Life Gene Level: 1.1

Mirror Lake Residential District, Villa 136, inside the washroom.

A massive bathtub, standing as tall as a person, sat in the room filled with black medicinal liquid that had long since gone cold. Chen Yuan stood naked inside the tub, his eyes tightly shut, with only the slight rise and fall of his chest indicating he was alive.

Suddenly, Chen Yuan opened his eyes. He braced his hands against the rim of the tub and vaulted out, twisting his body slightly. A series of crisp, cracking sounds erupted from his joints, as if his tendons and bones were stretching out.

"Today is the 21st, exactly thirty days. The Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic should be at perfection." Chen Yuan walked to the adjacent shower stall to rinse off the medicinal liquid, then grabbed a towel to dry himself as he walked out, tapping his interface open.

Name: Chen Yuan
Age: 19
Strength: 4183.65 (kg)
Realm: Advanced Warrior
Brain Domain Width: 19
Secret Techniques:
Hibernation Method: Crystal Meditation: Cultivation-type secret technique, Grade B, current progress: Proficient (11.23%)
Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic: Cultivation-type secret technique, Grade C, current progress: Perfection (Overall Aptitude +30%, Genetic Level increased by 10%, Brain Domain Width +4)
Spirit Wind Sword Art: Combat-type secret technique, Grade C, current progress: Overall Entry 95.43% (Sword Art 97.85%, Movement Technique 88.47%, Guiding Technique 99.99%)
Force Output Level: 1.3
Currently Optimizable Items: Secret Techniques
Kill Points: 0

"Hmm?" Chen Yuan suddenly locked his gaze onto the Brain Domain Width column. "Brain Domain Width 19, shouldn't it be 18?"

"And I recall that before today, my strength was only a little over 3800 kilograms. Now it has jumped directly to 4183 kilograms?"

Moving his gaze down, Chen Yuan saw the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic and his eyes widened. "Genetic Level increased by 10%!"

Chen Yuan remembered that the introduction to the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic hadn't mentioned this at all. After all, that was the life genetic level; how could a mere Grade C secret technique achieve such a thing?

But the facts were right before his eyes; he had no choice but to believe them.

"That's it. If my genetic level increased by 10%, it makes sense that my strength rose to 4183 kilograms."

"But how was this achieved? Just through this secret technique?" Holding this doubt, Chen Yuan posed a question to the interface.

The interface answered every question, quickly displaying the data from before and after the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic reached perfection.

The secret technique "Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic" reached perfection, Overall Aptitude +10%, Brain Domain Width +1.

Because the host reached perfection within 30 days, "Perfect Transformation" was achieved, triggering hidden physical potential, causing a subtle genetic leap, increasing the genetic level by 10%, and providing an additional +1 to Brain Domain Width.

"So it was the Perfect Transformation that triggered my hidden physical potential, which led to the increase in genetic level and brain domain width." Chen Yuan felt incredibly fortunate at this moment.

"It's a good thing that because my proficiency in the Hibernation Method increased, my deep sleep entered the second stage, making the efficiency of absorbing cosmic energy higher. That's why the daily proficiency of the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic rose by over 10%, finally allowing the secret technique to reach perfection within thirty days." Chen Yuan felt a lingering fear. "One more day and I wouldn't have finished it. I almost missed out on such a precious upgrade."

That was the life genetic level. Even for powerful experts capable of summoning wind and rain in the universe, increasing one's life genetic level was incredibly difficult.

The increase in genetic level was comprehensive. Not only did Chen Yuan gain a permanent 1.1x strength boost, but he would also enjoy this 10% bonus in everything from the efficiency of absorbing cosmic energy and the aptitude for learning secret techniques, to even the efficiency of comprehending laws later on.

"I really hit the jackpot this time." Chen Yuan stared at those few words on the interface repeatedly, feeling delighted. "Not to mention the extra point in Brain Domain Width."

Subsequently, a new entry appeared on the interface.

Life Genetic Level: 1.1

Chen Yuan looked at these words happily for a while before calming down to think. "Since the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic has such a hidden effect, why wasn't it displayed directly? I almost missed this opportunity."

Chen Yuan asked the interface, and the answer he received was that the interface didn't know either.

The human body was far too mysterious; the interface could only record the real-time changes of his body accurately, but it could not extrapolate all future changes.

"Fine then." Chen Yuan smacked his lips. "Since the improvement in my aptitude has come to an end, I should prepare to head out to the Wilderness Zone."

"After all, it's time to go get some Kill Points."

After changing his clothes, he went to the villa's underground storage room.

The storage room was piled high with various sundries, the most conspicuous of which was a massive safe located in the deepest part of the room.

The safe was integrated into the wall itself and was made entirely of Series 6 alloy. Anyone below the level of a War God could not destroy it, and even a War God would have no other way to open it besides violent dismantling.

Chen Yuan took out the key, inserted it into the safe, entered a three-stage password, and then pressed his finger against the fingerprint scanner.

After the triple operation was completed, the safe emitted a "beep," and Chen Yuan was finally able to turn the key and open the door.

There were not many items inside the safe, only a long sword and a set of combat gear.

The long sword was a Streamer Type 1 series, A6 Model, capable of supporting combat against high-level Beast General monsters.

As for the combat suit, it was even more impressive: a Series D7 Combat Suit that even elementary Overlord-level monsters could not easily tear through!

However, compared to the sword, the combat suit was not as complete; only the combat vest and trousers were still in good condition, while other parts like the arm guards and combat boots were all lost.

These two pieces of equipment were the legacy left to him by his father, Chen Ji.

Chen Yuan knew from his memories that when his predecessor was 13 years old, Chen Ji led his squad into the Wilderness Zone and encountered a small beast tide. Chen Ji chose to stay behind to cover the squad, holding off the beast tide alone.

It was also at that time that Chen Yuan was entrusted to the care of Qin Zhan.

When the beast tide ended and Qin Zhan risked his life to rush back, all he found left of Chen Ji was a broken, mangled body.

Qin Zhan brought Chen Ji back to Jinling City for burial, then returned his belongings—the longsword "Streamer" and the Series 7 Combat Suit—to Chen Yuan.

Ever since then, the predecessor had locked these two items in a safe, never taking them out again. Even when the predecessor went to the Wilderness Zone for the first time, he had only taken an ordinary A2-Type Streamer Battle Sword.

From the memories, Chen Yuan knew that besides the fear of being reminded of the past, the predecessor had also worried that he wouldn't be able to handle such high-grade equipment.

But in Chen Yuan's view, the predecessor was just being overly sentimental; he would never let treasures gather dust, and he believed in using what was available.

After taking the two pieces of equipment out of the safe, Chen Yuan left the basement without a second thought.

After all, Chen Yuan was completely unaffected by the predecessor's emotions. Although Chen Ji's story was moving, he could at most offer a few words of lament, but he would not pine for a father like the predecessor had.

At this moment, Chen Yuan had only one thing on his mind: heading into the Wilderness Zone to train.

However, to go to the Wilderness Zone, these two pieces of equipment were not enough. Chen Yuan placed orders for other gear from Limit Home, including a tactical watch, a backpack, combat boots, arm guards, and so on, along with some dried meat and drinking water.

Among these, Chen Yuan didn't bring much dried meat, but he packed plenty of drinking water. To him, the Wilderness Zone was filled with food, so he didn't need to worry about eating, but he couldn't survive without water.

He checked the items he needed, went to checkout, made the payment, selected "expedited delivery," and paid the extra fee.

With a "ding," the payment was successful, which also meant that Chen Yuan's meager savings had hit rock bottom.

Chen Yuan glanced at his balance; very well, only four digits remained.

However, the power of money was great. Just one hour later, Chen Yuan received the equipment, which was incredibly efficient.

Fully geared up with his backpack and longsword, Chen Yuan left the Mirror Lake Residential District.

Wilderness Zone, here I come!