In the cafeteria, Chen Chu had just sat down for lunch when Xia Youhui approached with a tray, wearing a pained expression. "Ah Chu, I don't have any hopes of advancing to the next round."
"What's going on?" Chen Chu was a bit puzzled. With Xia Youhui’s strength, even if he couldn't make it to the top fifty, it shouldn't be possible for him to fail the first round, right?
Lin Xue, Lu Haitao, Li Wenwen, and Luo Fei also walked over. Luo Fei and Lin Xue sat across from them, while Li Wenwen and Lu Haitao sat at the adjacent table.
Lin Xue shook her head. "Xia Youhui's luck is just too bad. His first opponent was An Fuqing, and he surrendered straight away."
Unwilling to accept his defeat, Xia Youhui said, "That's because she’s in a higher realm. I'm not stupid; if you’re facing an expert from the Second Realm, surrendering’s the obvious choice."
Even though he seemed afraid of being underestimated, Xia Youhui tried to shrug it off. "And it’s not just me. If you encounter her, there's no hope at all. No one will be able to shake her position as the first."
"That strong?" Chen Chu was somewhat surprised.
"Of course," Xia Youhui said confidently. "Breaking through to the Second Realm is similar to when we built our foundations. There’s a huge improvement, and an increase of at least a hundred kilograms in arm strength.
"And not just that, experts at the Second Realm possess true power. Especially when she cultivates high-level arts, with that true power, the explosive increase is at least three or even four times. In a situation where she dominates in all aspects, who even stands a chance?"
Chen Chu nodded silently. Anticipating a base strength of four hundred kilograms, coupled with at least a threefold increase in true power, as well as faster speed and enhanced kinetic energy... then with just a casual strike, she could unleash at least three thousand kilograms, which was an impact force of over three tons. With this level of strength, no one truly was her match.
Even that guy who battled with an iron pillar might not stand a chance. It wasn't just a contest of strength. As the most exceptional genius at Nantian, An Fuqing's actual combat prowess was most likely terrifying.
Chen Chu suddenly felt puzzled. "Wait a minute, even if you lost just that one match, you should still be able to advance to the next round, right?"
With over five hundred participants, and everyone playing six matches, there shouldn't be too many maintaining an undefeated record. Losing one match and entering the top two hundred should still be feasible.
"The problem is I lost three matches," Xia Youhui said with a bitter expression. "In the second match, I encountered a freak who was carrying a pillar. His strength was terrifying, and I was knocked right off the platform with three of his strikes.
"I won three matches after that, but in the sixth round, I encountered someone named Li Meng. He practiced the Primordial Might Hammer, and his art just so happened to counter mine. I got caught off guard by his hammer art. Even with my defense, I got pushed back, and he knocked me off the platform with twenty strikes."
"...Your luck is indeed quite bad." Chen Chu didn't know what else to say about this.
After finishing his own account, Xia Youhui casually asked, "By the way, Ah Chu, how about you? How many matches did you lose?"
Clearing his throat, Chen Chu modestly said, "I'm okay, I guess. I was lucky. The opponents I faced weren't very strong. I should be able to advance."
"You’re too lucky." Xia Youhui couldn't help but envy Chen Chu’s apparent luck. He didn’t think too much about it, just that Chen Chu might have gotten opponents who had just built their foundations late in the month
Lin Xue, Lu Haitao and Li Wenwen also thought along similar lines.
Luo Fei, on the other hand, couldn’t help but smile right after Chen Chu finished speaking, casting a peculiar gaze across the table at him. During the round, Lin Xue and the others had still been in the midst of their matches. Coupled with the vast venue and the large number of people around, they didn’t see who Chen Chu's opponents were.
But she had been keeping an eye on Chen Chu from the stands. She knew that it wasn't just luck for him. He had overwhelmed all of his opponents with absolute strength, including Li Meng, who had defeated Xia Youhui.
She had been shocked for quite a while. After all, just a few days ago, Chen Chu couldn't even defeat Xia Youhui.
Chen Chu looked at Lin Xue and asked in curiosity, "How about you guys?"
“I'm doing fine. Haven't encountered any formidable opponents,” Lin Xue said casually.
Li Wenwen raised her hand and said with a cheerful smile, "I only lost two matches. I did better than Xia Youhui and Lu Haitao, so I should have a chance to advance."
“I lost three matches.” Lu Haitao also seemed a bit frustrated. His luck hadn’t been good either, as he had encountered three geniuses who practiced high-level arts. Otherwise, advancing to the second round wouldn't have been a problem.
After finishing lunch, everyone returned to the sports center. There was still an hour until the afternoon matches, so Chen Chu found a seat in the stands to wait.
A faint fragrance wafted over, originating from behind him. Luo Fei leaned forward slightly and curiously asked, "Chen Chu, did you break through to the limit of the First Heavenly Realm?"
Chen Chu turned around, looking at the girl's profile so close to him. He shook his head and said, "No, but I have made a breakthrough in the Dragon Elephant Art recently."
"The Dragon Elephant Art?" Luo Fei looked puzzled.
Chen Chu nodded and whispered, "That's right. I've been practicing the Dragon Elephant Art more smoothly lately, and my strength has doubled. That's why I could defeat those opponents this morning."
"True martial art compatibility," Luo Fei muttered in surprise.
“I think that could be the reason.” Chen Chu knew he couldn't hide his match results from her, so he decided to use this explanation to cover up the changes he’d recently experienced. True martial art compatibility was so mysterious and profound that not even the creators of the arts fully understood how it worked.
Luo Fei exclaimed with a tone of regret, "To possess strength comparable to the limit of the First Heavenly Realm within just a week, it seems your compatibility with the Dragon Elephant Art is at least on the higher end. What a pity."
The Dragon Elephant Art was only a low-level art. If Chen Chu was cultivating a high-level power-type art, there might have been a chance for him to catch up to An Fuqing.
Unconcerned, Chen Chu replied, "No problem. Once I reach the advanced level for the Dragon Elephant Art and accumulate enough contribution points, I can easily exchange it for a high-level art. Who knows, my compatibility with that art might be even higher.”
As long as the primary cultivation of a martial art reached the advanced level, it could be automatically replaced with a higher-level art of the same type when switching. As such, Chen Chu wasn’t concerned about the level of the Dragon Elephant Art.
When he noticed that it was still early, Chen Chu decided to change his focus. His consciousness sank, and in an instant, his vision shifted to the body of the armored beast.
In the dry cave, the beast, now grown to ninety centimeters, slowly opened its eyes, stretched its limbs, and entered the river through the opening beneath the water surface.
Bubbles rolled as the tail of the beast swayed slightly, and its fierce figure swam towards the deeper waters.
Beneath the ten-meter-deep river surface, a half-meter-long grass carp appeared in the line of sight of the beast.
The black figure laid quietly on the riverbed, unmoving, resembling a piece of wood as it calmly watched the grass carp meandering closer, until it was within half a meter...
Mud flew as the beast swung its tail, splashing water behind it. Its figure shot out like a soaring sword, and with a swift motion, it bit down on the head of the grass carp.
With a terrifying biting force, the head of the grass carp was directly crushed, creating a brutal scene.
For the beast, the half-meter-long grass carp would only last a few bites. Once finished, it sank back down into the shadows, disappearing from sight as it continued its search for the next prey.