Yuan didn't know exactly how valuable they were, but watching these high-grade energy stones get used up day after day while Purple Crystal still showed no signs of waking made him uneasy.
It hurt to see. These were his precious treasures! He hadn't even figured out how to use them to improve his strength, and now they were going to benefit Purple Crystal first.
Time passed quickly. Before he knew it, Yuan had been in this Starship Humans village for three months.
Shenghui and Sijian couldn't understand why Yuan still hadn't managed to cultivate even the first level of Dark Force.
Only then did everyone gradually realize that the Starship Humans' cultivation techniques might not be suitable for the Isis Race—or at least, not for Yuan.
But Yuan still trained diligently, repeatedly practicing the first through third forms of the first level of the Die Feng Sword Art. After all, he had no better technique to choose from.
These three months had also given Yuan a profound understanding of the terrible environment the Starship Humans lived in.
Three whole months had brought three large-scale beast tides! Thirteen small-scale beast tides! Eleven crossings by high-level Desolate Beasts! Thirteen people had been killed or injured!
During the worst incident, Shenghui and the others had even been forced to abandon the village temporarily, evacuating tens of thousands of people through underground passages.
When they returned, the entire village had been destroyed. The collapsed mountains had even blocked the river at the bottom of the gorge, creating a giant landslide lake and a brand-new waterfall...
Yuan was a little puzzled. "Village Chief Shenghui, if this place is so dangerous, why not find somewhere safer to settle?"
Shenghui laughed heartily. Having survived another crisis, he was still in high spirits. "It's dangerous here, sure, but unfortunately, compared with the dangers elsewhere, this place is already pretty good!"
"Maybe there are safer places, but even if there are, we wouldn't go."
"Why?" Yuan asked, confused. "There's nothing here that would make you stay, no matter what."
Shenghui shook his head. "Actually, the safest thing would be to have our people—especially the young children at Apprentice Rank—live underground all the time."
"But rather than have them spend their childhood in a damp, gloomy place, we'd rather take a few risks. At least this way, the children can bask in the light of the Tuya Black Hole every day and grow up healthy!"
"I understand." Yuan nodded. These people really were thinking of what was best for their people...
"We've transported goods this way for hundreds of years without anything going wrong. Why did this have to happen now? It's downright bizarre!"
"Tell me about it! Sigh, the deal's about to happen, and now we have to scrape together all kinds of treasures again!"
"It's fine. As long as we can get Yinluo, it'll all be worth it. Everything for the clan!"
"Everything for the clan!"
"I heard from the people up top that someone from the Grand Wall is coming here in person to deliver Yinluo to the Lava Heart?"
"Word's been out for ages. You're only hearing about it now? I heard they want to come and see for themselves what our genius is made of!"
"Then they'll realize that trading Yinluo to us is absolutely worth it!"
The Northern Rock Race was born with powerful bodies, and most of their natural talents lay on the warrior path. By comparison, they had far less talent as Spirit Readers.
There were gains and losses in everything. In this regard, the laws of the universe were still fair.
As a result, Spirit Readers who could control Desolate Beasts and mentally enslave other powerful beings were exceedingly rare among the Northern Rock Race.
Often, the Northern Rock Race's rock giants had no choice but to risk being spotted by the Light-Deriving Snakes and venture aboveground themselves.
"Are we really going to guide a beast tide into destroying this Starship Humans village? We can't be sure they're the ones who found that Space Ring."
"What, you feel sorry for them? You pity these Alien Races, but they wouldn't pity us! Don't forget the humiliation of the Northern Rock Race's Great Extinction!"
"All right!"
"Put away that pitiful kindness of yours. We risked exposing the Lava Heart to kill those Light-Deriving Snakes. We can't let this team of human members of the Isis Race make all that effort go to waste now!"
"Yes! I understand!"
The Starship Humans had quickly returned to their normal lives, unaware that an even more terrifying beast tide was quietly drawing near!
Although Yuan guided the energy from the high-grade energy stones into Purple Crystal for it to absorb, a small portion still seeped into his Consciousness Sea.
So, although his warrior cultivation remained at the fourth stage of Earth Rank, his Spiritual Force cultivation quickly reached the eighth stage of Earth Rank!
That day, Yuan sat cross-legged in his cave, cultivating and guiding a steady stream of Universe Energy into his Consciousness Sea.
Seven smaller Micro-Planets revolved around a larger one in the center.
A long-missed voice, speaking in an obnoxious, roguish drawl, rang out in Yuan's Consciousness Sea once again. "Woohoo~ Tsk, tsk, tsk~ That was one heck of a long nap!"
Yuan's face lit up with joy, though a hint of worry remained. He hurriedly asked in his Consciousness Sea, "Purple Crystal, what exactly are you? Why are you in my head? Let me tell you what's been going on with me. Hurry up and figure out how to get me home..."
"Hold on, give me a moment..." Purple Crystal paused, then burst into inexplicable laughter.
"You're all so stupid. How could you possibly cultivate Dark Force by using the Starship Humans' manual in an Isis Race body?"
"...You've had pretty good luck, huh? Even with me around, and a little good fortune, being able to just stumble across treasures like that is incredible luck! Hahaha..."
Yuan held on to a sliver of hope and asked uncertainly, "...You can read my memories?"
Purple Crystal scoffed. "Isn't that obvious?"
Yuan was stunned. He had so many questions built up that, for a moment, he had no idea where to start!
Purple Crystal, on the other hand, reassured him. "Don't worry. I only read your memories to save myself the trouble, and even that comes with strict limitations."
"I'm not interested in monitoring your thoughts every second, either!"
Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they had free will, no living being would want something in their head that could read their thoughts anytime, anywhere!
Purple Crystal coughed. Somehow, it still managed to make its voice as obnoxious as ever!
It said, "I know you have a ton of questions. You don't need to ask them one by one, jumping all over the place. Just listen while I explain!"
Yuan sat upright, focusing all his awareness on his Consciousness Sea to hear what Purple Crystal had to say.
Purple Crystal adjusted its tone, trying to sound like the narrator of a documentary, but before long its voice had turned obnoxious again, making Yuan grit his teeth in irritation!
"I'm a naturally occurring Special Lifeform of the Dream Crystal God Race! Yes, I know what you're thinking. I mean, I'm similar to that Yinluo thing."
"Every Special Lifeform is unique in the universe. There are very few of us; there might even be only one of each throughout the entire universe!"
"I was born from the primordial chaos at the beginning of the universe. I've been at World Lord strength ever since, and I've gained a nearly limitless lifespan."
"I've lived through endless ages! I've never seen or heard of another being like myself."
"Relying on the memories and mission I was born with, I hide in the Consciousness Seas of intelligent beings, absorbing a strange energy that I still don't fully understand."
"I've witnessed the birth and fall of countless powerful beings, and the rise and fall of countless civilizations!"
"I know roughly that if I ever reach immortality, I'll have the chance to obtain a body of my own. As for anything more about my origins, I don't know..."
Yuan was a little surprised by Purple Crystal's strength. "World Rank? You're actually a legendary demigod?"
For once, Purple Crystal's tone wasn't obnoxious. "I may be called World Rank, but if I left the Consciousness Sea of an intelligent species, I'd be lucky to bring out even a fraction of Domain Lord Rank strength."
"And with a body this small, my energy would run out quickly!"
Yuan immediately caught the key point in Purple Crystal's words. "If your goal is to absorb that unknown energy, why not raise a host into a long-lived powerhouse? Then you could stay in their Consciousness Sea forever."
Purple Crystal praised him. "You really are clever, Yuan!"
"That's a good idea, but the stronger a host becomes, the less of that unknown energy there is!"
"Besides, the more likely someone is to become a powerhouse, the more resolute their mind. Why would they want a strange crystal inside their body that they couldn't control?"
"So my best option is what I'm doing now: moving from one weak member of a communal intelligent species to another as they're born, age, and die."
Yuan asked, "But every transfer comes at a cost, right? Is that why you spoke up to save me back then instead of continuing to play dumb?"
Purple Crystal let out a strange sigh, then continued. "Yes and no! It does cost me something, but the price is bearable."
"I spoke up to save you because even if I'd left at the time, there was a good chance the mastermind behind the scheme against us would have tracked me down!"
Purple Crystal's voice turned obnoxious again. "Otherwise, I'd have been long gone. Who cares what happens to you, you little brat!"
Yuan was so furious he wanted to pound his own head into the ground and die along with this damn "son of a dog"!
Yuan raised a hand in front of himself and made a few gestures, but eventually gave up. He figured that even if he bashed his own head in, it still might not do a thing to the accursed Purple Crystal...
Purple Crystal suddenly cursed. "I was doing just fine, staying in the heads of your people from one generation to the next, but I've had terrible luck~~ I ran into two oddballs in a row, father and son, and both of you managed to notice me while still at Apprentice Rank!"
Ignoring Purple Crystal's odd phrasing, Yuan asked in surprise, "So before me, you were in my father Autumn's Consciousness Sea?"
Purple Crystal scoffed. "Of course. What kind of stupid question is that?"
Yuan suddenly got angry. "So you almost stopped my father from breaking through to Earth Rank? If he hadn't broken through, he would've died, and then I wouldn't have been born!"
"You lousy Purple Crystal, you almost kept me from ever coming into this world!"
Purple Crystal suddenly sounded guilty. "That's technically true, but hear me out—er, I mean, let me explain!"
Yuan said, "I won't listen! I won't listen! I won't listen!"
Before you continue