"It worked!"
An irrepressible surge of joy welled up in Ji Zhixing's heart. I found it! That feeling!
His last strike still hadn't matched the power he could unleash under the Army-Breaking Staff's guidance, but it was already a cut above his earlier attacks, which had only been on par with the Basic Staff Technique!
"Cluck!"
Enraged by the blow, the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King let out a furious cry and lunged at him, wings beating wildly.
"Again!"
His spirit soaring, Ji Zhixing swung his staff once more.
But this time, he failed to infuse the strike with his will.
What happened?
Ji Zhixing frowned slightly, retreating to evade the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's lunges while swinging his staff to fight back.
Shatter Space Form!
Earth-Shaking Form!
Thunderclap Form!
He unleashed the Eight Army-Breaking Staff Moves, one form after another, trying to catch that feeling again.
But the feeling came and went.
Thud!
Another strike landed on the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's wing.
This time, he succeeded again!
Joy stirred in Ji Zhixing's heart.
But on the very next strike, he failed again.
No, it's still inconsistent.
Ji Zhixing kept trying.
The Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's assault grew fiercer, its wings beating in turn, forcing him to retreat again and again as danger sprang up on every side.
Gradually, he realized that out of every ten strikes, he could only infuse two or three with his will.
The rest were just as they had been before, lacking that unity of essence, energy, and spirit.
Nor had he managed to awaken his innate staff heart talent.
Looks like I haven't fully mastered the Eight Army-Breaking Staff Moves yet, Ji Zhixing thought silently. I've only gained a sliver of insight. I probably won't have truly mastered this staff technique until I can infuse every strike with my will.
When that happens, I should be able to awaken my innate staff heart talent.
Ji Zhixing took a deep breath, undaunted.
There's no rush. Now that I've found that feeling, I just need to keep training along that path. Before long, I'll truly master this First-Order Two-Star Staff Technique.
He rallied his spirits and continued fending off the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's attacks.
"Why does his staff technique look a little different now?"
Zhao Qing had been watching Ji Zhixing the whole time and felt that his staff technique seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
However, her aptitude for universal skills was only average, so she couldn't fully discern his progress.
"Zhixing, we're coming!"
Just then, Liu Qifan shouted and charged over, saber in hand.
Zhang Haocheng and Xie Jia followed close behind.
Luo Yongguang put away his shield and ran over in long strides as well.
The Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King seemed to sense the danger and tried to retreat.
But it was already too late.
They formed a circle, trapping it firmly in the middle.
"Whew!" Ji Zhixing breathed a sigh of relief as well.
Although he wanted to use this Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King to hone his skills, it was too powerful. In that short stretch of time, he had already used up more than half his stamina and gene source energy.
If he kept fighting, a single careless moment could leave him injured.
"Kill it! Finish it off!"
"You think being big makes you so great?"
Shouting, they all attacked the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King together.
The Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King struggled desperately, its wings beating wildly, but Xie Jia's vines tangled around its legs again and again, while Luo Yongguang's shield repeatedly blocked its attacks.
Then there were Liu Qifan's saber and Zhang Haocheng's spear...
Working in perfect coordination, they landed blow after blow on the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King.
"Let me!"
Suddenly, Ji Zhixing saw the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King stagger. Seizing the opening, he leaped into the air and raised the Army-Breaking Staff high.
In the next instant, he poured all his physical strength, his gene source energy, and that faint stirring of will in his heart into this single strike!
The ninth form of the Eight Army-Breaking Staff Moves-
Die!
Thud!
The staff slammed viciously into the crown of the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's head, caving its skull in.
The Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King stiffened, then crashed to the ground.
"Finally dead. This thing was seriously tough."
Zhang Haocheng kicked the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King a couple of times.
"Zhixing, it's your turn to refine a gene beast."
Liu Qifan walked over. "We killed three Iron-Feather Mountain Chickens in one go this time. You were the one who held this Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King off, so you should refine it."
"Right, you refine it." Luo Yongguang nodded too. "Liu Qifan and I already collected the other two."
Ji Zhixing glanced around and found that the other two Iron-Feather Mountain Chickens they had just killed were already gone.
"All right, I'll take this one, then."
He nodded without refusing.
"Collect!" He crouched down and pressed his hand against the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's corpse.
With a thought, he activated his gene furnace.
A second later, the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's corpse blurred and vanished.
"Hurry up and refine them. Let's see which of you four has the best luck." Zhang Haocheng chuckled as he watched them.
Although Xie Jia had collected an Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken earlier, the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's sudden appearance had left her no time to refine it.
"Don't worry, we'll all have better luck than you!"
After shooting back at him, Liu Qifan immediately began driving his gene furnace at full power to refine the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken inside.
Luo Yongguang and Xie Jia did the same.
My gene furnace is different from everyone else's, Ji Zhixing thought silently. I wonder if the things it produces will be different too.
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed what was happening.
Inside his gene furnace, the eight-trigram pattern slowly rotated, releasing rays of light.
The Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King's corpse floated in the center of the furnace space, enveloped by those rays as it was broken down and refined bit by bit.
Time ticked by.
About three or four minutes later, Liu Qifan, Luo Yongguang, and Xie Jia finished refining, one after another.
But the anticipation on all three of their faces turned to disappointment once they finished.
None of them had gained anything extra.
Each had only produced a single Gene Source Stone.
But that was normal.
The chances of producing either gene equipment or a Gene Potion through refinement were very low.
I hope I get something!
Seeing their results, Ji Zhixing grew a little apprehensive too.
"Zhixing, how's yours going?"
After the three of them showed their results, Liu Qifan asked him.
"Almost done. The Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King is bigger and stronger, so it's bound to take a little longer," Ji Zhixing said.
He truly hadn't finished refining the Iron-Feather Mountain Chicken King yet.
Only after another two minutes did the rays of light inside his gene furnace fade away, one by one.
Then three items appeared in his furnace space.
Three?
Ji Zhixing's expression brightened with delight.
He swept his awareness over them and found that two of the items were Gene Source Stones.
Both Gene Source Stones were considerably larger than Zhang Haocheng's. If refined into gene coins, they would probably yield around a hundred.
But after only a glance at the two Gene Source Stones, he shifted his awareness to the other item inside his gene furnace.
Before you continue