Under the setting sun, Chen Chu walked along his school route with his single-strap bag on his back.
Occasionally, vehicles passed by on the roadside. The shops along the street blared through their loudspeakers, promoting their crazy fifty percent off deals. Meanwhile, a plane soared in the sky overhead through the clouds.
These scenes of modern civilization always gave Chen Chu a sense of disharmony, feeling out of place with the true martial arts he was cultivating. He couldn’t help but sigh. "It’s such a complicated world."
Time had passed so quickly for him; in the blink of an eye, almost a month had passed. Recalling everything that had happened during this past month, a faint smile appeared on Chen Chu’s lips.
Compared to his past life, where he had worked nine-to-five, day in and day out, crushed by his mortgage and bride-dowry, Chen Chu preferred his current life. His eyes, however, also possessed a faint hint of sadness.
Fortunately, his older brother could live off of the compensation for his accidental death.
As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Chen Chu stopped at a red traffic light. Around him were people also waiting at the light; some were couples out shopping, some were office workers heading home for dinner, and others were elderlies taking a stroll.
Standing in the middle of the crowd, Chen Chu inexplicably felt their fragility. It felt like he could break their bones with only a slight exertion of force.
No, it didn’t just feel like that was the case. At this point, he was strong enough to do so. Strong enough to kill an ordinary person with a punch, and he had only entered the First Heavenly Realm.
No wonder the school and authorities had such strict rules about prohibiting coercion and harm against ordinary people. The punishment had to be severe; compared to ordinary people, cultivators were an entirely different species.
There were 2 billion people in this world, and the number of cultivators had skyrocketed to at least a million in the last few years. That number was still low enough, however, that the United Federation could monitor the world and suppress lawbreaking cultivators with terrifying strength. This system allowed cultivators in general to remain strong, while incentivizing them to not pose any threat to society, especially since ordinary people were also restricted from provoking trouble with them.
Even reports of conflicts between cultivators were rare, and the world, at least through the lens of the internet, was peaceful. The most common news about cultivators was gossip.
It seemed that someone had deliberately blurred the boundary between ordinary people and cultivators. This made ordinary people feel that, although there were cultivators with incredible strength, they didn’t seem to be different in any other way. So, there was no need to worry or panic much over them. The cultivators would not dominate over ordinary people, and everyone was equal to each other; this was the common theme on the internet.
And to achieve such peace in this world, how much force did they use? Thinking about this, a chill ran down Chen Chu’s spine.
Lay low, keep on cultivating. Try not to get into any trouble with authorities unless I get invincibly strong, Chen Chu silently told himself.
Though, when he thought about it, he technically was considered part of the authorities, or least related to them through the school.
Chen Chu was still lost in his thoughts when he made it home. Chen Hu, poking his head out of the kitchen, shouted, "Bro, I bought and cleaned some fish for you."
"Alright." Chen Chu smiled lightly.
Due to his cultivation sessions at school, he had been returning home late recently, so Chen Hu had taken the initiative to prepare dinner every day.
Chen Chu wasn’t objecting; after all, Chen Hu was no child. He should start to do more at home, otherwise he would only be playing soccer every day and wasting his time.
In this era of cultivation, sport events had become a thing of the past. After all, compared to the power of cultivators, things like basketball and football were mere child’s play. With no more audience nor prospects, sports had gradually died out.
Chen Chu took the basin of fish and went up to his room. The six-horned salamander, now sixty-four centimeters long and as thick as an arm, lay on the chair, lazily dangling its tail off.
On both sides of its broad head, three pairs of five-centimeter-long red jagged horns protruded like wings. Its mouth was slightly open, revealing two rows of newly grown sharp teeth. With bulging muscles, robust limbs, and sharp claws, it looked more formidable than most medium-sized lizards.
Chen Chu’s consciousness shifted to start controlling the avatar, which jumped down from the chair and landed with a dull thud.
Despite being just over sixty centimeters, the six-horned salamander already weighed over ten kilograms. In a few steps, the avatar approached the basin containing the frozen fish and started tearing through them with its sharp teeth. With two or three bites, it swallowed one fish down, then another.
Its eating habits were ferocious, and its digestion capacity was even more terrifying. Even though it was eating about thirty kilograms of fish every day, the excrement was minimal. It was as if 99% of the consumed matter was being digested and turned into fuel for growth.
As he was making the avatar eat, Chen Chu’s thoughts drifted.
I wonder how much this evolution will boost my strength.
From the previously palm-sized avatar’s evolution, he had gained just less than half of his original attribute points. Now that the avatar was comparable to a medium-sized lizard, with formidable body strength, the coming evolution might be a huge boost to Chen Chu’s attributes.
Whether he could catch up with those geniuses, or even surpass them, would depend solely on his avatar.
Even though the next day was a Saturday, Chen Chu still went to school for cultivation. When he got to the third floor, he found that another student had arrived even earlier.
"Lu Haitao, good morning," Chen Chu greeted the student warming up.
Looking at Chen Chu, the other student suddenly said, "Chen Chu, wanna train together?"
Chen Chu only hesitated for a moment before nodding to agree. "Sure."
This person was one of the members of Lin Xue’s club. His name was Lu Haitao, from an ordinary family like Chen Chu. Standing at about 170 centimeters—a bit shorter than Chen Chu currently—he had an ordinary appearance and a reserved personality, but he was very diligent in cultivation.
He was also, however, slightly more talented than Chen Chu, having finished his Foundation Building four days earlier. He was cultivating an art called the Phantom Shadow, which specialized in explosive speed.
In the cultivation area, Chen Chu and Lu Haitao stood ten meters apart.
Lu Haitao started becoming excited as he warned, "Chen Chu, my arts excel in speed and explosiveness. Look out."
"Bring it on." Chen Chu remained unfazed.
Without another word, Lu Haitao burst forward with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the ten meters and appeared on Chen Chu’s left side, sweeping his right leg with a whistling sound.
Chen Chu raised his arm to block this kick, the clash between his arm and Lu Haitao’s shin making a muffled bang. The force of the kick, equal to a few hundred kilograms, made Chen Chu take a step back.
With a physique about three times stronger than that of an ordinary person, coupled with the speed enhancement of true martial arts, Lu Haitao’s explosive speed was nearly twice Chen Chu’s and that translated into power. Even if he didn’t have Chen Chu’s raw strength, his kick, at a high speed, carried a force of over 400 kilograms.
And it was very agile.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Circling around Chen Chu, Lu Haitao left a series of afterimages with his legs, launching a storm of attacks that suppressed him momentarily.
But it was nothing more than suppression. Chen Chu, with his Dragon Elephant Art, was superior in strength. Swinging his arms against the quick attacks, he effortlessly defended himself. His increasingly resilient skin had increased his defense significantly; even as he blocked Lu’s storm of attacks with his bare arms, it only caused him minimal pain.
Suddenly, Chen Chu let out a low shout, sounding like an elephant’s roar. The violent sound caused Lu Haitao to pause for a moment.
Seizing the opportunity, Chen Chu took a step forward and clenched his right fist. His upper body’s muscles swelled, resembling an angry elephant, as he released a furious punch.
Facing Chen Chu’s cannonball-like punch, Lu Haitao’s face changed slightly. Unable to evade in time, he crossed his arms.
Against the dominating power of the raging elephant’s roar, Lu Haitao was blasted six meters back before coming to a stop, leaving behind two clearly defined sole marks on the floor.