Chapter 99: The Demon-Subduing Vajra Stone

The night was a slaughter.

Target lock on the star beasts.

Close to within thirty feet.

Electric vines entwined, unleashing violet tendrils.

Poison sedation.

Lightning strike.

Passive devouring fully activated.

Ding dong.

A notification rang: the host has slain one four-star star beast; combat power increased by twenty, spiritual power increased by twenty.

Ding dong. Another alert: the host has devoured one four-star core; combat power increased by twenty.

That night, Zhang Chu killed with abandon. To the high-level forbidden zone of Canglong Mountain, he was nothing less than a nightmare.

The unrest in the Demon-Subduing Tower had stirred the star beasts into a tide, but it had also given Zhang Chu tremendous convenience.

By the time the sky began to pale with dawn, Zhang Chu was still gripping the Crimson Flame Sword, and only after he had cut down the last One-Armed Monkey King did the night’s hunt finally come to an end.

Three hours.

Nearly fifteen hundred star beasts.

Zhang Chu had deliberately chosen the beasts within the surging tide, using tactics suited to mass combat.

With the hijacking skill of the vine-demon seed, star beasts below five stars were almost laughably easy.

“Check combat power and spiritual power.”

Zhang Chu found a broad stone slab and sat down, taking a bottle of stamina replenishment fluid from his storage ring as he brought up his personal status panel.

Soon, the display popped up before his eyes:

Combat power: 57,320 / 100,000.

Spiritual power: 53,000 / 100,000.

Seeing the figures the system displayed, Zhang Chu was quite satisfied.

Spending ten thousand spiritual power to obtain the vine-demon’s enhancement skill now seemed a remarkably good deal.

If not for the urgency of time and the weight of the mission, he could have trained here for seven days and even broken through to six stars.

That night, besides becoming fully familiar with the vine-demon’s enhancement skill, Zhang Chu also figured out the key to its growth.

Much like during his warrior days, raising the vine-demon’s level required nourishment from spiritual power.

What was more, that spiritual power had to be drawn from plants.

In other words, Zhang Chu needed to use passive devouring and the time-dilation field to harvest the vitality of green life and feed it to the vine-demon.

The higher the vine-demon’s level, the longer and tougher the vines would become, and the stronger their poison.

After finishing the stamina fluid, Zhang Chu looked bright and vigorous.

He quickly headed toward the resting point of the special operations team.

Just as he reached the base of the cliff, he saw Zhang Xueying and the others coming down from the cave.

“Xiao Chu, where did you go?”

Seeing Zhang Chu appear, Wang Peng came over and sized him up. “You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“Brother Chu, you nearly scared us to death. Especially Teacher Xueying—she was almost frantic. You didn’t even tell us where you were going, and when we woke up, you were gone.”

Hu Sanyi added, “I went to take care of some personal business. I’m sorry to have worried you, Sister Xueying.”

Zhang Chu looked at Zhang Xueying and grinned.

Zhang Xueying’s cheeks flushed red and her heartbeat quickened. “This guy is teasing me first thing in the morning, and in front of everyone. How did I never realize he could be so shameless?”

“Brother Zhang Chu, breakfast.”

Huang Lili eagerly offered him bread and milk.

“Zhang Chu, we agreed last night that I’d take the second half of the night watch. I fell asleep and didn’t wake until dawn. Tonight, no matter what, I’ll stand guard.”

Fan Dayong was somewhat ashamed.

He had promised to relieve Zhang Chu in the second half of the night, but who could have guessed he’d sleep until he woke naturally?

It was fortunate Zhang Chu had returned unharmed.

If anything had gone wrong, he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life.

“It’s nothing.”

Zhang Chu was actually glad Fan Dayong had slept through the night; otherwise, he would never have had the chance to devour the vine-demon seed.

“Just now, the temporary command center sent word that the specifics of the Demon-Subduing Tower’s unrest have been transmitted. I’m syncing it to everyone’s sensory glasses now.”

Only after confirming that Zhang Chu was fine did Zhang Xueying remember the matter at hand.

Soon, a notice from the temporary command center appeared before the group.

Zhang Chu glanced through it quickly.

According to the joint investigation of the temporary command center, the unrest in the Demon-Subduing Tower was mainly due to damage to the Vajra Demon-Subduing Stones, though it was still unclear whether this was caused by energy exhaustion or by human interference.

There were three Vajra Demon-Subduing Stones.

They were the energy stones used by high-grade spirit realm formation masters to establish the suppression array, and they were also the key to maintaining it.

“So we need to find the three Vajra Demon-Subduing Stones, determine which one was damaged, and investigate the cause?” Hu Sanyi said.

“Zhang Chu, you’re the captain of the special operations team. You assign the tasks, and I’ll obey unconditionally,” Fan Dayong said first.

“Xiao Chu, according to the command center’s guidance, we may need to split into three groups and arrive as simultaneously as possible near the three Vajra Demon-Subduing Stones. Only then can we use the energy balancer to determine which stone has been damaged,” Zhang Xueying said.

“Brother Zhang Chu, I’m on your team.”

Huang Lili quickly raised her hand.

She now held a mysterious, almost fanatical admiration for Zhang Chu.

“Zhang Chu, let’s team up,” Wang Peng volunteered as well.

Very quickly, Zhang Chu finished assigning the groupings.

Among the six of them were two dual-force warriors, two gifted ones, and two martial warriors.

Zhang Chu teamed up with Zhang Xueying.

As a gifted one, Wang Peng formed a team with Hu Sanyi.

Fan Dayong paired up with Huang Lili.

“Now we synchronize our watches. We must reach our destinations before four in the afternoon.”

The six of them checked their times and prepared to set out.

The coordinates of the three Vajra Demon-Subduing Stones had already been transmitted by the temporary command center.

“Move out!”

The six split into three small squads and headed off in different directions.

Zhang Chu and Zhang Xueying were assigned to a location in Area 302, the one closest to the Demon-Subduing Tower, one hundred kilometers from their starting point.

Along the way, Zhang Xueying synced the information for Area 302 to Zhang Chu’s sensory glasses. “You saw the message just sent by the academy, right? The Area 302 we’re heading to is a volcanic crater of magma. The temperature is extremely high, and fire-attribute star beasts are entrenched there. There’s a high probability we’ll run into hellhounds, so we have to be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Sister Xueying. Five-star star beasts aren’t enough to concern me.”

Zhang Chu smiled.

Zhang Xueying stared in stunned silence at Zhang Chu’s handsome profile. “You haven’t already broken through to a five-star dual-force warrior, have you?”

“Just a simple five stars. Nothing to boast about,” Zhang Chu said solemnly.

“...”

Zhang Xueying felt like vomiting blood.

In just a month, he had gone from one star to five.

Even the greatest genius in Binzhou back then, now one of the four elders of the Martial God Academy, did not have such terrifying cultivation speed.

This was simply faster than a Martial God drone.

As for herself, she had been stuck at sixth-level martial warrior for two years, and to this day had still not broken through the comprehension of “intent” to reach the realm of dual-force warrior.

This mission had been her own initiative.

She also wanted to take the chance to see whether she could finally break through.

Along the way, the two encountered many star beasts, including four large beast tides.

With Zhang Chu leading the slaughter ahead, Zhang Xueying had no worries behind her and also entered a state of training.

Real combat was the best way to comprehend intent.

“According to the coordinates, the first Vajra Demon-Subduing Stone is near the crater.”

Around three in the afternoon, the two stood atop a hill, looking down at a vast basin below.

The basin’s rocks jutted out in exposed ridges, forming vein-like patterns of volcanic red.

At its center was a gigantic crater. One glance at it brought a faint sense of dizziness, as though staring into a black hole.

“Is that it?” Zhang Chu asked, pointing toward the huge stele in the basin’s center.

“It should be.”

There were no other large rocks near the crater.

Fully armed, swords in hand, the two swooped down quickly and stood at the base of the giant stone.

“The Vajra Demon-Subduing Stone stands ten meters tall, forged entirely from meteoric material from beyond the heavens. With the reinforcement of a high-energy formation by a spirit realm formation master, it not only weighs ten thousand catties, but is also protected by an electromagnetic storm in the surrounding area.”

“Even nine-star star beasts would find it hard to get close.”

“This is too easy, isn’t it?” Zhang Xueying said, looking at the stone stele in surprise.

“The spirit realm formation on the Vajra Demon-Subduing Stone has already been damaged.”

Zhang Chu moved to the back of the stele and looked at the layers of cracks on it, along with a shallow palm print.