Chapter 202: Ability Awakening in a Dual-Layered World (I)

Soon, Chen Chu and Xia Youhui found a large table and sat down. Xia Youhui casually yelled out, "Boss, I want a hundred skewers of rabbit meat, and get that bear paw over there too. Oh, and is the fruit wine still free to drink?"

"Yes, the fruit wine is free. Hey, you! Senior over there! Roast a hundred skewers of Snow Jade Beast thighs."

"Sure, just a moment."

Chen Chu looked at him curiously. "Old Xia, you seem pretty familiar with the place. Do you guys here come often?"

Xia Youhui grinned. "Nope. Only Li Meng and I have been here a couple times. Liu Feng and the others are busy training all day. That’s too boring for me. But don't underestimate this place, Ah Chu. Many of the bosses here are quite experienced. There’s the ones who just don’t like to battle, but there are also some Fourth Heavenly Realm seniors who’ve just returned from the deep mountains."

Chen Chu looked at him, puzzled. "And they’re doing this as a way of relaxing?"

Xia Youhui nodded with a smile. "Yeah, to relax and make some extra money on the side. A lot of the meat they’re selling barely cost them anything.

"Just think about it. Those mutated beasts are sometimes over ten or twenty meters long. Before bringing them back, they find a place to break open the scales and cut out one or two hundred pounds of meat. No one even notices.

"So even though these barbecues and stuff only cost 2 or 3 contribution points each, they add up to quite a bit over the year, and it's a risk-free business."

Chen Chu exclaimed, "How smart!"

"Heh! These are just the ordinary ones. I heard there are other businesses that go down a more cunning route..."

Xia Youhui continued to share a lot of the information he had gathered during his time here with Chen Chu. Some of that information included how some senior students who practiced agile and stealthy martial arts would go into the mountains, not to hunt high-level mutated beasts, but to gather information.

They’d find out which areas contained mutated beasts above level 5, which dangerous places had resources, where the distortions in the spacial magnetic field were located, where there might be natural treasures, and so on, then return to sell this information at a reasonable price.

These people were also well-informed and had contacts with many students in the other school bases, forming a large network of relationships.

As they chatted, Liu Feng, Li Meng, and the others walked over, followed by Luo Fei. Everyone was dressed in casual clothing now that they were back at base. Luo Fei wore a fitted pair of pants and a short-sleeved shirt that revealed her fair arms, as she sat on Chen Chu’s left.

The night breeze blew, and Chen Chu suddenly smelled the faint scent of shampoo coming from beside him.

As his body grew stronger, Chen Chu's five senses had become quite extraordinary. He could hear the sound of mosquitoes flying hundreds of meters away in the forest, see insects several kilometers away clearly, and his nose had grown more sensitive too.

Normally, it was too overwhelming, so he would suppress his senses and only open his psychic perception.

Chen Chu glanced at Li Meng, Yuan Chenghuang, and the others, asking, "Old Xia, did you not invite Li Hao?"

Xia Youhui shook his head. "I sent him a message, but he said he couldn't make it. He went straight back into the mountains after getting the Blood Armored Beast King essence from logistics this afternoon."

"Fuck me, Li Hao is really pushing it," Liu Feng couldn't help but curse.

Bai Mu shrugged. "Clearly, he's also been motivated by Chen Chu. After all, he's the second-ranked freshman, and now he can't even beat the mutated beasts that Chen Chu crushes."

Yuan Chenghuang agreed. "Yeah, Chen Chu is becoming more and more of a freak. It would be weird if he wasn't motivated."

"It's not my fault. I just keep practicing and breaking through. Not like I can help it." Chen Chu shook his head.

"Fuck you!" Xia Youhui and the others simultaneously flipped Chen Chu off with their middle fingers.

Pfft!

Luo Fei couldn't help but burst into laughter. She loved seeing others either embarrassed or shocked by Chen Chu.

Meanwhile, not far from them, the owner of the barbecue stall walked over with a large iron plate and announced, "Here you go, brothers! Your spicy skewers."

"...These are skewers?" Liu Feng gaped at the meat in front of him. Each skewer was about half a meter long with five large chunks of rabbit meat the size of fists on them, and there were a hundred of them piled up into a mound. He couldn’t believe it.

The burly second-year owner proudly declared, "We are cultivators, so naturally we enjoy big chunks of meat and big pints of drinks. Take your time eating, brothers. I’ll get back to work."

At this, Chen Chu waved his hand. "Dig in. I'm treating today, no need to hold back."

"Let's eat!"

Before long, the giant bear paws, bigger than pot lids, were also brought over. Everyone drank fruit wine and ate heartily, enjoying the excellent meal.

By the time everyone had finished eating and chatting, it was already midnight, and they had used nearly 10 contribution points.

In the dormitory corridor, a young man stood with his arms crossed outside Chen Chu's room. When he saw Chen Chu return, his eyes lit up, and he gave a warm greeting. "Chen Chu, nice to meet you. I'm Li Fei, from the second year, Class Five."

"Li Fei, hello. Were you waiting for me? Do you need something from me?" Chen Chu was somewhat puzzled. He couldn’t recall meeting anyone called Li Fei before.

Li Fei chuckled. "That's right, I do have something to discuss with you, or rather, a deal to make with you. Are you interested?"

Chen Chu narrowed his eyes. "A deal? Information about high-level mutated beasts?"

"That’s right. You're sharp." Li Fei clapped his hands and enthusiastically continued. "Midway into the Yunwu Mountains, I found traces of a late stage level 5 beast. There also seems to be a distorted spatial zone there."

Chen Chu paused for a moment in surprise. Just earlier, Xia Youhui had mentioned such a group of people, and now one of them was approaching him?

"Do you think a new student like me, at the beginning stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, can kill a late stage level 5 mutated beast?"

"Haha... Stop kidding around, Chen Chu." Li Fei grinned. "The story of you slaying a beginning stage level 5 king beast has already spread throughout the base. Everyone knows that you have astonishing combat power."

"It's already spread throughout the base?" Chen Chu raised an eyebrow. He knew people would eventually find out, but it was still odd that this news would get so far in just half a day. It seemed like someone was purposely spreading the word.

Li Fei then asked, "So, are you interested?"

Chen Chu pondered for a moment. "What's the price?"

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

A regular late-stage level 5 mutated beast wasn't worth much, but the potential resources Li Fei had hinted about could hold considerable value.

Li Fei put out his hand. "50 contribution points!"

"Why don't you go and claim it for yourself? A late stage level 5 mutated beast is worth at most 150 contribution points, and hunting it is extremely dangerous."

"But there are resources there."

"You said there seemed to be resources, which means it’s not guaranteed."

The two then engaged in a bargaining match.

No matter how Chen Chu tried to negotiate, however, Li Fei insisted on 50 contribution points. He mentioned how dangerous it was to venture into the Yunwu Mountains, how much effort it took to gather this information, how he had to give up sleeping for a whole week...

But Chen Chu wasn't an idiot; who knew how this guy had found that mutated creature?

In the end, he made a proposal. "Since this is our first meeting, I'm not sure if what you're saying is true. So how about this? I'll give you 20 contribution points as a deposit. If I manage to find and slay that beast or obtain something from that distorted spatial area you mentioned, I'll pay the remaining 30 points when I return.

"Of course, if your information turns out to be false, don't blame me for being impolite." Chen Chu's gaze turned slightly cold as he spoke.

This senior didn’t seem to be deliberately suppressing his aura, and the fluctuations emanating from him were at the late stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm.

However, Chen Chu felt that his aura was somewhat elusive. His true level was likely at the peak of the Fourth Realm. Among the second year students, he belonged to the most talented group.

But if Li Fei dared to deceive him, he should be prepared to never set foot in the Yunwu Mountain Range again for the rest of his life.

Li Fei nodded. "Alright, I’ll consider you a friend and accept the 20 points as a deposit. As for the authenticity of the information, I guarantee there won't be any issues. If I liked fighting and could take on that beast, I would have gone in myself to search for resources."

Li Fei then reminded him, "But let's be clear about this. I'll only keep this information between us for a week. If you haven't taken any action after a week, I'll sell it to someone else. Otherwise, unforeseen circumstances may arise."

Such as the beast being discovered by other students.

"Understood." Chen Chu nodded, and both parties completed the transfer via their smart watches. Li Fei then transmitted the direction, coordinates, surrounding landmarks, and other information about the beast and the distorted spatial area to Chen Chu.

After watching Li Fei leave, Chen Chu took out his phone and sent a message to Xia Youhui, asking if he knew Li Fei and about his reputation. As a gossip enthusiast, he was quite knowledgeable in this area.

Soon, Xia Youhui replied, confirming that Li Fei was a well-known information hunter at the Nantian base, and had a relatively good reputation in the circle.

Only then did Chen Chu’s trust in Li Fei’s information grow to about a sixty percent certainty.