# Chapter 344: Breaking Through to War God, A New Divine Grade Gene

Upper Layer, Land of Origin. Gravity Room.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged, bronze grains of sand swirling around him as clock hands turned and the River of Time materialized.

An aura of profound mystery surged through the Gravity Room.

Moments later, all phenomena dissipated. Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, the phantom clock hands within them fading away.

He exhaled a slow breath and allowed himself a small smile.

*Finally finished tempering the Sands of Time to perfection.*

After the destruction of the Heavenly Calamity Cult, nothing major had occurred across Human Race territory. Lu Yuan had cultivated in peace for several days, completing the tempering of the Sands of Time gene — which had been halfway done — to full mastery.

Next, he needed to shatter the Gene Lock and achieve War God rank.

Once he reached War God, he would inscribe his final Transcendent Gene, temper it to perfection, and then turn his attention to comprehending the Laws.

Beyond that, he could visit the locations the Mirage Dragon had mentioned — where the other Guardians resided — and absorb the remaining Origin Fragments to complete the Cosmic Origin.

If the Cosmic Origin were fully restored, his capabilities should see another massive leap. There might even be other benefits he couldn't predict.

A spark of anticipation flickered through him.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Lu Yuan focused on the present.

He examined his Gene Chain. The white mist shrouding its uppermost layer dispersed, revealing the Gene Lock.

The densely packed Gene Locks were comparable in number to those he'd faced before his Battle Saint breakthrough.

This came as no surprise — he'd anticipated as much. After all, he had absorbed another Origin Fragment since then, elevating his life essence once again. Moreover, after reaching Battle Saint, none of his genes could continue evolving; the only addition had been one more Saint Grade gene. Combined with the considerable deepening of his cultivation, the current number of Gene Locks fell well within expectations.

He wasn't particularly fatigued from training, so he decided to break through immediately.

He didn't bother leaving the Gravity Room. He simply produced his last batch of Origin Stones and prepared to break through on the spot.

The Origin Stones rewarded from the Saint Rankings weren't quite enough, but Lu Yuan still had reserves from before — a quick evolution through the Cube and they were ready to use.

One by one, Origin Stones were absorbed. Dense, surging Spirit Power flowed into his body.

Gene Locks shattered in succession, his aura climbing steadily.

When the final Gene Lock broke, the thick fog atop his Gene Chain dispersed, revealing the last gene chain.

Simultaneously, his physical body underwent another transformation — life itself sublimated once more.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, clenched his fist, and let a satisfied smile cross his face.

Breaking through to War God had elevated his strength considerably. With the Sands of Time now fully tempered on top of that, he suspected even the Mirage Dragon might no longer be his match.

Now it was time to inscribe a Transcendent Gene.

He had only one blank gene chain remaining — room for a single, final Transcendent Gene. This last choice demanded careful deliberation.

He had considered numerous options before finally settling on his target.

Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene: True Phantom.

That was right — he'd been thinking about the Mirage Dragon's devastating ability to bring its fantasies into physical existence. If he chose a Transcendent Gene with illusory properties and evolved it to Divine Grade, could it become something akin to the Mirage Dragon's gene?

In the end, he went with this choice.

Inscribing a Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene posed no difficulty for Lu Yuan at his current level. He completed the inscription with ease.

After that came evolution.

Lu Yuan had continued auctioning evolved treasures during this period to acquire Spirit Crystals, and the Evolution Cube itself held a substantial reserve of Spirit Power — more than enough.

The Evolution Cube pulsed with deep blue light, and the evolution began.

Saint Grade Transcendent Gene: Realm of Illusions.

Divine Grade Transcendent Gene: Fantasy Manifestation.

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up when he saw the Divine Grade result, and a grin spread across his face.

*Just as I thought!*

The same Law Force as the Mirage Dragon.

Fantasy Manifestation could bring imagined objects into physical existence — not just inanimate matter, but living creatures as well. However, manifesting living beings consumed far more energy than manifesting objects.

Furthermore, while manifested life appeared convincingly real, fantasy was still fantasy. The false remained false and would never become genuine.

That wasn't all. Fantasy Manifestation operated under the Illusion Law of the mental school — capable of infiltrating a target's mind, trapping them within a manufactured illusion, even steering their actions according to the user's will without any awareness that something was wrong. From the target's perspective, every thought and impulse felt entirely their own.

That was truly terrifying.

Lu Yuan immediately recalled his battle with the Mirage Dragon, when his own deified Spirit Cannon had suddenly turned on him mid-fight. If not for his formidable survival abilities, that could have been the end right then and there.

Of course, Fantasy Manifestation had its limits. The more powerful the thing one wished to manifest, the deeper one's understanding of it needed to be, and the greater the Spirit Power expenditure.

Lu Yuan could manifest a phantom copy of himself, or even another War God entirely. But manifesting a different War God was exponentially harder than replicating himself, with a high chance of failure — after all, he simply didn't know enough about other War Gods.

During their battle, the Mirage Dragon had used a fantasy Small World to summon powerful beings from within it, with the Small World itself supplying energy to sustain those fighters and easing the burden on the dragon.

That was an extraordinarily refined application of the technique. Lu Yuan couldn't begin to replicate it at his current level. He suspected that even with Fantasy Manifestation tempered to perfection, he'd still need a certain degree of Law comprehension to pull it off.

That alone spoke volumes about just how powerful the Mirage Dragon truly was.

All in all, Fantasy Manifestation matched what the Mirage Dragon had demonstrated — an exceptionally formidable and unsettling Law.

Lu Yuan was quite satisfied.

*When I see the Mirage Dragon next and show him this Fantasy Manifestation... I wonder what his reaction will be?*

A mischievous grin tugged at his lips.

Since he was now a War God himself, evolving a Transcendent Gene to Divine Grade didn't produce severe side effects. He didn't even sustain injuries — just a mild ache.

He stood, stretched, and worked the stiffness from his body before leaving the Gravity Room.

Having finally broken through to War God, a brief rest was in order. Work-life balance and all that.

He teleported back to the villa using spatial power. In the main hall, Si Tingxue, Rebecca, Amy, and Wang Lingling sat on the sofas, chatting.

All four looked up when he entered.

Rebecca's eyes brightened. She hopped to her feet with a grin, wrapped her arms around Lu Yuan, and nuzzled her cheek against his arm.

"Yuan, you're done training?"

Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile. Compared to the others, Rebecca was the clingiest by far.

Si Tingxue offered him a gentle smile as well, the usual frost of her features softening with warmth.

Amy blinked her large eyes and spoke up with a playful grin. "Big liar, you're back early today! Were you slacking off? That won't do — you need to train hard. Learn from me!"

By the end of her little speech, even she was laughing.

Perhaps feeling the pressure of those around her, Amy had been training diligently as of late — a fact she'd grown rather proud of, since dedicated effort was a genuine rarity for her.

Wang Lingling wore a soft smile as she cast a sidelong glance at her young mistress. "My lady, all that hard work and you still haven't broken through to Battle Sovereign."

The grin froze on Amy's face.

She puffed out her cheeks and glared at Wang Lingling. "I'm about to break through! Any day now! It's coming!"

"Is that so?"

Wang Lingling studied Amy with a strange, knowing look.

Si Tingxue and Rebecca turned to look as well, their expressions equally peculiar.

Amy was no longer the naive girl she'd once been. She blinked, and a moment later, realization hit.

Her face flushed scarlet. She stole a furtive glance at Lu Yuan, then burrowed into Wang Lingling's arms, her voice small and indignant.

"Stop looking at me!"

Undisguised delight spread across Wang Lingling's face as she stroked Amy's long purple hair.

"Of course, of course, my lady~"

Lu Yuan stared, deadpan.

He shot Wang Lingling a look. After all these years, she still took this much pleasure in teasing Amy?

Wang Lingling lifted her gaze to him. "Since Yuan's back, how about I cook tonight?"

Like Si Tingyu and Shuangyue, Wang Lingling knew her way around a kitchen and pitched in from time to time, though those two usually took the lead. With neither of them home at the moment, the duty naturally fell to her.

Lu Yuan considered for a moment, then smiled. "Let's wait a bit. I've broken through to War God. Once Qinghe and the others get back, we should celebrate properly."

Silence fell. Then all four women stared at him, eyes wide.

Si Tingxue's cool voice carried a faint tremor. "Yuan... you've broken through to War God?"

After all, while Lu Yuan had possessed War God-level strength, his actual cultivation rank hadn't matched — until now.

War God.

The absolute pinnacle of combat power in the entire universe.

Just five years ago, Lu Yuan had only just undergone his Awakening. Her memory of their first meeting felt like yesterday.

To think that in a mere five years, he had reached War God.

A peculiar grin played across Rebecca's lips. "Heh heh heh~ Come to think of it, Yuan hasn't even graduated from Talent Camp yet. When he graduates next year, the Camp's going to produce a War God-level graduate."

The image made even Si Tingxue smile.

She was quite curious what the instructors and fellow students would look like when that day came.

"That would make Yuan the most unprecedented graduate in Talent Camp history," she said with a soft laugh. "I doubt anyone will ever surpass that record."

A twenty-three-year-old War God. That was no laughing matter.

Wang Lingling and Amy were equally stunned.

Wang Lingling gazed at Lu Yuan, her smile warmer and softer than usual. "That's our Yuan. Truly remarkable."

Amy bobbed her head eagerly, then got a dreamy look in her eyes. "The big liar's gonna be the strongest in the universe! So later, when I want to go out and have fun, you can put in a word with my great-grandfather — he definitely won't dare say no!"

She planted her hands on her hips in triumph, clearly already envisioning a life of unbridled freedom.

Lu Yuan looked at the self-satisfied Amy, one eye twitching.

*I break through to War God, and her first thought is to throw my weight around so she can go play?*

*That's Amy for you.*

Wang Lingling gazed at her young mistress with a tender smile. "I'm afraid I won't approve, my lady. Surely a certain someone wouldn't bully me over it?"

She turned her smile on Lu Yuan and batted her eyes.

Amy froze, her own eyes going round.

"What?! That's not fair!"

She retreated into sulking silence.

The other three couldn't hold back their smiles.

Compared to Si Tingxue, Rebecca, and Yeye, Amy was the most carefree of them all.

By evening, Li Qinghe and the others returned from their own training.

When they heard Lu Yuan had actually broken through to War God, elation erupted all around.

Yeye immediately declared a proper celebration was in order, swallowing repeatedly as she spoke.

In the end, Li Qinghe, Shuangyue, and Wang Lingling cooked together, and they all shared a lavish meal in honor of the occasion.

After a night's rest, Lu Yuan resumed his usual routine — training every day as before, aiming to temper Fantasy Manifestation to perfection as quickly as possible, then turn to the comprehension of the Laws.

**Mechanical Kingdom. The Cosmic Boundary.**

Where the breach in the Cosmic Boundary had opened, an enormous nest of living flesh clung to the membrane's surface.

Grotesque, savage Aberrant Beasts poured from the nest. Spatial gates materialized one after another, and the creatures surged through, dispersing to other regions.

Meanwhile, vast hordes of Aberrant Beasts clashed in the vacuum not far from the nest.

Across this battlefield, Mechanical Lifeforms fought alongside Beast Race, Elf Race, and Human Race powerhouses, Spirit Power blazing as they cut down the invaders.

The Mechanical Lifeforms formed the overwhelming majority. The Beast Race, Elf Race, and Human Race had committed only those at Battle Emperor rank and above.

Within a colossal steel fortress, War Gods from all four races sat together. The atmosphere was grim.

The Mechanical Race had the largest delegation. The Human Race and Beast Race each had two War Gods present, while the Elf Race had three.

After a heavy silence, one of the Mechanical War Gods spoke.

"These Aberrant Beasts are endless. If this continues, we may never retake the breach. The Mechanical Race has committed every resource we have — there's nothing left to give." His gaze swept across the War Gods of the other three races, his tone grave. "We need your reinforcements."

The faces of the Human, Beast, and Elf War Gods darkened.

Another beat of silence, and then a Beast Race War God spoke — an enormous Giant Wolf with silver fur and a single golden horn rising from its brow. Cold eyes fixed on the Mechanical War God who had spoken.

"This is your Mechanical Race's failure, and now you expect the other three races to clean up your mess?"