Chapter 519: What to do if your cultivation level is being caught up to? Urgent!

"Brother-in-law, I've grown a pimple."

"Where?"

"On my shoulder."

The young girl pulled her collar aside a little, revealing a small red pimple on her shoulder, and showed it to her brother-in-law.

Chen Shu turned his head at these words and looked carefully.

The little cat-girl beside them imitated his movements, also standing on tiptoe, stretching her neck, and raising her head high to look at Xiaoxiao's shoulder.

The snow-white, delicate skin was flawless, with a bright red pimple dotted upon it, like a small red bean placed on a milky iced drink; it was very cute.

The young girl looked at her brother-in-law and said, very puzzled: "I'm already a Fifth-tier Practitioner..."

So what if you're a Fifth-tier Practitioner?

You haven't really slept for over half a year, and you've only grown one pimple—what more do you want?

Chen Shu thought for a moment, his gaze moving upward, and soon it collided with her eyes; he withdrew his gaze and calmly delivered a verdict on her ailment:

"You're going to die."

"..."

The young girl stared straight back at him.

The little cat-girl was once again in great surprise.

"I'm joking," Chen Shu said to her. "But if you continue like before, staying up all day and all night without sleeping, it will definitely affect your lifespan."

"..."

The young girl blinked her eyes, not believing it at all.

Chen Shu gave a wink to the side.

Chen Banxia's gaze met her younger brother's for a moment, and she also spoke right up: "He's right. Even a High-level Practitioner cannot go without sleep for a long time, and if it's a Low-tier Practitioner, it will cause very serious damage to the body... and it's irreversible; even taking medicine might not be able to save it. I had a mentor who was researching this topic, and they said it was very difficult."

The young girl began to take it somewhat seriously.

The siblings exchanged a brief look, completing their visual communication.

"When are you going back to Yuanzhou? It's almost New Year's," Chen Banxia asked.

"I'm afraid I can't spend the New Year in Yuanzhou this year; there are too many things to do, I'm a bit busy," Chen Shu thought for a moment. "I'll go back tomorrow, come back the day after, and then I have to go to Nanzhou for cultivation again."

"So busy?"

"Opportunities are rare, after all," Chen Shu spread his hands helplessly. "Look at your little friend, didn't she not come back either?"

"Emmm..."

Chen Banxia momentarily wore a pained expression.

As a single female teacher, regardless of whether her brother was in Bai City for the New Year, she definitely had to go back. The only difference was that if her brother didn't go back, she would have to eat out or have Wei Lvshi cook during the New Year, and the food would naturally be much worse than what her brother made. And once a comparison was made, the huge difference between having a brother and not having one would be immediately exposed, further highlighting how useless she was as a daughter.

She would probably be scolded every single day.

"Sigh..."

The elder sister's mood sank.

In the following days, Chen Shu made a trip back to Yuanzhou, stayed for two days, and also returned to the Spirit Sect.

At the same time, Qingqing began preparing things for Nanzhou, which were the supplies left over from her previous time in Nanzhou—pots, bowls, ladles, and basins were all ready-made, while consumables like oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar needed to be replenished. As for bedding, tables, and cabinets, she had them, but she decided they wouldn't be needed because their accommodation wouldn't be fixed, so she bought a bus-style recreational vehicle; it had a large space and a reasonable layout, equivalent to a mobile home.

This trip would last about half a year.

Chen Banxia jokingly said they weren't going for cultivation, but for a vacation, and even suspected that the reason they came back halfway was just to replenish oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar.

Chen Shu praised her intelligence highly.

The time reached the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The little cat-girl, barefoot in the freezing weather, walked along the perimeter wall, glancing down at the two people below from time to time.

"Taozi."

"Hm?"

The little cat-girl looked down.

Chen Shu looked up to meet her eyes and urged: "Qingqing and I are leaving, you must study hard. By the time the next semester is over, Qingqing and I will be back. Qingqing's greatest wish is to see your final grades be all 'A's again."

The little cat-girl rolled her eyes, secretly peeking at Qingqing.

Qingqing was speechless, but she didn't argue.

"Okay~"

The little cat-girl said then.

"You must listen to Xiaoxiao more, but don't listen to everything. Although Xiaoxiao has rich life experience, some of that experience is problematic. Taozi Daren has the ability to distinguish good from bad, right?"

"Right... how do I distinguish?"

"Don't learn from her by eating potatoes every day, don't learn from her by not sleeping at night, and don't learn from her by doing strange things."

"Cats don't sleep at night."

"But you are a higher-order organism now."

"Oh! That's right!!"

"Also..."

Chen Shu walked close to the courtyard wall, leaned in toward the little cat-girl, and beckoned to her, looking mysterious.

The little cat-girl leaned her body toward him.

"Although Taozi Daren is young, she has always been very smart. I have always trusted Taozi Daren very much, even more than I trust Xiaoxiao..." Chen Shu wore an expression of entrusting her with a heavy responsibility and said with a frown, "Taozi Daren is already a mature higher-order organism. Besides studying hard yourself, I also want to ask Taozi Daren to help me keep an eye on Xiaoxiao, and don't let her stay up late all the time; it's not good for her health. I hope Taozi Daren can promise me."

"Okay!"

"This mission can only be completed by Taozi Daren."

"Okay!!"

"Let's pinky swear!"

"!!!"

The little cat-girl solemnly extended her hand to pinky swear with him, her gaze already resolute—

Night Watch Officer Taozi is back online.

Chen Shu gave the little girl a few more instructions, then set off with Qingqing.

……

Nanzhou, the land is desolate.

The young geniuses from the four great continents have been fighting here for half a year; over these six months, they have honed their coordination and increased their experience in collaborative combat, which has yielded huge gains, but the indigenous people of Nanzhou have never been fully cleared out, and in this regard, the gains have been very small.

These "humans" have been fighting against exotic beasts here for thousands of years, and their living environment is extremely harsh, which has limited the development of their civilization and technology, making them very backward in terms of civilization; however, the harsh living environment has also caused them to evolve unique technologies and survival skills. For example, the entire Nanzhou underground has been almost completely tunneled through by them—one must know this is an entire continent, with depths measured in thousands of meters—and coupled with exquisite Escape Techniques and hiding skills, once they hide into the thousands-of-meters-deep, interconnected underground filled with Defense Arrays, it is both very difficult to find them and very difficult to deal effective blows to them.

One cannot simply destroy the entire continent.

Even the periodic Zhan Lue Wu Qi bombardments only limit their development.

These "humans" are like rats or cockroaches.

Until suddenly one day, all the geniuses located in Nanzhou felt a will in the dark; this will was high and aloof, like a deity, yet not as vast and majestic as a deity, merely establishing some kind of connection with them.

This made them keenly feel that their positions and other information were being controlled by someone, and they could receive information conveyed from the other side.

At this time, in the west of Nanzhou.

The Group Leader, in a long robe, looked up at the sky: "The Command Center has arrived, huh..."

Beside him, Wu Eiwei's mask flashed with a cold light.

A hundred miles away, a delicate young Daoist also looked up at the sky, quickly withdrew his gaze, and muttered to himself: "Ninth-tier Secret Sect, truly terrifying..."

The monk beside him pressed his palms together: "Amitabha, the two of them have finally returned."

In the east of Nanzhou, Zhang Suannai was performing Sword Flight; feeling this consciousness, she immediately knew its source.

"Qingqing!"

Immediately, everyone followed Ning Qing's guidance, either dispersing and reorganizing or gathering into teams, combining and dispersing according to the optimal solution, and began heading to different places to precisely search for, fight, and clear out the Nanzhou indigenous people.

The true exercise began at this point.

And for Ning Qing, from her perspective, this process was actually very similar to playing chess or a strategy game; everyone was like her chess pieces, only the enemy's strength was not as clear as on a chessboard but hidden away, and she needed to slowly find them.

When the time comes to head to the exotic Plane, it will be the same method of fighting.

At the same time, Nanzhou is shrouded in the Divine Power of the exotic Plane, which has caused great interference with her abilities, and this also, to a certain extent, simulates the situation of the exotic Plane—

Even if High-Tier Heavenly Humans go to scout the path for her, igniting the darkness with their Life Fire and illuminating the laws of the exotic Plane, it certainly cannot compare to this Plane; the restrictions and influences she suffers there will likely be even greater than in Nanzhou.

Regardless, it is still much better than the original situation where everyone was scattered across the exotic Plane in the Zhu Ti Wei Mian, fighting and killing in the darkness on their own.

Even if one cannot find the opponent, one can at least gather everyone together.

Under her guidance, the clearing operation in Nanzhou suddenly hit the fast lane, and the efficiency of clearing and combat increased by an unknown amount compared to before.

Until ten days later, on New Year's Eve.

Under Ning Qing's guidance, all the geniuses located in Nanzhou gathered toward her and Chen Shu, temporarily ceasing hostilities for one day to celebrate the New Year together.

One must balance work and rest even while fighting.

Here is a Zhuo Mountain, tall and towering, with a huge flat surface on top like a table, and a large RV bus is parked on top of the Zhuo Mountain.

The sky in the distance rumbled, and the geniuses located all over Nanzhou gradually flew over.

The first to return was Chen Shu.

Previously, Chen Shu had been fighting alone, mainly responsible for clearing those gathering places that were not hidden very deep but had many people; his efficiency was very high.

Then came the Buddhist-Daoist duo.

"Amitabha..."

Dharma Master Tongdeng pressed his palms together to greet them.

Little Master Xuanzhen on the side also said with a smile: "Long time no see, I have even missed you."

Dharma Master Tongdeng smiled: "Same here."

With their cultivation reaching the Ninth Stage, plus the special nature of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, the two of them could roughly guess where Chen Shu and the other had gone during this time. But out of understanding, they never thought these two would desert the battle and not return.

Everything was destined.

"Long time no see."

Seeing this, Chen Shu also laughed: "The two masters, your rapport is getting higher and higher! Why don't you just give up on the idea of romance, Master Xuanzhen, and spend the rest of your life with Master Tongdeng; oh right, romance doesn't have to be with the opposite sex, don't be so rigid about gender..."

Little Master Xuanzhen's expression stiffened.

Dharma Master Tongdeng also fell silent.

Beside them, Ning Qing glanced at him lightly.

Chen Shu decisively shut his mouth, knowing when to stop.

This was Qingqing reminding him—

Having been to Earth in his past life for so long, although he did not stop cultivating there, because of the difference in time flow and the consumption of traversing the universe, from the time he left to the time he returned, eight or nine months had passed in Dayi, but the actual time he spent was only about four months. Four months versus eight months, everyone's cultivation had already caught up to or even surpassed his; his original cultivation advantage no longer existed.

One-on-one is still fine, but he definitely couldn't win a group fight.

Unless he used Space-Time Energy...

But if he did that, they wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Just at this moment, a Sword Light flew near from the distance.

"Whoosh!"

Zhang Suannai approached from afar, slowed down, and quickly switched from Sword-guiding flight to Sword Flight; just as she flew above the Zhuo Mountain, her voice was heard:

"Haha! Qingqing! Chen the Dog! Grandma is here! I've missed you guys to death!"

The Sword Immortal, dressed in modern attire, sheathed her Sword a hundred meters in the air, her figure plummeting at high speed before landing with a thud, causing the stone slabs to crack; the moment she touched the ground, she stared at the two of them and asked repeatedly: "Where did you two go? Right, Chen Shu, how is your cultivation level now?"

Regarding his cultivation, Chen Shu remained silent while simultaneously doing his utmost to restrain his Spirit Power.

He could not let them know about this matter...