Mythical Era: My Evolution into a Celestial Beast

Chapter 113: Fierce Competition, Unparalleled Blade

"Let's head back."

Chen Chu didn’t immediately lead Xia Youhui and Li Meng to attack. He simply continued walking, not even looking back.

His unusual behavior made Xia Youhui and Li Meng glance at each other. They nodded slightly and didn't say anything, following behind Chen Chu as they left.

It wasn't until they got back into the car in the parking lot that Xia Youhui asked, "Ah Chu, did you find that guy?"

Chen Chu started the off-road vehicle and nodded slightly. "More or less. When we got there, I sensed a very malicious gaze looking at me."

"Damn, Chen Chu, your Insightful Eye is really useful." Li Meng couldn't help but envy him. Being able to detect danger in advance just by sensing something’s gaze was a kind of talent most cultivators could only dream of.

Chen Chu smiled faintly. "You can also cultivate the Insightful Blade."

Li Meng shook his head. "Forget it, I don't think my personality is suited for that. That kind of art gives me a headache just trying to wrap my mind around it."

Chen Chu wasn’t the only one who cultivated the Insightful Blade; many others had done so over the years. However, many of them had chosen the art primarily to access the Wisdom King Blade technique.

It was extremely difficult to reach the level of the Insightful Eye Realm. Even if someone managed to reach the first stage, it would only slightly heighten their senses. Breaking through to the second stage was already rare, and reaching the third stage of intuition had almost never been heard of in the past ten years.

Without the Insightful Eye, the Wisdom King Blade was just an ordinary sword technique. For geniuses like Li Meng, higher level arts that they could actually use to the fullest tended to be more attractive.

Even if they were able to master the Insightful Eye, it wasn’t flawless. There were countless arts in the true martial world, some of which were designed to counter that exact sort of thing, such as Luo Fel’s art that allowed her to mask her aura and killing intent. People with naturally weak presences could even use those arts to erase any trace of their own existence, making them the perfect assassins.

In the end, the most crucial aspect of true martial arts was one’s own strength. As powerful as some arts could be, they were only supplemental to that core aspect.

The base in Kyria was controlled by the military, and citizens weren’t allowed near it. The trio had to pass through several checkpoints before parking their car outside the administrative building.

As soon as they got out, several teenagers in black and red battle armor and carrying weapons walked by, emitting the strong aura of the Third Heavenly Realm.

When they entered the lobby, freshmen at the Third Heavenly Realm were everywhere, and each one exuded a powerful aura, no less than Li Meng’s or Xia Youhui’s.

Li Meng couldn't help but sigh. "I suddenly feel fortunate to have participated in the trial. Or else I might still be struggling to break through to the mid-Second Realm at school."

"Yeah." Xia Youhui nodded solemnly.

In this place, geniuses who had broken through to the Third Heavenly Realm within four months were everywhere. Some auras made even them feel oppressed, almost as terrifying as Li Hao’s.

Chen Chu couldn't help but say with a hint of impatience, "Stop lamenting. Have you considered that this place has the most talented batch of freshmen from East Xia?"

"In that case, we can also be considered one-in-a-million geniuses!" Xia Youhui's eyes lit up.

Li Meng said confidently, "Of course, we have always been geniuses."

Chen Chu shook his head, not at all in the mood to deal with these two idiots who were always trying to show off.

But what they said wasn't wrong. With a population of over five hundred million in East Xia, there were over two million freshmen every year. Tens of thousands would become cultivators who could finish Foundation Building in their first year.

The Foundation Building rate of first-rate schools was the highest, followed by second-rate, while third-rate schools had the fewest, though Chen Chu wasn’t quite sure why that was the case.

This trial had included almost all of the talented students from the first, second, and third-rate martial art high schools, about five to six thousand freshmen in the Second Heavenly Realm. In these two months, nearly two thousand geniuses had broken through to the Third Realm, and seventy percent of them were from first-rate schools.

During his free time, Chen Chu had occasionally chatted with students from Linchuan or Heshan High, gleaning this information from those conversations. He realized that he had greatly underestimated the number of practitioners in East Xia.

Far more than a million at most, there were probably hundreds of thousands of cultivators practicing in high school alone. This wasn’t even counting the graduates from previous years, the large scale cultivation in the military, or the private practitioners hired by various groups.

Even if the environment for cultivation had been extremely harsh ten years ago and there hadn’t yet been any Foundation Building Arts, with less than one in a few dozen students succeeding in cultivation, that was still a terrifying number of cultivators accumulated over time, especially since none of them were dying of old age during the first fifty years of the New Era.

And this was just in East Xia alone, to say nothing of the entire Federation.

Thinking of this, Chen Chu inexplicably felt the vastness of the world and the fierce competition within it. Of course, most of the cultivators were very likely low-level ones; the higher the cultivation level, the more difficult it became to continue advancing. On top of that, many of the high-level cultivators weren’t even in this world.

Soon, the three of them completed the registration procedures, and each person was assigned a single room.

After leaving the administrative building, Chen Chu handed the luggage and keys to Xia Youhui. "Old Xia, could you take our luggage back to the rooms? I need to make some preparations."

"Got it."

Following the signs, Chen Chu took the elevator to the underground logistics department of the base.

“Why do they always like to build the logistics department in the basement?” Chen Chu muttered to himself. He stepped out of the elevator, only to find all of the staff busy, while a dozen students in armor were lining up.

Once it was Chen Chu’s turn, he entered his student ID for verification, then politely said, "I want to exchange for two level 2 Life Crystals, one electronic micro-control sleeve gun, and one micro liquid bomb."

"Please wait."

After his last exchange, Chen Chu had been left with 26 contribution points unused, and he hadn’t acquired any more since due to the lack of missions. It was just enough for everything he needed.

Then Chen Chu applied for a personal training room, closed the door, and issued a mental command. Convert to attribute points.

"You have converted two Life Crystals, gaining 27 attribute points."

"27 points this time, not bad." Chen Chu nodded in satisfaction, then drew out his straight saber.

Originally, he had been saving these points to enhance his saber art. However, he was going to have to use them in advance to deal with the Blood Emissary who might be at the late stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm.

When they were at the hospital, Luo Fei had said that the Blood Emissary was very strong, possibly not just at the middle stage of the Fourth Heavenly Realm, and when that gaze had fallen on Chen Chu’s back in the residential area earlier, he felt goosebumps.

For the opponent's aura to give him that large of a sense of danger, it was clear that he was strong.

On top of that, the Fourth Heavenly Realm was a qualitative change from the Third, as true power would increase in strength. A cultivator in this realm could form a protective layer of true power outside their body, which couldn’t be penetrated by ordinary sniper rifles unless depleted, or release it externally to create long-range attacks similar to blade qi, giving them a combat prowess that far surpassed the Third Realm.

Even Chen Chu couldn’t afford to be too cocky. What if the enemy’s base strength was greater? If he couldn't break through the opponent's protective true power, everything he could do would be futile.

He issued another mental command. Consume 10 attribute points to strengthen the straight saber.

Without sufficient true power to fight this enemy head-on, all of his other options needed to be at their absolute strongest.

However, unlike with strengthening the armor, the enhancement didn't happen immediately. Instead, a row of transparent text appeared in front of him.

"Please select the direction of weapon enhancement. Currently, you can choose 'Durability' or 'Sharpness.'"

Chen Chu was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected that there would be such a distinction. He glanced at the page showing more than 20 free attribute points. Durability and sharpness, each strengthened by 10 points.

Buzz!

An invisible force enveloped the straight saber. In an instant, he felt his hand sink as the weight of the saber increased by several kilograms.

The straight saber looked even more sturdy now, with a darker and more profound color. A faint white cover flowed on the snow-white blade, emitting a sharp aura.

Just like when he strengthened the armor, transparent text appeared on the saber as he looked at it.

"This straight saber is made of ordinary alloy, and currently has Durability +10 and Sharpness +10. It is an ordinary transcendent weapon, possessing a sturdy blade body and a sharp edge. The blade has a weak anti-demonic effect.

"Note: Due to limitations on the material, the maximum enhancement of Durability and Sharpness attributes is 10. To improve the basic quality, you can integrate transcendent materials in the future."

"Wow, a weak anti-demonic effect." Chen Chu was somewhat surprised. Then, he grasped the handle of the long saber and waved it slightly.

Puff!

Even that gentle movement caused the blade to rip through the air, emitting a sound like torn cloth. It gave a very clear impression of how sharp it was now, and also gave a feeling of indestructible heaviness.

This alloy straight saber had been suitable for use at the First Heavenly Realm, but as Chen Chu’s strength grew, it had been starting to lag behind. It had been coming out of each intense battle with issues like rolled edges or deformation, requiring repairs or sometimes outright replacement. He was even afraid that his strength was reaching a point where he could accidentally break the blade.

Now, after this enhancement, these problems were solved for the moment. Chen Chu was quite satisfied with the effects, feeling that it was worthwhile.

He then strapped the electronic micro-control sleeve gun to his left arm. Although it was called a gun, it was actually more like a flying dart. The shooting end was strapped to the forearm, and behind it was a mechanism connected to the upper arm, containing a twenty-meter-long special steel wire.

When used, the small dart would shoot out, with enough kinetic energy to pierce through ten centimeters of concrete. Once it was lodged in, the dart head would pop out a buckle to prevent detachment.

The special steel wire it was attached to could bear five hundred kilograms, enough to support a fully armored Chen Chu in mid-air.

A press of the control switch would cause the dart head to pull the microchip-embedded buckle back in, and the mini electric motor on the upper arm could retract the steel wire within two seconds.

Meanwhile, the core material of the micro liquid bomb came from a mutated beast, and the liquid itself was highly explosive. Even though it was only the size of a fingernail, its power was comparable to a high-explosive hand grenade.

This was the benefit of being backed by the government. They had all kinds of equipment and items to deal with cultists of the same level in all aspects. The only drawback was that the good stuff was a bit expensive, such as the pocket-sized gun and micro liquid bomb each costing 1 contribution point.

After dinner, at eight o'clock in the evening, the three of them drove back to the vicinity of the hospital, finally stopping at the corner of an eighteen-story building.

Amid heavy footsteps, Chen Chu, Xia Youhui, and Li Meng stepped down from the car. Chen Chu reminded them, "This time, our enemy is a Fourth Heavenly Realm Blood Emissary. Be careful.

"I'll go up and force him out. You guys will stay downstairs and be responsible for preventing his escape. Old Xia, focus on defense, and Li Meng, seize any opportunity to harass him. Just leave the killing blow to me."

"Got it." The two nodded solemnly.

Technically, Li Meng shouldn’t have come to this ambush; the gap between the beginning stage of the Third Heavenly Realm and the Fourth was too great. Normally, they should have called for backup.

But since Chen Chu was confident, Li Meng wasn’t afraid of death. If anything, he was more curious to see how strong Chen Chu was compared to the Blood Emissary.

It’s been almost a month. God knows how much this freak has improved.

This was a commercial building. When Chen Chu appeared, the security guard downstairs quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, may I ask..."

Squeak!

Chen Chu reached out and directly tore the iron gate off the wall, his voice cold. "Special forces business. Anyone who interferes will be killed on the spot."

His invisible killing intent froze the ordinary person in place, making him unable to move.

Boom!

The metal boots crushed the ground as Chen Chu rushed into the building, stirring up a fierce wind. With a bang, he shattered the glass door, exuding an unparalleled dominance as he deliberately made a commotion.

He didn't take the elevator, but charged directly into the corridor, his heavy footsteps echoing in the stairwell.

Earlier, Chen Chu hadn’t been able to look back at the building without the risk of tipping the enemy off that he had been discovered, so he could only roughly determine that the person was on the middle floors of the building.

This sort of thing, however, was easy to handle. If the enemy hid and didn't dare to show up, Chen Chu would force him out.

With every heavy step, another concrete step was crushed, and the ground shook. Chen Chu was like an angry giant elephant as he charged straight ahead.

He had come, not only to avenge Luo Fei and the others and eliminate a clear and present danger, but also to test how strong he was now.

With his constantly increasing strength, and the frenzy of killing as the Sword Armored Beast, Chen Chu's desire for destruction was beginning to stir again.