After Lu Yuan left, Frank Ming secretly returned to his office, took out his phone, and dialed a number.
In the simple room next to Lu Yuan's cubicle, which contained 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 small cube, and a light screen appeared, displaying Frank Ming's message.
Li Qinghe answered the call, her cool voice ringing out:
"You have five seconds to explain."
On the other end, cold sweat immediately broke out across Frank Ming's forehead.
Damn! I forgot that milady hates being disturbed most when she's cultivating!
He hurriedly said, "Milady, this is about Lu Yuan!"
"Lu Yuan?"
Li Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "What happened to him? What did I tell you?"
"No, no, no, milady, nothing happened to Lu Yuan. He... his talent is very strong! Extremely strong!"
"Hm? Explain."
Frank Ming gathered his thoughts before speaking.
"Didn't you say he only awakened the day before yesterday? But he's already used spiritual energy to temper his Gene Chain. Wasn't I teaching him combat techniques today? His strength was actually about the same as one of my stronger men. I guessed that he'd probably already gone through some tempering. I asked him, and he said it only took him half a day to absorb spiritual energy."
Li Qinghe froze, astonishment flashing through her eyes.
"Half a day to absorb spiritual energy?! Are you sure?"
"I don't think he exaggerated. After all, his strength is far greater than that of an ordinary person."
Li Qinghe frowned slightly and fell silent for a moment before she spoke.
"I understand. So what are you trying to say by calling me?"
"Ahem... Milady sees all... I want to recruit him into my team."
"Get lost!"
Li Qinghe replied coldly and hung up immediately.
On the other end, Frank Ming listened to the beeping in his ear, his face still blank with confusion as he failed to react.
Inside the room, Li Qinghe put away her communicator and lay down, her graceful curves fully revealed. She narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, a smile appearing on her face.
"I didn't expect that little brother to have such talent. Half a day? He's almost caught up to me. Interesting. Is This Miss really so lucky? I casually ran into a poor little brother, and he actually has talent like this?"
Her gaze flickered as she wondered about something unknown.
Lu Yuan returned to the rented apartment. The room was quiet.
He glanced at Li Qinghe's tightly shut door.
It was already so late. Qinghe Jie had probably gone to work.
Lu Yuan wanted to thank Li Qinghe. After thinking it over, he decided that once he had money in a few days, he would treat her to a good meal.
Lu Yuan shook his head and returned to his room.
After taking a shower, exhaustion washed over Lu Yuan all at once. His increasingly sturdy body was covered in bruises, all of them from Xiao Hu's beating earlier.
He touched a dark purple patch on his abdomen and grimaced in pain.
"Damn! He really hit hard!"
Suppressing his exhaustion, he sat cross-legged and began circulating the Spirit Qi Guiding Art.
Just then, strange sounds came from next door.
Lu Yuan's expression changed, and he nearly spat blood.
What time was it?
That couple had already started going at it?!
How desperate were they?!
Speechless, Lu Yuan closed his eyes and tried to continue cultivating.
But the sounds only grew louder.
He opened his eyes in irritation and shouted:
"Pay the rent!"
The entire world instantly fell silent.
Satisfied, Lu Yuan closed his eyes and continued cultivating.
Three days later, at Da Ming Martial Hall.
A group of burly men stood with their arms folded in a circle. At the center, Lu Yuan and a bald, muscular man wore protective gear and wielded huge wooden swords as they fought.
The wooden swords collided with dull thudding bangs.
The two figures darted about. Before long, Lu Yuan flicked his wrist, and the longsword in his hand traced an arc before striking the hilt of the big man's sword. He then moved in close and knocked the man to the ground with a knee strike.
"Woohoo! Yuan Ge won again!"
"Tie Tou used to be a mercenary. He has some seriously good swordsmanship, yet Yuan Ge beat him after just two short days!"
"As expected of my Yuan Ge! Awesome!"
Lu Yuan looked at Tie Tou on the ground and exhaled. Both hands gripping his sword trembled slightly from overexertion.
After defeating Xiao Hu, Lu Yuan had begun challenging people to swordsmanship matches the very next day. In the end, he had faced Tie Tou, who had once been a mercenary and had even hunted magical beasts.
After two days, he had finally mastered the Military Killing Sword and defeated Tie Tou.
One had to know that Tie Tou was not a Gene Warrior, merely an ordinary person.
That showed just how strong his combat skills were.
"You okay?"
Lu Yuan looked at Tie Tou.
Tie Tou clutched his stomach as he got to his feet. He shook his head and grinned.
"I've met quite a few Gene Warriors, but I've never seen anyone grow as quickly as you. I think you'll definitely become an important figure someday."
Lu Yuan grinned. "I think so too."
Come on, he, Lu Yuan, had a cheat. His future potential was limitless.
Lu Yuan still had that much confidence.
At that moment, Frank Ming walked over from the side.
"Not bad. You've improved a lot. With your strength, there shouldn't be any problem with entering Origin Land for the first time."
Lu Yuan's eyes lit up, and he smiled.
"Thanks for taking care of me these past few days, Ming Ge. Otherwise, I couldn't have improved so much in such a short time."
He also felt that his current strength was enough to enter Origin Land and give it a try.
The first time was crucial. One step behind meant falling behind every step afterward.
It would be best to gain something on the 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 Origin Land means that you're going to obtain your first Extraordinary Gene. It 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 Battle Net. The guardian type focuses on defense and protection, the assault type focuses on strength and attack, the assassin type focuses on infiltration and assassination..."
Frank Ming nodded and slowly said:
"Since you've read about them, you should also know that after you inscribe an Extraordinary Gene, your body's advantages will lean toward the direction of that gene. Although Gene Warriors can inscribe genes from different paths to improve their various abilities, research has shown that focusing on one path allows the effects of inscribed genes to stack, bringing the greatest benefits. Have you decided which path to take?"
What Frank Ming said was basic knowledge for Gene Warriors.
But that was the truth for ordinary Gene Warriors.
Lu Yuan knew it did not apply to him.
Because he possessed the Evolution Cube.
Every Extraordinary Gene especially strengthened a particular aspect. For example, it could increase strength, make defensive bones tougher and more resistant to blows, make the body more agile, or greatly enhance explosive power.
It also strengthened other aspects, but not as much as the aspect it specially enhanced.
Therefore, almost all Gene Warriors chose to focus on inscribing genes from a single path, as that produced the greatest returns.
But Lu Yuan was different. He could evolve every gene to its most powerful form.
In that case, even if an Extraordinary Gene did not greatly improve the aspects it did not specially enhance, the accumulated gains would still be terrifying.
After all, those would be the most powerful genes.
Therefore, he could develop in every direction.
The sturdiest defense, the greatest strength, the fastest speed, the toughest spirit, and even the highest degree of control over the elements.
Flawless and unrivaled!
However, that was a matter for the future. At the very least, at his current stage, he needed to choose a direction.
It would also be the direction he displayed to the outside world.
Lu Yuan had already given it some thought. He intended to become an assault-type warrior.
In truth, to Lu Yuan, any path would do.
With the Evolution Cube, he could become whichever type he wanted.
It was simply that, outwardly, the assault type was more versatile and could handle more situations in the future.
Frank Ming was stunned for a moment after hearing Lu Yuan's words, then he smiled.
"Assault type? The assault type is good! I'm an assault type too!"
Lu Yuan glanced at him, speechless inside.
This guy had only just broken through to the First Order Warrior Level and had only inscribed one gene. What kind of assault type was he supposed to be...
Before you continue