95 You are the mature sword!! [Second merge request for subscription!]

Lu Chen had fallen for the low-level illusion because he was far too relaxed, lacking any sense of tension. Even if you had a cheat or were nearly invincible, you would still relax.

Lu Chen’s danger avoidance prompt would ignore sleep, coma, or even illusions, forcibly waking him.

Furthermore, do not ask whether it was possible to encounter unawakening comas or hallucinatory states… Such states were extremely dangerous, and you would receive danger prompts before reaching that point.

【Screw Sandworm, 36th-level adult specimen, 28 meters long, 2 meters wide, head equipped with a hard threaded vertebral shell, adept at spiraling forward underground, tail bearing over a dozen flexible, razor-sharp tentacles capable of piercing, toxin release, and binding prey; it preferred to poison its quarry then drag the immobilized target into its burrow for consumption; its bug meat possessed extraordinarily high spiritual nourishment and aided cultivation.】

“So it wasn’t a Star Beast after all…”

Lu Chen felt a trace of disappointment.

Still, this bug’s level was no low at all!

Spirit bugs lacked bug cores; their spiritual nourishment was evenly distributed throughout body fluids and muscles, with protein content in the flesh far surpassing that of ordinary beasts—Bei Ge had even praised it as delicious.

Eating spirit bugs for cultivation, infusing their juices into wine, or forging pills from their shells was not uncommon, quickly forming an entire school of thought.

A 36th-level underground bug skilled in poison attacks, though its level surpassed Lu Chen’s own body and armor and it fought on home territory, would prove no match for an armor immune to poison, adept at burrowing and underground infiltration, and equipped with laser weapons; it would soon become little more than cooked meat.

Inside the armor’s light screen, Alia continued shouting Lu Chen’s name while casting the Awakening Spell in an attempt to rouse Golia.

Yet Golia, whether from intoxication or the lingering effects of the illusion, slept as soundly as a dead pig—even pouring scalding water over her would fail to wake her, let alone cast the Awakening Spell.

Lu Chen was speechless.

He had come today determined to die just once, to see whether this foolish woman could actually perform.

So he surrendered without resistance, allowing the Screw Sandworm to drag his armor deep underground.

Lu Chen soon received a danger prompt he had never seen before.

【Approaching the Screw Sandworm’s burrow entrance—should the worm eject its head, it may inflict irreparable damage to the host armor and endanger the host’s safety!】

It seemed that even tasks that should have posed no danger became hazardous and uncontrollable when one insisted on courting death.

Seeing her attempts to wake the pair fail, Alia opened the cabin door and prepared to rush out to their rescue.

Meanwhile, Golia slept so deeply she even rolled over, revealing a seductive figure.

Oddly enough, Golia herself remained motionless.

The sword moved.

Whoosh!

A flash of cold light, and her sword slipped free from its sheath.

A faint layer of demonic flame covered the blade; it sliced through blades of grass and shot straight into the ground.

Lu Chen had just felt a chill behind him.

Swipe—

The Screw Sandworm’s head fell.

The sword traced a graceful arc through the earth, then turned and flew back into Golia’s sheath.

Huh?

Lu Chen stared blankly.

Staring at the light screen and confirming repeatedly, he found Golia still asleep.

This could actually happen?

This sword was too mature—it had even learned to hunt monsters on its own!

The headless Screw Sandworm had not died yet.

The two cut surfaces had been swiftly sealed with mud, healing completely.

Its tail tentacles tightly bound the armor.

Meanwhile, the worm’s severed head demonstrated independent action, spiraling around to face Lu Chen’s armor, preparing to open it and feast.

Lu Chen was utterly stunned.

“Truly, the bug race will do any strange thing!”

Golia’s sword cared only about killing, not burying, leaving Lu Chen facing an enemy of two.

Alia promptly reminded him via the light screen:

“Captain, the sandworm hasn’t died; its head is hard and sharp—even without a body, it can still pierce the armor’s shell!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen the Heaven Origin Breakthrough.”

As she spoke, Lu Chen drew his light sword.

Intense high-energy laser instantly melted the soil and sand.

He severed the tentacles binding its legs in one stroke.

Lu Chen immediately activated the excavator and fled, creating a relatively safe distance from the spiraling head.

The sandworm head did not pursue him but instead returned to the main body, preparing to regrow into a complete form.

Lu Chen refused to let it have its way; he seized the moment, circled behind the head, and fired a laser blast!

Though the laser cannon suffered severe attenuation in the soil, Lu Chen was only tens of meters from the worm head.

The severed section of the worm’s head had only mud for hemostasis, rendering its defenses essentially nonexistent.

Lu Chen’s laser had struck it straight to the soul!

The head vanished instantly, its cranial cavity burned to a crisp.

Even from a distance, the aroma could be smelled…

A truly brain-burning scent.

The remaining worm body still waved its tentacles in a threatening display.

Unfortunately, it possessed no mobility and could only be carved up at Lu Chen’s leisure.

Lu Chen severed the worm’s tail, then sliced through its torso to remove any toxic juices or organs, bundling the thin body into a roll.

He carried the worm head’s shell as well, dragging the whole thing out of the ground and onto the ship’s deck.

The bug meat would be roasted and eaten!

【Brain-burning worm head saved for later sale—perhaps excellent drill material…】

On the ship’s deck.

Golia, still sleeping soundly, caught wind of the even more fragrant burned-brain aroma and woke with a start.

She sat up, saw the bizarre bug Lu Chen had brought back, and lost all appetite.

“So it wasn’t a Star Beast after all?”

Lu Chen shot her a glance across the light screen, somewhat exasperated:

“Even with a harvest, that’s good enough. Ask me—did this fleet’s only combatant pull her weight? I nearly got dragged into a bug hole!”

Golia froze, propping her chin in her hand, her fine brows furrowing in thought.

“Bug hole… I’ve heard of that somewhere—do bug holes exist on this planet too?”

“I said bug cave!”

“Oh, oh, bug cave…”

Golia’s expression lit with sudden realization, yet she murmured to herself:

Which bug cave was it?

At the same time, she instinctively defended herself:

“I must have been dizzy from the strange fragrance, that’s all. Rest assured, I promised to protect you when I brought you out to sea. If you truly faced danger, I would have dream-walked to save you!”

Lu Chen frowned and probed further:

“Do you still remember what you did earlier?”

Golia tilted her head.

“So I really dream-walked?”

She glanced around the planet once more.

“So dangerous a planet?”

In other words, when true danger arose, this woman would dream-walk to save others or self-rescue even while asleep.

Could it be some kind of expert’s instinct?

The sword had clearly been wrapped in faint demonic flames earlier.

Was it her magic thought… capable of autonomous targeting and attack?

Only then did Lu Chen realize this woman’s foolishness had its own reasons.

For someone whose strength allowed bricks to fly, intelligence held no great necessity; thinking even consumed mental energy.

Since Golia showed no awareness of her own contributions, Lu Chen decided not to remind her, lest she become conceited and demand private funds.

“You were snoring earlier, smelled the meat, and even drooled!”

Golia retorted:

“You think your sleeping posture looks good… Wait, I remember now—you even tried to act flirtatious with me while I was asleep as a scorpion girl, haha, I finally understand why my bracelet is hidden in my chest; it’s evidence of you drooling over the scorpion girl. You want to delete it? Hahaha!”

Lu Chen suddenly regretted bringing up the topic.

He quickly changed the subject, addressing Alia on the light screen:

“Alia, find a flat area without vegetation cover. I want to roast some bugs; this one is 36th level and cannot be wasted.”

Golia’s face twisted in disgust.

“You’re really disgusting!”

Lu Chen shrugged.

“At least I didn’t drool…”

At that moment, Alia’s voice carried concern:

“Captain, many passing ships in the vicinity; nearby planets may harbor higher-level Star Beasts. Roasting meat here might be too conspicuous?”

Lu Chen smiled.

“This is part of the plan. The ship powers down; roasting only meat means other ships’ radars cannot detect it. At most, it will attract Star Beasts that are as gluttonous as Golia… which is exactly my trapping plan.”

Alia replied with a cheerful “Captain is wise!”

In truth, the plan was neither wise nor safe by conventional standards, yet since the captain had proposed it, it would inevitably be deemed wise in the end.

Alia had rich experience in such matters.

The Rioning Number soon rose, scanning the planet’s surface.

Soon, a large boulder rising above the grass was located.

The Rioning Number landed on the boulder.

The top was spacious; though it had minor uneven spots, it was relatively flat and ideal for roasting.

Lu Chen piloted the armor, bundled the worm meat, and found a nearby freshwater pool.

He scraped off the outer skin, washed it thoroughly inside and out, and sliced it into pieces for the armor’s internal compartment.

Back on the boulder, he rinsed again with the ship’s purified water, then marinated the slices with oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar.

Lu Chen stepped out of the armor. Gravity was lightly off, temperature pleasantly warm, humidity high—wind made it bearable.

This planet lacked planetary arrays, yet its gravity, temperature, and climate remained suitable for human survival, at least allowing Golia to sleep soundly.

For Lu Chen, the greatest issue was the faint mushroom-like aroma permeating the air.

The illusion was subtle but always made him lose focus…

At that moment, Alia carried Lu Chen’s barbecue grill while clutching jars of seasoning and emerged from the ship.

She felt no trace of the illusion.

“Light the fire!”

Lu Chen waved his hand.

The boulder lay beneath the planet’s night.

In fact, this planet had no surrounding star; there was no true night or day.

Only that the boulder’s position faced away from the nearest, brightest star, yet several more distant stars illuminated the sky like several full moons hanging in the night, bright as day.

To create a barbecue atmosphere, Lu Chen gathered some dry grass stalks to use as firewood.

The stalks were over a meter thick and needed to be split into long strips to burn properly.

Soon, crackling and flickering flames rose.

The grill was laden with sliced worm meat; Lu Chen had slit it into strips and generously sprinkled on various seasonings.

Under Alia’s precise temperature control and Lu Chen’s turning and marinade, a rich meat aroma surged forth like a volcanic eruption, penetrating straight into the spirit spleen.

The worm meat cooked quickly.

The roasting produced a sizzling sound; a drop of hot oil slid slowly along the plump meat grain, turning golden and glossy, with a subtle spicy freshness that was neither greasy nor gamey, intoxicating.

A breeze carried the heavenly-scented worm meat for miles.

Lu Chen had prepared iced beer and cola.

“No whale meat on the Fog Sea Star; eating some bug meat is fine.”

Alia sat upright, her cute little face flushed by the firelight, eyes brimming with roasted meat.

Golia, though also captivated, still harbored some resistance toward the bug meat.

Hesitant, her delicate brows furrowed; strands of her hair lifted by the evening breeze revealed a touch of tenderness.

The campfire flickered, accompanied by stellar glow, emitting a mesmerizing soft light.

The evening wind blew gently, stirring waves of surging sounds mingled with the rustling of insect chatter.

Lu Chen set an example, using chopsticks to tear a piece of roasted meat, blowing on it, and placing it in his mouth.

Instantly, ripples spread across his tongue; the meat’s spiritual nourishment flooded his spirit spleen and rapidly diffused throughout every cell of his body.

A warm current rose from his dantian qi sea and spread swiftly.

Every inch of his body, from skin to bones, from five viscera and six bowels to every single cell, began to tremble as if emitting joyous cries.

Lu Chen felt that with just a few more pieces of bug meat, he could advance at any moment.

This was a bug certified by the treasure map—its spiritual nourishment truly extraordinary!

Lu Chen ate several pieces in succession, savoring the flavor.

“What are you all staring at? Eat already! Don’t discriminate against bugs—there’s no fishy taste at all; it’s even better than beast meat!”

Alia cautiously lifted her chopsticks…

Golia drank heavily to resist the deliciousness.

After midnight.

The 28-meter-long, 2-meter-wide giant bug, once cleaned, yielded over three tons of subcutaneous meat; when roasted, it weighed three hundred catties—yet Lu Chen and the two women finished it in a whirlwind, leaving not a single scrap.

Moreover, cultivators digested bug meat far faster than beasts; the three ate, drank, and chatted without their stomachs ever growing full.

It was not until the chopsticks picked up empty air that they realized the meat was gone…

Lu Chen advanced from 32nd level to 33rd!

Alia rose from 33rd to 35th!

Golia, though she did not level up, had become utterly exhilarated; not only did a pair of cat ears sprout from her head, but a cat tail also appeared on her rear!

Lu Chen reached out and touched it.

It was extremely smooth.

Semi-transparent black demonic flames carried a cold burning sensation and a soul-piercing moan and falling sensation.

Alia sipped her cola, then suddenly tilted her head back, staring blankly at the variegated starscape.

“Clearly a dangerous place, yet we’re roasting meat here as if no one is around—what a feeling…”

Golia grinned.

“Very stimulating, right?”

Just then, Lu Chen looked up toward the horizon.

A line of semi-transparent subtitles appeared before his eyes.

【A 46th-level Thunder Star Ostrich is quietly approaching from the starscape behind the host’s position, potentially causing some damage to the host or ship!】

What the hell—the roasted meat aroma really had attracted a Star Beast!

Lu Chen was overjoyed.

It could cause damage yet issued no avoidance reminder…

Considering Golia’s mature magic sword and the fact that the three had just undergone a full-level upgrade.

Running away every time was not a solution.

This time, Lu Chen decided to fight!

He picked up a can of beer and downed it in one gulp.

Then he stood up and ordered:

“Golia, you guard the boulder!”

“Alia, immediately board the ship, sail eastward about a kilometer, and prepare missiles and laser cannons.”

“I’ll enter the armor, hide at close range, and wait for my chance.”

Alia froze, then followed his gaze to the horizon, sensing a powerful aura approaching.

She immediately packed her things and boarded, activating the flight control system.

Golia, still full from eating and drinking, let out a drunken belch, then asked in a daze:

“Why are you suddenly so excited?”

Lu Chen had already jumped into the armor.

“The truly exciting part is here!”

(End of chapter)