"That settles it!"
"A weak gene can be evolved, but compatibility this high is a once-in-a-lifetime find!"
A flash of resolve crossed Ji Zhixing's eyes.
He hesitated no longer.
He reached out and firmly pressed the confirmation button on the metal platform before him.
"Beep!"
A crisp electronic tone sounded.
The sealed chamber opened automatically.
Inside, a gene sample floated quietly. It was a hazy glow, with a shadow so tiny it was almost invisible faintly discernible within-the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene.
"Gene furnace!"
With a thought, Ji Zhixing immediately activated the gene furnace inside him.
An invisible force spread from his body, instantly enveloping the gene sample inside the sealed chamber.
The glow trembled slightly, then turned into a streak of light that flew straight out of the chamber and into his body.
At the same time, a faint mechanical whir came from inside the metal platform.
A fresh gene sample slowly rose from within the platform and was automatically delivered into the sealed chamber above, which closed silently.
My gene furnace is different from everyone else's. I wonder if there's anything special about how it refines genes.
Ji Zhixing looked at the gene furnace inside him.
Within its gray, misty interior, the newly absorbed glow floated quietly. It was the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene.
Refine!
Without wasting a moment, he focused his thoughts and immediately activated the gene furnace's power.
The eight-trigram pattern on the furnace's inner wall suddenly lit up and began to rotate slowly.
Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui-the eight trigrams each shone with a different color. Their light intertwined into a mysterious force that enveloped the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene.
"Hum..."
The Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene trembled softly, its glow growing brighter and brighter, as though undergoing some kind of tempering.
Almost simultaneously, Ji Zhixing clearly sensed that the light in his gene aperture compatible with ape and monkey genes, which had already occupied seventy-two percent of its area, was actually beginning to expand!
What's going on?
Ji Zhixing's pupils contracted, and his heart pounded.
Could refining genes actually increase my compatibility with them?
As soon as the thought arose, he saw the light spreading through his gene aperture at a visible pace.
Seventy-three percent... seventy-five percent... seventy-eight percent...
It really is increasing!
Uncontainable elation surged through Ji Zhixing.
He had never heard of anything like this!
Compatibility between a gene and a cultivator had always been innate.
He had never heard of anyone being able to change their compatibility with a gene.
Eighty percent!
The light in his gene aperture continued to expand, its brilliant radiance dazzling to behold.
Eighty-three percent... eighty-five percent...
Ji Zhixing could feel the refining process inside his gene furnace accelerating.
As it was refined, the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene grew purer and brighter.
It was as though every impurity was being stripped away, leaving only its most fundamental essence.
Eighty-eight percent... ninety percent...
Ji Zhixing grew tense.
The expansion within his gene aperture seemed close to reaching its limit, but he hoped his compatibility with the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene could rise even higher.
Ninety-five percent... ninety-six percent...
The light now occupied more than ninety-five percent of the gene aperture, leaving only a small patch at the edge still dim.
Yet that tiny patch seemed like an insurmountable barrier, and the light's expansion slowed to a crawl.
Refine!
Ji Zhixing gritted his teeth and drove the gene furnace frantically.
Boom!
The eight-trigram pattern inside the furnace abruptly spun faster. The eight colors almost merged into one, becoming a dazzling torrent.
Hum!
The gene sample suddenly erupted with blinding light!
Ji Zhixing's body jolted.
Within that gene aperture, the final dim patch was at last completely swallowed by the light.
In an instant, the entire gene aperture lit up!
The radiance was too intense to look at directly, like a tiny sun nestled inside his gene aperture.
One hundred percent compatibility!
Ji Zhixing had never heard of anyone attaining one hundred percent compatibility with a gene.
I wonder what will be special about compatibility this high... Ji Zhixing took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
Fuse!
Without hesitation, Ji Zhixing willed his gene aperture to release a pulse, drawing the fully refined Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene inside.
In an instant, a mysterious sensation swept through Ji Zhixing's entire body.
He could clearly sense a brand-new power within him.
That power was weak.
After all, the Three-Inch Stone Monkey was only a first-order gene, inherently feeble.
But...
Ji Zhixing stood rooted to the spot, his expression shifting before settling into shock.
He gently closed his eyes.
The sounds of the other students moving around him could not disturb him at all.
He was listening to the voice of the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene inside him.
Gene cultivators could evolve their genes precisely because they could hear their voices.
And the higher a cultivator's compatibility with a gene, the more they could hear, and the more accurate what they heard would be.
Three-Inch Stone Monkey-
Staff Soldier Stone Monkey-
Twelve-Foot Stone Monkey-
Ruyi Stone Monkey-
Nine-Aperture Stone Monkey-
Transparent Stone Monkey-
At that moment, Ji Zhixing heard a most powerful evolution path from the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene.
At the end of its evolution, the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene could even become the Combat God Monkey Gene, or an even higher-grade, more powerful gene.
Incredible! If I can really reach that point, forget seventh-order Glory Rank genes-even eighth-order legendary rank and ninth-order king rank genes would be nothing!
Ji Zhixing took a deep breath.
He continued listening to the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene's voice.
To evolve the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene into the Pikeman Stone Monkey Gene, I need to master four gene abilities.
Right now, I've only mastered one passive gene ability: stone heart.
Stone heart only strengthens my willpower and increases my resistance to mental attacks, illusions, and similar abilities. It doesn't boost my strength at all.
Aside from stone heart, the other three gene abilities I need to master are Stone Skin, Gigantification, and innate staff heart.
Once I've mastered these gene abilities, I can evolve the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene into the Pikeman Stone Monkey Gene!
"What are you doing?"
Just then, an angry voice suddenly sounded behind him. Ji Zhixing turned and saw his homeroom teacher, He Yanbing.
"Ms. He."
Ji Zhixing spoke calmly. "I went to the second floor, but my compatibility with all those second-order genes was too low."
"And then?"
He Yanbing's chest heaved. "Then you came down to the first floor? Have you paid any attention in my classes? Don't you know that even with low compatibility, a high-grade gene is stronger than a low-grade one?"
"Ms. He, my compatibility with this gene is seventy-two percent."
Ji Zhixing explained.
"Seventy-two percent?"
He Yanbing froze for a moment.
She turned to look at the metal platform in front of Ji Zhixing, and at what she saw, her chest began heaving again.
"You chose the Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene? Do you have any brains at all? No matter how high your compatibility is, how much combat power can a low-grade gene like this give you?"
"Ms. He."
Ji Zhixing addressed her once more.
Then, rather than saying anything else, he activated the gene aperture inside him with a thought.
The next moment, a hazy ring of light appeared at his dantian.
"What's going on?"
He Yanbing was taken aback.
That ring of light was the manifestation one could display after awakening a gene aperture.
But Ji Zhixing had clearly already fused with a gene. In that case, the manifestation should have contained the phantom image of a Three-Inch Stone Monkey.
Yet the manifestation Ji Zhixing displayed consisted of nothing but a ring of light.
There was nothing else at all.
"I awakened a twin-core gene aperture. Consider this an experiment. If my Three-Inch Stone Monkey Gene can't evolve, I definitely won't choose a first-order gene the next time I come here."
Ji Zhixing spoke slowly.
Before you continue