Devouring Stars: Master of Evolution

Chapter 116 Attack

The solar system, Io.

Io is the only other planet in the solar system besides Earth that experiences volcanic eruptions.

According to statistics, there are more than 400 active volcanoes on Io.

The volcanoes on Io erupt frequently. The "volcanic ash" they spew forms umbrella-shaped plumes that can reach heights of up to 450 kilometers.

This is a "hellish satellite" with volcanoes everywhere, churning lava, and a hideous appearance.

In the past, this place was a forbidden zone for life, and almost no life could survive in such an environment.

But now, on its surface stands a Zerg mother hive over 700 meters tall, its entire body a fiery red.

One by one, vines were inserted into the magma to extract its energy.

In the boiling magma, beetle-like insectoid creatures were soaking in it.

From time to time, Zerg will die or evolve and mutate in this harsh environment.

But what is even more eye-catching is a colossal beast that is devouring everything in the lava. It looks like a giant lizard, covered in fiery red scales and flames, and is over 500 meters long.

This is a blazing behemoth belonging to the Zerg swarm!

This environment, which would be hell for other creatures, is a perfect habitat for the Blazing Behemoth.

Unlike the Flame Star Beast, which grows by devouring stars, the Blazing Flame Beast prefers to grow by devouring magma.

They are born to be the darlings of fire, and are most skilled at controlling and manipulating it.

As an ordinary cosmic behemoth that can only reach the cosmic level when it grows up, it does not have the innate inner world of the Golden Horned Beast, and its only talent is the "Heart of the Furnace".

However, in Qin Mu's view, this was an excellent Zerg unit.

The Heart of the Furnace has a simple function: it allows the Crimson Flame Beast to grow rapidly by consuming flames and lava, without requiring players to spend real money like they would with the Golden Horned Beast.

At the same time, the Heart of the Furnace also grants the Blazing Behemoth a terrifying ability to control fire.

By studying the Blazing Behemoth's talent, Qin Mu reached the third level of the Fire Domain in just three months!

More importantly, they are "very cheap" compared to the Golden Horned Beast.

Hatching a Golden Horned Beast of the first rank of the Eternal Star level requires 100 million standard units of energy, while hatching a Blazing Beast only requires 1 million standard units!

How strong are the Blazing Behemoths of the same level?

Qin Mu once had the Blazing Behemoth fight the Thunder God, who was also a star-level being, head-on.

The result was that Thor, who had already mastered the realm of lightning, was completely defeated!

This is the terrifying talent of the Starry Sky Beast.

Today, there are ten such terrifying cosmic behemoths on Io!

Their appearance greatly compensated for the lack of high-end combat power in the swarm, giving the swarm not only quantity but also quality!

Not only on Io, but also on Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, swarms of insects are everywhere.

Even the harshest environments cannot stop their movement; in fact, they have evolved even more species in extremely harsh environments.

Outside the solar system, within a thousand light-years of Earth, swarms of insects have already appeared in a few places.

They will gradually spread, collecting resources and energy for the swarm.

Earth.

Near a towering pyramid-shaped mother nest in Shennongjia, a colossal insect egg, nearly 600 meters tall, is hatching. This is the second golden-horned behemoth to emerge from the swarm.

Not far from the insect eggs, a towering, emerald-green tree, twelve meters in diameter and 289 meters tall, swayed in the wind.

Within a ten-mile radius of this tree, one can clearly feel a greater abundance of cosmic energy. The environment within this area is more comfortable than in other places, and the Zerg units are also stronger.

Even within the vast underground root system, there are crystalline fragments of cosmic energy!

This is a special treasure that Qin Mu obtained from the Treasure Pavilion: the seed of the Earth Spirit Gathering Tree.

The seeds of this treasure cost ten million Black Dragon Coins each, and the seedlings are worth a billion Black Dragon Coins.

After being nurtured by the energy of the insect swarm, it has grown from a seedling and begun to play a role.

Around the trees, birds with wingspans of hundreds of meters, resembling crows, circled in the sky.

This is a strange beast called the Heavenly Fire Crow, which Qin Mu selected from the flesh and blood of powerful creatures he purchased.

Units hatched from the swarm for use in combat.

They are a peculiar life form that lives in the starry sky. Adults can reach the level of the Eternal Star, are extremely fast, are skilled at manipulating fire, and are social creatures that are extremely vengeful. They are one of the creatures that space adventurers hate to encounter the most.

These Skyfire Crows are all at the sixth level of the Celestial Star, and they can serve as a good substitute when the insect swarm is unable to take action from the outside world.

Inside the mother nest, Qin Mu stretched and stopped his research.

"call--"

"Take a break."

With the cosmic human bloodline sample brought from space and further research into the "Primitive Insect Codex", Qin Mu has upgraded the effect of the bloodline evolution agent to the ninth level of the apprentice level, reaching the limit of the seventh-grade bloodline.

However, breaking through to the sixth-grade bloodline is a considerable challenge.

This is a process of qualitative change.

By studying samples of the sixth-class bloodline in the universe, Qin Mu gained some confidence and believed that he would be able to overcome this difficulty in a short time.

Although Qin Mu hadn't left Earth for the past three months, Li Xingtao on Qiulong Star had been collecting samples for Qin Mu's research.

Every month, a batch of samples is sent over, and at the same time, goods produced on Earth are taken away and traded in space.

With sufficient research samples, Qin Mu's research on the bloodline evolution agent was able to proceed so smoothly.

Qin Mu spread his arms and lay down on a recliner made of biological flesh and blood.

With the aid of the optical computer, Qin Mu's consciousness entered the virtual universe.

"Let's go fight in the killing field."

Qin Mu looked relaxed.

For him, the best way to relax is through a thrilling battle.

In the midst of a frenzied battle, the fatigue from researching arcane arts, domains, and bloodline evolution agents will quickly dissipate.

These days, not only is the swarm growing, but his strength is also increasing at an astonishing rate.

In the Hall of Slaughter, along a passageway, space shifted, and Qin Mu's figure appeared in the starry sky.

"The opponent is set to be an eighth-level spiritualist of the Hengxing level, who has mastered the three levels of the Fire Domain and the three levels of the Metal Domain. His weapon is the Crescent Moon Disc, and he wears a second-level battle suit. He has extremely rich combat experience. The battle scene is a desert."

Qin Mu skillfully set up the virtual space.

These data are actually the results of his cultivation over this period of time.

There is feedback from the swarm, as well as research on the two cosmic behemoths, the Golden Horned Beast and the Blazing Beast, and the perception of the realm through their bodies.

Qin Mu's strength naturally reached the eighth level of the Hengxing level.

Their achievements in various fields have increased at an astonishing rate, especially in the metal field, where they have actually caught up with the fire field.

In the killing space, the environment suddenly changes, and the starry sky transforms into a boundless desert.

Opposite Qin Mu, a figure that bore a striking resemblance to him materialized in the void.

The crescent moon disc beneath his feet spun, and crescent moon blades flew out, swirling around Qin Mu.

On the other side, the figure made the same move.

"Whoosh—"

The two shot out simultaneously, and in a short instant, the crescent moon blades in the sky clashed more than a thousand times.

"bite--"

"bite--"

Sparks flew everywhere.

In the fierce clash, Qin Mu gradually fell into a disadvantageous position after initially being evenly matched.

In terms of combat experience, he was indeed inferior to the figure opposite him.

"Fire Domain!"

Qin Mu's heart stirred, and the black flames raged fiercely around him, distorting the air.

The figure opposite did not unleash a domain like Qin Mu. Instead, his body shone with golden light, and he charged straight into Qin Mu's flame domain, intending to kill Qin Mu directly.

"Well done!"

A golden light flashed in Qin Mu's eyes, and the crescent moon blades surrounding him quickly combined to form a golden wheel that began to spin rapidly.

"Rainbow Moonlight Slash, go!"

A crescent moon, nearly a thousand meters long, slashed towards the figure with terrifying killing intent.

"boom--"

Almost simultaneously, a slash of the same size and scale was launched from in front of the figure, creating a loud explosion in mid-air.

"Um?"

Amidst the terrifying explosion, a figure burst forth, charging towards Qin Mu.

Just as Qin Mu was about to defend himself, his movements stopped.

"Something's happened!"

Qin Mu's eyes narrowed, and the scene in the killing space dissipated, transforming back into the starry sky.

Just now, China's transport fleet ran into trouble.

Through the Zerg-ified star-level slaves, Qin Mu sensed everything that was happening there.

They were attacked while transporting goods to the vicinity of Cold Moon Star!

Space pirates attack!

This is the first time such a situation has occurred.

Since Qin Mu and his group returned from space, Earth, which was already developing at a high speed, has been on a rocket-like trajectory.

There is a group of planetary-level ninth-tier mentalists who are skilled in manufacturing, and their development speed is more than a hundred times faster than before.

Factories are operating at breakneck speed all over the world, and even the Mars base has expanded several times over.

Thanks to the excellent technology inherited from the Immortal Legacy of Meteorite Star, the goods produced on Earth sell very well in the virtual universe. Now, the reason that limits Earth's ability to make money is actually insufficient production capacity!

Even with the Chinese government's frantic efforts to increase production capacity, there is still a shortage.

Besides population, the average quality of people is also a factor. Compared to humans on some advanced planets in the universe, the average quality of humans on Earth is far too low, and there is a severe shortage of people in some high-tech industries.

This kind of talent development is not like that of martial arts practitioners, where simply piling on resources is enough.

It requires learning and time to settle!

But beneath this blazing scene, dangers lurk.

On Qiulong Star, Li Xingtao and others were inexplicably suppressed.

Their business negotiations have repeatedly stalled as they fiercely compete for some orders.

Some of the star-level slaves who were transformed into insectoid beings by Qin Mu were not entirely unaware of the situation outside.

As he competes with arms dealers for orders, Li Xingtao's pressure is increasing day by day.

But Li Xingtao didn't tell Qin Mu; he just kept it to himself.

Li Xingtao and his group remained in Qiulong City, and their safety was guaranteed.

But their cargo ships can't stay in port forever, which gives some people an opportunity!

"Looks like it's time to make a move!"

Qin Mu's eyes were cold. He had expected this scene and was always prepared for it.

The universe is never peaceful, and Qin Mu had foreseen this when he authorized Li Xingtao to seize the orders.

Li Xingtao did not disappoint him and successfully secured the order.

And so, the scene before us unfolded.

(End of this chapter)