High-Martial World: System Arrives 30 Years Late-Chapter 114 - 107: Diary, King Beast

The Linjiang Spiritual Plant Research Institute was abandoned ten years ago.

It’s located in the northwestern suburbs of the Linjiang Base, set amidst a mountainous region, not too far away from the northern Fierce Beast Mountain Range.

Su Mu carefully went through the information sent by Luo Cheng, which also included a personal photo and general personal details of Professor Yuan.

"Yuan Cheng, 69 years old, Associate Professor of the Spirit Plant Department at South China Martial Arts University, Martial Arts Realm at Fourth Level Initial Stage."

He took a quick glance. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Su Mu immediately guessed that this Professor Yuan was similar to his teacher Wang Shuheng; they were not highly focused on pursuing Martial Arts realms, prioritizing academic pursuits instead.

The teacher loves researching inscriptions; every time inscriptions are mentioned, his eyes light up. This Professor Yuan likely enjoys studying spirit plants; otherwise, why would he go to an abandoned spiritual plant research institute?

However, his teacher Wang Shuheng is a Spiritual Talent Martial Artist; even though his Martial Arts Realm isn’t high, he is incredibly strong. Clearly, Professor Yuan lacks this attribute.

In the end, Luo Cheng also sent the voice recording from the Martial Arts Association squad, from two days ago.

"A cat-like fierce beast, taller than a human?"

"Most likely a speed type."

Su Mu showed a look of surprise, listening closely several times. The squad members’ voices were filled with fear, mixed with screams, making him realize that the squad probably met with misfortune.

"I have space coordinates, I can return to the village anytime. Let’s depart tomorrow."

At night, Miaomiao noticed Su Mu was preoccupied.

"Dad definitely wants you to go north as soon as possible, right?"

After Su Mu nodded, Miaomiao had a look of knowing it all along.

"I knew it, that’s exactly what dad would say to you, and he’s definitely urging you."

"And you, Miaomiao?"

"Su Mu, do you remember what I told you before?"

"Of course."

"Then Su Mu, you should get some sleep, at least have a good rest first. Luo Mei came today, so there’s nothing to worry about. Besides, I’m quite curious about one thing."

"How did you get back yesterday? The training camp still has a few days left, right? You should be in Gaoshan City?" Miaomiao blinked big eyes, full of anticipation.

...

Before dawn, the old man and Xiaoyue’s grandmother woke up, planning to prepare a feast with a chicken, a fish, and a duck.

When the first rooster crowed in the village, the feast was ready.

"Su Mu, eat more, you’ll need strength. With Luo Girl here in the village, you can set off without worries." The old man said.

"Dad, can’t you wait to say that? It’s like you can’t wait for Su Mu to leave." Miaomiao remarked indignantly.

"Exactly." Xiaoyue’s grandmother chimed in.

"What do you mean by ’can’t wait’? This is called having great ambitions, you don’t understand!"

Su Mu smiled, picked up some fish eggs, and put them into his daughter Xiaoyue’s bowl. Xiaoyue loved eating fish, especially fish eggs, something she inherited from her father.

He also loved fish eggs, but since having Xiaoyue, Su Mu ate less of them, enjoying watching Xiaoyue eat instead.

After the meal, Miaomiao drove Su Mu to town, with everyone from the village coming to see him off.

"Su Mu, you’re awesome!"

"You’re the pride of East Village, but be extra careful when you go north!"

After leaving the village, Miaomiao said, "Dad definitely already told your plans to go north, he can’t keep anything to himself, probably wants to announce it with a megaphone all over the village."

...

The road to town was bumpy and in some places scattered with rocks. What usually took half an hour, took Miaomiao nearly two hours this time.

Last night, Su Mu contacted Luo Cheng again; by the time he reached town, an armed car was already waiting, having driven overnight, apparently.

"Mr. Su, I’ll be responsible for getting you to the vicinity of the research institute."

"Alright."

In the car, Su Mu glanced at the person who came to pick him up. "I feel like we’ve met before. Are you with the Martial Arts Association?"

"Mr. Su, you have a good memory. My name is Li Ming. We have indeed met before; I was among those who participated in the abandoned factory operation with you last time. I was fortunate to see your skills in action, and I still feel the thrill every time I think of your strike!"

"But I’m not with the Martial Arts Association anymore. I followed the boss to work at the City Lord’s Mansion."

"City Lord’s Mansion? ... Is there a new City Lord now?" Su Mu asked casually.

"Mr. Su, you didn’t know? Boss Luo is the new City Lord now."

The Martial Arts Association, Boss Luo?

Luo Cheng?

"Is Chairman Luo now the City Lord of Linjiang Base?"

"Yes, that’s right. This happened about a month ago." Immediately, he continued, "Now, Mr. Gong Wu is the president of the Linjiang Base’s Martial Arts Association."

"The head of the Armed Department is someone appointed by the Governor of South China, named Zhou Xie. He was the first to discover traces in the Fierce Beast Mountain Range and took early action to evacuate people, which prevented major casualties."

Hearing this, Su Mu nodded, silently noting the name Zhou Xie, though he was surprised both Luo Cheng and Gong Wu were promoted after the incident.

Throughout the ride, Li Ming shared many stories about the Linjiang Base, including how at a banquet, Xiaoyue ate three plates of chicken wings in a row. Su Mu listened with keen interest, realizing much had happened in the two months after he entered the training camp.

...

"Mr. Su, we’re almost at the research institute."

"Alright."

At the foot of a mountain, Li Ming handed a few signal flares to Su Mu. Su Mu directly stored them in his space ring, then took out the Red Sun Saber.

The Red Sun Saber, being damaged, leaked blade qi as soon as it was taken out of the space ring, and a sharp aura pervaded the surroundings.

Immediately, Li Ming’s face was full of surprise and respect; Su Mu’s strength was even greater than before!

Su Mu naturally didn’t know what Li Ming was thinking, but even if he did, he wouldn’t bother to explain. He took out a map and strode into the mountains.

...

A certain dark and damp experiment site.

Yuan Cheng was earnestly flipping through a black notebook he found in the institute, which seemed to be a researcher’s diary.

Soon after, his face showed delight.

"A specially treated spirit core can extract a liquid... capable of greatly enhancing the survival rate of spirit plants?"

"But the success rate is really too low, and using spirit cores as material is extremely costly. No wonder the institute was abandoned."

"But this liquid might be used for cultivating fruits and vegetables!"

Linjiang Research Institute lacks funding for development, but South China Martial Arts University does not. He could completely apply for funding from the school and the South China Governor’s Mansion.

Thump.

A loud crash echoed from the ceiling of the underground laboratory, occurring almost once every hour, as if it was a reminder, or perhaps a torment.

Dust fell down in flurries.

Yuan Cheng was startled, his breathing quickened as he brushed off the dust from the notebook, continuing to browse through the diary while scanning and uploading its contents via the device on his wrist to his cloud space.

He had already thought it through; if he couldn’t make it out alive this time, these precious items needed to be passed on to someone else. As for the two bags of fruits and vegetables, he had sent one bag back to South China Martial Arts University before coming here, and his students would properly preserve it.

Not long after, Yuan Cheng finished reading the diary and let out a long sigh, closing the notebook.

Thump!

Another loud crash; Yuan Cheng glanced at the time, exactly an hour had passed.

He looked up, seeing that the ceiling of the laboratory was already full of scars. Yuan Cheng knew his life was entering a countdown.

"Ah, what a pity, seeing all this before dying, yet not given a chance."

"Is this luck or misfortune?"

Yuan Cheng couldn’t help but sigh.

Three days ago, he came to this abandoned institute alone. On the way, he felt he was being followed, but later discovered it wasn’t a person tracking him.

It was a big black cat, and what terrified Yuan Cheng even more was that the cat’s eyes flickered with mockery as it licked its huge paws when it saw him.

He couldn’t help but speculate that this black cat had been following him for some time, and its intelligence indicated the fierce beast before him was of a high level.

Yuan Cheng was terrified; at the critical moment, he desperately fled to the institute and luckily hid in the underground laboratory, where the signal was almost nonexistent.

Afterwards, he kept trying until he finally sent out a brief rescue message to the Linjiang City Lord’s Mansion.

Just yesterday, he heard some movement outside, but all he heard were screams, and not just from one person.

...

Under the Fierce Beast Mountain Range, roars shook the sky as fierce beasts madly launched attacks down the mountain.

Members of the Armed Department were arduously defending temporary fortifications at the mountain’s base.

Inside a temporary command room.

Luo Cheng, Gong Wu, Zhou Xie, and others gathered. After watching the three recorded beast tides projected by Luo Cheng, they all looked perplexed.

"I discovered this from a piece of beast tide information just this morning. It includes the perspective of a former Linjiang City Lord, who carefully reviewed the events surrounding beast tide outbreaks. He speculated that every time a beast tide breaks out at Linjiang Base, a ’King Beast,’ or the fierce beast leader, is born, hiding in the mountains to control the beast tide."

"Under the influence of this so-called King Beast, the level of fierce beasts in the Fierce Beast Mountain Range can see a terrifying increase in a short time, but the cost is a frenzy and restlessness."

"So there are two solutions: one is to enter the Fierce Beast Mountain Range and find the King Beast to kill it, and the second is to endure the beast tide."

"The last beast tide occurred sixty-eight years ago and lasted only one day. At that time, a Grandmaster happened to be passing by. The Grandmaster went into the mountains alone and killed a Fifth Level and a Sixth Level fierce beast, ending the beast tide that day."

"Were there Fifth and Sixth Level fierce beasts in Linjiang’s Fierce Beast Mountain Range?" Zhou Xie expressed disbelief.

"Though it may be hard to believe, that’s the fact. After that beast tide outbreak, a large number of martial artists flocked to the base, nearly killing all the fierce beasts in the mountain range, leading to the current situation."

"For instance, the Grandmaster mentioned that the Sixth Level fierce beast died saving a Fifth Level fierce beast, yet the two weren’t even of the same species, further validating the existence of the ’King Beast’ viewpoint."

"Currently, the strongest that have appeared are a few Fourth Level fierce beasts; no Fifth Level fierce beast has appeared yet. This beast tide is not as large as before, but even so, we might struggle to survive long against the beast tide, let alone find and kill the King Beast!"

At once, the three present fell into silence.

Last time, a Grandmaster intervened; this time, there’s no such help.

...

"Found it, quite hidden indeed."

Su Mu stood atop a strange rock, looking far into the distance.

He finally saw the abandoned research institute nestled among the mountains.