Entering the Gene Bank

Early the next morning, as the first pale light touched the horizon, Zhang Yulan was already up and busy.

Soft sounds came from the kitchen.

Soon, the aroma of fried eggs drifted into the bedroom.

Ji Zhixing had slept lightly all night and woken early.

He took a deep breath, sat up, and began to dress.

His school uniform had faded slightly from washing, but it was clean.

He carefully smoothed the hem and packed his student ID, proof of identity, and other necessary documents into his schoolbag.

By the time he left his bedroom, breakfast was on the table.

Plain rice porridge, steamed buns, fried eggs, pickled vegetables, and a little braised meat deliberately saved from last night.

A cup of warm milk stood in front of his seat, too.

"Zhixing, come eat while it's hot."

There were dark circles beneath Zhang Yulan's eyes. Clearly, she had not slept well either, but her face was full of smiles.

Ji Guodong was already seated at the table, silently drinking his porridge.

When Ji Zhixing came out, he glanced up and pushed the plate of pickled vegetables toward his son with his rough, broad hand.

Ji Zhiyu came over after washing up. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the fried eggs, but she quickly forced herself to look away and obediently sat down to drink her porridge.

"Zhiyu, this one's for you." Ji Zhixing placed a fried egg in his sister's bowl.

"No, Zhixing, you eat it..."

"One is enough for me." Ji Zhixing cut her off and lowered his head to eat his porridge.

In this era, life was hard for ordinary people.

Ji Guodong and Zhang Yulan were both ordinary people who had never awakened gene apertures.

One did manual labor for a moving company, while the other stocked supermarket shelves. Both earned very little.

Breakfast passed in silence.

His parents ate little, their gazes drifting toward him from time to time.

His sister took small bites of her egg, occasionally stealing a glance up.

Only the faint clink of bowls and chopsticks stood out with unusual clarity.

After breakfast, the family of four went downstairs together.

Quite a few people were already moving about the residential complex in the early morning. Many were discussing last night's commotion, their voices filled with lingering fear and reverence for Garrison Commander Xiao.

"Yulan, taking Zhixing to choose his gene?"

A neighbor they knew passed by with a shopping basket. Their gaze swept over Ji Zhixing before they put on a broad smile. "Zhixing awakened a second-order gene aperture. Once he becomes a full-fledged gene cultivator, your family will be set!"

"It's all thanks to Zhixing's own efforts."

Zhang Yulan's smile blossomed with pride, even the fine lines at the corners of her eyes relaxing.

Ji Zhixing swallowed but said nothing.

When he got up that morning, he had discovered that his gene furnace had completed its transformation.

Inside the furnace, a complete Eight Trigrams diagram slowly rotated. Its eight trigrams-Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Lake-flickered with light, radiating a profound, indescribable resonance of the Dao.

But he had no idea what the transformed gene furnace could do, or whether it could help him now.

"Zhixing!"

A shout came from the distance. Liu Qifan appeared at the intersection, waving to him.

"Dad, Mom, I'm off."

Relief brightened Ji Zhixing's face, and he hurriedly spoke to his parents.

Being with his family right now, with all their hopes and concern, weighed unbearably on him.

"Good luck, Zhixing!"

Ji Zhiyu tipped her little face up and waved hard.

"Yeah." Ji Zhixing nodded, then turned and strode toward Liu Qifan, putting the three figures watching him leave out of his mind for the moment.

After meeting up with Liu Qifan, the two walked toward school side by side.

Along the way, Liu Qifan could barely contain his excitement. He talked much more than usual, repeatedly going over the strengths and weaknesses of several first-order genes, then drifting into dreams of the future.

Ji Zhixing answered absently.

Seeing how distracted he was, Liu Qifan assumed he was nervous. After offering a few words of reassurance, he fell silent.

When they reached school, the students of the senior-year gene preparatory class had already gathered on the sports field, every face filled with excitement and nerves.

After taking attendance, their homeroom teacher led everyone onto the waiting school bus.

"Do you think the person who fought that Sky Tyrant Dragon Beast yesterday really was Garrison Commander Xiao?" On the bus, the students launched into a heated discussion.

"It had to be Garrison Commander Xiao. Who else in Rain City could stop a Glory Rank gene beast?"

"If only I could become a Glory Rank gene cultivator someday..."

"Dream on. Worry about what gene you can fuse with today first!"

The students chatted excitedly, dreaming of the future while worrying about their compatibility.

Ji Zhixing took a window seat and glanced outside.

"Zhixing, have you decided what gene you're going to choose?"

A tall, straight-backed boy with short hair turned around from the row ahead.

Beside him sat a pretty girl with a ponytail. Her name was Yu Zhirou.

The short-haired boy was Huang Yu.

They were the other two talented students in the class who had awakened second-order gene apertures, and both were on fairly good terms with him.

"I'm leaning toward birds of prey, preferably something with a wind or lightning attribute. Fast and powerful."

Without waiting for Ji Zhixing's reply, Huang Yu continued on his own.

Yu Zhirou turned around as well, her voice clear and bright. "I want a special plant-type gene, preferably the blue frost ice vine gene, like Qi Xingzhou's. I just don't know how compatible I'll be."

"I don't have anything specific in mind. It mainly depends on compatibility. Anything's fine if it's a good match." Ji Zhixing answered quietly, his gaze turning to the streets flashing past the window.

Huang Yu and Yu Zhirou exchanged a glance. Both felt that Ji Zhixing seemed unusually quiet today, as though something was weighing on him.

"Don't be so nervous. With your second-order gene aperture, even average compatibility would put your starting point well above most people's," Fan Yu reassured him.

"Let's hope so." Ji Zhixing forced a faint smile and said no more.

The school bus crossed half the city before finally stopping in a heavily guarded area on the eastern side.

High walls, electrified fences, and soldiers carrying loaded weapons all marked this as no ordinary place.

Rain City Base City's Gene Bank.

It stored the vast majority of known gene samples collected from the base city and surrounding areas, and was where countless gene cultivators took their first steps.

Students from several other high schools had already gathered in the plaza before the Gene Bank's main entrance.

Led by their teacher, the group from Third Middle School joined the crowd.

Ji Zhixing looked up at the imposing silver-white building, shaped like an enormous overturned bowl, and drew a deep breath.

Once everyone had arrived, the silver-white doors slid open without a sound.

A cold, clean breeze washed over them, carrying the faint scent of energy fluid.

The interior of the Gene Bank was far grander than its exterior suggested.

Light shone down from the domed ceiling.

The floor was made of a dark gray matte metal that gave slightly underfoot and absorbed every stray sound.

The air felt almost entirely free of dust.

Ji Zhixing followed the group into the Gene Bank, where neat rows of silver metal platforms came into view.

Transparent sealed chambers were embedded in the platforms. Within them, faint lights of various colors floated motionlessly-the countless sealed gene samples.

A pale blue rectangular screen was also projected above each platform.

The screens clearly displayed each sample's name, rank, and main characteristics, and even included moving images.

Ji Zhixing looked at the platform nearest him.

[Name: tiger gene

Rank: first order

Description: the king of mountain and forest predators in the old era, mostly found in wooded mountain regions.

Primary ability tendencies: tiger strength, Tiger Roar intimidation, tiger claws.

Main advancement paths: mutant white tiger gene, mutant black tiger gene, three-eyed tiger cat gene...]