Genetic modification

The quality of the ten genetic preparations astonished Yang Yu.

They far exceeded his original expectations!

These were no ordinary creatures' genes. They were super genes on the level of Earth Rank life-forms!

In fact, Yang Yu could even use the power of these extracted genes to strengthen his own peak Earth Rank body, making it even more powerful!

"Incredible."

"Absolutely incredible..." Yang Yu's face was filled with amazement.

"Zixuan, tell me. What species did you extract these ten super-gene preparations from?" Yang Yu had briefly sensed the insects and venomous creatures still inside the iron cages earlier. He knew at least thirty or forty had survived.

Yet there were only ten different types of genetic preparations here.

The creatures used in the experiments had all belonged to separate, distinct species.

With thirty or forty creatures still alive, there should have been just as many genetic preparations.

Since not all of them were here, there could only be one explanation.

The other extracted genes were simply too ordinary. They offered no improvement whatsoever to Yang Yu, Zhao Zixuan, or the Giant Mantis Beasts under his command, so Zhao Zixuan had discarded them.

Only these ten had surpassed those ordinary genes... they were super genes!

"Master, don't rush. I already prepared the biological information for these ten genetic preparations." Zhao Zixuan smiled faintly, wearing an expression that said he had known Yang Yu would ask. Then he picked up a stack of papers from a nearby stone table.

The papers were covered in writing. Under the laboratory's dim yellow light, Yang Yu glanced over them and made out some of their contents.

They recorded detailed information about various insects and venomous creatures.

Their habits, favorite foods, dislikes, life cycles, mating seasons... even speculation about which ancient biological lineages they might have descended from. Everything was listed.

There was no denying that Zhao Zixuan knew his stuff.

Besides having spent a few days as an intern reporter, he was also a university student... and he had thoroughly mastered an elective course called "The history of biological development"!

Zhao Zixuan had loved all kinds of creatures since childhood.

Domestic ones, wild ones...

Unlike ordinary girls, he did not merely like pets. He had a passionate love for every kind of creature and wanted to study them, even tracing their evolution back to their close relatives in ancient times.

Even the most dangerous, lethally venomous king snakes on land could not shake his desire to cut them open and study them closely.

Driven by that mindset, he had spent his three years at university practically memorizing every record of Earth's creatures in the school library! Their habits, shifts in their habitats, and all the related coursework—he understood and mastered it all!

When it came to biology, Zhao Zixuan was an unparalleled genius!

With a vast store of biological knowledge to draw on, his ability to identify the insects and venomous creatures of this wasteland had reached a master's level! He had needed only a single look at the hundreds of life-forms involved in the gene-extraction experiments to memorize them all and identify every species.

"Master, this is the biological information for the ten super-gene preparations." Smiling, Zhao Zixuan handed Yang Yu the stack of papers.

"Everything you want to know is in here."

"That includes when those ten creatures prefer to pee and poop, roughly when they're likely to go extinct in the future... and when they first originated. It's all recorded."

"If you have enough time, Master, you might want to read through every detail. This information is really interesting."

From that earlier glance, Yang Yu already had a fair idea of what the documents contained. Likewise, after spending more than two months together, he had learned quite a few of Zhao Zixuan's habits.

Including his eccentric obsession with studying every kind of life-form...

"Ahem!" Yang Yu coughed awkwardly.

"I'll pass."

"I don't share your taste for treating dull data about insects and venomous creatures—their evolutionary histories and daily habits—as the finest feast of entertainment."

"If we ever need that sort of information, organize it for me and let me know the key details."

"With you here, I'll leave all creature identification to you from now on."

As he spoke, Yang Yu accepted the rather thick stack of papers amid Zhao Zixuan's triumphant cheers.

Then he buried himself in them, rapidly reading and absorbing their contents.

On the dark walls, a lamp fueled by animal fat burned steadily.

Yang Yu's eyes moved across the pages as his brain rapidly absorbed the written information, processing and organizing it into something he could understand.

After a long while, Yang Yu finally finished reading every page.

He now knew exactly what creatures had supplied the ten super-gene preparations.

First, the strength gene came from a special giant ant about half the size of a human little fingernail... These ants preferred barren plains and usually fed on decaying animal bones.

They lived in colonies, but each colony was far smaller than those of ordinary little ants.

Because they had first been discovered in the countryside near a foreign town called Rox... they had been named Rox giant ants.

The neural reflex gene, meanwhile, came from an extraordinarily agile super flea!

The stone armor gene, dynamic vision gene, body transformation gene... Yang Yu mastered all the biological information and committed each gene's source creature to memory. He planned to try strengthening those creatures with life energy later.

If they lived up to his expectations, then besides his swarm of Giant Mantis Beasts...

He might gain another powerful force of battle insects with terrifying strength!

For now, though...

Yang Yu decided to deal with the super genes before him first.

The Giant Mantis Beasts, Yang Yu himself, and Zhao Zixuan... all could be strengthened with suitable amounts of super genes, combined in specific proportions.

Simply piling every super gene into the Giant Mantis Beasts would not increase their strength without limit.

It involved bodily coordination and the balance between strength, agility, physical toughness, and other attributes.

When one physical attribute was strengthened too far, it would place a burden on the others.

That burden would instead create fatal weaknesses and drag down their overall combat strength... it could even lead to the ridiculous outcome of making them weaker than before.

This did not apply only to the Giant Mantis Beasts.

Yang Yu and Zhao Zixuan faced the same issue... If they wanted to enhance themselves with these genes, they also had to consider things carefully and use them to compensate for their weaknesses.

Their strengths could be enhanced too, but only in moderation.

Overall, genetic enhancement... was a kind of fine-tuning of their capabilities. At least, that was true of these genes, which would not drastically alter their physical appearance.

It might not produce an earth-shattering improvement in an individual's overall combat strength.

But... it could compensate for their weaknesses to the greatest possible extent, allowing their power to flow freely and leaving them without vulnerabilities!

From that day onward, Yang Yu devoted a great deal of time to studying the ten super-gene preparations.

The Giant Mantis Beasts under his command suffered for it, their mournful cries rising everywhere.

The Number One Giant Mantis King suffered most of all. With his thick hide and sturdy body, he could withstand all sorts of experimentation, so Yang Yu designated him his personal guinea pig... injecting different combinations of super genes into his body again and again.

Whenever a problem arose, Yang Yu used life energy to extract those super genes, then tried rearranging them again, striving to find the most suitable enhancement combination for the Giant Mantis Beasts as quickly as possible.

The process caused the Number One Giant Mantis King immense suffering, but he did not dare resist in the slightest.

Time passed.

Another half month went by.

A full three months had now passed since Yang Yu arrived in this wasteland.

Yang Yu had also finished cultivating his life soul's power, bringing it to the peak of Earth Rank.

That day, he finally perfected the genetic enhancement combination for the Giant Mantis Beasts, achieving the optimal result.

At the same time, he and Zhao Zixuan underwent two entirely different, individually tailored super-gene enhancement procedures... and their strength broke through and soared once again!