Chapter 1 The Destination

After several days of sailing, the Blacklight Lurker arrived at its destination along the predetermined route.

Outside the porthole was a planet. Green vegetation, earth-yellow land, and blue oceans made up the planet's surface, with earth-yellow being the most abundant.

Aurora curiously gazed down at the planet.

"Phillip, what planet is this?"

"Database retrieval in progress... retrieval complete, buzzing.

"Nalen Star, coordinates Broken Star Ring - Colton Star Cluster - Goolut Galaxy - Sixth Star Region, planet region code is s-0706812, discovered and recorded by the Goolut civilization, shows signs of civilization, relatively backward, has not yet developed interstellar technology, observation priority is four, buzzing."

Nalen Star had a surface civilization whose technology was still in ancient times. They had no planes, cannons, or nuclear energy, and were far from exploring the stars.

Aurora was puzzled. "Why did Han Xiao bring us here?"

"He must have a reason. Let's ask him when he arrives," Fording said with a smile.

At this time, Han Xiao was not on the spaceship. While the three of them were traveling by ship, he was running naked in the universe with his physical body in order to expose himself to cosmic radiation. He used the Void Tracker's [Radiation Energy Absorption] to obtain some attributes, so his travel speed was much slower than the three.

The spaceship hovered in the outer space of Nalen Star. Before long, the surrounding space rippled and twisted, and Han Xiao's figure jumped out of the void dimension. He shivered, hurriedly opened the hatch and flew into the ship.

"Phew—"

Stepping onto the ship, Han Xiao hurriedly exhaled, spewing out scalding hot breath.

As soon as he left the vacuum environment, white smoke immediately rose from his entire body, as if he were being cooked.

His cells had absorbed a large amount of cosmic radiation, and his body was like a furnace, extremely hot. His skin could fry an egg.

He opened his panel and glanced at it, quite satisfied.

"As expected of a mid-to-high-level evolutionary species, the growth potential of this talent is very good. As long as I accumulate enough time, the bonus will be considerable."

After practical testing, Han Xiao had figured out the operating mechanism of [Radiation Energy Absorption].

After evolving into a Void Tracker, his body's cells were modified to have the ability to absorb cosmic radiation. As long as the flesh was exposed to the universe for a certain amount of time, [Radiation Energy Absorption] could be triggered, permanently increasing 1-3 points of Strength, Agility, or Endurance, or increasing his Qi by 5-10 points each time.

If [Radiation Energy Absorption] was triggered multiple times within a certain period, the interval between the talent's effects would become longer and longer, meaning he would have to run naked in the universe for a longer time to increase his attributes again.

But if he rested for more than a day, the interval between the talent's effects would decrease again, returning to its initial state.

The absorption process could be broken down into three steps: absorption, storage, and digestion. The cells were not bottomless pits; their storage and digestion capabilities were limited, just like eating. When the cells were full, they needed time to digest, which was why this situation occurred.

This was a species talent that could yield considerable benefits through the accumulation of time. He could get stronger by idling, so it was definitely a profitable deal. [Radiation Energy Absorption] was Han Xiao's most satisfying talent ability at the moment.

At this time, the total bonus provided by this talent had accumulated to +16 Strength, +13 Agility, +21 Endurance, +68 Qi, and there was still huge room for improvement.

Returning to the cockpit, Han Xiao greeted the three.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's get moving."

"What are we doing on this planet?" Aurora asked.

"Doing good deeds."

Han Xiao smiled, switched to manual driving mode, put the ship into stealth mode, entered Nalen Star's atmosphere, and slowly descended.

This was the first stop he chose to farm for specialties. Nalen Star had three landmasses, but only one continent had civilization. The other two continents had not yet been discovered by the native civilization, and they had not even entered the age of navigation. Naturally, this civilization did not know what the universe was like.

Aside from the Goolut civilization that discovered Nalen Star, he should be the second cosmic visitor to patronize this planet.

This civilization was inclined toward the magic side. Several kingdoms ruled the continent, with a system of kings, lords, and nobles, constantly fighting each other. The most powerful kingdom was called "Heluin."

In his previous life, players discovered a specialty mission here, which was a bit useful to Han Xiao.

The cloaked spaceship descended to a height of one thousand meters. Under Han Xiao's control, it swept across the land, and towns built of stone bricks flashed across the field of vision.

The surface civilization of Nalen Star did not have the ability to detect interstellar spaceships.

The spaceship quickly flew around the continent, completing a scan, and Phillip chugged away to generate a map.

Whoosh—

The trees swayed as the spaceship landed in a dense forest in a mountain range.

Han Xiao led the three down from the spaceship, keeping it in stealth mode to avoid being discovered by the Nalen Star natives.

Taking out the newly generated map, Han Xiao glanced at it and began to explain.

"The destination is nearby. This is the territory of the Heluin Kingdom. We are going to a city called Stoneheart City. Let me see... oh, it's that city."

Han Xiao pointed into the distance, and Hella and the others followed his finger and looked over.

They saw a town built against the mountain at the edge of the mountain range, with the gray of bricks and stones as the city's main color.

"Stay close to me, keep a low profile. I won't let you do anything, so don't mess around."

Han Xiao carefully instructed.

Grade A was a high-level combat power in the universe, possessing crushing power against this kind of surface civilization. No one on Nalen Star could match them, and a single carelessness could destroy a city.

In order to do the mission, Han Xiao needed everyone to keep a low profile, at least on the surface, to blend into this bracket.

Although they didn't understand Han Xiao's intention, Hella and the others nodded.

"Phillip, simulate the appearance of Nalen Star people."

Several mechanical balls rose and shot blue cone-shaped rays at Han Xiao and the others.

A matrix data stream flashed, quickly generating simple simulated illusions on the surface of the four people's bodies, turning them into the appearance of Nalen Star people. The body structure of Nalen Star people was similar to that of humans, but their skin was darker and rougher, with纹路 (wénlù) patterns.

Adjusting the translator's channel, everything was ready, Han Xiao led the three along the mountain path toward Stoneheart City.

...

The afternoon sun was languid.

The four moved very quickly and soon arrived at the scattered villages outside the city. Fields lined the road, and farmers were working diligently in the fields, with the stench of some kind of animal manure floating in the air.

Having seen the magnificent scenery of the universe, it was quite a different experience to appreciate the rather primitive scenery of the surface civilization at this time. Even advanced interstellar civilizations had gone through such periods. The spark of civilization was very weak at first, and it grew stronger under the care of generations.

Fighting wars in the universe every day, all they saw were warships and armor. Occasionally traveling to such a backward surface civilization could relax their minds.

No need to worry about enemies, they could walk sideways here.

"The environment here is good, no industrial pollution." Han Xiao took a deep breath and shook his head. "Even the smell of shit is so refreshingly stinky..."

"I think you've become more and more perverted lately," Fording said truthfully.

"No, no, you're still better at this."

They chatted all the way and arrived at the gate of Stoneheart City. The guards couldn't see through the disguise of interstellar technology. Han Xiao and the others mingled with the crowd and entered the city.

A stinky, hot wind greeted them, and the noisy shouts rudely crashed into their ears. Before their eyes were messy stone streets, backward town planning, and natives wearing primitive clothing.

"What exactly are we going to do?" Aurora asked softly.

"You have the most questions. Just follow me."

Han Xiao pinched Aurora's elastic cheeks with two fingers, released them with a pop, and Aurora covered her red face with tears in her eyes.

"Sister, he bullied me," Aurora turned her head to complain.

Hella turned a blind eye and pretended not to see.

The group walked closer to the town's notice board. Phillip translated the Nalen Star text into common language, and Han Xiao looked at an old notice that had been posted for who knows how many years.

The content could be summarized as follows: a manor in Stoneheart City was haunted, and a妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit was appearing. The manor owner hoped to hire someone to solve the problem.

This reward had been around for a long time.

The location of the task was a small manor. Han Xiao and the others stated their intentions and were quickly warmly welcomed into the manor by the owner, where they took their seats in the main hall.

As soon as they sat down, the manor owner couldn't wait to speak.

"That's great, someone is finally willing to help again. This notice has been posted for several years, and I've received at least a hundred people, including five who claimed to be wizards, but none of them could solve the problem."

"Don't worry, we're different," Han Xiao said, and the translator turned his words into the Nalen Star language.

"Then you... are you wizards?" the manor owner asked hopefully.

"Sort of. Tell me about the specific situation first."

"Okay, okay..."

In Nalen Star, there was a kind of energy being similar to a ghost, which the natives called 妖灵 (yāolíng), spirits. A few years ago, these spirits appeared in this manor, occasionally appearing at night.

The espers of Nalen Star were of the magic type, which the Nalen Star people called 波波索特 (Bōbōsǔotè). The translator gave the meaning of the word as "wizard." The esper system here was very weak. Wizards mainly used mediums such as magic potions or materials to cast spells, probably only at Grade D level, but in the eyes of the natives, they were mysterious and powerful, all being incredible methods.

And exorcising 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirits was the job of wizards, but decades ago, a large number of wizards collectively disappeared. Now it was difficult to see wizards. Magic had lost its inheritance, the esper system was cut off, and no one knew how to exorcise 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirits. They could only re-explore the esper system through obscure magic books.

Fortunately, the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit in this manor was relatively weak, so the manor owner's family had been able to make do with living here for several years.

After the manor owner finished speaking, Han Xiao's panel reacted.

[You have triggered the chain mission [Demon King of Nalen Star]!]

[Mission introduction: You have learned from others that the wizards of Nalen Star collectively disappeared for some reason, and there seems to be another hidden secret in this]

[First ring mission requirements: Exorcise the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit in the manor]

[Reward: 200,000 experience]

This was a chain mission, and the reward for the first ring was small. Players in his previous life also discovered this when freely exploring during version 3.0.

Every civilization had a large number of trivial missions. This mission was hidden very secretly. In his previous life, a story-oriented player happened to complete this mission and discovered that the reward was a specialty that could improve mental resistance—although the Nalen Star power system was extremely weak, the rewarded specialty was very good.

Now that the version had just opened, the Black Star Army was mass-cultivating leeks, which resulted in no one having explored Nalen Star yet.

Because of the soul embryo, Han Xiao decided to get another mental resistance specialty, so he came to this place where the level of martial power was not even as good as the novice village.

He knew the process of the mission, which could save a lot of exploration time.

"Leave the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit to us. We'll solve it tonight."

Han Xiao said, glancing at the corner of the room, where a transparent magic eye was suspended, monitoring their conversation.

Only the manor owner didn't know of the existence of this magic eye. When Han Xiao and the others first entered the room, they noticed it at a glance.

In the eyes of espers of their level, this clumsy, low-level magic eye was like a living person squatting in the corner, muttering "You can't see me," and could only deceive the air.

"Ignore it." Han Xiao waved his hand to stop Fording. He knew who was paying attention to this manor. Luring out the monitor was a key step in the mission.

...

At the same time, a secret assembly hall somewhere underground in Stoneheart City.

The room had no windows, only a few kerosene lamps provided weak light. In the dimness, a hoarse voice sounded.

"The thirteenth detection guard has reacted. Someone has accepted the reward for that manor and wants to deal with the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit."

Then a young voice sounded, with a helpless tone, responding, "I'm afraid it's another clumsy amateur who has read a few witchcraft books and thinks he's become a wizard. Alas, how can they deal with 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirits."

"They said they'll take action tonight. Tomar, you go and follow them."

"Understood, I will protect them to prevent them from messing around and angering the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit, and getting hurt."

The conversation came to an end, and the sound of hinge gears moving sounded in the room, continuing for a while before stopping.

...

When it was late at night, Han Xiao had the manor owner's family leave, and then led the three to the back of the manor.

There was an abandoned area here enclosed by stone walls and fences, with several locks on the gate.

Using the key given by the manor owner, Han Xiao and the others walked in. Inside was a long-abandoned warehouse area, with several granaries scattered around.

A cold, viscous aura floated in the air, and it seemed as if an invisible airflow gently brushed against the skin.

If ordinary people were here, they would inexplicably become nervous, as if it were haunted.

But it had no effect on Han Xiao and the others.

"There is a weak abnormal mental signal here. I discovered it during the day," Fording whispered. "Do you need me to get rid of it?"

In front of a mind power master like him, the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit was completely insignificant. Not to mention one 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit, removing a thousand 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirits would only be a matter of thought.

"Wait for it to show itself."

Han Xiao shook his head, glancing obscurely in the direction of a certain granary. In his perception, there was a living person squatting there, and that was his target.

"Okay, whatever you say."

Fording said helplessly.

Although they had doubts, they were bodyguards now, and their job was to follow Han Xiao around.

At this time, not far away, Tomar carefully hid behind a certain granary, leaning against the wall, sticking his head out, secretly observing Han Xiao and the others.

He was a young man, wearing a black hooded outfit, using shadows to cover his appearance, dressed like an assassin, with many small bags on his belt, storing spell materials.

Seeing Han Xiao and the others looking around, acting like they were on an outing, Tomar couldn't help rolling his eyes and secretly despising them.

"Too unprofessional, they don't even know to set up spirit-light stone powder in advance. Where do they get the confidence to help people exorcise spirits... It seems they're bound to suffer a bit..."

As he was thinking, suddenly a gust of Yin wind rose, and the dust on the ground swirled up like a tornado. A faint blue phantom loomed, and a shrill roar sounded in the air.

"Damn, after not seeing it for a few years, this blue shadow 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit has mutated!"

Tomar was shocked when he saw this, and became anxious in his heart.

He had only been studying witchcraft for five years, and he couldn't even guarantee that he could protect himself from this 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit, let alone with these four amateurs dragging him down.

Seeing that the four of them were unmoved, Tomar cursed inwardly, reached for the spell material bag, and was about to rush out to help, not caring about concealing his identity.

Pfft!

Just then, Fording casually emitted a mental wave, hitting the 妖灵 (yāolíng) spirit.

The blue phantom-like spirit shattered like a broken mirror, collapsing into pieces of blue snowflakes and disappearing without a trace.

It was at this moment that Tomar had just rushed out, exposing himself in Han Xiao and the others' sight. Seeing this scene, he froze in place, maintaining his running posture.

What just happened? The 妖 (yāo) spirit, the spirit was destroyed in an instant?!

Don't wizards use magic potions to fight? What's going on now? Why isn't this in the books?

Tomar looked blank.