On the little boat, Gu Zheng stood at the bow with his hands behind his back, gazing calmly toward Lake Center Island.
At the stern, a boy's ears twitched slightly. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "Gu Zheng, those people from Third Middle School are saying we're rude."
"Let them talk." Gu Zheng did not even turn his head, his tone indifferent.
He would be heading to Rain City University soon. As for those cultivators who had fused with first-order genes, he figured these two days would be the extent of their contact.
After they parted this time, the gulf between their levels meant their paths might never cross again.
That included the fellow with a decent talent for the staff.
The little boat left a wake across the lake, gradually disappearing into the thin mist.
By the lakeshore, Ji Zhixing withdrew his gaze.
"Forget about them." He turned to Liu Qifan and the others. "Let's keep luring Petrified Crabs."
"Okay!"
They agreed, then carried stones over from farther away, constantly shifting positions around Stone Lake and throwing rocks into the water.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Stone after stone fell into the water, sending up splashes and spreading rings of ripples across the lake.
Time passed slowly. Before long, several more teams from Third Middle School arrived at Stone Lake.
The teams greeted one another, then went about their own business.
"Zhixing, over here!"
Liu Qifan suddenly called out.
Ji Zhixing turned to look. Xie Jia stood by the lake, having just thrown a large stone. The disturbed water was still rippling.
The next instant, the surface exploded!
A gray-green Petrified Crab burst from the water, its eight legs scuttling rapidly as it charged straight toward the shore.
"Fall back! Lure it farther away!"
They immediately retreated with practiced ease, drawing the Petrified Crab away from the lake. Luo Yongguang held the front with his shield, while Xie Jia's vines burst from the ground and wound around the crab's legs.
Ji Zhixing tightened his grip on the Army-Breaking Staff but did not rush to attack.
He waited until Luo Yongguang had firmly blocked the Petrified Crab and Xie Jia's vines had bound it before charging forward.
Shatter Space Form!
The long staff rose high, then smashed down.
Empowered by his innate staff heart talent, the blow carried tremendous weight and an unstoppable momentum, slamming savagely into the Petrified Crab's head.
Thud!
With a dull impact, the Petrified Crab's body abruptly sagged, and even its flailing pincers slowed.
"Nice!" Liu Qifan's eyes lit up.
Ji Zhixing did not stop. One strike followed another.
Shatter Space!
Shatter Space!
Shatter Space!
He delivered five consecutive blows, each imbued with army-breaking will, each striking the exact same spot.
The Petrified Crab's head caved in, its shell shattered, and its eight legs twitched a few times before it collapsed to the ground, utterly motionless.
"So this is the power of innate staff heart talent combined with a two-star staff technique?" Liu Qifan looked envious. "That's insane. Five blows to kill one!"
Zhang Haocheng also sighed in admiration. "Last time, the five of us surrounded one and hammered away at it for ages."
Ji Zhixing smiled without saying anything, then stepped forward and stored the Petrified Crab in his gene furnace.
Hopefully, I'll get another bottle of Stone Skin Gene Potion, he thought silently.
He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the furnace. The eight-trigram pattern rotated, enveloping the corpse.
Several minutes later, the refining was complete.
Ji Zhixing swept his consciousness through it and felt a faint disappointment.
There were only two additional Gene Source Stones in the furnace space, and nothing else.
"Just Gene Source Stones again." He shook his head and opened his eyes.
"How did it go?" Liu Qifan asked.
"Only Gene Source Stones." Ji Zhixing held out his hand, and a crystal appeared in his palm.
"Let's keep going."
Zhang Haocheng patted his shoulder without offering any consolation. After several days without getting any drops, they were all used to it.
Ji Zhixing nodded and put away the Gene Source Stone.
They continued luring crabs.
Time passed, and noon arrived in the blink of an eye.
Their luck had been poor that morning. They had only managed to lure out three Petrified Crabs.
After Ji Zhixing refined them, all he got were Gene Source Stones-not a single bottle of potion.
"This luck..."
Ji Zhixing sighed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do.
They found some shade beneath the trees and sat down, taking out dry rations and water for a simple meal.
"Let's try somewhere else this afternoon," Ji Zhixing said, taking a bite of a cracker.
Everyone nodded.
Boom!
Just then, a tremendous crash rang out from the direction of Lake Center Island, leaving their ears ringing.
Immediately afterward, the ground shook, and the lake churned violently, throwing up towering splashes.
"What's going on?" Their expressions changed. Ji Zhixing and the others sprang to their feet and looked toward Lake Center Island.
But they were too far away to see anything.
"Something may have happened," Zhao Qing said gravely. "Come on. We're heading back to camp right now!"
Croak!
Croak!
No sooner had Zhao Qing spoken than water splashed across the lake ahead, and over a dozen Giant-Footed Frogs burst out in a panic, scrambling desperately toward shore.
The Giant-Footed Frogs were about the size of ordinary stray dogs, with green bodies and thick, powerful hind legs.
They normally hid in the water. Even if people threw rocks at them, they would only flee, never daring to come ashore.
"Giant-Footed Frogs?" Liu Qifan's eyes lit up.
Giant-Footed Frogs were very weak Gene Beasts. They had seen them before but had never killed any.
They had not expected this disturbance to frighten the frogs onto land.
"Senior?" Liu Qifan and the others all looked at Zhao Qing.
Zhao Qing glanced toward Lake Center Island. There had been no further activity there since that tremendous crash, which eased her mind a little.
"Make it quick!" she said.
"Okay!"
With Zhao Qing's approval, they immediately swarmed forward, attacking the Giant-Footed Frogs that had fled ashore.
Seeing them charge, the Giant-Footed Frogs scattered in terror. But their speed was nowhere near a match for Ji Zhixing and the others.
Liu Qifan activated Wolf Sprint, moving like the wind. With one slash per frog, he cut down two in an instant.
Ji Zhixing charged forward, sweeping the Army-Breaking Staff sideways with a Sweep Through a Thousand Armies!
Whoosh!
The long staff swept past with a howling rush of wind, sending three Giant-Footed Frogs flying. They landed on the ground and did not move again.
The others struck just as ruthlessly. Luo Yongguang battered one down with his shield, Zhang Haocheng pierced another with his spear, and Xie Jia bound one with her vines before finishing it with her sword.
In less than half a minute, they had killed all dozen-odd Giant-Footed Frogs.
Boom!
Just then, another tremendous crash came from the direction of Lake Center Island.
"Move! We can't stay here!" Zhao Qing's expression tightened.
The others also realized something was wrong and immediately collected the Giant-Footed Frogs' corpses.
Ji Zhixing received one as his share and, with a thought, stored it in his own gene furnace.
"Go!" Zhao Qing urged.
As they refined the corpses, they hurried after Zhao Qing toward the camp.
They had no idea what had happened on Lake Center Island, but a cautious hand kept a boat sailing for ten thousand years. Getting back early was the safer choice.
They moved quickly, almost jogging on their way back.
While hurrying along, Ji Zhixing diverted a thread of consciousness to operate the gene furnace and refine the Giant-Footed Frog. He did not dare run it at full power, so the process was considerably slower than usual.
The refining only finished when they were nearly back at camp.
He swept his consciousness through the furnace space, and his steps suddenly faltered.
"This is..."
Besides the two new Gene Source Stones, there was something else in the furnace space.
It was a pendant.
The pendant was small, only about the size of a thumb. It had an amber hue and was translucent, with the faint outline of a frog visible inside.
The frog was curled up peacefully, as though asleep.
This is... Ji Zhixing's heart jolted. Gene equipment?
Before you continue