At the moment of breakthrough, Wang Xu felt his entire aura begin to rise, as if every cell in his body could breathe, constantly absorbing an invisible energy and starting to transform.
Wang Xu could clearly sense that his skin was becoming steel-like, the density of his blood significantly increased, and the strength of his muscles was gradually enhancing. Once the transformation was complete, his skin would rival steel; aside from A-grade technological weapons, even B-grade cannons would be unable to inflict any damage on him!
Transitioning from the third tier to the fourth tier was a major divide. To cross this chasm required either a massive influx of cultivation resources or a painstaking accumulation that eventually led to a qualitative leap and transformation.
Wang Xu hadn't expected that simply because that mysterious flame had consumed the corpse of the iron wire bug, he would ascend to the fourth tier!
This mysterious flame was terrifying; it could infiltrate his body without him noticing and could devour the corpses of insect beasts. What if one day the flame decided to turn on him and consume him instead?
Cold sweat broke out on Wang Xu's brow, but then he thought, with the flame inside him, he was practically "one of its own." It surely wouldn't turn against him.
The fact that the flame could devour insect beast corpses and provide him with powerful energy sparked a glimmer of excitement in Wang Xu's eyes.
"If only I had enough insect beast corpses, then my strength would shoot up like a rocket!" With this thought, he wasted no time and took out several insect beast corpses from his spatial ring.
Contrary to Wang Xu's expectations, the flame did not reappear.
Putting away the insect beast corpses, Wang Xu pondered for a moment and came up with a possibility.
He took out the corpses of two third-tier insect beasts he had hunted and placed them on the ground.
Sure enough, within moments, the flame emerged from Wang Xu's body, enveloping the two third-tier insect beast corpses before gradually devouring them and returning to his body.
A wave of warmth spread throughout Wang Xu, identical to the sensation he felt before, yet this time he could clearly sense that this warmth was energy, albeit significantly less than before.
"The energy provided by third-tier insect beast corpses is insufficient for a fourth-tier me to level up," Wang Xu realized, feeling a surge of delight.
When it came to cultivation, Wang Xu was not lacking in talent; his only deficit was in cultivation resources!
And now, with a mysterious flame capable of converting insect beast corpses into cultivation resources, Wang Xu could foresee his strength steadily rising.
The flame consumed only the corpses of insect beasts above the third tier, so Wang Xu needed to hunt third-tier insect beasts.
But third-tier insect beasts were not so easily encountered. Wang Xu had been here nearly a day and had only come across seven; the eighth was this iron wire bug.
Of course, there was another way to obtain insect beast corpses—purchasing them from the black market.
Insect beast corpses were of great value, essential materials for forging battle armors and technological weapons, and thus very expensive in the outside world. This drove powerful gene warriors to venture outside safe zones to hunt insect beasts and bring back their corpses.
The government did not prohibit this practice, but the challenges of hunting insect beasts were another matter entirely. The regions outside the safe zone were far more dangerous, teeming with fourth-tier, fifth-tier, and even sixth-tier insect beasts, making the hunting tasks immensely difficult.
"The prices in the black market are exorbitant; even if I sold myself, I might not be able to afford it. It seems my only option is to participate in the trials," Wang Xu reflected. "Next time, I'll apply to go to the B-level area. There are plenty of third-tier insect beasts there, and many elite fourth-tier insect beasts—my strength can increase much faster."
At this point, third-tier insect beasts weren't even in the same league for Wang Xu; like the earlier iron wire bug. If it came again, Wang Xu could dispatch it with a single slash.
The gap between the fourth and third tiers was enormous.
Of course, Wang Xu was even more eager to hunt fourth-tier elite insect beasts; their strength would offer him even quicker gains. With his current power, dealing with fourth-tier elite insect beasts was well within his capacity.
While contemplating future plans, Wang Xu picked up his long knife and began to cultivate "Nine Thunder Swords." It was getting late, and since he had just ascended to the fourth tier, his strength wasn't yet stable. He wanted to avoid running into the thousand-foot soft worm. This cave was quiet and spacious enough to serve as a temporary training ground.
After promoting to the fourth tier, Wang Xu found that the aspects of "Nine Thunder Swords" he once couldn't understand suddenly became crystal clear; many of the previously blocked parts now faced no obstacles.
Third form, Thunder Strike.
Fourth form, Thunder Charge.
Fifth form, Hundred Swords Thunder Clash.
Wang Xu continued refining until he reached the fifth form, at which point he encountered difficulty. He realized that "Nine Thunder Swords" was by no means a low-tier ancient martial art; it surpassed the medium tier and belonged to the higher tier. The fact that even the fourth tier couldn't comprehend its techniques indicated that the power of this ancient martial art had not been fully unleashed.
With this thought, Wang Xu wasted no time and began to practice in the cave.
…
The next morning, Wang Xu stood up feeling refreshed. Scattered around the cave were various knife marks, grooves, and cuts, with large areas of broken stone littered across the floor. It was a testament to the night's intensive training by Wang Xu.
Now that he had reached the fourth tier, his progress in martial arts accelerated tremendously, and even "Basic Body Enhancement" had broken through to the fourth layer.
Logically speaking, it was hard to believe that even after breaking through to the fourth tier, he had made such significant improvements. Wang Xu realized that this leap in advancement was likely due to that mysterious flame!
The flame's ability to convert the energy of insect beast corpses into his own energy was already remarkable, and now it could also significantly enhance Wang Xu's strength—a phenomenal development.
"Ah..." Stepping out of the cave, Wang Xu breathed in the fresh air and felt the warmth of the rising sun on his face.
He wasted no time and strode ahead, moving with a speed of several dozen meters at a time toward Xu Yuan and the others.
Now that Wang Xu had ascended to the fourth tier, he no longer feared Xu Yuan and the others. After the trials, he could directly apply for an elite title, bringing his parents to the protected area. No matter how powerful Xu Yuan was, could he reach into the protected area?
"Wait? Where are they?" Wang Xu took only a moment to reach their base, but he found that the energy barriers were dismantled, and all the arrangements had been completely destroyed.
The radiation levels here met the standards, categorizing it as a high-quality temporary safe zone. Why would Xu Yuan and the others abandon it?
Wang Xu couldn't understand, but didn't need to. With Zhang Xinglin around, and Tang Yan and Song Zhen as third-tier gene warriors, it wouldn't be easy for Xu Yuan to make a move.
Clearing his mind, Wang Xu stepped forward once more, continuing on his path through the trials.
The trial period was one day and night, and his current score was 202 points. To compete for a spot on the leaderboard, he needed at least 300. The corner of Wang Xu's mouth lifted slightly—accumulating another 300 points would be trivial for him. As a fourth-tier gene warrior, provided he wasn't besieged by fourth-tier elite insect beasts, he wouldn't die here and could easily sweep through the entire C-level zone.
"Slash! Slash! Slash!" With one stroke, three second-tier insect beasts that had tried to pounce were cleaved in half, their blood and guts splattering everywhere.
After collecting the three insect beast corpses, Wang Xu examined them carefully, his smile growing.
Having hunted all morning, Wang Xu had already slain over a hundred second-tier insect beasts, and breaking the 400-point threshold was a piece of cake. Along the way, he encountered three third-tier insect beasts, each eliminated by a single slash, and then engulfed by the flame to convert into his own energy.
"It's almost noon; I need to hurry to the 'Central Point.'"
After the trial time expires, the gene academy would retrieve the students, but the teleportation point was at a fixed coordinate. Students had to reach it before the deadline, or they would be considered dead and abandoned in the insect beast region.
…
Meanwhile, in an open radioactive zone, a group of students was waiting for the time-space teleportation to commence.
Each student's face bore signs of fatigue, their battle armor stained with blood, and a few bore wounds still seeping blood.
"Monkey…" A female student crumpled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Seeing this scene, the students sighed. "Monkey" was a nickname for a male student who was her boyfriend. Both were third-tier warriors, but they hadn't expected to encounter a powerful third-tier insect beast. Monkey had bravely led the beast away to protect the girl... the outcome was predictable.
Such incidents occurred in various teams, although many had red eyes without shedding tears.
At that moment, several figures approached from a distance, and the leader was none other than the smiling Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan couldn't have been happier; he had removed Wang Xu, the thorn in his side, without bloodshed while recruiting a fierce character like Zhang Xinglin. Even Tang Yan kept close by him, and this feeling of support invigorated Xu Yuan.
However, that宋震 fellow was quite ungrateful, constantly giving him disdainful looks, prompting Xu Yuan to have his leg broken. Now,宋震 limped painfully, unable to walk normally, much less fight.
"Zhou Ge, you little rat! Wang Ge trusted you so much, and yet you..."宋震 gritted his teeth as he glared at Zhou Ge.
Zhou Ge trembled, his gaze filled with guilt as he lowered his head. "I'm sorry,宋震... I never expected Xu Yuan would go this far, I'm really sorry..."
Zhou Ge had been the weakest link in Wang Xu's trio, hunting the fewest insect beasts and thus receiving minimal resources, causing his progress to stagnate.
Xu Yuan found him and offered him 100,000 Earth coins to share his location during the trials and secretly sprinkle "Green Liquid" on insect beast corpses, a fluid that attracted third-tier insect beasts. In a swarm of over ten third-tier beasts, Wang Xu would undoubtedly get injured—an opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Zhou Ge thought the task was simple, and that 100,000 Earth coins were far too tempting, so he readily agreed.
However, Zhou Ge didn't realize that Xu Yuan had given him not green liquid, but "Purple Scale Liquid," which attracted fourth-tier elite insect beasts!
The Purple Scale Liquid's draw on fourth-tier elites was tremendous. When they arrived, Wang Xu and his team would have no choice but to flee. At that moment, Xu Yuan would set up an energy barrier in the radioactive zone... the plan was perfection.
The group reached the Central Point, where Zhang Xinglin immediately sat cross-legged in silence, while Tang Yan sat nearby resting quietly.
"宋震, if you want to keep your other leg, hand over the insect beast corpses in your spatial ring," Xu Yuan stepped up, a menacing glint in his eyes.
"You..."宋震 fumed, "You're dreaming!"
"Hmph! I'm just informing you, not negotiating. And you, Zhou Ge, hand over your insect beast corpses too," Xu Yuan turned to Zhou Ge, whose face drained of color.
Zhou Ge felt humiliated. He hadn't anticipated that, after helping Xu Yuan, he would be targeted himself. But recalling Xu Yuan's ruthless methods made him shiver, and he quickly transferred all the insect beast corpses to Xu Yuan's spatial ring.
"Now it's your turn," Xu Yuan said, facing宋震 with an indifferent tone.
Zhang Xinglin, sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes to glance at宋震. After a moment's hesitation, he closed them again.
Xu Yuan noticed this exchange, relieved that Zhang Xinglin stayed silent. If he spoke up, Xu Yuan would have to give him respect, but now that Zhang Xinglin chose not to intervene, it was all the better.
Tang Yan wished to speak up, but whenever she defended someone, they would fall prey to Xu Yuan's wrath, so she fell quiet immediately.
"Want insect beast corpses? I have plenty—if you have the strength to take them," a cold, grim voice suddenly emerged as a brooding Wang Xu stepped forward from the distance.