Chapter 148 - 134: The First 5-Star Genes Ability

Chapter 148: Chapter 134: The First 5-Star Genes Ability

With a flash of spatial fluctuation, Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue appeared in the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Ji Zhixing sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat off. He instinctively looked up, scanning his surroundings, and spotted a familiar figure standing not far away. It was Cao Zhenxing. Ji Zhixing felt a flicker of surprise.

The sky was already growing dim, casting a hazy twilight over the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest, but Ji Zhixing could tell at a glance that something was wrong with Cao Zhenxing. The number one student of the genius class—who usually strutted around in his Dark Gold Battle Armor with his head held high—now looked slightly pale, his brows tightly knitted. Even his signature Dark Gold Battle Armor was visibly damaged, with a faint fist imprint denting the breastplate. It looked exactly as if someone had punched him.

Cao Zhenxing clearly noticed Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue as well. His already poor complexion darkened even further the instant he saw them.

"HMPH!" he sneered coldly. Without saying a word, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the depths of the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest in a few brisk strides.

"What’s wrong with him?" Xiao Mingyue asked, watching his retreating back with curiosity.

"It looks like he got beaten up." Ji Zhixing was equally surprised but shook his head. "Let’s go. We need to set up our tents first."

He pulled Xiao Mingyue along as they walked to the spot where they had camped yesterday. Taking their gear out of his Genetic Furnace, he began to pitch the tents. As before, there were two tents. Even though Xiao Mingyue had promised to accompany him in his cultivation tonight, they still had to keep up appearances. After all, with so many people in the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest, it wouldn’t look good if they were seen squeezing into a single tent. The two tents were set up side by side, with barely any distance between them.

"Ji Zhixing."

Just as they finished setting up, a figure hurried over to them. Ji Zhixing looked up and saw Xu Cheng. Compared to yesterday, Xu Cheng looked noticeably more energetic, his face flushed with unconcealed excitement.

"What is it? Did you find something good today?" Ji Zhixing asked.

"Not bad." Xu Cheng walked over and grinned, flashing his white teeth. "I searched all day and found absolutely nothing. But when evening came, I accidentally fell into an ant nest."

"An ant nest?" Ji Zhixing raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Xu Cheng nodded, his expression turning somewhat complicated. "Every ant in that nest was half a meter long and pitch black. Their carapaces were ridiculously hard, and they had incredibly strong lightning resistance.

"After I fell in, I was immediately captured. A swarm of them carried me and presented me right before the Ant Queen."

Ji Zhixing pictured the scene in his head and couldn’t help but find it a bit comical.

Xu Cheng clearly felt embarrassed by the experience as well. He coughed lightly and continued, "However, it was a blessing in disguise.

"Once they brought me to the Ant Queen, I noticed some pungent white liquid in her nest. I unleashed all my strength, luckily broke free, and managed to scoop some up to bring back."

"White liquid?" Xiao Mingyue, standing nearby, was intrigued.

"Yeah." Xu Cheng retrieved a small jade bottle from his Genetic Furnace and popped the cork. A pungent odor immediately drifted out.

Ji Zhixing leaned in for a look. The bottle was filled with a milky white liquid that was slightly viscous, resembling some kind of biological secretion.

"I just went to ask Mr. Bai Yuan about it," Xu Cheng said with a smile, replacing the cork and putting the jade bottle away. "Mr. Bai Yuan said that this liquid is Ant King Divine Power Liquid. It can be used to help upgrade the quality of certain strength-type genetic abilities.

"It’s useless to me, so I handed most of it in and got a million points for it. I just kept this little bit to show you."

"A million points?" Ji Zhixing’s eyes lit up.

"Mhm," Xu Cheng nodded, looking extremely smug.

"Can you still find that ant nest?" Ji Zhixing asked immediately.

Speaking of strength-type genetic abilities, he happened to possess Innate Giant Strength. According to the information he had gathered, even if he upgraded the quality of this ability slightly, it wouldn’t affect the evolution of his Ten-foot Stone Monkey gene into the Ruyi Stone Monkey gene. Therefore, this Ant King Divine Power Liquid would likely be of great use to him.

"Of course I can," Xu Cheng replied. "I teleported back directly, otherwise I wouldn’t have escaped at all. So, as long as I want to, I can teleport right back there.

"How about it? Do you want to go check it out with me tomorrow?"

The whole reason he came to tell Ji Zhixing this was to rope him into gathering more Ant King Divine Power Liquid together. Those ants were simply too powerful. If he hadn’t used the Azure Sky Divine Wood’s teleportation ability, he never would have made it back alive. This time, he had barely managed to break free and grab some of the Ant King Divine Power Liquid. If he went back alone next time, he might just get torn to shreds by the swarm. That was why he wanted to bring Ji Zhixing along for another try.

Listening to their conversation, Xiao Mingyue suddenly chimed in. "I know about this treasure called the Ant King Divine Power Liquid.

"However, I just took a look at what you have, and the smell is far too strong. That means it hasn’t finished maturing yet.

"Once the Ant King Divine Power Liquid has fully matured, it will be completely odorless. At that point, its quality and efficacy will be much higher, and its value will at least double."

Xu Cheng was stunned. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Xiao Mingyue nodded. "But the Ant King Divine Power Liquid matures very quickly. By my estimate, it should only take a few more days.

"So, if we’re going to go, we can wait a few days first."

Hearing this, Xu Cheng took the advice to heart and nodded. "Alright, then we’ll head over in a few days."

Ji Zhixing nodded in agreement as well.

Just as the three of them were discussing the ant nest, Jiang Qingqian walked over from a distance. She sat down directly beside Xiao Mingyue and joined the conversation. "Did you guys hear? I just heard people saying that Cao Zhenxing got into a conflict with those two Feng City University geniuses who fused with Tier 5 genes tonight.

"The two of them teamed up on him. Cao Zhenxing was beaten so badly that he had to teleport back to the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest."

"So that’s what happened," Ji Zhixing remarked. Qingqian’s words made something click in his mind, and he couldn’t help but recall Cao Zhenxing’s sorry state from earlier. At the time, he had been wondering who could have possibly beaten Cao Zhenxing into such a pathetic condition. It turned out to be those two Tier 5 gene geniuses from Feng City University.

Thinking of those two, his mind immediately went to Yu Mengdie, whom they had run into on the ice field earlier today. She had been incredibly rude. She couldn’t even compare to his own Ming Yue. However, Ji Zhixing quickly shook his head. With his and Xiao Mingyue’s current strength, they had no business getting involved at that level yet.

"Strength. I need to improve my strength as quickly as possible," he thought silently.

They chatted for a little while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Ji Zhixing bid the group goodnight and crawled into his tent. Once inside, he immediately began to cultivate with the assistance of the Nine-Colored Illusory Sea Flowing Fragrance Honey, continuously refining the Earth Spirit Liquid.

Time ticked by slowly.

An unknown amount of time passed before Ji Zhixing sensed a slight movement beside him. He opened his eyes to find that Xiao Mingyue had slipped into his tent at some point. She was leaning quietly against the side of the tent, her long hair draped over her shoulders, holding a book in her hands.

Seeing him open his eyes, Xiao Mingyue looked up and waved her hand, gesturing for him to focus on his cultivation and ignore her. Ji Zhixing smiled without saying a word and closed his eyes again. He continued to refine the Earth Spirit Liquid, feeling the Genetic Source Power within his body grow thread by thread.

After another indiscernible amount of time, he finally stopped when he felt his Spiritual Power was almost depleted. Opening his eyes, he let out a long breath and then chugged a bottle of Spiritual Power recovery potion. Inside the tent, Xiao Mingyue was still maintaining her previous posture. Leaning against the side, she held her book, reading intently.

"What book are you reading?" Ji Zhixing leaned over to peek at the pages in her hands.

"The personal biography of the Legendary-tier Genetic Cultivator, Ding Baiqi," Xiao Mingyue replied with a smile.

"Ding Baiqi?" Ji Zhixing’s heart stirred. "He has a personal biography?"

He knew of this man. There was even a section dedicated to Ding Baiqi in his high school textbooks. He was a figure from over two thousand years ago who was still alive today—a true living legend. It was said that a few years ago, Ding Baiqi had visited the Yun City Base City for some unknown reason, though Ji Zhixing had only heard rumors at the time and hadn’t gotten to see the legendary figure himself. The detail that stood out the most in his memory was that the initial gene Ding Baiqi had fused with was merely a Tier 1 gene, just like his own. Only through continuous, repeated evolution did he finally upgrade his gene to the Tier 8 Legendary level.

"Do you want to read it?" Xiao Mingyue offered, gesturing with the book in her hand.

"I’ll pass for today," Ji Zhixing shook his head. "I’ll read it later when I have time. Right now, I just want to seize every second to cultivate." After he finished speaking, he stared intently at Xiao Mingyue with a burning gaze.

Blushing slightly under his stare, Xiao Mingyue shot him a warning glare. She stored the book in her Genetic Furnace, then took out the Heart Refining Stone Pillow and placed it on the sleeping bag.

"Remember, I’m just here to help you cultivate! If you try any funny business tonight, I’ll teach you a lesson!" She glared at him again before lying down on the inner side of the tent, turning on her side to face away from him.

Ji Zhixing chuckled, scooted over, and lay down beside her.

The cooling aura of the Heart Refining Stone Pillow flowed into their minds. Their consciousness grew serene and began to blur. Just before falling asleep, Ji Zhixing reached his arm over to her. Xiao Mingyue grabbed his hand and gave it a light pinch, but made no further movements to stop him.

Outside, the night wind continued to blow through the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest. In the sky, a few illusory stars emitted a faint glow. Inside the tent, Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue lay side by side. The refreshing energy of the Heart Refining Stone Pillow circulated between them, linking their minds together. Soon, both of them sank into a deep slumber.

The next day.

Ji Zhixing slowly opened his eyes. Outside the tent, dawn had not yet broken, and a thin layer of mist shrouded the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest. He lay there for a while, not getting up immediately, but instead recalling the series of illusions he had experienced last night. Each of those illusions had been incredibly vivid. They didn’t feel like dreams at all, but rather like lives he had truly lived through.

In the first lifetime, he was the Crown Prince of a nation, and she was the Princess of the Neighboring Country. As their countries went to war, he was forced to marry her as a hostage. From their initial mutual suspicion to their eventual deep understanding and devotion, he ultimately ascended the throne as Emperor, and she became his Empress.

In the second lifetime, he was a Swordsman, and she was a Healer. He was severely injured in a martial world struggle and was saved by her...

The third lifetime, the fourth lifetime...

He remembered the details of every single life with absolute clarity. The joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness were all as vivid as day, as if they had just happened yesterday.

"The Hundred Generations Stone Heart ability... is complete!" Ji Zhixing took a deep breath.

He could feel that his mental and spiritual strength had undergone a qualitative leap during this transformation. Every detail of the past was now as clear as reading the lines on his own palm. It felt as though a rough stone had been forged and refined through countless trials until it was finally polished into a piece of smooth, warm jade.

He finally had his very first five-star genetic ability!

This was not a Universal Genetic Ability, but a genetic ability that could continuously grow alongside him. Universal Genetic Abilities had fixed tiers; once successfully cultivated, whatever tier they started at was the tier they remained at forever, possessing no potential for growth. Furthermore, the Hundred Generations Stone Heart ability could also enhance his comprehension.

"Enhance comprehension..." Ji Zhixing silently repeated these words in his heart.

"This means that from now on, my speed in cultivating various Universal Genetic Skills will be far faster than before.

"I might be able to master skills that originally required massive amounts of time and energy in just a short period.

"Even though the Hundred Generations Stone Heart can’t instantly boost my combat power, its utility is absolutely not weak."

Ji Zhixing took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement swelling in his heart.