The Path of the Gene Warrior

After Lu Yuan left, Frank Ming sneaked back into his office, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

Next door to Lu Yuan's cubicle, in a sparsely furnished room with only a bed and a desk, Li Qinghe sat cross-legged on the bed, cultivating.

Suddenly, Li Qinghe frowned slightly. With a flick of her right hand, a small black cube landed in her palm.

She tapped the cube, and a light screen popped up, displaying Frank Ming's information.

Li Qinghe answered the call, her cold voice ringing out:

"You have five seconds to explain."

On the other end, Frank Ming broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead.

Damn! I forgot the boss hates being disturbed while cultivating!

He quickly spoke up: "Boss, it's about Lu Yuan!"

"Lu Yuan?"

Li Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "What happened to him? What did I tell you?"

"No, no, boss, Lu Yuan didn't get into trouble. It's just that... his talent is incredible! Absolutely incredible!"

"Oh? How so?"

Frank Ming organized his words, then said:

"You said he only awakened the day before yesterday, right? But he's already tempered his Gene Chain with spirit qi. Today, I said I'd teach him physical techniques, and his strength was on par with one of my elite men. I'm guessing he's already undergone some tempering. I asked him, and he said it took him half a day to absorb the spirit qi."

Li Qinghe froze, a flash of surprise in her eyes:

"Half a day to absorb spirit qi?! Are you sure?"

"I don't think he was exaggerating. After all, his strength is way above an ordinary person's."

Li Qinghe frowned slightly, paused for a moment, then said:

"I see. So why are you calling me?"

"Ahem... you're sharp as always, boss... I was hoping to recruit him into my squad."

"Get lost!"

Li Qinghe replied coldly and hung up the phone directly.

On the other end, Frank Ming listened to the beeping tone, his face still blank with confusion, not quite processing what had happened.

Back in the room, Li Qinghe put away her communicator and lay down, her graceful curves fully on display. She squinted at the ceiling, a smile spreading across her face:

"Who would've thought that little brother had such talent? Half a day? Almost as fast as me. Interesting. Is This Miss really this lucky? Picking up a pitiful little brother with talent like that?"

Her eyes flickered, lost in thought.

Lu Yuan returned to the rental apartment. The room was quiet.

He glanced at Li Qinghe's closed door.

It was already this late. Qinghe Jie had probably gone to work.

Lu Yuan thought about thanking Li Qinghe. After a moment's consideration, he decided to treat her to a nice meal once he had some money in a few days.

He shook his head and went back to his room.

After showering, exhaustion flooded Lu Yuan's body. His increasingly toned frame was covered in bruises, all from Xiao Hu's earlier beating.

He touched a purple-black mark on his stomach and winced in pain.

"Damn! That was brutal!"

Fighting off the fatigue, he sat cross-legged and began circulating the Spirit Qi Guiding Art.

Just then, strange noises came from the other side.

Lu Yuan's face twisted, and he nearly spat out his qi.

What time was it?

That couple was already getting started?!

How desperate were they?!

Speechless, Lu Yuan closed his eyes, trying to continue cultivating.

But the sounds only grew louder.

Annoyed, he opened his eyes and yelled:

"Time to pay the rent!"

Instantly, the whole world went silent.

Satisfied, Lu Yuan closed his eyes and resumed cultivating.

Three days later, at Da Ming Martial Hall.

A group of burly men stood in a circle with their arms crossed. In the center, Lu Yuan and a bald, muscular man were wearing protective gear and sparring with huge wooden swords.

The wooden swords clashed, producing a dull thumping sound.

The two figures moved swiftly. Before long, Lu Yuan flicked his wrist, his longsword arcing through the air and landing on the hilt of his opponent's sword. He then closed in, driving a knee into the man's stomach and knocking him to the ground.

"Woo~ Yuan Ge actually won again!"

"Tie Tou used to be a mercenary, trained in a good sword style. I can't believe Yuan Ge beat him in just two days!"

"As expected of my Yuan Ge! Awesome!"

Lu Yuan looked down at Tie Tou on the ground and let out a breath. His hands, still gripping the sword, trembled slightly from overexertion.

After defeating Xiao Hu, Lu Yuan started challenging others to sword fights the next day. He eventually ended up sparring with Tie Tou, a former mercenary who had even hunted magical beasts.

It took him two days, but he finally mastered the Military Killing Sword and defeated Tie Tou.

Keep in mind, Tie Tou wasn't a Gene Warrior—just an ordinary person.

That alone showed how strong the man's combat skills were.

"You okay?"

Lu Yuan looked at Tie Tou.

Tie Tou clutched his stomach as he stood up, shook his head, and grinned.

"I've seen quite a few Gene Warriors, but I've never seen anyone grow as fast as you. I feel like you're going to become someone important someday."

Lu Yuan grinned back. "I think so too."

Come on, I, Lu Yuan, at least have a golden finger. My future potential is limitless.

Lu Yuan had that much confidence.

Just then, Frank Ming walked over.

"Not bad. Great progress. With your current strength, you shouldn't have any problem entering the Origin Land for the first time."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up, and he broke into a smile.

"Thank you for taking care of me these past few days, Ming Ge. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to improve so much in such a short time."

He also felt that his current strength was enough to try entering the Origin Land.

The first time was crucial. One step slow meant every step slow.

It was best to gain something on that first attempt.

Frank Ming nodded, then said, "Come with me."

Lu Yuan followed Frank Ming to the office.

Frank Ming pointed at the sofa. "Sit."

Lu Yuan sat down. Frank Ming looked at him and spoke.

"Entering the Origin Land means you're about to obtain your first Extraordinary Gene. This will determine the path you take in the future. Do you know the types of Gene Warriors?"

Lu Yuan nodded. "I've seen them on the Battle Net. The Guardian type, focused on defense and protection; the Assault type, focused on strength and attack; the Assassin type, focused on stealth and assassination..."

Frank Ming nodded and slowly continued.

"Since you've seen that, you should also know that once you inscribe an Extraordinary Gene, your body's strengths will lean toward that gene's direction. Although Gene Warriors can inscribe genes from different directions to improve various abilities, research shows that focusing on one direction allows the effects of inscribed genes to stack, bringing the greatest returns. Have you decided which path to take?"

Frank Ming's words were basic knowledge for Gene Warriors.

But that was the truth for ordinary Gene Warriors.

Lu Yuan knew it didn't apply to him.

Because he had the Evolution Cube.

Every Extraordinary Gene would specifically enhance a certain aspect—like increasing strength, making bones tougher and more durable, or making the body more agile with a massive boost in explosive power.

While other aspects were also enhanced, they weren't as pronounced as the specially enhanced one.

That was why almost all Gene Warriors chose to focus on inscribing genes from a single line—it gave the greatest returns.

But Lu Yuan was different. He could evolve every gene into its most powerful form.

In that case, even if an Extraordinary Gene didn't provide much improvement to non-specialized aspects, the accumulated gains would still be terrifying.

After all, those would be the most powerful genes.

Thus, he could develop in all directions.

The toughest defense, the greatest strength, the fastest speed, the most resilient spirit, and even the highest level of elemental control.

No weaknesses. Unrivaled.

But that was for the future. At least for now, he had to choose a direction.

Also, a direction to show on the outside.

Lu Yuan had already thought about it. He planned to be an Assault-type warrior.

Actually, for Lu Yuan, any direction was the same.

With the Evolution Cube, he could do whatever he wanted.

It was just that, from an outsider's perspective, the assault specialization was more versatile, allowing him to handle more situations in the future.

Hearing Lu Yuan's words, Frank Ming was startled, then broke into a grin:

"Assault specialization? Assault specialization is great! I'm an assault specialist myself!"

Lu Yuan glanced at him, speechless inside.

This guy had just broken through to First Order Warrior Level and had only engraved a single gene—what the hell kind of assault specialist was he...