Chapter 34: Terrifying Defense

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.

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.