"Too bad. The monitoring base hasn't attracted many Spirit Readers, and most of them have a Brain Domain Width below 15."
How could they be this bad!?
Babata was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Earth was the only planet that could support Hu Yanbo's inheritance.
Other planets had better talents, but they were far too conspicuous, making it impossible to pass on the inheritance.
What a joke. How could Hu Yanbo possibly succeed in passing on his inheritance on a key planet watched by his enemy, Demon Hand King!?
Only Earth was so remote that no one paid it any attention, giving Hu Yanbo a chance.
"Go, little robots. Drop these Wood Bud Crystals somewhere, anywhere. Make sure they're far apart."
Babata controlled the little robots as they picked up the Wood Bud Crystals from the ground and left the Black Rock Star Ship.
"But these alone might not be enough to attract them..."
Babata thought it over, then looked at several Planetary Level Three monsters in the underground river.
Planetary Level Three monsters ranked near the top among King-level Monsters, surpassed only by the two Beast Emperors.
"Fine. You'll do."
Babata controlled another little robot to pick up a Wood Bud Crystal and fly toward them.
Australia was huge, and Hong didn't have a wide-area Soul Attack like Hen Ren's, so he could only painstakingly clear it one area at a time.
Thor and the other countries were in the same boat. Progress was slow, but they still worked hard to reclaim the land.
It took nearly three months to clear most of the monsters from the surface. The few remaining ones were no longer a concern.
The era of massive construction had begun!
The sewers in the old cities could still be used, but they needed to be cleared. After all, no one knew how many rat monsters were lurking down there.
The buildings were beyond saving. They were already dilapidated, and they'd been that way for decades. They should just be torn down and rebuilt.
The roads, highways, railways, and everything else would have to be replanned, too!
But none of that had much to do with Hong...
Extreme Martial Arts Hall had conquered Australia, so technically, it belonged to the Hall.
Why only technically? Because the Huaxia Military was in charge of actually managing it.
Ancient Civilization Ruins might be hidden on his own "territory," so now that he had some free time, Hong naturally came to explore.
Mist Island wasn't huge, but it wasn't small, either. And since they had to dig every inch of it, there was no way Hong could explore the whole place in a short time by himself.
So he brought three personal guards, along with Luo Feng and the other War Gods from Extreme Martial Arts Hall.
This time, Hong was stronger than before. He dealt with Cloud-Touching Vine in no time, so Mist Island was still there.
After surveying the surface, they had to dig through the ground themselves. It took quite a while.
"A Beast Emperor!?"
Iceberg exclaimed in shock. But he soon had no time to think and hurriedly ordered Luo Feng and the other War Gods to retreat.
"Chief, I've found a Beast Emperor!"
While fending off the newly emerged Beast Emperor's attacks, Iceberg contacted Hong.
Fortunately, Hen Ren had shared quite a few secret techniques. Planetary Level warriors were now far stronger than before, which was how Iceberg managed to withstand the Beast Emperor's attacks.
"Stay where you are. I'm on my way!"
Hong said this and hurried over.
A moment later, the rock around Iceberg cracked open, and Hong appeared in front of him.
"An Octopus Emperor? No, that can't be right. The Octopus Emperor died long ago. Thor killed it himself."
Hong frowned. This Beast Emperor, almost identical to the Octopus Emperor, was a newly emerged one!
The newly emerged Octopus Emperor spotted Hong. Unfortunately, having spent its entire life in the underground river beneath Mist Island, it didn't recognize him!
Its strength had skyrocketed, giving it the delusion that it was invincible.
It didn't even bother to test Hong when it saw him. It charged straight at him.
And got a game over...
"Iceberg, tell me exactly what happened."
Hong grew more and more interested. This place had produced a Beast Emperor, a whole bunch of Vegetation Spirits, and Cloud-Touching Vine. There had to be a huge secret hidden here!!!
"Luo Feng discovered it. When I arrived, the Beast Emperor was still a King-level Monster, but it was rapidly transforming!"
"Right. Luo Feng, come over here."
Hong contacted Luo Feng. The communication device had a locator, so Luo Feng arrived shortly afterward.
"Chief."
"Luo Feng, what did you see here?"
Luo Feng recalled some of the key details.
"I saw an Octopus Beast King and several other King-level Monsters fighting..."
As he spoke, he pointed toward some remains in the river ahead. They were clearly evidence of a fierce battle—and a fight to the death.
"Then the Octopus Beast King won. It was covered in wounds, but it held on and swallowed a white crystal floating in midair above the river. Then it began transforming at an incredible rate..."
Luo Feng frowned. That white crystal had caused the monster to evolve. He wondered what it was.
Hong listened, seeming to remember something, though the thought remained hazy.
"A white crystal, floating in midair?"
"That's right. The white crystal also gave off a faint aroma of rice."
"The smell of rice, and a monster evolving..."
As he spoke, Hong's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Wood Bud Crystal!
"Quick! Everyone, search for these white crystals. We can't let the monsters get them!"
Hong held back the details of the Wood Bud Crystals' effects.
That was only natural. No one would tell others what a treasure could do.
But after thinking it over, Hong added, "You can bring these white crystals to me and exchange them for 'Stars.'"
He couldn't keep all the rewards for himself. His subordinates deserved a little something, too.
"'Stars'!? Yes!"
Iceberg was thrilled to hear this. Luo Feng didn't really know what "Stars" were, but seeing how excited Iceberg was, he realized they must be something valuable.
"Yes!"
After Iceberg and Luo Feng left, Hong informed the others, too. He told them what the Wood Bud Crystals looked like and sent everyone to search.
Not long after Luo Feng and Iceberg split up, word came that Yao Rao had found the first Wood Bud Crystal. Luo Feng sped up as well.
"The smell of rice, the smell of rice..."
The Wood Bud Crystals gave off a strong rice aroma, noticeable from more than ten meters away. But the underground rivers beneath Mist Island were vast and complicated. In the end, finding one really came down to luck.
With Babata secretly pulling strings, Luo Feng soon stumbled upon his first Wood Bud Crystal.
"My first one."
Luo Feng put the Wood Bud Crystal inside his Black God suit.
Hong had given him the Black God suit in advance to win him over. He would have to return one to Extreme Martial Arts Hall later, though...
Luo Feng's "luck" only got better. He stumbled upon quite a few more Wood Bud Crystals.
Some had already been picked up by others who arrived before him, but he still found more than most.
The people from Extreme Martial Arts Hall searched the underground rivers beneath Mist Island for three days before Hong finally called it off.
"We've searched most of the underground rivers and found quite a few white crystals. There probably aren't many left."
Luo Feng smiled as he talked to Xu Xin over a video call.
Of course, Xu Ai was right there beside Xu Xin, as always...
Xu Xin looked over the Wood Bud Crystal Luo Feng showed her, turning it this way and that in confusion.
"What is this thing, anyway? Why did so many War Gods and councilors from Extreme Martial Arts Hall come looking for it?"
"I don't know either. The Chief didn't explain much. But judging by his expression, it must be a treasure."
Luo Feng smiled. He didn't know what the Wood Bud Crystal was for, but he had secretly kept two.
Maybe they'd come in handy someday, right?
Before you continue