Meng Chao felt as if the dam sealing his soul started cracking, and the cracks intersected with each other.
Two rampaging waves of energy spilled out through the cracks and flowed through his body. Those waves continued clearing his spirit meridians and lighting up his spirit acupoints to create two profound, complicated, and brand new spirit energy magnetic fields.
Meng Chao gritted his teeth. Spirit tattoos bloomed on his body, and it looked like some elite had used every ounce of his strength to form them on him. The lines that outlined the shape of his body drew out the explosive strength lying in him.
The high-calorie food he ate had been enough for more than ten people for three days and three nights, but his hungry cells instantly devoured everything.
Fortunately, the two mine exploration teams had compressed the high-calorie food even further in case they were going to be trapped underground for a long period of time. Even if the food was only the size of a fingernail, it could still help a normal soldier last an entire day’s worth of high-intensity work.
Even so, all this food was only enough for Meng Chao to last through the first creation, circulation, and activation of Mind Lightning and Beast Blood Combustion.
‘Big Brother Lin…’
Meng Chao had successfully learned the brand new skills, but he looked dejected.
If it were not for Lin Chuan often talking to him the entire night and teaching him martial arts without holding anything back, his fighting strength would not have improved so quickly. He had become so good that many of the sophomore one-star superhumans in the alliance of the five universities and broken-star superhumans who had been working in society for twenty years could not win against him.
Shao Jianqing and the other three specially recruited fighting course students in the alliance of the five universities also lost to him when they sparred against him.
That was why Kindling had given him such a high rating for the second segment of his Fight for the Ultimate Style and let him awaken Mind Lightning.
‘Big Brother Lin, you did everything you could to stop me from joining this mission. Was it because you were prepared to do this and didn’t want to get me involved?
‘You also prepared a backpack for me meticulously at the last moment. Did you do it so that I could escape and I won’t see your ugliest side?’
While he was thinking about it, Kindling shone before his eyes again.
[Beginning the fourth segment of the Fight for the Ultimate Style quest.
[Quest Details: During the second and third segments of the quest, you helped many people understand the power of the Ultimate Style against low-rank superhumans and superbeasts. Now, it is time for you to challenge stronger enemies.
[Quest Target: Kill one Hell Beast
[Quest Reward: 30,000 contribution points, and 10 main spirit meridians will be repaired. One of the dragon meridians will be cleared. You can choose any three skills you want and raise their Skillfulness by one level.]
‘This is…’
Meng Chao’s eyes lit up.
If he could complete the fourth segment of the Fight for the Ultimate Style, the number of main spirit meridians he would have cleared would be in the forties. He would also have one dragon meridian, which was incredibly mysterious, powerful, and many superhumans were unable to clear one of them in their whole life!
The ability to clear dragon meridians was key to whether a superhuman would be able to reach true heights.
‘Right now, the White Spirit has only evolved three times. It hasn’t grown to its full power yet and is just a Hell Beast.
‘Big Brother Lin, I’ll definitely get rid of the White Spirit and make you wake up!’
Meng Chao shouted, and spirit flames surged out of his spirit tattoos like a flood. They started burning madly around him.
Not far away from him, Qin Hu jumped to his feet and whistled. Dozens of Shooting Star Blades swayed and trembled as they surrounded him.
Qin Hu was ecstatic. His moustache trembled as he jogged happily to Meng Chao. “I’m not a person who likes to boast, but I’m seriously a genius. Brat, did you sense my spirit flames surging? I’ve become a new man, my fighting strength has gone—
“What the heck? Why does it feel like your spirit flames are surging and you’ve become a new man?! Your fighting strength has gone up by leaps and bounds!”
As he stared at the dazzling and flamboyant spirit tattoos around Meng Chao and found that his spirit flames were even more dazzling than his, he was dumbfounded.
“B-Brat, are you really a one-star superhuman?” he could not help but grumble.
Meng Chao smiled. Shining in his eyes were confidence and a surging fighting spirit.
‘Realms such as one-star, two-star, three-star, Earth Realm, Heaven Realm, and the likes were created by our pioneers in the past. They are meant to measure the powerful people in this era, but I…”
Meng Chao paused,and swallowed the words “I came from the future”. After making sure that they died in his throat, he said firmly, ” I will definitely not be restricted by something like our realms!
“Regardless of whether they are Hell Beasts, Heaven Beasts, Apocalyptic Beasts, or even Deity Realm elites, it doesn’t matter. I will rip apart all those who try to stop me from creating a brand new future!”
Qin Hu shuddered and grew respectful.
“Not bad, kid. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a boy with such determination. If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, are you one of those legendary existences who are destined to save the world?” Qin Hu said excitedly.
“Since you’ve already broken the boundaries between realms, you’re definitely ten times stronger than I am. Then, later on, I’ll be in charge of saving Lu Siya while you go and fight against Lin Chuan and the White Spirit. After all, if we round things up, our success rate will be 100%! We’ll be able to settle the matter easily and happily!”
The fires instantly left Meng Chao’s eyes. He put on a conspicuous smile.
“I’m just joking. Mr. Hu, you’re already a middle-aged man. You’ve gone through hundreds of battles and have a lot of knowledge about the world. How could you not tell that I was just boasting and trying to give myself courage?
“Wow, after you subjugated the Shooting Star Blades, you’ve truly become a new man and regained your youth. You’ve become so much stronger. I feel like you’re going to reach Heaven Realm at any moment!
“Later, it’ll be better if I go and save Lu Siya while you fight against Lin Chuan and the White Spirit! Once I settle Lu Siya, I’ll immediately go and help you!”
They talked strategy while their hands worked. Soon, they packed up their equipment and headed to the deepest part of the underground cliff.
Right when they landed, they smelled a thick scent of blood in the subsurface plasma.
They looked at each other, and both of them became wary. They crouched down on their hands and knees and crawled forward while sniffing the blood and the scent of the White Spirit. At the same time, they used the subsurface plasma to hide their presence.
Soon, they found dozens of mangled carcasses of Slit-mouthed Anacondas.
Based on the stickiness and corrosive properties of the acid, they were all just killed by Lin Chuan and the White Spirit.
It has to have been a terrifying, bloody battle.
The two looked at each other, and they lowered their bodies even further.
Meng Chao drew closer to the carcasses of the Slit-mouthed Anacondas. He almost put his head into one of the devastating wounds.
“What are you doing?” Qin Hu whispered. “We have to hurry up and catch up to them. Otherwise, we’ll lose them because of this thick subsurface plasma.”
“Injury examination.” Meng Chao’s eyes shone. It was as if there were circles of light in his pupils, so they shrank pupils and dilated.
He observed the corpses for a long time and even used his scalpel and clamp to turn over the wounds. In the end, he made this conclusion. “Lin Chuan and the White Spirit are both injured.
“To gain Lu Siya’s trust, Lin Chuan revealed all his trump cards to her. He was injured by Shen Yulong, and he’ll need a lot of time to recover.
“The White Spirit is not a superbeast famous for its fighting strength either.” At least, it was not now.
“They had to fight against a lot of Slit-mouthed Anacondas who have been nourished by the Red Radiance Jade mine here, so they had to pay a devastating price.
“Look at the wounds caused by the chain spear. They’re pretty accurate in the beginning, and all of them are fatal attacks, but gradually, they became chaotic. The wounds are in the shape of plum blossoms. This means that Lin Chuan’s strength is rapidly decreasing.
“It’s getting difficult for him to gather all his destructive power at the tip of his spear. It’s about the size of the tip of a needle, after all.
“Based on the angle of the injuries of the final two stabs, Lin Chuan’s left shoulder blade is injured. Perhaps he was bitten viciously by a Slit-mouthed Anaconda, so he can’t smoothly execute power with his left shoulder. The angle of his stabs is slightly off, which forces him to attack again.
“I know Lin Chuan’s fighting style. He’s quite the perfectionist. If it weren’t because he was heavily injured, he would never attack in a flawed manner.
“It’s the same for the White Spirit. Look. These Slit-mouthed Anacondas were ripped to shreds by claws, which is the typical style for canine-type monsters.
“But there’s almost no wolf fur on the first few carcasses. This means that the White Spirit either managed to kill them with one strike or dodged at a high speed. It was not held back by the Slit-mouthed Anacondas.
“But the last two carcasses are covered in wolf fur, which means that the White Spirit has become increasingly slower, and it had to fight for a long time against the Slit-mouthed Anacondas before putting them down.
“Ah, this Slit-mouthed Anaconda even has a clump of wolf fur between its teeth with a bit of flesh left. This is the tissue of a canine-type monster. Based on the elasticity and stretchability, this should be the skin from its hind leg. Its left hind leg has been injured!”
Qin Hu listened to this quietly, and as he stared at Meng Chao, his gaze became stranger.
Meng Chao was slightly stunned. “Mr. Hu, what are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about what a bastard Shen Rongfa is. How could he make me provoke a monster like you? If I’ll survive this, the first thing I’ll do when I go back is beat him up!”
After saying that, Qin Hu realized that it didn’t sound right, so he scratched his moustache. “No, if I personally beat up my brother-in-law, I won’t be able to explain things to my wife. She’ll just quarrel with me when I go back.
“I’ll do this. I’ll tell you where Shen Rongfa is hiding, and you can… Oh, you can’t do it. You’re already a superhuman, so you can’t beat up normal people. Have your dad look for a few strong harvesters and beat him up so that I can vent my anger, ‘kay?
“Then, when my wife yells at me, I’ll go to your house, eat and drink there, then will find a makeup artist for you so you’ll look like you’re beat up. After that, we’ll take a picture, and I’ll go back home and tell my wife that I’ve taken revenge for my brother-in-law. It’ll be killing two birds with one stone. Everyone will be happy, right?”
Meng Chao was stunned for a long time. “Wow, Mr. Hu, you’re so evil!”
“Well, are you in or not?”
“Of course I’m in. How could I not agree to such an evil plan? Now, we have one more reason to defeat that White Spirit and laugh while we live!”
As they talked to each other, they went through the Slit-mouthed Anaconda’s habitat.
The subsurface plasma ahead of them was still thick. Even when they extended their fingers, they could not see anything.
Drops of human and canine blood were on the ground, though, and they were very fresh. They gave off a faint bloody smell.
Sometimes, there were also a few strands of wolf fur.
Meng Chao cultivated his branch meridians, so his sight and smell were much sharper than those of a normal person.
Qin Hu had fought in the wild for years, so he also had a lot of experience in tracking down monsters.
The two worked together and soon found three cracks in the wall hidden by subsurface plasma that humans and monsters could crawl into. One of them shone with red light.