Chapter 91 - 90: Fleeing, Utterly Shameless

Chapter 91: Chapter 90: Fleeing, Utterly Shameless

"Damn it!" Gu Zheng stared at the gradually dissipating ripples in the Blood River, his expression shifting unpredictably. He hadn’t expected Ji Zhixing to have grown to this extent, actually managing to block a strike like that from him.

"Tier-Two! He actually broke through to Tier-Two! How long has it even been?" Gu Zheng wondered in shock. "Liu Qing! The Earth Spirit Liquid!"

He gripped his longsword tightly, instantly realizing what had happened. Aside from snatching the Red Iron Ore from them, Ji Zhixing must have also looted Liu Qing’s Earth Spirit Liquid after killing him.

"Is he Ji Zhixing?" a voice called out from the side.

Gu Zheng turned to find a genius class student who had integrated the Black Water Sea King Snake gene.

"Well? Need me to take him down for you?" the person chuckled. "But after I catch him, you have to help me block the others so I can get the Weapon Orders he’s holding."

As he spoke, fine scales began to surface on his cheeks, gradually spreading down to his neck and arms. In the water, his strength was even greater than on land. Had the other genius class students not been keeping a close eye on him earlier, he would have used the same method as Gu Zheng to secretly snatch those Weapon Orders.

"Deal!" Gu Zheng agreed without a shred of hesitation.

Hearing this, a smile instantly appeared on the genius class student’s face. He glanced down at the Blood River, his scales emitting a faint glow. With a light leap, he plunged into the water, preparing to chase after Ji Zhixing.

"BOOM!"

Right at that moment, a terrifying aura suddenly surged from the distance.

The crowd looked up, immediately seeing three flashes of light shooting over from afar at astonishing speed. Carrying a scorching heat, they blasted straight toward the student with the Black Water Sea King Snake gene who had just entered the water. Those three flashes of light were impressively three blazing Flaming Spears! Each one was over two meters long, entirely engulfed in crimson-gold flames that distorted the air wherever they passed.

"Who is it?" Gu Zheng’s expression changed, and he hurriedly dodged to the side.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

The three Flaming Spears crashed into the Blood River, instantly exploding into a massive splash. A large chunk of the blood-red water evaporated, creating a thick veil of steam that obscured everyone’s vision.

The space rippled. The genius class student with the Black Water Sea King Snake gene was directly teleported away by the school’s spatial mechanism.

"Who’s there?"

Everyone present revealed a look of astonishment, turning to look in the direction the attack came from. However, when they looked over, they only caught a glimpse of a silhouette diving into the water before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

On the other side, after falling into the water, Ji Zhixing immediately deactivated his gigantification, shrinking his body back to its normal size. He quickly sank to the bottom and executed a breaststroke. With a kick of his legs, he shot forward like a frog. The wounds on his body stung in the bloody water, but fortunately, none were deep enough to impede his movements.

He felt a surge of secret gratitude, realizing that Xiao Mingyue had made her move. If she hadn’t fired off those three Flaming Spears, the genius class student who jumped into the water would have likely caught up to him by now.

He had already witnessed the strength of the genius class students. That guy had integrated a Morning Star-tier gene and was amphibious. In the water, Ji Zhixing definitely wouldn’t be his match. He picked up his pace, swimming forward.

Soon, he spotted Xiao Mingyue’s figure at the bottom of the river. As he swam toward her, Xiao Mingyue also sped up to meet him. She grabbed him and pulled him away at an even faster speed. The effect of her pendant was stronger than his Frog Pendant, making her much faster. Together, Ji Zhixing barely had to exert any effort as she dragged him forward.

Meanwhile, the genius class students on the shore had finally snapped out of their daze. Those who had failed in the scramble for the Weapon Orders also locked their sights onto Ji Zhixing.

"Gu Zheng, is that Ji Zhixing?"

"What nerve!"

"To think he took two Weapon Orders all by himself!"

Instantly, the dozen or so people split up, some chasing upstream and others downstream to intercept him. They didn’t know Ji Zhixing’s exact location in the Blood River, but the river was only so long. As long as they blocked both the upstream and downstream, he wouldn’t be able to escape. No matter how fast Ji Zhixing swam, he couldn’t outpace their sprinting on land.

Upon reaching the upstream and downstream passages, these people continuously launched attacks into the bloody water. Various abilities bombarded the river, blasting up spray after spray of water. Although they might not hit Ji Zhixing, forcing him to stay submerged was enough.

Seeing this, Ji Zhixing’s expression shifted slightly. With these people blocking the entrances at both ends, he and Xiao Mingyue might really be unable to escape.

However, Xiao Mingyue didn’t seem to care. Pulling Ji Zhixing along, she slightly shifted directions and arrived at another source upstream of the Blood River. It was a relatively narrow passage. Less than two meters wide with a low ceiling, it was completely hidden from the shore. No one up there would ever notice a passage here. She had discovered this spot earlier while looking for an escape route.

"This is..." Ji Zhixing was taken aback, then finally breathed a sigh of relief. Without hesitation, he followed Xiao Mingyue and dove headfirst into the narrow passage.

The two moved swiftly through the passage, the sounds of the attacks behind them growing fainter and fainter.

"This is quite a haul," Ji Zhixing murmured, patting the two Weapon Orders in his pocket, his heart surging with excitement. That was truly a close call. If it weren’t for the school’s life-saving mechanism acting as a safety net, he never would have attempted something so dangerous.

"PHEW!"

Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue continuously swam upstream. After an unknown amount of time, feeling he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he tugged Xiao Mingyue, and they surfaced from the bloody water, gasping for air.

"How are you holding up? How bad are your injuries?" Xiao Mingyue, emerging from the water alongside him, asked with concern. Earlier, she had seen Ji Zhixing take a few sword strikes from Gu Zheng and noticed a genius class student preparing to dive in after him. In her moment of desperation, she had directly activated three Flaming Spear Scrolls.

"It’s nothing major," Ji Zhixing shook his head. He lifted his shirt to check his wounds. A few of the cuts were quite deep, but with his Basic Self-Healing ability, he would recover after resting for a few days.

"What do you mean, ’nothing major’?" Xiao Mingyue’s heart tightened when she saw the wounds exposed beneath his shirt. The deepest of the gashes were cut almost to the muscle tissue. Blood was still seeping out, dying the surrounding fabric a dark red. She immediately took out a vial of potion and handed it to Ji Zhixing. The vial was transparent, filled with a light blue liquid.

"Hurry up and drink this healing potion."

Ji Zhixing took it. He glanced at the light blue sheen inside the vial, then looked up at her and asked, "Are you sure this is just a healing potion?"

He had drank this stuff before. Back when he trained in Xiao Mingyue’s gravity room, he had overdrawn his body and injured his internal organs. After drinking a vial of this, not only had his injuries completely healed, but he had also accidentally unlocked the Willow Tree gene’s Basic Self-Healing ability. Therefore, he was certain this was no ordinary healing potion.

"To me, it’s a healing potion," Xiao Mingyue said matter-of-factly. "Just drink it since I’m giving it to you."

She paused, realizing her tone was a bit harsh, and added, "Besides, your Willow Tree gene has the Basic Self-Healing ability. Evolving from Tier-One to Tier-Two might only require the Basic Self-Healing ability.

"But its subsequent evolutions will definitely require you to develop it into the Intermediate Self-Healing ability, Advanced Self-Healing ability, or even Super Self-Healing ability.

"So, drinking this definitely won’t be a loss for you."

"I won’t be losing out, but you will," Ji Zhixing thought helplessly. Last time, Xiao Mingyue had claimed this stuff cost two hundred thousand per vial, but it was obviously worth much more. He looked at Xiao Mingyue’s resolute gaze, paused, and ultimately popped open the vial, downing the potion in one gulp.

The potion felt cool in his mouth, carrying a faint sweetness as it flowed down his throat.

"Refine," he commanded inwardly. With a shift of his mind, he activated his Gene Furnace.

The medicinal efficacy was quickly absorbed, transforming into a gentle energy that flowed out of his Gene Furnace and spread through his meridians to his limbs and bones. An indescribable sense of comfort welled up from deep within his body. He could clearly feel the wounds on his body healing at a visible rate. The flesh sliced open by the sword light knit back together, the seeping blood coagulated into scabs, and the pain rapidly subsided.

"So fast..." Ji Zhixing marveled inwardly. In just a few minutes, the majority of his wounds had healed, leaving only a few of the deeper ones still slowly recovering.

At the same time, another portion of the medicinal efficacy was absorbed by his Willow Tree Genetic Acupoint. Within the genetic acupoint, the phantom of the Willow Tree vibrated slightly, its branches swaying as it greedily absorbed that pure energy. Under the nourishment of the potion, his Basic Self-Healing ability was faintly strengthened once more. This time, however, he didn’t unlock the Intermediate Self-Healing ability.

"It seems just relying on this one vial is no longer enough," Ji Zhixing thought to himself. "To upgrade the Basic Self-Healing to Intermediate, I’ll need more accumulation, or perhaps higher-grade natural treasures."

He opened his eyes and stretched his body, feeling completely rejuvenated.

"Feeling better?" Xiao Mingyue asked.

"Much better," Ji Zhixing nodded. "Thanks."

"There’s no need to be so polite between us." Xiao Mingyue waved her hand. "Let’s go. We need to leave this place first so they don’t catch up."

The two continued heading upstream along the narrow passage.

Meanwhile, in the underground cavern.

The genius class students had bombarded the Blood River for a long time. They took turns unleashing various abilities, blasting the water until it churned restlessly. Yet, they still hadn’t caught even a glimpse of Ji Zhixing or Xiao Mingyue.

"Where are they?"

"They couldn’t have run away. Both upstream and downstream are blocked."

"Keep searching!"

Refusing to give up, they resumed their attacks.

The white-clad teacher standing on a distant rock watched this scene and finally couldn’t stand it anymore.

"Alright, stop searching. They’ve already left." His voice wasn’t loud, but it clearly transmitted into everyone’s ears.

"What?"

The expressions of the genius class students changed. They halted their attacks and turned to look at him.

"Left? How is that possible? Upstream and downstream are blocked! Where could they have gone?"

The crowd exchanged glances, their expressions turning rather ugly. They felt as if they had been severely played for fools.

"Sir," a genius class student asked indignantly, "These Weapon Orders were prepared for us. That Ji Zhixing is just a regular class student. Are you really not going to intervene when he took the Weapon Orders away?"

"Intervene?" the white-clad teacher chuckled, a trace of mockery tugging at the corners of his mouth. "These Weapon Orders were indeed prepared for you genius class students. But if you didn’t have the ability to obtain them yourselves, how do you expect me to intervene?

"Or rather, haven’t you thoroughly embarrassed yourselves enough?

"Over a dozen of you, all having integrated Tier-Four Morning Star-tier genes, yet you let a regular class student snatch the Weapon Orders right from under your noses and retreat completely unscathed.

"If word of this gets out, I don’t think any of you will have the face to show yourselves in public!"