Chapter 162: Skirmishes

Standing at the mountain peak and gazing around him, Su Chen felt invigorated like never before.

It wasn’t only because of his delight at raising his cultivation base. More importantly, his physical body and his senses were very different from before.

After reaching the Blood Boiling Realm, he could feel that his body had become lighter and that his consciousness had become fuller. Most importantly, he had much greater control over his body.

At this moment, his strength might not have increased by much, but his control over the energy in his body had greatly increased, and his sense of Origin Energy was much more perceptive.

This was the benefit of reaching a higher cultivation realm. It wouldn’t directly increase one’s combat ability – after all, combat ability depended on Origin Skills – but it could improve the basic essence of one’s physical body, serving as a foundation for improving one’s combat prowess.

Now, if Su Chen were to use his Erupting Firehawk, it would form much more quickly. Whereas before it would have taken roughly one breath’s worth of time to form, it only required half a breath’s time now. Its explosive power would also increase, as the Origin Energy would be condensed to an even greater extent. Apart from this, the amount of Blood Qi his body contained also increased, so the strain that Armor-Piercing Awl placed on his body would be greatly reduced.

Previously, he would feel drained after using Armor-Piercing Awl just a single time. Now, he could use it multiple times in a row without any severe side effects.

These effects were all due to reaching the Blood Boiling Realm. Su Chen’s strength had increased pretty significantly as a result.

Just as he was planning on enjoying this sensation a bit longer, he suddenly found himself mobbed by other students.

“Su Chen, Su Chen!” Qi Weiyan was the first to run over. “Did you just reach the Blood Boiling Realm?”

Su Chen laughed and replied, “I did; it seems that I couldn’t keep it hidden from Senior Sister Qi’s perceptive eyes.”

Keep it hidden my ass!

You made such a big commotion; do you think that we’re all blind?

Qi Weiyan stared at him uncourteously. “I say, how did you do it? How did you reach the Blood Boiling Realm just like that?”

Su Chen calmly said the answer he had prepared long before. “Oh, wasn’t I in the forest hunting these past few days? I inadvertently ate a piece of fruit; unexpectedly, after eating it, my cultivation base shot up, causing me to reach the peak almost instantly. I thought to myself that I might as well try to reach the Blood Boiling Realm since I’m already at the peak, and I just so happened to succeed.”

Who are you trying to deceive!

Everyone rolled their eyes simultaneously.

It wasn’t like fruits that could increase one’s Origin Energy didn’t exist, but which one wasn’t an incomparably valuable treasure? How could you possibly obtain one so casually?

And after you ate it, your cultivation base reached the peak of Qi Drawing?

It’d be more likely to cause your body to explode!

The Origin Energy contained in those treasures was plentiful and abundant. How could they be used so casually? They all needed to be refined into medicines that could increase one’s Origin Energy first before they could be used.

If it were someone else who didn’t understand this fact, this behavior might be a bit more understandable, but as an alchemist, how could you just pop that unknown fruit into your mouth without analyzing it first?

Please, if you’re going to lie, at least make it a bit believable, will you?

Su Chen, however, didn’t care about that. He waved his hand and said, “Whether you believe me or not, that’s how it happened. I just had a lucky encounter, and my cultivation base benefited because of it. That’s all. Which one of us hasn’t had a lucky encounter before? Furthermore, we’re all here to find treasures, which also requires a lucky encounter. Sorry, I ate that fruit for myself so that I’m the only one who benefits. As long as you all don’t blame me for being selfish, that’s good enough.”

Qi Weiyan was infuriated by his rascally behavior, but after thinking about it for a bit, she realized he was right.

For Su Chen’s cultivation base to suddenly increase like this, he must have had a lucky encounter. Knowing that was enough; what need was there to figure out exactly what had happened?

Just as Su Chen had said, everyone was here to search for treasures.

Finding something was totally dependent on a person’s individual luck.

Those that could be used immediately might as well be used then. Long Sang Country wouldn’t say anything; there was a tacit understanding that everyone who was willing to risk death would obtain some kind of benefit. Those that couldn’t be used immediately could be brought back and considered a contribution.

After realizing this, nobody asked him any more questions. They just came up to him individually to congratulate him.

Only Tang Ming stood off to the side with a bitter expression.

Su Chen, seeing Tang Ming stare at him with such bitterness, felt a bit unsettled. “Did I do something to offend him?”

Duan Jiangshan recounted what he had said earlier to Su Chen.

Su Chen smiled when he heard that. “I thought that was what had happened. You all are honestly so stubborn! Since you pairs don’t want to separate, just wait for the other small teams to return and rearrange with them. Won’t that be sufficient?”

The group of people all looked at each other.

Right!

How had they not thought of this?

Duan Jiangshan harrumphed, “Kid, count yourself lucky that Su Chen here was kind enough to speak on your behalf. Otherwise, I really would have forced you two apart.”

Su Chen was just about to try and stop him when Tang Ming walked over and said, “Su Chen, I don’t need you to speak on my behalf. Even though you’ve reached the Blood Boiling Realm, that doesn’t mean you are the strongest. I want to duel with you to see which one of us is the stronger one!”

Su Chen: “......”

He looked at Qi Weiyan, who rushed over to coax Tang Ming like a mother would coax a stubborn child.

Duan Jiangshan, watching Tang Ming depart, couldn’t help but add, “It’s just a Demonic Emperor Bloodline; is there any need to act this way? What a terrible temper. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that he had an Origin Beast Bloodline.”

Su Chen laughed and patted him. “Don’t worry. If he has strength, is he not allowed to have a bit of a temper? Doesn’t Cloud Leopard get even more love than him? But, he was still awarded the twelfth rank.”

Everyone: “......”

Cloud Leopard, who was out searching the surroundings, felt his eyelids jump and rubbed his eyes. Gu Qingluo asked him what was wrong, to which he replied, “Nothing, I just felt a chill.”

————————————

News of Su Chen reaching the Blood Boiling Realm began to spread as everyone returned from their searching expeditions, giving everyone even more confidence in succeeding in their mission.

On the other hand, the ingredients that Su Chen needed were slowly being gathered and organized. Vial after vial of precious medicine began to emerge from Su Chen’s research lab. Upon distribution, they would increase the likelihood of survival for many of the students.

Even so, news of injuries continued to spread.

Every day, a group of students would run into some Ferocious Race youths and battle, so someone was always injured.

Most of the time, everyone was able to safely return, but there were also students who weren’t able to escape in time.

On the eighth day in the ruins, Su Chen received a notice: Li Yun was lost.

He, Wang Xuan’an, and Shui Dong had run into a group of Ferocious Race youths, and he had died during the battle.

On the ninth day, Zhu Anyi was gravely wounded.

He had run into Danba.

If it weren’t for Fan Ruzhi and Shi Jiangbai risking it all to save him, he would’ve died already.

Su Chen did his best to save him, but he was unable to do so in the end.

Zhu Anyi had the highest student number and was the strongest out of all the students lost in the ruins up until this point.

Of course, there was also some good news.

In the past few days, there were also two Ferocious Race youths who had died at the hands of other humans.

At this point, seven humans had died in battle, and two were still unaccounted for. On the other hand, seven Ferocious Race youths had been killed, one of them a Temple Warrior.

Up until this point, all of the battles were small-scale, like skirmishes before the main war.

But based on the information that had been coming in the past few days, the Ferocious Race youths were also definitely gathering. They were gathering much more slowly than the humans, but they were definitely beginning to group up.

One day, He Yuandong’s four-man team finally returned from the tall mountain to the north.

They had completed their preliminary scouting rounds of the tall mountain.