Chapter 156 - 139: Quite Interesting

Chapter 156: Chapter 139: Quite Interesting

"Quite interesting."

In the distance, Bai Yuan sat in a tree, glancing toward Ji Zhixing’s tent.

Initially, he had just thought Ji Zhixing was bold. Especially back in the Blood Beast Secret Realm, seeing Ji Zhixing dare to compete with those genius class students for the Weapon Order, he felt the guy had some serious guts. However, he had never considered what Ji Zhixing’s future achievements might be. Even when Ji Zhixing rejected Li Jin’s Tier Six Blazing Sun Level Six-armed Moon-devouring Demon Ape inheritance, he felt Ji Zhixing was too arrogant.

But now... he was actually starting to see potential in Ji Zhixing.

"A breakthrough." Xiao Mingyue felt the aura radiating from Ji Zhixing’s tent, her face lighting up with joy. She was very familiar with this presence. It was the exact aura only a Tier Three Genetic Cultivator could emit, a level far superior to Tier Two.

"What’s going on? Ji Zhixing broke through to Tier Three?" At this moment, Xu Cheng and Jiang Qingqian also realized what was happening. The two stared at Ji Zhixing’s tent in disbelief, their eyes wide. Xu Cheng even let go of his chest, leaving the sword wound exposed to the air. Blood was still seeping out, but he was completely oblivious.

"Aren’t the genes fused in his two Genetic Acupoints both Tier Two? How could he break through to Tier Three?" Jiang Qingqian muttered, a thought flashing through her mind.

Gene evolution. It was the only explanation. Ji Zhixing’s genes had evolved again—from Tier Two to Tier Three.

"This guy..." Xu Cheng also came to this realization. He took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. He recalled the scene of his first clash with Ji Zhixing. Back then, Ji Zhixing had the same Cultivation level as him but could take his lightning head-on with his body, draining him alive until his Source Power was exhausted. Now that Ji Zhixing had broken through to Tier Three, just how terrifying would his strength be?

Meanwhile, Gu Zheng, who had just looked away from their direction, frowned as he felt the commotion and turned his head back.

"This is..." Feeling the aura being released from Ji Zhixing’s tent, his expression shifted rapidly as he realized what it meant. He thought, "Tier Three? Is it Ji Zhixing? He broke through to Tier Three?"

Gu Zheng clenched his fists. Just a moment ago, he had been thinking that since he was now a Tier Three Genetic Cultivator, he would have plenty of opportunities to get rid of Ji Zhixing in the future. But now... Ji Zhixing had unexpectedly broken through to Tier Three as well. Furthermore, this breakthrough from Tier Two to Tier Three meant that his genes had evolved once again.

Gu Zheng thought, "How is the evolution speed of this guy’s genes so fast?" His face darkened, a wave of unease welling up in his heart. He wasn’t the only one; at this moment, many people in the camp were looking toward Ji Zhixing’s tent.

"Did that Ji Zhixing break through?" Yu Mengdie, who had previously attacked Ji Zhixing using Six Desires Bewitching God and Six Desires Celestial Demon, frowned as she watched from a distance. "His and that Xiao Mingyue’s spiritual wills are somewhat special, much stronger than ordinary Genetic Cultivators. After this breakthrough, they will probably be even stronger."

A cold glint flashed through Yu Mengdie’s eyes. "However, no matter how strong they are, they’ve only fused with Tier Three genes. The next time we meet, I will definitely test them and see if you two can truly counter me!"

"What’s going on? That’s Ji Zhixing in the tent, right? He broke through to Tier Three?"

"How is that possible? Aren’t the two genes he fused with both Tier Two genes?"

Some students from Yu City University felt the aura releasing from Ji Zhixing’s tent, their expressions filled with astonishment. Unlike the people from other universities, all of them knew that Ji Zhixing possessed dual Genetic Acupoints, but the genes fused within them were both Tier Two. Yet now, Ji Zhixing had actually broken through to Tier Three. This clearly proved that his genes had evolved again.

"Could he really be able to evolve his genes to the Tier Four Morning Star Level? Or perhaps even higher?"

At this moment, some recalled the incident where Ji Zhixing rejected Mr. Liang Jin’s Tier Six Blazing Sun Level Six-armed Moon-devouring Demon Ape inheritance. That event had caused a massive sensation at the time. Everyone thought Ji Zhixing was overly ambitious and overestimating his own capabilities. They even believed it would be extremely difficult for him to evolve his Tier Two genes into Tier Three. Yet unexpectedly, in just these few days, Ji Zhixing had accomplished the subsequent evolution of his genes and even elevated his Cultivation to Tier Three along with it.

"How exactly did he do it? Is his compatibility with his genes really that high?"

Discussions rose and fell as gazes gathered on Ji Zhixing’s tent—some shocked, some envious, some jealous, and others conflicted.

Inside the tent, Ji Zhixing felt the breakthrough in his Cultivation and took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart. He could feel that the Genetic Source Power within his body had undergone a qualitative change. If he used his previous abilities now, their power would be vastly greater.

"So this is Tier Three..." Ji Zhixing clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within his body. Compared to Tier Two, the Source Power of Tier Three was more than several times denser, and it circulated much more smoothly. At the same time, the increase in his Cultivation had correspondingly boosted his physical strength, Spiritual Power, and other aspects.

"Hmm?" Just then, he suddenly noticed that as his Cultivation broke through, his Genetic Melting Furnace began to automatically draw power from the surrounding void to replenish itself. Furthermore, the power within the Ant King Divine Power Liquid he had placed around him was also being pulled in by his Genetic Melting Furnace, surging into his body.

"It works!" Overjoyed, Ji Zhixing hurriedly restrained the aura he had involuntarily released upon his breakthrough and began to fully absorb the power of the Ant King Divine Power Liquid, accelerating the refinement process. Perhaps because he had just broken through, his speed in refining the Ant King Divine Power Liquid was incredibly fast this time. In a short period, he had already refined a massive amount of its power.

"HUM!"

After an unknown amount of time, the Eight-foot Stone Monkey Gene Illusion within him suddenly let out a hum, and a golden light lit up on its body. The golden light was incredibly bright, illuminating the entire Genetic Acupoint. Within the golden glow, the illusion of the Ten-foot Stone Monkey seemed to grow even more burly and imposing, with terrifying power contained in every inch of its body.

"It’s done!" Ji Zhixing opened his eyes, a trace of joy appearing on his face. "Ming Yue’s words were indeed useful! I actually managed to use the opportunity of my breakthrough to upgrade the quality of my Innate Super Strength ability from three stars to four stars in one fell swoop!"

He calmed down and carefully listened to the voice of his genes. He then discovered that after his Innate Super Strength ability had evolved to four stars, its name had also changed—from Innate Super Strength to Innate Divine Power.

"Innate Divine Power... Not bad." Ji Zhixing revealed a look of satisfaction. A four-star passive ability didn’t require active execution; it would naturally enhance his strength. Compared to his previous Innate Super Strength, the amplification it provided him was at least one and a half times greater.

He wondered, "I wonder how many Du Zhans my current strength could take on?"

Previously in the selection tournament, he had crossed blows with Du Zhan. At that time, if he hadn’t used his gigantification ability, his physical strength would have been inferior to Du Zhan’s. But now that he had broken through in realm and obtained Innate Divine Power, if he were to fight Du Zhan again, he felt he could easily suppress several Du Zhans without even needing to use ultra-gigantification.

With these thoughts in mind, he acted on a whim and checked the changes in his other abilities. Upon inspecting them, he found that his other abilities hadn’t undergone any changes. Their quality had neither upgraded nor downgraded.

"Thank goodness." Ji Zhixing breathed a sigh of relief. Generally speaking, when many Genetic Cultivators achieved a Cultivation breakthrough, the quality of some of their original abilities could potentially drop by a star. This situation was very common. Almost everyone would encounter it. But for him, it seemed that ever since he started cultivating, the quality of some abilities had only ever improved; not a single one had downgraded.

Ji Zhixing thought, "Is this because of the evolutionary paths I’ve chosen?" He speculated that it might be related to his selections. Unlike others, the evolutionary paths he chose were the absolute strongest routes for his two genes. Under these circumstances, his genes should also be considered the strongest among those of the same stage. Perhaps this was precisely why the probability of his gene quality downgrading during a Cultivation breakthrough was much lower than for others.

Ji Zhixing thought to himself, "However, none of that matters now. The most important thing is that I’ve become a Tier Three Genetic Cultivator!

"After I break through to Tier Three, Ming Yue will also break through with me. The two of us together definitely won’t be considered weaklings within the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land.

"We probably still aren’t a match for Cao Zhenxing and those few Cultivators who have fused with Tier Five genes.

"But if we face Gu Zheng, or those other Tier Three Cultivators who have fused with Tier Four Morning Star Level genes, it definitely won’t be a big problem!"

Thinking this, Ji Zhixing slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, then pushed open the tent flap and walked out.

Outside the tent, the sky had already grown somewhat dim. In the camp, many people were watching Ji Zhixing’s tent. Seeing him walk out, their gazes collectively landed on him.

"It really is Ji Zhixing!"

"He actually broke through to Tier Three!"

"This guy... how on earth did he do it?"

Ji Zhixing’s expression remained calm, turning a deaf ear to the surrounding discussions. With a sweep of his gaze, he spotted Xiao Mingyue, Xu Cheng, and Jiang Qingqian.

"Congratulations." Xiao Mingyue looked at him, a smile blossoming on her face and her eyes filled with delight.

"I should say congratulations to you too," Ji Zhixing smiled at her. He knew that with his breakthrough to Tier Three, Xiao Mingyue’s Cultivation would also follow suit and break through.

"Did you really break through to Tier Three?" Xu Cheng looked at Ji Zhixing, asking with a face full of disbelief.

"Yeah, I broke through." Ji Zhixing nodded. Then, he noticed the wound on Xu Cheng’s body. "What happened to you?" Ji Zhixing frowned.

"It was Gu Zheng!" Xu Cheng gritted his teeth, repeating what he had just said earlier.

"Gu Zheng..." Hearing this, Ji Zhixing’s expression turned icy. He turned his head, just in time to see Gu Zheng looking back at him from afar. Their gazes met, both seeing the coldness in each other’s eyes.

Gu Zheng stood in the distance, a faint, barely discernible sneer hanging on the corners of his mouth. His gaze lingered on Ji Zhixing for a split second before moving away, as if looking at someone entirely insignificant. But Ji Zhixing knew that the current Gu Zheng was definitely very wary of him.

Ji Zhixing thought, "Soon." He retracted his gaze, a flash of murderous intent crossing his heart. Previously, he wasn’t Gu Zheng’s match, to the point of even feeling somewhat worried when leaving the city. But that wouldn’t be the case anymore. Now, even if his overall strength was inferior to Gu Zheng’s, the gap wouldn’t be too large. Next, once he developed a few more gene abilities, he wouldn’t necessarily lose even if he faced Gu Zheng in a one-on-one fight.