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Chapter 111: Physical Talent, Luo Fei Severely Injured

Xia Youhui was delighted. He couldn\'t forget how Li Meng had mercilessly beaten him with only ten strikes during the freshman ranking competition, vowing back then to remember this grudge for a lifetime.

And now, only two or three months later, with both of them having broken through to the Third Heavenly Realm, the situation had reversed.

Earlier on the training ground, the two of them had sparred. Xia Youhui had stood there motionless, allowing Li Meng to unleash the full force of thirty-six strikes with the Primordial Might Hammer, but he still hadn’t been able to move the defense of the Black Tortoise Earthly Art.

Suddenly, Chen Chu turned around and asked, "Did you beat him?"

"..." Instantly, Xia Youhui\'s smile froze on his face. "...Ah Chu, you\'re always killing our conversations so easily."

Chen Chu responded with a faint smile.

When Xia Youhui had helped with hunting down the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape earlier, he had displayed terrifying defense. However, that hunt had also revealed some key weaknesses, such as insufficient burst speed and inadequate damage to enemies.

Xia Youhui stepped onto the balcony and looked at Chen Chu with a suspicious gaze. "Ah Chu, be honest, have you made another breakthrough in your strength?"

Knowing how sensitive Xia Youhui was to fluctuations in others’ auras, Chen Chu didn\'t hide anything and nodded vaguely, saying, "Hmm, not bad, there\'s been a little progress."

Xia Youhui rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, keep being oh so modest. You think I don\'t know that your strength has increased several times since the beginning of the month?"

Because they stayed in the same room, Xia Youhui had keenly sensed the increasingly terrifying aura emanating from Chen Chu\'s body over the duration of the trial. He knew that Chen Chu\'s strength was increasing substantially every day, even if he didn’t know why or how.

The oddest part was that, due to the slow income of contribution points, everyone\'s progress had slowed down lately... everyone except Chen Chu.

From what he knew, Xia Youhui suspected that Chen Chu had awakened some sort of innate physical talent, similar to Li Hao\'s innate divine power. Such cases were not uncommon in the cultivation world; many people with mediocre foundational talents would experience an increasingly rapid improvement in strength after truly starting their cultivation journey, growing over time to shine with dazzling brilliance.

Then Xia Youhui changed the subject, a tone of gratefulness in his voice. "It\'s a good thing we didn\'t go to Kyria this time. Lin Xue mentioned in the group chat earlier that two more geniuses died yesterday.

"It\'s a pity. It only took them three or four months to break through to the Third Realm. They could have become at least Seventh Realm powerhouses in the future."

"Risk and rewards always go hand in hand. Those who kill will inevitably be killed," Chen Chu responded lightly. "The geniuses who went to Kyria would have earned contributions equivalent to our two months\' worth in just over ten days.

"But high gains often come with high risks. After all, some of the demon cultists are quite powerful, especially the Blood Emissaries who’ve absorbed the high-level Blood Seeds and gained mutations."

There were more than three hundred students who had broken through to the Third Heavenly Realm during this period that had gone to support Kyria, including Lin Xue and the other three. Compared to their friends’ team approach, many of those geniuses were lone wolves or operated in groups of two or three.

In such a situation, it was fine to encounter an ordinary Third Heavenly Realm cultist. But if they encountered Fourth Realm Blood Emissaries and fanatics, even they wouldn\'t be able to handle it well.

That was why Chen Chu hadn\'t wanted to go there in the first place. There were too many strong enemies gathered there, and the risks had exceeded his expectations.

The high-level officials had also noticed this situation, but no one, including the Ninth Heavenly Realm powerhouse, paid any attention to it. They had already minimized all possible dangers, and everyone had been informed of the risks, including those who had gone to support Kyria.

Those who were willing to go would go, and those who were unwilling wouldn’t be forced. Once the authorities had helped with laying the foundation, how far any one person could grow depended on their own motivation and effort. If they wanted more resources, they had to fight, kill, and push themself to the limit to be the best of the best.

And if they still died in such circumstances, all that meant was that it had been fated to be. It wasn’t like there was a lack of geniuses in the world.

The authorities were not babysitters; they had their own things to do. This time, while dealing with the invasion of the Blood and Giant Cults, even several high-level powerhouses had died, and they had been geniuses as well back in their day.

So far, Lin Xue and her companions had been lucky. Although they had encountered some tough opponents, the four working together had managed to kill them all, at most sustaining minor injuries.

On the other hand, Bai Mu, Liu Feng, and Yuan Chenghuang had been injured several times already. Bai Mu had encountered a beginning stage Fourth Heavenly Realm Blood Emissary three days ago and nearly died in the ensuing fight. He was still lying in the hospital even now, due to being reluctant to exchange his contribution points for high-level healing resources.

Meanwhile, after absorbing the essence of the Golden-Backed Rampage Ape, Li Hao’s strength had risen to an even higher level. He had already killed two beginning stage Fourth Heavenly Realm cultists and gained quite a reputation.

Xia Youhui suggested, "Ah Chu, we\'ll be going back in a few days. How about we go together to buy some souvenirs this afternoon?"

"...Sure." Chen Chu nodded.

It had been almost two months since he had first come here; being entirely honest, he was starting to miss home a bit.

Xia Youhui grinned. "Great, after dinner, let\'s also invite Li Meng."

During this trial, Chen Chu had become much closer with several more of his classmates. After all, they were comrades-in-arms who had fought side by side.

In the afternoon, the three of them drove to a department store in the city center. After two months, the economy in Leisteru City had greatly recovered. Although this was the only department store in the city, it was still bustling with people.

"Gentlemen, wood carvings from this store are considered one of our local specialties, and we\'ve been in the business for decades. Please take a look and see if there\'s anything you like." The store manager greeted Chen Chu and his companions with a smile and led them into a shop filled with artistic atmosphere.

A salesperson hurried over and said nervously, "Welcome, please feel free to look around. If you see anything you like, just let me know and I\'ll take it down for you to look over."

It was only natural that they would be nervous. Even if Li Meng and Xia Youhui hadn’t had such imposing figures, just their military uniforms alone exuded intimidation.

Chen Chu nodded slightly. "Thank you, we\'re just browsing."

Xia Youhui approached a black-gold statue about half the height of a person and said with interest, "Ah Chu, this carving of a Gale Wind Tiger is pretty good. You could buy it and put it on your desk."

The salesperson quickly explained, "Oh, sir, you have a good eye. This carving is made of mutated steelwood, as heavy as iron and resistant to insects with a faint fragrance of sandalwood. It was meticulously carved by our master, perfectly replicates the spirit of the Gale Wind Tiger, and is highly ornamental."

Chen Chu gave him a side glance. "Such a big item, can you carry it?"

"Uh... you’re right."

Meanwhile, Li Meng picked up a delicate wood carving about the size of a palm, resembling a mutated japalure[1]. “This one is good. I\'ll give it to my sister, she\'ll definitely like it."

"You have a sister, Li Meng?" Xia Youhui was somewhat surprised.

Li Meng replied irritably, "What\'s so strange about that? Of course I have a sister."

"It\'s not strange, but are you sure your sister will like something like this?"

As they bantered back and forth, Chen Chu also spotted a thirty-centimeter wood carving depicting a furious giant ape standing on a mountain. The craftsmanship was remarkable; the giant ape\'s fur was lifelike, and its expression angry and ferocious, like a real mutated beast.

Afterward, with some recommendations from the manager, the three of them visited other shops. Chen Chu bought a golden necklace for Zhang Xiaolan, adorned with dazzling gemstones.

After the era of transcendence had begun, the prices of gold and gemstones had decreased year by year. Now, they could barely maintain their status as ordinary luxury items.

After buying some more souvenirs, the three of them returned to the hotel to continue their cultivation and wait for the last day of the trial.

At eleven o\'clock that night, while Chen Chu was wreaking havoc in the ocean as the Sword Armored Beast, both his and Xia Youhui\'s phones vibrated. Someone had mentioned them in the groupchat.

"Who\'s looking for me at this hour?" In confusion, Xia Youhui picked up his phone, only for his expression to change slightly as he sat up. "Ah Chu, it\'s bad news. Lin Xue and the others are in trouble, and Luo Fei got hurt bad."

"What?!"

Chen Chu, who was lying on his bed with his eyes closed, suddenly sat up and turned to look at Xia Youhui. The terrifying killing intent of the Sword Armored Beast flashed in his eyes, startling Xia Youhui.

"Damn it, Ah Chu, don\'t scare me like that! They’re just hurt, not dead."

Chen Chu took a deep breath as he closed his eyes; when they opened again, they had returned to normal, but his brow furrowed slightly. "Do you know the details?"

"No. Lin Yu mentioned us in the group chat and said that Lin Xue and the others are all injured and in the hospital, and then stopped responding."

Chen Chu said in a deep voice, "I\'ll call to find out."

Usually, they didn\'t call each other because they weren\'t sure if the other person would be out on a mission or practicing. If there was something, they could always communicate in the group chat.

Chen Chu flipped through his list of contacts and dialed Lin Yu\'s number. After two rings, the call was answered.

"Lin Yu, what\'s the situation over there?"

There was a harsh sigh from Lin Yu. "It was a Blood Emissary in the middle stage of the Fourth Realm, skilled in stealth assassination. He specifically targeted us because the Blood Emissary Luo Fei killed on our first day here was his brother."

"..." Chen Chu paused, not expecting this to be for this reason. After a moment, he asked, "How are Luo Fei and the others now? They\'re not in life-threatening danger, are they?"

"My sister and Yi Rui aren’t injured too badly. They\'ve already recovered from most of their injuries after using some Mystic Jade Marrow, but Luo Fei is worse off. Her heart was injured. Most of her external injuries have already been healed, but the damage to her heart weakened her vitality, so she needs to rest in the hospital for a while.

"We’re safe now, though. We\'re in the core of the Federation controlled area, and if that Blood Emissary dares to approach within a kilometer, he\'ll be detected."

Chen Chu frowned. "Isn\'t Kyria full of high-level powerhouses? How could he escape after attacking you guys right there in the city?"

On the other end, Lin Yu smiled bitterly. "I don\'t know what happened. Yesterday, most of the powerhouses were suddenly transferred out of Kyria. Right now, there’s only ten teachers left to hold the fort.

"But after Li Hao and our classmates found out that there was another Fourth Heavenly Realm Blood Emissary, they launched a city-wide pursuit. We don\'t know the specific situation yet."

Chen Chu asked for a few more details, then hung up the phone, falling into a slight silence. He entered the Insightful Realm, emptying his mind of everything except for the thought of going to Kyria to see how his intuition would respond.

Perhaps it was because the dangerous situation it had previously been warning about had already come to an end, but this time, there was no reaction.

Chen Chu opened his eyes. "Old Xia, let\'s go to Kyria."

Xia Youhui\'s eyes lit up, his mood more relaxed now that he knew the others weren’t in life-threatening danger at the moment. "I knew you’d want to go. As soon as we find that guy, he\'s dead meat."

Chen Chu glanced at him and said calmly, "We\'re all classmates and close friends. Now that they\'re injured, of course we need to go and check on them."

"I get it, I get it." Xia Youhui grinned.

"Hurry up and pack your bags. After we’re done, I\'ll go find Mr. Zhao, and you go to the base to borrow a vehicle."

1. The japalure is a small-to-medium sized lizard native to Taiwan that feeds on insects and spiders. It is also commonly called the Swinhoe’s tree lizard. ☜