“You’re underestimating my mental endurance,” Meng Chao said. “Go on. I’ll definitely believe in you.”
“I ran into a Ghost-faced Bear in Graveyard Forest!” Chu Feixiong said with an incredibly exaggerated expression. “At that time, I had been wandering in Graveyard Forest with Shao Jianqing for a long time. Of course, we only dared to wander about the edges of the forest. The monsters there weren’t really fierce. At most, they were just Grade One or Grade Two Nightmarish Beasts.
“But for some reason, as the ground started trembling fiercely, all the monsters in Graveyard Forest, including the carnivorous etherealized plants started attacking us as if they’d gone mad.
“I split up with Shao Jiangqing and lost my way. The more I ran, the darker my surroundings became, and I ended up running into the depths of Graveyard Forest!
“I don’t know how many monsters and etherealized plants I killed, but before I could catch my breath, I ran into a Grade Four Hell Beast, and it was the Ghost-faced Bear. I was sent into a crack with just one swipe from that creature.
“Heh. What do you think happened? Something unexpected happened, that’s what! Endless waves of spirit energy gushed out of that crack, and when they swept through my body, my wounds filled with a refreshing feeling, and it felt great. It was as if that spirit energy had life, and it surged into my body!
“I was stuck in the crack, so that spirit energy crawled into me for a full day and night. It was really refreshing, and I was filled with endless energy. I felt as if I had never felt as strong. Even Soldier, you know, my heroic spirit, became clearer and gained a stronger presence!
“When no spirit energy came out of the crack, I crawled out with my hands and feet. And since the world is small, I ran into that Ghost-faced Bear again. It was fighting against Shao Jianqing. And when you run into your enemies, you get filled with anger, right? So I beat it down with one punch!”
“Did… you?”
Meng Chao did not want to doubt Chu Feixiong’s words, but Ghost-faced Bears were Hell Beasts. Even Meng Chao himself did not have a lot of confidence to fight it if he ran into it, but Chu Feixiong managed to beat it with one punch even though he was still an amateur heroic spirit user?
Chu Feixiong’s face turned red. “Well, before I crawled out of the crack, the Ghost-faced Bear had already been fighting for a long time with Shao Jianqing, and it was beaten up pretty badly by her Female Battle God. It was already heavily injured.
“But don’t they say that a beast is the fiercest when it’s injured? At that time, Shao Jianqing was already drained of spirit energy, and my Soldier was indeed the one who dealt the final blow.
“Don’t go doubting me now. Do you know my cultivation realm right now? I’m a two-star superhuman and am at Spirit Transformation Realm! Aren’t I amazing? Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it shocking? Aren’t you jealous? You never thought about it, did you?”
“Oh.”
Chu Feixiong took up a bodybuilder’s pose and bulged up his biceps, trapezius, and pecs. “When I look in the mirror, even I can’t help but be jealous of myself. I’ve only just awakened to supernatural abilities, and I managed to become a two-star superhuman. Looks like I’m one of those geniuses spoken in legends, one of those rare, talented people. I’m definitely destined to become a superhero who will change the future, right?”
“Yeah, definitely…” Meng Chao said.
Their friends nearby could no longer stand it. They dragged Chu Feixiong away in a flurry.
“The large spirit energy rain this time was a blessing that Dragon City has never encountered before. Many of the outstanding people from our age group seized the change and started training and killing madly. They managed to reach a breakthrough during their fights,” Xie Feng, one of the Four Great Kings of Agricultural University’s martial arts course, said to Meng Chao.
“Wu Wu from our university and the other three specially recruited fighting course students from the alliance of five universities have all become two-star superhumans. Sun Ya, Duan Lian, Jiang Rui, some other people, and I absorbed really pure and thick spirit energy, and our spirit energy maximum values have already surpassed the limits of one-star superhumans. There’s not even a need to mention those people at Dragon City University’s martial arts course.
“Not only has everyone’s cultivation realm increased, we’ve also gained a lot of war achievements from our fights. Many people have managed to kill Grade Three Nightmarish Beasts and even Grade Four Hell Beasts, which are far above their cultivation realms. They’ve left behind really amazing feats on the war achievements ranking board, and a lot of forces of power are paying attention to them now.
“It’s a bit of a pity that you went on the mine exploration. If you had gone to fight with us at Graveyard Forest, it would have been great. You might have even obtained your own blessing. But no matter what, staying alive is better than anything else. The spirit energy density is really high around Raging Waves now. It’s a legendary blessed ground. If you go there to train and fight, you will definitely be able to reach a breakthrough.”
“Actually…” Meng Chao did not want to hide the truth when he faced his friends’ concern. “I’ve also become a two-star superhuman,” he said with a smile.
“Huh?” His friends were slightly stunned. “Didn’t you go underground?”
Even though the spirit energy tsunami had come from the underground, it had been suppressed for billions of years in an environment that was both hot and had a high pressure, so its density was too high, and it was too wild. Underground, it possessed a destructive power that could destroy everything in its wake. It would not nourish the body nor could be directly absorbed and used for cultivation.
It was just like how a person’s guts would be torn and they’d get water poisoning if they drank dozens of litres of water in one go. If anyone absorbed high density spirit energy directly, they would go through spirit energy deviation. Their spirit meridians would shatter, and they would explode.
This was common knowledge in spirit energy science.
Hence, when everyone heard that Meng Chao went missing underground, they thought that he was already very lucky to have managed to survive. They did not think that he would have been able to gain any benefits from the spirit energy tsunami.
“When the crystal mines exploded, we found a Blue Origin Crystal cave through sheer coincidence. We hid in there for a few days and nights,” Meng Chao explained in a concise manner.
“Wow! Then, your luck is even better than mine! It’s no wonder why I felt that the spirit energy ripples around you are different from before!”
Chu Feixiong went forward and gave a vicious punch to Meng Chao’s chest. It was so vicious that Meng Chao winced. “But you’ll only really be cool when you reach a breakthrough in battle. It’s only at those instances that you’ll be able to turn your spirit energy into real fighting power. You must have strength but not know how to use it, right?”
“Um…”
Chu Feixiong went to him and threw an arm over his shoulder in a friendly manner. He was eager to show just how fierce his Soldier was after it obtained a full upgrade. “It’s fine. Leave it to me. We’ll spar over the next few days, and I assure you, you’ll soon get used to being a two-star superhuman and the brand new fighting style. Hehehehehe…”
Meng Chao frowned. “Why is your smile so evil? Is it because you were always beaten up in the past, and now that you’re a two-star superhuman, you want to take the chance to take revenge? You’re cooking up an evil scheme! You want to beat me up until my parents can’t recognize me!”
Chu Feixiong widened his eyes and looked shocked. “How could that be? We’ve been best friends for years. Am I that sort of person in your eyes? I’m truly thinking about how to help you! I want to help you get familiar with being a two-star superhuman, you know? Hehehehe…”
“Bro, since you’re such a bro, I’m definitely going to accept your kind will.” Meng Chao slapped Chu Feixiong’s shoulder. “Let’s talk through the night and spar until daylight!”
But before the sparring session, Meng Chao had something even more important to do.
The northern offense had lasted for three months, and they had obtained progressive success. They managed to completely clear the communication lines from Shattered Starlake to the main city, and many of the injured people were sent to the rear.
The university students and lecturers who were sent to provide backup to the frontlines could also go to the rear to rest and reorganize.
However, before the spirit energy density became normal again, no one was willing to miss out on the chance to train and fight madly in this blessed ground, because this was a chance for their strength to increase by leaps and bounds.
No one was willing to go back to the city. Since the extreme weather conditions and spirit energy magnetic field interference had been reduced, the signal towers stretched from Dragon City to Shattered Starlake, and the wireless communication network became more stable compared to a few months ago. The warriors at the frontlines could finally communicate with their families in the city through video calls.
“A’chao!”
“Big Brother!”
When Meng Chao saw his parents and sister on the small screen and heard their familiar voices, his heart welled up with emotions.
His parents had become slightly thinner. He wondered whether it was because food had been rather scarce in the city over the past few months because the city had been sending a lot of resources to the frontlines or whether it was because they were worried about him while he was at the frontlines.
But no matter how thin they were right now, it was still better than them lying sick in bed in his previous life.
His parents asked him to be at ease at the frontlines and train as well as fight without any worry, because everything was going well at home. Even though the city had gone through a time of rationing when the army’s progress had faltered during the rainy season, it was soon over, and the resources in the market became plentiful again.
There was no need to even mention what happened over the past few days. Tons of monster meat and other materials were sent to the rear in endless waves. Regardless of whether it was the price for Demonic Halberd Pigs or Iron-armored Rhinoceros, they all dropped to the point that they were now only charged for the transportation fees. In Bai Jiacao’s words, “I’m about to puke from all the beef soup I drank.”
“Looks like you’ll definitely win the war now.”
Since he was a harvester and someone who had opened his own resource recovery company, Meng Yishan was very sensitive to the changes in the war. He said with a smile, “Over the past few days, Superstar received a lot of business deals. They didn’t ask us to be careful when we harvest the monsters, but quick.
“Many of the valuable monster skeletons were thrown away or crushed into bone powder. They’re all turned into bone powder to become fertilizer, and if they’re making such wasteful acts, it means that the frontlines have achieved great victory. Monster carcasses are piling up in mountains, and the harvesters can’t take care of all them.
“Also, a few canned food factories have signed partnerships with us. They want us to work with them to provide large amounts of food for the Red Dragon Army. By the looks of it, the Red Dragon Army is about to station themselves at the northern frontlines. This means that the northern offense is about to end, right?”
Before Meng Chao could answer it, Bai Jiacao squeezed her way in front of the screen and said with wide eyes, “Big Brother, our school organized a gathering yesterday so that everyone can watch a livestream. We saw a few Apocalyptic Beasts being carried back to Dragon City by armored airships. Those are legendary Apocalyptic Beasts, you know?!
“How many monsters did you kill? Did you kill something really powerful and gain war achievements? Did you become a hero?”
Before her voice could fade away, their mother hit her head lightly. “Your brother is just a freshman. He’s just there to get a feel for the war and learn from his seniors. Why does it matter how many monsters he killed? It’s already great that he’s able to come home safely!”
Bai Jiacao stuck her tongue out. She covered her head and whispered, “Mom, you’re underestimating my brother too much…”
Meng Chao smiled in his heart.
“I didn’t become a hero, but I saw all sorts of heroes,” he said seriously. “When I come back to Dragon City and have the chance, I’ll definitely tell you the stories of those heroes.”