Chapter 43 - 41 Spells and Gene Skills

With the experience gained from extracting the gene of the Golden-Faced Coarse-Tailed Monkey, Ding Huan encountered no significant detours while refining the recovery gene potion for the Two-Horned Fire Lizard. However, this particular Two-Horned Fire Lizard might contain a trace of Divine Beast bloodline, making the full integration of this Divine Beast's gene skills into his own attribute genes much more difficult than the Antidote Gene of the Golden-Faced Coarse-Tailed Monkey. Simply finding the complete recovery gene chain took Ding Huan three full days. He had hardly left the laboratory; fortunately, the laboratory was well-equipped. To regain his energy, Ding Huan cultivated for another day. After that, things became simpler. On the fifth day, Ding Huan created the true injury recovery gene. He had specially refined two portions of the genetic potion to leave one for Qu Yi. In his bag, he also had a portion of the injury recovery gene potion extracted from the genes of a Hexagonal Fire Lizard. Compared to the two true recovery gene potions he now had, however, it was like heaven and earth – not on the same level at all. Indeed, effort yields rewards. If he hadn't risked his life to search Penglu Mountain for that Fire Lizard with a trace of the Divine Beast bloodline, how could he have produced such fine items? He hurriedly packed his things and vacated the laboratory. To the person responsible for renting out the laboratories, the disheveled appearance of Ding Huan seemed unsurprising. Many genetic scholars who frequented the laboratory left looking as unkempt as Ding Huan. Renting a laboratory wasn't cheap; if you need to take breaks every few days, it would be too wasteful. After leaving the laboratory, Ding Huan's first order of business was to find a hotel. Pu Hai was truly vast, and despite the influx of people from all over the world for the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges' assessment, the majority of them were concentrated around Pu Hai Martial Arts Square. Located at the opposite end of the Martial Arts Square, Ding Huan easily found accommodation. After resting for a night in the hotel, Ding Huan took the injury recovery gene potion he had refined. Despite being at room temperature, the potion immediately transformed into streams of cool, refreshing springs that permeated every part of his body upon ingestion. Ding Huan circulated his Luo Shijin and began the Cycle, reaching a meditative state in just two cycles. He was awakened only because someone was knocking at the door. Ding Huan opened his eyes and felt an indescribable sense of comfort and satisfaction throughout his body. "Bang bang!" The door was knocked again. Ding Huan felt helpless and could only open the door. Standing at the door was a waiter who, upon seeing Ding Huan open the door, apologized somewhat regretfully, "I'm sorry for disturbing you. You haven't opened your door for three days, so we were a bit concerned." "Forget it, if I don't come out in the future, just don't randomly knock on my door, alright? Don't worry about the room fee; I've deposited fifty thousand upfront." Waving his hand, Ding Huan had to let it go. "Alright, if you need anything at all, please feel free to call on us," said the waiter, apologizing once more before he left. It seemed he would need to find a quiet place for seclusion; otherwise, being disturbed every few days during cultivation wasn't ideal. Closing the door, Ding Huan looked at his arm. Should he slash it with a knife to test the effectiveness of his recovery? He was already a Second Level gene cultivator; why bother with a knife? Focusing Inner Qi to sever his arm should be feasible, right? Ding Huan contemplated how to concentrate his Inner Qi to form Sword Energy to slice open his arm, careful not to sever it completely. An abrupt message flashed through Ding Huan's mind: Wind Blade Skill... Wind Blade Skill? Ding Huan suddenly stood up. Why was such information popping into his mind? But in the next instant, the method to cast the Wind Blade Skill became etched in his memory, crystal clear. Impressive! Ding Huan wiped the sweat from his forehead. It wasn't that he found the Wind Blade Skill itself impressive – and indeed, it was powerful according to his memory, easily castable using a Magic Spell to focus Inner Qi – but rather the leather scroll that contained it, or more accurately, the person who created that scroll. What other information might the leather scroll contain that he hadn't yet unearthed? "I believe that even if humanity advances to the era of genes, obtaining gene spiritual roots, return the power to the era of Pure Spirit Roots' magic cultivators would be very difficult. The reason is that during the era of magic cultivation, there were too many strong individuals with spirit roots. After countless years of refinement and generations of trial and error, a multitude of simple to complex magic spells were developed... I can't possibly pass on all those spells, but I can still etch simple Daoist spells like the Wind Blade Skill, Wind Control Skill, Fireball Technique, Dust Removal Technique, and Concealing Technique into this leather scroll..." The information surfacing in Ding Huan's mind left him stunned. Wind Blade, Fireball, Wind Control – such abilities existed on Changyi Continent too, but they were achieved through genetic potions. For instance, the Wind Blade required the fusion of the Blade-spitting Toad's genes to create a gene potion, allowing the integration of this potion to gain the Wind Blade Skill. Similarly, the Fireball Technique required extraction of the Fire-spitting Attribute gene from the body of a Fire Qilin to create a gene potion for human integration. Setting aside other Mutated Fierce Beasts, the Fire Qilin was not one; only a Fire Qilin containing a trace of Divine Beast bloodline could possess the Fire-spitting Attribute gene. Hence, on Changyi Continent, a Fire Qilin with the Fire-spitting Attribute was an invaluable treasure. No, to be precise, a single drop of blood from such a Fire Qilin was invaluable. Yet, the memories in his mind suggested that Wind Blade Skill, Fireball Technique, and similar spells could be realized not through genetic skills potions but through magic spells. Ding Huan fell silent instead. He had always thought that the gene spiritual root was no different from a spiritual root. According to the knowledge from the leather scroll he obtained, after the ancient immortals had perished, it was because the spirit roots had disappeared. So, if he wanted to cultivate, he could only fuse with a gene spiritual root. Now that he had fused with the gene spiritual root, it was the same as having the foundation to become an Immortal God and approach the ancient powerhouses. But was that really the case? Now there was a divergence here, as the cultivation of spirit roots eventually led to the emergence of spells. The cultivation of gene spiritual roots, on the other hand, led to the fusion of Alien Gene skills. As Ding Huan thought of this, he suddenly circulated his Inner Qi, his hands quickly forming magic spells, and then a blade light burst forth from his hands. "Crack!" The bedside cabinet nearby was almost split in half by the Wind Blade. Looking at the deep trace on the bedside cabinet, Ding Huan gasped in shock; such a powerful Wind Blade Skill! If it sliced a person, wouldn't they be cut in half? This was his first time casting the Wind Blade Skill; what would it be like once he got skilled? Wasn't this much stronger than fusing with Alien Gene skills? In his previous life on the Changyi Continent, he had dreamt of obtaining a Blade-spitting Toad to create and fuse with a Blade Radiance Gene Potion. Regrettably, he had not managed to do so until his demise. Now it had come so effortlessly? The effect was far superior to the Blade-spitting Skill fused with the Blade-spitting Toad gene. Immediately, Ding Huan went to the bathroom, his hands forming one magic spell after another. Half a minute later, a faint mist dissipated in his palm, without a Fireball appearing. Ding Huan did not try again; the reason he had not blasted out a Fireball was due to unfamiliarity, not because there was any issue with the spell for the Fireball Technique. He was almost certain that with practice, such a spell, combined with Inner Qi, could indeed produce a real Fireball Technique. Ding Huan, having calmed down, now understood that it wasn't that gene spiritual roots were inferior to the natural cultivation spirit roots of ancient beings. The cultivation of gene spiritual roots had definitely gone in the wrong direction by focusing everything on fusing gene skills. Some abilities should move towards spellcasting, while others should be achieved through the fusion of Alien Genes. The reason why Changyi Continent didn't pursue the path of spellcasting was due to the scarcity of powerful cultivators, none of whom had found the direction for cultivating spells. Now he could easily produce Wind Blades because he had acquired the ready-made construction method for Wind Blades from the leather scroll. As for cultivation using gene spiritual roots, he, Ding Huan, was the only one. If not for the guidance of this scroll, perhaps he would have developed the Fireball Technique and Wind Blade Skill himself, but that would have required the accumulation of time. Ding Huan vaguely understood that in genetic cultivation, genetic abilities and gene skills could not be treated as the same. Gene skills, like the Fireball Technique and Wind Blade Skill, all belonged to this category. These skills could be fused by acquiring Alien Genes. That is to say, by extracting genes from animals and plants with these innate skills and then merging these genes to possess these abilities. The downside was that after fusing with these skills, there was no possibility of advancement. For example, in Changyi Continent, the Wind Blade Skill fused from the Blade-spitting Toad and the Flame Skill fused from a Fire Kirin. He had already noticed this problem, so when he refined and fused the Antidote Gene of the Giant-faced Thick-tailed Monkey, he changed the gene fusion method. He combined it with his own genes, allowing the Antidote Gene ability to become an intrinsic ability that could grow with his cultivation. But other gene cultivators did not have this ability. He now knew that spells could solve this problem. Spells were more powerful than fusing gene skills. The same ability, such as Wind Blade Technique, was not only stronger in spells but could also improve as one's cultivation rose. This did not mean that spells were entirely superior to gene fusion. For instance, his own Antidote Gene, injury recovery genes; these would likely be difficult to achieve through spells. Even if it were possible through spells, the effects could hardly be as strong as the attribute abilities he naturally carried. In Ding Huan's mind, the path of genetic cultivation became increasingly clear. A gene spiritual root cultivator's achievements wouldn't be weaker than those innate with a cultivation spirit root. The key was how cultivators utilized them. For instance, abilities like resistance to poison, injury recovery, physical constitution, and the like had to be fused through Alien Gene fusion to become one's intrinsic gene abilities, which ordinary spells couldn't do. For skills such as Fireball, Wind Blade, Wind Control, etc., it was best not to seek Alien Genes to create and fuse with Genetic Potions. Because these could be termed as spells, achievable by other means such as spellcasting or circulation methods. If he wanted to develop stronger attack spells in the future, the same principle applied. If he really needed to fuse these skill genes into intrinsic abilities, Then, like with the production of the Antidote Gene, he would have to ensure that these skills could grow with his cultivation after fusion. He definitely could not simply take them for fusion; that would limit his own growth. Having realized this, Ding Huan felt a surge of exhilaration. He had been worrying about how to find some Mutated Fierce Beasts with powerful attack methods, obtaining their attack genes to turn into his own means of attack. Now there was no need for that, and he would minimize such actions in the future. He now needed to find a place to repeatedly practice his Wind Blade Skill, Fireball Technique, and Wind Control Skill. Once these abilities were in place, even if he encountered a Heaven-level Martial Artist, at least he would be able to defend himself, right?