Qi Ze was firmly led by Yan Junyu towards the lake bed. With a faint blush on his cheeks, he struggled a few times, but was met with a glare from the other, which left him feeling vexed.
"Why did you kiss me just now?" Seeing that no one was around, he asked in a low voice.
"I kissed you because I wanted to, there's no reason why." Yan Junyu's expression was serious, but the strength in his grip increased.
"So you're just being a pervert?"
"Is kissing your partner considered being a pervert?"
"When did I become your partner?" Qi Ze stopped in his tracks.
"Whether you admit it or not, you are mine to me." Yan Junyu didn't intend to argue logic with the youth. He pulled him into his arms and kissed him, only stopping when the other was panting and dizzy.
On the surface, Qi Ze was a playboy, but inside, he was purer than anyone. If someone wasn't truly accepted by him, even casual contact would be unpleasant, let alone intimate contact. This was his first time experiencing such a lingering and passionate kiss. He didn't know how to breathe, nor how to respond. He just instinctively sucked on the man's saliva, his tongue moving aimlessly, like a puppy.
Yan Junyu laughed while they were kissing, the cold and stern features finally softening with tenderness. "Do you admit I'm your partner now?" He pulled back a little, but his lips still brushed against the youth's, asking in a hoarse voice.
"No, you rejected me!" Qi Ze's breaths were heavy, his eyes wet, and his lips red.
Yan Junyu seemed to understand something, breaking out in a low chuckle. "I see. Because I rejected you, hurting your feelings and your pride, even though you still love me, you're unwilling to admit it, right? Alright, this time I'll be the one pursuing you. Don't tell me that my feelings for you are merely curiosity or gratitude. If one person is willing to die for another, what could it be other than love?"
Qi Ze wiped his mouth while rebutting, "I didn't lose my pride! Who says I have to agree to your pursuit?"
"Every time you refuse, I'll kiss you, until you agree." Yan Junyu pressed the youth against the tree trunk, leaning in for a kiss. Only after he had his fill did he pull back a little, asking, "Do you agree?"
"No... mmm..."
"Do you agree?"
"No... mnn..."
After five or six times, Yan Junyu had a look of satisfaction on his face. He caressed the youth's delicate skin behind his ear with his lips. His voice carried an indescribable touch of passion. "Xiao Ze, it's very easy for me to misunderstand that you're deliberately seeking a kiss."
Qi Ze had completely collapsed in his arms. His buttocks were supported by him, his head pressed by him, and his abdomen pressed against his hot and hard member. They were on the verge of passion, and if it wasn't for the time and place being inappropriate, they might have lost themselves in the heat of the moment.
"I wasn't seeking a kiss..." Qi Ze mumbled in confusion. Seeing him lean in for another forced kiss, he quickly nodded. "I agree, I agree, you can stop now." An unfamiliar wave of heat swept over him, making him excited and scared. He vaguely knew what would happen next, but he wasn't prepared for it.
"Do you agree?" Yan Junyu put down the youth in his arms, a hint of regret on his face.
"I agree, let's go!" Qi Ze glared at the man, annoyed.
The two had just emerged from the dense forest when Wolf Fang shouted in fear and distress, "What's wrong with it? Is it going crazy? Quickly find Master Qi!"
"Master Qi is here," Li Ziqian put a hand on Wolf Fang's shoulder, sarcastically saying, "Everyone says that the leader of the Red Phantom Star Pirates is fearless and does all sorts of evil, but in reality, he's actually so cowardly that he's scared of a doll."
"That's an ordinary doll? It's clearly a monster!" Wolf Fang's face was pale, his lips blue, a look of extreme nervousness. Xiaohei stood not far away, its black hair wriggling like countless snakes, sniffing and probing towards the center of the formation, but never daring to step forward due to the residual power of the heaven and earth.
The Black Eye Galaxy was a magical place, filled with both spirit and demonic energy, which were equally dense and mixed. The most spirit-rich immortal mansion on the Qianyuan Continent was not even a millionth as dense as this place. This was why, even though Qi Ze was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, he could control the forbidden arts that only Transcendence Stage powerhouses could use. Currently, the Soul Slaying Formation had effortlessly slain a huge beast, and although it had temporarily stopped, its power was greater than before. Even a transcension-stage powerhouse would dare not step in lightly, let alone an intelligent creature like Xiaohei.
The spirit core lay at the center of the formation, emitting an incredibly fragrant aroma, how could it not make the creatures salivate? Not only was Xiaohei driven mad, even Yan Junyu couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
"Xiaohei, there's nothing for you here, go home to your mother," Qi Ze made a joke. Xiaohei turned around, its features completely distorted. Its huge mouth split to the ear, a terrifying sight. No wonder Wolf Fang was scared.
Seeing Qi Ze, it immediately transformed back to its cute and soft appearance. It pointed at the center of the formation and then at its own belly, indicating it wanted to eat.
"You can't digest this, it'll burst you up," Qi Ze patiently explained. In the end, he looked at Yan Junyu. "Go in and swallow that spirit core, then sit at the center to digest it, don't come out. The Soul Slaying Formation will help you eliminate the intelligence of the spirit beast in your stomach."
Yan Junyu hesitated. "Will I turn into a monster? Do you mind interracial marriage?"
Qi Ze's cheeks turned red as he threatened word by word, "Are you going or not? If not, I'll give the spirit core to Xiaohei." Xiaohei immediately started jumping around in excitement.
Yan Junyu gave a low chuckle, pulled the youth into his arms for a couple of kisses, and then walked in. Wolf Fang couldn't hold back any longer, whispering, "Master Qi, he really won't turn into a monster?"
"How would I know?" Qi Ze's face was filled with a perverse sense of enjoyment. Wolf Fang was frightened by him, wanting to run but feeling it would be shameful, so he awkwardly stood in place. Li Ziqian and Ouyang Ye stared at Yan Junyu in the center of the lake bed with heavy eyes.
Yan Junyu walked to the center of the formation, picked up the spirit core, and swallowed it. He then sat cross-legged, silently digesting it. The spirit beast, upon obtaining the spirit core, gained consciousness. The Soul Slaying Formation sensed this, and the spirit stones that had just gone out instantly lit up again, crazily extracting the yin and yang energy from the air and continuously pouring it into Yan Junyu's body. Spirit energy was yang, demonic energy was yin, in the Black Eye Galaxy, these were the most abundant resources, and in almost no time, they accumulated enough to slay a divine beast.
Unfortunately, the spirit beast's intelligence was wiped out as soon as it was born. Its body continued to evolve, compressing, evolving, compressing, until it finally turned into a lustrous dark green bead, floating inside Yan Junyu's dantian. Thunder rumbled from the distant horizon. Cloud after cloud piled up at a furious speed overhead, almost obscuring the sky.
"Why did the thunderclouds come again?" Li Ziqian frowned, startled. "Will my junior brother also be struck by lightning?"
"Of course," Qi Ze didn't show any worry on his face. He had long noticed that the Black Eye Galaxy had abundant spirit and demonic energy, which is why it could always cultivate powerful races. Thus, the accommodating force of the Heaven's Law was more lenient, usually only descending a Four Nine Lightning Tribulation, not the Eighty One Tribulation of the Qianyuan Continent. It was said that beyond the universe, there was another universe, where even more powerful races lived, and interstellar beasts were common.
It was precisely because of this that a cultivation system like the Dao of Immortals had never appeared. Otherwise, everyone could easily cultivate to Transcendence Stage or even the transcension stage, wouldn't it have been a mess? Of course, the Heaven's Law's method of restricting the various races was the entanglement of demonic and spirit energy.
Qi Ze had figured out the ins and outs of this world, and was adept at exploiting the loopholes of the Heaven's Law. He opened up the spirit orifices in his body, crazily absorbing the pure spirit energy that came with the lightning tribulation. Li Ziqian and Xiaohei, on the other hand, were delighted to absorb the demonic energy. Even Wind Forest and Fire Sea in Ouyang Ye's hands couldn't help but hum in excitement.
The first lightning tribulation had just fallen, the second quickly followed. If it was the first time encountering such a situation, one might be very frightened, but Yan Junyu was experienced. He calmly absorbed the surging power that kept darting around his body. The pain brought by the lightning tribulation not only failed to disrupt his process, but instead helped him organize this force. His meridians were broken one by one, only to quickly heal. This was because that spirit beast had super self-healing ability, unless it met radiation, it could never be killed. Its cells were filled with unimaginable vitality.
Oh, I almost forgot, under Qi Ze's cultivation, radiation was no longer its weakness. Therefore, Yan Junyu seated in the lightning wasn't feeling much suffering, instead, the speed of refining the spirit core increased. After forty-nine lightning tribulations, he opened his eyes, stood up, brushed away the charred outer layer, revealing a brand new body. He became taller, stronger, his appearance stunning, his demeanor exceptional. With just a probing of his spiritual force, he could perceive the entire world.
He felt like he was standing at the center of the universe, feeling both radiant and insignificant. Seeing the group approaching from afar, he immediately took out a set of military uniform from his Interspatial Button and put it on, slightly closing his eyes and shedding a ray of divine light.
"How do you feel..." Qi Ze had just started to speak when he was hugged into his arms. He was fiercely, passionately, and lingeringly kissed. He even instinctively projected a trace of divine sense, merging with the youth's divine sense, enjoying a true union of body and mind.
Qi Ze was stunned, too late to react as he was pulled into the vortex of desire, emitting unbearable moans. He never would have thought that under the condition of lacking inheritance, this person could actually grasp the essence of dual cultivation.
"That's enough, we should go back." Li Ziqian spoke icily.
Yan Junyu had incredible self-control. Sensing that he might have done something inappropriate, he immediately released the youth and took out a coat to tightly wrap him up. The youth's cheeks were scarlet, his eyes hazy, his pale skin flushed with the colors of desire, tempting in every way.
"Don't casually probe your divine sense into other people's bodies in the future. If you encounter an expert, you'll be killed." Qi Ze finally escaped the torment of desire, immediately warning through gritted teeth. After that moment, he had to admit that he indeed still loved this person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have opened his sea of consciousness and let him enter freely. This was a completely instinctive reaction, and instincts don't lie.
"It's only you that I would do this to," Yan Junyu whispered in his ear, then kissed his flushed cheeks, still unsatisfied.
Qi Ze tried to glare at him fiercely, but his moist eyes held no killing intent. Seeing the man's fiery expression, he averted his eyes, threw out the flying disc, and said in a flustered tone, "Let's go, back to camp."
"Hold on, I know where the electromagnetic waves are coming from, a lot of memories suddenly popped into my mind." Yan Junyu massaged his temples.
"It should be the spirit beast's inherited memories." Qi Ze pondered. Animals were different from humans. They obtained survival skills through their bloodline, not from their parents' teachings. For example, shepherd dogs, because they have been herding for generations, are born knowing how to drive the flock; or cuckoos, because they have been parasitic for generations, are born knowing how to lay eggs in other birds' nests. This is a unique way of inheritance.
"Let's go, I'll lead the way." Yan Junyu lifted the youth onto the flying disc, confidently saying, "We can leave here soon."
"Go." Li Ziqian held back the envious Ouyang Ye and calmly spoke. The group boarded the flying disc, arriving at a cave deep in the forest. It took over an hour to reach a huge cave through a narrow tunnel.
Wolf Fang was so scared that his whole body stiffened. The ground was filled with spirit beasts in hibernation, so dense that there was almost no place to step, while the cave walls were covered in black crystal, radiating dazzling light under the energy-saving lamp. The surroundings were filled with demonic energy, already refined and pure enough.
Qi Ze immediately wrapped himself in spirit energy to avoid the overly dense demonic energy from actively penetrating his pores without absorption. To cultivators, being here was a torture, but to Li Ziqian, Yan Junyu, and Xiaohei, it was like heaven. The cave was large and deep. The light from the energy-saving lamp couldn't reach its end, surrounded by black crystal, layer upon layer, pushing each other.
It could be imagined that this was the nest or birthplace of the spirit beasts. They continuously absorbed demonic energy day and night, which led to mutation. Demonic energy could change the environment of this planet, naturally, it could also produce strong electromagnetic interference.
"The depth below is very deep, and the deeper you go, the higher the temperature, I suspect this cave might lead straight to the earth's core." Li Ziqian analyzed.
"It probably does, I can smell sulfur." Yan Junyu lifted the youth, warning, "Don't step on these spirit beasts, they could wake up at any moment."
"Deal with these spirit beasts," Qi Ze tugged his ear, urgently saying, "I want to mine the black crystal." If this was on the Qianyuan Continent, even if he desperately wanted to experiment with demonic crystals, Qi Ze wouldn't dare. But here, he could use them as he pleased, no one would manage him. In fact, materials themselves had no good or evil, it all depended on how the alchemist used them.
"You're not breathing?" Yan Junyu immediately noticed his abnormality and reacted quickly, "Wait outside for me, I'll help you mine, as much as you want."
"Thank you. I don't need too much, fill this ring and that's enough. The rest you can share equally with Li Ziqian and Xiaohei. After we mine these black crystals, the electromagnetic interference should be resolved, and we can leave by spacecraft." Qi Ze obediently laid on his shoulder, letting him take him out.
"Wait for me here." Yan Junyu placed the youth on a clean large stone, couldn't help but peck his rosy lips, before walking back with a smile on his face.
The rest of the men put on heavy protective suits, all considering whether to stay or leave. Wolf Fang stood against the cave wall, trying his best to avoid the spirit beasts on the ground, pressing, "What are these black crystals? What are they for? First come, first served, my team should also get a share, right?"
"Have you seen the waste cut from energy stones? These crystals are the purified form of that waste, they can also be considered a kind of energy. As for what they're for, you'll have to figure it out yourself." Li Ziqian didn't need to use a cutter. His hands turned into beast claws, forcefully tearing off a piece of black crystal and storing it in his Interspatial Button.
Ouyang Ye inserted Wind Forest and Fire Sea into the stone wall, also easily cutting off a large piece, not much less efficient than Li Ziqian. They had an early tacit agreement: whoever dug it up got it, all by their own ability.
A soldier took out a hydraulic cutter, worriedly saying, "Young Master Li, these things are useless to us, but we can help you mine. It's just that, what should we do with these spirit beasts on the ground?" The noise from the cutter was very loud, it might wake these spirit beasts up, which would be a problem.
"Wait until your captain comes back, he'll handle it." Li Ziqian continued to tear off black crystal, his attitude relaxed.
"Huh, he's the biggest spirit beast, what are you afraid of!" Ouyang Ye said in annoyance.
"We should still wait for Yan Junyu to come back before we move." Wolf Fang's face was covered in cold sweat, but because he was wearing a protective suit, he couldn't wipe it. He stared at Li Ziqian and Ouyang Ye who were moving with large gestures, repeatedly begging, "Be careful, be careful, the stone shards have fallen all over the ground, be careful not to wake these spirit beasts."
"So big spirit beasts you've seen, and you're still afraid of these?" Ouyang Ye had been trained. After seeing star beasts like spirit beasts, it was really hard to feel fear when facing these small pieces of flesh under his feet. But just as he finished speaking, a spirit beast under his foot was startled awake and tentatively extended a tentacle.
After being moved by tentacles of its kind, more spirit beasts woke up. They were like a pile of matches gathered together, needing only one to be lit to ignite all. Wolf Fang looked at this scene in horror, wanting to run but having nowhere to step, wishing he could simply disappear on the spot. Ouyang Ye was also startled, at a loss for what to do when suddenly, many vines rushed in from the tunnel, ashes flying everywhere. In the blink of an eye, they sucked dry all the spirit beasts in the cave.
Yan Junyu walked in unhurriedly, calmly saying, "Hurry up and mine, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can go back."
"Yes, Captain!" The soldiers snapped out of their shock, ready to cut the black crystal, but were awed once again by their captain's formidable strength. They saw him extend countless vines from his hands, effortlessly stripping the entire cave wall of black crystal, storing it all into an ancient-looking ring. His efficiency was ridiculously high. If he was the only one mining, he might only need two to three days to empty the cave, others would only add to the chaos.
"Captain, why don't we wait for you outside?" The soldiers were well-versed, all putting away their cutters.
"Also good, Xiao Ze is outside, you go out and protect him." Yan Junyu was focused on stripping black crystal, but in fact, a vine extended from under his feet, lurking around the youth at all times, completely not needing extra people to protect.
The soldiers left, but Wolf Fang didn't. He knew these black crystals were good things, wanting to seize the opportunity to grab a little more. Unfortunately, he didn't have Yan Junyu's abilities, and after a long time of hard work, he only cut off a small piece. If it was in the past, he would have long called his brothers to bring weapons to plunder, but now, let alone killing Yan Junyu and the others, he didn't dare even think about it.
Regardless of Qi Ze's ability to reverse heaven and earth, just these few people and the doll were beyond what he could handle. He was especially wary of Yan Junyu. Although he didn't show anything particularly strange after swallowing that bead, there was no doubt that his strength would be stronger than that of the previous huge spirit beast.
Thinking of the huge spirit beast's might in sweeping across the entire continent, Wolf Fang couldn't help shivering, honestly following behind Li Ziqian and Ouyang Ye to pick up the fragments they discarded. He didn't dare to have any ulterior motives.
The team members waiting in the camp worried something might happen, and organized a group of people to enter the forest for reconnaissance. Along the way, they only saw land that had become desertified due to dehydration, not encountering any danger. After finding the location of their teammates through signal flares, they came to help one after another. It took seven or eight days to empty the cave.
After the black crystals were stored in the Interspatial Button, the strong electromagnetic interference disappeared. Various instruments returned to normal operation. With Qi Ze and Ming Rui, the discarded warship was quickly repaired. Everyone rested for a day, refreshed and full of energy. The next day, they were ready to set off.
By the blazing campfire, Qi Ze took out a small glass bottle, shaking it and occasionally holding it up to the light to examine it. Yan Junyu sat behind him, his long legs encircling him, his chin resting on his shoulder.
"You caught a young beast?"
"Mmm, I want to take it back and raise it. Its abdomen is full of demonic energy, it should be an excellent material for refining tools. I also put away the remains of that huge beast. I should be able to make good things." Qi Ze had an idea in his mind, but it still needed to be put into practice.
"Then I'll help you find a suitable place to raise it." Yan Junyu said softly.
Their conversation gave Wolf Fang goosebumps. Thinking of the super reproductive ability of these spirit beasts, he couldn't help but advise, "Master Qi, you'd better not bring it to another planet, to prevent a disaster like on Planet ME219. Their invasiveness is enough to rival a war initiated by the Zerg queen."
"I have a sense of proportion." Qi Ze put away the glass bottle and began filtering the poisonous fruits one by one. In the end, the spirit beasts didn't completely destroy this vast forest. Many animals and plants escaped the calamity. After these black crystals were taken away, the environment here should slowly purify and recover. Even if they couldn't completely eliminate the spirit beasts, without demonic energy to absorb, their growth would be limited. Nature had its own rules, everything would get back on track.
After purification, the poisonous fruits tasted sweet. Qi Ze took a bite, sent it to Yan Junyu's mouth to bite, the two sharing a pile of fruits, you eat a bite, I eat a bite. Then they fed the poisonous liquid in the large jar to the vines.
Although it lacked intelligence, that bead still needed to be nourished, its main food was demonic energy, and its side dish was poison. The more toxic the thing, the more it could make it glow. The more demonic energy-rich black crystals, the more it could grow. These two things were not scarce in the Black Eye Galaxy. If this continued, how powerful would Yan Junyu become?