Surpassing the original protagonist [Litrpg]

Volume Ⅰ: Beginning.

Arc Ⅱ: Survival Trial.

Chapter 25: Xu Long's overconfidence.

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A few days ago. ----

Lei Chang and Xu Long went back to the treehouse after coming out of the cave.

"Prepare your weapons." Lei Chang said seriously, cutting the wood from the tree.

"Why?" Xu Long asked doubtfully. He didn't feel like there was any need for hunting, as they are body-tempering realm experts.

Body-tempering realm experts could survive a month without eating!

Lei Chang remembered what happened at the end of the survival trial in the novel.

In the novel, over a hundred monsters attacked the kids. Despite the swift response of the coaches, who rushed to their rescue, they arrived too late to save everyone. Tragically, some of the kids perished in the onslaught.

He doesn't want that to happen, so he wants to kill those monsters before they can even enter the Mist Mountain Forest.

In the novel, the original MC survived due to an extra talisman that his brother placed on him secretly. As for others, they ran and hid, hoping to survive. The coaches placed a talisman on the kids, giving them some time, but it didn't last long.

"We are going to check the entrance of the Scarlet Monster Forest." Lei Chang said, making the arrows from wood with the short knife that Xu Long gave.

"Okay." Xu Long agreed, feeling that Lei Chang might have wanted to test his strength again.

He began sharpening his short knives, which dulled due to frequent use.

They prepared everything and reached the entrance of the Scarlet Monster Forest. Scarlet Monster Forest is on the west side of Mist Mountain Forest.

 On the east side of the Mist Mountain Forest is Mist Village, and on the west side is Scarlet Monster Forest, where monsters reside. They do not venture beyond the bounds of the Scarlet Monster Forest. 

'Spiritual energy here is so high.' Lei Chang thought he was feeling much more energetic than before.

Due to the high spiritual energy, monsters like to stay in that forest.

The sand on the ground is a little red; as one goes deeper and deeper into the Scarlet Monster Forest, the sand gets more redder. In the centre of Scarlet Monster Forest, the sand is as crimson as blood. This is why this forest is named 'Scarlet Monster Forest'. 

"Wait." Lei Chang stopped Xu Long from entering the forest.

"Why? "Didn't we come for training with monsters?" Xu Long asked doubtfully.

"No, monsters will come to us in a few days; we don't have to look for them." Lei Chang answered mysteriously, hiding something.

"Okay." Xu Long agreed, hiding his doubts like always.

Then he took his staff out and placed it on the ground.

 [ Ding! You activated Dao Skill 'Staff Meaning Lv.5: Mastery' ]

Staff shone with golden light, and soon the entire entrance, which spans over ten meters wide, was surrounded by golden light like a barrier.

[ Ding! You formed a barrier with 'Staff Meaning'

{Rank 1 Status}

HP: 100/100 

Defence: 3200 

Extreme Defence: 3500 ]

Meaning is the power of Dao; as it is Dao, it can be wielded in many ways. It can be used to form barriers as Lei Chang did, and it can also be used to form formations and so on.

The entrance to the Scarlet Monster Forest was very short, which allowed Lei Chang to easily cover it with his 'Staff Meaning'.

"Whoa!" Xu Long is shocked, looking at the golden barrier.

'I am now a body-tempering realm expert. I should test my strength on that barrier. I think I can break it.' Xu Long was very confident after he breakthrough.

He ran to the barrier and tried to test its strength.

He started with his finger, trying to poke. He used all his strength, but his finger couldn't even move a little forward. 

He is in the body-tempering realm, meaning his finger poke has a power of more than 500 kg; if he poked a mortal human, he would die on the spot.

Xu Long, seeing that his finger couldn't do anything, clenched his fists and punched it with his full force.

Boom!

Barrier withstood his punch like it was nothing.

"Hmm." Xu Long hummed, seeing its defence.

Bloom! Bloom!

He started punching with both hands and at a high speed as afterimages appeared.

Boom! Boom!

As Xu Long kept punching the barrier, sparks spread across it.

Seeing the sparks, a smile appeared on his face.

"Check the barrier's HP." Lei Chang said with a mischievous smile.

Xu Long, feeling confident in his power, checked the barrier status.

[ Staff Meaning Barrier

 100/100 HP ]

"Wait, how come its HP is still at its peak?" Xu Long asked, feeling a little weak.

"Didn't you still understand the power behind the 'Meaning'?" Lei Chang asked, feeling that Xu Long had a good memory.

"Yes, Meaning!" Xu Long shouted aloud, remembering the meaning.

 [ Ding! You activated Dao Skill 'Strength Meaning Lv.1: Invoke' 

 *10 Strength Boosts ]

[ Name: Xu Long

 { Rank 1 Status }

Strength: 11 ( ↑110 ) ]

His index finger shone with white light as he tried to poke this time.

The barrier didn't even budge as sparks spread over it.

Lei Chang was just smiling, looking at Xu Long. He felt that Xu Long shouldn't get overconfident due to becoming a body-tempering realm expert at such a young age.

To show that his power is so worthless and that he needed to become more powerful, Lei Chang didn't explain the actual power of the golden barrier that he made.

Just like Lei Chang expected, Xu Long was brimming with confidence like never before; he thought he could break the barrier made by Lei Chang, forgetting the actual strength difference between them.

[ Ding! You used the 'Basic Hammer Technique' ]

Xu Long took out his hammer and hit the barrier with his full strength as the hammer shone with white light.

There weren't even sparks on the barrier like before.

"What? How come there isn't any damage to the barrier when I used my full strength with 'Meaning' combined?" Xu Long asked doubtfully, seeing that there weren't even any sparks.

'Did my attacks get weaker with my Meaning?' Xu Long fell into thought doubtfully as the barrier didn't show any reaction to his 'Strength Meaning'.

"I give up." Xu Long said, feeling down.

He understood that his status wouldn't make any mistakes, so his 'Strength Meaning' is stronger than his normal attacks, but it couldn't affect the barrier, while somehow his normal attacks did, which was impossible, so Lei Chang was playing with him!

Xu Long was indeed correct; those sparks were created due to Lei Chang.

"So, how far do you rate your strength?" Lei Chang asked, looking at Xu Long, who was down.

"Stronger than many, but weaker than you." Xu Long replied smilingly, quickly regaining his confidence, remembering he was trying to break Lei Chang's barrier.

He became so overconfident that he thought he could take on Lei Chang!

He has decided, from then on, to never fight against him!

Lei Chang's eyebrows twitched hearing Xu Long's answer as he thought, 'Looks like I failed to take out Xu Long's overconfidence.'

"So, can you tell me it's a weakness?" Xu Long asked, wanting to know.

"The barrier doesn't have a weakness. Its only weakness is me." Lei Chang said pointing while pointing his finger at himself.

"You?" Xu Long scratched his head in doubt.

"The barrier is made by my 'Staff Meaning'. Its stat defence is equivalent to my defence stat. If I make a barrier after I get stronger, then the barrier's defence will also be more stronger."

"If an attack is stronger than it's extreme defence, then it would break on the spot, whereas attacks between normal defence and extreme defence would reduce its HP. Attacks below its normal defence wouldn't affect it." Lei Chang explained while looking for a place to sit.

"Okay." Xu Long cheered up, thinking that his decision to never fight against Lei Chang was correct.

Lei Chang then sat cross-legged and started to comprehend the Meaning.

Xu Long also sat in a nearby place, trying to comprehend the Meaning.

He first experimented with his 'Strength Meaning' trying to form a barrier like Lei Chang.

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 2 Strength Meaning ]

Poof!

Xu Long's 'Strength Meaning' just extended to one centimeter, and then it disappeared due to a lack of proper control.

"I can do it." Xu Long said, not discouraged after his first failure; he kept on training to form a barrier.

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 2 Strength Meaning ]

----

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 2 Strength Meaning ]

----

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 2 Strength Meaning ]

----------

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 2 Strength Meaning ]

One day quickly went by. ----

Xu Long failed every time, but he didn't stop.

He looked around and spotted that Lei Chang was still meditating.

He opened his Meaning status.

[ Name: Xu Long

Dao Skill: Strength Meaning (Lv.1) ] 

Xu Long tapped on 'Strength Meaning'.

[ Strength Meaning (Lv.1: Invoke):- A basic level of Dao power that grants the user enhanced prowess. Activating this ability imbues the user with tremendous strength, elevating them to a state of extraordinary might.

Exp: 500/2500 

 *10 Strength Boost ]

'2500 exp for the next level. It was very tough to collect just 1000 exp, much less 2500 exp.' Xu Long looked at the exp, feeling tired. 

He continued training after feeling tired for two minutes.

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 5 Strength Meaning ]

----

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 5 Strength Meaning ]

------

"Crazy Chang, can you tell me how to form a barrier with Meaning?" Xu Long asked Lei Chang's help after failing multiple times to form a barrier.

"Your Meaning level is too low. First, try to form small barriers or objects like a cube, cone, spear, or sword." Lei Chang explained the reason behind his failure.

"Thanks." Xu Long ran right away to train.

---

After two days. ---

Xu Long looked at the one-inch small cube in his hand.

[ Ding! You formed a small cube with 'Strength Meaning'

+50 Exp ]

"Yes, I did it, ahha." Xu Long laughed, not being able to contain his happiness.

"So much exp." Xu Long got happier looking at the exp gained.

He quickly calmed down and started to form a cone this time.

----

[ Ding! You tried to use your 'Strength Meaning' in an unusual way

+ 5 Strength Meaning ]

----

Xu Long failed in the beginning, but after training for a few hours, he got it right.

[ Ding! You formed a small cone with 'Strength Meaning'

+50 Exp ]

He looked at the cone in his hands. He was calm, as it wasn't his first time doing something like this. He continued to form different objects.

[ Ding! You formed a small sword with 'Strength Meaning'

+45 Exp ]

---

[ Ding! You formed a small spear with 'Strength Meaning'

+30 Exp ]

----

[ Ding! You formed a small sabre with 'Strength Meaning'

+15 Exp ]

Time passed by as Xu Long became an expert at forming objects with his 'Strength Meaning'.

'Looks like I can easily mold strength meaning.' Xu Long understood the reason behind the lesser exp.

Boom! Boom!

Lei Chang, and Xu Long stopped training and looked ahead.

An army of monsters rushed towards them. There were more than 100 Brownbrutes, and three foxes.

The Orange Fox King was leading two big foxes to Mist Mountain Forest from Scarlet Monster Forest. 

The Brownbrutes were following those two big foxes.

The foxes were one-third bigger than the orange fox. Those foxes have orange-coloured fur, a red-coloured tail, and a third eye on their forehead.

Mystic Fox!

One of the two foxes is male and the other is female; these foxes are a couple.

That orange fox king is the son of this couple; it brought its parents to kill Lin Mao.

"Roar"

"Roar."

Lei Chang looked at the group of monsters and remembered the cause from the novel. The fox king brought his monster parents to kill the guy who eliminated his followers.

He doesn't know who the fox king was, and he doesn't know who killed the orange fox king's followers, as it wasn't mentioned in the novel, so this is why he had to stay at the entrance. 

"Fatty, get ready to fight." Lei Chang shouted while taking out his staff.

End of the chapter. ___________________________________________________________________________________

Did you like the chapter.

The next chapter is on Thursday.