Beast Taming: Slaughter Atlas-Chapter 382 - 330: The Terrifying Swarm

Early the next morning, Chu Chen walked out of the campus, looking at the empty gate with a bitter smile.

No one came to see him off, and a sudden sense of loneliness overwhelmed him.

However, Chu Chen wasn’t discouraged by this; he had chosen this path himself, and perhaps it was always meant to be a lonely journey.

With this thought, Chu Chen didn’t hesitate any longer, quickly disappearing into the crowd, heading towards home.

At this moment, a shadow hid in the shadows of a nearby building, quietly following the young man without making a sound.

After leaving the city gate, Chu Chen sat on the back of Shadow Kill and flew towards the distance.

After its breakthrough, Shadow Kill not only increased significantly in strength but also gained a considerable speed boost, being at least fifty percent faster than before.

If Shadow Kill were to unleash its full speed, even King-level Star Beasts skilled at flying would struggle to catch up in a short time.

Chu Chen didn’t just rush on his journey; he intentionally slowed down, heading towards areas dense with Star Beasts.

This was Chu Chen’s form of training, not sparing even the War General Level beings.

It took Chu Chen five days to cover just one-third of his journey, with his six Guardian Beasts going through hundreds of battles.

The problem of floating Star Power in Dofu was completely resolved, and Chu Chen endowed it with a second talent: Absorption.

Absorption at C-level allows Dofu to absorb more nutrients after eating, enabling it to grow faster.

There are three main reasons Chu Chen chose this talent: First, to help Dofu grow quickly so it can reproduce once it reaches the Growth Stage.

Second, reproduction consumes a lot of energy, and Absorption allows it to recover quickly and reproduce again.

Third, there’s a high probability Dofu’s offspring will inherit its talents, and if the mouse group also has the Absorption talent, their growth rate will be terrifyingly fast. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The strength of Cage and Feng Shuang was also steadily improving. Within five days, they broke through another minor realm, moving from Third Rank Commander Level to Fourth Rank.

The reasons for such a rapid breakthrough are primarily twofold.

First, high-intensity battles continuously push their potential, making strength enhancements faster than peaceful cultivation.

Second, Chu Chen provides them with Elixir Pills and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures every day for their cultivation needs.

Shadow Kill also performed well. Although its realm did not advance further, it had complete control over its vastly increased strength due to numerous battles, with its assassination abilities becoming even more terrifying. Its current record is instantly killing a Monarch-level Peak Star Beast.

Lastly, there’s Lei Yao and Nirvana. After reaching the Monarch Level, their cultivation speed slowed considerably; in these five days, Lei Yao did not break through, remaining at Third Rank Monarch Level, although it did advance from Early Stage to Mid Stage.

Nirvana just barely broke through to Second Rank Monarch Level, but continuing to improve moving forward has become slower.

It seems that after reaching Monarch Level, each realm improvement requires more Star Power, which isn’t good news for Chu Chen, who is eager to enhance his strength.

Of course, if Lei Yao and Nirvana can absorb enough blood and souls, their rate of strength enhancement might not slow down much.

Thinking of this, Chu Chen suddenly recalled his journey to Cyan Dragon City with Lu Hongfei when they were attacked by a group of Bursting Flying Locusts and Molten Earth Dragons.

Chu Chen had no thoughts about Molten Earth Dragons, being King-level Star Beasts, but he was quite interested in Bursting Flying Locusts.

If he could completely annihilate the Bursting Flying Locusts, he would not only gain a significant amount of Slaughter Value but also improve Lei Yao and Nirvana’s realms.

Previously, he had exchanged Evolution Formulas for Long Batian’s three Guardian Beasts, which depleted his hard-earned Slaughter Value, sharply decreasing his sense of security.

With a target in mind, Chu Chen no longer dawdled, instead sharply increasing his travel speed.

In just half a day, he arrived at the edge of the forest sea where the Bursting Flying Locusts resided.

Chu Chen checked the time; there was only one hour left until nightfall.

Instead of acting recklessly, Chu Chen chose to set up camp and rest a bit, planning to properly explore the forest sea once it was dark.

The number of Bursting Flying Locusts was terrifying, causing even the neighboring Molten Earth Dragons to avoid provoking them; otherwise, this vast forest sea would have long become their back garden.

After eating and drinking his fill, Chu Chen lay down to rest; any unwise Star Beasts passing by were scared off by the aura Lei Yao emitted.

Unknowingly, it was already late night. Chu Chen rubbed his sleepy eyes, forcing himself awake, and took out a bottle of water from his Spatial Ring, washing his face simply.

The night wind blew against his water-splashed face, and Chu Chen felt a cool sensation sweep over him, completely dispelling his little remaining sleepiness.

"Shadow Kill, let’s go." With that, he leaped onto its back.

Upon hearing this, Shadow Kill immediately flapped its insect wings and flew towards the forest sea. With the aid of Stealth and Mimicry, it instantly hid both Chu Chen and itself in the darkness, without leaking any trace of aura.

The forest sea was vast, inhabited by a diverse range of Star Beasts. After just a quarter of an hour in Stealth, Chu Chen spotted dozens of Star Beasts with varying strengths, none of which noticed Shadow Kill’s presence.

As Shadow Kill ventured deeper, the number of Star Beasts began to decrease, though there was no significant change in their strength.

According to Star Beast behavior, this situation was evidently unusual.

Whether in forests or mountains, the strongest individuals and groups are typically found in the central area, and Star Beast distribution follows the same pattern; the stronger the Star Beasts, the closer they reside to the center.

Of course, occasionally there would be deviations, usually due to Element concentration; there might be Element veins underground or some attribute-specific Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, or regions rich in Star Power.

In essence, those stronger Star Beasts would choose habitats with matching attributes or regions rich in Star Power.

However, Chu Chen had not sensed any such precious areas in the forest sea, leaving only one possibility: the Bursting Flying Locusts had already decimated or driven away the stronger Star Beasts in the vicinity.

This meant they were drawing closer to the Bursting Flying Locusts.

After another quarter-hour of Stealth, Chu Chen finally confirmed his suspicions.

The central region of the forest sea was entirely occupied by Bursting Flying Locusts, their numbers so colossal that they could only be described as terrifying.

Chu Chen didn’t dare act rashly; the purpose of this trip was merely reconnaissance. As the saying goes, "Know thyself and know thy enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles."

Given the terrifying number of Bursting Flying Locusts, one misstep, and he’d end up capsized in a ditch.

Chu Chen commanded Shadow Kill to cautiously scout deeper into the forest sea.

The deeper they went, the more shocked Chu Chen became, until he finally sighted the Insect King and let out a long sigh of relief.

The Insect King’s realm remained at Monarch-level Peak; if it had reached King Level, Chu Chen could only choose to give up.

After all, a King-level Insect King leading a massive swarm would be more than enough to easily handle Chu Chen.

After a quarter-hour, Shadow Kill had scouted the entire central region; the number of Bursting Flying Locusts reached a horrific hundred thousand, with their strength ranging between War General Level and Commander Level. Only a small portion had reached Lord Level, and there were only a dozen or so at Monarch Level, all serving as guards around the Insect King.

Such a fearsome lineup even a King-level Star Beast wouldn’t be able to contend with the Insect King.

As such, any decapitation tactics could only die before they were even born.