Clone Ascension

The absorption of the Gravity Demon extract went smoothly—almost too smoothly.

No backlash, no danger, no struggle.

Evan once again activated his unique ability to choose his skill,

and unsurprisingly obtained:

Gravity Dust

Gravity Dust:

Convert evolution energy into golden dust that spreads around the user.

Within this dust‑covered zone, the user can freely manipulate gravity.

The dust can also be condensed into a Gravity Chain,

pulling distant targets directly into the user’s grasp.

Two functions in one:

Local gravity control

Long‑range pull

It reminded Evan of a skill from a game in his previous life—

like Blitzcrank’s hook,

except it required no prediction

and could directly lock onto a target.

The only way to dodge it

was to escape underground like FangBro

or use something else to block the pull.

A terrifying skill—

especially against long‑range enemies.

After absorbing the extract,

Evan immediately felt his body strengthen.

Every attribute—physical and mental—rose sharply.

And because he gained a new skill,

Knowledge Is Power triggered again,

granting him another round of enhancement.

FangBro watched the whole process in confusion.

So this is what a genius looks like?

Absorbing an S‑grade extract as if drinking water.

Most people risked death when absorbing an S‑grade extract.

Even prodigies would writhe in agony.

But Evan?

The hardest part for him was apparently the taste—

as if he had swallowed a bottle of lemon juice.

Yet after the absorption,

he sat still for a long time,

eyes closed, unmoving.

Then he stood still for another long time.

FangBro had no idea what he was doing.

When Evan finally opened his eyes, FangBro rushed over.

“Did you get Gravity Dust?”

Evan put on an excited expression and nodded.

“Yeah, lucky me.”

“Good.”

FangBro grinned and went to harvest valuable materials from the Gravity Demon’s corpse.

After resting,

they planned to return to the surface—

and explore the Thousand‑Hero Mound on the way up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The main mission was complete,

so they might as well kill time.

They also needed to hunt two Tier‑2 beasts

to complete their military training assignment.

They ascended slowly,

occasionally stopping to observe anything unusual.

At around one thousand meters underground,

they encountered a Tier‑3 beast.

A maggot—

no, a Dung‑Eater.

Evan wrinkled his nose.

He had zero interest in this thing.

Hunting it felt dirty,

and it wasn’t worth much anyway.

Dung‑Eaters were strange creatures.

From Tier‑1 to Tier‑3,

they all looked like oversized maggots.

They fed on the feces of other beasts.

By doing so,

they sometimes copied fragments of the beast’s genes—

fragments that corresponded to skills.

Dung‑Eaters couldn’t use these skills.

They simply stored them

as references for their future evolution.

But when humans absorbed a Dung‑Eater extract,

they had a chance to obtain one of those stored skills.

A literal skill lottery.

Because of this,

Dung‑Eater extracts were known as

the blind boxes of the extract world.

Only when a Dung‑Eater reached its fourth evolution—

becoming a Saint‑tier lifeform—

would it undergo metamorphosis

and evolve into a…

fly.

What kind of fly?

What abilities?

How strong?

That depended entirely on what it had eaten as a maggot.

The more diverse its diet,

the stronger the resulting fly.

Thus, every Dung‑Eater was unique.

Despite this,

Dung‑Eater extracts were cheap—

priced like C‑grade extracts—

and still sold poorly.

People who bought them were gamblers,

hoping to draw an A‑grade or S‑grade skill.

For Evan, who could choose his skill,

Dung‑Eater extracts were technically high value.

But he didn’t bother.

What if none of the stored skills were useful?

Why gamble when he could directly buy S‑grade extracts?

Most importantly—

the extract came from a maggot.

And according to those who had absorbed it…

It tasted like poop.

“Let’s go,” Evan said.

But FangBro didn’t move.

His eyes were shining.

He stared at the Dung‑Eater like it was a priceless treasure.

Evan waved a hand in front of him.

“You good?”

FangBro snapped out of it, flustered.

“Y‑yeah. Let’s go.”

They continued upward

and soon reached the bottom layer of the Thousand‑Hero Mound—

around eight hundred meters deep.

“Plenty of people have been here,” Evan observed.

There were tunnels everywhere,

dug by people with Earth‑Dive skills.

But the black soil here showed almost no signs of excavation—

because it was too hard.

Evan knocked on it,

then punched it.

Not even a crack.

He tried Ant‑Force + Needle Strike,

but only managed to poke a finger‑sized hole.

No wonder no one dug here.

Even a typical Butterfly‑tier evolver

would struggle to break this soil.

“Forget it. Let’s head up,” Evan said.

The bottom layer wasn’t large,

but searching it blindly with finger‑sized holes

was impossible.

FangBro hesitated.

“Let me check inside. Maybe there’s treasure.”

“You can’t Earth‑Dive into this soil…”

Evan paused.

“You’re going to use that skill?”

He remembered the mysterious ability FangBro used

to escape from inside the Mutated Giant Crocodile.

He still didn’t understand what it was.

But he knew it was FangBro’s ultimate trump card.

FangBro nodded.

“I’m Butterfly‑tier now. It’s much easier to use.”

“You sure?”

FangBro grinned.

“We already killed the Gravity Demon.

I won’t need this skill again anytime soon.

Might as well use it to find treasure.”

Since FangBro insisted, Evan didn’t stop him.

This time, Evan watched the skill up close—

and still couldn’t understand it.

FangBro’s body suddenly pixelated,

breaking apart into countless tiny cubes

before vanishing.

Invisibility?

Phase‑shift?

Spatial disassembly?

Evan had no idea.

Moments later,

the particles reassembled on the other side of the black soil.

FangBro waved frantically, eyes shining.

“Boss! Come here! I found treasure!”

Evan hurried over.

“What did you find?”

“A wooden earring!

It has high‑level evolution energy sealed inside.

The black soil blocked the aura,

so I only sensed it when I got close!”

“A wooden earring?”

Evan’s mind raced.

A wooden item…

with evolution energy…

A plant‑type relic?

Relics formed when a powerful lifeform died

and its evolution energy condensed into a physical object.

Most relics were bones or organs—

like Evan’s Wailer’s Skull and Silent Walker.

But plant‑type relics existed too—

branches, leaves, bark, or carved wooden ornaments.

And then Evan remembered—

Quentin Vilewind’s storage ring was also wooden.