Today is a Day of Harvest

Several light-years away from the Bain Asteroid Belt, Chen Qing stood outside, watching a distant spacecraft approach, a smile spreading across his face.

Twenty years had passed since the last gathering, and now he had fully grasped the essence of both the Water and Thunder laws!

In recent years, the situation in the Cuilang Star Sector had begun to stabilize. Chen Qing had stopped comprehending laws and instead turned his focus to creating secret techniques.

Since everyone was busy cultivating, the Fire Phoenix Organization had been itching for a fight, stirring up trouble everywhere. They had gained quite a few assets, but their reputation had also taken a hit.

They didn't care, though—in fact, they were rather pleased with themselves. For Pinghai Company, this was also good news. When the net was finally drawn in, the fish would be bigger, and resistance would be smaller!

"What are you two doing here at this time?"

Seeing Jiang Fang and Yao Rao appear, Chen Qing walked over and gave them a firm hug.

"After Panxi returned to Drip Water Planet, he's been lying low for a while!"

Jiang Fang tidied her hair as she looked at Chen Qing, ignoring his question. "How sure are you? If it's not certain, just drag it out longer!"

Chen Qing opened his mouth, wanting to tell the two women to go back and wait for the results, but then he reconsidered. Since they had come, that said everything.

Besides, it was just Panxi. The deeper his understanding of the laws became, the faster Green Lotus absorbed the source. Being at Domain Lord level seven was barely enough.

"No big deal. When have you men ever been weak?"

Jiang Fang rolled her eyes, but Yao Rao placed her small hand on Chen Qing's chest. "I don't believe you, young man!"

Looking at Yao Rao's strikingly three-dimensional face and her sparkling big eyes, a nameless fire ignited within him.

"Today, I'll show you just how strong your man really is!"

For months, they indulged in wild abandon. A mere Universe-level opponent—he had finally gotten a grip on things. Cultivation had its downsides too; a strong physique meant fast recovery.

He stopped only because Red Rock had long since sent word that Panxi had set out. For now, there was no movement, but the most likely destination was back to the Bain Asteroid Belt!

Calculating the time, if Panxi was heading here, he should be arriving soon. After waiting this long, Chen Qing had calmed down.

"You two stay in my World Ring for now. Leave everything to me!"

This time, neither of them objected. Yao Rao gently stroked Chen Qing's face.

"Be careful. We have plenty of time. I don't believe you don't have a way to escape—don't be stubborn and stupid about it!"

Chen Qing grinned, showing his teeth. "I don't even know where I'm stubborn..."

"After decades, you think I don't know you?" Jiang Fang cut him off mercilessly. "Who else would stubbornly dig in here and refuse to admit defeat over something like that?"

Could he admit defeat over that? Chen Qing grumbled inwardly. You have no idea how high Panxi's bounty is, and I can't let anyone know about his situation. Do you think this is easy for me?

He could only keep those thoughts to himself, or else he'd face a barrage of questions. Once the two women entered the ring, Chen Qing packed everything away.

Using his domain to conceal his aura, he quietly waited at the edge of Asteroid 82's defense system.

Behind him was the asteroid recorded in the original texts. This was the advantage of foreknowledge—even the Virtual Universe couldn't be this precise!

Chen Qing had Spirit Butterfly calculate it. At this distance, Panxi couldn't emerge from Dark Universe behind him.

After waiting over ten days, he finally spotted Panxi's spacecraft in space—a deep purple, sword-shaped E9-class vessel. Too bad Babata had already performed a disassembly surgery on it!

As Panxi drew closer, a chaotic domain directly enveloped the ship, exerting pressure no less than that of a Sector Lord.

"Domain Lord level seven?" Inside the ship, Panxi stared at the detector in confusion for a second, then his eyes lit up. "There must be a treasure!"

"Hahaha, what luck! Kid, I don't know who you are, but I really have to thank you."

Watching Panxi eagerly step out of the ship, Chen Qing paid him no mind. He was just afraid Panxi wouldn't come out!

"Quake Seal!"

With the activation of the core runes, a massive amount of energy was consumed, suppressing the projection Panxi had tried to raise and locking him firmly in place within the void.

"Impossible! What the hell is this?"

With an incredulous wail, vines began to sprout all over Panxi's body.

"Worry-Forget"

Chen Qing's core stirred, and an illusory force seeped through Panxi's armor, flowing like water to trap his inner world.

He glanced at the wilted vines and flowers and breathed a sigh of relief. He had made the right choice!

No matter how ordinary a plant was, once it reached the Sector Lord level and had an inner world, it would shed its primal instincts and gain self-awareness—just a matter of degree.

When he had discussed illusions with Hong last time, this idea came to him. As long as the target wasn't on guard at the start, making them unable to sense their host's danger and forget a few things was easy enough.

Worry-Forget was the fruit of these past few years. All this time playing with blades, he had almost forgotten he was still a spiritualist!

Still, Panxi's willpower was considerable. Chen Qing didn't dare delay. Countless illusory roots wrapped around Panxi, and with a faint ripple in the surrounding space, they vanished into the cosmos.

"Alright, now that you're in my world, you're done for."

Chen Qing looked into his core. Countless roots had already obliterated Panxi's soul, and countless items tumbled out of the shattered world.

With a thought, a silver token-like object caught his eye. Feeling the icy lake water within it, Chen Qing took a deep breath, released the two women, and without a word, hoisted them over his shoulders.

"Say nothing today. We fight to the finish. Whoever gives up first is a dog—hahaha!"

Two months later, in the office of the Cuilang Star Empire Building, Jiang Fang and Yao Rao sat quietly behind Chen Qing. When their eyes met his, a trace of shyness flickered across their faces.

"Old Fourth, is there some significance to this ring you're giving us? Second Brother feels uneasy about it!" Hong and Thor took the rings with confusion. Thor glanced at the two women acting strangely behind them and asked Chen Qing slyly.

"Good stuff!" Chen Qing's face had been glowing with spring lately, his smile never fading. "Locke Divine Water, one hundred cubic kilometers each. You can look up the specifics in the Virtual Universe." After speaking, he leaned back, ready to enjoy their expressions.

"Damn, a single cubic kilometer sells for 8.9 million Hunyuan at auction! It's a top-tier treasure for cultivating plants, and it can be absorbed directly!" Chen Qing laughed upon hearing this. His persistence had finally paid off. Unfortunately, Hong's mental state was too high—his expression vanished in an instant.

Seeing the two about to refuse, Chen Qing quickly added: "Don't think about turning it down. I split it into six shares. Third Brother has his share too, and of course I took a bit more. I've transferred 100,000 Hunyuan to each of you. This stuff isn't easy to offload all at once." "Not to mention anything else, you need to step up your plant life. Safety comes first. Don't skimp on the other things you should prepare!"

Chen Qing hadn't been idle these past few days either. He'd dealt with Panxi's miscellaneous items and gained 22 Hunyuan units. Using the Cosmic Galaxy Bank's three-star account, he sold two cubic kilometers. The price was a bit off, but it still netted him 16.8 million Hunyuan. Unfortunately, even with money, he couldn't buy anything truly good—either there was no stock, so he had to settle for preparing nine E9-class spaceships and six sets of top-tier fifth-grade equipment.

Finally, there were three Cloud-Touching Vine seedlings, Muya Crystals, Lanke Fruits, and the like. After binding them, he cultivated them all within his original nucleus. As for Star-Eating Grass and such, there was barely any information even on the Virtual Network! As for secret techniques, he couldn't do anything about space-time for now, but he spent around five thousand Hunyuan on the other six lower-order law techniques! Besides giving the two women five million, that was just a drop in the bucket.