Chapter 2282: Chapter 2284: Encounter
Feng Jun observed the plants, and after the others digested this information, they were curious and used the telescope to take a look—after all, it was a rare sight, even the Golden Core Masters from both sects took turns to get a closer look.
The only exception was Yi Jue. She had examined most of the items in Feng Jun’s possession, and she had her own telescope.
She was now considering, "It seems the flying boat can no longer approach, let’s go alone."
"I have an Invisibility Talisman," Feng Jun was the first to express his stance, "I am particularly interested in the third planet."
There’s no helping it; he was born on Earth, and upon hearing about plants on the third planet, he felt a strange sense of nostalgia.
"As if nobody else has an Invisibility Talisman," Yi Jue snorted coldly, "There’s no way you’d be the one going to explore the planet."
"Indeed," True Immortal Huo Liu promptly nodded in agreement with his elder, "Mountain Master Feng, your cultivation level is a bit lacking. Even though there might not be any danger on the planet, to be on the safe side, you better wait here for updates."
Feng Jun glanced at him, "Do you have an Invisibility Talisman?"
Invisibility Talismans were indeed rare, and only due to his bustling business dealings over the past two years, with many seeking favors from him, was he able to obtain a few.
True Immortal Huo Liu shook his head, "I don’t have an Invisibility Talisman, but I have the Art of Wood Concealment. If the Elder carries a hint of my aura inside, they can directly guide me over."
Yi Jue also nonchalantly remarked, "No worries, I have more than one Invisibility Talisman."
"I also have the art of invisibility," Elder Cang Jing stated, then looked toward his sect’s True Immortal, "My junior brother and I will take one planet, Yi Jue and Huo Liu can take another, no issues, right?"
"The third planet is ours," Yi Jue decisively stated, "Elder Cang Jing will handle the fourth."
"I refuse," Elder Cang Jing teasingly countered, "I feel a connection with the third planet, Yi Jue, you can take the fourth one."
Yi Jue gave her a cold look without responding, and instead continued to address Qing Ji, "I will leave Mountain Master Feng’s safety in your hands."
Elder Qing Ji nodded, then said, "Protecting him is not a problem, but... should we remain on the flying boat?"
She thought that although the flying boat was still quite far from the star system, being so blatantly visible here could be bad if discovered by the Insect Race.
Huo Liu felt she was overthinking, "At such a distance, even Nascent Souls wouldn’t be able to perceive us, would they?"
Elder Qing Ji glanced at him, a bit dissatisfied internally, thinking, "I’m speaking with Yi Jue, do you consider yourself qualified to interrupt?"
Nonetheless, she masked her emotions well, "Insect Races have their own innate talents, which shouldn’t be underestimated, and... what if there are beings in the Emergence Stage? It’s better to be cautious in exploring alien worlds."
"Emergence Stage," True Immortal Huo Liu curled his lips, clearly expressing his disdain—an Emergence Stage in the Insect World?
Though he was straightforward, he knew better than to openly confront Elder Qing Ji, so he merely stated, "Alright then, better to exercise caution."
Feng Jun wished to insist further, but clearly, he could no longer assert his stance, so he wisely suggested, "Then why don’t we choose a planet to hide on?"
"That works," Elder Qing Ji nodded, compared to remaining in the empty cosmos, hiding on a planet would present a smaller target, "I’ll take a look at other planets."
Then he walked over to the telescope, leaned in, and carefully observed.
Meanwhile, on the third planet, atop a towering tree over two hundred meters tall, a red light the size of a car wheel illuminated, followed by the onset of inaudible infrasonic waves.
Soon, an insect the size of a luxury bus flew over, resembling a centipede but with more than ten pairs of transparent, membrane-like wings on its back.
The Flying Centipede landed at the treetop and grudgingly spoke, "Blind one, what trouble are you brewing again?"
The red light dimmed, and out popped a car-sized head that looked like a caterpillar’s head.
Indeed, it was a caterpillar, but with a disproportionately large head and a relatively small body, the head was car-sized, and the body merely twice the size of the head—on Earth, it would certainly be considered an abnormal caterpillar.
This insect was quite fierce within the Insect World and belonged to the Tianmu Insect Clan; it possessed compound eyes that were particularly distinct in their visual capabilities—virtually blind to stationary objects but had excellent vision for moving things.
The Tianmu Insect relied on this ability for predation, feeding on other insects, often hunting those larger than itself—it was undeniably fierce, yet it served another purpose as an early warning system.
This particular insect was at the Golden Core Stage cultivation level; typically, Tianmu Insect heads aren’t this large—the higher the cultivation level, the larger the head. Qi Refinement Realm Tianmu Insects had body proportions akin to Earth’s caterpillars.
This Golden Core Tianmu Insect perched on the treetop, essentially scrutinizing the cosmos, serving as an early warning post for the entire planet’s Insect Race.
This kind of broad-spectrum routine early warning most often proved to be ineffectual, which was why this planet had only four such warning points, overseen by four Golden Core Tianmu Insects, without any substitutes.
It felt nothing when called a "blind man" by the Flying Centipede because it knew the other was jealous of its eyesight, "Just now a UFO disappeared instantly, ten thousand miles away."
"Ten thousand miles away?" The Flying Centipede flapped its wings dismissively—its wings were actually just decorative; its ability to fly was because it was also in the Golden Core Stage, "So, did it stop moving or vanish? Is your eyesight really that good?"
"Whether my eyesight is good or not, it’s none of your damn business," the red light on the top of the Tianmu Insect’s forehead flashed again—actually, the red light was a crystal nucleus in its forehead that it could control to blink on and off.
In the past, the blink of this crystal nucleus was used to lure small insects—it needed those bugs to move around, but since it was now warning the entire Insect Race, a bright red light signified there was trouble.
It issued a serious warning, yet this time it was the Flying Centipede that came, making it extremely annoyed, "Anyway, I issued the warning, you have to report it, or I’ll eat you!"
But the Flying Centipede wasn’t afraid of it, "Eat me? If you report a false alarm, it’ll be me eating you then."
"You eat me?" The Tianmu Insect was not good-tempered and blatantly underestimated its opponent, "Just you?"
"I can spit venom," The Flying Centipede realized it might not be able to defeat the "blind man," so it emphasized its own advantage.
The two... the two insect creatures exchanged a few insults, neither being able to subdue the other, and the alert issue was temporarily put aside. The key was that the Tianmu Insect didn’t understand how the moving thing could disappear suddenly.
Yi Jue and Cang Jing headed to the third and fourth planets while Elder Qing Ji believed the sixth planet was more suitable for hiding—the planet’s temperature was extremely low, yet it had two active volcanoes.
Qing Ji thought she might be able to find a lava pool there anyway, with nothing better to do.
As for the insect race on that planet, Qing Ji believed the possibility was not high; most of the insect race were cold-blooded and couldn’t adapt to the freezing weather.
The temperature at the volcano was slightly higher, but the affected range was limited, and the insects themselves feared high temperatures, even the zone between cold and hot was barely enough for some insects, up to Golden Core at best.
The active volcano was indeed a significant advantage for Qing Ji—the Jinwu Sect’s cultivation focused precisely on those aspects.
Feng Jun thought this choice was great, after all, for him, as long as they could land, it was good—what if he could find another gold mountain?
Nevertheless, he suggested, "Take care when heading there; it would be easier to handle any potential dangers."
Elder Qing Ji didn’t care much inwardly—having explored so many star systems, they hadn’t seen any powerful insect race.
But she couldn’t oppose his advice, as caution was crucial in interdimensional exploration, "Alright, I also have invisibility means, you first head to the sixth planet, choose a concealed spot and then come pick me up."
Ultimately, free transport is convenient, and since Xiao Ma was willing to take the trouble, she might as well follow his lead.
Feng Jun didn’t mind this minor issue; he was more concerned about safety. With Elder Qing Ji fully entrusting him, he activated the Invisibility Talisman and rushed all the way there.
The star systems are quite vast, it took him five days to reach the location, even expending Spiritual Energy all along.
The consumed Spiritual Energy was trivial, but he used five Invisibility Talismans.
Compared to contributions made in other three star systems, this time it was a huge loss; however, the cost was irrelevant, given the gains from that golden mountain. Feng Jun’s exploration of the Insect World, no matter the expenditure, only aimed for safety now.
Not to mention, the sixth planet was indeed extremely cold; Feng Jun spent a day there and discovered... the highest temperature was minus forty degrees Celsius, hardly bearable for any ordinary person.
After testing the temperature, he used footprints to return to the starting point.
Qing Ji had already hidden her form, sensing his return, then came over, and thus he led her and the Golden Core Master to return together.
The Golden Core Master following Elder Qing Ji originated from Yuangang Sect and was a female cultivator. Upon landing, she gritted her teeth, "So cold, can you set up a Spiritual Qi Shield?"
"No!" Feng Jun and Elder Qing Ji answered in unison; now really wasn’t the time to be willful, Elder Qing Ji even unhappily remarked, "If discovered, can you bear the responsibility?"
This female cultivator had some background, but ultimately pursed her lips, daring not to utter a word.
"Let’s dig a ground hole first," Feng Jun had some experience in resisting the cold, "Wait a while, tomorrow we’ll head to the volcano."
The three dug over a hundred zhang underground, finally feeling less cold, so they rested a whole day and approached a volcano in the following evening.
There were indeed some small insects near the volcano, and Yuangang’s female cultivator eagerly wanted to kill them, but was stopped by Qing Ji True Immortal, "At most insects at the Emergence Stage, there can’t be any stronger, let’s let them go, why expose ourselves?"
This female cultivator blinked, confusingly asking, "Couldn’t we just eliminate all these small insects? Do we need to let them go?"
Elder Qing Ji gave her a look and sighed, "Do you really not regard the Incense Fire Ascension as anything?"
(Three updates are complete, just the last three hours left, summon the double monthly tickets diligently.)
