Development Paths at First-Rank
The Origin Stone had been fully absorbed. Inside the white mist, the Light Gate was almost completely repaired.
He waited. When it had finally finished restoring itself, Lu Yuan left the Land of Origin.
Back in the real world, it was noon the following day.
He sat down at his desk — and immediately remembered the message he had sent Li Qinghe yesterday.
He checked his communicator. Nothing from her.
*Is she busy?*
He thought it over and walked to Li Qinghe's door. Knocked.
No answer.
He stood there a moment, then decided against forcing his way in.
*Maybe Qinghe-jie's still caught up in something. I'll give her more time.*
He left his room, planning to head over to Wild Wolf Materials and take care of his remaining haul.
His phone rang.
He picked up — yesterday's delivery service.
"Hello, is this Mr. Lu Yuan?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Your package is ready for delivery. We're bringing it to your door now — should arrive in about an hour."
"Great. I'll be home."
*A delivery?* His only pending delivery was the Origin Stone from yesterday's trade.
*So the Origin Stone arrived already? That fast?*
He had to change his plans. He turned back and went to his room to wait.
He settled in and started browsing the Battle Net.
*Nothing better to do anyway — might as well look at Transcendent Genes.*
He opened the Transcendent Gene category and started scrolling.
On Battle Net, nearly everything was Common Grade. That was expected — Common Grade Transcendent Genes only required killing Elite Feral Beasts, which wasn't particularly difficult. Supply was plentiful. Most Gene Warriors encoded their first gene at Common Grade, too.
For Lu Yuan with his Evolution Cube, quality was irrelevant. *I can always evolve it.*
He scrolled through the listings. Nothing particularly stood out.
The variety was broad: Guardian Type genes — Tortoise Shell, Rough Bark, Petrified Skin, Shield Guard, and others. Assault Type — Fury Strike, Power Strike, Double Strike, and more. Auxiliary Type — Vine Entangle, Mud Swamp, various slowing debuffs. Every imaginable category.
He needed traits that actually fit him.
Even the handful of Elite Grade listings he came across were nothing special — ordinary Combat Techniques that would mean little to him at this stage. The two Transcendent Genes he had sold off just yesterday were more useful than most of what he was looking at now.
His browsing slowed to a stop.
**Combat Technique: Heavy Strike**
An Assault Type burst Combat Technique. It consumed Spirit Power to release an enhanced surge of force.
The effect was similar to his Black Steel Force. The key difference: Black Steel Force was a Body Technique — it drew on physical stamina and scaled with the body's raw power. Heavy Strike was a Combat Technique — it consumed Spirit Power and could also integrate with physical power.
Obviously, Black Steel Force with its fourfold boost was far superior to Heavy Strike.
He shook his head and kept scrolling.
Then he stopped.
**Combat Technique: Natural Recovery**
*Wait — this is a healing-type Transcendent Gene?*
He was caught pleasantly off guard. He tapped to open the description.
Common Grade Transcendent Gene. Price: 3,500,000 Red Maple Coins.
*Three and a half million.*
Lu Yuan stared at it.
*Someone's gone completely mad with greed.*
Then something struck him.
He was about to break through to First-Rank Warrior. Once he did, he could encode a new Transcendent Gene — and he would need to choose a direction.
Right now, his only real option was the Elite Grade Water Arrow gene. The Boss Grade staff that had been earmarked for auction was long gone — traded away for an Origin Stone.
Encoding Water Arrow would let him function as a heavily fortified ranged turret, devastating offense behind near-impenetrable defense. That path had genuine merit.
But Natural Recovery...
*That path might actually work.*
If he took this healing Combat Technique — together with his current Black Iron Body — and pushed both to Boss Grade, his combat power would likely let him fight opponents well above his rank.
His defense was already extreme. To one-shot him, an enemy would need to outclass him by a substantial margin.
And if they couldn't kill him quickly?
He would slowly recover. Outlast them. Grind them down.
*Overwhelming defense combined with healing ability — isn't that functionally an undying body?*
The obvious concern was Spirit Power consumption. That kind of sustained regeneration would be completely impractical for most Gene Warriors — Spirit Power had real limits.
But for him? That was the last thing he needed to worry about. As long as he had Spirit Crystals, his Spirit Power was effectively limitless. This mode wasn't realistic for any other Gene Warrior. For him, it barely registered as a constraint.
And compared to a speed enhancement, healing ability had far broader utility. Not every situation called for high-speed combat.
*Encoding Natural Recovery — that's a viable path.*
He still wasn't entirely satisfied. The catalog was vast. Maybe something even better suited to him was waiting further along.
He kept scrolling.
He still had time before the delivery arrived. He left his suite and made his way to the Auction House.
He planned to consign some Elite Grade Gene Armaments. In his original plan, the Boss Grade staff had been the centerpiece item — but plans don't always hold. The staff was gone, traded for an Origin Stone.
What remained to consign were eight Elite Grade Gene Armaments, plus two Boss Grade materials from the Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile: a horn and a hide.
Lu Yuan entered through the Auction House's side door into a hall of roughly two hundred square meters.
Eight four-meter-tall Constructs stood posted on either side. Rows of seats filled the center, several Gene Warriors already seated and waiting. Across the far side of the hall was another door, with a roughly two-meter Construct stationed beside it.
He walked over. The Construct looked at him.
"Human, do you want to consign items?"
"Yes."
The Construct handed him a pale yellow metal tag. Engraved on it: No. 021.
"Hold onto that tag and wait in the hall."
Lu Yuan took a seat and surveyed the room. The Gene Warriors seated nearby returned his gaze.
A corridor led beyond the far door. Rooms lined both sides, their doors closed. Numbers were called starting from 001, counting upward.
A gnoll who had been waiting in the hall stood and entered the corridor.
Time passed. A human emerged. Then a cat-kin walked out and returned a tag to the Construct at the corridor entrance. The Construct glanced at it.
"No. 021."
Lu Yuan stood and headed for the corridor.
He walked in. Before long the passage forked — but a signpost marked the directions. He followed the route for rooms 020 to 050 and soon found a room with its door standing open.
He stepped inside.
Small room — roughly ten square meters, no windows, completely enclosed. A table in the center with a Construct seated behind it.
He closed the door.
"Human," the Construct said, "show me your metal tag."
He held it up. The Construct nodded.
"Place your consignment items on the table, human."
Lu Yuan took out his items one by one.
The Construct picked up an Elite Grade spear. He recognized it at once — that was Yeye's "payment for the meal," stripped from a gnoll's body.
"Elite Grade spear, 75% tempering. Recommended starting bid: 7,000 Spirit Crystals. Do you wish to modify the starting bid?"
"No changes."
The spear vanished from the Construct's grip. It reached for a large black shield next.
"Elite Grade giant shield, 77% tempering. Recommended starting bid: 7,500 Spirit Crystals. Do you wish to modify the starting bid?"
"No changes."
The Construct worked through every item methodically. Starting bids for the Elite armaments ranged between 5,000 and 10,000 Spirit Crystals. The two Boss Grade materials commanded higher figures — the horn at 12,000, the hide at 13,500. After each assessment, the Construct asked whether he wanted to modify the starting bid.
Lu Yuan declined every time.
The process wrapped up quickly. He left the small room.
He returned his tag to the Construct at the corridor entrance. The Construct immediately called out: "No. 021" — already summoning the next client.
He walked back through the hall and left the Auction House, aware of the eyes trailing after him.
Once his previously consigned items sold, he would net another hundred thousand Spirit Crystals or so — a tidy additional sum.
After leaving the Auction House, the Light Gate in his mind had almost fully repaired.
Lu Yuan stretched and allowed himself a quiet smile.