Ding Huan returned to Yujiang University, and once he heard it was the Washing Blade Association, he knew he couldn't get anything out of them.
He had heard of the Washing Blade Association in his previous life, a power not small by any means that would take on any dark task given the right price.
He bore no grudges against the Washing Blade Association, so their attempts to capture him obviously meant someone else had commissioned them.
To Ding Huan's satisfaction, since he had killed those two who were watching him, no one bothered him for the following three days.
After three days of cultivation, Ding Huan could distinctly feel a strand of Inner Qi beginning to consolidate inside his body.
Indeed, having a gene spiritual root versus not having one made a total difference. In his last life, it took the fusion of three types of genes before he began gene meditation and became a level one gene cultivator after seventeen years.
With his experience, at this speed of Inner Qi consolidation, he would take at most a month to become a level one gene cultivator.
This was on Earth, where the elemental energy was scarce. On Changyi Continent, perhaps he would only need a week.
...
The tallest building in Luoh River City was Luohuan Building.
At the top floor of the Luohuan Building was one of the three main bases of the Washing Blade Association.
Currently, in the meeting room at the top floor, twenty-one people sat around a large oval conference table in a somber atmosphere.
"How did Dong Gu and Li Changqi die?" said a bald man sitting in the seat of honor.
His name was Yuan Youzhen, one of the three vice chairmen of the Washing Blade Association, second only to the chairman Chen Changsheng.
The meeting room was eerily quiet, and those familiar with Yuan Youzhen knew this was the prelude to his killing spree.
In an era when Earth's environment had mutated and Genetic Beasts roamed freely, human life was the cheapest commodity.
Reports of Genetic Beasts causing deaths were rampant every day, making a return to the peaceful harmony of the old days almost impossible.
Six years earlier, due to one of the Washing Blade Association's subordinates clashing with a Fierce Beast hunting group and getting his hands chopped off, Yuan Youzhen exterminated the entire group.
But that was not the worst. Two members of the group were from Luoh River City, and not satisfied with just killing every member of the group, Yuan Youzhen also killed all of their relatives in Heluo City.
Given Yuan Youzhen's nature, with two subordinates dead, how could he not be furiously incensed?
A young woman stood up. Speaking respectfully, she said, "Based on our investigation over the past three days, it's very likely that Dong Gu and Li Changqi died because they took the Shi Yina Gene Potion and couldn't merge it with their bodies."
"How could they possibly get their hands on the Shi Yina Gene?" Yuan Youzhen frowned.
"I haven't figured out the specifics yet, but the cameras where they lived were deliberately destroyed," the woman replied before sitting down.
"This means they were murdered, right? Was it that Ding Xiaotu?" Yuan Youzhen's voice carried a hint of venom.
A middle-aged man proactively said, "It's very likely someone else killed them, I think it's unlikely that it was Ding Xiaotu. Ding Xiaotu is just a student, where would he think of disabling the cameras? And he doesn't have the capability."
"Heh, let's also not rule out that Dong Gu and Li Changqi destroyed the cameras themselves. Perhaps they got their hands on the Shi Yina Gene and wanted to leave the Washing Blade Association, so they destroyed the cameras and planned to flee after fusing with the gene. They just didn't foresee their fusion failure and subsequent deaths," another person added.
The meeting room fell into a brief silence. It was normal for low-level members to want to leave the Washing Blade Association because as members, obtaining top-tier gene potions like Shi Yina's meant they had to turn them over.
"Feng Yu, you'll handle this matter. Until we have results, put a hold on Ding Xiaotu's case," Yuan Youzhen's voice contained a sliver of murderous intent.
Everyone was clear that there were only two possible reasons for the death of two Washing Blade Association members: either it was the hidden force of Ding Baishan that had made a move, which seemed unlikely. Ding Baishan, as the founder of Baiyu Group, was just an ordinary person – where would he have any hidden forces? If he did, Ding Jie would have been killed a long time ago.
The more likely reason was that Dong Gu and Li Changqi had gotten their hands on the Shi Yina Gene Potion and didn't want to turn it over, so the two decided to destroy the cameras and prepare to fuse with the Shi Yina Gene. Once fused, they would immediately flee Heluo City. Their destruction of the cameras also created an illusion that they were taken away by someone.
...
"Boom!" Ding Huan felt as if some shackles inside his body had been blasted open, and an unending surge of power flooded in.
Am I already a level one gene cultivator? Ding Huan clenched his fists, excited.
In his previous life, it wasn't until he went to the Changyi Continent and struggled for nearly twenty years that he became a level one gene cultivator.
And that was just on the surface because, at the time, he did not possess a gene spiritual root.
In this life, it took him only twelve days — twelve days to become a level one gene cultivator, which was two-thirds shorter than he had anticipated.
Ding Huan looked at the oily sludge seeping out of his skin, took a deep breath, and finally had the ability to protect himself.
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Next, what he needed to do was choose some genes to fuse.
The strength of the Great Wilderness Golden Ape and the Illusion Eye gene were definitely on his list to acquire, but his current strength wasn't sufficient to obtain them.
Beyond that, his first choice was the ability to recover from injuries—there were too many animals and plants capable of such regeneration.
However, Ding Huan immediately ruled out plants, which were different from the Spirit Root gene.
The limb regeneration ability of geckos could be considered king, but compared to planarians, geckos still lacked a fire of sorts.
The next moment, Ding Huan excluded planarians as well—planarians could rapidly regenerate even from minor injuries, even if cut into several pieces, they could each grow into a new planarian.
But this always felt odd to Ding Huan, not because the planarian was a repulsive creature to look at.
Gene fusion had nothing to do with the physical body of the animals, survival of the fittest applied, any useful Genetic Ability was fine, but subconsciously Ding Huan felt that planarians were not suitable for cultivators.
Besides these options, there was also the Fire Lizard, whose regenerative ability was also astonishingly strong.
Ding Huan decided to research the injury recovery gene of Fire Lizards, which was extremely important to him.
"Ding Huan..." Eager shouts came from outside, and upon hearing them, Ding Huan knew it was Geng Qianxing.
Upon opening the door, Geng Qianxing rushed in, and in contrast to his disheveled appearance in the lab, he now looked much more presentable.
At the very least his face was clean, and his hair neatly combed.
"You have no idea how busy I've been these past few days, the students are already here, come with me to class and check out these students who are going to participate in the assessment."
Although Geng Qianxing had been designated by Principal Tan as the teacher in charge of the assessment, he really didn't know where to start.
"Okay, just give me a moment," Ding Huan had become a first-level gene cultivator and had no intention of continuing to hide at home for cultivation.
Half an hour later, after a shower and changing into clean clothes, Ding Huan and Geng Qianxing arrived at the assessment class.
To say that Yujiang University was serving this one assessment class wasn't an exaggeration.
After all, if just one person could enter the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges, Yujiang University would definitely survive.
However, Ding Huan was well aware that if he didn't participate in leading this assessment, it was unlikely anyone from Yujiang University would qualify.
Following Geng Qianxing into the classroom, Ding Huan saw a group of students gathered together, chattering and discussing.
"Teacher, you are too slow, we've been waiting for over half an hour for you to arrive," a long-haired youth complained as soon as Geng Qianxing stepped into the class.
Not only that, the chatter in the classroom didn't seem to decrease.
Geng Qianxing felt embarrassed; after all, he was the teacher, and these students were paying him very little respect.
He also knew that every one of these students came from no simple background.
The simpler ones wouldn't be able to rely on Yujiang University to get a spot in the recruitment assessment of the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges.
"Teacher, why don't you just give us the qualification certificates, and we can all go back home, wouldn't that be best?" another female student added.
Ding Huan understood, it seemed that these students had no hope of obtaining assessment skills from Yujiang University; they didn't even consider the teachers of Yujiang University worthy of attention.
Their only purpose here was to get the qualification certificate for the assessment of the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges and then leave.
"I'll handle this," Ding Huan patted Geng Qianxing's shoulder, having plenty of ways to deal with these youngsters.
"I know that everyone sitting here came for that one qualification certificate.
Not to discourage you, but just because you are sitting here now doesn't mean you are certain to have the qualification certificate for the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges assessment in your hands..."
With that, Ding Huan indeed stirred the crowd. The previously noisy classroom fell silent in an instant.
The students who could sit here believed that participating in the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges assessment was a done deal, so how could it be that the certificate wasn't guaranteed?
Ding Huan spoke indifferently, "You should be aware of how many people covet these twenty examination qualification certificates. Your family's connections are strong, but that doesn't mean there aren't others with even stronger ones."
At this remark, even the long-haired youth quieted down and quickly sat up straight.
He knew that what Ding Huan was saying was the truth; perhaps his qualification was relatively secure, but what if something went wrong?
"I am standing here wanting to tell you all that Mr. Geng and I have a deep understanding of genetics and genetic cultivation.
If you are willing to stay here and receive the pre-assessment training from Mr. Geng and me, then listen carefully to my next words..."
Ding Huan paused for a moment, then continued, "Of course, those who are unwilling to accept the pre-assessment training from Mr. Geng and me can leave now.
As for your participation in the assessment, you won't miss out on certificates; someone will deliver them to you since they are not available right now."
After Ding Huan finished speaking, he saw almost everyone stand up and then walk out of the classroom.
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