The Charm of That Kick
Emerging from the wormhole, the starry sky was brilliant and utterly silent.
Everyone has felt this way: when looking up at the universe, one always feels insignificant, and even planets seem like dust.
Now, the New Star is nowhere to be found. Even with warships scanning deep space, they can't find that familiar star region at all.
It's hard to imagine how many light-years they traveled and how far they were from their homeland.
Wang Xuan even wondered if it was a different universe?
Not only him, but many members of the expedition team had similar thoughts: was there a completely new star field behind the wormhole, or a parallel universe?
Top-tier organizations that possess space jump technology might know this.
Wang Xuan glanced at Zhao Qinghan and found her very serious, looking at a document in her hand and thinking about something, so he gave up the idea of talking to her about this topic.
Exploring the secret realm is the most important thing right now; there's no need to think about anything else.
Inside the warship, a young man handed Zhao Qinghan a cup of fragrant natural beverage and whispered, "Take a rest."
This is an important member of the team, named Zheng Rui, from the Zheng family that owns the "Origin Life Research Institute," and he has a cooperative relationship with Zhao Qinghan.
The expedition team consisted of 36 members who were to enter the secret realm, 12 of whom were brought by Zheng Rui.
"Thank you." Zhao Qinghan put down the documents and took the drink.
The crew on the warship were all silent. The next few days might be a struggle between life and death, and some were destined to leave their lives on that planet.
The warship activated its Warp Drive and traversed the vast universe. The wormhole was not located adjacent to the dense landmass, clearly due to security considerations.
It will take them about four hours to enter the star system where the Secret Land is located.
"This is Grandmaster Yang Lin." On the way, Zhao Qinghan introduced an important member of the team, a grandmaster in New Arts Domain.
In the Secret Realm, the God Factor, or Super Material, is corrupted by the X substance.
Although Yang Lin is limited, he is still a grandmaster, and his physical body is much stronger than others.
Everyone knows that masters of the Old Arts are best suited for fighting in secret realms, but it's hard to find such people nowadays, Old Arts as a whole have declined too much.
Accompanying Zheng Rui was a middle-aged man, a Gene Superhumans with immense strength, who had reached the Grandmaster level.
"This is Wang Xuan," Zhao Qinghan introduced.
"Is it your classmate?" Zheng Rui asked with a smile.
Zhao Qinghan nodded and continued introducing the other people.
Everyone was surprised and glanced at Wang Xuan, wondering if he was someone with connections. They thought it unlikely; without sufficient strength, one would easily die in the secret realm.
The warship was moving very fast, entering the star system where the secret realm was located and approaching the planetary belt.
"See that? That's the Secret Realm!" Zhao Qinghan gestured, pointing to the inhabited planet that the warship had scanned.
Wang Xuan approached and stared intently.
It was faintly visible that the area was lush and verdant, but it seemed to be covered by a layer of mist.
The secret realm contains a large amount of X substance, making it impossible to clearly capture images of the area.
The warship began to slow down, approaching a brown planet, not a dense land, but something resembling the relationship between Mars and Old Earth in the solar system.
The Migration Zone is extremely dangerous for spaceships, and they cannot stay there for long. Therefore, neighboring planets become the best bases.
All expeditions to the Secret Land, including warships and spaceships, will dock here, only making a hasty trip to and from that inhabited planet when picking up or dropping off expeditions.
The facilities here are quite complete. Although they are not as good as the base on the New Moon, there is no problem in arranging for the wounded to recuperate for a short time and providing energy supplies for the spacecraft.
In this spaceship base called Brown Star, there are one Super Battleship after another, which are the "vehicles" of a group of old men. They have already entered the secret realm.
Zhao Qinghan's warship landed, intending to stay here for a day, allowing the elders to clear the way first, and also to meet up with the Wu Family and Zhong families here.
The base on Brown Star, where people could rest, resembled a small town, heavily protected by a protective layer. Inside, everything was calm, while outside, sand and dust filled the air.
The arrival of Zhao Qinghan, Wang Xuan, Zheng Rui, Yang Lin, and their team at the base attracted the attention of some people.
"Qing Han!" someone greeted with a smile.
"Zheng Rui!"
A group of young men and women walked over, clearly recognizing Zhao Qinghan and Zheng Rui. They were young people from other conglomerates, belonging to a group of enterprising individuals.
They were bold and ambitious, wanting to follow the old man in and try to find some extraordinary treasure.
A group of people started talking, and regardless of their true feelings, they all had smiles on their faces and were very friendly, saying that they should support each other in the secret place.
Just listen to these words and ignore them. If you really encounter a crisis in the secret place, you'll be too busy taking care of yourself.
To avoid conflict over the artifact, they each took different routes, destined to be quite far apart. No one dared to rush to save the person, as doing so would be tantamount to burning their own lives.
Wang Xuan noticed the 3D projection advertisements on the roadside and was immediately moved; the exchange announcements issued by various organizations were extremely tempting.
"Three hundred grams of Earth Marrow can be exchanged for fifty million New Star Coin."
"One hundred grams of Sun Gold can be exchanged for five hundred million New Star Coin."
Wang Xuan was astonished. What was this Sun Gold? It was so expensive, it was practically a colossal vessel among rare and priceless treasures!
"Looking at this list is tempting, isn't it? I was also excited when I first saw it, but my heart sank after I came back. Those rare items are hard to obtain even if you risk your life." A middle-aged man sighed. He only had one arm left, and his face showed signs of vicissitude.
He admitted that he had been to the secret place and survived by sheer luck, and now works as a logistics staff member at this base.
"What is Sun Gold?" Wang Xuan asked him.
"The rare metal from the Secret Land is said to have been incorporated into the Sun Gold of ancient Transcendent Immortals. Now, major research institutes are studying how to better utilize it, as its extraordinary effects are astonishing."
Wang Xuan nodded. There were so many strange objects in the secret realm, but most of them could only be observed from afar and could not be touched at all. Some of the strange objects seemed to be guarded by Supernatural Being.
Who can withstand that kind of monster at this stage?
Why do some expeditions end in complete annihilation? It's a bloody and cruel reality: daring to act arrogantly in secret locations means you'll be taught a lesson and killed by ferocious creatures in no time!
Wang Xuan looked down, his eyes dazzled by the sight of countless Heavenly Treasures, many of which were legendary items, and he had actually seen them in the secret realm before.
This place is truly astonishing and terrifying!
Finally, he saw that the Earth Immortal Grass could be exchanged for six billion New Star Coin, and this was just the minimum price; there would be additional charges later, which could be discussed in person!
Wang Xuan watched silently. After calming down, he felt that the price was not high. It could Extend Life by hundreds of years, or even directly lead to transcendence. The price was obviously too low.
Sure enough, when some tycoons mentioned the Earth Immortal Grass later, their quotes were even more astonishing, with not only a guaranteed astronomical price but also additional compensation.
For example, the Song Family gifted villas and shops in the best locations, as well as a peerless Daoist scripture, which turned out to be a secret book left by Lu Dongbin, pointing directly to the Golden Elixir Dao.
The Qin Family's exchange rate is also astonishing, with billions of New Star Coin as a guarantee, and they also provide the supreme secret text of Buddhism, the Shakya True Scripture.
Then, Wang Xuan saw the items the Zhong family had exchanged, and among them were Pre-Qin Golden Bamboo Slips!
Wang Xuan was moved, his heart surging with emotion. Looking at those exchangeable items, who wouldn't be tempted? At this stage, a single Earth Immortal Grass could be exchanged for various legendary books.
However, those who obtain the Earth Immortal Grass are unlikely to trade it. If they don't eat it immediately after picking it, they probably won't be able to come back alive.
Anyone who dares to carry it will likely be intercepted and killed on the road. Even the most distinguished and sophisticated old men in the tycoon family would turn against each other over it.
Even if you eat the Earth Immortal Grass, you have to hide the truth, otherwise some research institutes will probably go so far as to extract the medicinal properties from living people.
In their pursuit of immortality, some large organizations are absolutely insane; otherwise, they wouldn't have offered such exorbitant prices to acquire it.
Wang Xuan looked back and discovered that there were even more precious and rare items than the Earth Immortal Grass!
"Longevity Stone, Destiny Nectar, Ascension Tree..."
However, these are all strange objects speculated by various organizations. So far, only clues have been found because some areas of the secret realm are too terrifying to be explored.
Relatively speaking, they are still considered to be in the outer areas.
After greeting some acquaintances, Zhao Qinghan and Zheng Rui rejoined the group and led everyone to their reserved accommodation, where they would rest for a day.
Two hours later, the Wu Family and Zhong families arrived one after another and joined Zhao Qinghan and Zheng Rui.
The three parties gathered together, and the members of the three teams met.
Beside Wu Yin was a young man, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with short hair, a strong physique, about 185 centimeters tall, and very bright, sharp eyes.
"Zhou Yun!" Wang Xuan recognized him; they were acquaintances, having crossed paths more than once. Generally speaking, it was always Wang Xuan who beat up Zhou Yun.
Zhou Yun is Ling Wei's cousin. He showed off his New Arts when he first appeared and fought against Wang Xuan, but was defeated.
The second meeting took place underground at Qingcheng Mountain, when the Zhou Family, Wu Family, and Ling Family were excavating Underground Palace together, but Qing Mu and Wang Xuan intercepted their efforts.
That time, Wang Xuan wore a realistic mask that made him look like a mixed-race man and beat Zhou Yun again, leaving him with a bloody head, a broken arm, and unconscious. From then on, Zhou Yun hated mixed-race people!
Wang Xuan felt a good impression of him upon seeing him, because Zhang Daoling's five pages of Golden Book had been taken from Zhou Yun's arms that day. So, upon seeing him again, he greeted him with a friendly smile.
As a result, Zhou Yun suffered from mild prosopagnosia. After scanning dozens of people in the hall, he failed to recognize Wang Xuan immediately and temporarily overlooked him.
Wu Yin, however, had sharp eyes and saw Wang Xuan smiling and gesturing to her. But Da Wu turned away with a cold face, her black hair flying, her graceful back facing them.
"Old Wang!" came a startled cry.
Upon seeing Wang Xuan's back, Zhong Cheng strode over quickly, and his shout immediately drew the attention of some people.
Wang Xuan turned around and looked at him with a dark face. This kid was usually very respectful to Grandmaster Wang, but when he lost his composure, he revealed his true feelings about how he addressed him.
Zhong Cheng was quite disappointed when he saw his face and said, "It's not Old Wang."
Wu Yin was surprised and suspicious. She looked at Wang Xuan again and stared at his back for a moment.
In fact, the day before she left her Old Earth, she had a chance encounter with Wang Xuan at Cloud Lake in Ancheng, and she had a strange feeling at the time.
"My Wang Xuan."
"So it's Little Wang. I know a relative of yours, known as Old Wang. He was incredibly powerful, capable of looking down on the older generation. He's someone you should spend your whole life trying to catch up to." Zhong Cheng, though young, spoke with an air of maturity. He patted Wang Xuan on the shoulder and left.
Wang Xuan remained expressionless, but in his heart he decided to find an opportunity to beat him up, since he kept calling the Ancestor Wang"Old Wang"!
Zhou Yun, who suffers from mild prosopagnosia, is talking with Zhao Qinghan and Zheng Rui, but still cannot spot Wang Xuan.
The next day, they set off directly to the secret land!
The three groups shared a slightly smaller spaceship, which constantly eroded various aircraft, thus saving costs.
They arrived in no time!
This is a woodland that was cleared a long time ago and is suitable for spaceship landing.
As soon as Wang Xuan set foot on this land, he immediately sensed a variety of active Energy Substance, which were very abundant. He felt so comfortable that he wanted to shout out loud.
With each breath he took, his entire body seemed to be reborn.
He was surprised; this place suited him so well!
Before he could even take a good look at his surroundings, he suddenly looked down and sensed something was wrong. His mental perception was too sharp; there was something underground, and danger was approaching.
"Relatively speaking, this place is very safe, so everyone doesn't need to worry," a veteran explorer explained, having been here more than once.
"Get out of the way!" Wang Xuan shouted, and suddenly launched his attack.
He charged out wielding alloy knives in both hands, knocking Zhong Cheng, who was blocking his way, away. Realizing it was too late, he swung his long legs and swept Wu Yin, who was standing still, away.
The scene was noisy, and Zhong Cheng was wincing in pain.
The moment Da Wu turned around in mid-air, she saw Wang Xuan retract his foot. Her eyes blazed with fury; it was simply...
The 1st is a great birthday, a day of universal celebration.
It'll remain free on the 1st, and will be available for purchase at midnight on the 2nd. We've already come this far, one more day won't make a difference. Don't forget to cast your monthly passes for Beyond the Deep Space at the beginning of the month. Although it won't be available for purchase on the 1st, it deserves everyone's encouragement after being free for so long.
Seeing some readers urging me to release more chapters, I'll try my best to write more on the 1st, and release them all at midnight on the 2nd. Those of you without any drafts are heartbroken, but I'll try my best to write. I hope you'll all support me by subscribing on Qidian.