This time, Chu Yuan did not land on the planet, instead watching the battle from outer space.
The ship's three-dimensional screen showed Black Blade One landing on Hidden Light Planet.
Black Blade One hovered above a massive mineral vein. Before he could act, the ground began to shake violently.
Mountains collapsed and the earth split open. A thick brown vine tens of thousands of meters long burst out of the ground and lashed toward Black Blade One at tremendous speed.
Sensing danger, the Star-Eating Grass attacked first.
It had only one method of attack, Entangling Kill. Anyone it coiled around and trapped would be easily killed.
Even a hundred warriors at the same Star Level 9 might not be a match for the Star-Eating Grass.
Unfortunately for it, the one who had come to capture it this time was a Universe Level 8 expert.
Black Blade One drew his blade and slashed, the blade light cleaving the Star-Eating Grass's main vine in two.
The main vine retracted, and a new main vine rapidly grew from the severed end. At the same time, thirty-six slender branch vines split off from it, shooting toward Black Blade One from every direction.
The thirty-six branch vines formed an enormous cage, trapping Black Blade One inside.
"Break!"
Black Blade One roared. Dozens of sharp streaks of blade light flashed into existence, bursting through the vine cage and hacking the thirty-six branch vines to pieces.
After shredding the branch vines, Black Blade One dove down, seized the main vine, and gave a powerful wrench.
Crack! Crack! Rumble!
An enormous, abyssal chasm split the earth. The ground shook and the mountains trembled as an entire mountain of ore collapsed.
With a mighty heave, Black Blade One forcibly uprooted the Star-Eating Grass from deep underground.
With too many of its branch vines severed and its main vine injured as well, the Star-Eating Grass dared not resist any longer. It shrank to three meters long and lay quietly in Black Blade One's hand.
"It worked!"
Inside the ship, the corners of Chu Yuan's mouth lifted as he watched.
The Star-Eating Grass, worth hundreds of thousands of Hunyuan Units, now belonged to him.
As long as he could raise it, it would be his most reliable helper.
"Don't celebrate too soon, kid."
Sitting on Chu Yuan's shoulder, Xiong Ba spoke with an air of elderly authority. "Raising plant life is very expensive. Back when Master raised the Shaluo Flower to World Lord Level, he exhausted his fortune and nearly went bankrupt."
"Star-Eating Grass is far stronger than a Shaluo Flower. A single seedling alone sells for as much as 300,000 Hunyuan Units. Heaven knows how much you'll have to spend to raise it."
"That little fortune of yours isn't even enough to water it."
Of course, Chu Yuan knew that, but it did not matter. He had endless fortuitous encounters to obtain and was destined never to lack money.
Less than half a year had passed since he activated the Infinite Fortuitous Encounter Exploration System, yet he had already obtained over eight Hunyuan Units in wealth and a Star-Eating Grass seedling.
Given enough time, he could afford to raise any number of gold-devouring beasts.
Soon, Black Blade One returned with the Star-Eating Grass seedling.
Chu Yuan took the Star-Eating Grass seedling, cut open his palm, and fed it his blood.
Having plant life recognize a master was simple: feed it blood.
However, this Star-Eating Grass seedling had already grown to Star Level 9. Having it recognize him as its master would require quite a lot of blood and time.
"Feiluan, head to Planet GR-2584 in the Red Flint Empire."
"Yes, Master!"
The Dragon Abyss set off again, heading toward the location of the second six-star fortuitous encounter. This time, the death rate was a full %.
Planet GR-2584 was 1.86 million light-years from Hidden Light Planet, requiring thirty-four days of travel.
Chu Yuan used the travel time to feed the Star-Eating Grass.
After feeding it an unknown number of tons of blood over twelve days, the Star-Eating Grass finally recognized him as its master.
With a thought, the Star-Eating Grass rapidly shrank and merged into Chu Yuan's skin.
After it recognized him as its master, Chu Yuan's consciousness and the Star-Eating Grass's consciousness became connected.
The Star-Eating Grass extended a finger-thick branch vine and coiled it around Chu Yuan's wrist, conveying a sense of affection. "M... Master... I'm... hungry."
The Star-Eating Grass had been injured earlier. To recover and continue growing, it needed to devour metals and ores.
Chu Yuan smiled faintly and stroked the vine. "Don't worry. I'll feed you right away."
He had quite a few precious metals and ores on hand, all brought back from across the universe by the fleet under his command. He had not yet had time to sell them, and now they came in handy.
Chu Yuan placed the Star-Eating Grass inside a storage ring filled with mountains of metals and ores.
The Star-Eating Grass took root in a piece of C8-grade metal ore and extended thirty-six branch vines. Each branch vine bore numerous leaves, which wrapped around pieces of metal and ore.
The metals and ores grew brittle at a speed visible to the naked eye and crumbled into powder, their essence entirely devoured by the Star-Eating Grass.
The Star-Eating Grass was currently at Star Level 9. Raising it to Universe Level would not be difficult; the resources Chu Yuan already had were sufficient.
As for the resources it would need afterward, he would have to keep accumulating them.
The Dragon Abyss flew at twice the speed of light, and another twenty-two days passed in the blink of an eye.
The ship returned to the Primal Universe. Chu Yuan looked ahead, and a star system appeared before his eyes.
"Master, the GR Star System is just ahead. It's a medium-to-large star system containing over five thousand planets."
Feiluan brought up the data on the GR Star System. "According to the data, the GR Star System has one inhabited planet, called Iron Thorn Planet. Its Planet Lord is named Bagoer, a Universe Level 2 expert."
"Once you enter the GR Star System, Master, it will be difficult to guarantee that Bagoer won't discover you."
Sitting on the sofa and looking at the data on Bagoer, Chu Yuan smiled unconcernedly. "Let him discover us. He's only a Universe Level 2 warrior. He poses no threat to us."
Chu Yuan had come here solely to obtain the fortuitous encounter. Unless necessary, he did not want to kill anyone.
But if that Planet Lord lacked the sense to stay away and came courting death, Chu Yuan would not mind sending him on his way.
The Dragon Abyss passed through the asteroid belt. Over a hundred thousand meters from the ship, several asteroids silently flashed red twice.
These asteroids were disguised detectors. They captured footage of the Dragon Abyss entering the GR Star System and immediately transmitted it back to Iron Thorn Planet.
Iron Thorn Planet's environment was extremely harsh. A thick layer of crimson clouds shrouded its skies year-round, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate and reach the surface.
Three Star Level warriors flew swiftly through the sky. Suddenly, a violent hurricane appeared out of nowhere to their right.
There had been no warning before the hurricane appeared. By the time they noticed it, it was already too late for the three of them to dodge.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The violent hurricane howled toward them, sweeping up all three Star Level warriors.
One warrior's combat suit was easily torn apart like thin paper. Immediately afterward, the hurricane shredded his body, turning him into a cloud of bloody mist.
The two remaining Star Level warriors only managed to escape the hurricane by giving it everything they had, then flew off in another direction.
"Yaka!!!"
One of the two who had narrowly escaped turned back and glanced at the violent hurricane, tears spilling from his eyes.
"Yaka's dead!"
A flicker of grief crossed the other man's eyes, but he instantly suppressed it. "There's nothing we can do. We can't save him."
"Keep running, or we'll die here too."
"We can't die. We have to survive. We have to make it back to our homeland!"