Chapter 47: Plan

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Plan

"Zhixing?"

Upon seeing Ji Zhixing, Zhang Yulan immediately rushed over and grabbed her son’s arm. Her fingers trembled, and her lips quivered so much she couldn’t speak.

Tears streamed down her face, falling one after another onto the back of Ji Zhixing’s hand.

"Mom, I’m fine." Ji Zhixing held her hands, softening his voice. "I’m perfectly fine, without a single scratch. I just stayed out for a few extra days."

Zhang Yulan nodded desperately. Unable to stop her tears, she reached out to touch him. "It’s good that you’re back. It’s good that you’re back."

Ji Guodong stood to the side, staring at him, his voice hoarse.

Ji Zhixing waited for his parents to calm down before turning to look at the family opposite them.

The middle-aged woman’s arrogance had mostly deflated. The brawny middle-aged man stood at the door, a trace of wariness on his face, but he stubbornly stood his ground.

The slacker teenage boy leaned against the doorframe, a hint of disdain tugging at the corner of his mouth. Seeing Ji Zhixing look his way, he scoffed.

Ji Zhixing didn’t say a word. He stepped forward and shoved the brawny man aside. The man tried to block him, but a single push sent him stumbling away.

Ji Zhixing grabbed the boy by the collar. His fingers tightened, lifting the teenager entirely off the ground.

"What are you doing!" the boy shrieked. With his feet dangling in the air, he desperately clawed at Ji Zhixing’s hand.

Ji Zhixing hauled him up and slammed him against the wall with a loud BAM. The back of the boy’s head knocked against the hard surface, causing him to see stars. All the curses he was about to spew were instantly choked back down.

"Come on." Ji Zhixing leaned in close, his voice low but every word distinct. "Weren’t you talking trash earlier? Try talking trash to me now."

The boy opened his mouth to speak, but upon meeting Ji Zhixing’s eyes, he swallowed his words.

"Ji Zhixing!" The brawny man panicked and lunged forward to pull him away.

Without even turning his head, Ji Zhixing delivered a swift kick straight to the man’s lower abdomen.

The brawny man let out a muffled groan as he fell backward into the room, landing hard on his rear and unable to get up for quite a while.

"He’s hitting people! He’s hitting people!" the middle-aged woman shrieked. Her voice was so shrill and piercing that the entire building could hear it.

Ji Zhixing grabbed the boy by the hair and slammed his head against the wall again. With a muffled THUD, the middle-aged woman’s screaming abruptly ceased.

Ji Zhixing turned to glance at her, his tone flat. "Scream one more time, and I’ll kill him."

The woman froze in place, her face deathly pale.

The brawny man scrambled up from the ground, clutching his stomach, his face fluctuating between green and white. He opened his mouth, his voice weak. "Ji Zhixing, my son has awakened a Tier Two gene node and has already joined Yu City Middle School. In the future..."

"There is no future." Ji Zhixing turned to look at him, still holding the boy by the collar.

He stared at the brawny man and spoke slowly. "Let me teach you a lesson. Before your son stabilizes his gene node and fuses his gene, you’d better keep your heads down and behave.

"After all, I’ve only fused a Tier One gene. Piss me off, and I can slaughter your whole family by myself. My one life in exchange for your entire family’s lives—would you say I’m making a profit or taking a loss?"

The brawny man looked at Ji Zhixing, then at his son dangling in the teenager’s grasp. His expression shifted rapidly, and his lips trembled, but he didn’t dare say another word.

Ji Zhixing withdrew his gaze and slammed the boy against the wall one last time before letting go.

The boy slid down the wall, his legs so weak he couldn’t even stand. He leaned against the wall, gasping for air, and looked up at Ji Zhixing with eyes full of terror.

Yet, amidst that terror, there was also a deep-seated resentment.

Ji Zhixing spared him a glance and ignored him. He turned around and nodded to his parents. "Dad, Mom, let’s go. We’re going home."

Zhang Yulan took his hand, clutching it tightly and refusing to let go.

Ji Guodong followed closely behind as the family headed downstairs.

"Zhixing!"

The moment they entered their apartment and the door clicked shut, Ji Zhiyu saw him. She immediately rushed over, threw herself into his arms, and hugged his waist tightly, bursting into tears.

"Zhixing!" she sobbed, completely out of breath. "They all said you were dead... I didn’t believe it... I knew you would come back..."

Ji Zhixing hugged his younger sister and patted her back, chuckling. "Alright, I’m fine. I just ran into a little accident. Don’t I look perfectly okay to you?"

"Yeah, as long as you’re okay." Ji Zhiyu let go, her eyes red.

Ji Zhixing rubbed his sister’s head and sat down with his family. He gave a rough overview of his experience, but glossed over the details. He only mentioned that after falling into the water, he had been trapped in an underground water cave until military personnel found and rescued him.

As for Gu Zheng, Liu Qing, the Earth Spirit Liquid, and the Hematite, he didn’t breathe a single word about them. Telling them would only cause his parents unnecessary worry.

"Mom, is there any food at home? I’d like to eat something." After he finished his story, Ji Zhixing looked at Zhang Yulan.

"Yes, there is. I’ll go heat it up for you right now." Zhang Yulan hurriedly stood up and went to the kitchen.

Ji Zhixing smiled. Being hungry was secondary; he mainly wanted to give his mother something to do so she could truly relax.

After she went to the kitchen, he took his father’s phone, scrolled through the contacts, and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice before connecting.

"Hello?" He Yanbing’s exhausted voice came through the receiver.

"Teacher He," Ji Zhixing spoke.

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then, He Yanbing’s voice abruptly pitched up, carrying irrepressible excitement. "Ji Zhixing? You’re back?"

"Yes, I’m back," Ji Zhixing said. "I’m sorry for making you worry these past few days."

"It’s good that you’re back. It’s good that you’re back," He Yanbing repeated twice before managing to control her emotions. She then asked, "Where are you? At home? Are you hurt?"

"I’m at home, and I’m not hurt. Don’t worry, Teacher," Ji Zhixing assured. "By the way, Teacher He, do you have Teacher Sun’s phone number? I plan to go to school tomorrow to return the Yellow Stone Rod to him."

"I do, I do," He Yanbing said. "I’ll text you his number in a moment. Ever since you went missing, Teacher Sun has been constantly worrying about you, too."

"Alright."

Right after he hung up, a text message arrived. Ji Zhixing dialed the number provided.

"Hello?" Sun Dajun’s voice came through the earpiece.

"Teacher Sun, it’s me, Ji Zhixing."

"Ji Zhixing!" Sun Dajun’s voice instantly grew louder. "You kid, you’re back? Are you alright?"

"I’m fine, Teacher Sun. I’m back. I’ll drop by the school tomorrow to return the Yellow Stone Rod to you."

"That’s a minor matter." Sun Dajun chuckled over the phone. "The fact that you’re back safely is more important than anything else. If you haven’t mastered the Boulder Staff Technique yet, I can let you borrow the Yellow Stone Rod for a bit longer."

"Thank you, Teacher Sun. But that won’t be necessary; I’ve already mastered the Boulder Staff Technique."

"That fast?" Sun Dajun was astonished. "The Boulder Staff Technique is completely different from the Breaking Army Staff Technique. Usually, after mastering one staff technique, learning another one that embodies a different kind of will becomes exponentially more difficult. You actually managed to learn it so quickly?"

Ji Zhixing smiled. He chatted with Sun Dajun for a few more minutes before they agreed to meet at school the following day.

Just as he hung up the phone, his mother, Zhang Yulan, brought the food to the table. He devoured three bowls of rice in one sitting.

Afterward, he chatted with his family for a while longer. Then, sitting on the sofa with his father’s phone in hand, he began looking up some information online.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about his situation; it didn’t match what was written in the textbooks.

He had only consumed thirteen bottles of the petrification gene potion before successfully developing the stone skin gene ability. Compared to others, his consumption was simply too low. Furthermore, the sensation he experienced while taking both the stone skin gene potion and the source energy gene potion had been incredibly comfortable, as if the two potions were naturally compatible with his body.

"Just as I thought!" Ji Zhixing realized after browsing the web. Many people online who had consumed the stone skin gene potion reported that using it caused their bodies to stiffen for a short period of time.

However, he had never experienced such a reaction.

"Is it because of my Gene Furnace?" he wondered. "I wonder if it’ll be different once I buy the gigantification gene potion and refine it.

"If that’s truly the case, then the amount of gigantification gene potions I need should also be reduced, right?"

A sense of anticipation swelled within Ji Zhixing.

After chatting with his family on the sofa for a long time, he returned to his room, lay down on the bed, and prepared to rest.

Eighteen days. He had spent eighteen entire days in that pitch-black underground water cave.

He had developed the stone skin ability, mastered both the Breaking Army and Boulder staff techniques, and pushed his cultivation base close to the Tier One Peak with the help of the Earth Spirit Liquid.

"I’ll go to school tomorrow to return the Yellow Stone Rod to Teacher Sun," he planned in his mind. "Then, I’ll go sell the Hematite and buy the gigantification gene potion.

"I’ll strive to develop the gigantification ability in the shortest time possible."

He rolled over, gazing at the moonlight spilling through the window.

"Once the Three-inch Stone Monkey gene evolves into the Staff Soldier Stone Monkey gene, I’ll be able to fuse a second gene..."

Closing his eyes, he slowly drifted off to sleep.