Inside the passenger space.
Yu Xian lay on the sofa, able to see outside with a single glance.
He had chosen a spot right at the edge of the passenger space, and elevated as well, giving him a clear view of some of the people on the island, as well as the millstone churning below it.
The Star-rank powerhouses' attacks were essentially an exercise in futility.
Back when the millstone was first forming, he had already reached that conclusion. While the millstone's assault was relentless and rigid, it was actually less powerful than Xiao Jianxian's single sword strike.
That was why he had returned to the passenger space—staying outside served no purpose anyway.
Sure enough, after a short while, the others filed back one by one. Niman headed straight back to the God Vault Space, while Zhang Buyao bounded over to a spot just above Yu Xian, pulled out a sofa, and flopped down like him to watch the show.
"Yaoyao, your sword should be able to slay those heads, right?" Yu Xian asked.
Zhang Buyao kicked the back of Yu Xian's sofa and answered, "I can kill them, but I'm not sure if they'll revive. Besides, their power feels bizarre. I've never seen life-forms like that before."
"It's fine. Worst-case scenario, we'll just feed them all to the God Vault Tower," Yu Xian chuckled.
As long as they could be killed, it was fine. Being able to kill them meant they could fight them, and if they could defeat them, it wasn't a big problem.
Ever since obtaining the God Vault Tower, Yu Xian practically wished he would run into abyssal creatures every day. Ordinary creatures were essentially useless when fed to the God Vault Tower; only monsters like abyssal beings, which could revive endlessly, possessed the nutrition needed to significantly boost the restoration of the God Vault Space.
Although the God Vault Space was already plenty spacious and functional, who would complain about making it even better?
With his mind at ease, Yu Xian opened his Star Ring and started browsing videos, paying no more attention to the clamor outside. Zhang Buyao also brought up her favorite variety shows, happily watching and bursting into laughter now and then.
In the afternoon, the bombardment continued.
As the core pillars of the group, Niu Kaitian and the others naturally could not leave. They remained standing at the edge of the island, observing the battle so they could step in as a safety net if anything went wrong.
The reason the Star-rank powerhouses remained united and composed was precisely because Niu Kaitian and the other leaders stood as their pillars of stability, keeping their hearts steady.
"Dinggong Bang, what's the verdict?" Niu Kaitian asked Dinggong Bang beside him.
Observing the situation beneath the millstone through his nano-beetles, Dinggong Bang shook his head. "Even though those heads are being jolted up and ground back down, they remain... completely unscathed!"
"Any clues regarding the mastermind behind this?" You Xinghun asked.
Although Peng Zuen had been captured and executed, all the System Rank powerhouses present knew that he was not the mastermind behind the Sun Emperor's blood-in-urine incident; in all likelihood, he had merely died because he offended Yu Xian.
Even so, Niu Kaitian and the others were profoundly grateful to Peng Zuen. Fortunately, the man had provoked Yu Xian, thereby drawing Yu Xian over.
Just as they served as pillars of stability for the Star-rank powerhouses, Yu Xian was the true pillar of stability in their own hearts. With Yu Xian around, they had absolute peace of mind.
"Unfortunately, I haven't uncovered any further leads on the mastermind," Dinggong Bang replied with a shake of his head.
Niu Kaitian was not surprised. He mused, "For now, our only choice is to thwart their scheme first, then investigate slowly... or perhaps the culprit might jump out on their own."
They still did not know what these heads being nurtured in the Death Calamity Sea actually were.
However, if they demonstrated the ability to destroy them, the mastermind might well come forward to stop them.
Of course, if the enemy viewed these heads as nothing more than disposable consumables, that would be another story entirely.
***
Inside the God Vault Space.
Niman returned to her library and resumed reading in silence.
She loved to read, especially books of lore and knowledge gathered from the myriad worlds. Most of the volumes in her library were personally printed and bound by her, their contents sourced from the network.
The God Vault Space's network could connect to the myriad worlds, allowing her to make friends across various realms.
Once she got to know their characters, she would commission these friends to scan physical books in their worlds and send them over as digital files, which she would then print and bind into real books.
Suddenly, the ground gave a faint tremor, and golden light flashed outside the window.
"That is..."
Niman closed her book and looked at the golden glow beyond the glass, a delighted smile spreading across her face.
She promptly stepped out of the library and looked toward the distant mountain range. The golden light was emanating from beneath the peaks far away.
Apart from Yu Xian and the few human companions, several transcendent creatures lived within the God Vault Space, mostly Yu Xian's pets.
One example was the Extreme Dragon.
Yu Xian had brought it into the God Vault Space so it could live here.
Another was the Dragon King Golden Toad.
Yu Xian had always kept the Dragon King Golden Toad in mind.
Ever since Earth established diplomatic relations with Crescent Bay, the Dragon King Golden Toad had been like a toddler carrying gold through a bustling bazaar—holding far too many treasures while possessing far too little strength.
To protect it, Yu Xian had simply brought it into the God Vault Space to make its home here, arranging for Little Nora to feed it on a regular schedule. As a result, Little Nora and the toad got along wonderfully.
Six years ago, the Dragon King Golden Toad evolved.
The event had startled Yu Xian and the others, prompting them to gather at its habitat to find out what had happened.
In the end, the explanation proved simple: it was all Little Nora's doing.
Because Little Nora regularly delivered food to both the toad and the Extreme Dragon, the two had grown close. Knowing the toad loved treasures, Little Nora gave it some of the items obtained from the Sun Emperor's storage ring.
Naturally, the items it gifted were ones it couldn't decipher anyway. Since it didn't know how to use them, giving them to the Dragon King Golden Toad to make it happy felt like the better choice.
Who would have guessed that this was precisely the Dragon King Golden Toad's path of evolution?
Once the toad acquired a large number of treasures ranked higher than itself, it swallowed them into its belly to nourish them. The treasures would grow better and stronger, and the Dragon King Golden Toad itself would grow correspondingly more powerful as well.
In truth, it was akin to an unconventional form of dual cultivation—only the toad was dual-cultivating alongside treasures.
After evolving, the Dragon King Golden Toad gained an ability known as 'Dragon King Grants Treasure.' Any treasure it had nurtured could be gifted to others at will.
Whoever received the treasure would instinctively understand its functions, and whenever the treasure was put to use, the greater its renown grew, the greater the fortune returned to the Dragon King Golden Toad.
Once Yu Xian and the others understood the toad's ability, they all pulled out their own treasures to 'sponsor' it.
Over the years, the Dragon King Golden Toad's progress had been nothing short of meteoric, advancing all the way to a Star-rank Dragon King Golden Toad. And the golden light that had just erupted clearly signaled another breakthrough.
Li Rank—Dragon King Golden Toad!
This meant the number of treasures the toad could nourish had undoubtedly increased again, which meant everyone could dump even more of the dusty items cluttering their inventories onto the toad.
Niman instantly blinked over to the vicinity of the mountain range. There on the ground lay a colossal, bronze-colored toad, radiating dazzling treasure light, while the four characters on its forehead—'Attract Wealth, Bring Treasures'—shone with brilliant luster.
Having broken through, the Dragon King Golden Toad was now even more massive than before.
Chapter 408