Su Ze casually picked up the handbag, unzipped it, and began to rummage through its contents, feigning nonchalance.
Inside the bag were a cell phone, some documents, a few bottles of medicine, a wad of cash, a few condoms, and... a vial of extract!
Su Ze's pupils constricted. The extract was held in a glass vial, a clear liquid in which a green light ebbed and flowed, shimmering with an ethereal glow.
The green light of evolution corresponded to a Saint-level lifeform that had evolved four times. This was a Tier 4 extract!
Judging by the concentration of evolutionary power within, it was likely a high-quality Tier 4 extract at that.
One had to understand that creating a single vial of extract required the death of a living being. In other words, this small vial represented the fall of a Saint-level lifeform.
The strongest expert in all of Mu Country, the Mu King, had only completed four evolutions.
It was no exaggeration to say this vial of Tier 4 extract was priceless and incredibly rare.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 extracts could be bought on the open market, and Tier 3 extracts required special channels and connections. As for Tier 4 and above, they were the sort of thing that had a price but could never be found for sale.
Take Zhang Fantie, for example. Even though he was already a Butterfly Stage expert, he had never absorbed a single vial of a Tier 4 extract. This was partly because he wasn't confident he could succeed, and partly because Tier 4 extracts were just that rare.
For Zhang Fantie to complete his fourth evolution, he would need to absorb three vials of Tier 4 extracts, and even then, he could still fail.
If the evolution failed, one would lose nearly all hope of ever evolving again, even if they survived the process.
Therefore, even with the Zhao Family's vast wealth, cultivating a Saint-level lifeform was an exceedingly difficult task.
'Why would such a precious Tier 4 extract be in Zhao Lingxiao's bag?'
Su Ze found the answer in the memories he had just unlocked.
This body of his, being a clone, had a month's worth of memories sealed away. All of them came flooding back when he was attacked by the Head of the Wailer.
A month and a half ago, Zhao Lingxiao had attended the grand coming-of-age ceremony for his friend, Princess Zhuzhi.
On his way home, Zhao Lingxiao encountered a powerful, mysterious individual. The person, who reeked of a foul stench, claimed to be from a secret organization and wanted to discuss a shady-sounding deal with him.
The deal was simple: Zhao Lingxiao was to find an opportunity to kill Princess Zhuzhi, then extract the Evolutionary Material from her body to create an extract. If he delivered Princess Zhuzhi's extract to them, they would, in return, cultivate him into an evolver even more powerful than the Mu King.
Extracts could be drawn from any evolved lifeform, and humans were no exception. Human extracts could be used for evolution just the same, though people typically absorbed extracts derived from various mutated beasts.
Furthermore, the laws of every nation strictly forbade the creation, trade, and use of extracts from one's own species, with the penalty for discovery being death.
Naturally, Zhao Lingxiao didn't trust this mysterious stranger, much less risk everything for an empty promise. But then the stranger produced three vials of Tier 4 extracts and one vial of a Tier 5 extract, claiming this would be his payment, delivered all at once, upon completion of the deal.
What's more, if he agreed, they would give him one of the Tier 4 extracts right then and there as a down payment.
Zhao Lingxiao was completely tempted. They were offering too much!
These extracts alone were enough to fuel his future evolution, allowing him to advance all the way to a Saint-level lifeform like the Mu King—provided, of course, that he didn't fail along the way.
Even with the Zhao Family's immense wealth, cultivating a Saint-level lifeform wasn't something money alone could achieve.
Zhao Lingxiao was a man of immense ambition. He knew his father would most likely reject the deal, so he went behind Zhao Yuanyi's back, agreeing on the spot and accepting the vial of Tier 4 extract as a down payment.
The very same extract now lay in Zhao Lingxiao's bag.
In the days that followed, Zhao Lingxiao began plotting, searching for an opportunity to strike at Princess Zhuzhi. Half a month later, he finally found a chance to get her alone.
Princess Zhuzhi had no guard up against Zhao Lingxiao. Though she was a Pupa Stage evolver who had completed one evolution, making her stronger than him, the gap between the Pupa Stage and a Mortal-level Life wasn't that significant. She could still be threatened by firearms, to say nothing of Zhao Lingxiao's Tier 2 wondrous item.
With a premeditated attack against an unsuspecting target, Zhao Lingxiao successfully ambushed her with the Head of the Wailer, and she lost her life.
Afterward, Zhao Lingxiao used a portable extraction device he carried to draw out the Evolutionary Material from Princess Zhuzhi's body, producing a vial of Tier 1 extract.
The extract drawn from a human body was noticeably different from those of beasts; the clear liquid in the vial was tinged with a faint red.
After fleeing the scene, the more Zhao Lingxiao thought about it, the more something felt wrong. 'Why would that mysterious organization trade a massive amount of Saint-level extracts for Princess Zhuzhi's single Tier 1 extract?'
'Unless Princess Zhuzhi's extract was worth more than all of those Saint-level extracts combined!'
'What could possibly make a Tier 1 extract so valuable?'
After mulling it over, the ambitious Zhao Lingxiao gritted his teeth and absorbed Princess Zhuzhi's extract himself.
At the time, Zhao Lingxiao had already absorbed two vials of Tier 1 extracts. After absorbing this third one, he would be able to attempt his first evolution.
As it turned out, Zhao Lingxiao's gamble paid off. He successfully absorbed Princess Zhuzhi's extract and obtained a skill that defied his understanding.
It was a passive skill that gave him one extra opportunity to absorb an extract at every evolutionary stage!
Others could only absorb three vials of an extract before being forced to evolve to the next stage, unable to absorb any more. But with this skill, Zhao Lingxiao could absorb a fourth.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Su Ze's eyes snapped open.
'As Zhao Lingxiao's clone, I've copied all his skills. Does that mean I have this one, too?'
He finally understood what "that" skill Zhao Yuanyi had been referring to.
It was a passive skill. Lacking the relevant memories, Su Ze hadn't noticed it before. But now that he actively reached out with his senses, he immediately detected its presence.
Outwardly, Su Ze remained impassive, but inwardly he was ecstatic. 'This is definitely a godly skill!'
'At every stage, I can absorb one more extract than anyone else. That means I'll gain an extra skill at every stage!'
'And that's not all. Every time you absorb an extract, your physical attributes get a full-body enhancement. While it's not as significant as the boost from a full evolution, it's definitely not something to be ignored.'
'Stronger constitution, more skills... When fighting someone at the same level, I don't even know how I could possibly lose.'
'The further I progress, the greater the advantage this skill will provide. In the future, fighting opponents a level above me might not even be out of the question.'
Zhao Lingxiao had named this skill "Divine Grace of Evolution," as in a gift from the god of evolution.
Su Ze felt the skill was worthy of the name.
'So, that means I've already absorbed three vials of Tier 1 extracts, but because of Divine Grace of Evolution, I can still absorb a fourth before I have to evolve,' Su Ze mused.
As powerful as Divine Grace of Evolution was, its drawback was also obvious: it was expensive. Each stage would cost him one more vial of extract than anyone else.
And high-quality extracts were incredibly costly.
'Good thing my family has money...'
'So, is Divine Grace of Evolution my cheat?'
As he thought of this, Su Ze felt a little dissatisfied. It wasn't that he thought Divine Grace of Evolution was weak, but that it had come to him in such a roundabout way.
'I still prefer the simple and direct cheats, like a "System" or "Stat Points".'
'Other Transmigrators get a system the moment they arrive, so how come my cheat is second-hand?'
Divine Grace of Evolution was originally Princess Zhuzhi's skill, which Zhao Lingxiao stole. It was then copied to Su Ze through cloning.
'A third-hand cheat. One star review!'
'But on the bright side, Princess Zhuzhi is dead, Zhao Lingxiao is dead, and now I'm the only one who has this skill.'
'When I think about it that way... how sweet it is!'
'Still, one question lingered in Su Ze's mind. Could a skill this ridiculously powerful really be duplicated so easily through cloning?'
'In that case, if the mysterious organization had cloning technology, couldn't they just mass-produce extracts with Divine Grace of Evolution? Why treat it as such a big deal?'
'It didn't make sense. And yet, the skill Divine Grace of Evolution had indisputably appeared in him.'