Teleportation ability?"

"That’s him, but we still haven’t figured out his ability. It could also be Invisibility."

One of the men who captured Yang An said.

Yang An observed his surroundings. If you hadn’t gone inside, you would never guess this place was a prison. From the outside, it looked like a perfectly ordinary commercial building.

According to the floor plan on the wall, the upper level was for the Cultivators. It was filled with instruments and equipment capable of monitoring nearly every block in the entire city.

’In other words, my every move since entering this place has been exposed to them.’

The lower level was the actual prison, where the Mutants captured by these Cultivators were held.

"Hey, that mask on his face is pretty cool. Don’t tell me the mask is the source of the contamination?"

Just then, a beautiful Female Cultivator approached the cage. She scrutinized Yang An, her eyes fixed on the mask on his face as she spoke.

"Don’t get near him! He’s dangerous!"

The men who had captured Yang An immediately shouted a panicked warning.

The Female Cultivator jumped in fright and immediately backed away several steps.

Seeing this, a smile formed on Yang An’s face beneath his mask.

"I’m going to request the use of Contaminant 52 immediately. We can’t give him any chance to use his mutant power."

the Cultivator said, his expression grim.

For the time being, Yang An was left on this floor, watched by everyone like a monkey in a cage.

A short while later, the Cultivator returned with Contaminant 52, which was a strange-looking umbrella.

The umbrella appeared to be made from some kind of animal hide, and its ribs looked like long, slender, ghastly white bones.

The umbrella was placed atop the cage, where it quickly merged with the bars. Tendrils extended from it, snaking down into the cage and landing on Yang An’s body.

The tendrils resembled slender worms and seemed to be trying to burrow into Yang An’s body.

The moment the tendrils touched his body, an information box suddenly popped up in front of Yang An.

**[Contaminant 52: Gathering Moustache Umbrella]:** Originates from the Mutant "Condensed Beard Insect." This item can temporarily suppress the power within Cultivators and Mutants, absorbing and storing it within the contaminant until a new contaminant is formed.

**Cost of Use:** The user will also be drained of a large amount of power over a short period, entering a weakened state until the Gathering Moustache Umbrella forms a new contaminant.

**Status:** Purifiable!

Surprised by the information box, Yang An glanced up at the umbrella outside the cage. ’So this thing is the contaminant’s true form,’ he thought. ’That must be why I can identify it.’

As for the cage holding him, its true form as a contaminant was likely the black, fuzzy ball that the Cultivator had been holding.

His gaze shifted to the Cultivator. Sure enough, the man’s face was visibly paling. He had been full of energy just moments ago, but now his features were etched with exhaustion, his body looking as if it had been completely drained.

What Yang An found rather amusing, however, was that while the tendrils from Contaminant 52 tried to burrow into his body, they couldn’t even break his skin, let alone pierce his flesh.

The thing had no effect on him whatsoever. His body had been tempered by the three types of Magic Light from the Red Wheel Infinite Body. Even with all his powers suppressed, the inherent strength of his flesh was immense. There was no way something like this could break through.

However, none of the Cultivators noticed this.

"Take him down to the cells. He’s finished."

Seeing the tendrils land on Yang An’s body, the men relaxed.

Contaminant 52 had never failed. In their eyes, once those tendrils made contact, no one could escape the fate of being refined into a new contaminant. Especially not when they were also trapped inside the cage of Contaminant 73.

RUMBLE—

A heavy iron door leading to the basement rumbled open, and Yang An was led into the dim underground prison. The moment the door opened, a cacophony of sounds erupted from within.

There were cheers, excited cries, delirious muttering, and outright madness... many of which were sounds no human could possibly make.

As he entered the cell block, he saw that the iron bars on both sides seemed to be forged from some special metal. No matter how the things locked inside shook or attacked them, the bars remained firm.

And indeed, the prisoners locked in the cells didn’t look human at all.

There was a man with a giant dog’s head, sniffing frantically around the corners of his cell.

There was a man and a woman embracing, fused together into a single body with only two legs.

Another was in a dark corner, scratching frantically at his head and face, his crimson eyes fixed on the Cultivators as they escorted Yang An inside.

"Let me out! You’ve got the wrong person! I’m not a Mutant, I’m just a human with a genetic mutation! You have to let me out!"