CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 76 COSMIC CRYSTAL

The insect beast area is divided into the outer insect area and the core insect area.

Adjacent to the safe zone is the outer insect area, and the closer to the safe zone, the weaker the insect beasts are. The weaker insect beasts are driven to the edges of the insect area to serve as cannon fodder.

The closer to the core insect area, the stronger the insect beasts become, like a palace where the high-status individuals reside in the core area.

"So this is the core insect area," Wang Xu muttered as he stepped onto the ground, approaching the core insect area according to the directions on the light computer map.

This place is fraught with danger, and the flying battleship is too conspicuous a target, so Wang Xu simply put it away and proceeded on foot.

A dense jungle, the primitive scent of forests, streets and buildings turned into ruins everywhere; this was once a bustling city. After the insect beast army swept through, they completely occupied the place, built insect nests, and bred endless insect beasts as they grew stronger. The area became increasingly desolate.

"Tier Eight Steel Red Bees... Tier Nine Black Silk Light Spiders... Looks like I’ve reached the core insect area." From afar, Wang Xu saw many gigantic insect beasts entrenched here.

Occasionally, he could see battles between insect beasts. Low-tier insect beasts had low intelligence and only knew how to act on instinct, while high-tier insect beasts were intelligent, understanding how to divide their territory, find suitable environments, and occupy advantageous terrains. Any intrusion by another insect beast would spark a conflict.

Wang Xu flipped his palm, and the Carved Moon Cyan Dragon appeared. In the distance, two Tier Eight Steel Red Bees, as large as a human head, were agile, with their stingers containing deadly poison, so much so that even genetic warriors of the same tier dared not provoke them.

Step!

Wang Xu dashed out from concealment, his figure swift as a shadow, with the Carved Moon Cyan Dragon tracing an arc of light. As the Steel Red Bee perched on a tree to rest, it blinked its crimson compound eyes at Wang Xu’s sudden appearance, yet its reaction was one beat too late.

"Puff!" The arc of light cut through the Steel Red Bee, splitting it in half.

"Buzz!" The other Steel Red Bee reacted, vibrating its thin wings and quickly fleeing.

This Steel Red Bee was not foolish. With their "steel" moniker, one could imagine the strength of their bodies, but the fact that an enemy could dispatch them with a single strike showed that such an attack had exceeded what it could withstand.

"Trying to run?" Wang Xu dashed with explosive speed and swiftly cleaved it in half.

The two Tier Eight Steel Red Bees quickly became energy within Wang Xu’s body.

"Continue the hunt!" Having confirmed his location, Wang Xu began searching for insect beast traces and started hunting them.

In the core insect area, the insect beasts are not as rampant as in the outer insect area. The ones surviving here are all high-tier insect beasts with immense power. Wang Xu naturally cannot kill them en masse like in the hunting grounds, relying instead on luck.

If lucky, he might find a dozen or twenty Tier Eight insect beasts clustered together; if unlucky, he might encounter only one Tier Eight insect beast after half a day.

After hunting for an afternoon, Wang Xu had killed fewer than 200 insect beasts. There were simply too few insect beasts outside.

Deeper into the core insect area, Wang Xu finally encountered his first Tier Nine insect beast, the Red Thunder Ant.

A giant ant entwined with blue lightning, the Red Thunder Ant could knock down vast swathes with a single strike, naturally storing electrical energy within its body, immune to lightning.

However, in Wang Xu’s hands, this Red Thunder Ant couldn’t even last half a minute and was directly cleaved in two.

"Hmm... Tier Nine energy is indeed different." After absorbing the Red Thunder Ant, Wang Xu’s eyes gleamed. A single Tier Nine insect beast was equivalent to a thousand Tier Seven insect beasts, making it highly cost-effective.

Tier Nine energy provided a lot, but encounters were rare. Even at the battle group base, Tier Nine insect beasts were not commonly seen.

Wang Xu continued on his hunting journey...

......

Three days later.

"Whew~" Wang Xu sat cross-legged in a pool of blood, having just absorbed a Tier Nine insect beast. His body surged with energy, and the energy core converged and dispersed again.

In three days, Wang Xu came across just ten Tier Nine insect beasts, each with different forms and classifications, which he completely eradicated.

Wang Xu found that some Tier Nine insect beasts already possessed junior intelligence, understanding how to rule over a mountain, recruiting a group of insect beasts to serve it, akin to the monster kings in "Journey to the West," saving themselves the trouble of hunting as their subordinates naturally brought food to them.

Wang Xu was delighted, having destroyed three Tier Nine insect beast nests in one go, converting their subordinates entirely into energy.

"It’s a pity some Tier Nine insect beasts are solitary by nature. If only all of them had a group of underlings," Wang Xu sighed.

If other wilderness adventure teams heard this, they would likely want to stab Wang Xu a few times.

To them, solitary Tier Nine insect beasts were easier to kill, whereas a large group of minions complicated matters, adding formidable force that significantly increased the difficulty of hunting. If each Tier Nine insect beast had subordinates, they would only be left to lament helplessly.

After absorbing the energy, Wang Xu stood up, intending to continue his efforts.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Wang Xu looked up to see a figure swiftly approaching in the sky.

Venerable?

As the figure drew closer, Wang Xu suddenly sensed a killing intent.

"Scoundrel, let’s see where you can run!" The figure in the sky shouted angrily, launching a black palm shadow, brimming with overwhelming killing intent.

Wang Xu was startled. Is this Venerable targeting me?

Immediately, Wang Xu wielded his sword, emitting thousands of sword qi that gathered on the Carved Moon Cyan Dragon, slashing furiously towards the sky!

Boom!

The violent fluctuation suddenly exploded, forcing Wang Xu to step back a few steps, his face somber, his gaze extremely serious.

"Senior, I have no grievances with you in the past or recently. Why do you intend to kill me on sight?" Wang Xu said in a deep voice.

"No grievances or feuds?" The figure in the sky sneered, lifting the black cloak to reveal an old man’s face—it was none other than Hei Xi, the elder of the Hei Family!

"You killed my grandson Hei Teng, do you say we have a feud or not!" Hei Xi roared angrily, stepping into the air, his hand swelling to the size of a millstone and slamming down.

Wang Xu’s heart sank. He killed Hei Teng in the warship ruins, without leaking a word, and afterward, Celestial Spirit helped him eliminate the eyewitness Apostle. He didn’t expect the Hei Family to still find out.

The Cyan Dragon Moonblade swung again, transforming into a massive blade shadow that surged forward.

Thump, thump, thump.

Wang Xu retreated two steps again, his eyes dark and somber.

"Hmph! I knew it was you, indeed. Taking the first strike could be luck, but being able to take the second strike proves you truly have the strength to rival the Ultimate Venerable Level; Teng’er truly died by your hand!" Hei Xi snorted coldly.

Initially, Hei Xi was not sure if Wang Xu was the killer. The first two suspects he dealt with were killed instantly, their strength too weak to keep Hei Teng. This led him to doubt if he had chosen the wrong person.

But now he could be one hundred percent certain the Tier Eight student in front of him was the one who killed Hei Teng!

Hei Xi was an expert in the second realm of the Venerable "Liquefaction" level; even a first realm Venerable would struggle to resist his furious strike, yet Wang Xu had blocked it!

The truth was as clear as crystal.

Since he had already been found out, Wang Xu didn’t hide anything, straightforwardly saying, "Hei Teng didn’t deserve death initially, but he repeatedly threatened my family; not killing him would be intolerable!"

"A life for a life, it’s only right and proper, prepare to die!" Hei Xi roared angrily, the black hand suddenly extended, stretching over tens of meters, bombarding Wang Xu like raindrops.

Wang Xu’s figure moved agilely, dodging with ease. The Cyan Dragon Moonblade weaved lightly, like a fish swimming through all attacks, thrusting straight at Hei Xi!

Hei Xi countered with his palm, a tremendous force nearing a million kilograms crashed, sending Wang Xu’s Cyan Dragon Moonblade flying away.

"What a domineering Palm Technique!" Wang Xu marveled, realizing that this elder of the Hei Family was more powerful than Qing Zhun, and just based on power alone, he was already at a disadvantage.

Hei Xi’s black palm covered the sky, encompassing Wang Xu within. Wang Xu dodged passively, occasionally striking but never able to shake Hei Xi.

The gap was too great.

"Go!" Wang Xu immediately decided to temporarily avoid the conflict.

"Trying to escape?" Hei Xi saw Wang Xu’s figure retreating rapidly, coldly snorting. His two palms suddenly swelled, like two giant gates, intending to trap Wang Xu between them.

Wang Xu was horrified; his Heart Level Body Technique could predict attacks and make evasive moves, and even densely packed attacks were no problem. But now, there was no gap to dodge at all, and although Wang Xu’s speed surged, trying to break out of the attack zone of the palms, Hei Xi was even faster, leaving him no place to hide or escape!

Bang!

"Poof!" Wang Xu spewed a mouthful of blood, his face turning paler, whereas Black Xi’s attack had at least a million kilograms of force, which even with the protection of the Water Patterned Scale Armor, couldn’t be entirely offset; it was terrifying.

Wang Xu dared not delay, quickly running, feeling a wave of frustration in his heart.

Previously, when he encountered Qing Zhun, he was pursued like a homeless dog. If Celestial Spirit hadn’t timely teleported him into the Ancient Battleship, he might have already been beheaded by Qing Zhun. Now he was being pursued by another Venerable, with no room to dodge, utterly outrageous.

But Wang Xu dared not look back. If he acted impulsively, it would only lead to a dead end.

Boom, boom, boom!

Hei Xi walked through the air, his black palms raining down like raindrops. No matter how Wang Xu tried to escape, he couldn’t get out of Hei Xi’s attack range.

"Hmph! You damned thing, die!" Hei Xi coldly snorted, his black hand swelling again, forming two giant gates that trapped Wang Xu inside.

Wang Xu’s face changed dramatically; if hit again, he would be doomed.

"Dig underground!" Immediately, an idea struck Wang Xu. The Cyan Dragon Moonblade spun rapidly, digging a pit in the blink of an eye, and Wang Xu jumped in without hesitation.

"Trying to escape?" Hei Xi’s hand extended again, reaching into the pit, stirring violently.

Wang Xu furiously wielded the Cyan Dragon Moonblade, rapidly extending the pit underground.

Hei Xi’s hand kept extending, collapsing the ground, suddenly stopping. Hei Xi’s expression tightened, hatingly saying, "Damn, I’ve reached the limit."

The arm could no longer extend, allowing Wang Xu to dig more smoothly.

A hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

...

Wang Xu kept digging downward, while Hei Xi was unwilling to fall behind, blasting a pit with his palm and rapidly chasing Wang Xu.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Wang Xu stopped.

He saw in the soil before him, a transparent blue Crystal Stone glowing, only palm-sized but emitting an extremely dense Cosmic Energy. As soon as Wang Xu picked it up, he felt every cell in his body yearning for it, filled with a strong desire.

"This Crystal Stone is so mysterious, what on earth is it?" Wang Xu turned it over, inspecting it.

"Thief, where will you run this time!" Just then, Hei Xi arrived. He shouted angrily, readying to attack, but upon seeing the blue Crystal Stone in Wang Xu’s hand, his body froze, his expression instantly stupefied, then he trembled all over and yelled out:

"Cosmic Crystal?!"