Babata Was Fuming

Li Qingxu was enveloped in golden light. As if out for a stroll, he passed through layer upon layer of mud and rock.

He reached a depth of two or three thousand meters underground, where he found himself in an underground river.

In an instant, he followed the underground river into a much wider subterranean stream.

Above the dark river, a translucent white crystal hovered in midair, casting a faint glimmer across the otherwise shadowy water.

The crystal also gave off wave after wave of a fragrant, rice-like aroma, making anyone who smelled it feel their mouth watering.

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

Many more aquatic monsters continued to pour in, following tributaries from every direction.

"Wood Bud Crystal."

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

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

"Heh, you dared to swallow that?"

A mocking smile appeared on Li Qingxu's face.

"Hiss—"

In the dark river, the shrimp-like aquatic monster that had leapt up and swallowed the white crystal began to glow with streaks of white light. Its body seemed to swell.

As a series of anguished cries rang out, the creature exploded with a bang.

Chunks of its shattered body flew everywhere, and its blood dyed the water red.

Meanwhile, an incredibly tempting white crystal still bobbed gently above the current.

The aquatic monsters crowded around it, all eyeing it greedily, but none dared to swallow it.

"Hmph!"

A cold shout rang out from Li Qingxu.

A terrifying wave of energy surged toward the waters ahead, spreading out like a fan.

"Boom!"

In almost an instant, as the energy wave swept through, all the aquatic monsters in that stretch of water exploded.

The thick, foul-smelling blood seemed to dye the entire underground river red. It was easy to imagine just how many monsters had gathered there.

Li Qingxu flicked his sleeve, drawing the Wood Bud Crystal hundreds of meters away into it.

Then his figure transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished.

He headed deeper underground.

About four thousand meters below the surface, beside a narrow underground stream, a white point of light bobbed gently in midair, releasing a rich, rice-like fragrance.

After Li Qingxu drew the second Wood Bud Crystal into his sleeve,

he sighed and said, "What a pity. A treasure like this, and there are only two. Ah, well. I'm off."

As he finished speaking, he began walking slowly back toward the surface.

His pace was incredibly slow, though. He covered only two meters in a second.

More than ten thousand meters underground, inside the spacecraft, the Black-Robed Child called out anxiously, "Don't go yet! I've got more here!"

In an instant, another dozen or so white crystals flew rapidly upward from the pile by the spacecraft's entrance hatch.

The moment the underground tremor appeared, Li Qingxu abruptly stopped walking.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He had actually only gone a hundred meters upward. At his normal speed, he could have reached the surface in no time.

"Huh? Why can I smell that rice-like fragrance again? Could there be more treasures like this underground?"

Li Qingxu murmured, looking puzzled.

Then his figure transformed into a streak of golden light and plunged deeper underground.

"The third."

"The eighth."

"The twelfth."

Only after Li Qingxu had descended nearly fifteen thousand meters underground did he finally collect all twelve of the newly appeared Wood Bud Crystals.

"Target detected."

"Cloak hatch. Close."

Deep underground, beneath countless layers of rock, one particularly thick slab began to tremble and writhe.

Then, with a whoosh, the rock vanished into thin air, as if a bubble had burst.

In its place was a partially open hatch, coated in dust.

"You tried to influence my consciousness. Don't blame me, then."

Li Qingxu strode forward, following the strange ripple that had entered his mind.

A minute later, an unusual silver-white metal door, covered in dust, appeared before him.

The silver-white metal door was half open, much like the hatch of a fighter jet.

Inside the hatch entrance, crystal after crystal, each surrounded by a faint white glow, floated together in a cluster above the floor.

"Heh heh."

Looking at the hatch two hundred meters away, Li Qingxu gave a sly smile.

With a flick of his sleeve, he collected another forty-nine Wood Bud Crystals from the pile by the hatch.

Of the Great Dao's forty-nine, one always escaped.

"Not good! This place is a trap!"

With that sudden shout, he vanished in an instant.

Even the surrounding space rippled.

"Hm?"

In the center of the spacecraft's main hall, the Black-Robed Child stared at the man who had suddenly vanished. The grin on his face froze.

"Bastard!"

"How dare you trick me, Babata!"

"Argh!"

Babata came to his senses, his figure trembling with rage.

He had waited in hope, ready to welcome a new prodigy disciple for his master.

But... that man had been a con artist!

He had definitely done it on purpose, waiting for Babata to toss out the Wood Bud Crystals so he could use them to find his way here!

Didn't he know what he had missed out on?

Babata couldn't even describe how he felt.

He had waited five thousand years, only to finally meet someone who could be considered a prodigy even in the universe—and that person turned out to be a con artist.

Seeing the pile by the hatch, now missing a small portion of its Wood Bud Crystals, Babata gritted his teeth and said, "At least... at least he didn't take them all."

"Dare to trick me, Babata? Once I find a successor for my master, you'll be the first one I beat up."

If the Black Ink Starship hadn't been so badly damaged that it could no longer take off, Babata would have wanted to pilot it straight into that con artist, Li Qingxu.

Li Qingxu appeared in the sky above Mist Island in an instant.

His face was lit up with a smile he could barely hide.

He had originally thought that a few Wood Bud Crystals would be enough, but Babata had been far too hospitable. He had even invited him right to the spacecraft's hatch.

Since he was already here, Li Qingxu figured he might as well pick up a few more.

"Ah."

Li Qingxu sighed softly, but the smile at the corner of his mouth never faded.

"Looks like Hong has already left with Luo Feng."

"Since Luo Feng helped discover the Vegetation Spirit, I should reward him with something when I get back."

Li Qingxu looked around at the sky. By now, he was the only one left there.

Then he stepped forward. A Dao Diagram appeared in midair, and he reappeared in the sky five hundred miles away.

He continued stepping forward, reaching the edge of the sky before vanishing completely into the void.