Early the next morning, Ji Zhixing woke up early as usual. The light outside his window was still gray. He lay in bed listening to the birds for a while before getting up.
"Morning, Mom." Ji Zhixing walked into the kitchen.
Zhang Yulan turned to look at him. Her eyes were still a little red, but she was smiling. "Why didn't you sleep a little longer? You surely didn't sleep well while you were away."
"I'm used to it." Ji Zhixing smiled and helped his mother set the bowls and chopsticks on the table.
After breakfast, Ji Zhixing said goodbye to his parents and headed out.
He first bought a few bags of fruit, two cartons of cigarettes, and two bottles of liquor at the shop by the residential complex's entrance. The cigarettes and liquor were for Sun Dajun, and the fruit was for He Yanbing.
Once he finished shopping, he stored everything in his Gene Furnace and went to Rain City No. 3 High School.
The security guard glanced at him, recognized him, and let him through.
The campus was quiet. The first- and second-year students were still in class, while the students in the third-year gene cultivation class had already graduated and left.
He crossed the sports field, entered the teachers' office building, and found Sun Dajun's office on the second floor.
The door was open. Sun Dajun was sitting at his desk reading something and looked up at the knock.
"Teacher Sun." Ji Zhixing stood in the doorway, carrying the cigarettes and liquor.
"Ji Zhixing!" Sun Dajun stood up and strode over. He looked Ji Zhixing up and down, then patted his shoulder. "Good lad! As long as you're all right!"
"Teacher Sun, I'm sorry I made you worry these past few days." Ji Zhixing put the cigarettes and liquor on the desk. "Just a small token of appreciation. Please accept it."
Sun Dajun glanced at the things on his desk and put on a stern face. "What are you doing? You could've just come. Why bring gifts?"
"I've already graduated, so this doesn't count as giving gifts to a teacher. It's just a small token from your student," Ji Zhixing said with a smile.
Sun Dajun waved a hand, still intending to refuse. Ji Zhixing took the Yellowstone Staff out of his Gene Furnace and offered it with both hands. "Teacher Sun, here's your staff back. Without your Yellowstone Staff, who knows how long it would've taken me to learn the Stonewall Staff Technique?"
"It was mostly thanks to your talent with staff techniques." Sun Dajun took the Yellowstone Staff and pulled Ji Zhixing over to sit down. "Come on, tell me what happened during those eighteen days."
Ji Zhixing smiled and gave a brief account without going into detail. After listening for a while, Sun Dajun sighed with feeling. "What matters is that you made it back alive."
After chatting a little longer, Ji Zhixing said goodbye and headed toward He Yanbing's office.
He Yanbing's office was on the third floor of the classroom building. The door was open, and she was sitting at her desk marking something.
"Teacher He." Ji Zhixing stood in the doorway and knocked.
"Ji Zhixing?" Seeing him, He Yanbing immediately stood up and came around the desk. She looked him up and down, her eyes full of delighted surprise. "What brings you here?"
"I came to see you." Ji Zhixing set the fruit on the desk. "I'm sorry I made you worry these past few days."
He Yanbing looked at the fruit on her desk, then at him. Suddenly, she felt that this boy was different from before.
The old Ji Zhixing had always carried a little of a teenager's impulsiveness. The young man standing before her now had a steady gaze and composed manner, as though something he had gone through had made him mature all at once.
"Come, sit." She pointed to a chair and sat down herself. Like Sun Dajun, she asked how he had spent these past few days.
"Zhixing." Once she finished asking, He Yanbing looked at him. "Zhao Gang from Class Four came back earlier. He said you ran into Gu Zheng from Rain City Middle School in the Otherworld Secret Realm?"
"Zhao Gang came back?"
Ji Zhixing's eyes lit up. Then, realizing what He Yanbing wanted to say, he nodded. "We did run into Gu Zheng, but don't worry, Teacher. I know what to do."
He Yanbing fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "I'm glad you can take it in stride. What are your plans now?"
Ji Zhixing thought for a moment and said, "Although I was trapped in the Underground Water Cave this time, misfortune turned into a blessing. I developed the Stone Skin gene ability."
"Next, I plan to develop the Gigantification Gene Ability as soon as possible and evolve my Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene into the Pikeman Stone Monkey Gene."
"What did you say?" He Yanbing's head snapped up. "You've already developed the Stone Skin gene ability?"
Ji Zhixing nodded.
He held out his hand and, with a thought, directed Gene Source Force into his arm.
A grayish-white keratin layer emerged from beneath his skin and swiftly covered his entire arm, rough and hard as rock.
He Yanbing sprang to her feet.
"What star quality is this ability?"
She stared at the grayish-white keratin layer on Ji Zhixing's arm, then stepped forward curiously and pressed it with her hand. It was solid and hard, its roughness palpable beneath her fingertips.
"Two-star." Ji Zhixing withdrew Stone Skin, and his arm returned to normal.
"A two-star ability, Stone Skin," she murmured. She looked up at Ji Zhixing, her eyes sparkling.
At first, she too had thought Ji Zhixing was either lying or indulging in wild fantasies when he said he could evolve his gene.
But now, he had developed the Stone Skin Ability. He had mastered the Army-Breaking Staff Technique and developed the Innate Staff Heart ability.
Of the three abilities, he had already achieved two.
"Zhixing."
He Yanbing looked at him, and her eyes suddenly brightened as though something had occurred to her. "I'm not sure if you know this, but aside from its regular admissions from high schools, Rain City University has another way to enroll."
Ji Zhixing froze. "There's another way to get into Rain City University?"
"Yes." He Yanbing nodded. "The other way is self-recommendation."
"This route was created specifically for cultivators like you who can evolve their genes."
"Rain City University's rules state that anyone who can evolve their gene to the second order before turning twenty can enroll through self-recommendation."
"But because achieving that is so difficult, there might not be a single person in all of Rain City Base City who manages it for years at a time. That's why most people don't know about it."
"There's actually a way like that?"
Ji Zhixing's eyes lit up.
He had thought that, having missed Rain City University's admissions, he would never have a chance to attend it in this lifetime. He had never expected there to be a self-recommendation route.
This route would originally have been very difficult for me too, he thought. After all, getting enough Gigantification Gene Potions really isn't easy.
But now I have such a huge chunk of hematite ore. If I sell it, the money might be enough for me to develop the Gigantification ability and evolve my Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene.
He stood and spoke earnestly to He Yanbing. "Teacher He, thank you for telling me all this."
He Yanbing waved a hand and smiled. "I've only told you the news. You still have to walk the road yourself. Whether you can do it is up to you."
Ji Zhixing nodded, chatted with He Yanbing a little longer, then said goodbye and left.
After walking out of the school gates, he stood by the road and looked back at the high school where he had spent over two years, drawing a deep breath.
"Ji Zhixing."
Before he could leave, a voice suddenly called out to him.
"Teacher Sun?"
Ji Zhixing turned around and discovered that the person who had called him was none other than Sun Dajun.
"Here."
Sun Dajun walked over, took out a pale blue staff, and offered it to him. "This is the school's Tidehearing Staff. I borrowed it for you."
"Since you've mastered the Army-Breaking Staff Technique and the Stonewall Staff Technique, you can try the Tide-Listening Staff Technique next."
"Keep this staff for now. Just return it once you've mastered the technique."
"This..." Ji Zhixing froze.
He quickly recovered and did not refuse. Taking the Tidehearing Staff, he said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Teacher Sun. I was just worrying about not having another staff technique to practice."
"It's nothing."
Sun Dajun waved a hand. "It's just a pity you can't get into Rain City University. Otherwise, forget two-star staff techniques-they even have the Three-Star Staff Technique and the Four-Star Staff Technique there."
"There'll be a chance," Ji Zhixing said with a smile. "Teacher He just told me Rain City University has a self-recommendation route. I'm going to give it a try."
"Self-recommendation?"
Sun Dajun paused. "You're eighteen this year. Evolving your gene within two years won't be easy. But if you're confident, there's no harm in trying."
Ji Zhixing smiled and chatted with Sun Dajun a little longer before finally saying goodbye and leaving.
"South Mountain Street, please."
After seeing Sun Dajun off, Ji Zhixing hailed a taxi.
The car started up, drove through one street after another, and finally stopped beside a bustling street.
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