Chapter 224: Dominating the South and the Essence of a Gold-Winged Dragon

Two days later, Chen Chu dragged the massive serpent carcass back to school.

"Old Hong, help me calculate something."

"Sure thing."

Thud!

The heavy body, spanning over twenty meters, hit the ground with a slight tremor. Some lingering heat still emanated from the serpent's body, and its peak level 5 aura made the senior students transporting the corpse feel heavy.

One of the second-year students, at the early stage of the Third Heavenly Realm, couldn't help but exclaim, "Another peak level 5! Your combat power is terrifying. With your current strength, you could challenge the top two hundred on the Achievement List."

Chen Chu smiled modestly and said, "No, you’re overestimating me. I barely won this time. I almost didn't make it back. The seniors in the top two hundred on the Achievement List have also had to have at least reached the middle- to late- stage of the Fifth Heavenly Realm, so they're quite powerful. I'm still a bit behind."

"You're good at everything, Chen Chu, just too modest."

Since Chen Chu usually came alone, and the mutated beasts he brought back were not only powerful but also numerous, most of the seniors who worked here had come to know him.

At this point, Hong Shan finished calculating and said with a smile, "Young Chen, this peak level 5 mutated beast's intact corpse is priced at 150 points according to the logistics system. Is that okay with you?"

"No problem." Chen Chu nodded. This time, he hadn’t had to activate any runes during battle to maintain the corpse's integrity. Since he had enough contribution points now, he had also sprinkled some Grayrock Tree Powder on the corpse to conceal its aura, which was what had allowed him to return so quickly.

"No problem then. The points have been transferred to you."

Chen Chu's contribution points now amounted to 415. After leaving the warehouse, Chen Chu returned to his room to take a shower and clean his armor. When he finished dressing and drying his hair, he heard a knock on the door.

"This guy is really well-informed." Without thinking, Chen Chu knew it was Li Fei knocking on the door.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, he saw Li Fei standing outside, smiling and saying, "Congratulations, Chen Chu, on returning from another successful mission."

"Not at all. It's still thanks to your accurate information, Li Fei. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found that place so easily. But unfortunately, although I discovered resources this time, I couldn't bring them back."

"Oh, why is that?" Li Fei was puzzled.

Chen Chu shook his head. "Because it’s deep under a river of lava. Although I killed the flame serpent that was guarding it, I couldn't bring it up."

This time, Chen Chu didn't lie to him, as he really hadn’t been able to bring up whatever was down there.

Li Fei looked regretful. "What a pity."

"But don't worry, you won't miss out on the final payment. Even though I didn't get that resource, my gains this time were still decent."

Ironically, although Li Fei’s last information had only hinted at the possibility of resources, Chen Chu had ended up finding some Ethereal Crystals. This time, however, despite Li Fei's assurance of guaranteed resources, he couldn't actually bring anything back.

Li Fei nodded with a smile. "That's true. Besides the corpse, Life Crystals from a peak level 5 mutated beast are also quite valuable."

Chen Chu raised an eyebrow.

This guy knew so quickly that I killed a peak level 5 mutated beast. Does he have his spies in the logistics warehouse too?

After transferring the remaining 50 points to Li Fei, Chen Chu asked, "So, any new information in the past few days?"

Cooperating twice with this guy had left Chen Chu quite satisfied with the information he held; even if it meant sharing some of the benefits, it still saved him a lot of time in searching.

However, this time Li Fei shook his head, embarrassed. "Sorry, not this time. My strength is still at the Fourth Heavenly Realm, and although my secret art for concealing my aura is strong, I still don't dare to venture too far into the Yunwu Mountain Range. Otherwise, once I get spotted by a level 6 mutated creature, it's game over."

Hearing this, Chen Chu was curious. "The school only has two secret arts for concealing aura. Are you cultivating the Hidden Divinity or Shadow of the Wind?"

Li Fei didn't have any secrets about this, and even boasted a little. "I cultivate the Shadow of the Wind, and my secret art has already reached the advanced level."

"Wow, that’s impressive. No wonder you can come and go freely in the Yunwu Mountains," Chen Chu praised.

The Shadow of the Wind, unlike the Hidden Divinity, focused on allowing the cultivator to move as swiftly as the wind. While it prioritized enhancing speed, it was still quite effective at concealing one’s aura.

Li Fei grinned. "Oh, not at all. I still can't match your fierce combat power with the Tyrant Body."

After chatting for a while, which mainly consisted of Chen Chu probing for some information about the base from this well-informed guy, Li Fei left.

With that done and taken care of, Chen Chu then went to the logistics department to exchange for the high-quality dragon essence he needed to break through to the sixth stage of the Dragon Elephant Tyrant Body.

However, when it was his turn in line, the staff behind the counter apologized, saying, "Sorry, but the high-quality dragon essence is currently out of stock."

"Out of stock?" Chen Chu was taken aback.

The staff nodded. "Yes, these resources are generally used by high-level cultivators, so the school and the base here have limited stock. You actually bought the only bottle we had here a few days ago, and we haven't had a chance to restock it yet."

Chen Chu was dumbfounded. "When will it be available?"

"The normal restocking cycle is once a month, and the next restock is still ten days away." At this point, the staff glanced at Chen Chu’s background information in the system, then quickly added, "But since you have high-level privileges, if you need it urgently, I can submit an application to expedite it for you. Then it will only take about two days to arrive."

"Two days? That's fine. Please go ahead and submit the application for me," Chen Chu said with some relief.

"Alright, but Chen Chu, this kind of application requires contribution points to be paid upfront..."

"Alright, just deduct it." Chen Chu nodded. He paid the staff 210 contribution points, then left the logistics department.

The base was bustling today; many Third and Fourth Heavenly Realm students who had been training their combat skills had returned. As Chen Chu arrived at the square, he spotted Luo Fei carrying her extra-long sniper cannon on her back, along with Xia Youhui and others, who looked tired as they walked through the square. He walked over to them with a smile on his face.

Seeing Chen Chu heading in their direction, Xia Youhui couldn't help but be surprised. "Ah Chu, you're back too."

"Just got back a while ago. How's it going? You've had a good harvest these days, right?" Chen Chu said as his eyes swept over Luo Fei’s body. She looked okay; there wasn’t any damage on her armor, just some dirt.

Noticing Chen Chu's gaze, the girl's eyes glistened, and she whispered softly, "Don't worry, I'm not injured."

Just then, Li Meng shouted, "Hey hey! Chen Chu, your brothers are here too. Can you both stop being so cheesy right after seeing each other?"

"Yeah, that's right." Liu Feng and a few others nodded in agreement.

Ahem!

Chen Chu cleared his throat. "What's cheesy about it? I was greeting her and showing concern, isn't that normal?"

He then quickly changed the subject. "So, it's been a few days and you've all reached the late stage."

Speaking of this, Yuan Chenghuang, who was carrying his giant sword, grinned proudly. "Heh! That's true. Although you cultivate at a fast pace, we're not far behind."

In the past few days, they had indulged in the luxury of using high-quality resources and had all broken through to the late stage of the Third Heavenly Realm, squeezing into the top of the second division in the first year class.

The first division naturally consisted of Chen Chu and the few others who had broken through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm. Of course, the ability to break through in one go had mainly been because most of them had already been approaching the late stage, combined with their efforts and personal talents since coming here.

Among them, Xia Youhui, who seemed carefree but had actually broken through to the late stage of the Third Heavenly Realm half a month ago, currently had a more profound and heavy aura. He would likely be the first in their group to break through to the Fourth Realm.

Just then, the large screen in the square lit up with red characters.

"Chen Jianyi of Qinchuan Martial Arts High School, with a cultivation level in the beginning stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, counterattacked Zhou Yun of Langshan Martial Arts High School, and now ranks 915th on the Achievement List."

Before anyone could react, another row of red characters flashed on the screen.

"Tian Peng of Langshan Martial Arts High School, with a cultivation level at the peak of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, defeated Song Yun of Linhe Martial Arts High School, and now ranks 573rd on the Achievement List."

Unlike the freshmen, the term “counterattack” wasn’t used to refer to challenges between these upperclassmen.

Soon, however, the red characters on the screen changed again.

"Linchuan Martial Arts High School..."

"Damn, what's going on today? There are such big changes in the rankings."

At this point, Xia Youhui's eyes lit up slightly. "Ah Chu, do you want to challenge those upperclassmen too? With your strength, breaking into the top two or three hundred on the Achievement List should be no problem."

"Yeah!"

The others in the squad also brightened up.

Liu Feng exclaimed excitedly, "If you, a freshman, suddenly get into the top two or three hundred on the Achievement List, it will definitely shock everyone on the southern battlefield."

"I think this is a good idea." Li Meng also nodded excitedly.

When Chen Chu made use of his explosive runes, he could easily defeat late stage level 5 king beasts in just two moves. This was a combat power that surpassed most third-years.

Coupled with him being in the Fourth Heavenly Realm with the title of a top genius in the first year, it would be enough to shake the entire southern mutated beast battlefield and turn him into the undisputed top figure of the new generation.

Thinking of this, Li Meng and the others couldn't help but feel excited and thrilled. Having the top freshman in Nantian as their good friend? That was definitely something to boast about.

Unfortunately, Chen Chu wasn't very interested. He shook his head and said, "There's no point in competing for the top two or three hundred. Didn't I say it before? If I'm going to compete, I'll compete for the first place on the Achievement List. Besides, I’m no longer at the beginning stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm."

Chen Chu knew that he wouldn’t be able to hide this fact for long, nor was it necessary to keep it secret all the time anymore. This was an appropriate moment to mention it.

This stunned the squad. Li Meng looked at him in disbelief. "Chen Chu, you broke through to the middle stage of the Fourth Realm? How is that possible?"

Chen Chu smiled ambiguously and said, "Didn't you all just break through to another stage too? Then it’s also normal for me to break through a little, isn't it?"

"What the fuck! How can that be the same?" Liu Feng couldn't help but curse.

"Alright, let's go. Being around this guy is too discouraging. We can't keep chatting with him today." Xia Youhui decisively turned around and walked away, not wanting to give Chen Chu the chance to keep showing off.

"Yeah, let's go. We can't stay with this freak. It’s too discouraging." With that, Bai Mu and Liu Feng walked away together, arm in arm.

Li Meng sniffed his armpits and was immediately repulsed by his own smell. He quickly shook his head and said, "Oh man, my body feels so gross after being out for a few days. I'm going to take a shower."

Compared to the others, Yuan Chenghuang didn't even bother to make excuses. He just whistled as he walked away without even saying goodbye to Chen Chu.

He had thought that, after a few days away and breaking through to the late stage of the Third Heavenly Realm, he could finally come close to Chen Chu, and maybe even get to speak with a little more confidence around him.

After all, the difference between the late stage of the Third Heavenly Realm and the early stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm wasn’t so far away. That wasn’t even looking at combat power, just pure realms.

But just as they had returned, they had been delivered this depressing news.

Pfft!

Luo Fei couldn't help but laugh. She looked at Chen Chu with a smile and said, "Congratulations on your advancement. You're leaving your peers far behind."

In the south, there were 18 first-rate martial arts high schools and over 40 second-rates. In total, there were over 130,000 first-year students in total, and among those, it was estimated that around 30,000 to 40,000 of them could cultivate and complete Foundation Building. Among these, the first-rate schools accounted for nearly half.

Of these students, however, only around thirty had reached the Fourth Heavenly Realm, and among them, only Ning Fei had reached the middle stage of the Fourth Realm or above, until now.

Now, there was Chen Chu.

Of course, Luo Fei didn't know that he had already reached the late stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, nor that his martial arts realm had even reached the Fifth.

Facing the girl's praise, Chen Chu accepted it calmly. He smiled and said, "It's just the beginning now. It won't be long before I dominate the entire battlefield."

As the person who knew him best and had the best relationship with him, Chen Chu felt more comfortable being himself in front of Luo Fei.

The girl smiled and played along, saying, "Then I'll wait to see the day you dominate our entire generation in the south. Haha!"

After speaking, the girl laughed, not taking the joke seriously.

After all, even though Chen Chu's talents and combat skills were gradually becoming stronger and stronger, they hadn't yet reached the point where he could achieve something like that in no time.

The next two days passed without any major events. Except for occasional changes on the Achievement List, everything progressed as normal.

Maximus continued to lay low deep in the Yunwu Mountains. He gradually expanded his hunting range, taking down nearby mutated beasts and refining their essence to restore his strength.

Within the same vast range, a figure clad in a snow-white robe kept shuttling back and forth, as if searching for something.

Two days flew by. Back at the logistics department, the staff member smiled when he saw Chen Chu approaching the counter. "Chen Chu, your order of high-quality dragon essence has arrived."

"That's good to hear." Chen Chu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there had been no surprises this time. Normally, unexpected events would occur at critical moments like this, such as someone dying, a friend having an accident, or critical resources being intercepted along the way.

The staff member bent down behind the counter, retrieving a thirty-centimeter-tall black bottle the size of a fist from the alloy safe below. He politely said, "This bottle of essence comes from a level 8 colossal beast, the Gold-Winged Dragon. The effect from this essence is stronger than that of a level 7 draconic beast."

"A level 8 colossal beast...? Isn't what I ordered supposed to be just ordinary dragon essence?" Chen Chu was taken aback.

Although the dragon essence he had used before was considered high-quality, it had just been essence from ordinary level 7 draconic beasts. This bottle of level 8 dragon essence, on the other hand, was priced at a minimum of at least 500 contribution points.

"Yes, when the military’s logistics officer heard that you were the one requesting the essence, they specifically retrieved it from their warehouse with a note that says 'To Chen Chu, wishing you a prosperous martial career.'"

Chen Chu was slightly surprised. Strange... he didn't remember knowing anyone important in the military. With a hint of doubt, Chen Chu nodded slightly. "Please convey my thanks. By the way, I also want to exchange for two Level 4 Life Crystals."

"Sure, please wait a moment."

With the dragon essence and the Life Crystals, which he had exchanged for 112 points each, Chen Chu went to reserve a cultivation room.