Watching as the killing intent surged from Chen Chu's body, the burly man licked his lips, his own murderous intent growing stronger. "Kid, among the new recruits, your strength should be among the greatest, right?"
According to their intelligence, this group of freshmen had only been cultivating for two months, and all of them were geniuses who had just broken through to the Second Heavenly Realm.
And yet, the young man in front of him could actually hold his own against him. Such a person would undoubtedly be considered one of the most talented individuals in his school.
"The most talented?" Chen Chu's lips curled up, teasingly. "I'm ranked forty-ninth on the freshman leaderboard. What do you think?"
"What? How is that possible!"
The man's face was filled with disbelief. Someone who had broken through to the Second Heavenly Realm within two months and whose combat power rivaled that of the peak of the Second Realm was only ranked forty-ninth?
Then what about those ahead of him? How monstrous were they? And these were just freshmen from one high school in East Xia. Was that nation already so terrifying?
Or were the people of Kyrola just so useless that even after cultivating for over a decade, they couldn't break through to the Second Heavenly Realm?
Chen Chu wasn't interested in wasting any more time with the man’s existential crisis. His voice turned cold. "It's your turn to face my blade."
Chen Chu let out a low shout. His muscles swelled, and his whole body suddenly expanded. In an instant, a violent and domineering aura burst forth from him, like a giant, enraged elephant.
Elephant patterns appeared on Chen Chu's skin. He stomped the ground and darted forward like a shadow, so fast that the wind whistling by his ears sounded more like thunderclaps.
In his hands, the two-meter-long saber struck out with such speed that it almost lost its shape, turning into a red and white light that appeared at the man's head.
This terrifying speed made it difficult for the man to react, and the red and white light made his soul tremble.
Faced with the threat of death, he instinctively raised his cleaver to block.
As the two blades collided, the burly man's face changed drastically. He felt a force like a mountain crashing down on him, impossible to stand against.
Under the terrifying force, his shoulder was crushed by the spine of his own cleaver. He knelt on the ground under the mountain-moving force of the strike.
Blood sprayed from his mouth as the strike injured him severely. Then, an even stronger aura of death came rushing towards him.
Before he could react, a red and white light flashed across his neck.
As he killed the man, Chen Chu’s gaze was steady. His figure flashed from the rooftop and plunged downward. As soon as he landed, he transformed into a gust of wind that swept across the street, leaving only a blurry shadow for ordinary people to see.
It wasn't until then that hot blood sprayed from the neck of the burly man from above, and his body fell with a thud.
The soldiers on the armored vehicles manned heavy machine guns and autocannons, suppressing the rebel forces. The terrifying large-caliber bullets, especially from the cannons, created large craters in the walls.
These brick houses stood no chance against the onslaught. Bullets were punching through both them and the rebels behind them like they were made of gravel.
One of the battle tanks spewed flames, collapsing an abandoned house dozens of meters away. The machine gunner and the rebel inside were buried alive.
By the time Chen Chu returned, most of the dozens of ambushers had been killed, and the rest were fleeing, scared off by the terrifying firepower.
Xia Youhui and the others were chasing four cultists in black robes who were trying to escape through the complex terrain in the distance.
Liu Feng and Bai Mu were each engaged with one Second Heavenly Realm cultist. Although they had the upperhand in strength, the cultists were more experienced, and weren’t going down so easily.
Wielding his heavy shield, Xia Youhui was engaged in combat with two more cultists in another alley. His powerful defense allowed him to ignore his opponents’ attacks, but his own lack of powerful attacks prevented him from being able to do more than continue to charge and block.
If either of the cultists tried to flee, however, he would burst out with strength and charge forward, forcing them to face him once more so as not to expose their backs.
Chen Chu's figure flashed from a distance, rushing over with a howling gale. His heavy combat boots landed on the ground with a dull vibration.
Seeing him, Xia Youhui's eyes lit up, excitedly saying, "Ah Chu, I'll leave the guy on the left to you."
Chen Chu's eyes were cold as he swiftly crossed over ten meters, appearing in front of the skinny cultist.
Such terrifying speed frightened the cultist, who was at the starting stage of the Second Heavenly Realm. He hastily slashed out several scimitar shadows towards Chen Chu.
Chen Chu's right arm muscles swelled as he swept with his saber.
Instantly, a piercing whistle sounded, tearing through the air and blocking the strikes. With a terrifying slash, Chen Chu severed the cultist's scimitar along with his upper body.
Both scimitar and corpse fell to the ground, and gushing blood tainted the ground red, emitting a strong smell.
Standing beside the corpse, Chen Chu, clad in dark armor, stood with his saber, emitting invisible pressure and a murderous aura that turned the civilians peeking through the windows pale.
Not only the civilians, but even Xia Youhui and the other cultist were shocked by Chen Chu's strength. They were both at the Second Heavenly Realm, so why could he defeat the other so easily?
Chen Chu turned and looked at the last cultist with a chilling gaze. The cultist’s mind briefly froze, and his reaction slowed for a moment.
Xia Youhui wouldn't miss this opportunity. All of the true power in his body erupted.
"Black Tortoise Heavy Press!" With a low shout, Xia Youhui's entire body emitted an earthy light, and he shot forward like a cannonball. His heavy shield, over ten centimeters thick, slammed into the cultist.
Under the terrifying force, the cultist was slammed into the wall of the adjacent house with a bang. Half of the wall instantly collapsed, leaving a three-meter-diameter hole.
With a few dry coughs, Xia Youhui, covered in dust, walked out with his heavy shield. Drops of blood fell from the spikes.
Having taken down an enemy, Xia Youhui was in a good mood and couldn't help but comment, "Ah Chu, why do I feel like you're several times stronger than me, even though we're both at the Second Heavenly Realm?"
At this point, Chen Chu's murderous intent had subsided, and he shook his head slightly. "You’re exaggerating. At most, I'm just slightly stronger.
"That cultist was at the initial stage of the Second Heavenly Realm, but his physique was equivalent to the First Realm, and that blood-red energy he was using collapsed completely. It's normal for me to kill someone like him with one strike.
"If I had to fight him for a dozen rounds before I could kill him, it would only show that we're weak, right?"
Xia Youhui was skeptical. "...Now that you put it that way, it seems to make sense. Hey, wait a minute, are you saying I'm weak?"
"Old Xia, you're different. Your art focuses on defense, not attack. The fact that you were able to restrain both of them earlier shows how strong you are."
"That's about right..." By now, the two had walked out of the alley.
Seeing the two, Zhang Hong jumped down from the armored vehicle and asked with concern, "Are you two alright?"
Zhang Hong smiled. "That's good. Thankfully, you were here this time, otherwise those guys would have escaped to stir up more trouble."
As they spoke, Liu Feng and Bai Mu also walked over after dealing with their opponents, emanating a bloody smell.
After a while, a team from the newly formed local law enforcement arrived to handle the aftermath, and Chen Chu and the others continued their patrol.
It was as if this battle was just a minor incident.