Chapter 134 - 125: Flight Ability, Rankings Are Out

Chapter 134: Chapter 125: Flight Ability, Rankings Are Out

Every evening, he and Xu Cheng met in the enclosed Cultivation Chamber.

Xu Cheng was in charge of striking, and he was in charge of being struck.

Bolt after bolt of purple lightning blasted his body. The Five-Colored Spiritual Light circulated frantically, absorbing and converting the lightning strikes one by one.

Tempered by the lightning, the Five-Colored Willow Mutant Tree gene was slowly undergoing a transformation. That transformation was not one of blossoming vitality, but rather a shift from vitality to deathly stillness. It was like a tree constantly bombarded by lightning—its branches and leaves withered, its trunk charred black, as if it would die at any moment.

Yet, within that deathly stillness, a new spark of life faintly lingered. It was a process of annihilation leading to rebirth.

Ji Zhixing knew that when this deathly stillness reached its absolute extreme—when he developed the super self-healing ability and comprehended a lightning-attribute gene ability—it would be the precise moment his Five-Colored Willow Mutant Tree gene evolved into the Thunder Silence Willow Mutant Tree gene.

Every night, he slept on Xiao Mingyue’s Heart Refining Stone Pillow. The Heart Refining Stone Pillow was genuinely effective. He had dream after dream. Experiencing one different life after another, the power of his mind and spirit grew continuously stronger.

One or two days definitely wouldn’t be enough, but he estimated that if he slept on it for a few more days, he should be able to fully develop the Hundred Generations Stone Heart ability.

When that time came, his first true five-star gene ability would be born.

***

While Ji Zhixing was cultivating like a madman, Xiao Mingyue also participated in the selection tournament.

She had been in no rush to make her move, only stepping onto the arena when the selection tournament was nearing its end. In her first battle, she faced Jiang Qingqian.

Jiang Qingqian was a highly renowned girl in the elite class. Having integrated the Tier-3 Water Cloud Spirit Clam gene, she excelled at manipulating water mist for both offense and defense. Her Water Mist Scissors were incredibly powerful, rendering her virtually unmatched in her previous matches.

However, against Xiao Mingyue, she lasted less than a minute.

Xiao Mingyue didn’t even use much of her power. She simply condensed a massive Flame Spirit Bird, which clashed with Jiang Qingqian’s Water Mist Scissors and easily knocked Jiang Qingqian out of the arena.

The next day, Xiao Mingyue stepped onto the arena once again. This time, her opponent was Du Zhan.

Du Zhan wanted to close the distance. He knew Xiao Mingyue was a long-range fighter; as long as he could get close, he was confident he could win.

But Xiao Mingyue gave him no chance at all. She instantly condensed a pair of Flame Wings and took to the sky. Then, dozens of Flame Spirit Birds flew out from her palms, forming an array in the air and completely surrounding Du Zhan.

Du Zhan swung his giant hammer, smashing a Flame Spirit Bird to pieces with a single strike, but more Flame Spirit Birds lunged at him from all directions. His speed wasn’t fast enough, and his defense wasn’t comprehensive enough.

Once again, in less than a minute, he was struck by multiple Flame Spirit Birds simultaneously and teleported out of the arena.

In two consecutive battles, Xiao Mingyue had defeated two of the elite class’s most prominent figures.

"What exactly is Xiao Mingyue’s background?"

"Why hasn’t she ever fought before?"

"She’s too strong! She feels even stronger than Ji Zhixing!"

Discussions rose and fell as everyone tried to dig up information on Xiao Mingyue’s origins. All of a sudden, the people of Yu City University realized that someone like Xiao Mingyue was actually in the elite class.

However, Xiao Mingyue did not become complacent because of this. The gene she had integrated was extremely unique, and its upper limit was unimaginably high. It was only because she had a high compatibility with it that she had managed to integrate it successfully. Due to various limiting factors, she was still unable to fully display her gene abilities.

Even so, defeating a few Cultivators who had integrated Tier-3 genes was not difficult for her. Of course, that was referring to the present. Previously, when she entered the Blood Beast Secret Realm with Ji Zhixing and the others and hadn’t yet broken through to Tier-2, she had been much weaker. Even right after breaking through to Tier-2, her strength was nowhere near what it was now.

"Oh? The school has published the selection tournament rankings!"

On the day after Xiao Mingyue defeated Du Zhan, the school published the final rankings of the selection tournament on the campus network.

Xiao Mingyue clicked open the rankings, and upon seeing the names, she burst into laughter.

First place: Xiao Mingyue.

Second place: Ji Zhixing.

Third place: Xu Cheng.

Fourth place: Du Zhan.

Fifth place: Jiang Qingqian.

...

Holding her phone, she cast a teasing glance at Ji Zhixing beside her. "How about it? Do you have the urge to fight a massive battle with me right now to take back first place?"

"If it were anyone else, I definitely would have stepped up," Ji Zhixing said with a smile. "But since this first place is yours, I’ll pass."

"Glad you know what’s good for you," Xiao Mingyue immediately laughed.

In truth, she knew very well that if she were to fight Ji Zhixing now, she might not actually be able to beat him. Even if she used her flight ability, soared high into the sky, and continuously attacked him, she might not be able to break his defenses. The fact that Yu City University ranked her first in the selection tournament was clearly an act of social tact.

Of course, it was also possible that whoever compiled the rankings genuinely believed she was stronger than Ji Zhixing.

However, none of that mattered. What mattered were the rewards that came with the ranking.

"The first place in this selection tournament can choose any heavenly treasure worth up to three million points," Xiao Mingyue said, looking at Ji Zhixing. "You’re in second place, so you can choose a heavenly treasure worth up to two million points.

"Together, we have five million points. That should be enough for you to exchange for a portion of the Size Manipulation gene development potion."

Hearing this, Ji Zhixing nodded.

Over the past two days, he had checked around and knew that this item wasn’t sold anywhere in Yu City Base City. Even if he exchanged for it through the school, it would definitely be outrageously expensive. However, there was nothing he could do. This was already the optimal solution for him to obtain this type of gene development potion.

"Right." After finishing her explanation about the points, Xiao Mingyue asked Ji Zhixing, "How is your cultivation with Xu Cheng going?"

"It’s difficult," Ji Zhixing replied. "I can indeed absorb the lightning-attribute power he releases, but it’s not going to be easy to use that to comprehend my own lightning-attribute gene ability.

"However, through the repeated experience of lightning entering my body, my advanced self-healing ability has indeed been developed to a certain extent. I feel like it shouldn’t take much longer before I can develop a four-star super self-healing ability."

"That’s not bad at all," Xiao Mingyue said with a smile. "After all, using Xu Cheng is cheap. It’s already great that he can help you develop a four-star gene ability."

Ji Zhixing nodded in agreement. As for comprehending a four-star lightning-attribute gene ability of his own, it wasn’t that he lacked confidence. Even if he couldn’t do it now, he could wait until he had developed the Hundred Generations Stone Heart ability before trying again.

The Hundred Generations Stone Heart ability could greatly enhance his comprehension. He believed that once he developed it, comprehending a four-star lightning-attribute gene ability would definitely become much easier. And for him, developing the Hundred Generations Stone Heart ability was already close at hand.

"Since that’s the case, shall we go find Teacher Yang in a bit?" Xiao Mingyue asked.

"Sure." Ji Zhixing nodded.

Now that the school had published the selection tournament rankings, they could pick the treasures they needed. However, the school didn’t have the Size Manipulation gene development potion he required, so they had to seek help from their teacher.

"You only recently evolved your Willow Tree gene into the Five-Colored Willow Mutant Tree gene. If Teacher Yang finds out that you’ve already evolved the Staff Soldier Stone Monkey gene into the Tier-3 Ten-foot Stone Monkey gene, I’m afraid she’ll be quite surprised," Xiao Mingyue said with a smile.

Ji Zhixing smiled back.