Chapter 50: Ten Days

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Ten Days

Ji Zhixing sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a bottle of pale gold serum in his hand.

This was the giantification gene serum.

He took a deep breath, uncorked the bottle, and downed the pale gold serum in one gulp. As the serum entered his stomach, a wave of warmth instantly surged through his entire body. He could feel the medicinal efficacy seeping into his limbs and bones, creating a bizarre resonance with his genes.

"Now’s the time!"

With a thought, Ji Zhixing immediately activated his gene furnace to refine the medicinal power, accelerating the speed at which the Three-inch Stone Monkey gene absorbed it.

BUZZ!

Suddenly, his consciousness felt as if it had been pulled into a strange space.

"This is..." Ji Zhixing’s heart trembled.

He saw a vivid phantom of a monkey appear in his mind. It was a Three-inch Stone Monkey. Petite in size and grayish-brown all over, it squatted on a bluestone, looking at him with agile eyes.

"A Three-inch Stone Monkey..." Ji Zhixing murmured in his heart.

The next moment, the monkey phantom moved. It stood up abruptly, a faint golden light radiating around its body. Then, under Ji Zhixing’s watchful gaze, its body began to shoot up rapidly!

Three inches... four inches... five inches...

The monkey’s body expanded at a visible rate. Its muscles bulged and its bones stretched out, and in the blink of an eye, its height had grown by more than half. The stone monkey, which had originally been only three inches tall, was now five inches tall.

"So this is the giantification ability..." Ji Zhixing muttered to himself.

At this moment, he felt as if he had become this monkey. He could clearly feel how the genetic source energy surged, how the bones grew, how the muscles expanded, how the skin stretched taut... The sensation was incredibly real. It was as if he himself were that monkey, experiencing the process of his body being distended.

"I see..." A surge of sudden realization welled up in Ji Zhixing’s heart. "The giantification ability is actually about circulating the genetic source energy within the body in a special way to stimulate the body’s potential.

"This method of circulation..."

He sensed it carefully, firmly etching every detail into his mind.

Right then, the monkey’s body began to shrink slowly.

Five inches... four inches... three inches...

In the blink of an eye, the monkey returned to its original state, squatting back down on the bluestone. However, the very next moment, it stood up again, bathed in golden light.

This was its second time unleashing the giantification ability!

The monkey’s body began to grow taller once more, inch by inch. Ji Zhixing immersed himself in this sensation again. This time, he was even more focused and observant. He felt the trajectory of the genetic source energy flowing within the monkey’s body, the changes in every cell, and the transformation process from minute to massive.

"So that’s how it is...

"This method of circulation, this frequency, this rhythm..."

Ji Zhixing slightly closed his eyes, entirely submerged in his comprehension. His consciousness seemed to fuse with the monkey, experiencing the mysteries of the giantification ability over and over again.

Time ticked away by the minute and second.

The monkey unleashed the giantification ability time after time. With every execution, Ji Zhixing gained new insights.

An unknown amount of time later, Ji Zhixing slowly opened his eyes. A trace of exhaustion flashed across his eyes, and his entire person looked somewhat weak.

"Developing a genetic ability is truly mentally draining," Ji Zhixing remarked inwardly, rubbing his temples.

His head felt heavy and muddled, as if he had stayed up for several days and nights straight.

"This bottle of giantification gene serum has already been used up." He checked the inside of his body and found that the serum’s medicinal efficacy had been completely absorbed. And his Three-inch Stone Monkey gene seemed to have undergone some subtle changes as well.

"I have gained some insights, but..." Ji Zhixing frowned. "I’m still a long way from truly developing the giantification gene ability.

"Developing a genetic ability doesn’t just require me to remember the ability’s circulation method, but also to plant the seed of the ability into my genes."

He could feel that he had merely touched the threshold of the giantification ability. He was still quite a distance away from truly mastering it.

"It seems I need more giantification gene serum," Ji Zhixing thought to himself. However, he also knew that he couldn’t take the giantification gene serum continuously, otherwise, it would take a toll on his body and mind. "I can only wait until tomorrow to take the second bottle."

Ji Zhixing checked the time and realized nearly two hours had passed.

"I should take a break first."

He stood up and stretched his body. At noon, he ate something and took a short nap, finally recovering his mental energy. Afterward, he went down to the clearing outside his building.

With a thought, a pale blue long rod appeared in his hands.

This was the Tide Listening Rod.

He had already refined the Tide Listening Rod. Wielding it felt just as effortless as when he had used the Breaking Army Rod and the Yellow Stone Rod before.

"Let’s begin."

Ji Zhixing took a deep breath, gripped the rod with both hands, and began practicing the Tingchao Staff Technique.

The Tingchao Staff Technique was accompanied by the sound of tides with every strike, which could disrupt the opponent’s state of mind. This type of staff technique emphasized using softness to overcome hardness, using stillness to counter motion, or striking when least expected. It was completely different from the fierce and domineering Breaking Army Staff Technique, and the immovable Rock Staff Technique.

Ji Zhixing struck out with the rod. As the rod swept through the air, it produced a faint whistling sound. The noise was ethereal, like the crash of tides echoing from afar, making one feel restless.

"This feeling..." Ji Zhixing pondered the profundities of the Tingchao Staff Technique as he practiced.

He discovered that although this staff technique appeared gentle, it actually concealed lethal intent. The sound of the tides could unconsciously disrupt the opponent’s mental focus, forcing them to reveal openings.

"Once I master the Tingchao Staff Technique, I might be able to use it as a trump card," Ji Zhixing thought silently.

He practiced it over and over again, his figure shifting and leaping across the clearing. The long rod moved like a dragon, kicking up waves of tidal sounds.

In the afternoon, his mother, Zhang Yulan, returned with his sister, Ji Zhiyu.

"Zhixing, you bought this much food?" Zhang Yulan was instantly surprised upon entering the house and seeing the kitchen piled high with various vegetables and meats.

"Mom, even though I was trapped in the underground water cave a few days ago, I had quite a bountiful harvest," he said with a smile. "I’ll handle the grocery shopping for the family from now on."

Hearing this, a gratified smile appeared on Zhang Yulan’s face. "Good, good. My son is all grown up and successful now."

Ji Zhiyu’s eyes also lit up.

In the evening, Zhang Yulan brought out dish after dish: sweet and sour pork ribs, steamed carp, smashed cucumber salad...

Ji Zhiyu’s little mouth chewed non-stop, and her stomach visibly bulged from eating so much.

"Brother, these ribs are really delicious," she mumbled indistinctly, placing a piece of rib into his bowl.

Ji Zhixing smiled, a warm current welling up in his heart.

From now on, he could finally change some things.

"However, I definitely have to become stronger. Right now, I’m still too weak," he secretly swore to himself.

Days passed one by one. Every day, Ji Zhixing systematically consumed the Earth Spirit Liquid to improve his cultivation base and drank the giantification gene serum to develop his genetic ability. Aside from that, he went downstairs to practice his staff technique.

Ten days later.

In the clearing downstairs, Ji Zhixing held the Tide Listening Rod and struck out.

WHOOSH!

The long rod sliced through the air, emitting a bizarre sound. The noise was like surging tides, wave after wave in an endless stream, unsettling the mind.

"I did it!" Ji Zhixing retracted his rod and stood straight, a joyful expression on his face.

"The Tingchao Staff Technique is indeed the hardest of the three staff techniques," he remarked inwardly. "I practiced continuously for ten days. I only managed to completely master this Cultivation Technique because I had the Tide Listening Rod in hand, assisted by my Innate Staff Heart talent.

"If it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn’t be able to master it even if they spent a year or longer."

He swung the rod out again, and the sound of the tides rang out once more. The ethereal sound seemed to come from all directions, making it impossible to determine the rod’s landing point.

"However, this is just a Tier One Two-Star Staff Technique." Ji Zhixing put away the Tide Listening Rod, pondering silently. "I presume it can only display its maximum effect when used by surprise.

"If the opponent is prepared, this mind-disrupting effect will be greatly reduced.

"But even so, this staff technique is still a killer move for me.

"I’ll return the rod to Teacher Sun in a couple of days. All three Two-Star Staff Techniques have been mastered. Next, I just need to focus on developing the giantification ability and let the Three-inch Stone Monkey gene evolve."

At this time, the woman who lived upstairs from him was returning from outside the residential compound. Seeing Ji Zhixing standing in the clearing, she immediately lowered her head slightly, slowed her pace, and averted her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.

Ji Zhixing paid her no heed. He simply turned around and headed straight home.