"Y-You... don't come any closer!!"
The Brown-haired Kobold had a trace of fear in his eyes as he turned and ran.
However, before he could take two steps, Lu Yuan caught up to him and slashed his sword across the kobold's neck, killing him.
Lu Yuan glanced at the corpse on the ground and took a deep breath.
This was still his first time killing an intelligent being.
But since he already had experience killing Graystone Beetles, he did not feel particularly uncomfortable.
Instead, he felt quite happy.
After all, those two kobolds had been chasing him down earlier.
After the two kobolds died, several items slowly emerged from the void.
They were Spirit Crystals and Gray Stone Armor.
These were the gains the two kobolds had obtained during this trip to the Origin Land.
If they died and returned, they would not be able to bring their gains out with them. The items would drop from the War Rune Space instead.
Lu Yuan felt a little regretful. Those two kobolds had not acquired their Gene Armaments during this trip, or else he would have made another large profit.
Even the cheapest Gene Armaments cost tens of thousands.
Although Lu Yuan was a little disappointed, he quickly recovered his mood.
He picked up the Spirit Crystals and Gray Stone Armor dropped by the two kobolds and roughly counted them.
There were forty-five Spirit Crystals, along with the same number of Gray Stone Armor pieces.
That was even more than he had earned from hunting Graystone Beetles for an entire day.
Lu Yuan put the items away.
Having gained an unexpected windfall for free, Lu Yuan was in a great mood.
While Lu Yuan was counting his gains, the four people hiding in the distance had fallen silent.
"Gulp..."
A Huang, the kobold, glanced at the corpses of his two kin on the ground and could not help swallowing.
"B-Boss, should we go up?"
The Elf Boss's mouth twitched. Unable to hold back, he slapped A Huang on the head.
"Go up my ass! If you want to die, then go!"
A Huang clutched his forehead and shook his head repeatedly.
"N-No, no, no. I don't want to die."
The human man was still staring in Lu Yuan's direction, his eyes filled with shock.
"Is that guy really a newcomer? Are newcomers these days all that fierce?!"
The tall, thin elf glanced at the human man and spoke.
"You're both humans, yet the difference is enormous."
The human man's mouth twitched as he argued, "That guy must be from some big family! Otherwise, how could he possibly be so strong? He must have recorded an Extraordinary Gene, and a very powerful one at that. It might even be Elite-grade. I'm just an ordinary person. How can I compare to someone like him?"
"Being able to record an Elite Gene during the apprentice stage is a skill in itself. Even if it were handed to you, you wouldn't be able to record it."
The tall, thin elf curled his lips.
"And you can?"
"..."
The tall, thin elf fell silent.
"Enough, stop arguing. We need to leave now! That guy has probably finished packing up his things. If we don't leave soon and he notices us, we might be in danger."
Hearing the Elf Boss's words, the other three came back to their senses and quietly left in the direction away from Lu Yuan.
After killing the two kobolds, Lu Yuan continued hunting Graystone Beetles while constantly absorbing Spirit Crystals.
After recording an Extraordinary Gene, Lu Yuan absorbed Spirit Crystals even faster than before.
He could absorb almost one Spirit Crystal with every breath.
It did not take long for Lu Yuan to absorb all the Spirit Crystals contributed by the two kobolds.
This also made Lu Yuan realize a problem.
After recording an Elite Gene, the amount of spiritual power he needed to temper his Gene Chain each time had increased considerably.
Previously, that many Spirit Crystals might have raised his Tempering Level to 10%.
But now, it had not even reached 3%.
This meant that if Lu Yuan wanted to temper his Gene Chain to completion, he would need even more spiritual power and have to kill even more Graystone Beetles.
Fortunately, hunting Graystone Beetles was now very easy for Lu Yuan.
Moreover, with his current strength, he could even go to other areas to hunt vicious beasts and obtain more Spirit Crystals.
There was probably not much time left this trip, so he would not wander around. He could do that next time.
Just as Lu Yuan was thinking, he felt a disturbance in his consciousness.
Within the white mist, the light door appeared once more.
Lu Yuan felt a pulling force coming from the light door, trying to draw him inside.
And that pull grew stronger and stronger.
A look of realization flashed through Lu Yuan's eyes. The twenty-four hours were almost up.
He had already gained plenty this time, so Lu Yuan did not resist the pull.
His consciousness entered the light door, and he felt dazed for a moment.
By the time Lu Yuan came back to his senses, he had already returned to his shabby room.
He looked out the window. Night had enveloped the world outside, while neon lights still flickered in the distance.
Lu Yuan took out his phone and checked the time.
It had been nine in the evening when he entered the Origin Land, and it was now eleven.
Two hours had passed.
The flow of time in the Origin Land differed from reality. He had read about it in forum posts.
After confirming the time, he did not think further about it.
Lu Yuan clenched his fist and felt the power surging through his body.
The power from the Gene he had recorded in the Origin Land had come back with him.
The corners of his lips lifted into a smile.
His first step had gone fairly well. Although there had been some danger, he had laid a solid foundation—and a good one at that.
All in all, he was taking off.
Lu Yuan went to the bathroom to take a shower, then sat cross-legged on the bed and continued cultivating with the Guiding Art.
He had already absorbed all his Spirit Crystals earlier, so naturally, he could only cultivate with the Guiding Art now.
Lu Yuan discovered that after recording an Elite Gene, he absorbed spiritual energy much faster than before as well.
Of course, it still could not compare to absorbing Spirit Crystals.
Better than nothing.
He had nothing else to do anyway. Working hard at cultivation could never be wrong.
Time passed, and after midnight, the darkness outside grew much thicker.
A Black Shadow gradually emerged in the corner of Lu Yuan's room.
It was a strange, twisted shadow.
After appearing in the darkness, the shadow slowly approached Lu Yuan.
Without making a sound.
After the shadow drew close to Lu Yuan, it crept along his chest and slowly spread into his body.
Lu Yuan, who had been cultivating, suddenly felt icy cold all over. A nauseating, suffocating feeling abruptly rose within him.
He jolted, spiritual power surging wildly through his body as he activated the Black Iron Body combat skill.
Deep black iron runes appeared across the surface of his body, extending from his neck all the way to both sides of his cheeks. Two black iron marks appeared on his cheeks.
As the Black Iron Body operated, his physique and defensive power surged. The shadow screamed as it was forced out of Lu Yuan's body.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes and watched the bizarre shadow twist and dissipate in the darkness. His pupils contracted, and his scalp went numb.
What the fuck?!
What the hell was that thing?!
With one final piercing scream, the shadow turned into black smoke and vanished.
Lu Yuan still did not lower his guard. He stood up, turned on the light, and surveyed his surroundings.
Everything in the shabby, cramped room was as usual, as though that bizarre shadow had never appeared at all.
"What was that thing?!"
Lu Yuan sat on the bed, his brows tightly furrowed, lingering fear in his heart.
If I hadn't just obtained the Black Iron Body, I might not have been able to get rid of that thing. Wouldn't I have been done for?! Wait...
Lu Yuan's body shook as his eyes widened.
"That nauseating, suffocating feeling... it seems like I've experienced it somewhere before?"
Lu Yuan frowned and thought back. Then, he suddenly remembered something.
When he had first transmigrated, the last thing in the original owner's memories was dying suddenly from a feeling of chest tightness?!
That feeling was very similar to what he had just experienced.
Lu Yuan's scalp exploded with terror.
What the fuck...
Could that thing have caused it?!
Lu Yuan had previously found it strange. The original owner had clearly been healthy, so why had he suddenly died?
So it had been this thing causing trouble?!
The original owner had only been an ordinary person. How could he have provoked something so bizarre?
Lu Yuan was a little dumbfounded.
Then, he remembered something.
Mutation Event!
Could it have been the Mutation Event the original owner had encountered before?!
So many years had already passed. That Mutation Event had actually appeared on him again?!
Lu Yuan's brows furrowed tightly, and he felt somewhat nervous.
Although the Black Shadow had turned into black smoke and disappeared, Lu Ze felt that thing was probably not dead.
Would it appear again later?
His mood became heavy.
If he knew anything about this thing, Lu Yuan could think of some countermeasures.
But the problem was that he knew absolutely nothing about that bizarre Black Shadow.
The unknown was often the most terrifying thing.
The only thing that gave Lu Yuan some comfort was that his Black Iron Body seemed to have strong enough defenses to block the Black Shadow's attacks.
All he could do now was continuously increase his strength and temper his Gene Chain. The stronger his Gene Chain became, the stronger the Black Iron Body would become as well. Then, he would be safer.
Lu Yuan took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and sat cross-legged on the bed again to resume cultivating.
This time, however, Lu Yuan did not turn off the light.
That ghostly thing had truly scared him. He was a little afraid to turn off the lights.
It felt a little like when he watched that elementary school detective anime as a child and saw the man in black.
A psychological shadow!
Damn it!
Fortunately, he had money now, so he did not care about the small electricity bill.
At last, Lu Yuan found a little psychological comfort.
Before you continue