Chapter 100: Rampage Demon Ape, Sword Armored Dragon Elephant Beast

Comparing the map provided by the mercenaries with the satellite map on their phones, the four estimated that the group of Iron Arm Black Apes was approximately 150 kilometers away from where they had entered the mountain.

To reach the apes, they would have to cross nine mountain peaks, two small rivers, and the territories of three dangerous mutated beasts.

Or, well, the mercenaries had considered these beasts dangerous. In the eyes of Chen Chu and the others, it was just one level 3 and two level 2 mutated beasts.

Among them, the level 3 mutated beast was a thirteen-meter-long king cobra, swift as the wind, possessing great strength, and extremely venomous. Even bullets from rifles hadn’t been able to penetrate its skin. It had swallowed two of the mercenaries, and they had only been able to shake off its pursuit with over a dozen high-explosive grenades.

The level 2 mutated beasts, meanwhile, were a giant crocodile inhabiting the riverbanks and a nine-meter-long thorn wolf.

"Are we going to kill them?"

As the sun set, on the slope amid the trees, Chen Chu and the other three looked ahead, where a ten-meter-long, completely black snake had coiled itself around the trunk of a large tree.

The snake’s hood was nearly a meter wide; coupled with its fierce head, it emanated a strong, oppressive aura.

The king cobra lifted its head slightly, its black pupils coldly staring in their direction.

Even though they were dozens of meters away, it had still clearly noticed them. As a serpent, its senses were not limited to its eyes; its olfactory and infrared senses were even stronger.

However, since it was only a level 3 mutated beast, Chen Chu and the others didn't pay much attention to it. They were occupied with discussing whether to kill it or to bypass it for now and deal with it later.

A level 3 mutated beast was worth tens of thousands of yuan or more, and exchanging it with the authorities could earn them 20 contribution points, which was much simpler than killing ten Second Heavenly Realm Blood Cultists. It wasn’t a question of if they should kill it, but when.

Li Hao said, "I suggest we bypass this cobra for now and come back to kill it later. Carrying its corpse along would be too troublesome, and it would be a waste if we lose it."

Chen Chu nodded. "In that case, we should bypass the other two mutated beasts as well."

"Okay," Xia Youhui and Li Meng agreed without objection.

"I'll go and lure it away." With that, Chen Chu's figure flashed as he dashed out of the trees and appeared in a clearing about a dozen meters away. He picked up a rock about the size of a human head from the ground.

Thud!

He threw the rock with terrifying force, and it flew like a cannonball to accurately hit the cobra's head with a resounding thud.

Under the immense force, the rock instantly smashed into powder, as the snake’s head violently jerked back.

Hiss!

That certainly got the cobra’s attention. It hissed with a cold, enraged tone, and slid down from the tree in an instant.

As the cobra’s robust body passed through, the grass and shrubs gave way, forming a path behind it. Its speed was like the wind, crossing dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.

The king cobra got its nickname of “Mountain Wind” from its swift movement. After mutation, this cobra’s speed had become even more astonishing.

But Chen Chu was faster. With a loud bang, he burst through the air and disappeared from the spot.

"So fast." The other three were slightly surprised as they watched Chen Chu and the snake disappear into the depths of the forest.

The snake’s speed was impressive, but what puzzled them even more was how quickly Chen Chu, a cultivator of a strength-based art, moved.

Ever since they had arrived in Kyrola, people had noticed how Chen Chu's agility was abnormal, completely unlike that of a cultivator focused on strength.

However, none of them really thought to question this aspect further, including Xia Youhui.

After all, everyone had their own secrets. Though he hadn’t said so out loud, everyone knew that Li Hao’s goal in organizing this hunt was to obtain the essence of the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape. Why else would he target this dangerous group of apes and not another, easier mutated beast?

Chen Chu quickly shook off the cobra and returned. The four of them ran for over twenty kilometers; by the time they passed through the giant crocodile’s territory, it was getting dark, forcing them to stop.

At this point, they were still about 40 kilometers away from the mountain where the Iron Arm Black Apes were located. In the course of six hours, the four of them had covered over 110 kilometers, averaging a speed of around 20 kilometers per hour.

Given their capabilities, this was somewhat slow, but there wasn’t much they could do about it; the uneven terrain in the mountains and forests was difficult to traverse, and Xia Youhui and Li Hao were carrying heavy weapons to boot.

The four quickly found a spot below a cliff to pitch their tents, rocky and clear of any underbrush for beasts to sneak up on them with. After agreeing to take turns keeping watch for three hours each, everyone rested.

Inside his tent, Chen Chu sat cross-legged, holding a nearly depleted Blue Crystal in his hand and beginning to cultivate. At the same time, he divided his attention, his consciousness sinking and shifting over to the Sword Armored Beast.

Due to the time difference, it was still daytime there, with sunlight penetrating the sea surface to provide illumination for the depths below.

At the coral reef fifty meters beneath the surface, a fierce and monstrous creature over five meters long, entirely black in color, opened its eyes. With a single movement of its massive body, it swam out.

After five days of consuming large quantities of mutated fish, the Sword Armored Beast's growth rate had been several times faster than that of the armored beast, making it appear ever more ferocious.

It had been accumulating evolution points ranging from around twenty on the lowest days to as much as thirty or forty on the highest days. In addition to greater quantities, the mutated sea fish also contained higher energy levels than the river fish had, which greatly accelerated the Sword Beast’s growth.

With the influence of the avatar’s Synchronized Reinforcement, Chen Chu's strength and physique were steadily increasing every day. He had actually started to ponder something in regards to the Synchronized Reinforcement; since the growth of the avatar could affect him, could he also influence the avatar in return?

The influence he was thinking of wasn’t on the Sword Beast’s physique, as the speed at which he cultivated true martial arts couldn’t even compare to its growth rate. What he did wonder, however, was if the Sword Beast could also cultivate.

As a mutated beast, it naturally had a high affinity for transcendent energy, otherwise it wouldn't be able to absorb the energy of other creatures for its evolutions. Even now, the Sword Beast could sense the rich energy contained in the surrounding seawater. The problem was that it didn't know how to absorb, refine, or store this ambient energy.

Perhaps it was because the avatar hadn’t started out as a mutated beast, but as a normal six-horned salamander? That would explain why it could gain energy from eating other creatures, but not passively grow stronger from absorbing the transcendent energy around it like other mutated beasts could.

This issue would likely require its fourth evolution, when it could absorb and evolve another ability, to solve it.

Speaking of gaining energy... as the Sword Beast was contemplating all of this, something came into sight. A massive red crab, measuring four meters in length and spanning eight meters when its giant pincers were outstretched, was scuttling along the seafloor. Its pincers firmly gripped a three-meter-long gray shark, which it was in the process of devouring.

With bubbles streaming from its nostrils, the Sword Beast swam over. Its ferocious appearance instantly caught the mutated crab’s attention, and it stared back intently with its two large eyes.

Click! Click! Click!

The crab emitted warning clicks from its mouth, but the Sword Beast ignored them, simply continuing to approach. Seeing this, the mutated crab released the half-eaten shark and slightly turned its body, aiming its pincers at the approaching creature.

As the Sword Beast drew closer, the atmosphere between the two grew increasingly tense. When the distance between them had narrowed to just five meters, the crab suddenly flicked its six legs and swiftly charged towards the Sword Beast with its left pincer extended.

Bang!

The crab's pincer snapped shut on empty water, a ring of air exploding in all directions from the force. The moment the crab had launched its attack, the Sword Beast had flashed like a black shadow, appearing behind the crab with even greater speed.

The Sword Beast rose up on its sturdy hind legs and lifted its claws high in the water. A fierce and savage aura erupted from its body, causing its forelimbs to swell with muscle.

The third-stage combat skill of the Dragon Elephant Art, the Raging Elephant Stomp

Boom!

As the Sword Beast's clawed fists made contact with the crab’s shell, the surrounding seawater exploded with a deafening roar, generating shockwaves that surged out over ten meters in all directions.

Under the terrifying force, the crab’s shell, as hard as alloy and dozens of centimeters thick, shattered and collapsed with a resounding crash. The entire body crumpled and exploded under the impact of the strike.

For a moment, the area within a ten-meter radius was engulfed in churning sand, mixed with blue blood and crab roe. A few minutes later, once the sand settled back down, the Sword Beast looked at the scattered crab pincers and the few remaining pieces of edible crab meat around it with a twinge of regret.

If only I had been a bit gentler,

it thought.

Crunch!

With a single bite, the Sword Beast crushed the huge crab claw, and a gleam of delight shone in its eyes as it savored the delicious meat within.

This seemed to be a step in the right direction. While Chen Chu’s true power couldn’t directly be synchronized with the avatar, it looked like some combat techniques and explosive power skills could still be used. Even if the Raging Elephant Stomp hadn’t multiplied the Sword Beast’s power, it had still fully unleashed its hundredfold strength and concentrated it to make it even more destructive.

In the past, an attack like that from the armored beast would have at most shattered the crab’s shell, not completely crushed the carapace or created such a powerful shockwave.

This realization lifted the Sword Beast’s mood. After happily devouring the remnants of the mutated crab, it disappeared into the depths of the ocean with a flick of its tail.

In the pitch-black night of the mountain forest, Xia Youhui, who had been on duty for three hours, stepped up to Chen Chu's tent and called out. "Ah Chu, it's your turn."

Inside the tent, Chen Chu slowly opened his eyes. A glint of icy and fierce light flashed in the depths of his pupils, before they quickly returned to their usual gentleness.

"Alright, you can go rest now."

With that, Chen Chu pulled open the tent and stepped out.

The mountain forests at night were extremely dangerous, even for a group of four that included Chen Chu. As he kept watch, he stood on a large rock with his hands behind his back, wearing his black and red armor to guard against insects. At the same time, he heightened his perceptive senses to their maximum.

Awoo!

Roar!

Chirp chirp chirp!

From afar, various cries and roars incessantly reverberated, danger lurking at every turn. Several dozen meters away, a pair of cruel eyes peered in his direction.

Sensing the malice, Chen Chu turned his head slightly to look over, his gaze sharp and cold. The darkness of the night, however, obscured even his sharp eyesight. He could only vaguely make out that it was a creature resembling a leopard.

This mutated beast, including its tail, was around six meters in length. It stood on a tree branch over ten meters in the air, with most of its body obscured by leaves. However, it seemed to sense that Chen Chu was not to be trifled with, eventually choosing to depart.

Seeing this, Chen Chu couldn't be bothered to pursue and kill it. A level 1 mutated beast would only yield 2 or 3 contribution points, and lugging its body around would be tedious.

The rest of the night passed quietly. When the sun came up, the four of them quickly finished their breakfast, tidied up a bit, and then continued on their journey, traversing mountains and crossing ridges.

After defeating more than a dozen fearless ordinary mutated creatures, they finally arrived at the mountain forest where the Iron Arm Black Apes resided.

The trees here stood at heights of thirty to fifty meters, their crowns lush and dense. Thick vines twined between the branches, hanging down, while black gorillas, three meters tall, climbed and played on them.

Among these black apes were six particularly conspicuous giant ones, each standing five meters tall. Their sturdy arms were even thicker than a person's, and their dark skin emitted a metallic sheen.

According to the information provided, these Iron Arm Black Apes had coarse fur and thick skin. Even the ordinary level 1 Black Apes could ignore smaller bullets. They were agile in their movements, and with a swing of their arms, they could flip a small car.

The level 2 Iron Arm Black Apes were even stronger; bullets from rifles and submachine guns felt like mere tickles to them, and their strength was truly formidable.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, these mutated beasts, like humans, were capable of using weapons. During battles, they would wield tree trunks to swing or hurl stones weighing over a hundred kilograms as projectiles, making them highly dangerous.

The Golden-Backed Rampage Ape, however, was an unknown factor, with no specific information about it available.

Xia Youhui hefted his heavy shield, somewhat excitedly asking, "Should we just attack now?"

Li Meng's expression turned serious. "I don’t see the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape. What if it’s in hiding and ambushes us?"

Li Hao said, "It's simple. We lure down those Iron Arm Black Apes, and once we kill enough of them, the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape will definitely show up.

"When it does, Xia Youhui and I will engage it head-on. Chen Chu, you and Li Meng quickly eliminate the remaining Black Apes so we can avoid being disturbed during the fight. Then, we'll join forces and kill the Rampage Ape together.

"If the Rampage Ape isn't here, even better. We can eliminate all these level 1 and 2 Black Apes, and dealing with the Rampage Ape later will be much easier."

Chen Chu nodded. "Agreed."

It wasn’t much of a plan—more a straightforward frontal assault—but it would work. Though the mutated beasts were numerous, most of them were only level 1 with a few level 2s among them. The four completely outmatched them. The only one truly worth paying attention to was the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape.