Chapter 182: Ji Changkong, One Strike Destruction (I)

As the three figures approached, Chen Chu paused in his steps, somewhat surprised. "Lin Xue, Lin Yu."

Lin Xue also hadn’t been expecting to encounter him like this, exclaiming, "Chen Chu, didn’t you just enter the mountains this morning? You're back so soon?"

Chen Chu chuckled. "Luck was on my side today. I encountered a level 4 a few hundred kilometers away from base, so I killed it. It was just a bit troublesome dragging it back; it took almost half a day. I’d just exchanged some contribution points for a few anti-gravity disks, though, so it'll be much easier next time."

...Killing a level 4 so effortlessly.

Lin Xue looked up at the sky, momentarily silent, suddenly not wanting to engage in conversation with Chen Chu.

Lin Yu smiled gently. "Chen Chu, let me introduce you to Lin Mei, a senior from the third year. Lin Mei, this is Chen Chu, one of my sister’s classmates."

"...Lin Mei, the senior ranked thirty-fifth on the Genius List for the third year." Chen Chu was somewhat surprised, turning to look at the woman beside him with a smile.

This senior stood tall at 1.8 meters, with a slender figure and exquisite features, especially her long, bright, and upwardly slanting eyes that made it hard for people to look away.

She wore a set of transcendent battle armor, mainly composed of fine black scales and emitting a black-gold aura, with a handsome design and mysterious patterns flowing on it.

Most importantly, when Chen Chu looked at her, he keenly sensed a hidden and formidable aura emanating from her.

This senior is very strong!

Chen Chu's gaze flickered slightly.

Lin Mei chuckled. "Finally, we meet in person. Chen Chu, you're quite impressive, already making it into the top one thousand on the Achievement List on just your second day."

Chen Chu modestly replied, "Not at all. My achievements pale in comparison to yours."

Lin Mei not only ranked on the Genius List for the third year, but also within the top fifty of the Achievement List. Though her cultivation was only in the late stage of the Fifth Heavenly Realm, her combat power had undoubtedly crossed into the Sixth by now.

Since she and Chen Chu weren’t acquainted, the greetings were brief, and he prepared to leave.

"Lin Xue, Lin Yu, Senior, I have other matters to attend to. I will see you next time."

"Goodbye, Junior."

Watching Chen Chu's figure fade away, Lin Mei pondered and said, "He seems to be heading down the mountain again. Didn’t he just return?"

Lin Xue nodded. "He must be going out again. He usually appears quite steady, but he's actually very determined and full of adventurous spirit. He just arrived, so he definitely wants to accumulate more contribution points by killing more beasts."

"Little Xue, you seem to know him quite well," Lin Mei said, a smile playing on her lips.

"What do you mean, know him? We're classmates, it's normal to know what his personality is like, isn't it?" Lin Xue calmly replied.

Lin Mei chuckled and nodded. "Right, perfectly normal."

Lin Yu simply maintained the gentle smile on her face without saying anything.

***

Running at a supersonic speed of two hundred meters per second, Chen Chu quickly crossed over five hundred kilometers and arrived at the longitudinal end of the Jiuhuan Mountain Range before nightfall, stopping at the edge of a cliff.

Across from him lay the even more dangerous Yunwu Mountain Range. Stretching over two thousand kilometers, spanning horizontally for thousands of kilometers, it was located in the middle and further parts of the mutated beast battlefield.

This cliff seemed like a dividing line, with the opposite mountain range stretching endlessly, filled with canyons and ancient trees towering over a hundred meters that all hid countless mutated creatures.

Coupled with the surrounding mist and fluctuations in the spatial magnetic field, not even the satellites could monitor this area. As a result, students of the Fourth Heavenly Realm or below usually didn’t cross this boundary.

Swoosh!

A black-winged bird with a wingspan of over forty meters pierced through the clouds from the horizon, leaving a trail of afterimages as it descended from the sky and landed in the distant forest in an instant.

The trees shook, and the roar of a mutated beast echoed, then Chen Chu saw the mutated giant bird soaring back up into the sky.

Under its robust claws, it grasped a beast resembling a mountain boar, nearly ten meters in length, but adorned with a thick layer of armor on its back and several meters-long tusks. Despite all of that defense, however, the mutated beast had already been killed with a single blow, its skull pierced by the bird’s claws.

Watching this scene, Chen Chu narrowed his eyes slightly. Winged mutated creatures like this one were troublesome; with their aerial advantage, they could come and go as they pleased unless their wings were disabled immediately.

As Chen Chu stood on the cliff overlooking the Yunwu Mountain Range, a team emerged from the opposite forest below.

It was a squad of five, three men and two women. Two men dragged the corpse of a huge mutated beast, over twenty-eight meters long, resembling an ancient tyrannosaurus covered in red scales.

Judging from its size and the residual aura emanating from its body, that mutated beast had either been at the peak of level 5 or in the beginning stage of level 6.

Similar to marine mutated creatures, many land-based mutated beasts had significant differences in size within the same level due to differences in biological species, such as snakes.

Chen Chu couldn't help but look serious; this squad was undoubtedly powerful.

Six anti-gravity disks had been placed under the corpse, emitting a black aura that counteracted half of its weight.

With the added advantage of hovering half a meter above the ground, the group quickly made their way up the nearby slope.

When they spotted Chen Chu at the cliff’s edge, clad in black and red armor, they paid him no mind, continuing on their way with the formidable mutated draconic beast in tow.

However, as they moved a little further, the leader, a black-haired youth, turned back and said loudly, "Hey there, it seems like you're planning to camp nearby?"

"...Yes, that's the plan," Chen Chu replied, surprised that they addressed him.

The black-haired youth kindly advised, "We're close to the Yunwu Mountain Range here, and it's full of dangers at night. I suggest you find a cave or a secluded spot to rest and try to avoid making fires."

Chen Chu nodded politely. "Thank you for the reminder."

Seeing this, the black-haired youth nodded kindly before continuing on his way.

After walking a few kilometers and reaching the foot of the mountain, a girl clad in red armor couldn't help but ask, "Changkong, why did you give that person that reminder just now?"

Ji Changkong smiled slightly, "We're all students, just a friendly reminder."

The burly young man behind, holding the draconic beast's head, chuckled. "Changkong, what Zhang Ling means is why him specifically?"

Another girl nodded. "That's right. We've encountered many students coming in and out of the mountains here for over a year, but this is the first time you've actively reminded someone of that."

Facing this question, Ji Changkong smiled. "Because the people I've encountered before usually travel in groups and will have someone on night watch when camping. There's no need for reminders then.

"That student, on the other hand, didn't have the aura of the wilderness clinging to him yet. He must have just arrived and might not be familiar with the situation here, so I gave him a friendly reminder.

"Besides, it's good to have more friends when you're away from home. Who knows, the goodwill we establish today might lead to other gains in the future, like someone pulling me out of danger someday."

Pfft!

Zhang Ling in the red armor couldn't help but laugh. "Changkong, you're the most monstrous freak in Nantian, the first of our second-year students and stronger than most third-year seniors. How could someone who's probably a freshman possibly catch up to you and lend you a hand?"

Ji Changkong shook his head slightly. "Zhang Ling, that kind of thinking won't do. Being a freak is just being a step ahead in cultivation at the beginning. Who knows, maybe one day our cultivation will stagnate, and we'll be stuck in one realm for ten years without a breakthrough.

"And who can guarantee that none of our classmates will accumulate strength over the years and eventually surpass us? If someone like him is daring to venture alone into the mountains, his strength must be formidable. He might even be the freak among this batch of freshmen, so we shouldn't underestimate them.

"Like that freshman Li Hao we met a few days ago. Once his crazy and domineering power breaks through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm, even you might not be his match, Zhang Ling."

Hearing Ji Changkong mention the mad youth, as burly as a giant and capable of smashing a late stage level 4 mutated beast to death with a steel pillar, Zhang Ling's smile froze for a moment.

At the time, the youth had been covered in blood and severely injured, yet the frenzied, demonic aura emanating from him had made even someone at the late stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm like her feel intimidated.

Zhang Ling smiled awkwardly and paused. "That person just now couldn't possibly be that strong, right? Are there really so many freaks nowadays?"

"Who knows." Ji Changkong smiled. To avoid discouraging his good friends, he kept the thought that it was possible for that student to be even stronger than Li Hao to himself.

Perhaps it was the resonance between geniuses. When he first saw the figure standing at the edge of the cliff, Ji Changkong had experienced a faint feeling that the student was formidable. Although he couldn't perceive that person’s exact cultivation level due to the lack of released true power, the strength emanating from within was undeniable.

It was the invisible aura that only a strong individual possessed, the invincible force accumulated from repeatedly defeating opponents.

While the group was discussing Chen Chu during their descent off the mountain, Chen Chu, still on the cliff, also watched their figures disappear into the distance, his eyes showing a hint of seriousness.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

That young man just now is very strong!

Through his Insightful Eye’s keen perception, that young man had given Chen Chu a faint sense of danger, indicating that his combat power was at least equal to Chen Chu's current state. He was the only one in the group his instinct had reacted to, suggesting the other four’s strength was average.

Chen Chu exclaimed, "Truly worthy of the mutated beast battlefield, where geniuses abound."

With that, he leaped off the cliff without hesitation, directly plummeting from hundreds of meters above. This time, he didn't slow his fall by grabbing onto the rock wall, but descended straight from the sky.