Jiang Yu's sudden attack caught everyone off guard, leaving Dan Heng and the other two frozen in place for a moment.
By the time they came to their senses, Jiang Yu had already flown off with the ice sculpture in his arms.
Swift, fierce winds wrapped around the boy from the Xianzhou, sweeping up ice and snow that made them sharp and cold, like the dangerous glints shimmering along a freshly drawn blade.
But the Frostspawn probably had it even worse.
It had only been taking a stroll through the snow. By the time it sensed danger, an enormous shadow had already engulfed it.
It turned its head, only to see a vicious kid hefting an ice sculpture and bringing it down on its head.
What had it ever done to anyone?
Are you out of your mind? Why are you attacking me out of nowhere?
If the Frostspawn had thoughts and the ability to reason, it would surely have felt as aggrieved as someone forced to swallow three pounds of shit.
Unfortunately, this basic elemental crystal from the Fragmentum possessed only rudimentary intelligence.
Even when the ice sculpture fell and smashed its body to pieces, its not-so-bright little head remained completely empty.
After smashing the Frostspawn, Jiang Yu's eyes widened slightly.
In an environment like Jarilo-VI, a Frostspawn's effect on the surrounding temperature was actually negligible, so slight that it was practically impossible to feel.
Still, Jiang Yu gained a little satisfaction from destroying it and felt somewhat warmer.
In truth, though, the warmth came from the physical exertion of his leaping strike, not from the temperature rising because the Frostspawn's influence on its surroundings had vanished after its death.
Poor, poor Frostspawn.
Dan Heng and the other two looked at Jiang Yu, their mouths opening as though they wanted to say something, but none of them did.
In the end, everyone simply let Jiang Yu have his way.
After taking down the Frostspawn, the four continued across the snowfield and soon discovered some sort of construct that looked completely out of place.
At first glance, it resembled a withered flower. Up close, it looked more like a twisted creation woven from charred remains.
Imaginary Energy wound around the flower, which resembled scorched earth that had been crushed to pieces.
"What is this?" Stelle asked Dan Heng.
Looking at the strange flower before them, Dan Heng shook his head. "Take a picture and ask Mr. Welt."
Before Dan Heng had finished speaking, Jiang Yu had already taken out his phone. He photographed the snowfield and the flower before him, then sent the pictures to Old Yang.
"Uncle Yang, it's freezing here!"
"Snowfield photo, flower photo."
"Uncle Yang, what's that thing in the second picture?"
Then all four gathered around Jiang Yu's phone screen to wait for Old Yang's reply.
With three people surrounding him, Jiang Yu felt considerably warmer.
Old Yang replied very quickly.
"This is a Bud of Erudition, a special entity brought into being by spatial distortion."
"The bud contains some real-world data that may have practical value. But exercise caution when touching it. The mechanism behind its formation remains a mystery, making it difficult to assess the dangers within."
"You will encounter more Buds of Erudition during your journey. Different buds may store different data, so keep an eye out for them."
After reading Old Yang's reply, the four exchanged glances.
Then Jiang Yu made an immediate decision. "Uncle Yang said there's useful stuff inside. Let's get it!"
With that, Jiang Yu reached toward the Bud of Erudition, while Dan Heng and the other two drew their weapons in unspoken accord.
Everyone took up guarded stances, ready for any danger that might arise when Jiang Yu touched the Bud of Erudition.
The instant Jiang Yu's hand touched the Bud of Erudition, a surge of energy rippled outward. Then an enormous rift opened above it!
Space shuddered like the surface of a lake struck by a massive rock, and monsters charged out of the rift one after another, like bees whose hive had been knocked down.
More than thirty blue Frostspawn and crimson Blazing Glory Creations surrounded the four.
These monsters from the Fragmentum stirred restlessly, brimming with hostility toward the four who had disrupted their habitat. The powers of flame and frost began to surge!
There was no doubt about it. They were about to attack!
But the Trailblaze squad's reactions were hardly slow. Dan Heng and March 7th, for starters, were experienced veterans aboard the Express.
Even Stelle and Jiang Yu, rookie Trailblazers who might have lacked experience in trailblazing, had gained a fair amount of combat experience from their fierce battle against the Doomsday Beast and the Antimatter Legion.
Exploring a new planet might have been unfamiliar to them, but when it came to fighting, those two knew exactly what they were doing!
With the Cloud Knights Spear Art, Dan Heng wielded his spear, Cloud-Piercer, with whistling force. Whether he jabbed, thrust hard, or raised his spear for a sweeping strike, every blow precisely interrupted a Fragmentum Monster's movements or took its life.
His effortless movements resembled an agile dragon weaving through clouds and mist!
March 7th kept her distance, continually aiming and firing with a bow and arrows formed from Six-Phased Ice. Colder than the snowfield itself, those arrows sliced through the air as though briefly freezing the motion of atoms.
The pretty girl's aim was nothing like her usual scatterbrained manner, and she swiftly eliminated the Fragmentum creatures pouring out of the rift.
Excitement gleamed in Stelle's golden eyes. The power of the Stellaron began to pulse, and gusts of air and thunder wrapped around the black Bat she had swiped from Herta Space Station. She charged straight into the mass of monsters, swinging left and right. Unlike Dan Heng's concise efficiency, she smashed through the Fragmentum Monsters' encirclement with unstoppable momentum.
Today was the day the Galaxy Bat Hero showed her might!
(Φ皿Φ)
Jiang Yu had instinctively wanted to leap in and smash through their ranks too, only to discover that he had no suitable weapon at hand.
Now he looked forward to the Flying Sword the system had promised him even more. How could he get by without a proper weapon?
With no other choice, Jiang Yu used the cold wind as his sword, unleashed Pure as the Wind, and began weaving through the Fragmentum Monsters like a roaming dragon.
Every wisp of wind was a sword, and every gust marked another life claimed by a sharp blade.
Under the efforts of all four members of the Trailblaze squad, the menacing Fragmentum Monsters gained nothing.
Despite their terrifying air of readiness to take everyone down with them, these Fragmentum creatures promptly collapsed into a rout.
The rift above the Bud of Erudition closed at that moment as well.
Who knew whether its allotted time had run out or the monsters inside had been terrified by the slaughter?
In the end, not a single member of the Trailblaze squad was injured. All that remained were corpses strewn across the snowfield.
There was no need to deal with these Fragmentum creatures, however. As elemental crystals, they would soon dissipate and return to the world in their most basic forms, becoming a drifting snowflake or a tiny flame on someone's match.
After they dealt with the monsters, March 7th went over to the Bud of Erudition to see just what was hidden inside.
In the end, she found a book.
March 7th exclaimed in delighted surprise, "There really is something in here! It's a Travel Guide!"
Alongside March 7th's voice came Jiang Yu's. "Uncle Yang was right! There really is useful stuff inside the bud!"
Hearing Jiang Yu, the others turned to look in his direction. Then all of them froze, their eyes widening.
They were stunned.
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