Chapter 63: Information Fence

Chapter 63: Information Fence

When Chen Chu returned to the town with the body of the cultist, the battle there had already concluded.

Approximately a hundred rebels were mostly killed, with around ten surrendering. The soldiers who had guided Chen Chu and his group were cleaning the battlefield, collecting weapons and ammunition.

Meanwhile, the freshmen were chatting excitedly, boasting about their bravery and prowess during the recent conflict. Some students had even taken out their phones, posing with rocket launchers for selfies.

Xia Youhui stood in front of the burning off-road vehicle, striking a pose with his shield held high in one hand, asking classmates to take pictures.

Of course, not everyone had emerged unscathed. The student that had gotten hit by a grenade lay on a stretcher, screaming in pain, though his voice remained strong. With a physique six to seven times that of an ordinary person, coupled with the full-body armor for defense, he had only been slightly wounded by the impact of the explosion.

A few other classmates had also suffered minor injuries. Some had their chest armor pierced by bullets; thankfully, the steel wire underlayers had intercepted, stopping the bullets halfway into their muscles.

In addition, some of the freshmen had already removed their helmets, leaning against the walls with pale faces as they struggled to catch their breath.

In the preceding moments of tension, their composure had held firm. However, once everything had calmed back down, the grim reality of the battlefield left these youths, who had just encountered bloodshed for the first time, visibly shaken. Witnessing severed limbs, bodies cleaved in half, and the gruesome, blood-soaked corpses, some classmates couldn't bear it, and a few even succumbed to vomiting.

In reality, it wasn't just them; even the seemingly excited freshmen were quite nervous. They were simply channeling their emotions in a different way, a sentiment shared by Xia Youhui as well.

After all, they were just adolescents, experiencing such a bloody scene for the first time on the battlefield. Despite the cold and calm demeanor he exhibited when pulling back from the armored beast after hunting, even Chen Chu felt a certain discomfort at the sight of the dismembered remains.

As Chen Chu walked towards them, holding his saber in one hand and carrying the cultist's body in the other, realization dawned on the other students.

Yuan Chenghuang looked regretful. "Damn, how could I forget about that?"

Li Meng also wore a rueful expression. "Yeah, I got so carried away that I forgot about the contribution points from the cultists."

"Miscalculation." Liu Feng shook his head.

Xia Youhui approached, curious. "I saw you running towards the back earlier, and I knew something was up. So, Ah Chu, how strong was this guy?"

Chen Chu nodded. "Similar to what the teachers said, weaker in strength compared to their realm. He was equivalent to the peak of the Second Heavenly Realm, but his foundational physique had only reached the limit of the First, and his true power was insufficiently concentrated."

"So weak?" Xia Youhui expressed some surprise.

As Chen Chu spoke, Li Hao, carrying a pillar, also approached with heavy steps. "These cultists rely on external forces for rapid advancement, so it's normal for them to be weaker."

"External forces?" Chen Chu turned to look at him.

Li Hao nodded. "Similar to the empowerment mentioned in Buddhist scriptures, they are strengthened by some stronger fanatics using secret arts. The process is painful, and the success rate isn’t high, but most of the low-level cultists get their power from that..."

The hierarchy among the cultists was quite straightforward. Those below the Third Heavenly Realm were ordinary disciples, while those in the Fourth to Sixth Realms were referred to as fanatics. Those in the Seventh Realm and above were known as bishops, responsible for managing and commanding the followers beneath them.

While Chen Chu and the others discussed these matters, Pang Long, the other teachers, and the second lieutenant returned to the group. Each of them appeared somewhat disheveled. Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

Cough!

The second lieutenant coughed awkwardly. "Teachers, it's getting late. Why don't you take the students and continue to the convoy? I'll take care of things here."

"Alright." Pang Long went along with the diplomatic intervention, realizing that he was a bit in the wrong.

When the school year had started, he had happened to feel a breakthrough, so he had handed the Foundation Building responsibilities to the class monitor and the martial arts representative before going into seclusion.

He was correct in that his involvement or absence wouldn’t have made any impact on any of the students’ progress; with the systematic cultivation templates provided by the school, success or failure was entirely dependent on one’s talent.

It just didn't sound too good when he said it out loud.

Eight soldiers were left to guard the prisoners while the remaining two led the group through the town. Continuing along the dilapidated road for several kilometers, they finally spotted a convoy of over ten transport and armored vehicles parked at the edge of the forest.

Pang Long and the other two teachers went to talk with the convoy's major, while Chen Chu and the others boarded two separate transport vehicles. Soon, they were headed towards Leisteru City.

"Ah Chu, what do you think of this caption?" Xia Youhui, who had taken off his helmet once they had gotten in, held his phone up to Chen Chu.

"What is it?" Chen Chu took the phone and saw that Xia Youhui was updating his social media. However, instead of sharing food pictures, he had posted several of the photos he had taken earlier.

The initial photo depicted him beside the off-road vehicle destroyed during the battle, followed by a snapshot of a rocket launcher. The third image showcased a pile of rebel corpses and the wreckage of the town.

The accompanying caption read, "The winter break approaches. As a mercenary on an expedition to Kyrola, I've just experienced an intense battle upon arrival, slaying over a hundred enemies. Truly exhilarating!"

With enthusiasm, Xia Youhui exclaimed, "How about that, Ah Chu? Isn't my caption giving off a chaotic apocalyptic vibe?"

Chen Chu handed the phone back to him and commented with a smirk, "I didn't catch that chaotic apocalyptic vibe, but the overwhelming sense of show-off smugness is definitely there."

Xia Youhui disagreed, saying, "Ah Chu, you're lacking joy in life. It's not showing off, it's just sharing the joy."

With that, he chuckled and posted. In no time, a string of comments appeared below.

It wasn't just Xia Youhui. Several other classmates were also sharing updates on their social media. In their posts, they were showcasing various achievements, boasting about how many enemies they had defeated, highlighting their bravery, and so on.

One thing they all had in common, however, was that they had all blocked friends who weren’t also practitioners on their social media. This was a requirement set by the school, outlined in the contract signed after they had built their foundations. It stipulated that excessive mentions of cultivation matters were prohibited in front of ordinary people, including talking about various resources, arts, and other cultivation-related information.

When Chen Chu had chosen to participate in this trial, the contract he had signed had also included confidentiality clauses, preventing him from disclosing too much about Kyrola to ordinary people.

It seemed that the Federation had been deliberately obscuring information about practitioners surpassing ordinary people, a rather terrifying idea. Ninety percent of the people in this world lived within their own cocoon of information, with their perceptions, knowledge, and thoughts confined by layers of barriers.

Ordinary people mainly received information from media like the internet and television. Popular searches, trends, and various popular topics dominated their information consumption. It seemed like they received a lot of information every day, having access to events happening worldwide; upon closer reflection, however, it appeared that they hadn't gained much other than emotional responses.

But with the continuous outbreaks of chaotic events in Kyrola and other small allied nations, the boundaries that shielded the fact of these transcendent individuals’ superiority above ordinary people seemed to be gradually breaking down.