Chapter 146: Electric Lightning Eel, The Single-horned Orca’s Call for Help

After exchanging for a high-level art and completing the transitioning of the first three stages, Chen Chu didn’t return home. Instead, he took an express train right back to Baishan Town.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

By this time, the sky had gradually darkened, and many students had returned to the town's streets with weapons on their backs, still emitting a bloody scent even after cleaning.

On the road, a student carrying a sword warmly greeted Chen Chu. "Chen Chu, why weren't you here today? They’d posted the second round of missions."

This purge was scheduled to last for half a month. The second round of missions involved re-examining the surrounding areas, with professionals using detectors to penetrate deeper into the mountain ranges.Because of the limited time to gather and compile it, the amount and accuracy of information for this round of missions would be slightly lower. Many mission notes indicated only suspected mutated creatures in the area.

Therefore, even though Chen Chu hadn’t been present in the morning, there hadn’t been much loss, just missing out on two missions.

However, with the other party being so enthusiastic, Chen Chu naturally wouldn't be arrogant. He smiled faintly and said, "I went back to school for a bit today. I had some things to attend to."

"You missed out big time. There was a mutated creature group mission this morning. Zhang Zilong and the others teamed up to take it and earned several dozen points."

Envy was evident on the student’s face. He was from the next class, Class Four, and Chen Chu vaguely remembered him. The Zhang Zilong he had mentioned was also a student who had returned from the trial and was in the Third Heavenly Realm.

He had joined forces with five or six other trial returnees, including a Second Heavenly Realm student with battle armor, and had completed quite a few difficult tasks during this purge.

Of course, the contribution points they had earned together were still less than what Chen Chu had earned alone.

Another student behind them shouted, "Brother Chen, please take me with you to kill a level 3 mutated beast!"

Chen Chu nodded with a smile. "Sure. And when we kill the beast, you can help carry the carcass out of the mountain. It'll make things easier for me too."

"Haha... Nevermind, forget what I just said." The student in the late stage of First Heavenly Realm nervously laughed. With his basic arm strength of three hundred kilograms, lifting the several-ton carcass of a level 3 mutated beast would be suicidal for him.

On the way back to the dormitory, many students warmly greeted Chen Chu, including second-rate and third-rate students from next door.

Over the past few days, on the way back from hunting and killing mutated beasts, Chen Chu had often encountered other students in their own battles. Whenever those classmates had found themselves at a disadvantage, he had lended a helping hand; with his strength, he could casually grab a hundred-kilogram rock and hurl it, easily crushing an ordinary mutated beast.

Although he had only intervened a few times, word had spread among these classmates about how Chen Chu possessed considerable strength. Yet, he remained modest, gentle, and very loyal. This had made his popularity among his classmates relatively high lately.

In the cafeteria, Luo Fei observed Chen Chu across from her, noting the increasingly imposing aura he exuded, with a hint of surprise in her expression. "So, you went back this morning to exchange for high-level arts, and now you've already completed the transition?"

Chen Chu nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, I spent half a day training in a cultivation room, and my true power’s nature transformed."

"Ah, I see. You truly are a genius, to have cultivated the Dragon Elephant Art to the point of True Martial Spirit," Luo Fei remarked with a faint smile. "Next, you should be preparing to break through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm. Do you have enough contribution points?"

Glancing at her, Chen Chu raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to lend me some money?"

Luo Fei casually nodded. "Sure, I still have 60 contribution points unused. You can take them if you need, and just return them to me after the mutated beast trials."

Given the necessity of maintaining true power devoid of any attributes, her resource options were significantly limited, with even ammunition being provided by her aunt. Consequently, she didn't rely on contribution points as much as Chen Chu did, except to exchange for resources that accelerated the circulation, absorption, and activation of true power to maintain her normal cultivation.

Even then, that so-called reliance was merely a means to progress faster. Chen Chu could have also chosen to cultivate steadily and gradually. However, in doing so, the pace of his advancement wouldn't have been nearly as remarkable as it was now; at least several times slower, if not by tenfold.

Chen Chu smiled at the gesture. "I'll see how things go in a couple of days. If I find myself short of contribution points, I may just have to borrow some from you." He didn't immediately agree, though he didn't outright refuse either.

If the missions assigned over the next few days were all level 1 and wouldn’t yield a lot of contribution points, he likely would need to borrow from her to exchange for the dragon essence. Thankfully, the situation didn't seem that dire right now.

On the second day, Chen Chu managed to secure three level 2 missions. However, these missions were scattered and quite distant, several dozen kilometers deep into the mountains. Soon, a day had passed.

In the ensuing days, while completing missions, Chen Chu diligently scoured the Changbai Mountains for signs of the Electric Lightning Eel, the Two-headed Mutated Ice Python, and the Earth Black Bear.

Each of these mutated beasts possessed distinct abilities associated with lightning, ice, and gravity, respectively.

The Two-headed Mutated Ice Python and the Earth Black Bear were kept in mind as potential backups in case he couldn’t find the Electric Lightning Eel’s location before the Sword Armored Fiery Beast was ready for its fourth evolution. With the combination of ice or gravity plus flame abilities, the Fiery Beast would still be formidable.

While a more powerful ability like space or time manipulation, akin to the slowing ability of the Two-headed Sea Snake would have been very useful, these were yet to be discovered in low-level mutated beasts, and only really manifested in higher level mutations.

Deep within a mountain stream, 150 kilometers into the Changbai Mountains, the river suddenly boiled, and within moments, countless dead fish floated to the surface.

Amid the tumultuous waters, a six-meter-long electric eel prowled, adorned with black scales and arcs of blue electricity. Only after the river was strewn with dead fish did the eel gradually cease its movements, leisurely feasting on its catch.

This was the Electric Lightning Eel's hunting strategy, leveraging its electric prowess to reign supreme in the river. Even a mutated crocodile that was a level higher didn’t dare to provoke it in the water. Such creatures, however, were not native to East Xia, but had been released into the wild by humans.

The mutated eel, resembling a snake, swam leisurely in the river as it fed.

On the slope of the shore, Chen Chu, clad in black and red armor and carrying the carcass of a seven-meter-long mutated beast, looked down below in surprise.

After four days of traversing the Changbai Mountains in search of the creature, he only found it now, when he hadn’t actively been looking for it.

Beside him, also in black and red armor and wielding her sniper rifle, Luo Fei looked down in astonishment. "Isn't that an Electric Lightning Eel? Creatures with electric attributes like that have no natural predators in the water."

This time, the missions the two had picked up had been adjacent, so they had entered the mountain together.

Unfortunately, Luo Fei had bad luck. Her mission notes had mentioned that the forested area on that mountain seemed to be inhabited by level 2 mutated creatures, but after searching around, she had found nothing.

Chen Chu thought for a moment. "Luo Fei, use a regular bullet to kill that electric eel, but don't shatter its body."

As long as the target creature the Fiery Beast consumed during evolution was intact, it was fine. So, all he needed to do was bring back this mutated eel’s carcass.

“Okay!” The girl nodded, and with a click, she ejected the armor-piercing bullet magazine and replaced it with a regular sniper bullet.

Compared to the Black Bone Armor-piercing Bullets that could penetrate level 3 or 4 mutated beasts with a single shot, these regular bullets were much cheaper, specifically used to deal with ordinary mutated creatures.

Of course, even these ordinary sniper bullets, with a caliber of 28 millimeters, had firepower equivalent to anti-aircraft guns.

Bang!

Accompanied by the gunfire echoing on the hillside, the head of the feasting eel instantly exploded, pierced by a massive bloody hole. Fresh red blood gushed out from the wound, quickly dyeing the surrounding river surface crimson.

Chen Chu dropped the carcass he had been holding, then dashed down the hillside in a flash. As he zoomed past the river surface at an incredibly fast speed, Chen Chu casually grabbed the eel’s giant python-like carcass and lifted it up, causing a large splash of water.

In the evening, the two of them drove back to the town. After handing over the level 2 mutated beast corpse to the logistics department and completing the task, Chen Chu rented a freezer to store the eel carcass.

The excuse Chen Chu had given to Luo Fei was that this type of electric eel was relatively rare, and he wanted to bring it back to taste it, which was technically true. He actually was bringing it back to eat.

*

Below the murky sea surface, an eighteen-meter-long black-red giant beast with sharp spikes covering its back swam slowly, exuding a terrifying aura.

Several days ago, after devouring the mutated octopus, the Sword Armored Fiery Beast had become even larger and more ferocious. As it grew to its current size, the oppressive aura of a colossal beast had become increasingly apparent.

Many sharks and other creatures immediately fled at the sight of it from afar, not daring to approach even when it suppressed its aura.

On the other hand, however, some palm-sized small fish showed no fear whatsoever. A dense school of fish swam about the Fiery Beast, forming a stark contrast with its massive and ferocious form.

After the fierce battle with the octopus, the Fiery Beast hadn’t ventured into the deep sea again. During this time, it patrolled and hunted within a range of two hundred kilometers from the coastline. There were too many dangerous creatures in the deeper waters, so it planned to venture further only after its fourth evolution.

Unfortunately, with it continuously devouring mutated creatures larger than ten meters in size in this area, food had gradually become scarce. Any fish smaller than ten meters barely provided any sustenance, making them mere appetizers.

A mutated creature entered the Fiery Beast’s field of view. Instantly, its eyes lit up, and a terrifyingly fierce aura flashed across its body.

Boom!

The silver fish that had been accompanying it scattered in panic as soon as they sensed that aura. Now that it couldn’t be exposed by those small fish, the Fiery Beast swayed its tail slightly and swam closer to the food.

Hundreds of meters away, a fifteen-meter-long mutated cutlassfish, covered in silver scales and with sharp spikes all over its body, had grabbed a five-meter-long ordinary shark, freezing it with an intense chill emanating from the cutlassfish’s mouth.

After freezing its prey to death, the ferocious mutated cutlassfish slowly loosened its grip, preparing to...

Boom!

Suddenly, the seawater exploded. Before the cutlassfish could react and start freezing its surroundings, its head was smashed by a giant claw with a loud bang.

The dense blood dyed the water red as the giant black beast grabbed the cutlassfish with one claw and the shark with the other.

Crunching sounds filled the water as the Fiery Beast quickly devoured most of the flesh of the shark with a few bites. Once it had finished off the snack, the Fiery Beast grabbed the cutlassfish with both claws and began to eat, tearing off large chunks at a time and crushing the spikes with its sharp teeth as it chewed.

Only when it reached the cutlassfish’s belly did the beast take a bit more care in handling it. As a “person,” it still had some psychological barriers when it came to excrement, manually removing it from most of the mutated creatures it had hunted.

As the Fiery Beast swam and enjoyed its seafood meal, suddenly another mutated creature over ten meters long entered its perception range.

It was a thirteen-meter-long orca, covered in black and white scales. Upon seeing the ferocious Fiery Beast, it emitted a joyful cry.

Watching the orca swimming towards it, the Fiery Beast opened its mouth slightly and emitted a low growl.

Roar! Are you the third kid of the big guy?

Squeak! Squeak!

Compared to the Single-horned Orca, which could express its thoughts precisely, this little orca only emitted whimpers, so its meaning could only be guessed.

The young orca whale circled the Fiery Beast twice, then swam forward for a while before turning back to look again, continuing to emit a series of whistles.

Roar! Are you asking me to follow?

Squeak! Squeak!

The young orca whale nodded slightly in the water, then continued swimming forward.

Did that orca discover something good again?

The Fiery Beast's eyes lit up slightly, and with a flick of its tail, it followed along, swimming more than twenty kilometers along the way.

Bang!

The surface of the sea exploded with splashes as a ferocious black head with magnificent feathered horns burst out on either side. In the distance, a massive Single-horned Orca could be seen rising and falling with the seawater.

It had been almost half a month since they had last met, and during this time, the Orca had grown to a length of thirty-one meters. The imposing aura emanating from its body now surpassed its previous strength by several times, clearly indicating a breakthrough to level 7.

However, it didn’t look to be in good condition. Its massive body was covered in shattered scales, with many wounds deep enough to reveal bone scattered across its surface, and its breath was weak.

Fortunately, the wounds had ceased bleeding, slowly healing under the circulation of a black and white energy.

Meanwhile, the twenty-eight-meter-long female orca was on guard nearby. Upon seeing the young orca emerge from the water, with the Fiery Beast following behind, a gleam of joy flickered in her eyes.

The Orca's spirits lifted even more as it emitted a call.

Squeak! Squeak! Brother, we finally found you.

Roar! Roar! What happened to you?

The Fiery Beast cast its gaze over the claw-mark-like wounds on the Orca's body as it swam closer, its expression turning slightly solemn.

The \Orca was quite formidable in terms of combat power. Even the Fiery Beast would take some effort to contend with its strength after its breakthrough.

However, it had still been wounded by an unknown mutated beast to this state, and it seemed to be a creature with sharp claws.

The Orca exclaimed furiously.

Squeak! Squeak! Brother, you have to avenge me! There are a lot of them, I can't defeat them alone. They're bullying me.

Roar! Roar! How many? What do they look like?

Squeak! Squeak! Quite a lot, I can’t even count.

Roar! Roar! I don’t want to head out these days. I will avenge you after some time.

Upon hearing that there were many mutated creatures that had injured the Orca, the Fiery Beast immediately lost interest.

The fact that the Orca had been injured to this extent was a testament to the opponent’s strength. Coupled with their large numbers, it possibly wouldn’t end well for the Fiery Beast even if it did want to go.

With its fourth evolution rapidly approaching, stability was its primary concern in all things.

Upon hearing that the Fiery Beast wasn't interested in taking action, the Orca became a little anxious and quickly called out.

Squeak! Squeak! Among those guys, only two are really formidable, the rest aren't that fierce.

Roar! Roar! How did you provoke them?

The Fiery Beast became a little curious.

Squeak! Squeak! I sensed something good, but they're guarding it. I was just getting close when I got attacked.

Upon hearing about the presence of something valuable, the Fiery Beast’s tone changed completely.

Roar! Roar! What? You were just going to take a look and got attacked by them? They crossed the line.

Roar! Roar! Let's go, let's deal with them. How dare they injure you, Brother.

The Orca became excited immediately.

Squeak! Squeak! Mhmm, okay, let’s go once I've recovered a bit.

With its simple intellect, it hadn’t noticed the change in the Fiery Beast’s tone. It only knew that with its fierce brother joining in, those guys were doomed.

However, the wait turned out to be almost a day long. It wasn't until the following morning that the Orca had regained most of its vigor. During this time, the female and the three young orcas had taken turns hunting to feed it.

It seemed the Orca’s efforts to support such a large family hadn't been in vain after all.

With the Orca mostly recovered, the two huge beasts swam out to sea, one in front and one behind, preparing to take revenge.