Chapter 245: Scraping Five Hundred Meters of Earth

“President Jiang, you’ve finally returned.”

A group of people gathered together, nervously scanning their surroundings. Upon seeing Jiang Changkong return, they hurried forward to greet him.

“What’s wrong with all of you? Haven’t you made a move yet?”

Jiang Changkong was somewhat puzzled. Even if they were frightened, surely they wouldn’t be scared to this extent?

“President Jiang, haven’t you noticed the commotion today? High-level beings—the entire Sin Domain is shaking.”

“And not just one, but six of them appeared at once. It’s terrifying.”

“They didn’t appear at any other time, so why now? It must be because we tried to break through the Sin Domain and angered them.”

“We can’t break through the Sin Domain, President Jiang. Let’s find another way.”

The Martial Artists spoke up one after another, their faces unable to conceal their fear.

Jiang Changkong remained calm. “Is this what you call geniuses? The pride of heaven?”

He quietly observed these so-called prodigies—the elite talents of major factions, the pride of the Federation—was this all the courage they had?

“President Jiang, you possess great strength. Even a Stellar Embryo early-stage cultivator might not be able to handle you, but we’re different.”

One Martial Artist said fearfully, “High-level beings, even if they’ve just stepped into the high-level realm, could crush us with a single finger.”

“That’s right. We’re all here to harvest resources, not to risk our lives.”

“I don’t care about Sin Tokens or Star Stones anymore. I just want to return safely.”

“Enough, stop talking.” Jiang Changkong spoke coldly, his voice ringing in everyone’s ears. “I’ve checked that place. There’s no major issue.”

“You’ve checked it?”

“No major issue?”

“What about those six golden dragons?”

“All of you, shut up. How can I explain with all this noise?”

Jiang Changkong snapped impatiently.

Everyone fell silent again, their gazes fixed entirely on him.

Jiang Changkong clasped his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent. “Let me sort out my thoughts first.”

Let me think about how to fabricate a story to fool them.

The group dared not make a sound, waiting for his explanation.

He couldn’t mention high-level beings or anything taboo, so there was only one excuse left.

Thinking of this, he said, “It’s like this: what you saw was all fake.”

“Fake? How is that possible?” Nan Wuyang and the others were stunned. How could it be fake?

Those were high-level beings that shook the entire Sin Domain—the space nearly shattered. It couldn’t be fake!

“Actually, it was caused by a massive Star Array.

Think about Jin Chen. If even a high-level Protective Shield appeared, creating a Star Array wouldn’t be difficult, right?”

Jiang Changkong said calmly, “They must have known we were trying to break through the Sin Domain, which would expose their hiding place.”

“Are you saying they deliberately did this because they were afraid we’d find them?” Nan Wuyang and the others quickly asked.

“Yes. But what puzzles me is, if they have such a Star Array and a high-level Protective Shield, why don’t they come out to attack us?”

Jiang Changkong looked at Heng Qingyue and made a guess. “Let me venture a bold speculation: they must be hiding something they don’t want us to know.”

“As for why they don’t come out? That’s simple. Lord An Shanhe is watching from outside the island. They can only rely on Jin Chen to deal with us.”

Heng Qingyue’s expression shifted slightly as she pondered thoughtfully.

“Exactly, it must be a Star Array. If they were truly high-level beings, Lord An would have already entered.”

Dressed in fluttering red robes, Yao Chan explained.

“So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is. These bastards actually tried to scare me off?”

A group of people suddenly understood, finally realizing.

Jiang Changkong rolled his eyes. Understood my foot. As for why An Shanhe hadn’t appeared, he wasn’t sure either.

With his own strength severely disrupting the balance, even if An Shanhe didn’t take him away, he should have at least come out to say a few words.

Moreover, they were about to break through the Sin Domain and destroy it, yet An Shanhe still didn’t show up to stop them.

Did he not care about the Sin Domain, or was he simply no longer here?

“What are you thinking about?”

A faint fragrance drifted over. Jiang Changkong snapped out of his contemplation. It was Yao Chan. “Nothing.”

“I have something to discuss with you. Let’s talk over there.” Yao Chan said, then walked to the side first.

The two walked side by side along the beach, stepping on the sand as seawater washed over their feet.

“That wasn’t a Star Array, was it?”

Yao Chan said calmly, “I can still tell whether something is a Star Array or not.”

Jiang Changkong replied indifferently, “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“If we encounter danger, please think of Yao Meng and lend a hand.”

Yao Chan’s expression turned serious. “This trip to the Sin Domain is more dangerous than ever. Right now, only your combat power has reached the High-Rank level.”

“You suspect that the Immortal Palace has a High-Rank Martial Artist lurking here? He could have killed us long ago.” Jiang Changkong said.

Yao Chan replied calmly, “It was already explained earlier—someone was watching. Given the current situation, An Shanhe has likely been lured away under some pretext.”

Jiang Changkong thought for a moment and nodded. That was probably the case.

“So, we need to hurry and act before the other side makes a move.”

Yao Chan’s expression grew slightly more solemn, her hair fluttering in the sea breeze. “Only by finding the entrance to the Spatial Passage can we contact the High-Rank Martial Artists from our families to come in.”

“Alright. If the opponent isn’t too strong when the time comes, I’ll stall them so you can contact your family’s experts.”

Jiang Changkong smiled faintly. “Then let’s start now. I’ll go look elsewhere. If the other side shows up, I’ll be able to detect it.”

“Thank you for your trouble.” Yao Chan cupped her hands slightly and turned to leave.

Jiang Changkong soared into the air. This time, he changed his approach.

Divine Control Art!

Invisible Star Power spread rapidly from him as the center, most of it seeping into the earth, while the remaining portion entered the stones and trees on the ground.

Without alerting the other Martial Artists, Jiang Changkong suppressed the fluctuations to an extremely low level.

“It really works.”

Jiang Changkong felt a slight surge of joy as the situation underground appeared in his mind.

Some insects, soil, and pitch-black darkness, but none of it affected the Star Power.

As it seeped deeper, the things buried underground were also revealed one by one.

The ground silently cracked open, and a pile of Star Stones automatically flew out, landing beside him.

“For these two days, I’ll just focus on collecting Star Stones.”

Jiang Changkong smiled as his Star Power continued to spread outward. As long as he didn’t encounter someone stronger than himself, no one could prevent the Spirit Control Art from expanding.

Of course, he didn’t penetrate too deeply—only about three hundred meters.

That distance was enough. If some were buried four or five hundred meters deep, then those geniuses were just lucky. He could leave those for them.

“Hah.”

Jiang Changkong looked at a coconut tree, waved his hand, and the coconuts fell.

The coconuts split open, revealing that they were all filled with Star Stones.

“What a bunch of talents.”

Jiang Changkong collected the Star Stones and continued his search.

In two days, Jiang Changkong spent only half a day scouring the entire isolated island and finding all the Star Stones.

But he still hadn’t found the hiding place of that group. In the end, he continued to probe deeper and actually managed to find more Star Stones.

The five-hundred-meter Star Stone deposit was gone, and the prodigies had vanished too. This couldn’t be blamed on Jiang Changkong—who could have expected those fellows to hide deeper than the Star Stone itself?

Several Hidden Star Rings, each with a capacity of over a hundred cubic meters, were now completely filled. Could this be considered scraping the earth down to five hundred meters?

“Could it be that those guys hid even deeper than five hundred meters… Hmm? What’s that?”

A flash of crimson surfaced in Jiang Changkong’s mind. Instantly, his head felt as if pierced by needles, wracked with intense pain, forcing him to withdraw all his Star Power.