Chapter 187: The Blood from Ancient Past in the Depths Below (I)

The next day, the group got ready to leave at the square. Everyone was clad in battle armor and carrying weapons, while Liu Feng and the others carried backpacks containing supplies and multiple sets of anti-gravity disks.

When Chen Chu walked over, however, they all widened their eyes.

"Damn, Ah Chu, you refined your armor?" Xia Youhui exclaimed, before realizing something else. "Wait, so if your armor’s been refined, does that mean your halberd is transcendent now, too?"

Chen Chu smiled and nodded. "That’s right, I refined both yesterday."

"Fuck!"

"Shit!"

Li Meng and the others started cussing.

Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have reacted so strongly. However, they knew that Chen Chu had only been here for four days, and the materials needed to refine a transcendent weapon started at 100 contribution points each. In order for Chen Chu to have been able to refine both armor and weapon in one go, he would have needed to earn over 200 contribution points in just three or four days.

Thinking about how they themselves had barely earned 100 contribution points in half a month, the comparison was simply unbearable.

Luo Fei reached out and touched Chen Chu’s shoulder armor in curiosity. "Chen Chu, what materials did you use to refine this?"

Chen Chu smiled faintly. "I used Wind Steel and Fiery Crystal Ore. With a 10% enhancement in true power, the durability’s been increased by about three times. It also has an internal air purification system and an external dual-layered basic defense with external heat purification, along with the standard features of typical transcendent battle armor."

Chen Chu's choice of materials hadn’t been random; it had actually been based on the school’s internal transcendent equipment schematics.

The external structural design had also been carefully considered based on professional references, and was an extension of the original armor design. It was primarily made out of a red alloy with mysterious black patterns, and the joints were covered in red crystals.

The shoulder guards consisted of three layers of black and red metallic armor that curled up slightly, giving off a magnificent and sturdy appearance. The overall armor emitted a faint black and red glow, the hallmark of transcendent armor.

The helmet also had a transformation function. Right now, he didn’t have the mask pulled down, so the rest of the helmet had retracted to behind his head, forming wings.

Overall, this armor exuded dominance and magnificence, making the already handsome and heroic Chen Chu look like a god-like warrior.

This was one of the reasons why Xia Youhui and the others were surprised and full of envy. It was just too damn cool! Looking at the armor, Li Meng and a few others couldn't help but want to reach out and touch it.

"Hey, what are you guys doing!" Chen Chu stepped back.

Liu Feng awkwardly pulled his hand back. "I just wanted to touch it."

With some annoyance, Chen Chu said, "Get lost! You guys aren't girls, so why are you touching everything? If you want something like this, just practice hard and get into the Fourth Realm."

Yuan Chenghuang said in a sour tone, "How stingy."

"Yeah, after I reach the Fourth Realm, I'm going to make an even cooler set."

"I want wings, six pairs."

"Damn, can you even carry that many wings?"

"It doesn't matter if I can carry them or not, what's important is looking cool. The wings on my current armor are damaged, and I can't be bothered to fix them."

"Bai Mu is right, functionality doesn't matter as long as I look cool. I'm going to coat mine with gold paint, so I'll shine wherever I go."

"And then, Liu Feng, you'll be chased by mutated beasts all over the battlefield."

"Haha... that's actually quite possible."

"I think adding some more spikes to the armor would make it look even more badass."

"You've got a unique sense of aesthetics, Li Hao. Is that from the Primitive Warrior Chronicles set?"

The group walked out of the square chatting and laughing. Their pace suddenly quickened, and they exploded into a sprint, covering a hundred meters in just a second. In no time, they dashed out of the base's range.

For this mission, Chen Chu and Li Hao were the main forces, with Luo Fei specifically tasked with preventing attacks from the Winged Dragon. Xia Youhui, on the other hand, would intercept the level 3 mutated beasts head-on.

As for Li Meng and the other four geniuses, they would be the supporters and laborers, tasked with assisting Xia Youhui in restraining the level 3 mutated beasts and transporting corpses.

Before departing, the group had also discussed how to divide the spoils from the battle. If they get close to 1,000 contribution points, Chen Chu would take the biggest portion as the main force. Li Hao would get the next biggest portion, then Luo Fei, then Xia Youhui and the others.

In addition, as the one facing the mutated king beast, Chen Chu was given priority for obtaining Life Crystals from this battle, which wouldn’t be counted as a part of his contribution points.

Li Hao had been eyeing the mutated beast essence, though this would be counted as part of his contribution points.

When they had heard that Chen Chu would be dealing with the mutated king beast, Liu Feng and the others had been so shocked that they couldn't speak.

On the other hand, Xia Youhui and Li Meng, who had already seen Chen Chu defeat a Blood Emissary in the late stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, were only a little surprised.

With the map’s guidance, the group followed the route most often taken by students entering and leaving the mountains, so they encountered almost no attacks from mutated creatures at the beginning of their journey.

As Yuan Chenghuang ran in the back of the group with Liu Feng and the others, he started complaining. "Why does it feel like, ever since we arrived, the gap between us and them has only gotten wider?"

They had entered the mutated beast battlefield ahead of time, yet were struggling with level 4 mutated beasts. Meanwhile, Chen Chu, who had only been here for a few days, had already killed one level 5 mutated beast, and was now going after another with a king-level bloodline.

Compared to Yuan Chenghuang's frustration, Liu Feng took it more lightly, and said, "Get used to it. That's the difference between freaks and ordinary geniuses."

Li Meng chuckled. "Old Yuan, you'd better not focus on Chen Chu. Haven't you noticed he's totally insane? You were already no match for him back in the freshmen ranking competition, and he’d only been in the First Realm practicing low-level arts. And after going to Kyrola, he’s just skyrocketed. He’s even outshining Li Hao now."

Looking ahead at the figures running swiftly, Li Meng said carefully, "Now, I feel like even An Fuqing might gradually fall behind him. Chen Chu's talent may be more terrifying than anyone can imagine. So, instead of comparing ourselves to him and discouraging ourselves, it's better to look at those behind us. Like our classmates back in school that are still struggling at the First or Second Realm.

"Think about how we'll break through to the Fourth with a little more effort in one or two months. Wouldn't that feel like quite the accomplishment?"

Surprised, Yuan Chenghuang looked at him, "Li Meng, I didn't expect you to be so good at self-comfort."

Li Meng replied, "Of course. Without self-comfort, wouldn't I just be envying others all day?"

Bai Mu complimented him. "That's one thing Li Meng is good at. No wonder he always looks so happy and stupid."

Li Meng retorted, "Get lost. That’s not being stupid."

While the others were joking around in the back, Chen Chu ran alongside Luo Fei and casually asked, "So, did you guys encounter any problems when entering the mountains earlier?"

Xia Youhui replied proudly, "With me around, those beasts were never able to break our defenses. I even handled that late stage level 4 directly."

Hearing this, Luo Fei chuckled. "And then you got slammed into the side of the mountain."

Xia Youhui sighed and retorted playfully, "Miss Luo, you’re killing the conversation."

As the two groups chatted separately in the back, Li Hao, who was leading the way, ran calmly ahead and quickly covered over three hundred kilometers.

Bang!

With a swing of his four meter steel pillar, a mutated bird with an eight-meter wingspan had half of its body blasted into pieces. Blood, flesh, and feathers flew everywhere.

The group, already accustomed to such situations, were unfazed and continued on their way. However, before they could run even ten more kilometers, Li Hao's steel pillar, infused with red true power, descended from the sky and smashed a rising venomous python into a pulp.