CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: EVEN BEASTS HAVE BODYGUARDS

The Cyan-Back Bear was being toyed with by five Guardian Beasts, driving it into a furious rage.

"Roar"

The Cyan-Back Bear let out another roar, then raised its arms and smashed them down onto the ground.

A loud "boom" was heard as the hard ground was smashed into a large pit, followed by a crack appearing at its feet, which seemed to be drawn by some force as it extended straight towards the Iron Armor Giant Lizard.

The crack spread rapidly, reaching the feet of the Iron Armor Giant Lizard in the blink of an eye.

The Iron Armor Giant Lizard lost its footing, its right hind leg stepped into the crack. It exerted force to pull its leg out, but unfortunately, the stones in the crack wedged its right leg.

Upon seeing this, a cold glint flashed in the eyes of the Cyan-Back Bear, and it took a step out of the pit, charging directly at the Iron Armor Giant Lizard.

Gangzi’s face turned pale at this sight, aware of the terrifying destructive power of the Cyan-Back Bear. If the Iron Armor Giant Lizard were entangled, he would have to withdraw from the assessment to protect the Guardian Beast’s life.

Just as he was despairing, Chu Chen suddenly spoke, "Angry Wind Elf, use Wind Blade Slash to attack the crack, and Spring Tree Demon, control the Cyan-Back Bear."

Wind Blade Slash is just an Ordinary Level skill, yet it had already reached the Mastery Realm, causing it to release very quickly.

After Wang Lu commanded the Angry Wind Elf, the Wind Blade condensed in just a single breath.

At this point, the Cyan-Back Bear was still two zhang away from the Iron Armor Giant Lizard.

At its speed, a leap would bring it to the Iron Armor Giant Lizard’s front.

The Spring Tree Demon made its move then, winding several roots around the Cyan-Back Bear’s hind legs.

The Cyan-Back Bear paused slightly, then suddenly exerted force with its limbs, breaking the roots.

"Boom"

At this moment, the Wind Blade Slash shattered the crack on the ground, and the Iron Armor Giant Lizard quickly pulled its right foot back. It dared not hesitate and quickly escaped backward, but its speed was slightly slower than the Cyan-Back Bear.

Seeing the approaching Cyan-Back Bear, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard looked terrified.

At this moment, Lei Yao’s attack arrived, and the Thunder Blade tore through the void, slashing directly at the Cyan-Back Bear’s left leg.

The Cyan-Back Bear realized the attack too late.

With a "crack," the Cyan-Back Bear’s left leg was severed.

The loss of balance caused the Cyan-Back Bear to fall to the ground.

Chu Chen breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, but he did not lower his guard. Instead, he loudly reminded, "Use ranged attacks, do not get close to it. An injured Star Beast is the most dangerous."

The four nodded in agreement.

"Boom boom boom"

Violent explosions resounded continuously, turning the immobilized Cyan-Back Bear into a living target.

It had to be said, the Cyan-Back Bear’s defensive power was truly terrifying. It endured several rounds of attacks before reluctantly collapsing.

"Quick, drag the Cyan-Back Bear into the rock cave, and the rest clean up the bloodstains here," Chu Chen said sternly.

The commotion earlier was too loud, and the area was filled with a strong scent of blood, which if not cleaned up in time, might attract other Star Beasts to forage.

The size of the Cyan-Back Bear was too huge. It took all five Guardian Beasts tremendous effort to drag it into the rock cave.

After finishing all this, Chu Chen took some Cyan-Back Bear fur and feces remaining on its buttocks and threw them nearby.

Chu Chen did this to mark the territory, as with the Cyan-Back Bear’s strength, few Star Beasts would come looking for trouble.

Normally, Chu Chen wouldn’t bother with this, but having just undergone a major battle, the Star Power of beasts like Lei Yao had been nearly exhausted. If they encountered other Star Beasts, the five of them could only end the assessment early.

Chu Chen dissected the Cyan-Back Bear’s chest cavity and took out the still heart.

"Gangzi, feed it to the Iron Armor Giant Lizard, the Cyan-Back Bear’s heart can restore vitality and is a good material," Chu Chen said, handing the heart to Gangzi with a smile.

Gangzi was unceremonious upon hearing this. If the Iron Armor Giant Lizard were in perfect condition, the battle just now would have been much easier.

If it weren’t for Chu Chen’s proper command, the cost of this battle might have been substantial.

After the Guardian Beasts ate some bear meat, they each began their cultivation.

Time passed unnoticed, and before they knew it, it was already the second day.

Today was the last day of the assessment, so Chu Chen opened the leaderboard early to check.

Although there wasn’t much change in ranking, the points fluctuated significantly.

Ji Mingyue and the others all scored over six hundred points, and Gangzi was pushed out of the top three.

It was evident that these three guys did not rest last night.

Chu Chen didn’t care about this, as long as they kept guarding the Gray Rock Ant Nest, barring accidents, they’d get as many points as they wanted.

"Let’s go, we’ll continue farming points," Chu Chen said with a smile.

The four naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

Although Cold Face and Skinny didn’t earn points, they garnered plenty of combat spoils.

Aside from various miscellaneous materials, they had collected twenty-three star cores, two of which were Ninth Rank Slave Level, each worth over ten thousand Alliance Coins. A rough estimate puts the total value at about a hundred thousand Alliance Coins.

Quickly, the five of them returned to the vicinity of the Gray Rock Ant Nest.

Chu Chen did not immediately choose to act, instead investigating the surrounding area.

The number of Worker Ants had decreased by about a third, yet the number of Gray Rock Ants coming out to forage had not decreased; if anything, they increased.

This time, Worker Ants were out with bodyguards.

Perhaps after killing too many Worker Ants yesterday, the Ant Nest became aware and sent a large number of Soldier Ants as bodyguards.

The Soldier Ants were twice the size of Worker Ants, and their realm was at the Sixth and Seventh Rank Slave Level, naturally making their combat power far superior to that of Worker Ants.

Chu Chen shook his head helplessly at this sight, never expecting that even Worker Ants would have bodyguards one day.

"Scholar, shall we start?" Gangzi asked eagerly.

Chu Chen wasn’t surprised by Gangzi’s eagerness because, after two days of rest, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard had restored eighty to ninety percent of its vitality, and even unexpectedly improved its Defense Skills "Iron Armor" to the Skilled Realm.

Of course, this was all thanks to the Cyan-Back Bear; the heart’s effects were astonishing, restoring about fifty percent of its vitality overnight.

"No rush, let’s probe first, see if there are any changes in their foraging behavior,"

The four naturally accepted this suggestion with delight.

Even the slightest caution would not be excessive when dealing with Star Beasts.

Chu Chen tossed a piece of meat from a distance, then hid on the side to observe.

Upon smelling the scent, the Gray Rock Ants began to move immediately.

Quickly, a Worker Ant appeared within Chu Chen’s field of vision, escorted by a Soldier Ant.

The Soldier Ant vigilantly scanned the surroundings until it confirmed there was no danger before allowing the Worker Ant to transport the food.

Chu Chen and his party did not attack, instead allowing the Gray Rock Ants to transport the food away.

To be safe, Chu Chen tested it a few more times and eventually determined a pattern.

Every time a Worker Ant went out to find food, it would be accompanied by one or two Soldier Ants, who would be extremely cautious, only allowing the Worker Ant to transport food once they were sure there was no danger.

This presented a challenge: how to ensure points acquisition without exposing themselves. They had to eliminate both the Worker Ant and Soldier Ant within an extremely short time frame, vastly increasing the difficulty.