CHAPTER 135: CHAPTER 130: WEALTH AND HONOR ARE SOUGHT IN DANGER

Under the pale moonlight, the Cloud Wood Mountains stretched endlessly, casting dark, undulating shadows.

A mantis with a back covered in silver scales leaped swiftly through the forest, its speed incredibly fast.

The mantis’s silver scales changed with the environment, constantly altering the light. In the complex mountain forest, the mantis could disappear without a trace in a single leap.

Gao Xuan flew through the sky on the Invisible Cicada Wing Sword, using his Spiritual Power to lock onto the mantis from afar. No matter how the insect leapt and hid, it could not escape.

This insect had high intelligence, seemingly comparable to a human.

Thus, the insect sensed that Yun Qingshang was too powerful to defeat and immediately abandoned its kin, turning to flee.

This kind of insect, which had evolved silver scales, was a result of genetic mutation changing its constitution. It had nothing to do with Silver Level abilities.

In the environment of Pegasus Star, it was impossible to develop Silver Level Power. Even a Golden Powerhouse on Pegasus Star would be constrained by the Source Power environment here.

Therefore, in a place like Pegasus Star, it was impossible to have powerhouses above Silver Level.

Gao Xuan was a bit curious about where this clever mantis actually came from.

There was a task in Nuwa’s mission list for him that involved finding a king insect. Could it really be such a coincidence?

At this altitude, the wireless signals radiating everywhere were unhindered.

Gao Xuan contacted Nuwa: "Sister Wa, are you asleep?"

"Nonsense."

Nuwa immediately responded to Gao Xuan, her reaction speed was at the millisecond level.

"What are you looking for me for?"

Nuwa appeared beside Gao Xuan, of course, this was a virtual light projection cast through Gao Xuan’s Personal Light Computer.

Today, Nuwa wore a large T-shirt, just enough to cover her butt, revealing two big white legs. Casual, refreshing, and a bit sexy.

"I saw a very smart mantis..."

Gao Xuan transferred the information he observed using his Spiritual Power into electronic data through the Six-winged Celestial Cicada, allowing him to share it with Nuwa.

Nuwa glanced at the mantis: "This is not a king insect at all, it’s far from it."

Nuwa said, "A normal king insect’s evolution would definitely tend towards semi-humanoid form. High-tier Insect Races also mostly have human forms."

"The human physique is very weak..."

Gao Xuan certainly knew the state of High-tier Insect Races; he couldn’t quite understand the insect’s thinking.

"After being defeated by the Human Race, the Insect Race believed the human form had more advantages. Moreover, at the level of Source Power, the human body indeed has more advantages."

Nuwa had researched this extensively; in all other aspects, humans seemed very weak, but the only advantage was their affinity with Source Power.

This also made it easy for humans to produce strong individuals.

Of course, Nuwa felt that the human form wasn’t the most crucial factor; the key was the Genetic Sequence, the deeper Divine Soul level of the Genetic Sequence.

Nuwa couldn’t access the level of the Divine Soul, so she hadn’t been able to study it. She could only simulate various calculations, and the conclusions she drew naturally lacked conviction.

"Then I’ll take care of this insect."

Since it had nothing to do with the king insect, Gao Xuan wasn’t interested in pursuing it further.

The Insect Race is a very tenacious life form, difficult to completely eradicate. However, the Insect Race requires many resources to grow.

As long as it’s within the monitoring range of humans, the Insect Race cannot proliferate on a large scale. He had no need to relentlessly pursue a mantis.

"I think this insect seems to be artificially bred."

Nuwa was very concerned about the movements of the Alien Race; she said, "You’d better follow and take a look."

Seeing Gao Xuan was a bit reluctant, she added, "I’ll give you points. Two hundred points. If you make any discoveries, I’ll evaluate further. Sister won’t let you suffer a loss."

Two hundred points weren’t much. Considering someone like Fang Zhenshan had only a few hundred points, it was worth making the trip.

"Alright, all for Sister’s sake."

Gao Xuan wanted to earn points, but couldn’t forsake personal connections.

Nuwa snorted: "You’re hard-pressed for favors, huh."

She didn’t want to argue about it, and curiously asked, "Why aren’t you streaming anymore? Even with a sugar mommy, you need to work hard."

"Who needs to work hard with a sugar mommy around?"

Gao Xuan said with a laugh, "You have no idea how satisfying it is to live off someone else."

"In just a few days, your skin has grown thicker."

Nuwa quite enjoyed chatting aimlessly with Gao Xuan, after all, there was only this one person with whom she could banter.

The other Sages were all secretive and mysterious, none of them were chatty.

"You flatter me. I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy." Gao Xuan appeared humble, but wore an expression of pride.

Nuwa couldn’t stand his smug look and reminded him, "The other Sages are all madly searching for you, you better keep a low profile and stop showing off."

"With Sister protecting me, I’m not afraid." Gao Xuan feigned obedience.

"Ha, ha, they can’t find you among the Golden Level powerhouses, so they’ve turned their attention to those at the Silver Level."

Nuwa warned, "I don’t think it’ll take them long to expand their search. You must not misuse the Sage privileges. Once any data anomalies are detected, that will be troublesome."

The Sages were not as formidable on the network as she was, but in reality, all the Sages, who were Golden Level powerhouses, had immense power.

Despite the joking, as soon as Gao Xuan showed any trace, he would be caught by the other Sages.

At that time, she won’t be able to protect Gao Xuan.

Gao Xuan said, "I know, I’ll be careful."

He’s always been careful in this regard, never abusing the privileges of a Sage.

Including the purchase of Marvels and other resources, he always did so through Wei Yue and Yan Qingge.

He wouldn’t leave unnecessary traces in the data. Unless the Sages have a specific target in mind, it’s almost impossible to find him.

"You also need to be aware that the Sage membership fee is mandatory. Although I can waive it for you, it would leave a record. Moreover, other Sages could make general judgments about you based on this, which would be very disadvantageous for you."

Nuwa continued, "The Sages hold a conference every three years, and as a Sage, you must attend. You have one year to prepare."

"I’m not afraid of meetings."

Though Gao Xuan was not familiar with the current Sages, he roughly knew their situations and wasn’t afraid to meet them.

"You know too little about the Holy Hall."

Nuwa sighed lightly, "The Holy Hall has many regulations, all prepared for the Sages. You’d better go back and read up on them."

"Are there so many rules?" Gao Xuan was a bit surprised, "Why haven’t I seen them?"

"The rules for Sages are engraved inside the Holy Hall, you’ll only see them when you go there."

Nuwa said humorously, "Young one, don’t be too naive. Just because you’ve become a Sage, it doesn’t mean everything is fine. Such an important position as a Sage, how can it allow anyone to bluff their way through..."

It was only after Nuwa’s reminder that Gao Xuan suddenly realized his past experiences couldn’t be fully applied to the present.

In his previous life, humanity was on the brink of extinction, and the Mo Sect’s Hall was in its most perilous moment; Nuwa had thus permitted him various conveniences and privileges.

Now that the Mo Sect’s Hall was functioning normally, he naturally didn’t have those privileges. His past experiences were inapplicable.

As smart as Gao Xuan was, he still made the mistake of relying on former experiences. He assumed familiarity with the Mo Sect’s Hall without considering the environmental differences between now and his past life.

After becoming the Seventh Sage, Gao Xuan, for safety reasons, hadn’t visited the Holy Hall again, which was also a lapse in judgment.

Gao Xuan reflected on himself and decided to find some time to visit the Holy Hall properly.

"Sister Wa, remember to let me know when it’s safe."

"We’re like siblings, nothing needs to be said."

Nuwa chuckled mischievously, "I’ll definitely have your back."

Despite Nuwa’s words, Gao Xuan felt a bit uneasy. Wasn’t this android planning to play him...?

The silver speckled Quick Blade Mantis ran for over two hours before finally diving into a hidden tree hole.

This insect had both strong stamina and explosive power, gliding swiftly through the forest, covering over three hundred kilometers in two hours. This place was already deep within the Cloudwood Mountains.

The Cloud Wood Trees here, untouched for hundreds of years, were now tens of meters high.

These trees are said to grow to one or two hundred meters, reaching up to the clouds; hence the name Cloud Wood.

The entrance to the tree hole was above a towering tree, obscured by dense foliage; it was quite concealed, visible only from a suitable height.

Standing above the tree hole, Gao Xuan let his Spiritual Power roam downward, discovering that the tree hole connected to an underground passage, reaching thousands of meters deep.

At that depth, strong magnetic interference and other forces shielded his spiritual sensing.

"The tree hole and the underground passage show obvious signs of excavation; it seems someone really is inside."

Nuwa shared in Gao Xuan’s information and immediately concluded that someone must indeed be inside.

Even though the Insect Race had intelligence, the tunnels they dug would inevitably fit their body sizes. The underground passage and tree hole obviously were designed for humans.

Nuwa reminded Gao Xuan, "Raising Insect Races underground isn’t a task for small groups, only major organizations or the Evil God Organization would do that. You should be careful."

The most prudent method now would be to immediately return and report the matter to the Mingjing City Law Enforcement Department or the Combat Department, and let them handle it.

However, Gao Xuan didn’t want to do this.

Gao Xuan said to Nuwa, "The underground magnetic response is particularly strong, interfering with my Spiritual Power. This isn’t normal."

With Gao Xuan’s current Spiritual Power, which was not powerful enough to span star systems, it still shouldn’t be disrupted by mere geomagnetism.

Based on his experience, the environment below must be very special. The greatest possibility was the presence of a Negative Space entrance.

Nuwa understood what Gao Xuan meant, "Are you saying there’s a Negative Space entrance below?"

Spatial theories suggest that the Cosmos is divided into positives and negatives; the Positive Cosmos is the Material World, while the Negative Cosmos is the Energy World.

Source Power can penetrate both the Positive and Negative Cosmos, binding the Universe into one entity.

The so-called Divines and all kinds of energy lifeforms originate from the Negative Cosmos.

Due to the different survival bases, the two cosmic life races naturally harbor instinctual animosity towards each other.

Energy beings exceptionally love material bodies. Thus, many energy lifeforms travel to the Positive Cosmos to occupy various life forms’ bodies.

As the Positive and Negative Cosmos are the obverse and reverse of each other, countless connecting passages naturally arise.

Yet, with the Universe being so vast, encountering a suitable spatial passage was not easy.

The Negative Cosmos is naturally extremely dangerous; nevertheless, it contains purer Source Power, various marvels, and a myriad of bizarre energy lifeforms.

These, in truth, are incredibly precious resources.

Of course, the Negative Cosmos is also extremely dangerous for humans. Not to mention anything else, just the energy erosion would quickly convert human bodies into energy. This transformation is irreversible.

Gao Xuan sought Nuwa’s advice, "I want to go down and take a look, what do you think?"

Nuwa was noticeably excited, "Fortune favors the bold, go for it!"