Chapter 41: Chen Feng's Path
"Hum—"
Chen Feng felt ringing in his ears as he felt that the whole world was suddenly enveloped in darkness. As he accidentally looked out the window toward the sun, he found that the sun actually appeared green!
"What happened?"
Chen Feng blanked for a long time.
Only after two full minutes did Chen Feng wake up to find that his spiritual energy had emptied at an unknown time!
On his status window, under the spiritual energy section, a red-colored zero was shown!
"I used up all my spiritual energy?"
Chen Feng smiled bitterly.
He had only completed the first two, simpler steps and hadn't even gotten started on the most troublesome third step! The dependence of gene production on spiritual energy far exceeded Chen Feng's imagination.
He was sure that he had touched upon the realm of the strongest gene earlier. That improved formula, that gene that was perfectly produced by Luck Aura, was an absolutely epic improvement! If he could really produce that gene, an unimaginable harvest could definitely be reaped!
However... spiritual energy!
"Have I been focused on the wrong thing?"
Chen Feng inhaled deeply.
Spiritual energy was the foundation of gene production.
Under normal circumstances, those with spiritual energy at the level of Chen Feng's would normally only dare to engage in the research of ordinary genes. Due to Chen Feng having the assistance of Luck Aura, he had been progressing smoothly, to the point where he could even deal with the 4-star thundersnake gene and 5-star gold ant gene. Hence, he had almost forgotten that there was such a thing as spiritual energy exhaustion!
Lumberbear gene production consumed one point of spiritual energy.
Thundersnake gene production consumed 10 points of spiritual energy.
Gold ant gene production consumed 20 points spiritual energy.
And to improve the gold ant gene formula?
Based on Chen Feng's estimations, without spiritual energy above 90 points, it was impossible to succeed! The reality was, he only had 32 points of spiritual energy!
"My foundations are too weak."
Chen Feng could only smile bitterly.
However, it was about time for him to improve this aspect of him!
The increase of spiritual energy greatly benefited both gene production and one's strength. Furthermore, increasing spiritual energy would not delay too much of Chen Feng's time. On the contrary, after the increase, the speed in which Chen Feng could master a formula might even increase!
"Let's try!"
Chen Feng decided.
"Spiritual energy..."
After pondering for a bit, Chen Feng took out the gold ant gene reagent that he had produced earlier—triggering the potential in one's body, permanently increasing one's spiritual energy by 20 points.
Based on his understanding, these types of special reagents that permanently increased one's attributes could only be used once every class. Regardless of the attribute improved, as long as it was used, it couldn't be used any more. Otherwise, with excessive gene intake, one's spirit would be broken apart.
He had originally planned to sell it, but now...
Chen Feng checked online and noticed that, currently, only three types of spirit-increasing reagents were available in the whole business district. Each of them was extremely expensive.
Demonic hare gene reagent: permanent increase of spiritual energy by eight points, priced at 80,000.
Azure bat gene reagent: permanent increase of spiritual energy by 10 points, priced at 100,000.
Cracked wing gene reagent: permanent increase of spiritual energy by 13 points, priced at 150,000.
"The best of them only increases by 13 points."
Chen Feng sank into contemplation.
Spiritual energy was the foundation for gene production. Since he intended to increase his spiritual energy, he had to use the best. The gold ant gene he had produced was simply meant for him!
"Whoosh!"
Chen Feng used it immediately.
"Hum—"
His spirit started boiling.
Chen Feng could feel that his state of mind had become nimbler, his eyes had become keener, his ears had become sharper, and the originally dried-up spiritual energy had also been refilled to the peak during this process!
52 points spiritual energy!
"Let's try."
Chen Feng tried entering the digitized mode.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Regardless of the speed in which the digitized world was formed or the speed of gene search, both were faster than his previous speed. The speed of his gene production as a whole had increased by onefold! The formidable spiritual energy caused Chen Feng to have an all-around improvement. Even his Wind Blade was much larger in size than before.
"This is the benefit of having a powerful spirit?"
Chen Feng was shocked.
He knew that the improvement that came along with an increase in spiritual energy was huge; however, he never expected it to reach such an extent.
No wonder everyone said that spiritual energy was the foundation of gene production. Not only this, spiritual energy was also the foundation of spirit-type genetic warriors!
Foundation...
Chen Feng pondered for a bit before making up his mind. He had to increase his spiritual energy!
There was no other reason. Currently, he was lacking in too many aspects.
He lacked formula, lacked the funds to spam formulas, lacked spiritual energy, lacked combat power!
It was too forceful for one to participate in the rookie competition so soon after graduation. If he failed during the competition due to a lack of spiritual energy, that would be too awkward. Hence, only a rapid increase of spiritual energy could give him an overall improvement in strength! Only then could he master 20-stars worth of formula faster!
Naturally, there was also that strongest gene that was already within reach. The strongest gene produced after the improvement of a 5-star gene formula, what would it be?
He was looking forward to it.
He even had a premonition that if the strongest gene he produced was unprecedented in history, it would definitely bring him great benefits. Even the resources required to reach the 20-star rating would be covered!
However, how should he increase his spiritual energy?
In order to produce the strongest gene, at least 90 points of spiritual energy were required.
Chen Feng was suddenly reminded of Wang Yue. This fellow only had around 30 points of spiritual energy previously, even lower than him. However, only half a month after graduation, he improved greatly and reached 80 points? In other words, in this short period of half a month, Wang Yue had increased his spiritual energy by 50 points.
Even if he had passively grown his gene by 10 points and used the same peak-attribute 5-star reagent, where did the remaining 20 points came from?
Pure tempering?
He absolutely could not believe that!
"There must be a faster method for increasing spiritual energy."
Chen Feng was sure.
At this moment, Chen Feng's wristband buzzed and Mu Yuan's image appeared.
"How are you, Mu Yuan?"
Chen Feng smiled calmly.
"It's been a while."
Mu Yuan looked at Chen Feng grudgingly. "I was waiting for your reply all this time. After your beginner producer certification, what formula did you choose? After asking me, you disappeared straight away. Have you ever taken the feelings of one who had been abandoned into consideration?"
Chen Feng wiped his sweat. He did not expect Mu Yuan to have kept thinking about this until now.
Mu Yuan couldn't help but to curiously ask, "So, what did you pick in the end?" He had been holding this question for many days.
"Thundersnake gene."
Chen Feng answered honestly.
"Indeed..."
Mu Yuan's face froze and he disappointedly said, "This is what I was worried about. Brother, how many times have I told you, don't choose a high-difficulty gene. You think these high-difficulty genes provided by the association are a benefit? They are a pitfall, brother!"
Mu Yuan was bitter and hateful. "F-class high-star-rating formulas are all useless! High cost yet low price! Due to the class being only F, if you were to sell it at a higher price, nobody would want it. Even if you spend a huge amount of funds to master this formula, you won't be able to earn much from it! How much of a loss is this? Do you know the reason for this? It's due to the supply exceeding the demand! When a gene producer wants to improve himself, a huge amount of low level reagents will be produced. And F class is a stage where improvement is the easiest for a genetic warrior. Those that did well would have upgraded to E class or D class long ago. Those that did not do well, how many of them can afford a 4-star or 5-star reagent? Right?"
"F class is totally something at the bottom tier of society. The real solid demand is on those high level gene reagents. Those are the actual main consumption of the society as a whole."
"What you need to do is to increase your production level as fast as you can!"
Mu Yuan advised earnestly, "Furthermore, based on your talent, the success rate of 1-star and 2-star gene production should be rather high, right? Why do you need to touch those 4-star formulas? Although those high-rated formulas are somewhat powerful, the quality-to-price ratio is too low. There's also that success rate that is practically a scam..."
Chen Feng shrugged. "But I have successfully produced it."
"What's the point of successfully producing it... wait, what?"
Mu Yuan widened his eyes. "You produced it?"
Chen Feng nodded. "Ah."
Mu Yuan cried out in alarm, "How is that possible! That thing has an excessive difficulty level. I previously tried for one whole month yet still failed and ended up getting hung on a tree and beaten up by my dad—"
Mu Yuan suddenly realized what he had said and abruptly paused.
At this time, through the screen, he saw Chen Feng's faint smile and started feeling awkward.
"Cough, cough."
"Erm... back then, I was overconfident and chose the thundersnake gene. Hence, I did not want the same thing to happen to you as well. Unexpectedly, you are too formidable. Sigh, if I had your talent back then I would have been able to raise my head and be arrogant in front of that old man," Mu Yuan said, somewhat regretfully.
Chen Feng laughed involuntarily. How much resentment did this fellow have toward his father?
"However, even if you produced it by fluke, I still don't recommend you continue using this gene to boost your level."
Mu Yuan said in a low voice, "Let me tell you some inside news. These formulas with high star ratings were all left behind by the previous generation. With complicated material requirements, low success rate and low quality-to-price ratios, their research value is much higher than their practical value. I heard that the association is currently thinking of a way to either simplify or altogether cancel the usage of these formulas."
"Mhm."
Chen Feng did not comment on that.
He was clear on Mu Yuan's meaning.
A normal producer would pick a high amount of formulas with a high profit ratio to boost their growth, able to improve and make money at the same time. When they became an intermediate producer or an advanced producer, they would start raking in a much higher amount of profit. What a fulfilling life!
This was also the proper choice most producers at the most basic level chose!
Chen Feng had also experienced this with the lumberbear gene. With the cost of 4,000 yuan and the price of a peak-attribute reagent at 10,000 yuan, it had a profit of 150%! After mutation, the price was 20,000, and the profit reached a rate of 500%! A lot of other popular F-class formulas had even higher rates of profit!
However, was this what Chen Feng needed?
Obviously not.
Why had he chosen a high-star-rating formula?
To increase his star rating!
Was the thundersnake gene formula profitable?
It was not profitable!
Was the gold ant gene formula profitable?
It was not profitable!
However, for Chen Feng, they were the most valuable formulas. He only needed to master these two formulas and his production level would have an increase of 9 stars!
Using the same amount of luck value, one lumberbear gene formula could only increase his star rating by one. Using it on the gold ant gene formula, he could increase his star rating by 5 instead. Why would he not do it?
This was Chen Feng's thought process.
A simpler manner of improvement!
It was not due to this being the normal path one would take in this profession as a producer. It was due to the existence of Luck Aura, letting Chen Feng walk a completely different path than others!
Chen Feng could only appreciate Mu Yuan's good intentions.
Naturally, Chen Feng couldn't avoid thinking playfully within. 'One thundersnake gene is enough to scare you to such an extent. If you knew about the gold ant gene, would you go crazy? If you were to know that I am currently researching an even more terrifying 5-star mutated formula, the strongest F-class gene, would you pee your pants from the shock?'