Chapter 94 - 93: Tier 2, 5-Star, Nine-Tiered Tide Rod

Chapter 94: Chapter 93: Tier 2, 5-Star, Nine-Tiered Tide Rod

Ji Zhixing opened his mouth, at a loss for words for a moment.

A Heart Refining Stone Pillow.

He hadn’t even seen what a Heart Refining Stone looked like, yet Xiao Mingyue actually used one as a pillow. And it was a pillow carved from a single, solid piece of Heart Refining Stone at that.

"Alright, there’s no need for words of gratitude," Xiao Mingyue said, flashing a generous smile as she joked. "I’m the type to hold a favor over your head. As long as you remember my kindness and are always ready to serve me hand and foot, we’ll be fine."

"Does that come with room and board?" Ji Zhixing quipped.

"That depends on your performance." Xiao Mingyue rolled her eyes at him.

"Then I won’t hold back," Ji Zhixing said, nodding.

He truly couldn’t refuse such a benefit. A Heart Refining Stone cost five or six million Gene Coins, and other heart-refining treasures weren’t cheap either. At his current earning rate, saving up six million points would be incredibly difficult. Since Xiao Mingyue was willing to lend it to him, he would be a fool to refuse.

There was nothing wrong with having a bit of thick skin. Nor was there anything wrong with living off a woman a bit. Throughout history, unless they were strictly technical talents, most successful people shared the trait of having thick skin. He decided to follow in the footsteps of the ancients.

"Let’s go. Time to continue hunting." Xiao Mingyue clapped her hands and turned, walking toward the hills ahead.

The two continued hunting Blood Beasts in the vicinity. It wasn’t until evening that they finally stopped, dragging their exhausted bodies to rest. Xiao Mingyue found a flat rock to sit on, took out a water bottle from her Genetic Furnace, and took a sip before she started tallying up their gains.

"This morning, you refined a Tier Two Blood Crystal and also got about a dozen Tier One Blood Crystals. Although we wasted a lot of time in the Blood River later on, we still hunted dozens of Tier One Blood Beasts after coming out."

She calculated item by item, "Adding all these Blood Crystals together, turning them in will net you forty-three thousand points. That’s even more than yesterday. Combined with yesterday’s total, you have eighty-five thousand points. That shouldn’t be lower than Gu Zheng’s, right?"

"You really want my points to be higher than Gu Zheng’s, huh?" Ji Zhixing chuckled.

"It must be higher! And it has to stay higher than his!" Xiao Mingyue said indignantly. The mere thought of those sword strikes Gu Zheng had unleashed on Ji Zhixing infuriated her. "A Genius Class student getting suppressed by someone from the Regular Class—let’s see if he still has the gall to be arrogant after that."

"We’ll find out the exact details in a bit," Ji Zhixing said, glancing at the sky. He figured the leaderboard would be announced soon.

The blood sun had already sunk below the horizon, leaving only a streak of dark red at the edge of the sky. Above, a few illusory stars began to emerge.

BOOM!

At that moment, a blood-red light flared in the sky. The light shot straight into the heavens before exploding outward, transforming into a massive screen of light.

The second day’s leaderboard was out.

Ji Zhixing looked up, his gaze quickly scanning the rankings. Soon enough, he found his name in the fifth-place spot.

5th Place: Ji Zhixing, Regular Class 21, 85,000 points.

"Still fifth," Ji Zhixing thought, a slight stir in his heart. "Just like yesterday, my ranking hasn’t changed."

He continued looking down to find Gu Zheng’s name.

6th Place: Zhao Ran, Genius Class...

7th Place: Gu Zheng, Genius Class, 77,000 points.

"He dropped to seventh." Seeing Gu Zheng’s ranking, Xiao Mingyue couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from turning up. "He was sixth yesterday, but he got pushed down a spot today."

"He probably wasted a lot of time fighting for the Weapon Order today," Ji Zhixing noted. He continued scanning downward and found Zhou Han’s name in ninety-ninth place.

"Zhou Han, 99th place, 15,000 points."

"He’s on the board," Ji Zhixing noted, feeling a wave of relief. "As long as he’s safe, that’s all that matters."

"Su Qing and Tie Shan didn’t make the board, but they should be fine too," Xiao Mingyue said. "With their strength, as long as they don’t encounter a Tier Three Blood Beast, protecting themselves won’t be an issue."

Ji Zhixing nodded and withdrew his gaze.

HUM!

Right then, the two Weapon Orders in his pocket suddenly gave a faint tremor. The two Tokens flew out of his pocket and hovered in front of him, radiating a silvery-white light. Immediately after, a blood-red vortex appeared out of thin air beneath the Tokens, rotating slowly.

Once the vortex formed, the two Weapon Orders instantly turned into two streaks of silver light and plunged into the vortex, vanishing completely.

"What’s going on?" Ji Zhixing looked stunned, startled by the sudden change.

He wondered, "Is this thing specifically prepared for the Genius Class students? Could it be that I’m not allowed to use it, and the school confiscated it?"

Just as he was thinking this, an illusory screen materialized in front of him.

The screen wasn’t large, but it was incredibly clear. It listed a dense, categorized array of Genetic Equipment. There were sabers, swords, spears, shields, armor... Every piece of equipment had its tier, quality, and abilities clearly labeled beside it.

"Ji Zhixing."

A familiar voice suddenly rang out.

"Teacher Yang?" Ji Zhixing paused, recognizing the voice. It was Yang Man Ni, whom he had interacted with before.

"It’s me," Yang Man Ni said with a smile. "You’ve acquired two Weapon Orders. You may select two pieces of Genetic Equipment suitable for your tier from the school’s armory.

"Make your selections now, and don’t take too long. You have half an hour. Once you’re done, the equipment will be directly teleported to you."

Ji Zhixing took a deep breath, a surge of joy welling up in his heart. He had originally thought that after obtaining the Weapon Orders, he would have to wait until he returned to school to choose his weapons. He never expected to be able to redeem them on the spot.

He turned to look at Xiao Mingyue beside him. "We have two Weapon Orders. One for each of us. You pick a piece too."

"Me?" Xiao Mingyue immediately waved her hands dismissively. "Count me out. I have everything I need; there’s nothing among these items that I want."

After she spoke, as if suddenly thinking of something, she smiled and looked at Ji Zhixing. "But if you insist on giving me something, give me that axe you got your hands on this morning.

"Although you were the one who refined that axe, I also pitched in to kill that Tier Two Blood Crocodile. Practically speaking, it’s no different from me refining it with my own hands. I can just take it back as a souvenir."

Ji Zhixing looked at her for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright then."

Although the Blood Crocodile Axe was worth hundreds of thousands of Gene Coins, Xiao Mingyue had helped him out far more. Moreover, no matter how you looked at it, the Blood Crocodile Axe couldn’t compare to a single Weapon Order. Just by glancing at the screen, he knew a Weapon Order was worth at least two million Gene Coins.

He took the Blood Crocodile Axe out of his Genetic Furnace and handed it to Xiao Mingyue. She accepted it, toyed with it in her hands for a moment, and put it away in satisfaction.

"Alright, hurry up and make your picks. Don’t waste time," she urged.

Ji Zhixing nodded, turned around, and set his sights on the illusory screen in front of him. The screen functioned much like a smartphone display. It had various options, could be scrolled up and down, and allowed for categorical filtering. He first located the staff weapons area and tapped into it.

Rows upon rows of long staffs immediately popped up on the screen, each accompanied by detailed pictures and descriptions.

"Tier two staff weapons. The qualities range from one star all the way to five stars," he thought.

His finger slid across the screen, setting the filter to four-star quality and above, while also selecting the requirement that the staff must come with an inherent staff technique. Instantly, the number of options on the screen was cut down by more than half.

He examined them one by one. The long staffs on the screen were displayed one after another, each emitting a different luster, with detailed introductions alongside them. The topmost weapon was an entirely silvery-white long staff with fine snowflake patterns engraved on its surface.

"Big Snow Avalanche Rod. Tier Two Four-Star. Comes with the Tier Two Four-Star Great Snow Avalanche Staff Technique. Utilizing the staff technique in conjunction with this rod has the effect of slowing down the enemy’s speed."

"Big Snow Avalanche Rod..." Ji Zhixing muttered the name before shaking his head.

The gene he had assimilated was the Staff Soldier Stone Monkey, which sought out berserk combat. He felt rather indifferent toward a staff technique aimed at delaying enemy attacks.

He then looked at the next rod. This one was entirely crimson with a thick and heavy shaft. Its surface featured flame-like patterns, looking as if it could burst into fire at any moment.

"Flaming Destruction Rod. Tier Two Four-Star. Comes with the Tier Two Four-Star Fiery Flame Burning Stick Skill. Attacks carry flame damage that can ignite the enemy, causing continuous burning. This rod is better suited for Cultivators possessing fire-attribute Genetic Source Power."

"Fire attribute..." Ji Zhixing shook his head slightly.

His Genetic Source Power currently had no special attributes, making this long staff evidently unsuitable for him as well. He continued to look at the third one, the fourth one...

"Great Hurricane Rod. Tier Two Five-Star. Comes with the Tier Two Five-Star Great Hurricane Staff Technique. Thrusting the rod summons fierce winds, resulting in an exceptionally large attack range."

"Unmoving as a Mountain Rod. Tier Two Five-Star. Comes with the Tier Two Five-Star Unmoving as a Mountain Staff Technique. A defensive staff technique."

"Is this an upgraded version of the Boulder Staff Technique?" Ji Zhixing pondered for a moment before deciding to pass on it. Right now, what he wanted was stronger offensive power.

"Nine-Tiered Tide Rod. Tier Two Five-Star. Comes with the Tier Two Five-Star Nine-layered Tide Staff Technique. The staff technique is heavy and unceasing, like surging tides.

"When the long staff strikes the enemy, the Genetic Source Power will transform into the power of the tides, eroding the enemy’s body wave by wave and causing continuous damage."

"Nine-layered Tide Staff Technique..." Ji Zhixing muttered the name, his eyes brightening slightly.

He thought, "This staff technique feels like an advanced version of the Tingchao Staff Technique, but it focuses more on the heavy and unceasing nature of the staff strikes. It’s actually quite suitable for me."

He continued looking down the list. The rod below that was entirely purple-gold, its shaft engraved with lightning patterns that faintly crackled with electric light.

"Thunderous Rod. Tier Two Five-Star. Comes with the Tier Two Five-Star Thunderous Rod Technique. Strikes carry Thunder Power, boasting extremely fast attack speeds. Suitable for Cultivators possessing lightning-attribute Genetic Source Power."

"Lightning attribute... the power is very strong, but what a pity," Ji Zhixing said, shaking his head. He didn’t have that particular trait.

He scrolled down further. But after looking for a little while, he shifted his gaze back up to the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod he had seen earlier.

He reasoned, "My Innate Staff Heart is of three-star quality. Generally speaking, it would be somewhat difficult for me to even practice a Four-Star Staff Technique. But my Genetic Furnace is special; after refining equipment, I can attain the feeling of unity between man and staff.

"Coupled with the fact that I’ve awakened the new Staff Soldier Divine Mastery talent, with all these factors stacked together, it might not be impossible for me to master a Tier Two Five-Star Staff Technique.

"Since I have to choose, I’ll choose the strongest one."

He reached out and tapped on the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod.