Chapter 107: Terrifying Growth, Starting To Have An Effect

Under the deep sea, the Sword Armored Beast rapidly devoured the seven-meter-long mutated fish.

Everything aside from some inedible internal organs was consumed by the Sword Beast, even the bones. The energy in the fish’s body was too abundant to resist.

As the fish was consumed, the Sword Beast’s body visibly lengthened by several centimeters.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Crunch! Crunch!

The Sword Beast grasped the half-meter-long crystal horn with its left claw, crunching it like a blue popsicle as it floated in the water and pondered.

This mutated fish, capable of using energy attacks, had been at the beginning stage of level 4, but it had been weak. It had felt inferior even to ordinary level 3 mutated beasts.

However, the energy contained within its flesh and blood was extremely abundant, nearly several times that of other mutated fish of the same size. Even the blue horn felt somewhat like an Energy Crystal.

It seemed to be related to those luminescent corals in the volcanic crater.

With that in mind, the Sword Beast licked its sharp fangs, its massive body swaying slightly as it disappeared into the pitch-black depths of the sea.

In the hotel room, Chen Chu slowly opened his eyes. Feeling the warm streams flowing through his body, he couldn't help but smile.

The sea really was the Sword Beast's true home. Only the ocean had enough mutated creatures to allow the Beast to grow rapidly.

Chen Chu had never even considered absorbing genes from flying birds to soar through the sky, nor hunting on land. Were there even enough creatures on land for the Sword Beast to feed on?

And there was no way that the Federation would allow a mutated beast to infinitely grow unchecked. Even if he showed that he could control the Sword Beast, the Federation wouldn't allow it to grow indefinitely, and doing that would also expose many of his secrets.

The only real option was to quietly grow in the depths of the ocean, without drawing unnecessary attention.

The Crystal Horn Fish had not only caused the Sword Beast to surge in size, but had also increased his four major attributes by several points. The increase was astonishing. If the Sword Beast was to eat all of those fish, not only would its own growth be significant, but Chen Chu's attributes would also skyrocket, making his strength even more overwhelming.

However... Chen Chu lowered his head slightly, looking at the Energy Crystal in his hand, which had become somewhat translucent. He couldn't help but smile wryly. "Cultivation at the Third Heavenly Realm consumes so much."

At the Second Heavenly Realm, this Energy Crystal would have been enough for a whole month of absorption. Now, however, he had spent just one afternoon in cultivation and already consumed a tenth of its energy.

Even then, the crystal had greatly increased his cultivation speed. He estimated that at this rate, even without using attribute points for reinforcement, he could break through to the late stage in at most half a month, and in just over three months, he could completely break through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm.

But in doing so, he would have to consume at least nine Energy Crystals and several dozen contribution points, considering that he could only exchange for two crystals with a thirty percent discount each month.

Thinking about this, Chen Chu hesitated a bit. Ultimately contribution points were more important. After forming the true martial rune with the Dragon Elephant Art, he wondered what changes would occur after the maximum enhancement of the Insightful Blade.

In addition to that, he also needed to exchange for high-level arts like the Dragon Elephant Tyrant Body and enhance his equipment.

With his strength rivaling that of Li Hao and his armor reinforced to +10, Chen Chu had handled the hunt for the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape with ease. Coupled with his powerful physique, he had barely felt the impact of the apes' attacks, the onslaught making his vitality boil at most.

But this battle had also exposed the shortcomings of his weapons—lacking in durability and sharpness. If his straight saber was indestructible and razor-sharp, with his speed and strength, there would be simply no match for him among peers, whether they were mutated beasts or humans.

It seemed he was still poor...

In the following days, besides practicing cultivation, Chen Chu ravaged the deep sea, ambushing and attacking the Crystal Horn Fish to enhance the Sword Beast’s strength.

While the fish were physically weak, however, they seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence. After the Sword Beast had killed five of the seven-meter-long fish, the remaining ones became vigilant. Even when foraging away from the volcano, they wouldn't stray too far. They also often gathered in groups of two or three, making it difficult for the Sword Beast to attack them easily.

If there was only one, the beast could rely on its terrifying speed to launch a sneak attack and kill it with a single blow. It couldn’t, however, kill more one than a time, which would give the other fish in the group the opportunity to retaliate.

The Sword Beast didn’t have much confidence in its ability to resist those icy cold beams that could freeze both water and organisms, and so wanted to avoid getting hit by them as much as possible.

While Chen Chu focused on evolving to enhance his strength, others were not idle either. Li Meng and Xia Youhui were also diligently cultivating, while Li Hao had once again disappeared. He would likely only emerge when he had finished absorbing the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape’s essence to greatly increase his strength.

The actions of Chen Chu and his group had inspired other students from Nantian, such as Liu Feng, to work even harder in their cultivation, aiming to break through to the Third Heavenly Realm sooner to catch up with them.

The students from the other two high schools were also feeling the pressure. Although they were from different schools, everyone was considered a genius who had achieved Foundation Building within a week. So why did it feel like the gap between everyone was widening?

These students actively took on missions to try to close that gap, hunting down the scattered Blood Cultists in the city like mad dogs. Some students even went to nearby towns and cities on their own initiative, hoping to stumble upon some Blood Cultists by chance.

Under such circumstances, the situation in Leisteru City and its surroundings became increasingly stable, to the point where there were several consecutive days without any news of Blood Cultists or rebels.

The economy gradually revived, and many commercial streets regained some of their vibrancy during the night.

***

Beneath the pitch-black depths of the sea, at a depth of two hundred meters, a group of giant squids, ranging from one to two meters in length, darted around in panic as they were hunted by two Crystal Horn Fish.

They were both over eight meters long, with wide and sturdy bodies even more imposing than great white sharks, and the one-meter-long blue crystal horns on their heads exuded a sense of pressure.

The two fish, swimming side by side, emitted beams from their crystal horns. After freezing several giant squids, they formed large ice columns in the water, each as thick as a human thigh and several meters long.

For these giant squids, which were only weakly mutated, the Crystal Horn Fish and their energy attacks were completely overpowering.

Eventually, after consuming over a hundred of them, the fish ceased their attack, sated and satisfied. They no longer pursued the fleeing squids, and with a slight turn of their bodies, they were about to return...

Bang!

In the distance, the water exploded as a dark figure tore through the water, crossing a hundred meters in an instant to appear beside one of the fish. A powerful and sharp claw struck down.

Boom!

Under the terrifying power and speed, the water exploded, forming a white shockwave that burst out three meters away. With that one strike, half of the fish's skull collapsed and shattered, rich blood and white matter gushing out.

The moment the Sword Beast had launched its attack, the fish several meters away had reacted as well, shooting a blue beam out of its horn.

Seeing this, the Sword Beast didn’t try to dodge or flee. It embraced the corpse of the dead fish with both claws and charged forward.

Through its observations over the past few days, it had discovered that, while the blue icy light was indeed powerful, it also weakened significantly after penetrating a creature's body. It also couldn't be used for an extended period, suggesting that its energy was limited.

After using up a lot of its energy while hunting, the fish was able to shoot off a beam that was only half as strong in terms of both intensity and brightness compared to its initial state.

This was also the reason why the Sword Beast had waited until they were sated before striking.

Puff!

The blue beam pierced through the fish, instantly covering half of the corpse with a layer of ice that emanated a harsh chill. The beam’s power weakened further as it worked its way through the thick flesh; by the time it fell on the Sword Beast, only a faint blue glow remained.

Even so, the Sword Beast still felt a tremendous chill rushing through it. Its body stiffened momentarily, but all it took was a surge of scorching hot vitality to disperse it.

Bang!

The frozen corpse maintained its speed and slammed fiercely into the other fish, knocking it over with a force that made the surrounding water churn.

The moment the fish was staggered, a shadow darted through the water, and a black bone spike pierced through its skull, completing the double kill.

Two massive bodies slowly floated in the pitch-black depths of the sea. Crimson blood poured from their wounds, dyeing the surrounding water red.

Next to them, the black beast, now over seven meters long, swayed its tail slightly, its pale golden pupils emitting a cold glare. It exuded a fierce aura from its entire body, becoming increasingly menacing.

I seem to have been overly cautious before. Those ice beams are powerful against ordinary creatures, but their effectiveness against transcendent beings like me is much weaker.

Through the evolutions, the abilities it had acquired had all been physical in nature: strength, defense, and agility. This had a significant effect on its body, greatly increasing its density and sturdiness all the way down to the cellular level.

But that didn’t mean it didn't have transcendent energy within its body; that energy simply circulated through its flesh in the form of fervent vitality, the kind that had reflexively erupted to disperse the chill of the icy light.

Of course, the weak power of that specific beam had also played a large factor. If it was to receive a blow from a fully empowered Crystal Horn Fish, or even a continuous attack from four or five at once, the current Sword Beast in its current form wouldn't be able to withstand it.

This was why it had lurked for several days, finally launching an attack only when it had encountered two stray fish. After all, safety came first.

The ocean was also vast, so it wasn’t as if the Sword Beast was entirely dependent on these Crystal Horn Fish for food. Having other mutated fish to hunt on the side was what had allowed the beast to spend so long observing these fish before striking now.

TheSword Beast grabbed both of the enormous bodies with excitement, one in each claw. Unfortunately, it would take too long to eat both of these out in the open, even with its extreme digestive capabilities, which presented too big of a risk of a group of the larger Crystal Horn Fish encountering it while it was distracted. With a sway of its tail, it swam toward its temporary den dozens of kilometers away.

After gauging the intensity of the icy light beams emitted by the Crystal Horn Fish, the Sword Beast continued to make use of hit-and-run tactics to hunt down several more of the fish over the next few days. Its evolution points continuously skyrocketed, increasing by several dozen points each day and matching its steady growth.

It felt like it wouldn't take more than two months to meet the requirements for the fourth evolution... as long as it didn’t run out of Crystal Horn Fish to consume.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and it was already December 17th. The crisp afternoon sunlight bathed the earth in a golden hue.

On the balcony of the hotel, Chen Chu, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was icy, tinged with a hint of ferocity and brutality, resembling a fearsome humanoid beast.

However, this terrifying aura only flashed for a moment. When Chen Chu blinked and opened his eyes again, his gaze had become gentle once more.

"Is it finally starting to have an effect?"

Feeling the warm flow continuously strengthening his physique as it circulated through his increasingly formidable body, a faint smile graced Chen Chu's unparalleled handsome face.

From a mere ten-centimeter-long six-horned salamander to the present, his avatar had finally begun to have a big effect on him. As it became increasingly monstrous and colossal, it had also started to rapidly propel Chen Chu’s growth, allowing him to surpass the others of his level at a terrifying pace.

It had been just over half a month since the avatar’s third evolution. His highest attribute, Strength, now exceeded 400 points, while his Physique was over 360.

That group of Crystal Horn Fish were a large part of this. With such ample, high-energy food, both the main body and avatar were able to grow rapidly, accumulating several hundred evolution points in a short period of time.

Chen Chu found his thoughts interrupted when he suddenly received a message to all students about a meeting, causing him to pause slightly. "Did something happen?"