Chapter 176: Illusions of Life and Death, Ranking 948 (II)

In less than half an hour, Chen Chu had already run over a hundred kilometers. Along the way, he had casually killed eight low-level mutated beasts and over a dozen ordinary mutated creatures.

This was while he still maintained his speed of a hundred meters per second and restrained his aura. If he slowed down even a bit, he would encounter more attacks, and while restraining his aura helped, it didn't mean he was invisible.

This was why the place was called the mutated beast battlefield. Once outside the bases, mutated creatures were everywhere, and any slight negligence could lead to disaster, death by ambush from mutated creatures.

After all, cultivators at the Fourth Heavenly Realm couldn't constantly maintain a protective field or true power, and as long as one was human, there would always be moments of carelessness, which was one of the reasons for the casualties among the martial arts students every year.

Chen Chu crossed over twenty mountain peaks in one go and dashed out over three hundred kilometers ahead, where a cliff appeared. The wind howled between its steep walls, with a width of over a hundred meters.

While running, Chen Chu took a deep breath, his leg muscles slightly swelling. With a sudden exertion, the rocks beneath his feet exploded, and he shot out like a cannonball.

Whoosh!

Chen Chu became a black and red light, instantly crossing the hundred meters and landing on the opposite cliff. Then, with a few flashes, he leaped up the mountain peak and descended.

Below was a ridge sloping at ninety degrees, with traces of trees and vegetation over one thousand meters down the mountainside.

Boom!

Heavy combat boots crushed the rocks as Chen Chu, like an extreme athlete, rapidly slid down the slope, sparks flying and stones bursting along the way.

Roar!

Just then, a violent, ear-splitting roar suddenly sounded from the opposite mountain peak, causing countless birds to fly away in panic, and mountain beasts to scatter.

Chen Chu's eyes lit up instantly.

Having descended halfway down the mountainside, his hand clawed at the rock wall, and with an explosive shove of his palm, he shot out in the roar’s direction, transforming into an afterimage that skimmed diagonally across the ridge.

In a valley several kilometers away was a giant mountain bear, about twenty meters long and fifteen meters tall at the shoulder when on all fours. At its feet lay the carcass of a deer about twelve meters long, most of its flesh already gnawed away.

The bear's mouth and neck were stained with fresh blood, and its entire body shimmered with a savage and ferocious aura as it continued to roar.

Just then, a black and red figure appeared in the distance on the mountainside.

"Level 5, no, it's peak level 4."

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Chen Chu’s eyes gleaned with excitement as he watched the massive mutated beast standing at around twenty-three meters tall, nearly as high as an eight-story building. Normal level 4 mutated beasts had a starting price of 50 contribution points for official collection, with the exact price depending on the beast's size, level, and the condition of its corpse.

For a peak level 4 mutated beast like this massive bear, the price would be higher, estimated at around 70 points. More importantly, there was a chance of finding a Life Crystal inside its body. The price of a level 4 crystal was even higher than that of a mutated beast's carcass.

With this in mind, Chen Chu flipped his hand, and the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd, measuring three meters and six centimeters long, appeared in his hand.

Boom!

A powerful aura burst from Chen Chu's body, and immediately turned into a black shadow diving down from the mountain, accompanied by the deafening roar of sonic booms.

As Chen Chu recklessly unleashed his explosive aura, the bear suddenly raised its head, its eyes flashing with fury, and roared loudly, its mouth wide open.

Roar!

With a roar, the bear slammed its limbs on the ground, its huge body rumbling as it charged towards Chen Chu.

How dare this tiny speck intrude into its territory and challenge it? The puny little thing was simply seeking death.

In the blink of an eye, several kilometers passed between the two sides, and just as quickly, Chen Chu arrived a hundred meters away from the bear.

Roar!

As the bear came running at full speed, it suddenly stopped and stood up. Its fur almost looked like it was exploding as an extreme and ferocious power erupted from its body along with a circle of yellow light.

Boom!

The bear’s enormous claws slammed down, covering a range of ten meters. White waves of air formed in circles under the violent and domineering force, creating a spectacular scene.

At the same time, as the yellow light swept through the area, the ground beneath Chen Chu's feet suddenly shattered, and spikes, five meters long and half a meter thick, shot out within a twenty-meter range.

Both the sky and the earth were locked down.

Boom!

Just then, a ring of black and red halberd light swept across. Wherever it passed, the iron-hard spikes exploded, and Chen Chu's figure disappeared with a flash.

Boom!

The giant bear paw descended where he had previously been standing, instantly shattering the ground within a range of more than twenty meters, an endless amount of soil and rubble flying under the extremely violent force.

The substantial yellow power even stirred up shockwaves, generating fierce winds that surged out for a hundred meters with a terrifying momentum.

The moment the bear shattered the earth, Chen Chu had already leaped hundreds of meters high. In his hands, the halberd emitted black and red light like flames, sharp and imposing.

Boom!

A terrifying aura, both godly and demonic, erupted from Chen Chu's body. A vast expanse of black and red light shimmered around him, faintly accompanied by the wails of ghosts echoing in the air.

Eight Desolations Purgatory, Ghostly Wails and Godly Roars!

Boom!

In an instant, the halberd wrapped in black and red light shot down the sky, resembling a black and red meteor descending from the heavens. The sight caused the bear's hair to stand on end.

In this mutated beast’s eyes, the world changed color in that moment, and a strong sense of death surged toward it.

Roar!

Amid its roar of shock and rage, the bear's muscles swelled, and the yellow light on its body became even thicker. Its massive claws swung upward, attempting to block the terrifying strike.

Boom!

The halberd, wrapped in black and red light, instantly tore through the bear's thick protective energy, and then through the enormous paw.

Thud!

Under the domineering force, the massive paw was directly shattered and exploded into countless pieces of flesh in mid-air.

Following closely, the black halberd, carrying the light of destruction, smashed down, hitting the bear's roaring and biting mouth.

Boom!

The sharp and domineering black and red halberd light burst, instantly tearing through the protective energy on the mountain bear's body surface, and blasting its huge mouth and sharp teeth.

Roar!

With its mouth shattered, half of its face gone, and deep scars visible on its head, the mountain bear let out a piercing wail as copious amounts of blood spurted out.

In agony and fear of death, the mutated beast suddenly turned around, attempting to flee on three limbs, but with that single strike blowing off one of its paws and half of its face, it wasn’t going to get far.

Chen Chu's figure, engulfed in black and red light, landed and instantly burst through the air with an explosive force. In the blink of an eye, he appeared under the bear’s body. He leaped, and his halberd, emitting black and red light, swept across its neck.

Boom!

The bear, which had just charged out several dozen meters, thudded to the ground, rolling once before lying still. Blood gushed out of the wound on its neck, which stretched for about seven meters.

In just a couple of moves, Chen Chu had slain this peak level 4 mutated beast with his halberd. His combat power far exceeded the boundary of the Fourth Heavenly Realm; an ordinary Fifth Realm cultivator probably wouldn’t even be able to kill this bear in the first place, let alone achieve a similar feat as his.

Standing beside the massive mutated beast carcass, Chen Chu stood with his halberd, his expression cold and indifferent. Black and red light radiated from his body, exuding a heavy oppressive aura.

Just as Chen Chu was preparing to stow his weapon and drag the bear’s carcass back, faint voices could be heard in the distance.

"Zhang Lin, the mutated beast is just ahead. Hurry up!"

Zhang Lin.

The name sounded somewhat familiar to Chen Chu, causing him to pause.

Where have I heard it before?

He subconsciously thought back to the Achievement List. An Fuqing’s victory had prompted Chen Chu to glance at the list before leaving to take note of her ranking, and this person named Zhang Lin seemed to have been just one spot behind her.

Rank 949!

Could it be just a coincidence? Excitement and anticipation flickered in Chen Chu's eyes as he turned his gaze towards the distance.

If this person truly was Zhang Lin, perhaps it was an opportunity to challenge him and see just how strong these geniuses in the late stages of the Fourth Heavenly Realm really were. There was just the issue that the other party might not readily accept his challenge.

With that thought in mind, Chen Chu's gaze fell upon the carcass of the mountain bear beside him.