Babata's Fury

Li Qingxu was shrouded in golden light, strolling as if on a leisurely walk as he passed through layers of silt and rock.

He arrived at a depth of two to three thousand meters underground, finding himself within a subterranean river.

In a single breath, he followed this underground river until he reached an even wider waterway.

Above the gloomy river, a white, translucent crystal hovered in mid-air, casting a faint light upon the otherwise dark water.

This white, transparent crystal emitted waves of rice-like fragrance, making one involuntarily salivate.

At the same time, a large number of aquatic monsters had gathered here, all staring at the white crystal.

There were even more aquatic monsters continuously converging here, flowing in from various subterranean tributaries.

"Wood Bud Crystal."

A smile appeared at the corner of Li Qingxu's mouth.

Just as he was about to make a move, an aquatic monster instantly swallowed the Wood Bud Crystal.

"Heh, you actually dare to swallow that."

A look of mockery appeared on Li Qingxu's face.

"Sss-sss~"

Within the dark river water, the shrimp-like aquatic monster that had leaped up to swallow the white crystal began to emit rays of white light from its entire body, its frame seemingly expanding.

Accompanied by a series of miserable screeches, with a loud bang, the entire shrimp monster exploded.

Shattered chunks of its corpse flew everywhere, and beast blood stained that stretch of water red.

Meanwhile, the incredibly alluring white crystal remained, bobbing gently as it hovered above the undercurrent.

The group of aquatic monsters surrounded the white crystal, each one filled with intense greed, yet not a single one dared to approach and swallow it again.

"Hmph!"

A cold shout erupted from Li Qingxu's mouth.

A terrifying wave of energy surged toward the water ahead like a fan-shaped blast.

"Boom!"

Almost in an instant, as the wave of energy rippled through, the bodies of the entire mass of aquatic monsters exploded.

The thick, foul-smelling beast blood seemed to dye the entire underground river red; one could only imagine how many monsters had gathered here.

Following this, Li Qingxu flicked his sleeve, drawing the Wood Bud Crystal from hundreds of meters away into his cuff.

Immediately after, his figure transformed back into a streak of golden light and vanished from the spot.

He headed toward even greater depths underground.

At a depth of approximately four thousand meters, beside a thin undercurrent, a white speck of light hovered, bobbing slightly up and down as a rich rice-like fragrance spread out.

Li Qingxu gathered the second Wood Bud Crystal into his cuff.

He then sighed slightly and said, "What a pity, to think there are only two such treasures. Oh well, time to leave."

As his voice faded, he began to walk slowly back toward the surface.

However, his speed was extremely slow, covering only two meters every second.

At this moment, at a depth of over ten thousand meters, inside that spaceship, the Black-Robed Child shouted with a look of impatience, "Don't leave yet, I have more here!"

In an instant, at the hatch of the spaceship, a dozen more white crystals shot rapidly upward.

The moment the underground disturbance appeared, Li Qingxu's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

At the same time, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

In truth, he had only traveled a hundred meters upward; at his usual speed, he would have long since returned to the surface.

"Hm? Why do I sense that rice-like fragrance again? Could there be more of these treasures underground?"

Li Qingxu said softly, feigning confusion.

Following this, his figure transformed once more into a streak of golden light, diving into the deeper reaches of the earth.

"The third one."

"The eighth one."

"The twelfth one."

It was not until Li Qingxu had descended nearly fifteen thousand meters underground that he finally collected all twelve of the newly appeared Wood Bud Crystals.

"Target arrival detected."

"Hatch cloaking, disengaged."

Deep within the earth, amidst layers of countless accumulated rocks, a thick slab of stone suddenly began to tremble and shift.

Then, with a whoosh, as if a bubble had burst, the rock simply vanished into nothingness.

In the space where the rock had been, a dusty, half-open hatch appeared.

"Since you've attempted to influence my consciousness, don't blame me for what happens next."

Li Qingxu stepped forward, following the peculiar ripple that had transmitted into his mind.

A minute later, a strange, dust-covered silver-white metal door appeared in his field of vision.

At this moment, that silver-white metal door was in a half-open state, much like the hatch of a fighter jet.

On the ground of the entrance passage, crystals faintly glowing with a white halo were gathered together, half-suspended in the air.

"Hehe."

Gazing at the hatch two hundred meters away, a mischievous smirk appeared on Li Qingxu's face.

In an instant, he flicked his sleeve and swept away another 49 of the Wood Bud Crystals from the pile at the hatch.

The Great Dao numbers forty-nine, with one escaping.

"Oh no, this place is a trap!"

Following his sudden shout, his entire person vanished from the spot in an instant.

Even the surrounding void rippled with waves.

"Hm?"

Watching the person who had suddenly disappeared, the Black-Robed Child in the center of the spaceship hall saw his originally grinning face instantly freeze.

"Bastard!"

"How dare you trick me, Babata!"

"Ah!!"

Coming to his senses, Babata was so angry that his figure flickered violently.

He had been filled with hope, preparing to welcome a new peerless genius disciple for his master.

But... that person was actually a swindler!

That man must have done it on purpose, just waiting for him to toss out the Wood Bud Crystals so he could follow the trail right to the door!

Did he not even know what he had just missed out on!

Babata could no longer describe his current mood.

After waiting bitterly for fifty thousand years, he had finally encountered someone who could be called a genius even in the universe, only for them to turn out to be a fraud.

Looking at the Wood Bud Crystals, now missing a small portion at the hatch, Babata gritted his teeth and muttered, "It's fine, it's fine, he didn't take them all."

"How dare you trick me, Babata. Once I find a successor for my master, you will be the first one I beat up."

If the Black Ink Starship hadn't been severely damaged and unable to take off, he would have wanted to pilot the ship right now to ram that swindler Li Qingxu to death.

Above Mist Island, Li Qingxu's figure instantly appeared in the sky.

At this moment, his face bore an irrepressible smile.

He had originally thought that fishing for a few Wood Bud Crystals would be enough, but that Babata was truly too hospitable, actually inviting him right to the hatch of the spaceship.

Adhering to the mindset that since he was already there, he might as well pick up a few more.

"Sigh."

Li Qingxu let out a soft sigh, though the smile at the corners of his mouth did not fade.

"It seems Hong has already left with Luo Feng."

"Since Luo Feng discovered the Vegetation Spirit, he deserves some kind of reward when I return."

Li Qingxu looked toward the surrounding sky; he was now the only one left in this place.

Immediately, he took a step forward, a Dao Diagram manifested in the void, and his figure instantly appeared in the sky five hundred miles away.

Then, step by step, he strode forward, reaching the end of the horizon and vanishing completely into the void.