Ling Ying: 16, from Beijing Base City. Arcana: Vaporization, Water Manipulation

Yu Guang: 15, from Modu Base City. Arcana: Stealth, Fire Manipulation

Zhou Ji: 17, from Beijing Base City. Arcana: Division, Hypnotization, Ultimate Alchemy

"No wonder Zhou Ji's kill of Direbeasts is so efficient. He has triple arcana. That's badass! But what kind of ability is Ultimate Alchemy?"

Ling Jiu tapped open this arcana and found that the Ultimate Alchemy was a buggy ability that could convert any substance into metal.

"Awesome!" Ling Jiu exclaimed in awe. "The Division-Hypnotization-Ultimate Alchemy is an impeccable Direbeast-killing combo. No wonder Zhou Ji's hunting is so efficient!

"Of course, this is yet the best combo. If he could gain the Metal or Magnetic Manipulation Arcana, he would be truly invincible.

"Who can beat him if he has an Ultimate Alchemy-Metal Manipulation (Magnetic field)-Division-Hypnotization combo?

"The Division and the Ultimate Alchemy arcana are two not bad abilities. Jot them down."

Christopher Adam: 16, from Washington Base City, arcana: Supersonic Shift, Angelization.

Hirano Hatake: 17, Saint Paul Base City, arcana: Superphysique, Vibration Arcana.

"Superphysique?"

Ling Jiu tapped open this arcana.

Super Physique: tenfold physical strength, tenfold speed, tenfold agility, tenfold endurance, tenfold defense, tenfold self-healing, tenfold energy, tenfold eyesight, tenfold hearing, tenfold olfactory reception, and tenfold night vision.

"Holy moly! That's sick!"

Ling Jiu was awestruck. "Physical strength, agility, endurance, defense, self-healing, and energy are ten times higher than that of the ordinary arcanists. That's buggy! But...

"But I don't like it." He really did not like it.

Super Physique was awesome. With each attribute having a tenfold increase in strength, when combined, the resulting combat strength was absolutely higher than a factor of ten.

Was a hundredfold physical strength not more powerful?

Was a hundredfold speed not faster?

Was a hundredfold agility not better?

So why would he want to replicate the tenfold one?

"Pass! Next!"

He moved on.

"Transmission? This sounds good to me. I can only perform a short-distance teleportation, that's only within two-hundred meters. Transmission sounds like the longer-range version of Teleportation. Keep it in view!

"Cancer Infliction? Eff! Such a disgusting arcana!

"Body Diamondization? Sounds darn good! With this arcana, I will no longer have to worry about money!

"X-Ray Vision?

"Super Healing: perform Gene-level manipulation to heal illnesses through touch. This sounds good!

"Electronic Eye: absorb solar, wind, and sound energy to shoot them out from the eyes as electron shock-wave attacks."

It was an eye-opener for Ling Jiu after reading all the trainee information. Like the saying goes, "No two eggs are alike, and no two arcana are the same."

He looked at his little notebook, on which he had jotted down the details of a dozen arcana.

Among them were Ai Yuhe's Dimension Manipulation, Yang Ling-er's Five-Element Manipulation and Five-Element Annihilation, Zhou Ji's Ultimate Alchemy and Ten Thousandfold Gene Arcana.

Each of these was an extremely powerful arcana. With each arcana replicated, Ling Jiu would become stronger, better, and buggier.

The question was, which arcana should he replicate first?

"The Tungsten Form-Teleportation combo enables me to kill Class-Six Direbeast with the snap of a finger. But using Eightfold Rolling Thunder drains too much energy. So the right thing to do is to fix this flaw first!

At last, he chose the Ten Thousandfold Gene Arcana, which was crazily more powerful than Chang Jiandong's Hundredfold Gene Arcana.

"I can keep on and on hunting Direbeasts without breaking a sweat with enough Gene Arcana!"

Thinking of this, he searched for the trainee who possessed the Ten Thousandfold Gene Arcana. It was a she, who stayed in Room 302.

"Where are you going, Ling Jiu?"

"Just get some fresh air!"

As Ling Jiu came in front of Room 302, he saw in his mind's eye the details of the two female trainees.

Name: Juliana Bodley

Race: Human

Arcana: Metal Manipulation (awakened, replicable), Acid Squirt (awakened, replicable)

Name: Janet Ferguson

Arcana: Ten Thousandfold Gene Arcana (awakened, replicable), Super Power (awakened, replicable)

"Replicate the Ten Thousandfold Gene Arcana!"

As he instructed, the little golden text left his body and disappeared into Room 302 before it came back after a moment.

Replication was successful. Should he install it?

No.

He hurried back to his room, locked himself in the bathroom, then turned on the faucet, letting it run to create noise.

Shi Gang shot a glance toward the bathroom, not suspecting anything. Ling Jiu had just returned from the wilderness. He should take a shower.

"Install!"

A violent burst of energy rose within him and swept through his organs, body, and every cell.

This was an alteration on the cellular level. The violent energy was changing every cell in his body.

The alteration brought great pain to himfrom head to toe, then spreading all over his body.

"Eff! This happens every time! It is driving me nuts!"

He gritted his teeth, trying hard not to make a sound as waves of pain hit him.

But it was unbearable.

The good thing was, the pain went away just as quick as it came. Ten minutes later, it went away like a receding tide.

He panted like a dog as he pulled himself to his feet. He checked his body and got the shock of his life: all his Gene Arcana in the body was gone.

Yes. It was gone, disappearing into thin air without a trace.

"What the hell?"

Ling Jiu was dumbfounded.

The Gene Arcana was supposed to live in his meridians, which was empty now. He could not even find a trace of the Gene Arcana in gaseous form, let alone in liquid form.

"Where the hell is my Gene Arcana?"

He was appalled. "I have only replicated the Ten Thousandfold Gene Arcana. How could all my internal Gene Arcana disappear?"

His internal Gene Arcana was supposed to spike after he replicated this arcana, not like now where it had decreased to zero.

"What the hell is going on?"