Chapter 161: Scorching the Heavens and Boiling the Seas, Merging of Arts

In the murky depths of the deep sea, the Thunder Fiery Colossal Beast gazed ahead with icy determination.

In front of it was the now collapsed underwater hills, which the deep-sea Dragon Turtle had buried itself twenty meters below. Surrounded by a swirling aura of yellow energy, the damaged rocks gradually melded into each other. Soon, a new hill emerged on the seabed, its surface pulsating with the raw power of the earth and casting a palpable weight upon its surroundings.

This defensive stance, reminiscent of a turtle's retreat, left even the Thunder Beast momentarily stunned. It hadn't anticipated such a strategic move from the turtle.

It seemed that this was the ability it had unlocked when it had surged to level 7, awakening the latent powers of its dragon bloodline. Ordinarily, level 7 mutated creatures possessed two abilities. However, those that had awakened dragon or king-level bloodlines exhibited an additional, extremely formidable ability.

At this juncture, if the Thunder Beast sought to resume its assault on the turtle, it would need to obliterate the tens of thousands of tons of rocks that now shielded its adversary, all while dealing with the fact that the majority of its attack force would dissipate against the resistance of the seabed.

But did it assume that withdrawing would suffice?

Whoosh!

With a resounding and scorching exhale, the Thunder Beast unleashed its pent-up fury. In an instant, flames engulfed its form, radiating temperatures that exceeded one thousand degrees Celsius.

The surrounding water churned and bubbled furiously in response.

Hum!

With a low hum, the beast drew upon a vast reservoir of scorching energy. Golden-red flames danced along the feathered horns adorning either side of its head, manifesting a fiery crown atop its regal form. Within its gaping maw, an incandescent brilliance flickered to life.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, a searing blast, one meter in diameter and seething at five thousand degrees Celsius, erupted forth. Wherever it traversed, the water boiled and churned, giving birth to a column of fire shrouded in a cocoon of white steam.

This wasn't a mere plasma flame; it was the combustion of pure transcendent energy—a blaze that defied even the depths of the ocean, refusing to be extinguished.

The Thunder Beast’s breath contained a formidable impact; upon landing on the small hill, it erupted instantly, causing a resounding tremor and unleashing an endless amount of scorching flames. Under the assault, rocks within a radius of over ten meters melted at a visible rate, with molten lava continuously flung into the air before cooling under the enveloping water.

Even the yellow energy contained within the rocks proved unable to withstand its force, and the flame gradually formed a searing channel downward.

The boundless energy fluctuations of the flame, and especially the daunting, ferocious aura the Thunder Beast was emanating while using its full power, deterred many mutated creatures from approaching.

However, since the Thunder Beast had only recently broken through, its scorching breath gradually weakened after sustaining for two minutes, ultimately extinguishing abruptly. The flames burning on its body dimmed suddenly, leaving only flickering embers, and its aura weakened considerably.

Gazing at the massive cooling crater that had almost reached the turtle, nearly twenty meters deep and five meters wide, the Thunder Beast felt somewhat speechless.

...Endurance is still lacking.

Or rather, it wasn't so much its endurance falling short, but rather that this method of attack, the fiery breath, was inherently an ultimate kind move for mutated creatures, possessing immense power but also consuming considerable energy.

With endless energy, it otherwise would simply have been a matter of breathing upon meeting each other and attacking wherever they went.

Even though the Thunder Beast's aura had weakened considerably, the buried turtle showed no intention of emerging. It knew that the most formidable aspect of this fearsome dragon beast wasn't its breath, but the terrifying power contained within its body. They had only just encountered each other, and the beast had almost killed it.

Just as the Thunder Beast started flexing its sharp claws, preparing to breathe more fire and dig through the mountain, the hill trembled slightly. Amid the yellow energy, a crack appeared, followed by a low roar from within.

Roar! Me, you, grudges, why, kill me?

Huh, this mutated creature's wisdom is quite remarkable.

The Thunder Beast paused, a hint of surprise flickering in its eyes.

The term “wisdom” didn't refer to intellect. It could be said that once creatures underwent mutation and evolution, they would develop a certain degree of intelligence that increased with their level, sometimes rivaling that of humans.

However, intelligence didn't necessarily mean the creature was clever. Many mutated creatures, even at level 8 or 9, remained beasts at heart that still followed only their instincts to survive, hunt, and battle, just fulfilling those instincts in a slightly more clever way.

Just like that deep-sea monster that had attacked the Fiery Beast on Chen Chu’s birthday. Its intelligence had been quite high, capable of holding grudges that it no doubt would have acted on had it not been killed and consumed by the Fiery Beast.

Wisdom, on the other hand, referred to cleverness and wit. Creatures with wisdom, like the Single-horned Orca, understood learning, communication, thinking, and self-awareness.

As for this turtle, it seemed to have not interacted much with other creatures. Although it understood how to convey mental thoughts through its roars, its expressions were sporadic.

The Thunder Beast emitted a low roar.

Roar! Who said there's no grudge? You snatched my coral resources, stole my fish; now that I've encountered you, it's only natural to settle both new and old scores.

Whether it was because the Thunder Beast had too much to say or the content was too rich, the turtle fell into silence. After about a minute, its roar echoed from the crack again.

Roar! I, didn't, snatch? First time, seeing you.

This time, the turtle's ability to express itself had improved slightly, its roar filled with confusion and grievance.

It didn't remember ever even encountering this ferocious draconic beast, let alone robbing it of resources. The draconic beast was so terrifying; how could the turtle dare to snatch its things?

Huh! Still not admitting it.

The Thunder Beast's gaze turned cold.

Roar! You forgot about it so quickly? I clearly saw you eating my glowing coral back then, and only then did you evolve and break through into a draconic beast.

Suddenly, the turtle below the small hill was dumbfounded.

With that mention of its evolution and breakthrough, the turtle finally understood what it meant by resources and fish, as well as remembered the black mutated creature it had encountered on the way.

No wonder it had felt familiar, especially the red feathers on the sides of the draconic beast's head.

But...this terrifying dragon beast is actually the same weak, black mutated beast from before!!

The turtle was greatly shocked. It never would have expected that in such a short period, that inconspicuous mutated creature would become so terrifying.

In the eyes of turtle-like creatures, the time passed very slowly. For the Thunder Beast, nearly two months had elapsed, but in the turtle’s perception, it had been merely a few meals and a few rests before that inconspicuous black mutated beast came knocking on the door.

Roar! I, didn't, snatch, place, I was there first.

Roar! Later, when I left, it was taken over by fish. I wanted to level up, so, went to eat...

Due to the extensive content, this time, the Dragon Turtle roared continuously for half a day.

Essentially, the resources it had seized didn’t belong to the Thunder Beast; the turtle had discovered the location first. However, after consuming the initial batch, it had departed. Upon its return, it had found the Crystal Horn Fish occupying the territory, resulting in the confrontation.

This also explained why those Crystal Horn Fish had seemed to recognize the turtle previously.

So, am I in the wrong?

The Thunder Beast emitted a low growl.

Roar! Let's set aside the matter of resources for now. How can you drive away those big Crystal Horn Fish that I was preparing to eat?

Confronted with the Thunder Beast's righteous words, the turtle was somewhat bewildered.

It hadn't expected those not-so-weak, not-so-small mutated fish to be raised as food by the small (ten-meter) black mutated beast back then.

However, considering this draconic beast’s terrifying combat power, it seemed reasonable for it to rear mutated fish twice its size.

Roar! Sorry, I didn't know, those, your food.

Through continuous communication, the turtle’s expressions became smoother, and it kept growling, expressing its apologies to the Thunder Beast.

As a result, the murderous intent in the Thunder Beast's heart also subsided, as it realized it had been a bit unreasonable just now.

However, that was how the rules in the world of mutated beasts worked—survival of the fittest. When the Thunder Beast had only been ten meters long, the turtle had only deigned to glance at it as it passed by.

Now, it was speaking so politely primarily because of the overwhelming strength the Thunder Beast had just demonstrated in their brief scuffle. No matter the circumstances, strength remained the sole criterion for measuring status and attitude.

As the Thunder Beast pondered letting the matter slide and prepared to depart, hesitant low growls emanated from the crack, indicating the turtle's uncertainty.

Roar! I, compensate you.

Turning around, the Thunder Beast questioned,

Roar! How will you compensate me?

Roar! I know, place, good food, take you there.

Instantly, the Thunder Beast's eyes lit up with excitement. It hadn't anticipated such an offer.

Roar! Alright, lead the way

Roar! Come out, you can’t, attack me.

Roar! Don't worry. As long as you don't deceive me, I won't attack you. The matter from last time will also be forgotten.

Roar! Really?

Roar! I, Thunder Fiery, always keep my word. I’m well-known about this in the sea. If you don't believe me, ask Big Fool... Big Horn.

Roar! Who, Big Horn?

Roar! He's a Single-horned Orca.

Roar! What's, Single-horned, Orca?

Roar! Why do you have so many questions? Are you coming out or not? If you don't, I'll start digging!

Despite the Thunder Beast's repeated assurances, the turtle continued to hesitate and ask questions, quickly frustrating it.

The turtle sensed that, and cracks began to spread on the seabed, as the turtle crawled out from twenty meters below the ground amid crumbling rocks. Seeing that the Thunder Beast really did have no intention of attacking it was a great relief.

Roar! Let's go, lead the way. I haven't eaten enough yet.

Roar! Alright, Thunder Fiery, follow me.

With that, the turtle quickly moved its sturdy limbs to travel along the seabed toward the dark depths of the ocean, albeit at a somewhat slow pace.

*

In the morning, Chen Chu came downstairs to prepare breakfast. Chen Hu, who had just finished eating an egg at the table, was suddenly taken aback. "Bro, why do you look bigger?"

"Bigger? What do you mean?" Chen Chu was puzzled.

Scratching his head, Chen Hu gestured with his hands. "It's like... a kinda intimidating feeling, like you've filled the entire room."

"You mean my aura?" Chen Chu remarked casually. "It's nothing. I had a breakthrough in my cultivation last night, so you might feel a bit overwhelmed and uncomfortable. It'll pass in a couple of days."

With his physical attributes skyrocketing and his cultivation reaching the Fourth Heavenly Realm, the Hidden Divinity secret art, still at the beginning stage, could no longer fully conceal his aura.

While Chen Chu had more than enough attribute points to enhance it—over 170, in fact—he chose not to. This would most likely only last for a day or two, until the fiery vitality in his body calmed down.

"I see, that makes sense," Chen Hu said, then looked at his brother with admiration.

"But Bro, you're amazing! I heard you're now the top talent in Nantian, and you broke through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm before even An Fuqing."

Chen Chu sat down and picked up a piece of fried egg, casually asking, "Did you hear that from your classmates again?"

Chen Chu rarely talked about school matters at home. After all, no matter how powerful he became, they were still the same family as before.

"Hehe! Li Yiyi told me." Chen Hu chuckled.

"Li Yiyi?" Chen Chu pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is her brother Li Meng?"

Chen Hu was surprised. "Wow! Bro, how did you know? I only found out a couple of days ago that her brother is Big Bro Li Meng."

"I remember Li Meng mentioning he had a sister before. I didn't expect it to be true," Chen Chu's gaze was somewhat peculiar.

He hadn't expected his younger brother's classmate to be Li Meng's sister, and judging by their interactions, it seemed they got along well. What was going on?

"Alright, finish up quickly and then head to school."

"Bro, aren't you going to school today?"

"I'm planning to train outside the city. My strength has grown too much, and I can’t go all out at school anymore."

"Oh, I see," Chen Hu said, with a hint of envy in his eyes.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

This morning, Chen Chu had a lot to do. After breakfast, he returned the now empty refrigerated transport truck to the rental agency, then took a taxi to the outskirts.

Swoosh!

A figure flashed through the mountain forest at an astonishing speed. In just a moment, Chen Chu traversed over ten kilometers and arrived at a valley littered with boulders deep in the mountains.

He leaped onto a giant rock five meters high, then with a thought, pulled out the heavy Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd into his hand.

Closing his eyes slightly, Chen Chu recalled the information about the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd Art. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes, and a thought resonated in his mind.

Consume 30 attribute points to enhance the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd.

Unlike the beginning stages of secret arts, mastering high-level combat skills like the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd required higher proficiency. With normal training, Chen Chu could become proficient in it after practicing for a month... but it wasn't necessary to waste that time.

However, instead of immediately enhancing the art on the attribute page, a string of transparent text appeared before him.

"Detected partial overlap in operational routes between this combat skill and the Insightful Blade. Would you like to merge the two combat skills? After merging, the halberd's aura will be even sharper."

Chen Chu paused for a moment.

Merge!