Chapter 205: The Infiltration of Purgatory (I)

While the Thunder Fiery Colossal Beast, Deep Sea Dragon Turtle, and Single-horned Kun were heading to their raid, Chen Chu had just woken up the next morning.

He headed to the logistics department to exchange for four anti-gravity disks, each embedded with an Energy Crystal Shard worth 15 contribution points. With two more shards to serve as backups, the total exchange used up another 49 points, suddenly leaving him with only 34.

Regardless of whether he could find the resources in the mountains this time, Chen Chu aimed to kill more mutated beasts. Naturally, he needed to prepare more anti-gravity disks; even if he could pull over twenty-five tons, it would take forever to drag back corpses weighing over a hundred tons each.

Chen Chu planned to do just two trips into the mountains to accumulate the needed points. Then, he would exchange for level 6 resources to break through to the Fifth Heavenly Realm in one go and condense the Tyrant Body.

Once complete, he was confident he could easily kill even level 6 mutated beasts. Then he could venture deeper into the Yunwu Mountains to obtain more precious resources and snowball his advancement.

However, as Chen Chu dashed out of the base area at a speed of over a hundred meters per second, he encountered Xia Youhui and the others, who had just set out... or rather, had been waiting for him by the roadside.

Upon seeing Chen Chu's figure, Xia Youhui waved to him, causing him to stop abruptly and look at the six of them in surprise. "Didn't you guys set off earlier this morning?"

Xia Youhui smiled and said, "Yeah, but didn't you ask me last night to find out who was gossiping about you? So, we were waiting here for you."

"Old Xia, do you know who it is?" Chen Chu was somewhat surprised, not expecting Xia Youhui to gather that intelligence so quickly.

"Ah Chu, you’ll never guess who it is." At this point, Xia Youhui's gaze was somewhat strange. Liu Feng, Li Meng, and even Luo Fei couldn't help but smile.

Chen Chu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Someone I know?"

Xia Youhui couldn't help but laugh. "Exactly, not just someone you know but someone you’re very familiar with. It was Li Hao."

"Li Hao? Why?" Chen Chu was bewildered. He never expected that the person spreading rumors about him killing the Blood Armored Beast King would be the burly Li Hao.

At this point, Luo Fei let out a suppressed smile. "Chen Chu, didn't you check the messages this morning?"

"...No, I left my phone in my Sumeru Bracelet last night when I went to sleep." Chen Chu paused. It was a habit he had formed after obtaining the Sumeru Bracelet, storing miscellaneous items like his phone in the storage space to avoid damage during explosive battles.

"I knew it." The girl chuckled. "This morning, Li Hao sent a message to everyone, explaining why he spread the news of you slaying the Blood Armored Beast King."

"Why?"

"Because he wants you to overthrow An Fuqing. He said it's embarrassing that more than a thousand men from the new batch of students at Nantian have been outranked by a woman for half a year. He’s been practicing hard to do that, but he always comes up a little short of her.

"You could be considered the top of the first-years, considering you defeated a level 5 king beast while only being in the beginning stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm. It's definitely enough to overthrow An Fuqing."

Chen Chu was left dumbstruck. "...Is he really such a male chauvinist?"

"Of course he is." Li Meng grinned. "As the saying goes: First in academics, second in martial arts. If I was as strong as you, I would have challenged An Fuqing long ago to see who's the king of this new generation at Nantian."

"Li Meng, I didn't expect you to be so deluded. You want to be the king of just this new generation?" Xia Youhui shook his head. "If you want to be king of something, it should be all of East Xia."

"You guys are getting off track. Let's drop this matter and not stir up any conflicts," Chen Chu reminded them. "We're all classmates, there’s no need to compete for such empty titles. Even if we do, it should be for the top spot on the Achievement List. That's what matters."

"True. Before becoming the king of East Xia's new generation, Ah Chu, you should aim for the top spot on the Achievement List." Xia Youhui chuckled.

Everyone thought Chen Chu was joking. Although he had slain a beginning stage level 5 mutated beast with a king-level blood, he still wasn’t as strong as Qin Tianhu, who ranked first on the Achievement List.

According to Xia Youhui’s knowledge, Qin Tianhu had not only reached the peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm, but had also maintained a constant state of ignited true power.

He also had a record of killing multiple level 6 mutated beasts; the strongest among them had even been close to the late stage. Currently, Qin Tianhu spent most of his time cultivating in the depths of the Yunwu Mountains, seeking a breakthrough.

"Alright, it's not early anymore. Let's all set out."

"Ah Chu, be careful. The middle of the Yunwu Mountains isn’t like the outskirts."

"Chen Chu, take care of yourself."

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be careful. You guys be careful too, and make sure to protect Luo Fei."

"Haha... don't worry, Ah Chu. After Mr. Chen helped me refine this transcendent battle shield yesterday, my earthly defense is even stronger now."

With a wave of their hands, the group split into two directions and quickly disappeared into the dense forest, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

***

Clad in a magnificent black and red battle armor, Chen Chu dashed through the forest in complete silence, leaving only a residual shadow.

There was only a slight vibration every time his combat boots touched the ground, and it wasn’t until he had disappeared that the sound of air being stirred up by the swiftly moving wind could be heard.

At the intermediate level, the Hidden Divinity secret art concealed Chen Chu’s presence so well that it made him disappear. The mutated creatures could only react after being startled by the disturbance.

After breaking through to the late stage, Chen Chu was no longer as conservative. Using the circulation of true power to increase his strength, he maintained a speed of two hundred meters per second. There was no concern for the vines and bushes blocking his path, and he resembled a black and red blade piercing through the woods.

Scaling mountains and fording rivers, he quickly dashed out of the Jiuhuan Mountains and entered the Yunwu Mountains from another route.

According to the coordinates Li Fei had provided, the location was about 1,300 kilometers deep into the southwestern side of the Yunwu Mountains. Because of the surrounding mist and the chaotic spatial magnetic field, however, he couldn’t use the Celestial Satellite System to monitor it. The map Li Fei gave him only provided the direction, approximate coordinates, and estimated distance.

Chen Chu would have to search carefully after arriving.

Huff!

After flashing over a mist covered mountain stream, Chen Chu slowed down and suppressed his aura as much as possible. By now, he was five hundred kilometers deep into the Yunwu Mountains. Even with his power, Chen Chu didn't dare to be careless here, cautiously observing everything around him.

Just then, he suddenly stopped. His gaze became serious as he looked ahead, faint golden vertical pupils appearing deep in his eyes.

Just over ten meters in front of him, the previously calm air suddenly became distorted. Then, a narrow, pitch-black rift silently appeared about a meter above the ground, continuously splitting open and extending to over three meters in length as it silently sliced the trees and grass in half. After just ten seconds, it just as silently disappeared.

Spatial rifts, one of the dangers of the Yunwu Mountains. Because of the mountains’ proximity to the entrance of the mythical world, the space here was unstable and fragile. Rifts could appear at any time, slicing through everything.

Fortunately, these spatial rifts always caused strong fluctuations before forming. As long as Chen Chu paid attention, he could avoid them. What was troublesome were the sudden and explosive collapses of large areas of space. Once caught in such a collapse, even those in the Seventh Heavenly Realm would perish.

Regrettably, over the years, some unlucky geniuses had died in these collapses, leaving no trace of their remains.

While Chen Chu’s mutated pupils weren’t fully awakened yet, they could still foresee the formation of rifts in advance, which made his journey through the mountains much safer. The only issue was, this was just an emerging talent, and could only be activated for a short time as a backup.

Once the spatial fluctuations ahead stabilized, Chen Chu's figure disappeared in a flash, as he continued his journey according to the directions provided by his smartwatch.