Book 3, Chapter 263: Powerful

After walking out of the fort, Chen Chuan saw that the density of the plants outside had increased, as if he had stepped into a forest.

Usually, the soldiers would do their best to get rid of all the plants within three to five kilometers of the forts before setting up machine-gun-mounted sentry posts, along with trenches and barbed wire.

Then, neither the creatures nor the remnants of the royal family could get close. The night-time anomalies would also stay away to a certain degree.

But these were all holographic constructs. Chen Bitong wouldn’t waste resources to create a complete merged space. He had to be showing a certain region.

Hence, after just taking a couple dozen steps, they arrived next to a lake covered in thick fog. A large, barely visible creature was moving inside it.

As they got closer, Chen Chuan saw the thing clearly.

The creature was around three meters tall, had thick legs, a long neck and tail, and an arched back covered in a thick, gray skin that looked like a hard shell. At the edges of the shell were algal fronds resembling tufts of hair, and he could see parasites crawling within.

Its neck was also covered in shells. Two hard malleuses stuck out of its head, right beside its small eyes. At the end of its tail was a spiked mace. When it went forward, it moved its head and tail in a rhythmic manner to retain balance.

“This is the Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros. It lives beside water bodies and is highly territorial. When we want to get water or set up camp in the wilderness, we often run into this creature. The only exception is if we’re beside flowing water.

“The creatures in the merged space are all born with mutated tissue. It’s the only thing that can support their large bodies and allow them to move with agility while staying powerful.

“They have refined force too, even though they never trained to get it and use it, but instead know instinctively how to use it. Their size advantage covers for their lack of training, and cannons lacking in power aren’t able to take them down.

“The rhinoceros’ tail is the strongest part of its body, and it’s where it has the most mutated tissue. If you get hit, you’re going to end up a mangled mess.

“Your best option against this creature is fighting with heavy firepower. However, in real world situations, we often find it hard to get our weapons in place immediately due to the complicated terrain in the merged space. The rhinoceros’ tissue also has certain value, so having martial artists kill it is the better option.

“Some people believe that since our weapons aren’t practical in this case, we need larger ones.”

A huge machete with a long hilt appeared in Chen Bitong’s hands. It had a wide blade and a thick spine. It was about four meters long.

Chen Chuan took a look. The weapon looked over-the top, but with their physiques and strength, they could easily swing it.

Aside from regular firearms, only weapons like this could hurt such large creatures, but their weaknesses were also quite apparent.

Chen Bitong tossed the weapon to the ground and said, “You must have figured it out by now. Carrying such weapons around isn’t convenient. It’ll affect our agility.

“Besides, there is no singular weapon that can let us fight against every large creature out there. That’s why it’s better for us to bring powerful cannons instead of using large weapons.

“But if we don’t have those cannons, we need a special refined force.

“It is different from the refined forces used to target people. Usually, those need more adjustments, while when it comes to large creatures like this, you need stronger refined force.

“Observe.”

Chen Bitong slowly approached the Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros, but the creature didn’t seem to notice him. It was only when Chen Bitong was almost upon its that the rhinoceros whipped its head around. The protruding malleus came swinging down. It moved so abruptly and without any warning that it seemed like the malleus had arrived in a flash.

Chen Bitong brought his hands up and pushed against the malleus. His legs sank, creating a large pit under him. They also pushed him back until he created a deep trench that was about half a meter long.

Still, Chen Bitong managed to hold off the rhinoceros’ head. At that moment, he moved forward and punched the point connecting the rhinoceros’ head and neck before moving to the side to rain down punches on its long neck. He continued until he was near its body.

Then, he sucked in a deep breath before clenching his fist, though his index finger wasn’t completely furled in, and a knuckle jutted out. With an uppercut, he hit the rhinoceros’ chest. The refined force contained within the attack must have hit like a cannonball, because his forearm almost disappeared into the rhinoceros’ flesh.

When Chen Bitong hit the neck, the head had swayed, as if it couldn’t remain steady. The hit to the chest made it freeze.

A moment passed. Then, the large creature lost its strength and collapsed with a loud bang on the ground, even though it was more than three meters tall and was around twenty meters long.

Chen Chuan went over and saw that the part where Chen Bitong hit had collapsed. The flesh there was torn to shreds. Through the dissection diagram his Realm Pass showed him, this spot was where the rhinoceros’ heart was. A large area around it had been destroyed.

“When creatures like these notice external threats, they instinctively tense up their mutated tissue, so we need to hit their heads and neck first to make them lose control of their bodies. Then, they are unable to mobilize enough mutated tissue to put up a proper defense.

“All we need to do at this point is to deliver an attack laced with enough refined force at its weakest spot. It’ll kill it straightaway. In a real fight against these things, your mind must remain clear, and you must move swiftly. You cannot hesitate.

“Did you see what I did just now?”

Chen Chuan nodded. “I did.”

Chen Bitong didn’t waste his breath and said, “Try it.”

The dead Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros disappeared, and another one showed up by the lake.

Chen Chuan looked over. Chen Bitong hadn’t given him the specifics of what he was supposed to do. All he did was provide a demonstration. If Chen Chuan could understand, good. If he couldn’t, he wasn’t going to provide an in-depth explanation.

This was the way to teach elites. The teachers taught on the assumption that the students already had the basics. If the students didn’t meet the requirements, they weren’t qualified to keep learning.

Thanks to his biofield and mental energy, Chen Chuan had seen all of Chen Bitong’s movements and which parts of the body he used to generate power.

The chain of attacks consisted of two parts. The first was an advanced defensive technique that allowed Chen Bitong to completely negate the Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros’ attack.

Chen Chuan could sense that this technique was also useful in fending against powerful human attacks. Just learning it alone would make this lesson worthwhile.

The second one was the generation of power.

In order to deliver a stronger attack, Chen Bitong had spent a long time accumulating power. He also used a breathing technique to draw more oxygen into the body. Such an attack wasn’t really appropriate for dealing with martial artists, because it was excessive, and it took too long to generate the necessary power for it, which could easily lead to a drop in agility.

Large creatures like the Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros couldn’t move that swiftly, though, and gave ample time to generate power.

Chen Chuan took the same path toward the rhinoceros as Chen Bitong. This time, though, the Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros twisted its body and swung its long tail.

When Chen Chuan saw this, he immediately dodged and looked up to find the rhinoceros staring at him.

He had to start attacking from its head. That was an important part. If the creature refused to lower its head, he couldn’t even take the first step.

It seemed like there was also a trick to getting close to it.

Chen Chuan took some time recalling the demonstration. Chen Bitong had moved at a slightly slower pace than Chen Chuan. It had to be for a reason. If Chen Chuan moved faster than that, the rhinoceros would believe that he was a greater threat and wouldn’t attack with its head. Instead, it would attack with its tail.

I see. But the solution is simple.

He immediately moved back and out of the rhinoceros’ line of sight. Just as he expected, it stopped paying attention to him.

Then, he changed his biofield and approached slowly.

While Chen Bitong didn’t say anything, the acknowledgement in his eyes made it clear that he approved of Chen Chuan’s actions.

Most martial artists wouldn’t notice this. Or rather, even if they did, they would think that they could achieve their goal through another method and wouldn’t be willing to make any concessions.

Fearless soldiers were necessary on the battlefield, but Chen Bitong would much rather see people using their heads to solve problems, not charge at them blindly.

The Great Shun Republic only had a limited understanding of the merged space, so they couldn’t solve all their problems with brute force.

After Chen Chuan got closer, the rhinoceros predictably was unable to recognize him as the person who got closer to it earlier. As he drew next to it, it swung its head down.

Just as Chen Bitong had done before, Chen Chuan pushed against its head with both hands. A powerful force surged into his body, and it felt like he was about to be ripped apart from within.

But Chen Chuan remained calm. Based on the rhythm and breathing he had observed Chen Bitong using, he mobilized his mutated tissue and was able to hold off the attack.

After a brief pause, he rushed forward and attacked the same spots Chen Bitong had struck. When he reached the rhinoceros’ torso, he sucked in a deep breath. Based on Chen Bitong’s generation of power, he swiftly activated the mutated tissue needed. Once he generated the maximum amount of power he could, he struck the spot where the rhinoceros’ heart was.

It was all possible thanks to his high coverage of mutated tissue, along with him being incredibly familiar with Sanshou-type refined forces. It made it easy for him to execute the attack. When the explosive refined force left his body, he knew that he had succeeded.

After a moment, the large body collapsed with a bang.

Chen Chuan pulled his fist back. If he didn’t consider the attacks he delivered when using the Furnace Breathing Technique and his second self, this was his strongest barehanded attack up to this point.

But after executing it, he had a strange feeling that something was lacking. It was as if…

Chen Bitong saw his reaction. “Do you have any questions, Captain Chen?”

Chen Chuan turned around. “I feel that this attack hasn’t fulfilled its purpose.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep