Lu Yuan and Zhuo Ming's group of four said their goodbyes, then continued deeper into the dungeon.
Along the way, Lu Yuan became even more cautious, afraid that three Cat Person Hunters might suddenly emerge from somewhere.
As he continued exploring deeper, he encountered more and more ferocious beasts, and his harvest of spirit crystals and materials also increased.
Other than keeping some spirit crystals as spiritual energy reserves, he used all the rest to charge the Evolution Cube, preparing to evolve Black Iron Body.
Lu Yuan had thought about how to rapidly improve his strength.
Tempering his Gene Chain was one aspect. The other was naturally evolving his Extraordinary Gene.
Once he evolved Black Iron Body to the leader level, there would probably be few Gene Warriors in the apprentice stage who could match his combat power.
Those able to inscribe leader genes at the apprentice level were probably the absolute top geniuses, right?
The thought filled Lu Yuan with anticipation.
In a secluded dead end somewhere in the dungeon.
Xi Ye and the cat-person elemental warrior stopped with the severely injured Molly.
Molly had already fallen unconscious, and Xi Ye gently laid her on the ground.
The cat person element warrior glanced at Molly's abdomen.
The vicious sword wound had stopped bleeding, leaving behind a curved scar.
"How is she?"
the cat-person elemental warrior said.
"She drank a Healing Potion. At least she's out of immediate danger."
Xi Ye glanced at the unconscious Molly and frowned slightly.
"But her injuries are too severe. It'll probably take several days for an ordinary quality Healing Potion to fully heal her."
"Hmph! I didn't expect to run into such a tough opponent. What bad luck!"
The Element Warrior's expression was ugly.
"That human was indeed powerful. His strength wasn't weak, and his defense could withstand Molly's arrows, so it was probably even stronger. But his speed seemed fairly average. He must have inscribed a defensive Extraordinary Gene."
"If we were in an open area, we could toy with him however we wanted. This dungeon gives defensive warriors too much of an advantage."
Xi Ye ignored the cat person element warrior's complaints. He sat down on the ground, took out a piece of dried fish, and started chewing on it.
"A loss is a loss. After being a Hunter for so long, there will always come a day when you become the prey. Once Molly recovers, we'll find new prey."
The Element Warrior sat beside Xi Ye, glanced at the dried fish in his hand, and swallowed.
"Auntie made that? Give me a piece."
Xi Ye rolled his eyes at him, took out a piece of dried fish, and handed it over.
The Element Warrior happily took a bite, then his face turned cold.
"Judging by that human warrior, he probably won't leave the dungeon anytime soon. We might run into him again. We'll get our revenge then!"
Xi Ye narrowed his eyes as well, a trace of killing intent in them.
"Mm."
Somewhere in the dungeon, Lu Yuan cautiously rounded a corner.
A long, slender black shadow shot out from the shadows at the side.
The black shadow was incredibly fast. Lu Yuan did not even have time to react; he could only raise an arm to block it.
Clang!!
The black shadow struck Lu Yuan's arm with a metallic ring.
Feeling the considerable force behind it, Lu Yuan took a step back.
A sharp, piercing screech followed. Lu Yuan saw a black scorpion leap down from the shadows on the wall.
The scorpion was entirely black, nearly the same color as the dungeon walls. In dark areas not illuminated by candlelight, it was almost impossible to see.
Its two pincers were nearly half a meter long, while the scorpion tail behind it glinted with cold light.
That slender black shadow from before had clearly been this scorpion tail.
Lu Yuan took a step back, avoiding the pincers snapping toward his head.
The black scorpion did not pause. After missing its first strike, it charged Lu Yuan again as soon as it landed, its pincers spread wide and its tail raised high.
Once it approached Lu Yuan, its pincers snapped toward his legs while its tail stabbed forward again.
Lu Yuan shifted his feet and dodged its pincers. At the same time, his longsword swept out. The sharp blade sliced across the scorpion's tail and severed it.
Jet-black blood sprayed from the wound. The scorpion let out a miserable shriek and angrily attacked Lu Yuan with its pincers again.
Lu Yuan moved nimbly, easily evading the attacks. In the end, he drove his sword into the scorpion's head and killed it.
The dead scorpion dropped three spirit crystals. Lu Yuan collected both its tail and pincers.
Sandstone Black Scorpion's Poison Tail: Ordinary quality material. Highly toxic. Can be used to refine Gene Potions.
Sandstone Black Scorpion's Giant Pincers: Ordinary quality material. Can be used to refine Gene Armaments.
When Lu Yuan saw that information, cold sweat immediately broke out on his back.
So this was a black scorpion?
Back when he had been outside the dungeon, Lu Yuan had heard vendors shouting about Antidote Potions for Black Scorpion Poison.
He had kept black scorpions in mind.
He had not expected these black scorpions to be so sinister as well.
Their pitch-black shells were very close in color to the dungeon walls. If one crouched in a shadowy area far from a torch, who could possibly spot it?
Ordinary Gene Warriors would find this kind of ambush truly difficult to guard against.
Fortunately, his defense was strong enough. The black scorpion's venomous stinger had failed to pierce his skin.
Otherwise, he felt that if he had been poisoned, he might have been finished.
Lu Yuan realized that all the ferocious beasts in this dungeon were old schemers.
The Little Stone Men were, and these black scorpions were too.
It seemed that before coming next time, he needed to first learn about the specific habits of the ferocious beasts in Sandstone Dungeon.
Otherwise, who knew whether he would encounter some other sinister beast next?
After this black scorpion ambush, Lu Yuan once again felt delighted by his own wisdom and foresight.
Good thing he had chosen a defensive Extraordinary Gene.
If he had chosen an offensive Extraordinary Gene instead, he would probably already have been finished.
Although defensive types were weaker in attack than offensive types, their survival ability was truly outstanding.
They were perfect for a lone wolf like him.
With greater confidence now, Lu Yuan began exploring again.
As he went deeper, the number of black scorpions increased. Like the Little Stone Men, they could often be encountered.
Lu Yuan killed more and more ferocious beasts, gathering more and more spirit crystals as well.
He hunted in the dungeon. When he was hungry or thirsty, he ate and drank. When he was tired, he found a hidden corner, set up his tent, and slept.
The concept of time was less clear in the dungeon than outside, since the environment barely changed.
Lu Yuan had collected six or seven hundred spirit crystals in total.
He used more than five hundred of them to charge the Evolution Cube, while he slowly used nearly a hundred more to temper his Gene Chain.
He had tempered his Gene Chain to around 10%, increasing his strength once more.
Lu Yuan kept the remaining spirit crystals as backup spiritual energy reserves.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Yuan discovered a serious problem.
His supplies were nearly exhausted, while the roughly three-meter cubic War Rune Space was now filled with all sorts of materials.
Even if he continued hunting ferocious beasts, he probably would not have room to store the materials.
Lu Yuan considered it and decided to head out. He would sell the materials at the small market near the exit.
There were also people at the small market near the exit who bought materials, though transactions were naturally conducted with spirit crystals.
Just then, white mist began churning in the region of Lu Yuan's Gene Chain again, and a light gate emerged.
Lu Yuan jolted.
Was it time to leave?
It was just right, though.
Lu Yuan did not hesitate and directly connected his consciousness to the light gate.
The next moment, his vision went black.
When he opened his eyes again in a daze, Lu Yuan was already back in his shabby room.
Feeling the power within his body surge once more, Lu Yuan let out a breath and revealed an excited smile.
At this rate, it would not be long before his Tempering Level reached 100%. Then he could consider breaking the Gene Lock and beginning his advancement, right?
At this pace, it would take at most another eleven or twelve trips?
That probably would not even take a month.
Maybe he could raise his strength to the First Order Warrior Level before the college entrance exams.
He should be able to get into a decent Gene Warrior Academy then.
Why had so many people spent over a decade without advancing to the First Order?
It clearly seemed quite simple?
Lu Yuan was somewhat puzzled.
He stopped thinking about it and took out his phone to check the time.
It was four in the morning.
He had entered the Origin Land at ten at night. Six hours had passed by now.
Two hours corresponded to one day in the Origin Land.
In other words, he had stayed inside for three days?
That was shorter than he had expected.
He had originally thought he could stay inside for around a week.
Still, the amount of time one could remain inside was determined by the Origin Land itself.
There was nothing he could do about it.
Since he still had a little time, should he train some more?
Just as Lu Yuan was pondering this, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening outside.
Lu Yuan froze, somewhat puzzled.
Qinghe Jie, the tenant who shared the apartment with him, had returned with him yesterday. She was probably asleep now.
The other two tenants worked during the day and should also be asleep at this hour.
Who would be opening the door and coming in?
Before you continue