74: Chapter 74: The First Battle in the Star Sea: Subduing the Gold-Eating Insects!

After spending half a day dismantling the Teleportation Array, Zhao Changsheng held a Night-Luminescent Pearl and left this desolate place.

Although he was already a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, it didn't mean he was omnipotent; for instance, Zhao Changsheng did not yet understand the language and script of the Chaotic Star Sea.

Under these circumstances, to avoid suspicion, Zhao Changsheng decided to spend some time learning the language and script first.

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This was not a difficult task for a Core Formation Stage Cultivator. In just half a month, Zhao Changsheng learned the common language and script of the Chaotic Star Sea on an island inhabited only by Mortals.

After learning the language and script, Zhao Changsheng headed straight for an important island—Kuixing Island.

This was one of the islands governed by the Star Palace, where the Island Lord and Vice Island Lord were both appointed by the Star Palace.

Of course, one also needed to secure a ranking in the Star-Plucking Assembly to obtain such positions.

Zhao Changsheng had not the slightest interest in the Star-Plucking Assembly; he had come here primarily to understand the current state of the Chaotic Star Sea.

Specifically, he needed to obtain a map of the vicinity of Kuixing Island and a general map of the Chaotic Star Sea.

This was the most critical and important part.

Before long, Zhao Changsheng traded with a few Qi Refining Stage Cultivators to obtain the maps of Kuixing Island and the Chaotic Star Sea.

After determining the specific location of Xiaohuan Island, Zhao Changsheng headed straight for this overlooked small island without a word.

This was because the island held the larvae of Gold-Devouring Beetles, which would play a significant role in the future.

Thus, Zhao Changsheng naturally could not let them go.

However, to Zhao Changsheng's surprise, this small island, which had a Spiritual Vein but extremely thin Spiritual Qi, actually had a Cultivator living on it.

Fortunately, it was only a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator. He was full of complaints and desperate to leave, but because the cost was too high, he had to remain on the island until the designated time before he could depart.

Zhao Changsheng could relate to this, as the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi on this island was indeed incredibly thin.

Forget a Core Formation Stage Cultivator like him; even for a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator, it was hard to accept.

For any Cultivator, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is always the most important thing, as it determines what Realm one can reach in the future.

However, Zhao Changsheng possessed many Spirit Medicines, so his demand for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was not that great; naturally, he didn't care about the concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in his surroundings.

Other Cultivators were not like this; they cared about this point immensely.

This was especially true for the Qi Refining Stage Cultivator currently on the island. Although he was solitary and disliked social contact, facing such a cultivation environment still made his mood terrible. He could hardly Cultivate normally, and his own Spirit Stones were not enough to compensate for the lack of Spiritual Qi.

"What bad luck. Why didn't I listen to the warnings and chose such an island? To leave, I'd have to give up most of my net worth just to get a chance to pick a new island. What should I do?"

Inside the Immortal Cave on the island, a middle-aged Cultivator sighed. If he hadn't been using Spirit Stones to make up for the lack of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, he probably wouldn't have been able to Cultivate at all.

But Spirit Stones were limited. In particular, the Spirit Stones he had were also needed to power the island's protective Formation, which gave him a massive headache—he wouldn't be able to sustain it for more than a few years. When that time came, he would be forced to hunt Yao Beasts with others to earn more Spirit Stones.

He hated such things the most. Firstly, it was too dangerous; secondly, if the spoils were distributed unfairly, it could easily lead to trouble and being murdered by others.

It was precisely because he had experienced such things several times that he was unwilling to have contact with others.

But with his meager cultivation, trying to hunt Yao Beasts—even the lowest Grade One Yao Beasts—carried a risk to his life.

Yet, to be able to Cultivate normally, it seemed this was the only path left for him.

He had originally thought that by choosing a remote and suitable island, he could Cultivate normally without hunting Yao Beasts or trading for resources, relying solely on the offerings from the island's residents. He hadn't expected it to be mere wishful thinking.

This was simply impossible. The residents only offered two or three Spirit Stones a year, which couldn't even support the island's protective Formation. He had to provide his own Spirit Stones to keep the Formation running.

Just as the middle-aged Cultivator was agonizing over what to do, a streak of spiritual light completely ignored the Restrictions he had set in the Immortal Cave and landed directly on him.

Then, his vision went black, and he fell completely unconscious.

After the Cultivator had passed out, Zhao Changsheng's figure appeared.

"What an unlucky fellow."

Then, Zhao Changsheng threw out a small fireball, and the Cultivator turned to ash, never to be troubled by these matters again.

The Immortal Cave he had established naturally became Zhao Changsheng's.

Although the Immortal Cave was very crude, Zhao Changsheng had no desire to renovate it, as his goal was to dig out the dormant Gold-Devouring Beetle larvae on this island.

Gold-Devouring Beetles were good things; since Zhao Changsheng was here, he naturally wouldn't let them go.

Otherwise, why would he travel thousands of miles to come here? He could go elsewhere if he just wanted to have fun.

Soon, Zhao Changsheng began to set things up in the Immortal Cave according to the method for luring spirit insects he had obtained from the Spirit Beast Mountain Cultivators.

Although he knew it wouldn't be finished in a short time, he never expected that it would take a full year of waiting before the Gold-Devouring Beetle larvae were lured out one by one.

Fortunately, he was well-prepared and had enough patience and time; otherwise, luring out these Gold-Devouring Beetle larvae would have been no easy feat.

After luring the larvae out, the first thing Zhao Changsheng did was to imprint each larva with an Essence Blood Soul-Splitting Mark.

Although this would consume a large amount of essence blood and Primordial Spirit power, the effort was worth it compared to the benefits the Gold-Devouring Beetles could bring.

However, these larvae still needed careful nurturing. Only when they matured slightly and became Two-Colored Gold-Devouring Beetles with gold spots on their bodies could they be used to defeat enemies.

After completing the master-servant bond with all the Gold-Devouring Beetle larvae, Zhao Changsheng's face turned pale and bloodless.

This time, not only was his own essence blood heavily depleted, but even his Divine Thought was consumed by more than a third.

But the benefits were also immense; in the future, the possibility of these Gold-Devouring Beetles going out of control would be virtually non-existent.