The Depths of the Cold Pool

"What is this?"

Chen Feng was surprised.

He reached out and gave it a light touch.

"Bzz—"

A surge of mist trembled, and a gentle force pushed Chen Feng back.

A restriction?

Chen Feng was shocked.

Looking at the invisible mist condensed in the air, he knew how formidable restrictions were. The stronger the Blood Essence used, the more complex the restriction created!

But—

A restriction made of mist?

Where was the Blood Essence?

"This is a natural restriction."

Wang Yao's cool voice came from behind him. "This was originally a drop of Mist Cloud Beast Blood Essence. Over time, the Blood Essence dissipated, and the power contained within it merged ingeniously with the surrounding mist, forming this special natural restriction. It is even stronger than ordinary restrictions."

"I see."

Chen Feng seemed thoughtful.

He reached out again and sensed the restriction. Chen Feng entered the Multi-dimensional State, but to his surprise, this restriction was not particularly complicated.

Crack!

He found the missing gene, and the restriction was dispelled without even using Luck Value.

Whoosh!

The surrounding mist silently dispersed, opening up a passage.

"It doesn't seem all that remarkable."

Chen Feng was somewhat puzzled.

Yet after the three of them passed through the restriction, the mist behind them silently closed again, and the restrictions actually took effect once more!

It could close on its own?

Did that mean it could be used infinitely?

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes. So this was the true strength of a natural restriction!

"What I need is at the very center."

Wang Yao led the way ahead.

"Mm."

Chen Feng and the other followed close behind as they stepped into the depths of the mist.

Meanwhile.

Green Mountain Forest camp.

A well-equipped team appeared. There were four of them, and at least three wore obviously luxurious clothing, made from materials that were clearly worth a fortune.

Only the young man in the middle looked exceedingly immature.

"Wu Fan, is this the place?"

Captain Chang Hu asked.

"Yeah."

Wu Fan was excited. "The Mutated Beast whose genes I need to fuse with is in the mist deep within Green Mountain Forest. I have 25 Agility now. As long as I gain another 75 points, I can reach 100!"

"Don't worry."

Chang Hu nodded. "Since we took your job, we'll definitely raise your stats. One point of main attribute costs ten thousand, so 75 points comes to 750,000. The other attributes are included for free. No problem, right?"

"No problem."

Wu Fan was beside himself with excitement.

He could finally improve!

His family was rich, but unfortunately, those people at home did not think highly of him. They had never arranged personal training for him. Otherwise, how could he possibly be worse than Wang Yue?

Fortunately, the pocket money he had saved for two years could finally be put to use!

Now that he had graduated high school, his foundation was solid, so there was no need to worry about anything going wrong. That guy Wang Yue had already reached eighty points—how could he fall behind? Especially after Dragonfall Mountain last time, he had suffered a huge blow. That was why he was spending so much money to reach the peak of F-Class.

And that Chen Feng...

Wu Fan gritted his teeth. The trash they had looked down on at the class reunion had actually saved them. That was the greatest mockery of all. Today, he had to reach the peak of F-Class, break through the limit, and enter E-Class!

Then...

Heh heh.

"Let's go."

Chang Hu glanced at the sky. "You students may have decent foundations, but your willpower is terrible. You can only raise 1 or 2 gene points at a time. Any more, and the pain makes you cry for your parents. To raise them properly, you'll need to kill forty or fifty suitable Mutated Beasts. It'll take several days of hard work."

"So keep quiet on the way!"

Chang Hu's gaze turned sharp. "This place doesn't just have the low-level Mutated Beasts you need for enhancement. There are far more terrifying things here. If you attract something powerful, we won't be able to look after you."

"Got it."

Wu Fan replied impatiently.

Chang Hu's attitude?

He did not care in the slightest.

They were just a few E-Class Warriors making a living by helping people raise their gene attributes—another kind of wage laborer! Seven hundred and fifty thousand sounded like a lot, but split among three people over a period of work, it only came to twenty or thirty thousand a day on average. What could that buy in this day and age?

Commoners would always be commoners.

Wu Fan sneered inwardly. His family might not have the capital of Wang Yue's family, but they were still wealthy. A few million meant nothing to them.

"Keep an eye on him. Don't let him mess around."

Still uneasy, Chang Hu quietly told Zhang Ling, the only female member of the team beside him, "If he starts shouting, shut him up. We absolutely can't have any other trouble."

"Understood."

Zhang Ling nodded slightly.

"Let's go."

Contempt flashed through Chang Hu's eyes.

He had seen plenty of these so-called rich second-generation kids. Every one of them thought the sky was the limit, believing that having money at home and getting into university meant they could conquer the world. It was laughable.

For F-Class advancement, they could spend money to hire people like them and easily rush to the 100-point limit. But then what?

One had to know—

The F-Class limit was 100 points, while the E-Class limit was 1,000 points. With willpower so weak that gaining more than 3 points at once made them scream in pain, they still wanted to improve quickly?

How naive!

The resources available to the rich were indeed powerful, allowing them to advance faster than ordinary people. That was an eternal rule. But if one wanted to become truly strong in the end, money alone was absolutely not enough.

What was more—

Whether through Gene Enhancement, taking enhancement reagents, or training and exercise, attributes that could be raised normally could only reach the limit!

Want to break through that limit?

You still had to fight for it!

People who reached their limits with the help of others would absolutely get stuck when it came time for a Limit Breakthrough!

"Idiots."

Chang Hu sneered to himself as the group of four entered Green Mountain Forest.

Meanwhile—

Chen Feng and the others had already reached the depths of the mist.

When he saw Wang Yao casually kill a Mutated Beast and toss it to Wang Yue for Gene Enhancement, he finally understood why the Golden Ant Gene Recipe had such low returns.

A Five-Star Recipe with such high difficulty, yet the Gene Reagent painstakingly produced seemed to have this very same effect?

Mu Yuan had been right. This kind of high-star F-Class recipe was a massive trap. Fortunately, his main goal was to raise his crafting star rating. Otherwise, he would have suffered a terrible loss.

Besides, this kind of Gene Reagent could only be used for normal advancement, and only once. It was completely useless for a Limit Breakthrough.

So—

Its main audience was probably homebody crafters too lazy to leave the house?

"It really is a recipe that should be eliminated."

Chen Feng sighed.

"How much Spiritual Energy do you have now?"

Wang Yao looked at Wang Yue.

"81 points."

Wang Yue held his head high and shot Chen Feng a smug glance. "I told you that once we left school, I would far surpass you and leave you behind. How much Spiritual Energy do you have now?"

"81 points."

Chen Feng's expression remained blank.

What?

The expression on Wang Yue's face instantly froze. Wang Yao likewise looked at Chen Feng with some surprise. She knew Chen Feng's background all too well, yet he had actually reached 81 points too?!

Thinking of Chen Feng's miserable state during Gene Enhancement yesterday...

This Chen Feng truly was no ordinary person!

"How is that possible?"

Wang Yue stood there dumbfounded. "You're making that up, right?"

"Shut up."

Wang Yao kicked him. "Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"

Wang Yue lowered his head.

Chen Feng merely smiled faintly.

"Your mental energy has exceeded 80 points. It's getting hard to find a Mutated Beast suitable for your Gene Enhancement. It's about time we went there."

Wang Yao looked into the depths of the mist.

"Disperse!"

She pointed at the void.

The surrounding clouds and mist instantly scattered, opening up a passage. All the low-level Restrictions along the way were undone in an instant. This was Wang Yao's strength!

Brute-force restriction removal!

Wang Yao calmly withdrew her hand.

The three of them stepped inside. Without the obstruction of the mist and with no need to hunt Mutated Beasts, they quickly arrived where the spring water emerged. It was a Cold Pool dozens of meters in diameter. Water fell from the mountaintop into the Cold Pool, then flowed out as a spring, hissing as it ran through the mountains.

At the center of the Cold Pool was a lotus flower, shimmering with a holy radiance.

Suddenly.

"Hisss~~~"

A massive python appeared, its body radiating terrifying killing intent as it charged at the three of them. Yet before Chen Feng could react, Red Light flashed in Wang Yao's hand. She casually grabbed the python, twisted it into a huge knot, and tossed it away.

"Boom!"

The python hit the ground and was knocked unconscious on the spot.

Chen Feng: "..."

This was the Mutated Beast guarding the lotus?

A moment of silence for it.

Suddenly.

An unusual fragrance emerged. Chen Feng looked toward the Cold Pool. A faint mist rose from the water, gradually thickening as it gathered around the lotus, actually forming a natural Restriction!