The underground world, the white sun

Splat!

The hammer smashed down, and the adventurer's head burst like a watermelon, exploding into scraps of flesh.

The headless corpse crashed to the ground, its blood staining the soil red.

"Invaders from beyond the heavens, every last one of you deserves to die!"

Killing the adventurer had not satisfied the burly red-haired man's hatred. He stomped on the corpse, bursting it apart.

The four natives gathered up the spoils and took them away, then flew into the sky to search the surrounding area.

Only after confirming there were no other adventurers did they leave.

"The natives really do hate outside adventurers to the bone. Once they find one, they won't stop until one side is dead."

Black Blade One's expression was somewhat grave.

"Yes. I nearly pressed the laser gun's trigger just now."

Star Pupil No. 1 stood to Chu Yuan's right, keeping the D9-class laser gun on one shoulder.

Ever since the universe level 9 native appeared, Star Pupil No. 1 had kept the gun aimed at his head.

If the burly red-haired man made the slightest suspicious move, Star Pupil No. 1 would blow his head apart without hesitation.

Chu Yuan said calmly, "Three or five natives aren't difficult to deal with. The problem is that these people are incredibly united against outside adventurers. Once they spot us, more natives will come charging in. If we get surrounded, escaping will be difficult."

A sharp glint flashed through Black Blade One's eyes. "So we can't let them discover us. If we encounter natives, we must kill them as quickly as possible."

Chu Yuan nodded. "Stay alert. Keep moving."

"Understood."

The group of seven set off again. With Feiluan scouting ahead, Chu Yuan avoided all the fierce beasts, natives, and adventurers, finally reaching the Heavenly River Mountain Range.

The Heavenly River Mountain Range was the largest mountain range on the Turbid Abyss Continent, stretching 1.9 billion kilometers from east to west and 1.2 billion kilometers from north to south. Its area was greater than that of many ordinary red giants.

Of the adventurers who came to the Turbid Abyss Continent to hunt for treasure, ninety-nine percent came to the Heavenly River Mountain Range.

Seen from afar, the Heavenly River Mountain Range lay sprawled across the land, towering into the clouds and piercing the atmosphere, with no end visible to the naked eye.

Mountains crisscrossed one another, and waterfall after waterfall cascaded from their peaks, like heavenly rivers flowing down.

"The waters of the great river come from the heavens!"

The sight moved Chu Yuan to speak.

What he saw before him was not a fantasy depicted in poetry, but a scene that truly existed.

According to the statistics, there were more than ten million such waterfalls in the sky, and they were how the Heavenly River Mountain Range had earned its name.

"We can't fly at high altitude. The area around the Heavenly River Mountain Range is covered with native outposts."

Feiluan's warning was grave.

Chu Yuan's group of seven kept low as they flew toward the center of the mountain range, avoiding dozens of native outposts along the way.

"Enter through the numbered waterfall to the southeast. There's a passage inside that leads straight down to 1,472 kilometers underground, where there's a four-star opportunity. After that, keep going deeper. The six-star opportunity is 170,000 kilometers underground."

Feiluan brought up a route map, with a red line extending deep beneath the Heavenly River Mountain Range.

After about three hours of flight, Chu Yuan's group of seven reached the numbered waterfall and plunged straight into it.

Behind the waterfall was a grotto, with a winding passage.

After following turn after turn, Chu Yuan reached a depth of 1,472 kilometers underground, where a deep blue glow appeared ahead.

"What's that smell?"

Chu Yuan caught a faint fruity fragrance and flew toward the glow, arriving in an underground cavern.

The cavern was oval, roughly forty-seven kilometers across and sixteen kilometers high.

The rocky walls around the cavern were riddled with holes. Water poured through them, collecting into a lake inside the grotto.

A gigantic fruit tree grew in the center of the lake. It stood over a thousand meters tall, its enormous crown densely laden with fruit.

The fruits were crystal clear, giving off a deep blue glow.

"Feiluan, what kind of fruit is this?"

Feiluan flew over and scanned it, then answered with a smile, "Master, these are Blue Crystal Fruits. They taste wonderfully sweet, and eating them allows those at planetary level and star level to advance their cultivation quickly. Their market price is a hundred thousand Ganwu Coins each, and many domain lords and world lords enjoy eating them."

"Blue Crystal Fruit Trees are very easy to keep alive, and they bear fruit once every hundred years."

Chu Yuan looked at the Blue Crystal Fruit Tree, rapidly calculating its value.

"The fruit is worth a hundred thousand Ganwu Coins each, and there are at least a hundred thousand on the tree. The fruit alone could sell for ten million Universe Coins. The tree is even more valuable, worth several hundred million Universe Coins."

"Keeping them as snacks or giving them to the family would both be good options."

Several hundred million Universe Coins meant little to Chu Yuan, but they would still be very useful to the Leinuo Family.

The Blue Crystal Fruit Tree could be used to nurture the family's younger members.

"Star Eater, dig up the tree!"

Chu Yuan raised his hand and grasped. Star-Eating Grass grew out of his arm, branching into nine main vines that plunged into the lake.

The tough vines pierced deep into the crustal rock, tearing through stone like tofu as they dug along the Blue Crystal Fruit Tree's roots.

Soon, the entire Blue Crystal Fruit Tree had been dug out by the Star-Eating Grass and dragged above the water.

Chu Yuan tossed out a World Ring and stored the fruit tree inside.

After the tree was removed, lake water surged into the gap, and the water level dropped rapidly.

"Keep digging. Open up a passage!"

Chu Yuan gave the order.

The Blue Crystal Fruit Tree was only the appetizer. The main course lay deeper underground.

The six bodyguards dove underwater and dug with all their strength.

After they had dug roughly fifty-three kilometers, another passage appeared below. Chu Yuan and the others entered it and descended another 196 kilometers to its end, then immediately resumed digging.

Beneath the Heavenly River Mountain Range, some areas were solid crustal rock, while others were naturally formed underground caverns and passages.

Chu Yuan's group of seven, together with the Star-Eating Grass, dug furiously like this until they had tunneled all the way through 170,000 kilometers of underground rock.

A hundred and seventy thousand kilometers was greater than the diameter of many planets. It was equivalent to Chu Yuan's group of seven digging through an enormous planet.

"Hidden this deep, no wonder no one discovered it."

Chu Yuan arrived underground. Rather than the darkness he had imagined, it was as bright as day.

There were mountains and water, flowers, birds, fish, and insects. It was an underground world in every sense.

Chu Yuan looked up and saw many glowing stones in the rocky ceiling overhead. They also gave off heat, providing the light and warmth.

"Feiluan, how big is this place?"

Feiluan quickly scanned this extraordinarily vast underground world and soon reached a conclusion.

"The cavern is irregular, but its longest span exceeds kilometers, and even its narrow sections measure kilometers. Its average height is 7,700 kilometers."

Chu Yuan smiled. Such an enormous space could hold a planet. Calling it an underground world was no exaggeration.

"The opportunity is 6,400 kilometers ahead."

Feiluan displayed the precise route.

The group of seven flew toward their destination, and Chu Yuan could not help feeling a little excited.

After all the effort they had spent this time, he wondered what sort of treasure they would obtain.

It was, after all, a treasure born in a Cosmic Secret Realm. Surely its value would not be lower than a Fire Origin Divine Fruit?

After they had flown a little over three thousand kilometers, the light ahead grew brighter and brighter.

It was a white light, its wisps gathering together into ribbons that floated in the sky.

Reaching out to touch the white light, he found it cool and very comfortable.

All the ribbons of white light came from the same direction.

Chu Yuan followed the white light, and at its end, he saw a pure white "sun."

The white sun hovered in the air, so dazzlingly brilliant that Chu Yuan involuntarily narrowed his eyes.

Once he had adjusted to the glare, he looked closely again. There, suspended at the center of the "white sun," was a round crystal-the very treasure indicated by this six-star opportunity.