Chapter 155: Loading Battle Armor, Beyond the World

"Is this for real? The second semester of high school starts tomorrow, and he's already broken through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm?"

"It's crazy! I find it hard to believe, especially since I'm still in the late stage of the First Heavenly Realm."

"Yeah, if it were An Fuqing suddenly breaking through, I could understand, but Chen Chu? Wasn't he the one who took half a month just to complete Foundation Building?"

"Half a month for Foundation Building is ancient history. I knew he was extraordinary when he ranked 49th in the competition with low-level arts."

"What makes him so extraordinary?"

"Don't you remember? He killed a level 4 mutated beast with a dragon bloodline yesterday! That kind of strength is already equal to the Fourth Heavenly Realm, if not greater."

"But he didn't kill that mutated beast alone. The wound on its head was clearly from Luo Fei's sniper cannon."

"Ugh

...

Are you underestimating my Brother Chu? He's killed Fourth Heavenly Realm cultivators completely on his own."

"Exactly! Brother Chen is our role model. With average talent and low-level arts, he's outshining all you geniuses. Feeling bitter, huh?"

"Exactly! I knew he was extraordinary in Leisteru City, but I never imagined he was this incredible. He truly lives up to his name."

Pfft!

In the afternoon, in the thirty-third floor reading room, Luo Fei couldn't help but laugh when she saw this comment. She scrolled through her phone screen and chuckled.

"I knew you'd surprise everyone once you broke through."

Chen Chu on the other side smiled. "Not everyone, apparently. You seem rather unimpressed."

Even though Chen Chu had subdued his aura and was sitting quietly, there was an invisible but palpable sense of heaviness emanating from him, causing the air around him to condense, as if a giant dragon was sitting there.

The girl blinked. "That's because I've gotten used to it."

As someone who had watched every step as Chen Chu surpassed not only the geniuses of his class but also all of the geniuses in the entire grade, Luo Fei had indeed grown accustomed to his particular brand of craziness.

"Are you about to reach the middle stage of the Third Heavenly Realm?" Chen Chu looked at Luo Fei.

The girl nodded. "Yes, probably in the next couple of days."

Considering she had been in the Third Heavenly Realm for almost two months, coupled with the substantial contribution points she had earned from Kyria and the recent purge missions, exchanging them for resources should accelerate her progress significantly.

At this point, however, reaching the middle stage could only be considered average, likely due to the recent decline of her mental state. Previously, as Luo Fei had entered a state of mental clarity and harmonized with her arts, her cultivation speed had rivaled that of Xia Youhui and others.

Unfortunately, she had recently lagged behind. Moreover, not just her, many contemporaries in the Third Heavenly Realm were about to break through to the middle stage around this time.

By comparison, Lin Xue and the others, who had been at the mutated beast battlefield for almost a month now, should have already broken through, especially since they had consolidated for over a month before leaving.

Luo Fei then asked, "Chen Chu, what are your plans next?"

Chen Chu pondered for a moment. "Next, I plan to consolidate my cultivation. After a few days, I'll apply to go to the mutated beast battlefield. I’ll also start practicing a high-level combat skill. I've set my eyes on a heavy halberd art that can fully unleash my strength."

Luo Fei nodded. "Yes, without any accompanying combat skills for the Fourth Heavenly Realm, the Insightful Blade seems a bit lacking for your current cultivation. Do you have enough contribution points now?"

Chen Chu nodded. "Yeah, I have enough. That high-level combat skill only requires 100 points, and I currently have 101."

"Exactly enough." The girl nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this.

Next, Luo Fei asked Chen Chu about his breakthrough experience and the process of transforming his true power, to which he shared some insights.

Although he had used attribute points to reinforce his breakthrough, he hadn't forgotten the process and insights he had gained during it.

***

The turbulent sea roared under the darkened sky, rain pelting down like spears while fierce winds whipped up waves several meters high that crashed against everything in their path.

A colossal beast, nearly twenty meters long, with a menacing black and red body, drifted with the current, its indifferent eyes fixed ahead.

There was a thirty-two-meter-long creature hunting for prey, resembling a lizard but bearing a massive turtle shell on its back. The rest of this mutated beast’s body was covered in black scales, with limbs resembling fins adorned with claws, presenting a bizarre sight.

It was uncertain whether this creature had mutated from a sea turtle or a lizard. It was clenching a ten-meter-long giant squid in its jaws, its sharp teeth tearing through the squid's coiled tentacles relentlessly.

Soon, the relatively ordinary giant squid had been devoured by the mutated Armored Lizard. Rainwater streamed down its ferocious jaws, washing away the blue blood on its head.

Suddenly, a tsunami wave loomed several dozen meters high over the Sword Armored Fiery Beast’s head before crashing down, creating an explosion of water droplets and a deafening roar.

Beneath the churning waves, the Fiery Beast moved like a shadow, bursting through currents as it swam swiftly.

Another tsunami of a similar height rose from the sea, a raging wall of water descending upon the unsuspecting lizard.

As the indifferent mutated beast allowed the tsunami to crash upon it, the sea erupted, and a massive black shadow descended upon it.

Boom!

The surface of the sea exploded upon impact, accompanied by the furious roar of the mutated beast.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sea erupted, and water columns several meters thick soared dozen meters into the sky before crashing down.

Amid the deluge, the Armored Lizard continued to flee. The left side of its thick turtle shell was shattered, revealing mangled flesh as blood gushed forth continuously.

While the Fiery Beast's ferocious assault had been aided by the tsunami, the lizard had reacted swiftly, using its back shell to block the devastating blow. Otherwise, that strike would have blasted through its head.

Behind it, though seemingly smaller, the Fiery Beast emitted an even more aggressive aura. It continued to burst through the waves, rapidly closing in.

Just as the Fiery Beast approached the lizard, however, a violent water column erupted from beneath, causing an explosive upheaval.

Bang!

The tumultuous waves increased the raging water column’s power, and it sent the Fiery Beast flying dozens of meters into the air before crashing back down into the turbulent sea.

Boom!

Below the surface, the Fiery Beast swiftly stabilized its body mid-twist, then dove a hundred meters into the ocean depths.

Above, there were raging tsunamis and violent currents, but beneath the hundred-meter depths, the sea remained eerily calm, disturbed only by surging streams.

The Fiery Beast used its feathered horns to sense the lizard’s location, then quickly positioned itself below. Its muscles expanded as terrifying power surged within.

Boom!

The water beneath the Fiery Beast exploded, creating a massive white shockwave that surged dozens of meters away. The Fiery Beast soared like a streamlined torpedo, instantly appearing beneath the lizard, whose eyes widened in shock.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Substantial water streams erupted from all directions, fiercely colliding with the Fiery Beast but failing to budge it.

The lizard's ability to control seawater, forming powerful water columns and surging waves, made the ocean its home turf. Despite the raging waves, however, they were still just water, incapable of shaking the Fiery Beast's terrifying defense in the slightest.

At this point, with just over 100 evolution points left to reach 3,000, the Fiery Beast certainly wouldn't let this opportunity to start evolving sooner slip away.

Soon, it burst through the waves blocking its path, crashing onto the lizard.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, the surrounding sea erupted as the two colossal beasts engaged in a frenzied battle, tearing and biting each other. An endless amount of blood mixed with scales and flesh sprayed in all directions, making the scene incredibly intense.

However, compared to the overwhelming tsunamis, the two mutated beasts, each thirty meters long, seemed quite small, often engulfed by millions of tons of seawater.

After more than ten minutes, as the typhoon moved away, the sea gradually calmed down.

On the surface, the thirty-two-meter-long Armored Lizard's body bobbed amid the waves, covered in massive bite wounds and its shell torn to pieces. Its fatal injury was a nearly severed neck, with only a sliver of skin holding it together.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Beside it, the Fiery Beast was recovering from its injuries, its black scales cracked in many places, but rapidly healing at a visible rate.

After a few minutes, the Fiery Beast grabbed the lizard's carcass and disappeared beneath the sea.

Though humans couldn't control the ocean like they could the land, high-definition satellites constantly monitored the vast seas, recording information about the colossal beasts' whereabouts. The Fiery Beast’s menacing appearance made it easily recognizable compared to other mutated fish, so it rarely lingered at the surface for long.

In the depths of the ocean, the Fiery Beast feasted on the lizard's torn flesh. Its tail swayed as it located Chen Chu's position on the Linchuan coastline, starting to swim in that direction.

By now, it was five in the afternoon. Chen Chu withdrew some of his attention from the Fiery Beast, lifting his head slightly to gaze at the radiant sunlight outside.

"It's almost time."

After devouring the mutated beast at the beginning stage of level 7, the Sword Armored Fiery Beast's evolution points had nearly reached 2,900. It would likely evolve for the fourth time in just two or three days.

Whoosh!

A pure and powerful aura surged from the girl across from him. Her long hair cascaded despite there being no wind, emitting the aura of the middle stage of the Third Heavenly Realm.

She had broken through. Chen Chu turned around to look at Luo Fei in astonishment.

Just moments ago, she had mentioned it would take her another two days to reach the middle stage, but unexpectedly, she had broken through right here, this afternoon, after just sitting for a while and reading some scriptures.

Even Chen Chu couldn't help but feel envious of this effortless way of cultivation.

The girl looked up, her bright and profound eyes resembling a cloudless sky, clear, serene, and far-reaching.

Inexplicably, Chen Chu felt as if she was far away, standing beyond the world.

Shaking his head to dispel the strange feeling, Chen Chu smiled and said, "Congratulations, beautiful Luo Fei, on advancing further in your cultivation."

The girl returned to her senses with a blink, and the distant feeling in her eyes vanished. She pursed her lips and chuckled. "It's just the middle stage of the Third Heavenly Realm, far inferior to your Fourth Realm."

Chen Chu chuckled. "I've just taken a step ahead. The path of cultivation is long and arduous; short-term differences don't determine the future."

Luo Fei nodded. "I'm not in a rush. My aunt has already designed a cultivation path for me. I'll be able to equip real combat gear after reaching the Fourth Heavenly Realm."

"Combat gear? Don't you already have that sniper cannon?" Chen Chu looked somewhat surprised.

Luo Fei shook her head. "That’s just the weapon I’m using before I reach the Fourth Realm. If science and martial arts integration were that simple, it wouldn't be a separate path."

Watching the mysterious girl, Chen Chu felt curious. "I didn't expect you to have this up your sleeve. Can you tell me what the combat gear is?"

"Not telling you for now." The girl teased with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Let's go together to Old Pang and apply for permission to go to the mutated beast battlefield. I need to see if I can break through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm before the end of this semester, or else I'll be left too far behind by you guys."

"Sure, let's do that."

With that, the two stood up. After Luo Fei returned the book she had borrowed to its place, they went downstairs, found Pang Long, and submitted their application.

The bus to the mutated beast battlefield didn't run all the time; they had to wait for the notification of when the next scheduled one would be leaving.

When Chen Chu returned home from school, he found Chen Hu alone in the yard, busy carrying chunks of mutated beast meat weighing dozens of kilograms back and forth.

Seeing Chen Chu entering the yard, Chen Hu wiped off some sweat. "Bro, you're back."

Chen Chu was completely taken aback. "Didn't I ask you to wait for me to come back so we could move them together?"

Chen Hu grinned. "It's fine, I can handle most of it by myself. You focus on cultivating; leave these small tasks to me. I bought three large freezers and cleared out the storeroom. Mom’s cooking in the kitchen..."

While talking, Chen Chu also started helping, using ropes to tie up most of the mutated beast meat, then lifting one bundle, each weighing two tons, with ease. He would have carried even more, but the entrance wasn’t big enough..

Behind him, Chen Hu, carrying four large chunks of frozen meat, each weighing over three hundred pounds, said in admiration, "Bro, you're really strong."

"It's nothing. Once you start cultivating, your strength will also increase."

As he spoke, Chen Chu glanced back with a strange look in his eyes at Chen Hu, who was robust and relaxed despite carrying over three hundred pounds of meat.

Does this guy not realize he’s also very strong?