Chapter 7 You call this sleeping? This is enlightenment!

However, the expected agonizing pain of shattering bones didn't come; instead, a deafening roar exploded above her head.

This was followed by the tooth-aching sound of snapping bones and a shrill, distorted beastly howl.

"Boom—!!"

The violent shockwave was like a passing typhoon, uprooting the surrounding bushes.

Su Qingyue's hair was disheveled by the blast. She snapped her eyes open, her pupils instantly shrinking to pinpoints.

She saw a figure, not particularly tall, standing before her like a towering Primordial Divine Mountain.

Jiang Chen held up the sky with one hand.

The massive foot of the Vajra Ape, covered in thick rock armor and completely disproportionate to his size, was actually held up by his bare hand!

Not only was it held up, but the ground beneath Jiang Chen's feet cracked like a spiderweb, his legs sinking into the mud up to his knees, yet his hand remained as steady as Mount Tai, unmoving.

At the contact point between his palm and the giant foot, sparks were even flying from the friction of the terrifying pressure.

What made Su Qingyue's scalp tingle and gave her goosebumps even more was...

Jiang Chen's eyes were closed.

His breathing was long and deep, even carrying a peculiar rhythm, as if... he were truly asleep.

Around his body, besides the surging power of Blood Qi, there was a faint, almost invisible purple ripple—the manifestation of highly condensed Mental Energy!

[Warning! The host's sleeping environment has been severely disturbed.]

[Noise Level: 120 decibels (Unbearable).]

[Waking Up Anger Charge: 100% (MAX).]

[Passive Skill Activated: Nightmare Rage.]

[Effect: Next strike power increased by 500%, ignores defense, guaranteed critical hit!]

Jiang Chen's current state was very strange and very irritable. He was having a dream.

In the dream, he was lying on a five-hundred-square-meter bed, about to enjoy a wonderful nap, when a reckless gorilla insisted on dancing at his bedside and tried to stomp his pillow flat.

Unforgivable. Simply unforgivable!

"Scram."

In reality, Jiang Chen's lips moved slightly, spitting out an extremely cold word.

The next moment, the hand supporting the giant foot suddenly twisted, his five fingers digging into the Vajra Ape's iron-hard skin like steel hooks, and then—

An over-the-shoulder throw!

"Up!"

Under an unbelievable monstrous strength, the violent Vajra Ape, weighing several tons and capable of crushing a tank, was actually swung up by Jiang Chen like a ragdoll!

Whoosh—

The massive dark shadow traced a perfect semicircle in the air.

Boom!!

The Vajra Ape was slammed heavily onto the ground, making the entire forest seem to jump.

A man-shaped crater appeared in the ground, dust billowing everywhere, and the rock armor on the Vajra Ape's back shattered instantly.

But it wasn't over. Jiang Chen didn't let go; as if venting his anger from a poor sleep, he swung the Vajra Ape and slammed it again.

Once to the left. Boom!

Once to the right. Boom!

"Roar... woo..."

The previously invincible Rank 2 Peak overlord was now being beaten without any power to fight back, blood spraying from its mouth and nose, the fierce light in its eyes long since turned into deep terror. It couldn't understand why this small human contained a power even more terrifying than its own!

"I'll teach you to be noisy! I'll teach you to be noisy! I'll teach you to dance!"

Jiang Chen kept his eyes closed, slamming it with every word he spoke. His movements were simple and crude, yet filled with a violent aesthetic.

Until the tenth slam.

Every bone in the Vajra Ape's body was shattered, and it lay limp on the ground like a puddle of mud, breathing its last.

[Ding! Killed a Rank 2 Peak Demonic Beast.]

[Warning: Mental Energy overdrawn by 99%! Forced shutdown imminent!]

As the System notification faded, that terrifying Aura instantly dissipated.

Jiang Chen's body swayed, and his face suddenly turned deathly pale.

Although this "Nightmare Rage" was satisfying, for his current self, it was like a water pump, instantly draining his "mana bar" (Mental Energy).

"So sleepy... need to recharge..."

Jiang Chen murmured, falling straight backward.

Su Qingyue instinctively rushed over to catch him.

However, Jiang Chen didn't lie quietly in her arms. Instead, in the final moment before losing consciousness, he instinctively sought an energy source, his hands tightly gripping Su Qingyue's thighs and slender waist, his face buried deep in her lower abdomen.

"Mm!"

Su Qingyue's body stiffened. Just as she was about to push him away, she suddenly felt a strange suction coming from Jiang Chen.

The thin phoenix blood in her body, which usually caused her agonizing pain, actually flowed continuously toward Jiang Chen through the contact points.

At the same time, a cool, pure stream of Mental Energy flowed back from Jiang Chen's body, instantly washing through her Sea of Consciousness.

That feeling... was like someone who had been trekking in the desert for three days suddenly getting a sip of ice-cold Sprite.

So comfortable!

Su Qingyue's previously tense nerves instantly relaxed, and the headache from long-term insomnia vanished, replaced by a Soul-level thrill and pleasure.

She couldn't even help but let out an extremely embarrassing low moan.

"Nn..."

Just then, rapid footsteps came from the distant woods.

"Quick! The vibration just now came from this direction!"

"The flare was near here; Su Qingyue and the others must be in danger!"

Several figures rushed out of the forest. Leading them was the Dean of Students, followed by Mu Qingxue and several fully armed teachers.

When they saw the scene before them, everyone gasped, their jaws nearly hitting the ground.

The mountain-like corpse of the Vajra Ape lay miserably in the crater, surrounding trees collapsed in a mess, as if a catastrophe had occurred.

And Su Qingyue was holding the fast-asleep Jiang Chen, sitting in the middle of the ruins, her beautiful face flushed and her eyes dazed.

"This... is this a violent Vajra Ape?!" The Dean of Students' voice was trembling. "It's dead?"

Mu Qingxue rushed to their side immediately. Although she was also shocked by the Demonic Beast's death, her gaze lingered more on their posture—where were this kid Jiang Chen's hands?!

She pulled Jiang Chen's hands away and checked Su Qingyue's injuries: "Qingyue, are you okay? Who did this? Did a high-level Martial Artist pass by?"

In the teachers' minds, it was absolutely impossible for two students to kill a Demonic Beast of this level.

Su Qingyue had regained her senses by now. She looked at Jiang Chen, who was sleeping soundly in her arms even while unconscious, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

If she told the truth, would anyone believe her?

To say that this Sleep God, who was at the bottom of the school rankings, had beaten a Vajra Ape to death while sleepwalking? Even she felt it sounded like a joke. More importantly, the feeling of energy complementarity just now made her realize that Jiang Chen held a startling secret.

Moreover, her intuition told her that if she exposed Jiang Chen's true strength now, it might bring him huge trouble.

Since you are my "sleeping pill," then I will protect you this once.

Su Qingyue took a deep breath and pulled out an ancient, already shattered jade talisman from her bosom, which still carried a faint trace of spiritual energy fluctuation.

"It's the 'Earth-Shaking Talisman' my grandfather gave me," Su Qingyue lied without blinking. "The situation was critical just now, and I was forced to detonate the talisman. Jiang Chen was knocked unconscious by the shockwave while trying to protect me."

The teachers suddenly understood.

"So it was Old Master Su's method; that explains it." The Dean of Students made a "reasonable" deduction. After all, the Su Family was wealthy and powerful, so it was normal to give their granddaughter a life-saving trump card. "Regardless, being able to kill a Rank 2 Peak Demonic Beast means the first place in this trial belongs to you."

Only Mu Qingxue frowned.

As someone at the half-step Organ Refining Realm, she vaguely sensed a terrifying Mental Energy fluctuation remaining at the scene, which was definitely not something a jade talisman could cause. She glanced at the snoring Jiang Chen, a hint of suspicion flashing in her eyes.

...

The trial ended.

Jiang Chen and Su Qingyue's team, carrying a pile of enviable Demonic Beast Materials, crushed everyone else without suspense.

On the leaderboard, their score was an astronomical figure that drove the second place to despair.

On the bus back to school.

After sleeping next to Su Qingyue, the "human power bank," the whole way, Jiang Chen finally "woke up."

[Ding! Battery fully charged.]

[Obtained a large amount of Vitality Essence.]

[Current Realm: Qi and Blood Realm, Fourth Level!]

[Detected that the host has displayed extreme masculine charm; Sleep Companion (Su Qingyue) favorability significantly increased.]

[Unlocked Special Privilege: You can enter a 5-meter radius of Su Qingyue to sleep at any time without being driven away.]

Jiang Chen stretched, feeling refreshed all over, his bones making a series of crisp popping sounds.

"Awake?" Su Qingyue's cold voice came from beside him, but there was an imperceptible trace of tenderness in it.

Jiang Chen turned his head and found that everyone on the bus was casting glances toward them, intentionally or not. Su Qingyue was staring at him, her gaze extremely complex.

"Um... if I said that monkey was trying to scam me and ran into me on purpose, would you believe me?" Jiang Chen tried to gloss it over.

"What do you think?" Su Qingyue gave him a look. This glance actually had less coldness and more of a playful reproach. "I don't want to ask too much about your secrets. However, I'll remember this favor. From now on at school, if anyone dares to trouble you, just say my name, Su Qingyue."

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up: "Since it's about repaying a favor, can I go to your dormitory..."

"Scram!" Su Qingyue's face instantly turned bright red.

"Alright."

Watching the two of them "flirting," Zhao Feng in the back row had squeezed his water bottle until it was severely deformed, spilling water all over his pants.

"Jiang Chen..."

A venomous light flickered in Zhao Feng's eyes, and a cruel sneer curled his lips. The man in black beside him whispered in his ear, "Young Master, although Su Qingyue covered up the scene, I detected a very strong residual Mental Energy. That kid is a bit strange."

"Strange?" Zhao Feng sneered, pulling a foul-smelling Medicinal Pill from his pocket. "No matter how strange, he's just in the Qi and Blood Realm. This time, I'll personally cripple him in front of all the teachers and students, letting him know the consequences of offending my Zhao Family!"