I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 155: Chapter 145: The Saint-Level Evolutionary Path (Part 2)

Liou Wenxin finally nodded in satisfaction, a gratified smile spreading across her face. ”You’re teachable, after all,” she said.

”That’s right. Every skill you acquire is etched into your very genes, a part of your being. Once you evolve into a Saint-level lifeform, the skills you gained at the Mortal and Extraordinary tiers will be severely outdated compared to your new level of existence. They’ll be holding you back.

”When you complete your fourth evolution and want to climb toward the fifth, you’ll first need a vial of Tier Five extract as a ladder. Then, you must upgrade all those skills in your genes that are holding you back to the Saint level. Only then will you be qualified to climb that ladder.

”It’s not easy. It takes a great deal of time, but the rewards are immense. The power boost will be incredible. Can you even imagine how powerful you’d become if all the skills you’ve mastered were raised to the Saint level?”

Su Ze tried to imagine it but found he couldn’t. ’All I know is that it would be ridiculously strong. She has to be right.’

”So, by upgrading my skills now, I’m essentially doing work ahead of time that’s meant for the Saint stage. It’ll save me a lot of trouble later on when I reach that level,” Su Ze realized.

”Exactly.” Liou Wenxin gave a slight nod. ”That’s why I told you a long time ago that every skill you acquire now is crucial. Don’t waste a single skill slot. These skills determine the upper limit of your strength at the Saint stage. They’re like the foundation of a building. The more solid your foundation, the higher you can build when you reach the Saint stage and start adding to it.”

Su Ze nodded, taking her words to heart and resolving to be more careful with his future skill choices.

”Oh, by the way, Sis,” Su Ze said suddenly, ”when you’re finished studying that little piece of Tier Four Coral Stone, don’t give it back. Give it to me instead.”

Liou Wenxin shot him a look. ”Any remains of precious research materials must be returned after the study is complete.”

”My birthday is coming up soon! Just think of it as my birthday present. Please, Sis?”

”Isn’t your birthday still more than two months away?”

”I... The birthday on my ID is Zhao Lingxiao’s. I’m a clone. How could I have a real birthday? No father’s care, no mother’s love, not a single relative... all alone in this cruel world...”

”Alright, alright.” Liou Wenxin sighed, exasperated. She knew Su Ze was just playing the victim, but she couldn’t help her heart from softening. ”I’ll bring it home for you in a few days.”

”You’re the best, Sis! I’ll go get you some milk tea right now.”

Su Ze immediately headed out, a wide grin on his face.

He wanted the Tier Four Coral Stone mainly to dissolve in water and drink.

Previously, Ning Yushen had given him a piece of Tier Three Coral Stone half the size of a brick. For the past couple of days, he had been breaking off a small piece each day, grinding it into a powder, and drinking it dissolved in water. His body weight was increasing daily.

Of course, he wasn’t getting fat; rather, his bone density had increased significantly.

As his bone density increased, his bones naturally became harder and more durable.

Since the Tier Three Coral Stone had such a noticeable effect, Su Ze was naturally coveting the Tier Four Coral Stone in Liou Wenxin’s possession.

...

Su Ze’s seven-day vacation was over. He once again requested an extended leave of absence from his advisor, Jiang Hong, claiming he needed to prepare for the evolution conference on the Lin Hua Continent that he was attending with Liou Wenxin.

Jiang Hong was speechless. After all, Su Ze had just published his research findings and, during his leave, had even earned a Class-B merit and received a national commendation.

As a faculty member of Dongli University, Jiang Hong was also considered a Dongli public employee. With Su Ze’s recent commendation and promotion, his official rank was now even a level higher than Jiang Hong’s.

Every time Jiang Hong spoke with Su Ze, he felt the oppressive weight of the younger man’s higher rank, as if he were speaking to a superior.

Su Ze hadn’t requested the leave entirely to skip class. During this period, he went to Liou Wenxin’s lab every day to lend a hand, learning a great deal about evolutionary science in the process.

He got up every morning, prepared a cup of Coral Stone Powder, and ambled out with his mug like an old man. He would busy himself in the lab for half the day, then return in the afternoon to practice the Swan Dance with Mrs. Yun to help digest the extract.

Mornings were for studying, afternoons for practice; he neglected neither his mind nor his body.

His progress was obvious. The Gravity Demon Extract in his system was being digested day by day, and his persistence in taking the Tier Three Coral Stone Powder daily was making his bones increasingly harder.

Su Ze had researched the Tier Three Coral Stone. You couldn’t take too much each day—at most, a small, fingernail-sized piece. Drinking too much could easily cause kidney stones.

’Ning Yushen gave me an incredible gift. He must really want me as his grandson-in-law...’ Su Ze mused. He’d done some research and found that Tier Three Coral Stone was incredibly expensive. A piece that large was worth over a billion.

Speaking of which, Su Ze suddenly thought of Ye Jin. ’It’s been so many days without any word from her. Is she not coming to Dongli University anymore?’

He glanced at the dark night outside his window, picked up his phone, and sent Ye Jin a message.

[Su Ze: Senior, how’s the decision coming along? When are you coming to Dongli University?]

[Ye Jin: I was actually planning to head over a couple of days ago, but something happened at the base. I might be delayed for a while.]

Ye Jin’s reply was instantaneous. She was always that polite; barring special circumstances, she always replied to messages immediately.

[Su Ze: What happened? Are you able to talk about it?]

[Ye Jin: Two soldiers have gone missing from the base in succession. We searched for several days before we found the body of the first one. We still have no leads on the second.]

Su Ze frowned. ’One soldier dead and another missing—it can’t be an accident or a coincidence. Who would be so audacious as to stir up trouble within the military?’

[Su Ze: Any suspects?]

[Ye Jin: We can’t yet determine if it was a mutated beast or a human evolver. The deceased soldier was drained of all flesh and blood, leaving only a skeleton. Beyond that, the body was too heavily damaged to reveal anything else.]

[Ye Jin: My grandmother has been investigating everywhere recently because of this. I’m trying to help lighten her load. I’ll head to Dongli University once this whole thing is resolved.]

[Su Ze: Understood, Senior. I’ll wait for you. If you need any help at all, just message me. I’m usually free in the evenings.]

He said as much, but being so far away, Su Ze didn’t feel like he could actually be of any help.

After ending his chat with Ye Jin, Su Ze lay on his bed and casually scrolled through his phone. A news headline caught his eye.

”Owner of an Evolution Store in Ningshui City Mysteriously Disappears.”

According to the news report, the missing store owner was a Cocoon Stage evolver himself and had close ties with many ”Fisherman” squads. His store primarily dealt in extracts and materials from Marine Beasts.

Evolvers who hunted mutated beasts on land were known as ”Hunters,” so naturally, those who hunted Marine Beasts were called ”Fishermen.”

’Another missing evolver... Could this be related to the missing soldiers at the naval base?’

Su Ze naturally made the connection. Ningshui City wasn’t far from Lihai City, so it was entirely possible that the same culprit was responsible.

Su Ze forwarded the news article to Ye Jin. It couldn’t hurt for them to look into it.

Su Ze didn’t dwell on the matter. His mind was now focused on attending the academic conference in Lin Hua Country, hoping he could get some valuable information out of Feng Boyi.

Until then, all he had to do was focus on digesting the Gravity Demon Extract and preparing to absorb the Mutated Electric Eel Extract.

To Su Ze’s surprise, the news article he had casually forwarded to Ye Jin turned out to be a shot in the dark that hit the bullseye. The Dongli Military followed the lead and made a real discovery.

In the warehouse of the missing Evolution Store owner, they found a severely damaged corpse. A DNA comparison confirmed it was the second missing soldier.

It was now safe to assume the same culprit was behind both incidents. However, they had yet to find any information on the killer, such as fingerprints or DNA.