My Gene Evolves Infinitely

Within Ash Stone Forest, tall, massive stone pillars abounded, creating a complex landscape.

Lu Yuan dashed swiftly between the crevices of these stone pillars, where two Ash Stone Beetles were gleefully enjoying their rocky meal. As Lu Yuan approached, the beetles halted, their antennae trembling before turning to face the swiftly approaching Lu Yuan.

Upon spotting the intruder disrupting their meal, the beetles let out angry, shrill squeaks and charged at Lu Yuan, their fierce mandibles open wide in an attempt to shred him to pieces. Lu Yuan remained calm, skilfully weaving through the beetles’ encirclement to continue his escape.

The beetles, feeling insulted by Lu Yuan’s departure, emitted even louder and angrier roars and chased after him. However, their pursuit was abruptly cut short as two dark flashes of blade light swept by, flinging them aside. The beetles collided with a stone pillar, landing on their backs, their eight short legs struggling to right themselves.

Two grim-faced Gnolls glanced at the disabled beetles and resumed their pursuit of Lu Yuan. Once the beetles managed to right themselves, they scanned their surroundings, realized their quarry was gone, touched antennae as if conferring, and slowly meandered back to their rocky repast.

Meanwhile, not far away, the Gnolls watching Lu Yuan’s retreat sneered maliciously.

“Human, stop running! You can’t escape!”

Their laughter echoed, “A human with just one alloy weapon? Such a poor Gene Warrior is a first for us. Just give up and wait for death!”

These Gnolls, with their higher level of gene refinement, were physically superior to Lu Yuan and closed the distance quickly despite his head start.

Faced with this grim situation, Lu Yuan’s expression darkened. Was he really going to die here on his first venture into Land of Origin? Dying now would negate all his prior efforts and recovering from the spiritual trauma of death would mean a significant delay before he could re-enter, a delay he couldn’t afford.

Scanning his surroundings for options and formulating a plan, Lu Yuan noticed three more Ash Stone Beetles nearby. Sensing his approach, they dropped their stony snacks and lunged at him.

Irritated, Lu Yuan clicked his tongue. Already being chased, and now needing to dodge beetle attacks too? This would only slow him down, making it easier for the Gnolls to catch up.

Fortunately, the beetles’ attack patterns were predictable, and Lu Yuan adeptly evaded their lunges. But just as the beetles prepared to strike again, the Gnolls reached them. The beetles, agitated by the new arrivals, turned and attacked the Gnolls instead.

“Annoying bugs!” one Gnoll grumbled, slicing one beetle with his blade and kicking another away; the third was swiftly dispatched by his companion.

This brief skirmish with the beetles bought Lu Yuan some time, slowing the Gnolls’ advance.

Lu Yuan, seizing the moment, formulated a daring plan as he picked up a handful of stones while continuing to flee.

The Gnolls, noticing his actions, were puzzled.

“What’s that Human up to now?”

“Who knows, but don’t let him slip away! He’s slippery, but he can’t outlast us. Once he tires, he’s ours,” they laughed viciously, confident in their stamina over Lu Yuan’s.

But as they closed in, they watched in disbelief as Lu Yuan, having passed a wide gap between the pillars, casually tossed a stone at one of the Ash Stone Beetles, provoking it into a frenzy.

“……what is he doing?”

“Don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want to die by our hands, preferring the beetles instead?”

“Heh, wishful thinking!”

As they spoke, they suddenly saw Lu Yuan throw another stone, attracting four more Ash Stone Beetles. Along with the previous three, the group of seven beetles looked formidable.

Still, Ash Stone Beetles aren’t that fast; they’re slower than the two Gnolls, who quickly caught up.

When the Gnolls reached the beetles, the beetles turned and attacked them.

“Annoying bugs!”

Even they couldn’t help but frown slightly, besieged by seven beetles.

Just then, the grey-haired Gnoll’s pupils shrank as he realized something:

“Damn! I know what that Human is doing now! He’s using the beetles to block us!”

The brown-haired Gnoll also caught on and burst out in anger, “What? That sneaky Human! Using such tactics! Why doesn’t he just let us chop him up fairly!”

After they frenziedly dispatched the seven beetles, Lu Yuan had again increased the distance between them.

This gap had even reached almost fifty meters, further than at the start.

Seeing the gap widening, the Gnolls roared and charged after Lu Yuan again. Lu Yuan glanced back, saw the furious Gnolls, tossed another stone, and smiled.

It was working.

He casually threw another stone, hitting a beetle that was blissfully gnawing at a pillar.

The beetle immediately targeted Lu Yuan, the disrupter of its meal, hissing as it and its two companions charged at him.

Lu Yuan was already throwing stones at other beetles.

Soon, by the time the Gnolls were within about thirty meters of him again, Lu Yuan had gathered ten more beetles behind him.

The Gnolls looked at the swarm of beetles, faces darkening.

“Despicable Human! Using such tactics!”

The brown-haired Gnoll cursed continuously, waving his blade in anger.

The grey-haired Gnoll’s expression was icy as he watched Lu Yuan from a distance, saying, “No worries, let’s slow down, just follow him.”

“Eh? Big bro, aren’t we going to charge?”

“If we do, it’ll provoke the beetles, and with so many, it’d take time to deal with them, enough for him to escape.”

“So what do we do?”

The grey-haired Gnoll smirked, “He wants to run, right? As seasoned hunters, we need to be patient. We’ll wait until he’s exhausted, then move in.”

The brown-haired Gnoll nodded, understanding, “That’s right, his stamina can’t match ours!”

The two Gnolls, laughing sinisterly, continued to follow behind the massive swarm of beetles, not rushing forward recklessly.

Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded in Ash Stone Forest.

A handsome human raced ahead, followed by a swarm of beetles, with two sinisterly grinning Gnolls trailing behind.

…

“I remember, we have 46 Spirit Crystals this time. Not a bad haul.”

The tall, thin Elf widened his eyes: “Ah Huang, you’re mistaken! It was clearly 47!”

“Is… is that so?” The Gnoll looked puzzled.

The Elf leader frowned: “What are you talking about? It was definitely 44!”

“Boss, how can you say it’s less? You’re not trying to skim some off the top, are you?”

The human man looked suspicious and unhappy.

“How could I? How long have you known me? What kind of person do you think I am? Why would I embezzle? Don’t you trust my math? I was top of our class back in the day!”

“Really?”

The tall, thin Elf glanced at the Elf leader and chuckled, “I can vouch for him; I was his classmate.”

“All right then.”

The Human man and the Gnoll both nodded in agreement.

At that moment, they heard a commotion in the distance and turned to look. They then saw Lu Yuan rushing by not far from them.

After seeing Lu Yuan, the Elf leader slightly widened his eyes, “Isn’t that the Human… the one we didn’t manage to… cough, invite earlier?”

The Gnoll scratched his head, “Boss, you remember his face? I find it hard to tell Humans, Elves, and Catkin apart. They all look like hairless monkeys to me.”

“Of course, I remember, it’s rare to see a Human that handsome. If it weren’t for the ears, I’d have thought he was an Elf.”

“What’s he doing here?” The tall, thin Elf asked curiously.

They soon got their answer.

A large group of Ash Stone Beetles from the path Lu Yuan had come from surged forward, chasing in the direction Lu Yuan had left.

Their squeaking was incessant.

The four of them exchanged glances, a bit bewildered.

Then, they saw two Gnolls cursing as they ran past.