Chapter 257: Bloodbath, Reflecting Hell, the Soul is Gone (I)

When he had first started cultivating upon entering high school, Chen Chu had shown a middle level talent in spirit, but due to his congenital weakness, his physical body was only low-level. Both of these combined to make his talent slightly below average.

If it hadn’t been for the feedback from his avatar's first evolution, which corrected the weakness in his physical body, he would never have been able to complete Foundation Building within half a month. Even then, he had barely made it within that time limit.

Even though he had vaguely guessed that the earlier one achieved Foundation Building, the more attention they would receive, he hadn’t used Zhang Xiaolan's ninety-thousand yuan savings to buy resources to supplement his vitality; that would have only advanced his Foundation Building by two or three days, which made little difference compared to half a month.

This wasn’t to say that Chen Chu didn’t care about his talent. No one wanted to be the worst; seeing his classmates making rapid progress, meditating on ten petals a day, their vitality cycling five to eight times, it would have been a lie to say he didn't feel any disparity.

After all, they all had the same hands and feet, so why was there such a big difference?

It was only due to his adult mentality, along with the presence of his avatar and attribute page, that Chen Chu had appeared so calm, unhurried, and composed.

Without these advantages, he would have only barely managed to achieve Foundation Building in one or two months. Then, he would have watched helplessly from below as those geniuses cultivated high-level arts and left him in the dust, while he could only practice low-level arts.

Perhaps at that time, he would have asked people to not look down on him while he was young and poor[1], or not to look down on the poor in general, as everyone's grave was the same size.

However, talent encompassed physical cultivation, spiritual comprehension, resilience of will, and overall learning ability. The disparity in these things between people truly did exist, and unlike with money, there was no such thing as being too poor in the beginning but suddenly surpassing everyone at a later stage.

If one could make such a late surge, it was because they had an advantage in some aspects. Otherwise, if sheer effort alone could place one at the peak, there would be no lower stage in this world, and everyone would be outstanding.

Therefore, as Chen Chu swept through all of the freakish geniuses in the southern schools with absolute power today, he felt an indescribable sense of comfort and excitement. He wasn’t a saint; he had emotions and desires, he just simply refrained from showing them most of the time.

The more his will was active, the deeper his understanding of martial arts and combat skills, and he had once again reached the state he had been in that night when he had fought fiercely under the cliff.

This time, however, even though the endless aura of blood slaughter surrounded him, his consciousness didn’t fall into madness. He clearly sensed an invisible barrier.

Just a little bit more, just a little bit more.

If he could break through that barrier, he could condense his willpower and touch the power that dominated heaven and earth.

Huff, huff!

Chen Chu breathed heavily, his eyes blood-red. Strands of substantive blood-colored qi flowed around him, accompanied by ghostly wails and godly roars. Standing with his halberd, he resembled a god of slaughter from hell.

This aura made the people from Chongzhou Martial Arts High School catch their breath. Many students in the Third and Fourth Heavenly Realm even turned pale.

Zhang Tianlong, with a solemn expression, asked, "Chen Chu, weren't you on the path of invincibility to condense a battle will? What's happening now?"

Chen Chu replied, "I'm in a good state right now. However, the battle will I condensed is related to the numerous mutated creatures I have slain."

So, he has been slaying mutated creatures. I see how it is. That explains why his spiritual force carries the faint screams and wails of mutated creatures.

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief. It was fine as long as that menacing aura of blood slaughter wasn't from killing people. Otherwise, they would have had to halt today’s battle and start procedures to investigate Chen Chu's identity.

Chen Chu looked at the geniuses dozens of meters away, each at the late stage or peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm. "Ladies and gentlemen, none of you are my match. Why don't you all come at me together?"

The students watching from the hillside burst into an uproar.

"Hah! Does this guy think he's still facing the sub-fifty on the Achievement List? These are freaks at the peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm."

"Uh

...

is there really a difference?"

"Yeah, there is a gap between those below fifty and the top thirty, but it's not too big. They’re all in the Fifth Heavenly Realm, so I think he's just stating a fact."

"Such boldness, no wonder he's about to sweep through the entire southern battlefield."

If Chen Chu had said this at the beginning, it would have made him seem arrogant, ignorant, and conceited. However, after his seemingly impossible achievement of sweeping through fifty-eight school bases in one day and defeating over five hundred geniuses of the same level in the Fifth Heavenly Realm, it felt entirely justified.

Even the teachers, who were holding the line, merely furrowed their brows and continued watching intently.

Fu Jiangtao, ranked fifth on the Achievement List, chuckled. "I thought I was flashy, always standing on rooftops, trees, and cliff edges. I didn't expect you to outshine me in showing off. No doubt, after tonight's battle, we must have a drink and discuss how to be even more impressive."

Someone laughed heartily. "Hahaha

...

That's bold! Since Chen Chu is so confident, let's oblige him, everyone."

Shu Nuo, carrying a three-meter-long, half-meter-wide heavy sword, exuded an aura as solid as a mountain as he slowly said, "Chen Chu, I hope you won't regret this."

They all knew that Chen Chu wanted to use an invincible aura to elevate his own will and condense his battle will. He was already at the final stage of this condensation process; if he continued to defeat everyone with an unstoppable force, he could indeed succeed.

Seeing as they were all of the human race, most of these geniuses were prepared to go easy on him to help cultivate another extraordinary talent for humanity.

However, speaking too arrogantly could also offend people, and Chen Chu's suggestion to fight together made some of their gazes turn slightly cold. Clearly, they felt underestimated by this genius.

Although they hadn’t broken through to the Sixth Heavenly Realm yet, they were still the most dazzling talents of the previous two generations, and their combat power was at least in the middle stage of the Sixth Realm. Some had even comprehended sword will, saber will, and spear will.

Together, they could make even a newly advanced Seventh Heavenly Realm cultivator step back.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, auras comparable to the Sixth Heavenly Realm erupted from these geniuses. Various colors of true power shone brilliantly, and gusts of wind swirled around them, creating a staggering display of power.

"Thousand Deadly Dragon Slashes!"

Roar!

Accompanied by the roars of dragons and tigers, Shu Nuo was the first to flash out. The yellow sword light on his giant sword extended six meters, resembling a ten-meter-long giant sword trailing behind him.

Wherever the sword light passed, the ground was torn apart, creating a massive trench and whipping up fierce winds.

"Ninth Heavenly Wind God Slash!"

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Abyssal Extermination!"

"Seven Stars Demon Seal..."

The others also made their moves, transforming into streaks of light as they burst forth. The true power on their bodies shone like flames, seemingly ready to ignite at any moment.

Although they had never formed a team, their explosive combat skills harmonized seamlessly. They attacked Chen Chu from all directions, surrounding him with a barrage of assaults and about to engulf him in the blink of an eye.

Boom!

Golden-red light burst from Chen Chu's body as he swept his halberd. Instantly, the surrounding transcendent energy seemed to be stirred, forming a circular ring of annihilating power that exploded.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The seven sword lights, blade qi, and ax edges that came at him first were all shredded, unleashing a powerful shockwave. The ground shattered, and dust flew into the sky. Amid the swirling dust storm, a heavy halberd sliced through, raising a blood-red wave that split into seven parts, simultaneously striking the attacking weapons.

Fu Jiangtao, Shu Nuo, and the others' expressions changed as they felt an indescribable force. Their true power shook, and they were blasted away.

Three dazzling sword lights, swift as lightning, along with two saber lights that cleaved the earth, attacked with substantial power, tearing through the air toward Chen Chu. Simultaneously, two beams of gold and red saber light, each two meters long, descended from the sky like meteors, threatening to cleave the heavens.

All of this happened in less than a second. It was perfectly timed to exploit the moment after Chen Chu executed the Dominating the Eight Desolations attack, when his true power couldn't continuously erupt.

If Chen Chu blocked the frontal sword lights, he'd be struck by the attacks from behind and above. If he dealt with the saber qi from above, he couldn't block the surrounding assaults.

Boom!

The ground beneath Chen Chu shattered as he transformed into a red streak of light, soaring into the sky. His halberd pierced the heavens, and with a roar, he shattered the two descending saber qi.

Boom! Boom!

A black-gold shockwave exploded in the air, stirring winds into a rage. The figures wielding the sabers were blasted back like cannonballs by the halberd’s domineering power.

At that moment, the five streaks of blade qi pursued Chen Chu from below, shooting into the sky.

What met them, however, was a scene that changed the color of the heavens and earth. A vast swath of red blood light descended from the sky with ghostly wails and godly roars.

Boom!

The descending strike obliterated everything, shattering the five streaks of blade qi and continuing unabated to strike the ground with a resounding boom.

Boom!

In an instant, the ground within a twenty-meter radius collapsed. Blinding golden-red light exploded, sending countless clods of earth soaring over a hundred meters through the sky before crashing down.

1. The original raw text is a Chinese saying that advised people not to look down on poor, young people, as they may get rich in the future ☜