Even ignoring the profit that the regular-grade potbellied-toad soulshards would bring in, the two mutated-grade toad carcasses would easily be worth the trip on their own. Their tongues could be used to make high-quality bowstrings. Their meat was a particular delicacy, and could be consumed for mutated gene fragments.

After the battle, Zhang Lie, with two mutated-toad pouches tied to his waist, began to scour the battlefield for his spoils. Within five minutes, except for an extinguished fire and bits of blood and offal, nothing remained on the scene.

Zhang Lie then headed to a secluded cave, where he began to butcher the mutated toad carcasses in earnest. After slicing off their long, elastic tongue, and removing them of their innards, he skewered and seasoned their legs, then began cooking it over a fire.

The intense fight had consumed a significant chunk of Zhang Lie's stamina. With such a delicacy in front of him, it was natural for him to want to dig in. The meat of the potbellied toad was surprisingly tender. It took only ten minutes or so for the meat to brown, and they were giving off a mouthwatering scent.

Zhang Lie grabbed a skewer, opened his mouth wide, and began to eat.

Minutes later, as he patted his bursting tummy in satisfaction, Zhang Lie had successfully obtained twenty mutated gene fragments. His stats were incomparable to what they had been before.

Zhang Lie: a mortal lifeform

Framework: Foundation, Lv. MAX; Ninecarp Transformation, First Form: Carp

Techniques: Rippling Walk (novice), Three-Wave Crescendo (novice)

Genes: Basic, 110; Mutated, 60; Superior, 10

Soulshards: White Grub (superior), Galewolf (mutated), Blood Ant (mutated), Potbellied Toad (regular, mutated)

His basic gene capacity had even reached an unimaginable hundred and ten fragments. Before the revelation that there could be a breakthrough with the foundational framework, everyone's basic gene capacity was at a hundred fragments exactly. 

After reaching that limit, no matter how much flesh hunters consumed from regular-grade lifeforms, they wouldn't be able to exceed that limit. Only with a breakthrough in their foundational framework could they finally increase that limit by ten fragments.

And although ten basic gene fragments didn't seem like much, the fact that they were past the usual limit meant that they were more beneficial to a hunter's constitution than even ten mutated gene fragments.

There were three conditions required to experience a breakthrough with one's foundational framework, and the third condition was something that Zhang Lie had only gotten a handle on after his reincarnation.

The first, and most basic, condition was to raise one's foundational framework to its tenth stage and to not have progressed to a more advanced framework.

The second condition was to have consumed sufficiently many white grub cores, or the growth factors extracted from their flesh.

The third condition was that their body had to be flooded with adrenaline.

Each of the three conditions was difficult to satisfy individually, and to meet all three requirements would require an exceedingly unusual string of coincidences—or foreknowledge.

In truth, the past Zhang Lie had missed this opportunity to expand his basic gene capacity.

It was widely known that there were only ten stages to the standard foundational framework, and that reaching the tenth stage would grant access to a more advanced framework and genetic techniques.

Most hunters would have prepared such a framework as soon as they reached the ninth stage of their foundational framework. Why would anyone behave like Zhang Lie, refusing to study a more advanced framework before experiencing a breakthrough with his foundational one?

The second condition seemed even stranger: why would anyone consume so many white-grub cores? The white-grub cave had been more or less deserted, even of beginner hunters hunting for their first gene fragments.

The third condition sounded simple, but was actually the hardest to achieve in practice. Even Zhang Lie didn't know about its specifics. Kissing would increase the concentration of adrenaline in one's body, as would life-or-death struggles, but it was hardly easy to quantify what the required concentration was.

In the past, it had taken seven more years before someone unintentionally satisfied all three conditions and experienced a breakthrough. Given how unusual these conditions were, Zhang Lie was certain that he was now the first hunter to exceed a capacity of a hundred basic gene fragments.

And not only that, he would soon exceed a basic capacity of a hundred and ten—even a hundred and fifty!—gene fragments, because he was right about to concoct Potion #1. 

With the main ingredient, blood whiskers, in hand, he now only needed to acquire a few supplementary ingredients that were relatively easy to harvest.

After returning to the settlement, he sold off the remainder of the toad carcasses, acquiring 31,000 points and catapulting him into fiscal freedom. He stored the herbs he had harvested in the warehouse. Subsequently, he logged into the trading post and anonymously listed five regular-grade potbellied-toad soulshards. Finally, he spent a thousand points to rent the best laboratory the settlement had to offer and began to concoct the limit-breaking potion.

The recipe was particularly complicated, and it had been years since Zhang Lie last made this potion, so there was a significant amount of trial and error involved. It took seventeen long hours of work and three failed attempts before Zhang Lie finally succeeded.

The blood-red potion before him raised Zhang Lie's spirits. Without a doubt, this was the first Potion #1 to be made in the entire world.

Zhang Lie inclined his head and downed the potion in one fell swoop. Fire burned his throat and body, a scorching baptism.

He felt as though he was experiencing the blood ants' [Bloodbath]. As the potent effects of the blood whiskers surged through his body, a scorching heat enveloped him from head to toe, as though he had immersed his entire body in a vat of chili peppers.

Zhang Lie could clearly sense how, under the dominating effects of this potion, his cells were developing in overdrive, his pores seeming to breathe out fire. His muscles began to contract, becoming even tougher and more resilient. His arteries, veins, and capillaries thickened. His body began to evolve at its most fundamental, genetic, level.

Sweat poured down his back. Zhang Lie felt as though he had been running laps in the rain, his body wet and damp all over. Along with the sweat were expunged small black impurities, and a curious stench filled the air.

With his body purged and cleansed, Zhang Lie gained a little resistance to the potent heat of the potion. He mastered his body and began circulating his genetic energy according to his [Ninecarp Transformation].

After ten full cycles, the genetic core in Zhang Lie's dantian grew to twice its size, and began to take on an opalescent sheen. The pale pink carp in his core seemed to come alive.

The gene fragments that augmented his body seemed to have been converted in their entirety to pure genetic energy. Zhang Lie directed all that energy toward the [Ninecarp Transformation] engraved on his genetic core.

The entire process lasted three hours. Under the combination of potent medicine and a seemingly inexhaustible vein of genetic energy, Zhang Lie evolved his genetic framework from early first-stage to mid first-stage.

Zhang Lie's body had thinned, as though he had just survived a major illness, but he had actually grown several times stronger than before. His stomach began to rumble, and Zhang Lie immediately ordered a sumptuous meal.

Now that he was rich and able to generate points efficiently, he could certainly afford to spend ten points on such a meal. A robot brought it to him without much delay.

After consuming Potion #1, not only did his genetic framework evolve, so too did his body, and he was now able to make use of his strength much more efficiently. More importantly, his basic gene capacity had advanced by another fifty points: Zhang Lie could now have a shocking hundred and sixty basic gene fragments.

If all his other genes were at capacity, the additional sixty fragments would bring him a decisive, dominating advantage.

Potion #1 was just the first step in his advancement plan; not too long into the future, he would be able to concoct Potion #2, which would increase his mutated gene capacity, as well as Potion #3, for his superior gene capacity. Eventually, he would even be able to target Potion #4, which had been incredibly scarce even in the past.

Of course, with his current strength, Potion #1 was the limit. He knew where to find the herbs required for Potion #2, but would be unable to harvest them without growing stronger first. And he didn't even dare think about Potion #3.

After his meal, Zhang Lie went back to concocting more potions. Potion #1 would surely revolutionize the world.

It took the remainder of the day for Zhang Lie to exhaust his entire supply of blood whiskers, producing five copies of Potion #1. He wouldn't release them into the market yet, not before he grew strong enough to avoid being a target. If they were to be revealed now, given his current level of strength, he would likely be caught by one corporation or another.

After packing and storing the potions, Zhang Lie cleaned up the laboratory and left, then exchanged 20,000 points for cash. Because of the magnitude of the transaction, Zhang Lie was given the currency in the form of an unassuming black card. The black card, like the checks of the past, could be redeemed for two million dollars at any bank sponsored by the world federation.

It was past time to resolve his housing issues. Zhang Lie returned to the real world via the teleportation apparatus.

His sister was overjoyed to see him returning, and she almost fell off her wheelchair in her impatience to reach him. Zhang Lie rushed forward and supported his sister before she could fall.

Hanxiang was far too lonely: she had no friends, and her only blood relative spent most of his time within the dimensional world, without being able to accompany her. She had always been understanding and sensitive, and had barely brought the matter up to Zhang Lie, but he couldn't help but think that her loneliness was one of the reasons she had grown up so enamored with books.

"Ah, be more careful!"

"Hehe." Instead of speaking, Zhang Hanxiang hugged her brother tightly and smiled in satisfaction.

"How long have I been gone?"

"Exactly three days. Brother, if you haven't gotten any money, don't worry. We still have some time, and if worse comes to worst, we can always move out. As long as we're together, I don't care where we live!"

Zhang Lie patted his chest. "I can handle the money issue. Tomorrow, I'll head to the Wangs' place and fix the problem."

"Really? Have you managed to make a lot of money in the dimensional world, Brother?"

"Of course! When have I ever lied to you? You haven't eaten yet, have you? Shall we eat out together?"

"Ah, a restaurant! It's been so long since I've been outside... but, won't it cost a lot? I... we'd better not go..."