Chapter 34: Terrifying Defense
"Chen Chu... Chen Chu."
At six in the afternoon, Luo Fei, observing the absent-minded Chen Chu in front of her, couldn't help but call out twice.
"Ah... What's going on?" Chen Chu regained some of his focus.
Luo Fei brushed the strands of hair that hung in front of her forehead behind her ear and pointed to the wall clock. She softly said, "It's already six. I'm heading back. Would you like to come along?"
"It's already six? How the time flies." Chen Chu nodded in reflection and said, "Sure."
The two stood up, returned the borrowed books to their original places, and walked out of the building.
During this time, most of the students who had been immersed in their cultivation were also heading home, leaving in groups and discussing the ranked competition that was coming up in a few days.
As the sun set, the afternoon's heat vanished. A gentle breeze swept through the girl's hair, carrying a faint fragrance of shampoo.
Chen Chu turned his head, gazing at her stunningly beautiful profile, and casually asked, "Luo Fei, are you participating in next Monday's competition?"
Luo Fei shook her head. "My cultivation art is special. I don't have much combat power in the beginning stages, so I don't plan to participate."
Always hearing her say that she was cultivating a special art, Chen Chu couldn't help but be curious. "What art do you practice? How come there's not much combat power in the beginning stages?"
The girl simply pressed her lips together, revealing a faint smile. "That's a secret. You'll find out during the trials next year."
Resigned, Chen Chu said, "Alright."
"What about you? You should be participating in this competition, right?" Luo Fei asked in return.
Chen Chu nodded. "Yeah, I’ll participate. I've felt a breakthrough in my cultivation in the past few days, so I'm planning to take part and spar with our classmates to get more combat experience."
Luo Fei didn't dwell much on this explanation. As far as she knew, both she and Chen Chu practiced low-level arts, and their initial talents were considered average among this group of freshmen. It seemed to her that joining the competition would be just for fun.
After all, there were over a hundred geniuses in their year who had reached their Foundation Building stages within a week, and now practiced high-level arts. Whether it was talent or the level of their cultivation arts, there was a significant gap between Chen Chu and those people, which would make it impossible for him to have a chance of entering the top fifty.
On the rest of the walk, the two chatted like ordinary friends.
However, Luo Fei noticed that occasionally, in the midst of their conversation, Chen Chu would become distracted and absent-minded. It seemed that he had been pushing himself too hard in his cultivation recently, possibly without getting enough rest.
She couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. It was okay if the talent was a bit lacking. As long as one was willing to work hard in cultivation, step by step, with steady progress, they would eventually reach heights beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
***
On Friday, the freshmen started a day of end-of-month exams. Many students wore a bitter expression as they received one exam paper after another. Their focus had been on their cultivation; who had the time or energy to read and study on top of that?
The exams were concluded in a hurry despite that, and the next day was Saturday, so there was no need to go to school.
Unlike as usual, Chen Chu didn't go to school for cultivation. Instead, he walked to a bustling commercial street, intending to practice the Insightful Eye amid the noisy environment.
Today, he was sporting a simple and casual outfit, consisting of a white short-sleeved shirt, gray trousers, and white flats. With his upright figure, delicate and handsome features, and a clean face, as soon as he found a chair under the shade of a tree and sat down, many people couldn't help but look his way.
Especially the girls dressed in cooling outfits. As they passed by this handsome young man, they would deliberately or unconsciously pause, pretending to glance around at the surrounding shops. These beauties were quite attractive, with alluring figures.
However, the moment the young man sat down, he closed his eyes to rest, completely oblivious to the scenery around him. Some girls who had wanted to approach and strike up a conversation halted in their tracks upon seeing this.
Undisturbed by the outside world, Chen Chu closed his eyes and focused, entering the special state constructed by his heightened senses.
His acute hearing skillfully sifted through useless ambient noises. His sense of smell identified the surrounding people and objects, while the hairs covering his body gauged the airflow in his immediate vicinity.
Once he had fully settled into this state, Chen Chu diverted a portion of his attention.
Over the past month, he had been training on splitting his focus and multitasking. Although he couldn't yet achieve complete and effortless control over both bodies, he could already divert a portion of his attention to control the armored beast while focusing on his main body's tasks.
The vast surface of the turbulent river spanned several hundred meters, and its deepest point reached over forty meters. It nurtured countless aquatic creatures, and many large fish had undergone slight mutations due to environmental influences.
On the muddy riverbank, a creature, measuring eighty centimeters in length with robust limbs and heavy armor, crawled out of a hole and swam toward deeper waters.
Just two days after being released, thanks to the abundant food, the armored avatar had already grown ten centimeters longer. It had become even more massive, with enhanced defense and exaggerated strength. The evolution points were increasing at a rate of five points per day, far surpassing previous growth rates.
Of course, this diligence was only possible because of Chen Chu's constant efforts to control the armored beast for feeding whenever he had the time, even waking up in the middle of the night to do so.
Soon, Chen Chu directed the armored beast toward the deeper water area, over twenty meters deep. Here, the visibility was murky, and he could only vaguely see out to a range of five to six meters.
Before they swam far, a massive figure appeared within the beast's field of vision.
It was a three-meter-long fish with a long crocodile-like mouth, covered in large scales, and with sharp bone spurs growing along its back, making it look ferocious. From its appearance, it seemed that this fierce fish had mutated from an alligator gar.
Upon being spotted by the armored beast, the fish also noticed the relatively small intruder. In an instant, it swished its tail and charged towards them, preparing for a toothy confrontation.
For a mutated alligator gar that was over three meters long and as thick as a human body, the armored beast, measuring only eighty centimeters, was just a little creature. It could easily be eaten in a single mouthful.
The armored beast coolly watched the charging gar, showing no emotion at the sight of the creature's gaping jaws tearing through the water, fast enough to leave a trail of waves.
Bang!
The armored beast didn't evade as the gar's large mouth fiercely bit into its abdomen, an immense kinetic and tearing force erupting from the fish’s jaws.
In the past, the gar had relied on high-speed impacts, utilizing kinetic energy and sharp teeth to tear prey into pieces. This time, however... It was like biting into alloyed steel.
Some of the gar's sharp teeth snapped off with a rumbling sound, but the pain only made the gar become even more ferocious. The jaws clamped onto the armored beast tightly with an immense force, and the enormous body thrashed wildly in the water, attempting to shred the hard prey to pieces.
But after the gar exhausted itself, the armored beast remained completely unharmed. Even on the belly, where the outer armor was relatively weaker compared to the back, there was only a faint white mark.
It seemed like the gar was biting into the back and belly of the armored beast. In reality, all of the powerful force of its bite was being diffused throughout the beast’s entire body through the integrated exoskeleton structure.
The armored beast’s internal structure also resembled layers of pancakes, allowing it to gradually diminish any pressure exerted on its body layer by layer. And this was on top of the fact that the outer armor's strength would grow as its size increased. All of these factors combined to forge an armored beast with terrifying defense capabilities.
After a prolonged struggle, the exhausted gar had no choice but to release the armored beast.
Now that it had tested its defenses, the armored beast swiftly swung its tail. As it shifted its body, muscular strength erupted, and a fierce claw descended heavily upon the head of the gar.
Boom!
Waves erupted from under the heavy blow, and the gar's head caved in. Blood mixed with white substances splattered out as the armored beast hammered it to death with a single strike.
The armored beast clamped its large mouth onto the back of the gar, tearing off large chunks of flesh and devouring them. In the midst of this feast, blood frothed about, creating a brutal scene.
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