Chapter 78: Lucky! External Gene!

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Lucky! External Gene!

"Nice!"

Zhou Han’s eyes lit up at the sight.

Seeing Ji Zhixing pin down that Tier Two Spider, he flashed forward, appearing at the creature’s flank like a phantom.

The Tier Two Spider was pouring all its attacks onto Ji Zhixing, completely oblivious to Zhou Han’s approach.

"Extreme Cold Frost Slash!"

Zhou Han shouted in a low voice. The genetic source power within his body surged wildly, pouring entirely into the long saber in his hands.

A thick layer of frost suddenly materialized along the blade. Freezing energy radiated outward, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet.

Gripping the hilt with both hands, he swung upward with explosive force!

The blade’s gleam flashed past, carrying a bone-piercing chill as it struck precisely at the joint between the Tier Two Spider’s head and abdomen.

It was the spider’s most vulnerable spot.

SLASH!

Where the blade passed, the Tier Two Spider’s body was cleanly severed in two.

The upper half flew through the air and smashed into the ground, its eight legs still twitching. The lower half remained rooted in place, rapidly frosting over.

A one-hit kill!

"Phew..."

Zhou Han gasped for breath. He turned to look at Ji Zhixing. "Can you still keep going? If you can, hold that one down and I’ll chop it up too!"

He looked at Ji Zhixing with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

"Of course!"

Ji Zhixing didn’t hesitate. Gripping his staff, he took large strides and charged at the other Tier Two Spider.

Seeing its companion slaughtered, the remaining Tier Two Spider let out a furious screech. Its eight legs scuttled rapidly as it lunged toward him.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Ji Zhixing executed his Rock Solid Staff Technique once more, becoming locked in a fierce melee with the Tier Two Spider.

With his previous experience, he was much steadier this time, his defense airtight.

The long staff twirled and flew, deflecting the stabbing spider legs one by one.

Though he was still outmatched in raw power, he definitely wouldn’t be defeated in the short term.

"That’s enough!"

Right at that moment, Zhou Han appeared.

With a quick flash, he materialized at this Tier Two Spider’s flank.

This was exactly how he had killed the previous Tier Two Spider.

However, this Tier Two Spider had clearly not learned from its companion’s mistake. It kept its full attention fixated on the towering form of Ji Zhixing.

"Extreme Cold Frost Slash!"

Zhou Han unleashed his strongest strike once again.

The blade’s gleam flashed, instantly cleaving this Tier Two Spider in half.

"Got it!"

Zhou Han leaned heavily on his saber, panting heavily, but a bright smile adorned his face.

Ji Zhixing also deactivated his gigantification, his body slowly shrinking back to its normal size.

He leaned on the Tide Listening Rod, breathing slightly heavily as a fine layer of sweat formed on his forehead.

Tangling with two Tier Two Spiders back-to-back had taken quite a toll on him as well.

The two men turned their heads and saw that Xiao Mingyue and the other two had just about finished off the remaining spiders in the valley.

The ground was carpeted with spider corpses, their blood-colored fluids pooling everywhere.

Only a few smaller Blood-colored Spiders remained, letting out terrified screeches as they fled out of the valley.

"How are you guys? Everyone okay?"

Xiao Mingyue walked over, looking at Ji Zhixing and Zhou Han.

"I’m fine. The pressure was mostly on Ji Zhixing just now."

Zhou Han shook his head and looked at Ji Zhixing. "Is the gene you fused really a Tier Two?

"You mentioned before that you could use gigantification, but why do I feel like there’s something different about yours? A normal gigantification ability shouldn’t be this strong, right?"

Ji Zhixing smiled. "A standard gigantification ability really isn’t this strong. I only have this level of strength because my abilities synergize well together."

His Rock Solid Body ability boosted his power, while his gigantification massively multiplied that enhanced baseline strength once his physical size increased.

Coupled with the amplification from his Innate Staff Heart—which had also reached three-star quality—he was able to display the might to go toe-to-toe with a Tier Two Blood Beast while only being at Tier One himself.

"Alright, enough chitchat. We killed way too many spiders this time, so we need to hurry up and refine them. If we wait too long, I’m afraid we won’t be able to refine any Blood Crystals from them."

Xiao Mingyue swept her gaze over the corpses littering the ground and urged them, "Just like before, we’ll split all the spiders evenly.

"As for those two Tier Twos, they’ll go to you two—Ji Zhixing and Zhou Han. You guys don’t have a problem with that, right?"

Tie Shan and Su Qing naturally had no objections.

Ji Zhixing and Zhou Han exchanged a glance and didn’t decline the offer.

The two of them quickly stepped forward, storing the corpses of the two Tier Two Spiders into their respective Genetic Furnaces.

The others began collecting the corpses of the Tier One Blood-colored Spiders.

"Refine!"

Looking at the Tier Two Blood-colored Spider safely inside his Genetic Furnace, Ji Zhixing willed the furnace into action, initiating the refinement process.

"A Tier Two Blood Beast... I wonder how many Blood Crystals it will yield," he thought with a sense of anticipation.

Time ticked away by the minute and second.

Within the Furnace Space, the Eight Trigrams Map rotated slowly. Eight-colored light intertwined, enveloping the corpse of the Tier Two Spider as it broke it down and refined it bit by bit.

"Refining a Tier Two Blood Beast is much slower than a Tier One," Ji Zhixing noted inwardly as he waited patiently.

About ten minutes later, the refinement was finally complete.

As his consciousness swept over the Furnace Space, his heart skipped a beat.

Several items were hovering quietly within the Furnace Space.

First were two fist-sized Genetic Source Stones.

Next, he saw two dark red crystals.

These two crystals were a full size larger than Tier One Blood Crystals, and their color was much deeper.

"Tier Two Blood Crystals!"

A wave of joy surged in Ji Zhixing’s heart.

The value of a single Tier Two Blood Crystal was equivalent to ten Tier One Blood Crystals.

Based on the academy’s exchange rate of one thousand Genetic Coins for a Tier One Blood Crystal, a single Tier Two Blood Crystal was worth ten thousand Genetic Coins.

Two of them meant twenty thousand.

"Just these two Tier Two Blood Crystals alone are worth twenty thousand Genetic Coins," Ji Zhixing quickly calculated in his head. "Coupled with all those Tier One Blood Crystals from earlier, I’ve already made thirty to forty thousand Genetic Coins in less than a day.

"And this is only the first day..."

He suppressed his excitement and continued inspecting the remaining items in the Furnace Space.

Aside from the Genetic Source Stones and the Tier Two Blood Crystals, two new items had appeared.

The first was a Scroll.

It was blood-red through and through, about the length of a chopstick when rolled up. Faint, dense patterns could be seen on its surface, resembling some kind of ancient runes.

The moment Ji Zhixing’s consciousness brushed against the Scroll, a stream of information immediately flooded his mind.

"Blood-colored Spider Web Scroll: Tier One Genetic Equipment, Consumable. Upon use, releases a five-meter-diameter blood-colored spider web to ensnare enemies."

"A consumable..." Ji Zhixing’s heart stirred slightly. "If used at the critical moment, this kind of scroll could have incredibly unexpected effects."

Committing the Scroll’s information to memory, he shifted his consciousness toward the final item in the Furnace Space.

It was a crystalline object.

No larger than a fingernail, it was dark red and translucent. Within it, the faint illusion of a microscopic spider could be seen, its eight legs curled up as if deep in slumber.

"This is..."

Ji Zhixing’s pupils contracted sharply.

As his consciousness touched the crystal, another stream of information flooded his mind, leaving him completely stunned.

"External Gene: Blood-colored Spider Web. Upon refinement, grants the genetic ability ’Blood-colored Spider Web,’ allowing the user to shoot webs to ensnare enemies."

"An External Gene!"

A storm of shock surged in Ji Zhixing’s heart.

External Genes were highly unique items. Any Genetic Cultivator could refine an External Gene to acquire a genetic ability that fell completely outside their own system.

In other words, by refining this External Gene, he could gain the Blood-colored Spider Web ability, which had absolutely nothing to do with his own genetic makeup.

"External Genes are incredibly rare. Even the absolute worst ones are worth at least a million Genetic Coins."

Ji Zhixing’s heart pounded faster.

"I actually refined an External Gene?

"Calm down. Stay calm."

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to settle down.

Examining the External Gene closely, his mind raced with thoughts.

"Blood-colored Spider Web. A trapping ability.

"There’s a strict limit to how many External Genes a person can refine. This ability... isn’t quite suitable for me."

He shook his head.

He had fused two genes so far: the Staff Soldier Stone Monkey gene and the Willow Tree gene.

Whether it was defense, recovery, or explosive power, he wasn’t lacking in any department.

What he actually needed most was a speed-type ability, or something geared toward escaping and preserving his life.

As for trapping enemies...

He felt that if his Willow Tree gene continued to evolve, he might very well develop a similar ability down the line.

"I’ll set it aside for now. Once I leave the secret realm, I’ll figure out a way to sell it."

Ji Zhixing stifled the thrill in his chest.

"A single External Gene can easily fetch at least a million Genetic Coins.

"When that happens, I can buy more resources, speed up my cultivation, or develop other genetic abilities."

He opened his eyes and noticed the others were still in the process of refining.

Standing up without drawing attention, he began gathering the Blood-colored Spider corpses that hadn’t been collected yet.

One body, two bodies, three...

He deposited the corpses one by one into his Genetic Furnace and resumed refining.

But this time, he stopped after refining only a dozen or so Blood-colored Spider corpses.

The others did the same.

Because toward the end, the refinement stopped yielding anything at all.

There weren’t even any Genetic Source Stones.

"We waited too long," Ji Zhixing realized.

Blood Beasts were fundamentally a type of Genetic Beast.

Once they died, if they weren’t refined promptly, they would rapidly lose their potency and stop producing materials.

They had simply killed far too many spiders this time. It was impossible to refine all of them in time.

"What a shame," Tie Shan said, shaking his head. "There are still so many left."

"Can’t be helped. We killed too many of them."

Zhou Han spread his hands in a helpless shrug.

Xiao Mingyue looked at the group and offered some comfort, "Forget it. Being able to refine this many Blood-colored Spiders in one go is already pretty good."

She opened her hand. A single Blood Crystal lay quietly in her palm.

Only one.

"I refined so many Blood-colored Spiders, and finally got a drop in the end."

Xiao Mingyue gazed at the Blood Crystal, a contented smile gracing her lips.

Ji Zhixing glanced at her but remained silent.

"It’s good that she can feel satisfied," he mused inwardly. He then thought of the mountain of Blood Crystals crowding his own Genetic Furnace, not to mention the External Gene worth at least a million.

"Compared to her, my greed seems boundless."

He looked at the spider corpses scattered across the ground, feeling a twinge of regret.

There were at least a few dozen carcasses that had yet to be refined.

If he could have refined all of them, given his drop rate, it was entirely possible he would have walked away with over a hundred Blood Crystals.

"Forget it. Biting off more than one can chew will only end badly."

He shook his head, quelling the lingering regret in his heart.

"Enough talk. Let’s all take a quick rest. That fight drained way too much out of me," Su Qing called out to the group. She then pulled a cushion from her Genetic Furnace, tossed it onto a rock, and sat down to rest.

The others followed suit, each finding a spot to sit.

Ji Zhixing found a flat stone and sat down cross-legged.

"Time to refine a bottle of Source Power Genetic Potion."

With a thought, he retrieved a bottle of Source Power Genetic Potion from his Genetic Furnace, popped the cork, and downed it in one gulp.

The potion hit his stomach and dissolved into a warm current.

He activated his Genetic Furnace and began the refinement process.

Firstly, it was to replenish his depleted genetic source power.

Secondly, he wanted to see if he could use this opportunity to break through and become a Tier Two Genetic Cultivator.

"My current cultivation is already at Tier One Peak. I’m just a single step away from Tier Two.

"If I can break through while inside the secret realm, my strength will jump to a whole new level.

"When that happens, hunting Tier Two Blood Beasts will be much easier."

He closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into his body, and devoted all his effort to refining the Source Power Genetic Potion.

The Eight Trigrams Map inside his Genetic Furnace spun slowly, steadily absorbing and converting the potion’s medicinal efficacy.

He could feel the genetic source power within his body growing thread by thread, inching closer and closer to that critical tipping point.

(Brothers, the seven-Chapter, 22,000-word update is complete! Asking for your support!)