The Seed's Anomaly

He stepped over the corpse of the beast with his foot, pushing it aside as Yin Congyang walked toward the remaining three beasts.

In the distance, the Green-Eyed Fox and the other two beasts bristled with fur standing on end, their mouths issuing threatening roars as they reared up on their hind legs.

The Green-Eyed Fox fixed its gleaming green eyes on Yin Congyang and spoke in the Monster Race's common tongue: "Human, you have quite the nerve, daring to enter the core territory of our Monster Race. Today, you'll come but never leave..."

"Your clumsy Illusion Technique is nothing but showing off in front of an expert—it's useless against me," Yin Congyang replied without slowing his pace, responding in the Monster Race's Universe Common Language. "Of course, you can call the beasts from the outer perimeter to surround me—but if you do, be prepared to lose these nine sacred trees..."

He gestured at the surrounding Purple Glow Trees. The beasts on the satellite didn't know the name of the Purple Glow Tree, referring to them uniformly as sacred trees.

The Green-Eyed Fox faltered. Beside it, the Gale Tiger and Diamond Ape roared and lunged forward, only to be halted by the Green-Eyed Fox's shout. It turned to Yin Congyang and said, "Human, what do you want?"

Yin Congyang raised his hand and pointed at the Purple Glow Tree. "Just give me one ripe fruit, and I'll turn around and leave, never to return!"

"Impossible!"

"Impossible!"

The Gale Tiger and Diamond Ape roared in unison.

Yin Congyang's gaze turned cold. The Heaven-Opening Axe in his hand shifted slightly left and right, cutting through the air with a faint "whirring" sound. Coupled with the momentum of having just slain seven beasts, it silenced the three beasts across from him.

The Green-Eyed Fox watched the composed Yin Congyang and sighed inwardly, knowing that without a Universe Level combatant, the idea of keeping Yin Congyang and preserving the sacred trees was unlikely to succeed. Though the Purple Hotaru Fruit was important, it wasn't unique. Even if Yin Congyang demanded all the ripe fruits, another batch would ripen in a few years, and he only wanted one.

But now, having just lost eight of their kin guarding the sacred trees, not only could they not avenge them, but they also had to gift an enemy a sacred fruit. The humiliation choked its heart, let alone the other two beasts.

The Green-Eyed Fox was nearing the end of its Star Level lifespan. For the continuation of its race, it could endure anything.

Sighing inwardly again, it transmitted its thoughts to the two beasts beside it. Among this group, it was not only the oldest and strongest but also the wisest, holding great prestige across the entire Monster Race. After hearing its transmission, the Gale Tiger and Diamond Ape angrily shut their mouths and lowered their heads.

Yin Congyang watched coldly as the beasts communicated in secret, his heart unruffled. In his mind, those not of his kind were bound to have different hearts. Back when beasts rampaged on Earth, how many Earthlings had lost loved ones and been displaced? How many fine men had shed blood and sacrificed their lives to defend base cities and resist beast tides?

Of course, those beasts were not the same race as these before him, but in Yin Congyang's eyes, it was all the same. The human race and other peak races had been locked in slaughter for countless epochs over territory, hatred etched deep into their bones. If not for the Training Camp's higher-ups keeping these beasts and other races on the satellites to temper trainees, they would have no reason to exist.

The Green-Eyed Fox floated up gently, extended a claw, selected the ripest and fullest Purple Hotaru Fruit, sent a wisp of energy to cut it off, and flicked its claw, tossing it to Yin Congyang.

Yin Congyang reached out and caught it, carefully inspecting it with his telekinesis. Confirming there was no issue, he took out a jade box, placed the fruit inside, and stored it in his Storage Space.

His indifferent gaze swept over the three beasts. He floated up and slowly flew toward the passage he had come from.

"Are we just letting this human go like this?" the Gale Tiger transmitted to the Green-Eyed Fox.

The Green-Eyed Fox nodded wearily. The immense pressure from the human's powerful aura earlier had been overwhelming. Though it was far stronger than an ordinary Star Level nine beast, facing Yin Congyang, it felt it couldn't withstand even a few moves before being cleaved in two.

"Notify their races to come collect the bodies..." it turned and instructed the Diamond Ape.

After Yin Congyang floated into the passage, he immediately concealed his form and turned toward another passage.

Earlier, in the core space, a strange sensation had come from the fluctuations in his dantian, as if that place wasn't the true center of the satellite. His soul power faintly detected an odd feeling from somewhere outside the core space, like the fluctuation of some law.

Now that he had obtained the mission target, the Purple Hotaru Fruit, he decided to investigate this place.

Following the sensation, he twisted and turned through various large and small passages until he reached the end of one. It was a rare dead-end passage; the others were all interconnected, large passages linking to small ones.

He looked at the cave wall at the end of the passage. His soul could sense faint law fluctuations deep within, extremely subtle. If not for his soul being nearly Domain Lord level, an ordinary Star Level wouldn't perceive it at all.

The problem was that this cave wall was harder than the outer ones. He tested it with the Heaven-Opening Axe and found it very difficult to even scratch a crack. It would likely take a long time to dig deep.

Just as he was at a loss, the Mysterious Seed in his dantian suddenly trembled slightly. An illusory root sprouted from it, piercing out of the dantian, traveling through Yin Congyang's chest and abdomen to his left shoulder, then down his left arm to his palm, and finally out through his index finger, swaying faintly at the fingertip.

Yin Congyang's mind stirred. He extended his left index finger to the cave wall, and sure enough, the root at the fingertip stabbed into it with a "shwoosh," leaving the wall completely undamaged.

The root grew longer and longer. After over ten seconds, it felt like it had pierced into a viscous area. From the root's feedback, it was a place filled with Law Water, containing pure Law of Earth power.

The seed in his dantian seemed to contract. The law power flowed along the root into Yin Congyang's body, through him, into his dantian, and was completely absorbed by the seed without a trace.

Yin Congyang was dumbfounded. You're living in my dantian, and you won't share any of the good stuff?

As soon as he sent this thought over, the seed seemed to pause. Then it swelled slightly, and a wisp of Law of Earth fluctuation flashed, transmitting into the soul in his sea of consciousness. Yin Congyang instantly felt his soul filled with enlightenment about the Law of Earth. His understanding of it soared, quickly surpassing his comprehension of the laws of metal, fire, and water.

By the time he emerged from the enlightenment, only a few dozen seconds had passed. His soul power was strong, allowing him to quickly digest these law insights. Not only did he digest them, but in those few dozen seconds, his soul power had grown considerably, drawing him closer to the Domain Lord level.

Still, he felt a lingering fear. During those few dozen seconds, his consciousness had been completely consumed by law insights, leaving him defenseless in the passage. If any beast had come along, it could have swallowed him in a few bites.

Just then, the root extending from his index finger retracted rapidly, "whooshing" back into the seed. He immediately sensed that the law fluctuations from the cave wall had weakened by over ten times, becoming almost imperceptible. It seemed the law power inside had been drained dry by the root.

After a long silence, Yin Congyang speculated that this was likely one of the secrets of this secret realm. These eight satellites probably could autonomously absorb and refine a specific law power, storing it in their cores. Of course, this process might take tens of thousands of epochs.

The Virtual Universe Company's upper echelons had left them here, collecting the refined law power once it was fully stored. This secret might not even be known to the Training Camp's head instructor, Feilaoshen.

Rubbing his chin, Yin Congyang decided to apply for trials on the other seven satellites after returning.

He had originally planned to complete his mission on the Monster Race satellite and then apply for an external mission. But since he had discovered the secret of these eight satellites, how could he not try? Heaven's gifts not taken invite calamity!

Still, he felt a bit frustrated. A situation like that full-body enlightenment was indeed somewhat dangerous.

He sent a thought to the seed in his dantian, which now seemed a bit languid after absorbing the law power: Next time you find something good, hold back after eating. Wait for my signal before sharing the benefits with me, okay?

The seed pulsed, seeming to convey an affirmative intent, which greatly delighted Yin Congyang.

He didn't linger. Turning back, he silently left the passage, following the three-dimensional map in his memory back to the surface.

Once on the surface, he submitted the mission item to the satellite's base command, confirmed the mission completion, and took a small spacecraft back to the main planet's Training Camp.

He stayed in the Training Camp for another half month, fully digesting the gains from this trip to Hell Star. Then he went to see the head instructor, Feilaoshen, to apply for entry into the satellite housing the Machine Race.

In the same spacious room, Feilaoshen looked at him in surprise. "You plan to apply for entry into the Machine Race satellite?"

"Yes, sir." Yin Congyang replied respectfully.

"Why?"

"Sir, half a month ago I went to Hell Star, where the Monster Race is released," Yin Congyang said with a hint of excitement in his expression. "It truly lives up to its name. I fought with the monsters there and felt I gained a lot. After digesting it all this time, I sense my strength has improved, so I wanted to go check out another satellite..."

Feilaoshen nodded thoughtfully. In the past, the Training Camp had no shortage of battle maniacs who delighted in honing themselves. Whenever they made any progress, they couldn't wait to undergo the next trial, hoping to boost their combat power.

"I appreciate your attitude in pursuing greater strength," Feilaoshen said with a smile. "But I must remind you: while tempering yourself in dangerous environments can indeed make your strength advance rapidly, danger lurks everywhere in perilous situations. If you take one wrong step and fall by accident, everything becomes nothing. Have you thought this through?"

"Thank you for your guidance, sir. Congyang understands. I have a clear grasp of my own strength. There's a saying from my homeland: 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.' So please rest assured, sir, I will make plans based on my abilities."

"Since you insist, then go ahead."

"Thank you, sir!" Yin Congyang bowed and withdrew.