Chapter 72: Awaking to the Shock of the Gravity Restraint Device

For the entire following day, Zhang Chu remained extremely cautious. He avoided starbeasts whenever possible, devoting himself wholly to seeking out towering trees over a hundred years old.

He had ten opportunities for passive devouring each day. Having just used one, nine still remained. If he continued to consume trees around 350 years old, each granting him seven points of mental strength, he would gain only seventy points in a day.

He glanced at his personal status panel:

Name: Zhang Chu
Realm: 1-Star
Physical Strength: 1035/1000
Martial Techniques: Sky-Piercing Cannon (1-Star, Low Grade), Iron Mountain Shield (1-Star, Low Grade), Thirteen Flaming Swords (1-Star, Low Grade), Flash Silver (1-Star, Low Grade)
Mental Strength: 558.5/1000
Psychic Martial Art: Electric Vine Bind (1-Star, Low Grade)

He was still 452 points short of reaching the 2-Star level in mental strength.

His plan was to break through to 2-Star within twenty-four hours. To do so, he would have to find trees with even older annual rings, then repeatedly stimulate the same tree to keep growing.

As noon approached, Zhang Chu decided to attempt his second passive devouring.

This time, it was a four-hundred-year-old giant, quite venerable among the starbeast forest. According to the principles of the Accelerated Growth Field, Zhang Chu wrapped his mental power around the trunk, channeling energy into its meridians to encourage its growth.

The first use saw the trunk grow five meters taller. The second time he used Accelerated Growth Field, another five meters were added.

After five consecutive uses, Zhang Chu felt a buzzing in his head—he had reached his mental limit.

“It seems that as a 1-Star Dual-Force Warrior, I can only use the Accelerated Growth Field five times in a row,” he silently noted, then took a vial of stamina supplement before placing his hand once again on the great tree.

“Activate Passive Devouring.”

The system responded swiftly: “Ding! Detected that the host has devoured a 1000-year-old Celestial Pine. Mental Strength +20!”

Having tasted this benefit, Zhang Chu grew even more excited.

A thousand-year-old tree yielded twenty points of mental strength. With ten devourings a day, he could gain two hundred points every twenty-four hours.

Adding in the gains from hunting exotic beasts, he could easily reach two stars before noon the following day.

Motivated, Zhang Chu plunged deeper into the starbeast forest.

Along the way, he searched for centuries-old ancient trees while slaying starbeasts. The starbeast lairs were protected by powerful high-energy electric net formations. As a 1-Star Dual-Force Warrior, Zhang Chu would not encounter beasts above 2-Star.

With the Xuangang Greatsword in hand, combined with Electric Vine Bind, he pressed forward.

“Ding! Detected that the host has slain a 1-Star Starbeast. Physical Strength +5, Mental Strength +5!”

“Ding!”

“Ding…”

Zhang Chu was in his element. For every ten starbeasts he slew, he devoured another millennium-old tree.

In theory, slaying starbeasts was a far more efficient way to boost mental strength than the Accelerated Growth Field.

Yet Zhang Chu sensed that his mastery of the Accelerated Growth Field was still in its infancy. To evolve it to higher forms, he had to keep using it.

Within three days, Zhang Chu was confident he could reach 3-Star.

As night fell, he found a cave and set up defensive measures. While eating instant noodles, he pulled up his personal status panel.

He had killed fifty 1-Star starbeasts that day and used passive devouring ten times, all on trees between eight hundred and a thousand years old.

Physical Strength: 1535/1000
Mental Strength: 957/1000

“I can rest well tonight. Tomorrow morning, after devouring three more ancient trees, I’ll break through to two stars.”

At the 1-Star level, Accelerated Growth Field could only be sustained for ten minutes, and passive devouring could only be used ten times a day.

Zhang Chu was eager to see what would happen once he became a 2-Star Dual-Force Warrior.

After a long day, he fell asleep soon after finishing his noodles.

A portable high-energy electric net guarded the cave entrance. Even if a 2-Star exotic beast launched a surprise attack, the system would alert and defend in time, so Zhang Chu did not have to worry about safety during the night.

As Zhang Chu drifted into a drowsy sleep, a stealthy micro-drone approached.

In a manor on the outskirts of Binzhou, the middle-aged man tried to get a clearer look at Zhang Chu through the video feed, but suddenly, an electric arc from the high-energy net appeared onscreen, striking the drone directly.

The drone was destroyed and the video feed cut out.

The man quickly dialed a number. “Fang Danan, the drone was destroyed by a high-energy net. No matter what, you must obtain Zhang Chu’s talent martial technique from inside the starbeast lair, or your grandfather is as good as dead. The equipment for copying martial techniques has already been sent in with Su Mingyue. Go find her and join up immediately!”

Fang Danan, who had just been preparing to sleep in his high-energy hibernation pod, was startled by the call. He jumped up, activated his locator, pinpointed Su Mingyue’s position, and set out at once.

At the same time, atop a cliff within the starbeast lair, a campfire flickered, surrounded by a high-energy electric net. Six people sat in a circle.

This operation was led personally by Qiao Changnian. For safety, the entire group acted together.

While the other members of the Dual-Force Society shared their experiences from the day, Su Mingyue seemed distracted.

“Um… President Qiao, I need to use the restroom.”

“Be careful.”

Qiao Changnian and the others did not notice her distraction and simply reminded her to take care.

Soon, Su Mingyue reached the base of the cliff. No sooner had she arrived than a masked Fang Danan appeared before her.

“Where’s the item the leader gave you?”

“When will the leader fulfill his promise to me?”

Su Mingyue clutched a black disc, reluctant to hand it over.

“That’s between you and the leader. My job is just to do my part. Before sunrise, I need to get what the leader wants from Zhang Chu.”

Fang Danan snatched the disc from her hand.

“What did you say? Zhang Chu is here too?” Su Mingyue was startled.

But Fang Danan ignored her and left with the disc.

“Zhang Chu, why do you always have to be everywhere!” Su Mingyue clenched her fists in frustration, but dared not leave directly.

All the Dual-Force Society elders had entered the starbeast lair together. If they found out she was a member of the Divine Fall Alliance, all her efforts would be wasted.

…

The next morning, Zhang Chu awoke inside the cave only to find that something was terribly wrong.

He couldn’t move!

It wasn’t a stroke.

But above his head hovered a piece of flying equipment—a gravity suppressor!

Zhang Chu knew this device all too well. Before entering the starbeast lair, Fang Danan had even showed it to him.

A 1-Star Superior Gravity Suppressor could generate ten times normal gravity.

Now, Zhang Chu couldn’t even speak without being forced to the ground.

“Fang Danan, you bastard! What the hell are you playing at? If you want something, at least have the guts to tell me face to face!”