Published: February 19, 2025
Chapter 27: Ranking
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Chu walked out of the school with a shoulder bag.
However, he did not head directly home; instead, he planned to go to the flower and bird market because the Ironclad Beetle that the boss had helped him order had arrived.
As he walked, Chen Chu thought about the true martial compatibility issue that Luo Fei had mentioned earlier.
According to Luo Fei, all techniques are a transformation of physical attributes. Therefore, the higher the level of the technique being cultivated, the greater the change.
In this case, if some individuals are innately compatible with that direction, not only will their cultivation speed increase, but the power of the technique will also soar.
For example, a few years ago, a student at Southern Heaven Martial High perfectly matched with a low-level technique, breaking through to the three heavens in his first year and becoming invincible against upperclassmen of the same level.
Even those upperclassmen, who practiced advanced true martial techniques, were still astonishingly powerful.
However, the technique that Luo Fei practiced was rather special and not orthodox, thus the compatibility requirement was a mental realm rather than physical.
"You wanted the Ironclad Beetle, and to avoid any trouble on the way, my friend caught a couple more, so consider it buy one get two," said the shopkeeper.
In the flower, bird, fish, and insect shop, Chen Chu picked up a black beetle from the box.
Unlike other flying beetles, the Ironclad Beetle has evolved to merge its exoskeleton into a single structure for the sake of defense.
Though it is only two centimeters long, research data shows that this insect can withstand over thirty thousand times its own weight.
Confirming the insect was fine, a smile appeared on Chen Chu's face. "Thank you, boss. I’ll come back for anything else I want next time."
"Sure, you're welcome to come anytime," the shopkeeper replied with a beaming smile as he received the payment.
These beetles are quite common in the Northern Continent, just like ants, so they hardly cost anything. It was merely a matter of asking a friend over there to send a cross-national delivery.
Just a phone call and receiving a package earned him a few hundred, making this easy business a pleasant one for the shopkeeper.
Inside the box containing the Ironclad Beetle were some damp wood shavings, so there was no need to worry about them starving. Thus, upon returning home, Chen Chu casually placed it in a drawer.
"Next, I just wait for the clone to evolve," Chen Chu said, glancing aside where the hexagonal salamander clone lay quietly, appearing increasingly fierce.
……
On Monday, as soon as Chen Chu stepped out, he sensed something was off in the atmosphere.
Patrolling vehicles could be seen on the streets, and law enforcement officials were on duty at certain intersections, with the cameras on those intersections and electric poles flickering occasionally.
"Is something happening?" Chen Chu frowned slightly.
In the cultural class classroom, Chen Chu sat down in his seat, and in front of him, Xia Youhui turned around and leaned closer.
"A Chu, did you know that An Fuqing from Class One has already condensed true power and broken through to double heaven?"
"…… That's impressive," Chen Chu exclaimed.
Two days to establish a foundation, one week to reach the first level of heaven limit, and now just a few days later, breaking through to double heaven—such an exaggerated breakthrough speed was enough to leave one without any thoughts of jealousy.
There was no other way; the gap had already become despairingly large.
It's important to note that more than half of the new students in the entire grade had not yet established their foundations.
Chen Chu shook his head and pushed this news aside, taking out his textbooks from the drawer to prepare for review, especially since there would be an end-of-month exam on Friday.
After all, he had been the top student at Lingshan No. 1 High School; he couldn’t afford to fail all his subjects just after entering high school.