Petrified Crab

The other item in Ji Zhixing's Gene Furnace was a small transparent bottle.

It contained a pale blue liquid.

"Is this... an Origin Force Gene Potion?"

An irrepressible surge of delight rose in Ji Zhixing's heart.

Origin Force Gene Potions could accelerate a Gene Cultivator's cultivation.

This one bottle alone was worth a thousand Gene Coins.

From what he had learned, a Gene Cultivator's Gene Furnace possessed immensely powerful capabilities.

After refining a Gene Potion, it would automatically use the Gene Beast's bones and other tissues to fashion a bottle capable of holding the potion.

As for how the Gene Furnace worked, no one knew to this day.

Two Gene Source Stones and one Origin Force Gene Potion! Ji Zhixing thought silently. This drop rate is a little too high!

But this is only my first time refining a Gene Beast. One example isn't enough to tell whether it has anything to do with my unusual Gene Furnace.

Once I've refined a few more, I should be able to tell.

He opened his eyes.

"Zhixing, how did it go? Did you get any drops?" Liu Qifan leaned over and asked eagerly.

"I had a little more luck than you guys."

Ji Zhixing did not hide anything. Smiling, he extended his hand and took out the Origin Force Gene Potion.

This was his first time.

If his drop rate remained this high, he would definitely have to keep it hidden.

"You really got something?"

"An Origin Force Gene Potion?"

"Nice!"

Their eyes lit up at the sight.

"Just good luck."

Ji Zhixing smiled. "Besides, I refined the Ironfeather Pheasant King. Its drop rate was naturally higher than an ordinary Ironfeather Pheasant's."

They all nodded.

That was covered in their textbooks, and their teachers had explained it too.

Certain special Gene Beasts really were more likely to yield drops than ordinary ones.

"Too bad it wasn't a gene ability development potion or a piece of Gene Equipment. Then you'd have struck it rich," Liu Qifan said wistfully.

"Those two things aren't that easy to get." Zhang Haocheng shook his head. "We're only out here for five days. If even one of us gets a gene ability development potion or a piece of Gene Equipment, we'll be swimming in luck."

"Don't be so pessimistic." Zhao Qing walked over with a smile. "Who knows? One of you might get lucky and find both."

"Ji Zhixing was quite lucky this time. You can't get an Origin Force Gene Potion just by wishing for one."

"But right now, I suggest you rest for a while. Wait until your stamina and Gene Source Force have fully recovered before hunting again."

"We're out in the wild, after all. Even with me here, you shouldn't let your guard down too much. It's best to get into the habit of staying alert at all times."

Zhao Qing offered them this advice.

"Thanks for the reminder, senior. We'll rest now."

Her words put them all on their guard. They agreed, then each found somewhere to sit and began resting.

In truth, the others had come through the fight against the Ironfeather Pheasants fairly well.

But Ji Zhixing had held off the Ironfeather Pheasant King alone, and it had truly taken a lot out of him.

He found a flat rock and sat down. As he rested with his eyes closed, he refined the Gene Source Stones he had just obtained to replenish his depleted Gene Source Force.

About half an hour later, after refining roughly one-fifth of a Gene Source Stone, he finally restored his Gene Source Force to full.

Using Gene Source Stones to replenish Source Force really is faster than recovering naturally, but it's a bit extravagant, Ji Zhixing thought silently. This stone could fetch fifty Gene Coins, and I've already used up a fifth of it in this short stretch.

He looked up and saw that the others were nearly done resting too.

"Let's go. Time to keep moving." Ji Zhixing stood.

But once they set out again, they soon discovered that finding Gene Beasts had become difficult.

They made a circuit without encountering a single one.

"Strange," Liu Qifan muttered. "Weren't there plenty of Gene Beasts earlier?"

"All the commotion in town has probably put many of the Gene Beasts on alert," Zhao Qing explained. "Some may have already fled town. Besides, with so many of you here, you must have killed quite a few Gene Beasts."

With no other choice, they searched patiently and headed deeper into town.

As they walked, Ji Zhixing occasionally swung his Army-Breaking Staff.

Shatter Space, Earth-Shaking, Thunderclap...

He tried them over and over, searching for that feeling.

Sometimes, a swing would suddenly carry a little more power.

But the next swing would return to normal.

None of the others paid it any mind.

Although Ji Zhixing's swings were occasionally more powerful, they all assumed those strikes had been guided by the Army-Breaking Staff.

After all, the Army-Breaking Staff was itself a piece of Gene Equipment. It could guide its wielder in performing the Army-Breaking Staff Technique, so a little extra power was perfectly normal.

None of them believed he could already be close to mastering the basics of the Eight Army-Breaking Staff Moves in such a short time.

"Look! There's a leopard!"

After walking for a long time, their eyes lit up. A Gene Beast had finally appeared ahead.

It was a medium-sized leopard covered in yellowish-brown spots. Most striking of all was the tuft of black fur on its forehead, which vaguely formed the shape of the character "工."

The leopard was dragging a gray wolf that was not quite dead.

"Get it!"

They all charged forward.

Startled at the sight of them, the leopard immediately fled, leaving only the half-dead gray wolf behind.

After mercifully putting the gray wolf out of its misery, Zhang Haocheng refined it.

Unfortunately, it still yielded no drops.

Time ticked by, and they went on to hunt several more Gene Beasts.

There were burly Mighty Boars with two upward-curving tusks and tremendous strength.

There were Blackhorn Deer with long black horns on their heads that ran extremely fast.

None of these Gene Beasts were particularly strong. They were all at the First Order.

With the five of them working together, they quickly killed them all.

Only a handful were too alert, fleeing the moment they spotted the group from afar. They could not catch those even if they gave chase.

"Time to head back."

Toward evening, as the sun sank in the west, they glanced at the sky and had no choice but to end their day's hunt. Weary from head to toe, they returned to where the convoy was stationed.

Quite a few teams had already returned to the clearing.

The teachers were taking a head count.

Ji Zhixing and the others found somewhere to sit and rest.

We hunted more than a dozen Gene Beasts today, Ji Zhixing silently tallied. I refined three.

Aside from the Ironfeather Pheasant King, which yielded two large Gene Source Stones and an Origin Force Gene Potion, my second and third attempts each yielded only two Gene Source Stones.

But when ordinary cultivators refine Gene Beasts, most of the time they only get the one guaranteed Gene Source Stone. If they're lucky, they might get two, or something else.

Yet I've gotten two Gene Source Stones every single time.

The only thing I still don't know is the drop rate for Gene Equipment and Gene Potions.

As he was thinking, Liu Qifan suddenly leaned over. "Zhixing, do you know what I found out?"

Ji Zhixing paused. "What?"

"I just took a walk over there and heard Huang Yu's teammates chatting." Liu Qifan pointed toward Huang Yu's group. "They ran into Petrified Crabs today!"

"Petrified Crabs?" Something stirred in Ji Zhixing's heart.

"Right!" Liu Qifan nodded. "I read about them in a book. When you refine this kind of Gene Beast, there's a chance of getting a Gene Potion that can develop the Stone Skin Ability!"

Ji Zhixing's eyes lit up.

A Stone Skin Gene Potion!

The Stone Skin Ability he needed to develop required exactly that potion!

"Where did they find them?" Ji Zhixing asked at once.

"Right by Stone Lake," Liu Qifan said. "But Petrified Crabs aren't easy to kill. Blunt weapons or spears work best against them. If you hack at them with an ordinary sword or saber, the blade will chip after just a few blows."