Extraordinary Gene: Petrification Skin.
Lu Yuan obtained the information on this Extraordinary Gene.
He raised an eyebrow.
Petrification Skin was the combat skill of the Graystone Beetle. It could form a layer of petrified skin over the body's surface, greatly enhancing defensive capability.
Engraving this Extraordinary Gene primarily enhanced defense, while secondarily increasing strength to some extent.
Was it powerful...? After all, it was only an ordinary quality Extraordinary Gene, so it was not particularly strong.
However, its defensive capabilities were quite impressive.
Still, Lu Yuan was a little disappointed.
He actually wanted an attack-type Extraordinary Gene more.
After all, the path he wanted to take was that of a powerful attacker, while Petrification Skin leaned more toward defense.
Lu Yuan looked at the Extraordinary Gene in his hand, his gaze flickering as he hesitated.
After a moment, he steeled himself and gritted his teeth.
He would use this one.
Given his current strength, obtaining another Extraordinary Gene would be extremely difficult.
Who knew when the next opportunity would come?
He might as well engrave it now and increase his strength first.
Besides, his original plan had included needing a defensive Extraordinary Gene anyway. As long as he kept evolving it, even an ordinary quality defensive gene could be raised to its supreme form.
Having made up his mind, Lu Yuan planned to begin engraving this Extraordinary Gene immediately.
After all, the place where Lu Yuan currently was could be considered quite safe. Basically, no one would come here.
Moreover, an ordinary quality Extraordinary Gene was very easy to engrave. Even an apprentice-level Gene Warrior could engrave one with ease.
Unlike Extraordinary Genes of other qualities, which could cause someone to explode and die during the engraving process if they were not strong enough.
It was different from dying by other means.
If one died while engraving a gene, then even if it happened in the Origin Land, they would die in the real world as well, leaving no trace behind.
Even if they did not explode and die, failing to fully engrave the gene would leave behind certain traits of that gene's creature. Those traits could be troublesome.
For example, growing a tail or even developing certain strange biological habits.
Lu Yuan had read all of this in beginner guides about engraving Extraordinary Genes.
That was precisely why Lu Yuan was confident that he could engrave this Extraordinary Gene directly.
He took a deep breath, clenched the white orb, and crushed it with force.
The next moment, the white orb shattered. The strange lines within turned into streams of light and merged into Lu Yuan's body.
The strange lines passed through the white mist and entered the Gene Chain.
After awakening, the Gene Chain had a blank segment. At that moment, the white lines continuously changed shape, entering the blank segment and filling in that empty portion.
As it was being filled, Lu Yuan felt his body crackle continuously. His flesh seemed to become tougher, while his muscles grew denser.
As his body changed, intense pain surged through him, cold sweat appearing on Lu Yuan's forehead.
Damn!
He wanted to curse.
This was what that post meant by saying ordinary quality Extraordinary Genes were easy to engrave?!
It hurt like hell!
The process of the Extraordinary Gene filling the blank segment lasted a long time. Lu Yuan could not tell exactly how much time had passed.
Once the blank segment was completed, the remaining lines began merging into other sections of the Gene Chain, making fine adjustments to them.
Another wave of intense pain struck him.
However, this time, the pain was somewhat lighter than before.
Lu Yuan had already been numbed by the earlier pain, and now he even found it somewhat comfortable?
He felt there might be something wrong with him.
After some more time passed, the fine adjustments to the other sections of the Gene Chain were complete as well.
Yet Lu Yuan did not relax.
There was still one final step.
Screech! Screech! Screech!
A frenzied shriek rang out in Lu Yuan's mind.
Lu Yuan's mind jolted. It was here!
This was the final step of engraving an Extraordinary Gene.
The original creature's will within the Extraordinary Gene had not yet completely vanished.
At the final stage of the engraving process, the creature's instinctive will began its final resistance.
Only by completely erasing that creature's will could the Extraordinary Gene be fully integrated into one's body.
Those Gene Warriors who failed to completely engrave their Extraordinary Genes lacked the ability to thoroughly erase the creature's will.
If the will of the Extraordinary Gene creature gained the upper hand and even erased the Gene Warrior's will, that Gene Warrior would undergo a terrifying mutation. Death would merely be the easiest outcome.
A Battle of Wills—only one could survive!
For Gene Warriors, the path to becoming stronger was filled with thorns.
Only by wading through blood could one pass through it.
The strength of a gene creature was related to the quality of its Extraordinary Gene.
For an ordinary quality Extraordinary Gene, the creature's will would naturally belong to an ordinary ferocious beast.
That was why even apprentice-level Gene Warriors could easily engrave ordinary quality Extraordinary Genes.
After all, if a Gene Warrior could not even defeat an ordinary ferocious beast, they might as well die.
Lu Yuan's Extraordinary Gene was the ordinary quality Petrification Skin, so the corresponding creature was naturally an ordinary quality Graystone Beetle.
The instant the familiar screech of the Graystone Beetle sounded, Lu Yuan's consciousness blurred. When he came to, he found himself standing amid white mist.
Behind him stood the Gene Chain that reached from heaven to earth.
Before him, the white mist churned, and a Graystone Beetle about half a meter tall appeared.
The Graystone Beetle's pupils were filled with madness as it shrieked wildly.
Its instincts told it that failure meant complete annihilation.
Even a desperate rabbit would bite, much less a ferocious beast.
At that moment, the Graystone Beetle had fallen completely into madness.
The moment its will-body condensed, it charged toward Lu Yuan's will-body.
Lu Yuan remained expressionless.
The power possessed by his will-body was the power of the Extraordinary Gene he was engraving.
Although that power was somewhat reduced because the engraving was not yet complete, facing an ordinary Graystone Beetle, Lu Yuan could kill it even without engraving a gene, much less now.
And besides...
Lu Yuan opened his right hand. The phantom of the Beetle Claw longsword floating beside the Gene Chain vanished and appeared in his hand.
Lu Yuan's will-body grew stronger by another degree.
A Gene Armament could be used even by a will-body.
Watching the Graystone Beetle rush before him, Lu Yuan gripped his sword with both hands and swung with force.
A streak of black light flashed, and the Graystone Beetle's will-body was cleaved in two.
Lu Yuan did not stop. He continued slashing, completely shattering the Graystone Beetle's will-body.
The shattered Graystone Beetle turned into specks of light and dispersed, while a mass of white light merged into the Gene Chain behind Lu Yuan.
An exceptionally comfortable warmth spread through Lu Yuan's body.
This was an elevation of his life essence.
Only after engraving an Extraordinary Gene could a Gene Warrior truly be called a Gene Warrior.
This was an elevated transformation from an ordinary human into an extraordinary lifeform!
Lu Yuan's will returned to his body. He closed his eyes and felt the transformation of that moment, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
The engraving of the Extraordinary Gene was complete.
Lu Yuan clenched his hands. He could feel that his skin had become tougher, while his bones, muscles, blood vessels, and every other aspect of his body had undergone immense changes.
He took out the Blacklight Alloy Sword and lightly ran a finger across its blade, suffering no injury at all.
Even when he applied a little force, there was still not a single mark.
Only after using considerable strength did the skin on his finger split, leaving behind a tiny wound.
Lu Yuan looked at the tiny wound, delight filling his heart.
His defense was now even stronger than that of an ordinary Graystone Beetle.
Not only that, Lu Yuan could also feel that his strength had increased by a great deal.
The increase was roughly comparable to the boost from the Beetle Claw.
But one had to know that the Extraordinary Gene was merely of ordinary quality, while the Beetle Claw was an Elite Quality Gene Armament.
Yet the boosts they provided were nearly the same. The difference between them was obvious.
Furthermore, after engraving the Extraordinary Gene, this increase was an enhancement to Lu Yuan's own body, unlike the external boost granted by a Gene Armament.
And that was not all. Spiritual energy stirred within Lu Yuan's body as streaks of white light flickered, condensing grayish-white stone skin over his body.
Combat Skill: Petrification Skin!
He clenched both fists and slammed them together.
Bang!
A dull thud like colliding stones rang out.
Lu Yuan punched the stone pillar behind him.
Bang!
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared across the pillar, yet Lu Yuan felt no pain whatsoever.
Lu Yuan then took the Blacklight Alloy Sword and slashed at his own arm.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The grayish-white skin on his arm only gained faint white marks, and Lu Yuan felt nothing at all.
This defense was far too strong!
Lu Yuan was overjoyed.
He had struck it rich in one go!
Good thing he had not given up on that treasure chest and had taken the gamble. Otherwise, who knew how long it would have taken him to reach this point?
With his current strength, killing Graystone Beetles was no longer difficult at all.
He could easily obtain Spirit Crystals and temper his Gene Chain.
His rate of improvement would be unbelievably fast!
And this was not over yet.
The most important moment had arrived.
Lu Yuan looked at the dark blue cube surrounding the Gene Chain, the corners of his lips rising into a smile.
Evolve!
He was going to evolve the Petrification Skin Extraordinary Gene he had engraved!
Only after evolving it would he obtain the ultimate reward from this adventure!
Before you continue