Chapter 175: Illusions of Life and Death, Ranking 948 (I)

The next morning, the mission hall at the front of the square bustled with activity. Martial arts students, clad in either ordinary battle armor or the more imposing and handsome transcendent battle armor, entered and exited the hall.

Most of these individuals possessed a formidable aura, ranging mostly in the Third Heavenly Realm and with a significant number in the Fourth. Each person carried massive weapons on their backs, some emitting a faint glow that revealed their true nature as transcendent weapons.

"Squad Taishan is short two members for collecting mutated beast carcasses. Those interested and equipped with anti-gravity disks are welcome to join. Minimum requirement Third Heavenly Realm."

"Squad Divine Sword is recruiting, seeking two members at or above the beginning Fourth Heavenly Realm. Our target is a level 5 mutated beast, so it's preferable to have transcendent weapons..."

Amid the bustling crowd, Chen Chu and Luo Fei, donned in battle armor, followed Xia Youhui as he led the way, upgrading their wristwatches with nearby equipment to connect with the Celestial Satellite System and update their maps.

After that, the trio headed to the entrance of the mission hall, where Liu Feng and others, also clad in battle armor and carrying weapons and supply packs, were already waiting.

Xia Youhui waved. "Ah Chu, we'll head out now. We'll be in touch when we return."

Chen Chu nodded. "Go ahead, stay safe, and especially watch over Luo Fei. Although she has high single-target attack power, her close-quarters defense is weak."

Li Meng patted his chest, assuring, "Rest assured, Chen Chu. As long as we're around, she won't get hurt. That's a promise from a man."

"Yeah, you can trust us," Yuan Chenghuang chimed in.

Liu Feng nodded. "Exactly, don't underestimate our squad. We may be in the Third Heavenly Realm, but we're still strong. We've managed to kill level 4 mutated beasts without any injuries every time."

"Why do I feel like you all think I have no close combat capabilities?" Loaded with a sniper rifle and adorned with ammo clips and small bombs all around her waist and back, the girl snapped a powerful handgun with a loaded clip onto her thigh armor, appearing gallant and spirited.

Chen Chu smiled and shook his head. "It's different. You're a sniper, so you're definitely more fragile than these human shields. When there's danger, it's their job to take the hits."

With a wave goodbye, the group bid farewell to Chen Chu and then turned to leave.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Just as Luo Fei and the others departed, Li Chen, carrying a heavy sword, approached Chen Chu and stood beside him on the steps, sighing. "Since coming here, I feel like being in the Third Heavenly Realm is worse than being a dog."

Chen Chu nodded. "No need to feel that way. Here, the Third Heavenly Realm is just cannon fodder."

Li Chen was suddenly struck dumb. "Chen Chu, I was just expressing my feelings. You don't have to be so direct."

Chen Chu smiled. "It's not meant to be discouraging, just stating the facts. But compared to the seniors, I have higher hopes for you.

"Think about it, they've been practicing for two or even three years to reach the Third Heavenly Realm, while you caught up in just one semester. Doesn't that show even greater potential? So, keep it up, young man."

"Now that sounds more like personal advice. Goodbye, I'm off too." With that, Li Chen waved to Chen Chu and strode off toward the base's exit.

The freshmen who had arrived here a year early were all geniuses, and geniuses tended to have pride in their hearts. Close relationships were few, as most preferred to go their own way.

Phew!

Chen Chu let out a breath and prepared to set off. Just then, however, the large screen on the side of the square lit up again.

"An Fuqing from Nantian Martial Arts High School, at the beginning stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, has overturned Bai Hong from Langshan Martial Arts High School with her sword will Disillusionment of Life and Death, unparalleled in attack. Currently ranked 948th on the Achievement List."

Suddenly, Chen Chu's footsteps halted, his eyes showing surprise as he, along with other students, looked up at the prominent red text on the big screen.

A beginning stage Fourth Heavenly Realm genius who overturned even stronger opponents, with a sword will called Disillusionment of Life and Death, unmatched in attack!

"So strong, isn't this person the first freshman to enter the top thousand on the Achievement List? And it seems like she's from Nantian!?"

"Yeah, she's from our school, ranked sixteenth on the first-year genius list."

"

Wow!

The freshmen these days are something else. I have a feeling that this batch of freshmen is even more extraordinary than the last."

"It's not just you, I feel the same way. So let's work hard. Otherwise, us old folks might get left in the dust."

"Work hard? What's the point? We're still just in the late Third Heavenly Realm. We've been doomed from the start."

Amid the discussions of the surrounding upperclassmen, Chen Chu wore a faint smile on his face. Truly, she was the girl who had astonished everyone at high school.

Though her breakthrough came a few days later than others, she was now making a comeback stronger than ever, becoming the first to break into the top one thousand of the Achievement List.

***

The Nantian base had three roads leading down the mountain in different directions, all wide eight-lane cement roads stretching dozens of meters across and capable of bearing the weight of heavy trucks.

In addition, there were many defense structures around, with cannon barrels protruding from weapon fortifications, each about half a meter thick and dozens of meters long, even more intimidating than the cannons on destroyers.

Judging by the surroundings, however, they seemed to have been rarely used.

A few figures dashed along the roads, covering dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, including Chen Chu.

While the base had trucks and off-road vehicles, students who chose to freely explore the mountainside for training didn't bother renting them. Beyond a ten-kilometer range from the base, the roads simply vanished, rendering most of the vehicles useless.

In just a short while, Chen Chu descended from the mountain and saw vast stretches of flat rice paddies and orchards where workers operated machinery, creating an atmosphere that was a blend of pastoral and industrial farming.

It looked completely out of place on a battlefield teeming with mutated beasts. Even Chen Chu couldn't help but pause at the sight for a moment before continuing to dash past.

These were the workers specially contracted by the schools to cultivate the fields around the base and grow crops like rice.

With a population of several hundred people at the school base year-round, daily food consumption was significant. Besides mutated beast meat, ordinary rice, vegetables, and fruits were also indispensable

Here, hundreds of kilometers away from the main base, the terrain was rugged, making transportation troublesome. The school found a solution in the form of a specialized workforce for cultivating the surrounding land, ensuring self-sufficiency.

The environment here was rich in transcendent energy, and the land was fertile. Crops like rice not only yielded harvests three times a year, but also produced larger harvests with richer nutrients, enough to sustain the daily consumption at the base.

It wasn’t just these school bases; military bases also cultivated large areas of safe zones, engaged in mineral mining, and guarded special resources.

Hundreds of thousands of ordinary mutated beasts had also been released here. Over the years, the food production had reached a point where they had been able to start selling produce in large quantities to the outside world. This resulted in a high demand for ordinary workers that offered similarly high salaries, enticing a large number of external recruits every year. .

Of course, high pay also meant high risk. This was, after all, a mountain range teeming with mutated creatures. Even with base students performing daily purges and soldiers patrolling around military bases, mutated beasts could still slip in, causing many casualties among ordinary workers every year.

Despite this, however, the jobs here were highly sought after, and connections were needed to get in. The energy rich environment in here benefited their children, gradually improving their physique over time, perhaps one day leading to a physique suitable for cultivation.

However, none of this information had been of any relevance to Chen Chu, and he had only briefly glanced at it before losing interest.

With Chen Chu's ordinary speed of a hundred meters per second, a distance of over ten kilometers passed in just two minutes, and his figure disappeared into the depths of the mountains.

After the avatar had evolved four times, Chen Chu's Strength attribute now surpassed 1,000 points, his Physique was over 950, and his Agility attribute reached over 800, a terrifying level.

From the tests he had done before, with just his physical strength alone, his speed could reach over two hundred meters per second when he exerted full force, nearing the speed of sound. Once he activated his Dragon Elephant True Power, with his strength amplified several times, he could instantly break the sound barrier and enter supersonic speed.

In comparison, a hundred meters per second was like an ordinary stroll for him, and didn’t take up any energy to maintain. This was also the reason why he didn't plan to team up with anyone. Unfortunately, there was too large a difference in basic attributes, and Xia Youhui and the others simply couldn't keep up with him anymore.

Amid the towering mountains, a dark red figure flashed by swiftly. Suddenly, Chen Chu's right hand reached out, the black and red Dragon Elephant True Power circulating on his palm as he instantly grabbed the massive black shadow pouncing from the side.

It was a venomous python, over nine meters long, with a body as thick as a thigh, and entirely black. Before it could even start to struggle, however, Chen Chu exerted some force with his hand, and crushed its head with a loud

bang

.

Flesh and blood splattered all over, but was blocked by Chen Chu's protective true power flashing over his body, and he casually threw the wildly wriggling corpse to the ground as he disappeared in a flash.

His target this time was mutated beasts of level 4 or higher, preferably level 5 ones. He had neither the interest nor the time for these low-level beasts that contributed so little.

He also found the requirement to bring the corpses back for contribution exchange a bit annoying. If he could gain points just by killing them, like in a game, it would be much easier. With his strength, he could earn nearly one thousand contribution points a day even without bringing back corpses.

Of course, this could only be wishful thinking. The school and the authorities weren’t charitable organizations, and the corpses were needed for their essence, flesh, skin, and other materials.

Boom!

Just as Chen Chu dashed out over a dozen kilometers, he casually whipped his hand in a slapping motion, and the air exploded as the head of a pouncing leopard exploded with a thunderous roar.

The six-meter-long body thudded to the ground, rolling several times before coming to a stop, as a fountain of blood sprayed from the neck, staining the surrounding grassy ground red.

Chen Chu remained calm as he glanced at the corpse. With a flicker, he continued to sprint deeper into the mountains.