A Top-Grade Rich Lady

The meat was ready.

The grill glowed golden, fat sizzling as it dripped, filling the air with an irresistible aroma.

The second serving was several times larger than the first. With thoughtful care, Lu Yuan sliced the roasted meat into bite-sized pieces, arranged them on a plate, and held it out to Yeye.

"My Lord Yeye, please — help yourself. Mind it's hot!"

Yeye took the plate, stabbed a piece with her fork, and parted her small cherry lips for a bite. Her large eyes narrowed in contentment. Behind her, the tail swayed back and forth in slow, lazy sweeps — she seemed quite pleased.

Watching her eat in dainty little bites, Lu Yuan couldn't help swallowing.

*The taste was quite good.* He suspected it came down to the inherent quality of the Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile's meat.

The two ate in companionable silence. Each time Yeye emptied her plate, Lu Yuan wordlessly refilled it. Slim as she appeared, she ate far more than he did.

He glanced at that fluffy, swishing tail and felt a sudden urge to reach out and stroke it — but he absolutely did not dare.

(Not that he was afraid of dying. It just seemed impolite.)

When Yeye finished and stared at him, he understood immediately. He broke into a smile. "Come, My Lord Yeye — hand me the plate and I'll cut you more."

She passed it over. He filled it again.

After a time, with a large portion demolished, Yeye set her plate down with satisfaction, tail still wagging without pause. Then she stood up.

All that food — and her stomach was perfectly flat.

Lu Yuan stared at her unchanged abdomen in silent shock.

*Does her stomach connect to a pocket dimension or something?*

Yeye pointed toward where the four gnolls had been. Lu Yuan looked over.

The four gnoll corpses had already dissolved into light and scattered, leaving a pile of materials, Spirit Crystals on the ground — and one spear glowing with green light.

"Those things are yours," Yeye said. "Payment for the meal."

"*For me?!*"

Lu Yuan's eyes went wide.

He turned toward Yeye — and found the cat-kin girl had already vanished without a trace. He hadn't seen her leave at all.

*She left?!*

He stood there blank, still not quite processing it. Then he snapped back and ran to where the four gnolls had fallen, gathering everything.

27 Oasis Magic Leopard hides. 34 Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile hides. 15 Ancient Sea Unicorn Sheep horns. 1,262 Spirit Crystals. And one Elite Grade spear.

*She ate his roasted crocodile — and then she paid for it?!*

*An Elite Grade Gene Armament?!*

One Elite Grade Gene Armament alone was worth over ten thousand Spirit Crystals. And that was before counting all the Spirit Crystals and materials on top of it.

Boss Grade Feral Beast meat was nominally precious — but stacked against an Elite Grade Gene Armament, it didn't even register.

*This meal — wasn't this an absolute windfall?!*

He'd braced himself for the worst. He'd thought Yeye might kill him, strip his entire haul from this trip, or at minimum demand he hand over some of his treasures. He'd told himself: hand over a portion of the gains, maybe she'd let him live. Keep a few good items, at least don't die out here and delay his next expedition into the ruins.

He never imagined she'd truly only come for the food.

*(Pff — crocodile isn't fish!)*

He'd kept her well-fed and satisfied. Naturally she hadn't just walked off and forgotten it.

*As expected of me,* he thought with a flicker of satisfaction. *When I put my mind to something, I always come through.*

Then he slapped his thigh, face twisting with anguish.

He hadn't gotten Yeye's contact information!

The payment was one thing — but Yeye was also genuinely beautiful.

*What kind of loaded si— no wait — what kind of top-grade, premium-quality wealthy patron was this?! Shouldn't he cultivate her as a long-term client? He'd cook for her every single day if that's what it took!*

What a missed opportunity. He felt like he'd let a hundred million slip through his fingers.

*Next time. Next time, he was absolutely getting Yeye's contact information.*

Lu Yuan packed up his entire haul with deep satisfaction, pitched his tent, and turned in for the night — a smile still curved at the corners of his mouth as he drifted off.

*Real World.*

In his room, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on his wooden plank bed. Spirit Crystals crumbled to powder in his hands as he absorbed them one after another.

Once his Gene Chain tempering had crossed 90%, he'd begun scouring the Battle Net for posts about how to break the Gene Lock.

The method itself was well-established. Using Origin Stones was the most direct and effective approach: absorb the dense primordial force within the stone, then channel it to assault the lock. In principle, the process was straightforward. In practice, absorbing an Origin Stone was far more difficult than absorbing Spirit Crystals — an ordinary Gene Warrior might need several days per stone — and careful preparation was essential.

A Gene Lock's strength was connected to the Transcendent Gene the warrior had inscribed, as well as the warrior's own constitution. For a lock formed around an Elite Grade gene, breaking through typically required 5 to 10 Origin Stones. Exceptionally talented warriors could manage with fewer. But there was a trade-off: the stronger the inscribed gene, the stronger the Gene Lock, and the harder the advancement.

Some well-provisioned talents could use special serums or rare natural materials to shield their Gene Chain during the process. Most ordinary Gene Warriors had no such luxury and simply had to endure.

Lu Yuan had inscribed an Elite Grade Transcendent Gene, so his lock was inherently tougher than those of Common Grade warriors. He didn't expect it to take him long, however. The single most decisive factor was the large quantity of Moonstone Spirit Essence he'd obtained.

After nearly a month of work, his Gene Chain tempering had finally reached 100%.

A crisp chime rang in his ears.

Far faster than he'd planned. He'd expected it to take over a month — perhaps close to two. The Moonstone Spirit Essence had accelerated things enormously, saving him nearly twenty days. The Origin Stones he'd acquired from the Ancient Sea had come at exactly the right time.

Now only one step remained: break the Gene Lock.

In his consciousness, the Gene Chain blazed with brilliant white light, every section radiant and gleaming — all except for one small stretch at the very tip, which still shone faint and dim.

As the entire chain reached that luminous peak, the white mist that had suffused it began surging and churning. Gradually, it parted from the top — and when it cleared, three black chains were revealed.

They coiled around the uppermost tip of the Gene Chain, sealing off a dim, barely-lit new segment of growth above. That sealed segment was the next rank, locked away, waiting.

*The Gene Lock.*

Lu Yuan gripped an Origin Stone and began absorbing.

Dense streams of primordial force seeped slowly into his body, passed through the white mist, and arrived at the Gene Chain. With a directed thought, he guided the force to strike the black chains.

The chains shuddered violently. The white mist roiled in response; the Gene Chain trembled. Waves of sharp, searing pain radiated through his body — pain rising from the very depths of his genes.

That was the price. Striking the Gene Lock sent shockwaves rippling through the Gene Chain itself, which reverberated into the body. That was why the process moved slowly.

Lu Yuan's body was exceptionally strong. Even brute-forcing through the pain, his progress remained faster than average.

Thread by thread, Spirit Power wove through the mist and merged into the dim segment at the tip of the chain. That segment slowly, steadily brightened.

He kept striking. The crack in one black chain grew wider and wider.

After an indeterminate length of time —

*CRACK!*

One black chain shattered, unraveling into trailing wisps of black smoke.

*The beginning.*

A surge of quiet elation.

But there were three chains — not one. Two still remained.

He pressed on — and felt the primordial force run dry.

He jolted. His eyes opened.

The Origin Stone in his hand had crumbled to dust at some point without him noticing.

"Gone that fast? Well — that's to be expected," he murmured.

He frowned slightly.

One chain broken. One Origin Stone spent. Two chains remaining — meaning two more Origin Stones needed.

He directed his consciousness into the Battle-mark Space and looked at the two glowing Origin Stones within, a small smile crossing his face.

Three Origin Stones in total to break the Gene Lock — already fewer than the five that ordinary Elite Grade Gene Warriors required. That number alone indicated his natural aptitude was genuinely good.

The unfortunate reality: he currently held only two Origin Stones. He'd used one. One remained. He was still one short of what he needed.

He would have to acquire another Origin Stone before he could complete the breakthrough.

Lu Yuan let out a long, slow breath, closed his eyes, and resumed his steady absorption of Spirit Crystals.