Demon Cultivator in Abyssal Era-Chapter 235 - 152: Pollutants

Hearing the voice from behind, Chu Xiu’s expression shifted slightly, and he turned around to look.

Floating in mid-air about two or three thousand meters behind him was a bizarre creature.

At first glance, it appeared to be an enormous fly magnified a million times, but upon closer inspection, one could see that this "fly" had a hard exoskeleton armor and a very sharp serrated mouthpart, resembling a small flying fortress nearly ten meters long.

Chu Xiu’s expression tensed, and in almost an instant, he confirmed that this was a General Tier creature!

On this flying monster, several people were standing or sitting, observing Chu Xiu from a distance.

This made Chu Xiu slightly frown, but he didn’t react otherwise and turned around to continue clearing the remaining Water Ghosts.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, the flying monster began to wobble towards him, and when it was several dozen meters away from Chu Xiu, the people on the monster jumped down.

"I didn’t expect to see the Dark Night Monarch here."

The leading elder cupped his fists in salute, "I wonder if you are also here for the whereabouts of the military district? We heard noises from the sky and came to check, hoping we didn’t disturb you."

Chu Xiu did not reply but turned back to take a closer look at the group, his Nether Demon Eyes flickering with spiritual light.

Although the tier of the Nether Demon Eyes was no longer adequate, in the absence of deliberate concealment by the other party, he could still roughly sense their strength.

There were nine people in total, including one young man and one young woman who seemed only slightly older than himself. The other seven were all men, apart from the elder who spoke to him earlier; they were all middle-aged, over thirty or forty, with eyes like eagles and an aura of sharp decisiveness emanating from them. Evidently, they were battle-hardened fighters with extremely rich combat experience.

Among them, three were General Tier; the elder was Level 9, one of the middle-aged men was Level 7, and another was Level 5, while the others were all Fierce Tier Level 9.

Judging from the aura felt by his Divine Sense, it was even more apparent that the elder’s aura was stronger than that of the other two General Tier combined.

"Call me Chen Ce." Chu Xiu paused, then said.

The strength of these nine people was not to be underestimated. Although Chu Xiu did not fear them, he also did not want to start a conflict for no reason.

"I’m Huang Guohua," the elder said with a smile, then pointed to the two young people beside him, "This is my young master, and this is Miss Su from the Imperial Capital Third Abyss Research University."

Chu Xiu glanced at the two and nodded lightly.

After this, the group exchanged some simple information about each other.

These nine people, like Chu Xiu, were drawn by the opportunity in the military district and came to explore, as this was the only location in Corpse Demon City with a comprehensive threat level reaching General Tier.

Other cities or areas generally had a danger level evaluation lower than the Awakening Trial’s Corpse Demon City since the Corpse King, as the final boss of the Awakening Trial, absorbs the Power of the Sea of Blood, a level of pollution incomparable to ordinary cities.

However, their specific purposes varied.

The girl from the Imperial Capital Third Research University was named Su Jinyu. She had an oval face and fair skin.

Though her looks weren’t particularly outstanding and she wore no makeup, her simple ponytail and the intellectual, competent aura she exuded made Chu Xiu find her far more attractive than most internet celebrities, leading him to take a few extra glances.

Beside her was a General Tier Level 7 middle-aged man, referred to by her as "Uncle Liu," a dedicated bodyguard belonging to the research institute.

In this world, there was no such thing as an Awakened University or any extraordinary college entrance exams because every Awakened individual was unique, requiring no standard teaching. Unlike traditional cultivators who needed cultivation school guidance, Awakened individuals were more like self-employed entrepreneurs.

Initially, there would be some national-level subsidies, but in the later stages, it was all about exchanging benefits.

Although there were no universities dedicated to nurturing the Awakened, there were universities specializing in Abyss research. Their students were Awakened individuals required to master extensive knowledge about the Abyss and were tasked with researching various upper-level beings, ancient cultures, and extraordinary technology within the Abyss.

These researchers received special state subsidies, ideal for Awakened individuals not skilled in combat, but entry was exceedingly difficult, reserved only for those extraordinarily gifted, since the state expected a return on its investment.

"A Fierce Tier Level 9 researcher should hold a considerable position, but she doesn’t look much older than me."

Even though the Awakened could easily fake appearances—forget about becoming youthful again, turning into a Cthulhu Tentacle Monster wasn’t off the table—Chu Xiu’s Divine Sense could tell the girl was quite young.

"Seems like another prodigy."

As for the young man referred to as the young master, he wasn’t simple either. His name was Xue Li, and he was here for specialized training.

Although he was already a Fierce Tier Level 9 and no longer needed to defeat monsters to level up, he needed extensive combat to improve his temperament and combat instincts.

These children of the upper class differed from someone like Chu Xiu, who fought his way up from adversity. With high-grade equipment from the start, their leveling journey had been mostly smooth, which didn’t matter much under normal circumstances, but during evenly matched battles, a lack of combat experience and imperfect temperament would become glaringly obvious.