The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.
Wang Xiangxiang: "(angry.jpg)(angry.jpg)(angry.jpg)"
She sent a string of emojis before finally sending a message:
"You actually took it seriously?! I was just joking! I'm in Stormwind City! It's not the same starting city as yours! And my Tempering Level is already at 98%!"
Lu Yuan froze, feeling a little awkward.
So Wang Xiangxiang was already this strong?
Then Lu Yuan remembered that Wang Xiangxiang had awakened back in her first year of high school. Her family was also a Gene Warrior family, so they must have given her quite a bit of help.
It had already been nearly two years. It was perfectly reasonable for her to be close to breaking through to rank one.
He replied seriously:
"You thought I didn't know you were joking? I was joking too. You actually took it seriously? No way, right?"
Wang Xiangxiang: "?????"
Zhuo Ming: "@Lu Yuan, a big shot really is a big shot! Idol! You actually dared to tease Xiangxiang Jie!"
Gu Yu: "@Lu Yuan, a big shot really is a big shot! Idol! You actually dared to tease Xiangxiang Jie!"
Wang Xiangxiang: "Xiao Mingzi, Xiao Yuzi, do you two want to die?"
Zhuo Ming: "Ahem, how about we talk about something else?"
Wen Ni: "By the way, we still haven't met Lu Yuan in person. When should we get together?"
Gu Yu: "I think that works. Lu Yuan is already a big shot now, shouldn't he treat us to a good meal?"
Wang Xiangxiang: "(smirk.jpg) Sure, I want to eat at Nine Lakes Grand Restaurant!"
Lu Yuan: "? Please just sell me instead. I have no money at all."
Nine Lakes Grand Restaurant was the most upscale restaurant in all of West Li City. Even someone from the slums like him knew about it.
Have him treat them there?
What was he thinking?
He simply couldn't afford it.
Wang Xiangxiang: "Just kidding, just kidding. Gene Warriors have plenty of places to spend money. Just treat us to something simple. Oh, wait until Xiao Yan and Lily are out too."
Wen Ni: "I agree."
Zhuo Ming: "Then it's settled! Starting today, I won't eat anything. I'll just wait for the big shot to treat me!"
Lu Yuan: "Fine, don't eat."
Gu Yu: "By the way, if Cao Ge can make it out alive this time, his Tempering Level should be around 95%, right?"
Zhuo Ming: "I'm jealous. I'm only at 36% so far."
Wen Ni: "You're already doing okay. I'm only at 33%. At this rate, even reaching 35% before the college entrance exams will be difficult. Gu Yu, what about you?"
Gu Yu: "I'm at 64%. I can't compare with Xiangxiang Jie or Cao Ge."
Zhuo Ming: "That's still not bad. With your Tempering Level and the fact that you've already recorded an Extraordinary Gene, you should be able to get into a decent mid-tier Gene Warrior Academy. Wen Ni and I will have a harder time."
Wang Xiangxiang: "If you and Wen Ni can both come back alive from Origin Land next time, you still have a chance of reaching 50% Tempering Level."
Zhuo Ming: "(crying.jpg) How could it be that easy to come back alive from Origin Land? Those Ferocious Beasts and other warriors in Origin Land don't treat people like people! Every one of them wants to kill you right away! I've awakened for a whole year, and I've only made it out alive ten times! I was supposed to die this time too, and I have Yuan Ge to thank for saving me!"
Wen Ni: "If it really doesn't work out, my dad plans to spend money on a batch of spirit crystals for me. At the very least, I can raise my Tempering Level."
Zhuo Ming: "@Wen Ni... rich lady, hungry hungry, food food!"
Wen Ni: "(smile.jpg) Get lost."
Wang Xiangxiang: "@Wen Ni, then you need to hurry. The college entrance exams are coming soon."
Wen Ni: "Mm, I know."
Wang Xiangxiang: "(sigh.jpg) It's hard for me too. Breaking the Gene Lock is too difficult, and the materials I need will be hard to obtain anytime soon. If I can break through to become a rank-one warrior, I might have a shot at one of the top ten Gene Warrior Academies."
Gu Yu: "Is this what a big shot is like? While we're still worrying about how to make it out of Origin Land alive, she's already thinking about breaking the Gene Lock. We're all human, so why is the difference this huge?! I'm sorry for being born human. (crying hard.jpg)"
Wen Ni: "Is this what a big shot is like? While we're still worrying about how to make it out of Origin Land alive, she's already thinking about breaking the Gene Lock. We're all human, so why is the difference this huge?! I'm sorry for being born human. (crying hard.jpg)"
Zhuo Ming: "Is this what a big shot is like? While we're still worrying about how to make it out of Origin Land alive, she's already thinking about breaking the Gene Lock. We're all human, so why is the difference this huge?! I'm sorry for being born human. (crying hard.jpg)"
Lu Yuan: "Is this what a big shot is like? While we're still worrying about how to make it out of Origin Land alive, she's already thinking about breaking the Gene Lock. We're all human, so why is the difference this huge?! I'm sorry for being born human. (crying hard.jpg)"
Lu Yuan, who had been lurking in the chat the whole time, couldn't resist copying them.
Seeing Lu Yuan's message, Zhuo Ming asked curiously:
"By the way, Yuan Ge, what's your Tempering Level?"
Lu Yuan: "Mine is lower than all of yours. I'm only at around 10%."
Wang Xiangxiang: "?"
Wen Ni: "?"
Gu Yu: "?"
Zhuo Ming: "?"
Lu Yuan was a little confused. "What's wrong?"
Wang Xiangxiang: "...Didn't you awaken just a week ago? You're already at 10%?!"
Gu Yu: "Why are you progressing so fast??"
Zhuo Ming: "Suddenly, I can't tell whether Yuan Ge is too strong or I'm just too weak."
Wen Ni: "That speed is terrifying. At this rate, with nearly two months left before the college entrance exams, won't you be challenging rank one?! (horrified.jpg)"
Lu Yuan: "Maybe I'm more efficient at absorbing spiritual energy. I heard someone say I'm a genius."
In truth, a large portion of the spirit crystals he had used had gone toward charging the Evolution Cube.
Wang Xiangxiang: "If that's really the case, then Lu Yuan, you truly are a genius—and not an ordinary one! At your speed, you can already catch up to the children of those great families! Really, if you can keep this up in the future, you'll definitely become a big shot! Maybe even a Battle General or Battle Venerable!"
Zhuo Ming: "Battle Venerable?! Holy shit! A future big shot is right beside me?!"
Wen Ni: "Big shot! Can I cling to your thigh in advance?"
Gu Yu: "Which thigh?"
Zhuo Ming: "? Old Gu, something's wrong with you."
Wen Ni: "?"
Gu Yu was muted for 24 hours.
Wang Xiangxiang: "Alright, it's quiet now. I'll go beat up Xiao Yuzi later."
Zhuo Ming: "(candle.jpg)(pray.jpg) Hope he's okay."
Lu Yuan looked at the messages in the group and twitched the corner of his mouth.
He had never noticed before that the Gene Warriors who had awakened in his class were all such characters.
After that, everyone chatted for a while longer about Origin Land.
Wang Xiangxiang and Cao Yan both came from Gene Warrior families. With support from their families, they were doing quite well.
The others had it a little harder.
They kept dying whenever they entered Origin Land.
Over an entire year, it was difficult for them to make it out alive more than ten times, so their progress was relatively slow.
Of course, compared to normal cultivation, it was still much faster.
After all, most people absorbed spiritual energy at a fairly ordinary rate.
There weren't that many geniuses like Lu Yuan.
By the time the sky gradually brightened, Lu Yuan left the chat group, opened a website, and began searching for information on the Ferocious Beasts in the Sandstone Dungeon.
He quickly found it in a newbie post.
"Sandstone City Ferocious Beast Illustrated Guide"
Lu Yuan's eyes lit up as he opened the post.
Then his face darkened.
It was actually a paid post!
One post cost 3,000 bucks!
"Robbery?! Even if I die, I won't pay this money!"
Lu Yuan was unwilling to accept it. He exited the post and continued searching.
After looking for a long time, Lu Yuan found several more posts about the Ferocious Beasts of Sandstone City, but they were all paid posts.
The first one he had found was actually the cheapest.
Helpless, Lu Yuan could only return to the first post.
"Isn't it just 3,000 bucks? It's not like I can't afford it!"
Fortunately, he still had more than 4,000 bucks in his pocket. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have been able to pay for it.
"This post is an illustrated guide to the Ferocious Beasts in the Sandstone City region of the starting cities. (Note: This post only includes common Ferocious Beasts. Some unique Ferocious Beasts are not covered.)"
Lu Yuan glanced at the first sentence and couldn't help curling his lips.
Still, he could understand it. Origin Land was simply too vast, and there were too many types of Ferocious Beasts.
Some Ferocious Beasts had never even been encountered by Gene Warriors, so it was understandable that no one knew what they were.
"Graystone Beetle: Common Ferocious Beast. The weakest Ferocious Beast in Sandstone City, mainly found in Graystone Forest, though it is also distributed in other areas. Weak in combat, feeds on rocks, moves very slowly, newbie benefit..."
"Black-Striped Graystone Beetle: Elite Ferocious Beast. Mainly lives in Graystone Forest and is relatively weak among Elite Ferocious Beasts. Its strength is equivalent to a Gene Warrior with 40% to 60% ordinary gene tempering. Possesses the combat technique Petrification Skin..."
"Ironclad Beetle: Common Ferocious Beast. Mainly lives deep within Graystone Forest, with relatively small numbers. Stronger than the Graystone Beetle, has powerful defenses, and moves slowly..."
"Little Stone Man: ..."
"Black Scorpion: ..."
"Dungeon Sand Ant: ..."
The entire post listed several hundred types of Ferocious Beasts, more than a hundred of which could be found in the Sandstone Dungeon.
They included the Little Stone Man and Black Scorpion he had encountered before, as well as Dungeon Sand Ants, Black-Striped Snakes, Dungeon Sand Kui, and others he had yet to encounter.
The post included information on the characteristics and strength of these Ferocious Beasts, as well as which parts of them were more valuable.
After reading it, Lu Yuan suddenly felt that the money had not been wasted after all.
Now that he knew the types of Ferocious Beasts in the Sandstone Dungeon, Lu Yuan felt much more confident.
There were some Ferocious Beasts that, even if he encountered them now, he could only run from. Otherwise, he would definitely die.
If this had been before, without recognizing those Ferocious Beasts, he might have foolishly charged right at them.
Lu Yuan thought for a moment and decided to buy a map of the dungeon as well.
Although the nests and habitats of Ferocious Beasts inside the dungeon would migrate to some extent over time, the passages generally would not change drastically unless something major happened.
After buying a map, the chances of getting lost would drop considerably.
However, when he opened the post to buy the map, the 10,000-buck price left him silent.
He only had a little over 1,000 bucks left in his pocket.
Fortunately, he still had an entire storage space full of materials that he had not sold.
Reading the previous Ferocious Beast guide had taken two hours, and it was already getting late.
The shops were probably open by now.
He should sell the materials first.
Lu Yuan shut down his computer and left.
Perhaps because of what had happened last night, all the tenants were hiding in their rooms today. None of them had come out.
Lu Yuan glanced at the tightly shut doors without thinking much of it.
He left the rental building, took a ride, and arrived at the Nine Lakes Business District.
Thanks to Death Descends and Desire God PTV for the tips~ Thanks to both big shots~~
Before you continue