The Abyss Church

"Pure Strength max 698 kg, average 695 kg!"

The results from the Strength Tester blazed before everyone's eyes, forcing them to accept reality.

Zhao Qiankun now believed it too—Qi and blood tests might sometimes be off, but strength didn't lie.

He didn't suspect the tester was broken either; after all, so many had tested before, so why would it malfunction only when Chen Mo used it?

"Chen Mo, your strength isn't faked, and the result stands. However, to convince your classmates, I still need to check the tester."

Zhao Qiankun did this to dispel any doubts about Chen Mo. Without this step, the students would still harbor suspicion.

That would affect Chen Mo later, especially with jealous classmates spreading rumors—making things far worse.

As a homeroom teacher, he knew his students' personalities well.

"Alright, teacher!"

Chen Mo understood Zhao Qiankun's intent.

He didn't want to make things difficult for Zhao Qiankun either. If Zhao Qiankun skipped checking the tester, it would leave room for gossip.

If rumors spread that the teacher was covering for a student, it would harm them both.

Since Zhao Qiankun had said this much, the other students naturally stayed quiet.

No one wanted to offend the teacher in front of him, and they had no grounds to protest.

Even Song Hao didn't dare step forward to target Chen Mo.

Because Zhao Qiankun was a fair man—he wouldn't side with him to slander or pick on Chen Mo.

Everyone watched as Zhao Qiankun inspected the tester. He stepped aside and ran routine checks.

After finishing, he casually threw a few punches at the tester, and the display numbers spun wildly.

"Max 5687 kg, average 5656 kg!"

Seeing those numbers, all the students gasped.

That was a martial artist's strength—and just Zhao Qiankun's casual output!

Now they all saw the gap between a martial apprentice and a martial artist.

The difference in strength was nearly tenfold!

Chen Mo finally understood that "no leaving the city until you're a martial artist" wasn't empty talk—it was the truth.

It also indirectly showed one thing: the Fierce Beasts outside the city were extremely dangerous. A single burst of several thousand kilograms of force wasn't something a martial apprentice could handle.

Keeping those below martial artist rank inside the city was truly for their protection.

Chen Mo calculated his own strength in his mind. With his Basic Saber Technique at the Perfection level, he could at most unleash twice his own power.

That meant his strongest strike wouldn't exceed 1400 kg.

He was still very weak.

Zhao Qiankun was a Seventh-grade Martial Artist. A full-force strike would definitely exceed 10,000 kg—ten tons of power.

And Chen Mo's current strength wasn't even a tenth of Zhao Qiankun's!

Seeing the shock in everyone's eyes, Zhao Qiankun felt satisfied:

"Alright! I've checked it—the tester is fine. That means Chen Mo didn't cheat!"

"As for why Chen Mo's qi and blood grew so fast, that's everyone's own opportunity. Some people suddenly have a breakthrough in insight, their Stance Training reaches Major Accomplishment, and they absorb energy from Qi and Blood Pills and Fierce Beast Meat more efficiently."

"Besides, when qi and blood is below 70, it can grow quickly. If someone has an awakening, this is possible!"

"As for other reasons, some rare treasures can also boost qi and blood quickly, but they're hard to come by—even the children of big families might not have them."

"In Chen Mo's case, he wouldn't have the luck to obtain such treasures. You all know that if a rare treasure appeared, the whole of Jiangbei City would be in an uproar."

"Also, in your culture classes, the teacher should have told you: rare treasures only reach their full effect when refined into pills. Taking them raw is a waste."

Zhao Qiankun knew Chen Mo's situation well. A few days ago, he had taken leave due to an accident—there was no way he had obtained any treasure.

He said all this to clear Chen Mo's name, explaining that Chen Mo hadn't used rare treasures to boost his qi and blood so fast.

"Teacher, Chen Mo really did have an awakening—I saw it myself." Jiang Tao quickly stepped forward to vouch for Chen Mo.

"On Saturday, Chen Mo and I went to the martial hall to train. He took just one day to raise his Basic Saber Technique from Minor Accomplishment to Perfection!"

"Hiss!"

Everyone gasped again!

Many couldn't believe it. If that were true, Chen Mo's insight was terrifying!

"That's impossible!" Song Hao refused to believe it. If Chen Mo had such monstrous insight, what was he, the so-called genius?

"If that's really the case, what have we been training for all these years? Are we all just trash?"

"Jiang Tao, don't cover for Chen Mo. His qi and blood skyrocketed so fast—he must have taken banned drugs!"

"Chen Mo, answer honestly: when you took leave last week, did you come into contact with Abyss Cultists?"

At the mention of Abyss Cultists, everyone showed expressions of fear and disgust.

Zhao Qiankun furrowed his brow even deeper.

Abyss Cultists were members of the Abyss Cult, a heretical organization that worshipped the God of the Abyss, was anti-human, and took the eradication of humanity as its mission.

Their creed was to let Abyssal Fierce Beasts rule Blue Star and wipe out all humans.

They prided themselves on becoming part of the Abyss, wantonly destroying human cities, committing every conceivable evil, and frantically conducting human experiments.

It was utterly insane.

The Beast Tide five years ago was only able to breach Jiangbei City because Abyss Cultists collaborated from within, allowing the fierce beasts to enter and slaughter countless ordinary people.

The power Abyss Cultists obtained was the fruit of their experiments.

Abyss Cultists were martial artists fused with beasts, also known as Beast Warriors.

These Beast Warriors spliced their genes with those of fierce beasts to rapidly gain power, and during battle, they could even transform into beasts, making their combat prowess fiercer than that of ordinary fierce beasts.

However, such Beast Warriors had many drawbacks.

First, to break through to higher realms, they needed to fuse with more and stronger fierce beasts. The consequence was that their bestial nature became difficult to suppress, requiring slaughter to alleviate it.

If they couldn't suppress it, they would completely turn into a beast, knowing only slaughter.

Second, their comprehension did not improve much. Most Beast Warriors relied on their formidable physiques to fight, and in battle, they easily went mad and lost control.

Once maddened, their power surged, allowing them to fight across two or three minor realms within the same major realm.

Therefore, dealing with a single Beast Warrior required two or three martial artists of the same realm, or one martial artist three minor realms higher, to avoid accidents.

Even with these drawbacks, it couldn't stop people's thirst for power. Thus, many were seduced by Abyss Cultists and threw themselves into their embrace.

In truth, ordinary people were merely their experimental materials.

An anti-human organization was universally reviled; no normal person would tolerate these Abyss Cultists.