Chapter 198 - 168: Unexpected Harvest, Plant Genes Catalytic Potion

Chapter 198: Chapter 168: Unexpected Harvest, Plant Genes Catalytic Potion

Gu Zheng looked up in horror. The scene before him made his pupils shrink. Ji Zhixing’s original height of over 1.8 meters had now ballooned to a towering eight meters! He stood before Gu Zheng like a small mountain. Eight meters tall—nearly the height of a three-story building!

Even more terrifying was the Thunderous Rod in his hands, which had proportionally grown to ten meters long, as thick as a divine pillar. Purple-gold lightning danced wildly across the weapon, CRACKLE CRACKLE, dense as exploding thunder.

At this moment, the ten-meter giant rod was raised high and smashed down toward him. It was like a six-story building collapsing on top of him! Furthermore, this strike wasn’t just terrifying in its sheer strength. Ji Zhixing had directly unleashed his strongest killer move, the Thunderous Rod Technique.

Streams of purple-gold lightning wrapped around the rod, transforming into roaring lightning dragons that bared their fangs and claws. With world-destroying momentum, they blasted straight at Gu Zheng.

BOOM!

Amidst the deafening roar, Sword Qi and lightning clashed violently. Sparks flew, and shockwaves rolled outward. The ground within a radius of dozens of meters was forcibly peeled back a layer, sending gravel and dust flying into the sky.

The next moment, Gu Zheng’s pupils contracted sharply. His sword light had shattered. His silver-white Sword Qi was crushed inch by inch by Ji Zhixing’s terrifying giant rod. The dazzling sword lights crumbled apart as if they were as fragile as paper. The massive rod continued to smash downward with irresistible force.

"How is this possible?" Gu Zheng’s expression changed wildly. He fiercely flapped the Sword Wings on his back, retreating into the distance with all his might. He barely managed to avoid the strike.

BOOM!

The long rod struck the earth. The ground trembled violently as if a powerful earthquake had hit. Gravel splattered, and thick dust filled the air. A massive crater, several meters in diameter and half a meter deep, was smashed into the ground, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading in all directions. The resulting shockwave blew the distant trees into a swaying mess.

Body of Rock, Innate Divine Power, Rod Heart Communes with God—three four-star Abilities, stacked with the five-star Size Manipulation Ability, as well as the Third-rank Five-star Thunderous Thousand Jin Staff Skill... At this moment, Ji Zhixing was like a Giant Spirit God wielding the power of thunder, radiating an aura of absolute invincibility.

"Didn’t you say you wanted a head-on battle?" Ji Zhixing’s voice boomed like a massive bell as his eight-meter-tall body looked down at Gu Zheng from above. "Now I’m fighting you head-on. Why are you running?"

He strode forward. With every step, the ground quaked in response. Another strike fell. Gu Zheng didn’t dare take it head-on and dodged once more.

A third strike. A fourth. A fifth...

Ji Zhixing unleashed blow after blow, each heavy and powerful, carrying thunderous momentum. Under the sweep of the ten-meter giant rod, a radius of more than a dozen meters fell within his attack range. Although Gu Zheng was fast, he could only dodge in a pathetic panic. He was completely overwhelmed, unable to find a single opportunity to counterattack.

In the distance, the four people who had been heavily injured and kicked away by Ji Zhixing watched this scene with eyes full of sheer terror. The combat stance Ji Zhixing displayed at this moment was terrifying to the extreme. An eight-meter giant with a ten-meter giant rod—every strike shook the earth and mountains as if it were the end of the world. Even Gu Zheng, who had fused with the Tier Four Sword Feather Peacock and unleashed a five-star Ability, didn’t dare block it forcefully and could only miserably evade time and time again.

"Is... is he even human?" Chen Wenjie muttered, his face deathly pale. His chest was caved in, and an unknown number of ribs were broken; even moving a muscle was difficult.

Han Shuang’s face was ashen. She propped her hands on the ground, trying to stand, but her legs were weak and devoid of strength. Ren Pingzhi and Yu Zhirou were in a similarly miserable state.

SWOOSH!

After dodging more than a dozen consecutive attacks, the Genetic Source Power inside Gu Zheng’s body was rapidly depleting. He realized that if this continued, his Genetic Source Power would soon run dry. Flapping his wings, he turned and darted into the distance.

"Trying to leave?" Ji Zhixing sneered. With a thought, the eight-meter giant instantly shrank into a palm-sized miniature human. The next moment, stepping on the Purple Gold Thundercloud and flapping his Purple Gold Thundercloud Wing, he shot forward in pursuit of Gu Zheng.

Gu Zheng was very fast. However, after shrinking his body, Ji Zhixing’s weight had drastically decreased. With the combined propulsion of the Purple Gold Thundercloud Wing and the thundercloud, his speed spiked to the absolute limit. In the blink of an eye, Ji Zhixing caught up.

"Stop right there!" Without restoring his original size, Ji Zhixing directly swept his rod horizontally. Though his body was tiny at this moment, his strength was by no means weak. The lightning carried by his swinging rod was equally ferocious. Gu Zheng was forced to halt and swing his sword to block.

After blocking the strike, he immediately flapped his Sword Wings in an attempt to flee, only to be intercepted by Ji Zhixing once again. When he furiously attacked Ji Zhixing, every strike was easily dodged; when he tried to escape, Ji Zhixing would block his path, leaving him no way out. He was like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. There was nowhere left to run.

"Ji Zhixing, are you really going to fight me to the bitter end?!" Gu Zheng bellowed.

"What’s wrong? Do you still have any trump cards left? If you do, feel free to use them," Ji Zhixing sneered, though his hands never stopped moving.

The Genetic Source Power in his own body had also taken a massive hit, especially during his gigantic transformation earlier. Maintaining that state consumed several times the source power of his normal form. Fortunately, he had only kept it up for a few breaths before switching back, so he was in far better shape than Gu Zheng.

The two continuously tangled in mid-air. Ji Zhixing didn’t aim for a quick victory; he only sought to pin Gu Zheng down. If Gu Zheng went left, he blocked the left; if Gu Zheng went right, he blocked the right. He clung to his opponent like a relentless hound. Gu Zheng couldn’t shake him off, nor could he defeat him.

One minute passed. Two minutes...

Gu Zheng was sweating profusely and had no choice but to exit his Thousand-Sword Peacock form. If he maintained it any longer, he truly wouldn’t be able to hold on. While this five-star Ability was incredibly powerful, its energy consumption was outrageously high. Yet, even after powering down, he was still running on fumes. Finally, after enduring for one more minute, he could hold on no longer.

The Sword Wings on his back suddenly dissipated. His body plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Gu Zheng raised his head to look at Ji Zhixing high in the air, a look of utter despair on his face.

"It’s over."

Ji Zhixing hovered in the air, looking down at Gu Zheng from above. He didn’t approach. Instead, he raised his right hand. A streak of purple-black lightning suddenly surfaced in his palm. It was the Thunder of Annihilation.

BOOM!

The next moment, Ji Zhixing blasted this bolt of lightning toward Gu Zheng. Unwilling to accept his fate, Gu Zheng swung his sword to block. As Ji Zhixing rained down bolt after bolt of Thunder of Annihilation, Gu Zheng swung his sword to meet each one.

"Ah!"

After more than a dozen strikes, he could no longer hold out. A bolt of lightning struck him dead center, drawing out a miserable scream.

Ji Zhixing remained expressionless. Another Thunder of Annihilation descended.

"I can’t accept this..." Gu Zheng glared viciously at Ji Zhixing. Using the last ounce of his strength, he stored the silver longsword in his hand into his Genetic Melting Furnace. He would rather let the sword vanish into the turbulent void alongside the collapse of his furnace than let it fall into Ji Zhixing’s hands.

Ji Zhixing saw this happen but didn’t stop him. Most Genetic Cultivators would store their equipment in their Genetic Melting Furnace right before being killed by an enemy. It was something exceedingly difficult to prevent.

BOOM!

He condensed yet another Thunder of Annihilation. Then a third. A fourth... They fell one after another. The purple-black lightning was like the grim reaper’s scythe, slicing away Gu Zheng’s life force with every strike.

BOOM!

After a barrage of over a dozen Thunder of Annihilation strikes, Gu Zheng’s body was completely blasted apart. A pungent, nauseating scent of charred flesh filled the air.

"He’s finally dead!" Ji Zhixing let out a long sigh of relief. The grudge between the two of them was now thoroughly put to rest.

As Gu Zheng died, several items immediately materialized over his corpse. When a Genetic Cultivator died, a portion of the items hidden within their Genetic Melting Furnace would drop as loot, while the rest would vanish as the furnace collapsed.

Ji Zhixing swept his gaze over the spoils. Scattered on the ground were several Genetic Source Stones, a bunch of miscellaneous items, two vials of Source Power Gene Potions, and a silver-white object.

It was that silver longsword.

Even though Gu Zheng had stored it inside his furnace, it still dropped out. Ji Zhixing didn’t know if he was simply lucky, or if Gu Zheng was just that unlucky.

Ji Zhixing stepped forward and bent down to pick up the longsword. The blade was snow-bright, emitting a faint silver glow. Despite enduring so many of his lightning strikes, it hadn’t suffered the slightest bit of damage.

"Not bad at all," Ji Zhixing murmured, shaking his head as he stowed the longsword into his own Genetic Melting Furnace. He couldn’t use this piece of equipment himself, but it would sell for a good number of points.

THUD!

Right at that moment, a streak of light flew over from the distance. A figure smashed heavily onto the ground beside Ji Zhixing, sending gravel flying and denting the earth into a shallow pit. Ji Zhixing turned to look.

The one who had crashed to the ground was none other than the member of the Dark Star Association from earlier.

The man was entirely charred black, his clothes in tatters. His aura was weak, but his body was still twitching slightly, indicating he wasn’t completely dead. At the same time, the swirl mask on his face was gone. Ji Zhixing had no idea whether Bai Yuan had smashed it to pieces or if the man had put it away himself.

SWOOSH!

The next moment, Bai Yuan descended from the sky and landed steadily beside Ji Zhixing. Brushing the dust off his hands, he swept a glance over the surroundings and asked, "How is your luck? If it’s good, do me a favor and finish him off. If any good stuff drops, I’ll split it with you half and half."

His own luck had always been average. But Ji Zhixing was different. Many people in the school said that Ji Zhixing’s luck was absurdly good.

Ji Zhixing glanced at the Dark Star Association member on the ground, his eyes lighting up. Based on the strength this person had just displayed, he was definitely a Morning Star-level Genetic Cultivator. Someone of this caliber absolutely carried a lot of good stuff. If he could trigger a drop of one or two items, he’d hit the jackpot.

"I’ll give it a try. Under normal circumstances, my luck is pretty decent," Ji Zhixing replied without hesitation.

Without even stepping closer, he directly condensed a bolt of Thunder of Annihilation, landing it with pinpoint accuracy right on the man’s forehead.

SIZZLE!

As the lightning entered his body, the man suddenly stiffened. He convulsed a few times before falling completely still. Simultaneously, a cluster of glowing lights emerged from his Dantian. Ji Zhixing swept his gaze over them.

He saw that most of the items that had dropped were ordinary goods. However, two things stood out as somewhat special. One was the swirl mask the man had been wearing, and the other was an exquisite small box.

"It actually dropped!" Bai Yuan’s eyes gleamed. He immediately stepped forward and scooped up the items. He picked up the swirl mask first, turning it over and over in his hands, his eyes brimming with adoration.

"Good stuff," Bai Yuan murmured as he stored the mask away.

Next, he picked up the small box and opened it for a look. Neatly arranged inside were ten vials of potions. Each vial was transparent, filled with an emerald-green liquid. Bai Yuan checked the label on the box, then looked at Ji Zhixing. Without hesitation, he handed the box over.

"Take a look. Is this of any use to you?"

Ji Zhixing took the box. A line of text was printed on it. He read, "Plant Gene Catalyst Potion?"

Seeing this information, his expression immediately shifted. He needed to develop the Willow Branch Frenzy Ability. However, the specific gene development potion for that Ability was exceedingly rare. It could generally only be refined from mutant willow trees that had gained sentience. It was so precious that it was virtually impossible to buy on the open market.

Alternatively, he could use this type of Plant Gene Catalyst Potion to give it a try. If he inherently possessed the talent to develop a certain genetic Ability, there was a chance this potion could help him unlock it. He could technically buy this potion from the school, but it was incredibly expensive.

Lately, he had poured all his focus and resources into developing the Innate Stone Embryo Ability. He simply didn’t have the spare funds to purchase anything else. Thus, he had temporarily shelved the idea of developing the Willow Branch Frenzy Ability, planning to wait a while before tackling it. He never expected to obtain the exact potion he needed right here.

"Is it useful?" Bai Yuan asked with a smile, catching his expression.

"Yes, very," Ji Zhixing nodded. "Thank you, Teacher Bai."

"If it’s useful, keep it. I said I’d give you half, so half is yours." Bai Yuan waved his hand, completely unbothered.

Ji Zhixing didn’t stand on ceremony. Expressing his thanks once more, he stored away the box of Plant Gene Catalyst Potions. This item wasn’t cheap; buying it at the school would cost at least seven or eight million points.

"Not a bad haul this time," Bai Yuan nodded in satisfaction, his gaze sweeping over the corpses on the ground.

Gu Zheng was dead. The Dark Star Association member was also dead. Chen Wenjie, Han Shuang, Ren Pingzhi, and Yu Zhirou were critically injured, collapsed on the ground and unable to move.

"Teacher, what do we do about them?" Ji Zhixing looked at the four.

Bai Yuan walked over and examined their injuries. Ji Zhixing had struck them hard, but he hadn’t gone for the kill. Although the four were heavily injured, none were in critical danger of losing their lives.

"We take them back and hand them over to the school to handle," Bai Yuan said. "For colluding with the Dark Star Association, they’re dead meat whether we dirty our hands or not. Barring any surprises, you should even receive a handsome points reward."