Mythical Era: My Evolution into a Celestial Beast

Chapter 169: Showing Off in Public, Ranked Sixth (I)

Endless gray mist spread out to both sides behind Chen Chu, forming walls of mist towering thousands of meters high. Ahead lay a sheer cliff that plummeted a kilometer deep; the inspiration for Tianqian Station’s name, the “Heavenly Abyss.”

As Chen Chu and his group of freshmen stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing absentmindedly at the vast and turbulent primeval forest in the distance, a man's voice echoed from the station's loudspeaker.

"Students over there, stop staring and come over for registration."

Chen Chu and the others immediately turned to see a guardhouse building a dozen meters away.

Ahem!

Chen Chu cleared his throat. "Let's go over there first; we still need to get to the Jiuhuan Mountains where our base is located."

Hong Tianyi, dressed in white, nodded. "Indeed, this is just the entrance to the mutated beast battlefield. It's still a long way from where the base is."

Li Chen exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go, guys."

As the group hastened towards the guardhouse, Chen Chu took the initiative to help Luo Fei carry a suitcase, and the girl smiled as she carried the other one behind him.

"Facial recognition passed, fingerprint passed. First-year student of Nantian Martial Arts High School, Hong Tianyi."

"Facial recognition passed, fingerprint passed. First-year student of Nantian Martial Arts High School, Li Chen..."

Under the facial recognition system, the electronic voice announced each person's identity accurately as they walked past the guardhouse entrance, demonstrating the tight security measures in place.

After passing the identity verification, the fifteen individuals proceeded towards the enormous lifting platform behind the guardhouse, labeled according to their destination. Though referred to as a lifting platform, it was essentially a series of large elevators installed on the cliff face specifically for transporting people and goods.

Inside the guardhouse, a soldier in military attire exclaimed, "This batch is from Nantian again."

Another nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the freshmen at Nantian this year are quite formidable. So many of them have already broken through to the Third Heavenly Realm in just one semester."

"Each generation surpasses the last."

While the two conversed, Chen Chu and his companions had already arrived at the platform and stood in position. Seeing this, a soldier shouted, "Students, please stand by. I wish you a prosperous martial journey."

With the soldier's blessing, the enormous platform suddenly descended at an astonishing speed.

The wind roared in their ears, the descent almost reaching a hundred meters per second, and the ground rapidly approached before their eyes. In just over ten seconds, they reached the bottom.

As the platform slowly came to a stop, Zhang Zilong couldn't help but clutch his chest. "Damn, I almost thought we were going to die."

Li Chen shook his head. "Even as a Third Heavenly Realm expert, you're still scared by a little weightlessness?"

"Nonsense, even a Third Heavenly Realm expert would be scared of a rapid descent at a hundred meters per second. We're not high-level experts," Zhang Zilong retorted.

Amid their banter, Chen Chu glanced at Luo Fei and noticed her calm demeanor.

Luo Fei's eyes narrowed slightly, forming crescents as she smiled. "This little weightlessness doesn't scare me. I parachuted from over ten thousand meters high before I even started practicing last year."

A year ago, at fifteen, she parachuted from ten thousand meters. Chen Chu looked at the girl in front of him with some surprise.

He hadn't expected her to be more than just skilled in marksmanship; she seemed excellent in various aspects, at least better than Chen Chu, who would have been wary of skydiving at fifteen.

Ordinary people definitely would not have been able to withstand an acceleration of over a hundred meters per second; they would even potentially hit the elevator ceiling due to the weightlessness. Chen Chu and the others, however, were cultivators at the Third or Fourth Heavenly Realm, and were able to use their true power to keep their feet firmly planted.

Outside the elevator was a vast square, filled with large trucks transporting goods, while soldiers armed with weapons patrolled the grounds. It looked like this was a military base designed for cargo transfer.

At that moment, a captain walked over, first checking the time on his wristwatch before turning to Chen Chu and the others with a stern tone. "Students from Nantian Martial Arts High School?"

"Yes." Chen Chu and the others nodded.

The captain continued. "Before your arrival, your teacher had already arranged a fighter jet for you at Runway Five. I'll take you there."

The group, who hadn't expected to fly in a plane, responded in surprise, "Thank you for your trouble."

"You're welcome. Everyone is working for East Xia."

Led by the captain, they crossed through the outskirts of the military base and arrived at Runway Five after about twenty minutes. Instantly, everyone's eyes were filled with awe.

Alongside the vast runway of the airport, there were hundreds of unmanned fighter jets with wingspans of over ten meters, as well as over a hundred black fighter jets with wingspans of thirty meters.

On several separate runways were over a dozen energy bombers with wingspans of sixty to seventy meters, over a hundred meters in length with futuristic designs. These were the types of aircraft that Chen Chu and the others had only seen in pictures.

Apart from these, there were also some special aircraft parked in certain hangars that Chen Chu hadn't seen before. The fighter jet they were going to board was one of these special aircraft, over thirty meters in length with a wingspan of over twenty meters, resembling a bird with a sharp beak.

As the group approached the aircraft, the captain tapped a device on his left arm, causing the rear of the aircraft to slowly lower and reveal a boarding door.

Noticing the astonishment in Chen Chu and the others' eyes, the captain couldn't help but explain. "This is the new generation of anti-gravity energy fighter jets, codenamed Bluebird. The main material is a blend of mutated beast bone and alloy, with durability several times stronger than aerospace alloys, yet lighter in weight for the same volume.

"Most importantly, this type of aircraft has strong energy adaptability, capable of activating energy shields when combating mutated avian creatures. The energy to start the engine is provided by high-purity Energy Crystals, while the inscriptions engraved on the surface can absorb surrounding transcendent energy to keep that engine going.

"This aircraft surpasses previous models in performance, speed, agility, and weapon carrying capacity by several times. However, it can’t be used if the concentration of transcendent energy is insufficient, which is why you won't see it in operation outside."

As the captain gave his briefing, the group boarded the aircraft, placing their weapons and luggage in the designated compartments on either side, and then settled into the seats along the sides as instructed. By the time everyone fastened their seat belts, the captain had already taken his position at the pilot's seat, where another pilot was waiting for him.

Hum!

Accompanied by a vibrating hum, the futuristic-styled aircraft slowly glided out of the hangar. With a powerful burst of magnetic energy from below, it suddenly surged upward with tremendous thrust.

Boom!

The aircraft ascended diagonally into the sky, reaching supersonic speed in just a few breaths and piercing through the clouds with a deafening roar.

Under the intense sensation of weightlessness, even Chen Chu couldn't help but gaze in astonishment as the white clouds outside rapidly receded.

Once the aircraft stabilized into smooth flight at twice the speed of sound, Chen Chu finally exhaled and turned to Luo Fei beside him, shaking his head. "It feels like there's been a huge change in style since we entered here."

Luo Fei whispered, "It's normal. Most of the countries have been focused on military research in recent years.

"Whether it's true martial arts cultivation or military weapons and equipment, almost all of it is constantly being explored and researched, so there’s a significant gap compared to civilian technology."

Luo Fei's words didn't reassure Chen Chu; instead, they left him with a sense of unease.

In theory, in an era with such advanced martial skills and mutated beasts, technological advancement of all kinds should be rapid. After all, many technological breakthroughs had been made in the post-Transcendence Era due to new, previously inaccessible materials. Yet in this situation, countries had devoted decades of resources and efforts to only military research.

It almost felt desperate, as if they had insufficient firepower.

What could possibly cause such a feeling of crisis for a world like this, where weapon technology already surpasses the nuclear level and individual cultivators have strength that rivals the old myths?

In Chen Chu's mind, the words “frontline battlefield” subconsciously surfaced.