Chapter 314: Just a Bit More, I Promise!
Chen Xun peered into the dark abyss ahead, deep in thought. “Three-eyed creatures, huh? Well, I’ll be sure to remember you all. With your lives in my hands, maybe your kin owe me a little something—like a few of these fancy sealing stones!”
“Hm, yeah, that’s fair,” he smirked. “When we reach the Grand World, we’ll investigate their origins. If these folks are too troublesome, well... they can just keep napping here forever.”
He chuckled to himself, taking one last, penetrating look into the depths where thousands of these strange beings lay in slumber. But as he tuned into his senses, he found the sealing stones themselves actually served to obscure his view—it was almost like they were naturally camouflaged.
Only Chen Xun and Old Ox, an odd pair with uncanny insight, could decipher such secrets with such ease.
Before they knew it, they’d been collecting for who-knows-how-long, lost in the rhythm of gathering. If it weren’t for the system notification, Chen Xun might have never realized how much time had passed.
He added the accumulated longevity points straight into his defenses without hesitation.
Xiao Chi was busy at his side, hauling one Extinguishing Spirit Stone after another onto the ship’s deck. Meanwhile, Chen Xun settled down to cultivate his divine apertures, letting the Extinguishing Spirit Stones dissolve to ash in his hands. Old Ox, never one to waste time, was already filling up the storage bags with Extinguishing Spirit Stones—they were, after all, priceless loot for their journey to the Grand World.
Old Ox was genuinely excited about the idea of the Grand World. Unlike Chen Xun, he wasn’t as weighed down by ambition. Over the years, he’d come to realize that Chen Xun was always on the move, always pushing forward—not just for himself but to carve out a path for those younger than him.
“...Moo...” Old Ox murmured, a little heavy-hearted as he padded the deck.
Glancing over at Chen Xun, still in deep meditation, Old Ox found himself wishing for those simpler days when their worries were as light as the morning mist—back when they had no obligations or grand goals.
“Black Ox, daring to pry into my thoughts?”
“Moo?!”
A booming voice snapped him out of his reverie, and he jumped, startled. Since when was Big Brother awake?
“ Moo!!” Old Ox was practically dancing across the deck in joy.
“Big Brother, there are so many Extinguishing Spirit Stones here—it’s like hitting the motherload!” Xiao Chi’s face practically split from grinning, feeling on top of the world. “These will last us centuries! We’re rich, I tell ya, rich!”
“Alright, team, let’s grab a few more, and then we’re out of here. No point getting greedy; wouldn’t want to lose out on any potential blessings,” Chen Xun advised.
The mention of “blessings” made Old Ox snap to attention, taking it very seriously. Xiao Chi, while not entirely sure what “losing blessings” meant, took it to heart too and nodded dutifully.
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Another half a year whizzed by.
“Let’s grab a few more, team, and then we’re out of here. No greed, just a bit more!”
“Moo~~!”
“Roger that, Big Brother!”
Old Ox was fresh out of his closed-door cultivation, and Xiao Chi was still going strong. By now, even their storage rings were starting to feel a bit cramped.
Chen Xun and Old Ox exchanged a quick glance, then went back to distributing their newly acquired longevity points into their defenses. You couldn’t be too prepared, after all.
The ship continued to drift along, gliding toward another red-hued patch of Spirit Trees, each bearing massive blood-red fruit. The fruits pulsed with energy, the embodiment of true vitality. They were exactly what every physical cultivator dreamed of.
Xiao Chi took a look but kept his curiosity in check. He had long accepted that Big Brother and Old Ox were... let’s say, “unique.” He respected their secrets and focused on his task, hauling Extinguishing Spirit Stones without asking any unnecessary questions.
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Back to the grind, they mined stone after stone, with Xiao Chi growing a bit quieter each time he saw the remains of spirit beasts disintegrating into dust.