Vermillion Fruit

After mastering the Iron Bell Shield, its defense is unparalleled. When activated, it envelops the body like a great bell, offering supreme protection.

Furthermore, its Internal Force has two distinct characteristics. The first is its extreme defense against attacks targeting internal organs, making it immune to penetrating techniques like the Lingxu Sword Art.

Secondly, the Iron Bell Shield can reflect an opponent's attacks, significantly sending the enemy's offensive power back at them.

This ability is particularly effective against martial artists who excel in offense but possess weaker defenses.

It is said that once all three layers of the Golden Bell Shield are perfected, one can achieve the indestructible Golden Bell Body, capable of shocking opponents to death simply by standing still.

Chu Kuang, focusing his mind, diligently cultivated. The Golden Bell Shield's progress was swift. In just half an hour, he had advanced the Iron Bell Shield to [Great Accomplishment 65%].

"At this rate, it will only take about ten days to reach Perfection," Chu Kuang murmured to himself before slowly rising.

The spaceship traversed a field of asteroids and gradually slowed down before a celestial body with a diameter of over nine hundred kilometers.

"Gushen Star."

Looking at the star before him, a ripple passed through Chu Kuang's eyes.

The name Gushen Star originated from Earth's era; it was the smallest dwarf planet in the solar system a hundred thousand years ago.

Later, when human civilization opened up the Dark Domain, star classifications were redrawn based on Dark Domain levels. Gushen Star was reclassified among the asteroids, becoming the largest asteroid and a Level 1 Dark Domain.

With this foundation, after human civilization ventured beyond the solar system, to commemorate their origins in the solar system, they unified the naming of the largest asteroid in each star system as Gushen Star.

The Gushen Star before him had a diameter of 950 kilometers, its mass 1.13 times that of the solar system's Gushen Star. The situation regarding the Dark Domain exploration within it had never seen significant breakthroughs.

"Buzz—"

As Chu Kuang's thoughts drifted, the spaceship successfully docked.

Chu Kuang calmly disembarked and walked directly towards Gushen Star's Star Gate.

Here, he was subjected to an inspection by Federation officers. A middle-aged officer, upon seeing his information, frowned slightly and asked, "A first-year high school student, what are you doing here?"

"I'm going for some training."

Fearing the officer wouldn't let him pass, Chu Kuang didn't state his true intentions directly.

The middle-aged officer's brow furrowed slightly, and he shook his head, saying, "The Dark Domain of Gushen Star is an exploration zone. You need to be at least Life Level seven to enter."

"I meet the requirements."

Chu Kuang spoke, channeling his Internal Force to display his vigorous life force.

The middle-aged officer remained silent but led him to the inspection channel. As the instruments beeped, they detected his Life Level.

"Level 7.5. Your talent is quite good."

The middle-aged officer nodded, then added, "You're still a student, and it's your first time here, so I won't assign you any exploration missions this time."

"Remember, your priority inside must be safety. Absolutely do not venture into the core areas of the Dark Domain."

"I understand."

Chu Kuang nodded and quickly passed through the Star Gate into the Dark Domain.

As soon as he stepped into Gushen Star's Dark Domain, Chu Kuang felt an extreme cold assail him.

He glanced at the mercury thermometer on his wrist, finding that the temperature had instantly plummeted to a frigid minus thirty degrees Celsius. It was clear that the temperature in this Dark Domain was at least below minus seventy or eighty degrees.

Strangely, there was no snow in this Dark Domain; only black soil as solid as black rock.

The air was filled with a dense Source Energy. If Chu Kuang's cultivation hadn't reached a bottleneck, absorbing Source Energy freely here every day would be equivalent to consuming dozens of Nutrient Solutions.

"If I didn't have a bottleneck and just absorbed it freely every day, it would be like getting about 10,000 Federal Coins for free daily."

"A normal Grade 4 Bone Structure without any special traits would have a cultivation speed ten times slower than mine, but even then, it would be like getting five or six vials of Nutrient Solution for free each day."

Thoughts flashed through Chu Kuang's mind, and he decisively took out his bloodline detector.

Fortunately, the bloodline detector was still operational. A faint crimson light illuminated, vaguely pointing eastward.

"It's too far to pinpoint exactly, but this direction should still be towards Phoenix Valley."

Having confirmed Father Chu's direction, Chu Kuang picked up his spear and quickly headed deeper into the Dark Domain.

This Gushen Star was immensely vast, covering an area of over 600 million square kilometers, slightly larger than the surface area of Earth.

Chu Kuang was heading to Phoenix Valley, located over two hundred kilometers from the Star Gate entrance. Although not the core area of Gushen Star's Dark Domain, it served as a buffer zone between the human base and the alien races of Gushen Star's Dark Domain.

The distance of over two hundred kilometers was not far for Chu Kuang at his current level.

He activated the Thousand Jun Formation Breaker and sprinted, covering a hundred meters in a single breath. In just half an hour, he reached the edge of Phoenix Valley.

At this point, the bloodline detector in Chu Kuang's hand began to emit a scorching glow, clearly indicating he was getting closer to Father Chu.

"Almost there, Dad must still be inside Phoenix Slope."

Chu Kuang's heart filled with excitement as he followed the bloodline detector's location deeper into the Dark Domain.

Meanwhile, as Chu Kuang searched for Father Chu, in a hidden cave, Father Chu and Li Gang leaned against the stone wall, propped up by their battle sabers, their faces etched with extreme solemnity.

Li Gang was covered in blood, his battle armor on his chest shattered. Through the broken gaps in the armor, a ghastly sword wound could be seen.

Even though the broken Battle Armor blocked most of the damage, this wound wasn't fatal. However, the injury was turning black and festering.

"That Qin Jiu is too despicable. He's stronger than us but still resorts to poison."

Father Chu applied medicine to Li Gang while his eyes burned with anger.

The captain of the Azure Fang Squad, nicknamed "Viper" and also known as Brother Snake, wasn't top-tier among his peers, but he was incredibly troublesome.

Although he hadn't been directly struck by Brother Snake, he was still injured all over, clearly having been ganged up on by the enemy.

Li Gang gritted his teeth as Father Chu finished applying the medicine. His face pale, he said, "He was wary of our desperate final burst, so after scratching me, he didn't make another move. It looks like he plans to wait until my poison takes effect before acting."

"You should escape alone. You won't get far with a burden like me."

Father Chu's teeth ground together with a clicking sound. His eyes filled with unwillingness as he said, "No! Old Xu and Little Qian are dead. I can't abandon you."

Speaking of which, Father Chu added with immense frustration, "Can't our antidote even cure his poison?"

"This snake venom was specially concocted. Combined with his Azure Snake Strength Internal Force, it's extremely difficult to deal with. Unless we can return to the main universe, there's no way to remove the snake venom with our current resources."

Li Gang sighed, his face etched with helplessness.

Father Chu pondered for a moment, then took out a vermillion-red fruit and handed it to Li Gang. "Eat this Vermillion Fruit. It might be able to heal your internal injuries."

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