Chapter 172: Freaks Everywhere, Suppressing the World (II)
Chapter 172: Freaks Everywhere, Suppressing the World (II)
Chapter 172: Freaks Everywhere, Suppressing the World (II)
The Fifth Heavenly Realm was very strong. It had taken Pang Long a decade to reach the peak of the Sixth, and he had only just broken through to the Seventh. Knowing this, one could understand how formidable these geniuses were.
Although Pang Long had said that their talents at the time could only be considered average, it depended on the circumstances back then. Over a decade ago, there were no Foundation Building arts, so anyone who could practice was considered a genius. In that situation, “average” talent wasn’t any weaker than that of Xia Youhui and others today.
To break through to the Fifth Heavenly Realm in less than three years under those circumstances, almost every one of these students was a prodigy in their school.
Xia Youhui shook his head again. "But the Genius List isn’t actually that important. It only includes the current highest-ranked individuals by realm. The Achievement List is the real deal. Everyone can see your realm, but combat power is the standard for measuring strength.
"Transcendent battle armor, transcendent weapons, secret arts, how well you understand high-level arts, all of this determines how strong your combat power is.
"The ranks for the Achievement List are determined in two ways. The first is based on accumulated points from killing mutated beasts over the years. The higher the points, the higher the ranking.
"But, if you’re strong enough, you can challenge anyone ahead of you on the list, and if you win, you can take their place. Of course, the other party’s gotta actually accept the challenge, though normally, nobody refuses.
"Right now, the one at the thousandth rank on the Achievement List is Tian Feng. I’ve heard that his cultivation is in the late stage of the Fourth Realm, and he once single-handedly hunted down a middle stage level 5 mutated beast."
"Wow, even the gatekeeper at the thousandth rank can hunt down a level 5 beast," Liu Feng exclaimed in amazement.
Xia Youhui rolled his eyes. "Duh, that's the top one thousand geniuses in the entire southern region. You think they're weak?"
One thousand would sound like a lot, but there were only a few hundred geniuses from Nantian here. The whole southern battlefield consisted of eighteen first-rate and over forty second-rate schools, totaling over twenty thousand students currently.
According to the information Xia Youhui had obtained, there were over six hundred students from the second and third years who had broken through to the Fifth Heavenly Realm, and over four thousand at the Fourth Heavenly Realm.
Under these circumstances, those who could make it to the top one thousand of the Achievement List were the cream of the crop among geniuses, with the highest value.
Moreover, these achievements couldn’t be falsified. Over a hundred high-definition satellites hung above the entire mutated beast battlefield, forming a supercomputer-controlled network called the Celestial Satellite System.
These Celestial Satellites weren’t normal satellites, but more an unconventional transcendent weapon, which allowed them to see through the seal and the space distortion from tens of thousands of meters above. They monitored the movements of mutated creatures within a radius of three thousand kilometers around the military and school bases, with a depth of more than two thousand kilometers.
Once a large-scale gathering of mutated beasts was detected near a base, an alarm would be issued, and preemptive saturation bombing would be carried out to eliminate them. At the same time, if they detected energy fluctuations exceeding the Fourth Heavenly Realm, including those coming from duels between students, nearby satellites would automatically focus on that.
As long as the weather permitted, even at night, satellites could utilize an energy spectrum form of night vision.
Combined with the information recorded when students killed mutated beasts and brought back their corpses, or the location locking of chips carried by both sides in combat, it ensured that achievements couldn’t be falsified.
However, this monitoring was limited to the vicinity of the bases. Due to the magnetic field and spatial fluctuations, the range covered by the Celestial Satellite System could only encompass half of the mutated beast battlefield.
The Yunwu Mountains southeast of the bases were especially mysterious. With chaotic magnetic fields and clouds and mist shrouding the area, countless high-level mutated beasts could hide there, and there were rumors of even higher level mutated creatures residing in the deepest parts.
Every year, there would be students who ventured into the depths of the mountains in pursuit of breakthroughs and never returned, indicating probable casualties.
Meanwhile, students tasked with missions hundreds of kilometers away from the bases occasionally got injured or even fell prey to mutated beasts. In battles, a single mistake could determine life or death, resulting in a notable mortality rate here every year.
Fortunately, those afraid of death could opt for ordinary tasks issued by the bases and thus operate within the safety zones nearby.
If the peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm is ranked first, I shouldn't take long to surpass and suppress them, right? Chen Chu pondered.
However, these individuals should possess formidable combat capabilities, especially those ranked in the top hundred of the Achievement List, who might have strength surpassing the Sixth Heavenly Realm.
As the most talented group among dozens of schools, it would have been embarrassing if their combat power couldn’t surpass the Realm above them even after years of cultivating.
As Chen Chu contemplated all of this, Li Meng reminded him, "Chen Chu, I know your combat strength is way above your realm, but you just got here. Give yourself some time to adjust first."
In response to his well-intentioned reminder, Chen Chu nodded as he regained his focus. "Mhmm, I won't be careless."
Xia Youhui asked, "Ah Chu, what are your plans next? Will you team up with us or act alone?"
Instantly, Liu Feng and the others looked over, somewhat expectant. If someone as astonishingly powerful as Chen Chu teamed up with them, hunting mutated beasts would become much easier.
Unfortunately, after considering it, Chen Chu shook his head. "I'll stick to solo missions for now. You guys are too slow and can't keep up with me. But if you come across stronger mutated beasts that you can't handle alone, or you encounter a large group of high-level beasts, you can call me for help."
While he did intend to give himself time to become acclimated with the place, his targets for hunting would be mutated beasts of level 4 or higher, including but not limited to ordinary level 5 ones.
Such mutated beasts were massive in size and extraordinarily powerful, and the surrounding environment would make it even more perilous. Xia Youhui was probably the only one in the group who could keep up. Although Luo Fei had formidable attack power, her ability to defend herself was too weak, making it risky for her to accompany him.
Then, Chen Chu smiled again. "But don't be disappointed, you guys. Even if I’m not teaming up with you, there's still Luo Fei. You should already know how powerful her attacks are. She can even kill a draconic mutated beast in the late Fourth Heavenly Realm as long as she has the opportunity."
As Chen Chu finished speaking, Xia Youhui, who had anticipated this, grinned. "Even if you didn't say it, we wouldn't forget about the beautiful Luo Fei. We've been waiting for her, too. With her around, we can take on those lairs that have two or three level 4 beasts."
"Exactly. When the time comes, with Xia Youhui attracting all the attention upfront, Li Meng, Liu Feng, and Yuan Chenghuang can take the lead, while Luo Fei will be responsible for sniping those mutated beasts from a distance. Bai Mu has the best mobility, so he would be responsible for scouting ahead and protecting Luo Fei during combat.”
"By then, our slaughter rampage team will have a way higher kill rate. And when we come back with those mutated beast corpses, we won't need to worry about the avian ones so much."
Chen Chu and Luo Fei had already discussed the issue of teaming up on the way here, analyzing the pros and cons and his plans ahead. So when it was brought up again now, the girl standing to the side simply maintained her smile, quietly watching Chen Chu and Xia Youhui chat.
"On that note, how do you get those corpses back to base? That’s dozens of tons of dead weight to drag through the mountains and rivers." Chen Chu asked, somewhat puzzled.
This wasn’t looking down on Li Meng and the others so much as simple biology. Even at the Third Heavenly Realm, their maximum arm strength was only around two thousand kilograms, reaching the limit of their physique. Xia Youhui had already undergone a physical transformation, with his base strength estimated to be around three to four thousand kilograms.
In this situation, their full force, amplified by their true power, could only lift slightly over ten tons. Together, the three of them could lift the corpses of ordinary level 4 mutants weighing around twenty to thirty tons.
However, this kind of exertion couldn't be sustained, and they would only be able to last about half an hour at the most before needing to take a break. Carrying those corpses through hundreds of kilometers of mountain roads would take them several days, but from what they said, their usual missions only lasted a day or two.
"It's simple." Xia Youhui chuckled. "The authorities solved this problem a long time ago. The logistics department has something called anti-gravity disks, powered by energy crystal fragments. They cost 10 contribution points each, and they can neutralize gravity for up to five tons’ worth of items.
“Under normal circumstances, a five-point energy crystal fragment can be used five times. And when you use four of those disks, they can create an anti-gravity magnetic field that makes the corpse float off the ground, so it’s a lot easier to drag and run."
"I see, so there's this kind of advanced technology." Chen Chu suddenly remembered the Bluebird fighter jet that had brought them here this afternoon.
"Also, check this out." Xia Youhui opened the wristwatch he was wearing, and suddenly a blue light flashed, projecting a holographic map in front of everyone.
"I see you and Luo Fei are both wearing these wristwatches, but you need to upgrade them and link them with the satellites above to update your maps.
"As students explore deeper into the mountains, they find safe routes without any mutated creatures. Normally, when we go searching for mutated beasts, we explore areas where no one has been before. But when we’re coming back with corpses, we follow those routes.
"It’s much safer, and helps us avoid the more dangerous places, like areas filled with corrosive true power and energy-infused miasma, or spatial distortion points..."
Following this, Xia Youhui and the others shared many points of caution with Chen Chu and Luo Fei, based on their experiences since arriving here.
The school would upload similar information for them when they upgraded their wristwatch data the next day, but it was clear that Xia Youhui and the others had more detailed and understandable explanations.
In what seemed like no time, Chen Chu and Luo Fei had gained a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of the place. Around ten at night, the group dispersed to their respective dormitories to rest and prepare for the next day.