Chapter 26: Mutated Beasts

"Such incredible strength!" Lu Haitao's face was red as he slowly lowered his trembling arms.

Chen Chu let out his breath, calming his vitality. Looking at Lu Haitao, who stood meters away again, he smiled and said, "Not bad yourself, Lu Haitao."

The far elevator door opened, and several students walked out. Although it was a Saturday, many students chose to cultivate at school. They were hard-working, striving to catch up with the geniuses who had built their foundations early.

Seeing others approaching, both Chen Chu and Lu Haitao lost interest in continuing their sparring. Both of them now had a good understanding of each other's strength.

Overall, their strength were seemingly equal to each other, but Lu Haitao knew he had actually lost. Even though he had finished Foundation Building four days earlier than Chen Chu, had practiced true martial arts for longer, and had slightly better talents, they had been evenly matched in the fight.

This result silenced Lu Haitao. He quietly walked to the training area filled with obstacles and started to practice his leg techniques more diligently.

As for Chen Chu, he stood in place, contemplating what he had gained from the fight as he circulated his vitality to slowly reduce the swelling in his arms.

In terms of strength, using his arms to block the blows would have put him at a disadvantage. If he hadn't had skin as tough as a bull, taking multiple blows would have resulted in much worse than slight swelling.

However, Lu Haitao hadn't walked away unscathed. This could be clearly seen from his current inability to raise his arms.

It wasn't only the others who had been making progress in the past month, but Chen Chu, too. His Physique attribute was now 27, but his Strength had already reached 29, scoring 150 kilograms in the arm strength test.

That punch, with his full force, was 300 kilograms at base. The Dragon Elephant Art had further amplified it by twofold.

If an ordinary person was struck with this punch, not only would their arms be blown off, their chest would be completely collapsed, resulting in a swift death.

Besides the comparison of speed and strength, the features of their arts had also been tested in this spar. Lu Haitao's Phantom Shadow had sharp and penetrating power; on the other hand, the Dragon Elephant Art possessed robust and dominating strength, while amplifying defense.

It was also a given that Chen Chu would be able to block Lu Haitao's attacks, thanks to his enhanced senses. Although he hadn't yet reached the level of the Insightful Eye Realm, his practice was not in vain.

What good is being fast if the opponent's punch is faster?

If Chen Chu had used an open palm instead of a fist, he would have been able to grab Lu Haitao's arms and create an opening to stab with his left hand. Such an attack would have gravely injured Lu Haitao, if not killed him outright..

Chen Chu was lost in his thoughts as he concluded what he had learned from the fight.

***

By 4 o'clock, Chen Chu looked a bit tired from finishing his cultivation tasks. After taking a shower in the changing room, he went to the library on the thirty-third floor.

Following the tags, Chen Chu searched through the shelves and took out a book titled "Comprehensive Guide to the Latest Mutated Beasts in 2055." Now that his cultivation progress had slowed down, he had decided to read more on mutated beasts, as well as enrich his knowledge of the cultivation world via miscellaneous notes made by cultivators. These notes were records of their reflections on cultivation, quite useful for their successors such as Chen Chu.

Many other students were also reading books. Chen Chu spotted a long-haired girl sitting by the window. The golden sunlight penetrated through the glass, reflecting on her face with a rosy hue. Her facial features were well-defined as strands of hair hung down, creating a perfect side profile.

Chen Chu, unable to resist, walked over. "Luo Fei, did you come to school today, too?"

She lifted her head with a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I just got here. Have you finished cultivation for today?"

"Almost. I'm planning on cultivating again tonight and calling it a day." Chen Chu sat opposite to her as he was speaking, curious. "You enjoy reading these?"

Recently, he had often seen Luo Fei reading Daoist books, seemingly less dedicated to cultivation than before.

After giving it some thought, she said softly, "Actually, reading is also a form of cultivation."

"Cultivation!"

Luo Fei tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Chen Chu, have you heard of the concept of affinity in true martial arts?"

Chen Chu nodded. "I've heard old Xia talk about it."

"That's good then." A smile appeared on Luo Fei's face. "The art I practice is quite unique. It requires my mind to be in a serene and selfless state. Cultivation becomes twice as effective in this condition. I've tried various methods, and I've found that reading Daoist and Buddhist scriptures was the most helpful in calming my mind down."

Luo Fei's words made Chen Chu ponder. "So, is Li Wenwen also searching for an affinity with her art by eating snacks and pastries every day?"

Luo Fei shook her head. "No, she just likes to eat."

... Okay, so that wasn't it. Li Wenwen was also part of Lin Xue's club. She was always hanging out with Luo Fei; that, along with his proximity with Xia Youhui, meant that Chen Chu knew her as well.

Chen Chu had always seen Li Wenwen either eating or on her way to eat more. In less than half a month, her cute face had gained quite a bit of plumpness. If she wasn't searching for her cultivation affinity like Luo Fei had, was she not afraid of becoming chubby?

Before he could ponder it any further, the long-haired girl across from him suddenly said, "By the way, Chen Chu, I heard that you had a sparring session with Lu Haitao this morning. How did it go?"

"How did you know about that?" Chen Chu was surprised.

"Some classmates saw you sparring this morning, and the news is spreading through the class. Li Wenwen told me about it."

So that's what happened.

Chen Chu humbly said, "We just had a simple sparring session, and neither of us won nor lost."

Neither of us won nor lost. This means Lu Haitao lost, right?

Luo Fei nodded and chuckled. "Lu Haitao probably challenged you because of that incident where you refused to join the club. He's a loyal supporter of Lin Xue."

"...Oh, so that reason, too." Chen Chu was taken aback. He had thought the sparring session was just two cultivators training for improvement. He hadn't expected there to be layers to it.

Luo Fei pondered over the situation. "He lost to you this time, so he probably won't come looking for trouble in the future. I hope you won't take it to heart."

"Don't worry, I won't make a big deal out of such small things." Chen Chu shook his head.

Since he hadn't suffered any losses this time, he naturally didn't mind. However, he hadn't expected to be remembered for such a trivial matter. Was it his adolescent nature, or did he look easy to provoke?

Chen Chu chatted with Luo Fei for a while more before bowing his head to start reading.

[Mutated Explosive Claw Bear: Mutated from a brown bear. Length six meters. Its fur is tough and thick, capable of resisting small and medium caliber bullets and grenades. Can be killed with high-powered sniper rifles aiming for the brain or heart.]

[Mutated Wind Tiger: Mutated from a North-eastern tiger. Length seven meters. Height three meters. Swift as wind, vicious in nature. Its fur can withstand machine gun bullets. Its weak point is the belly.]

[Two-headed King Python: Mutated from a king cobra. Length twenty meters. Has sturdy scales on its body that can resist rocket launchers and grenade bombardment...]