That night, while Chen Chu and his companions rested, in the far end of the Yunwu Mountains, many students who had received the pulse signals had their expressions change slightly, as they quickly retreated back to their bases.

However, with how vast the Yunwu Mountains were, some students didn't receive the message. Until the satellites descended far enough to provide comprehensive signal coverage, most parts of the mountain range remained in a signal blackout.

In the darkness, within a valley filled with dense transcendent energy in the far end of the range, a cavity had been hollowed out twenty meters above the ground in the middle of a mountain wall.

Inside the cave, Russell sat cross-legged, quietly absorbing the rich and pure transcendent energy. His aura was obscure, emitting a powerful pressure of the middle stage of the Fifth Heavenly Realm.

Deep within the clouds and mist were not only dangerous mutated beasts, hidden realms, and natural treasures, but also energy-rich cultivation sanctuaries such as this one.

For students in the Fifth Heavenly Realm like him, what they needed was to temper their will. To achieve this, they no longer pursued contribution points excessively, but fought with mutated beasts in the depths of the mountains during the day and quietly honed their martial realm at night.

However, even when immersed in cultivation, he had developed a habit of keeping a part of his mind alert to his surroundings.

Therefore, when a burly figure appeared at the mouth of the valley in the darkness, he instantly snapped awake.

"Who's there?"

Russell abruptly stood up, his transcendent battle armor emitting a blue glow, as he drew his battle sword from his Sumeru Bracelet, his gaze wary as he looked ahead.

A giant clad in heavy armor, standing three meters tall, emerged in the night, exuding a terrifying pressure. The evil and dark aura made Russell's face darken, and he said in a deep voice, "Who are you!?"

He sensed a strong malevolence from this burly figure. It was obvious that he was neither a student nor a teacher, nor did he seem to be from the military.

Looking at the youth on the mountain wall, Kolant's face twisted into a sinister grin. "You Federation lapdogs, I'm going to tear you apart piece by piece."

Boom!

In an instant, the battle erupted, a fanatical roar echoing far and wide. About ten minutes later, Kolant slowly emerged from the valley, holding a blood-drenched head in his hand, its eyes filled with resentment.

Meanwhile, two military squads had encountered a Blood Cult fanatic and a Giant Cult apostle. The high-level fanatic was astonished as he looked at the five figures surrounding him, especially the glaring flames of true power leaping from their bodies.

Wait, aren't all the students in this mountain range at the Fifth Heavenly Realm? Where did these Sixth Realm figures come from?

Before this bewildered high-level fanatic could react, one of them uttered in a deep voice.

"Kill!"

Another fierce battle erupted.

Soon after, the Blood Cult fanatic self-destructed, and the Giant Cult apostle was beheaded, bringing an end to the confrontation.

Meanwhile, under the cover of night, figures emitting flames of true power rushed into the Yunwu Mountains from all directions.

Wherever they passed, vegetation was shattered, mutated creatures were blasted apart, and chaos engulfed the entire mountain range, with countless ferocious mutated beasts roaring.

However, no matter how ferocious these mutated creatures were, they couldn't stop the footsteps of those martial arts teachers. They were elite veterans withdrawn from the frontlines, with most of them in the late stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm, having accumulated years of experience and even refined their weapons three times.

Some had even reached the peak of the Sixth Realm, on the verge of breaking through to the Seventh at any moment, similar to Pang Long and Lin Xiong.

With years of experience, their combat skills were almost perfected, and some had even reached the point of comprehending sword will and blade will.

With such strength, they quickly swept through the depths of the mountain range, paying attention only to spatial rifts.

In addition, tens of thousands of meters above the ground, massive satellites began to descend as they slowly activated, each containing the remains of high-ranking bishops and emissaries from the demon cults..

***

The next day, Chen Chu woke up early. After tidying up, he looked at his temporary companions and said, "An Fuqing, I feel like something's off about the atmosphere in the mountains today. Do you two want to leave first?"

After speaking, he glanced at Zuo Jing, who was beside him. Although they had a good conversation last night, and the other person had given him significant guidance, Chen Chu couldn't shake the feeling that this person was too mysterious.

An Fuqing nodded slightly. "I'll be careful. If anything seems wrong, I'll leave quickly."

"Okay."

Chen Chu nodded and bid them farewell before disappearing into the mountains.

Watching Chen Chu leave, Zuo Jing muttered thoughtfully, "I didn't expect the current Federation to have geniuses like Brother Chen in just any martial arts school."

An Fuqing nodded slightly. "Chen Chu's talent is indeed very strong."

While she had only interacted with him a few times, she always found him to be even more powerful each time she saw him. He was different from those geniuses who had shown talent from the beginning; he had fought his way up step by step, with far fewer resources than they had, and risen rapidly from obscurity. Even she admired the speed of his progress.

Soon, Chen Chu covered over a hundred kilometers and arrived near where he had seen the fighter jet dropping something yesterday. Then, his gaze shifted slightly, as his smartwatch suddenly lit up and began flashing.

"Emergency alert: High-level demon cult disciples have been discovered in the Yunwu Mountain Range. All students below the late stage of the Fifth Heavenly Realm are to return to base immediately or rendezvous with the teachers entering the mountains."

"Note: These invaders are injured, with their realms estimated to be between the peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm and the beginning stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm. They possess strong combat abilities. Confident students may consider teaming up to hunt them down. Each invader is worth 200 contribution points and 100 merit points. All captured items belong to the individual who made the kill."

"High-level demon cultists have actually invaded here?" Chen Chu was somewhat surprised. Then he saw the bounty of 200 contribution points and 100 merit points, and his eyes lit up.

Merit points were even more valuable than contribution points, akin to higher access permissions. They were necessary for exchanging for top-level secret scriptures above the high-level arts.

Even the essence of mythical colossal beasts, materials, and top-level special resources above the Ninth Heavenly Realm required merit points.

Invaders! Suddenly, Chen Chu frowned.

He thought of Zuo Jing, the mysterious white-clad youth, who was currently with An Fuqing.