I've already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and you're saying I didn't time travel?

Chapter 102 Something's wrong! How did it get so much bigger?!
The auction concluded successfully at 9 p.m. that evening.

The Silver Grass, the highlight of the auction, fetched an unprecedented price of $800 million, causing a global sensation.

Countless people were shocked by the value of the Silver Grass, and even more shocked by the wealth of the bidders.

After all, this is a real auction, not hype or money laundering; it's about actually taking money out and depositing it into someone's account.

That's eight hundred million US dollars!
They could buy nearly thirty Harmony high-speed trains, or eight C919 domestically produced large passenger aircraft.

Let's assume a person works for forty years, from age twenty to sixty, with an average monthly salary of five thousand.

Eight hundred million dollars could buy out the lifetime of work of more than 2,300 people.

Now it's only being used to buy a single spiritual herb.

Such a huge shock has left many netizens questioning the meaning of life.

Even before today, if someone had said that a single Silver Grass could sell for eight hundred million US dollars, they would probably have been ridiculed to death.

But now, real-life examples are laid out before everyone, and in an instant, many people's values ​​have been completely overturned.

Then, thinking back to Qi Xuan, who was far away on the floating continent, he must have consumed at least twenty or thirty Silver Gang Grasses.

While many netizens felt envious, they also felt that this person truly deserved to die.

It's one thing if you win a big prize once and end up on a floating continent, but how can you win big prizes every day?
You've got all the good stuff! Do you own the prize pool?

While everyone was filled with envy and jealousy, the cryptocurrency tycoon who had previously bid for the Silver Grass, nicknamed "Brother Sun," a master at fleecing investors, started live-streaming himself consuming the Silver Grass.

Immediately, many netizens flocked to his live stream.

In the live stream, Brother Sun was dressed in a martial arts outfit and cloth shoes, looking every bit the martial arts master.

Before him lay a series of testing items, including wooden strips of different thicknesses, wooden blocks of different thicknesses, bricks of various styles, and even iron sheets and steel plates.

He then raised his right hand and chopped hard at a wooden strip in front of him.

The wooden strip broke on the spot.

He rubbed his hands with a pained expression, making a series of hissing noises.

Upon seeing this, netizens couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"It's empty! It's too empty!"

"If it were me, I could at least have chopped down to the bricks."

"With this body, be careful not to burst from eating Silver Gang Grass."

"I estimate that after he finishes eating, he can only split a piece of wood at most. Taking medicine also depends on one's constitution."

"That's right. Different people have different absorption rates of drugs. Qi Shen's performance is too outrageous and cannot be used as a reference."

But considering Qi Shen's words, if consuming just a small amount allows one to split bricks with their bare hands, let's relax the requirements a bit; consuming the entire plant and splitting a brick would be considered a success.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult. If Muhammad Ali had taken it, it would have been more like the same effect. But Brother Sun is too weak to handle such a tonic."

"But Alibaba simply can't come up with that much money."

"Why don't we let Brother Sun have a fight with Ali after he finishes eating?"

"Interesting, I'll buy this ticket!"

……

While netizens were discussing it, Brother Sun didn't delay and immediately took out the silvery-white, sword-shaped grass.

Perhaps fearing the medicine's effects might be too extreme, he hesitated to take the whole plant and instead used a knife to cut it up on the spot.

After cutting for a long time, he was sweating profusely before he could cut off even a tiny bit, a scene that left countless netizens speechless.

After painstakingly cutting off about one-tenth of the amount, he carefully put the bit of grass into his mouth.

Before he could even take a couple of bites, his face immediately contorted, looking like he had eaten a bitter melon but couldn't spit it out.

"Haha, you didn't expect that, did you? This grass is bitter!"

"Looking at him, it's even more painful than eating raw bitter melon."

"That's hilarious. It seems there are advantages to not eating Silver Gang Grass."

"But speaking of which, Qi Shen didn't seem to have any reaction when he ate the Silver Qi Grass, did he?"

"How dare you compare him to that animal? I suspect he wouldn't even flinch if he ate canned herring."

……

After swallowing the grass, Brother Sun immediately began to undergo astonishing changes. Steam began to rise from his head, and his skin turned red at a visible speed, resembling a red-hot shrimp. Faint crackling sounds emanated from his body. Under the dumbfounded gaze of all the netizens, he actually grew two or three centimeters taller out of thin air.

Feeling the explosive power within him, Brother Sun immediately began to vent his frustration.

With a single blow, the one-centimeter-thick wooden strip snapped instantly.

Two centimeters thick.

Three centimeters thick.

……

Even the eight-centimeter-thick wooden blocks were all snapped in two with a single palm strike, offering absolutely no resistance.

He simply bypassed the remaining wooden blocks and other test objects in between, and went straight to the incredibly sturdy blue bricks.

With a swift strike, his eyes widened immediately, and he gasped for breath, clutching his arms.

However, netizens were shocked to discover that he had already cut a crack in the blue brick, which was much harder than ordinary bricks.

Everyone was nearly driven mad by what they saw.

They never expected that what Qi Xuan said was true.

Just take a tiny bit, really just a tiny bit, and it will immediately make an ordinary person's physique comparable to that of a well-trained martial artist!
This is beyond everyone's imagination.

At this moment, countless netizens couldn't help but have the same thought: if I could also eat this, would I also become a rare master?

If I keep eating like this, could I eventually become the best in the world?

Many netizens are overthinking this.

Because there is a limit to how much Silver Grass can be absorbed.

This was never intended for ordinary people. For them, one plant is already the limit, and most of the medicinal effects would be wasted.

Only by becoming a cultivator and thoroughly refining the Silver Gang Grass with spiritual power can one maximize the absorption of its medicinal effects.

However, the level of performance that Brother Sun is currently displaying is already enough to make people envious.

While Brother Sun was live-streaming himself consuming the Silver Gang Grass, the elderly chieftain who had previously purchased the Silver Winged Hu Honey also eagerly began consuming it after receiving it.

He was so anxious that he couldn't even wait to open the small sealed bag and threw it directly into his mouth to chew.

After chewing the honey and the sealed bag and swallowing it whole, the old chief soon began to show amazing changes.

The age spots on his face decreased at a visible rate, his cloudy eyes gradually became clear, his sagging skin gradually regained its elasticity, and finally even his sparse hair began to grow back.

Upon seeing this scene, countless onlookers couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

Before this, they were still somewhat skeptical of the Silver Winged Beetle Honey, because although Qi Xuan praised it highly, he himself did not seem to experience any obvious changes after consuming it, which was one of the concerns that prevented many bidders from continuing to bid.

But now, watching the old chief undergo such an astonishing transformation, from looking like he was on the verge of death to regaining his vitality and appearing more than ten years younger, this scene made countless bidders extremely frustrated, wishing they could travel back in time and slap themselves.

Those who were clever immediately ran to find the big Mao representative, ready to do everything they could to get a copy.

Amid the chaos, the ultra-wealthy Barack, beaming with delight, jogged back to his room.

Once he was sure that no one was around and only his trusted bodyguards were guarding him, he sat down on the sofa and took out a small packet of silver winged pheasant honey from his pocket.

He acquired this small package through other means from Da Mao before today's auction.

He initially thought the price he paid was too high, and it even made him somewhat annoyed.

But after watching the old chief take the medicine, he no longer felt that the price was anything.

"Now it's time for me to test the effects of this magical item!"

Barack opened the packaging bag with envy.

As he got closer, the faint stench persisted, causing his smile to falter slightly.

The explanation given by the "stinky big hair" team was that their team members were coated with the juice of the stinky mushrooms when they went in to collect honey, so the honey inevitably picked up some of the smell.

As for the old chief not having any reaction when he took the honey, it's likely because he was too old and his sense of smell and taste had deteriorated.

Now, for him, his healthy sense of smell and taste, despite being in his prime, has become the biggest obstacle.

Well, I guess I'll just have to eat it!

No matter how smelly it is, as long as it works, that's fine.

Barack swallowed an entire bag of honey, followed by a large bottle of water and several large pieces of bread, forcibly suppressing the foul smell churning in his throat.

After finally getting used to it, he immediately felt a warm sensation in his stomach, and then his whole body began to feel some very novel changes.

The scars on my arms have faded, the fatigue from staying up all night has subsided, I feel more energetic, and I no longer experience the weakness that used to plague me. The freckles on my face and even the dark circles under my eyes have diminished considerably, and my hair, which had been almost receding into menopause, has started to grow back.

"I've grown hair."

"My hair has grown back!"

Upon seeing his new look in the mirror, Barack was instantly overjoyed.

Even with a net worth of hundreds of billions of dollars, he still couldn't avoid becoming Mediterranean.

Now, just a little honey has solved this embarrassing problem for him.

Not to mention that this is only the most insignificant effect.

The strength and energy boosts from honey will be a huge help to him, even if he uses them in his future work.

Not to mention, this thing can also extend lifespan to some extent.

Although he didn't feel it, his health had indeed improved considerably.

"Good stuff."

"It really is a good product."

"And such wonderful things are everywhere on the island!"

"How could this not be tempting? How could it not drive one mad?!"

Barack clenched his fists, a startling ambition rising in his eyes.

He turned to his trusted aide and asked:

"How's the communication with the smaller country going?"

“We contacted representatives from a total of forty countries, but due to competition from other countries, we have only reached exploration cooperation agreements with twelve of them so far.”

The confidant hesitated for a moment, then added:
“Boss, because the mainland is too dangerous, we may form a joint exploration team instead of each country going to explore on its own like before. Even if we contact those small countries and buy out their exploration rights, we may not be able to use them.”

"No problem, there are different ways to play in joint exploration."

Barack dismissed it, saying:

"The joint exploration team will be composed of people from various countries, and it will be extremely large. It is impossible to concentrate on exploring in one direction. It will inevitably be scattered in many places to defeat them one by one. The powerful military force stored up by mankind can fully support this."

Not to mention the enormous impact of this auction, which will only further accelerate the exploration efforts of various countries, thus creating opportunities for shortcuts.

"I'll put our people into those twelve countries and have them represent those countries in the joint exploration team. Then I'll do some maneuvering and gather these people together to explore a specific location or position. That will be an exploration team completely under my control."

And most importantly, as a member of the joint exploration team, if I encounter any insurmountable dangers on the island, I can promptly request military support from the joint headquarters, including fighter jets and missiles. As for the cost of the support, that is not a problem at all. In this way, breaking through the island will be a piece of cake.

This time, I will personally go inside and take command.

Upon hearing this, the confidant said with concern:

"The island is too dangerous. Why don't we stay outside? Anyway, as the fog gradually dissipates, communications will be restored soon, and we won't have communication problems like before. Remote command will also be fine."

"No! You have no idea what it's like to discover something new and feel thrilled! I've been burdened by work for too long and haven't felt this way in ages. Now that I have this rare opportunity, why should I let go?"

Standing atop the pinnacle of wealth, there are only a few things in this world that truly attract me, and you cannot deprive me of the right to enjoy them, even if it means facing death.

"Moreover, I'm not the only one going in this time. We've hired experts from all walks of life, bringing together elites from many industries, which is much more reliable than a single-function special forces unit."

At this point, Barack seemed to remember something and quickly asked:

"By the way, where are they now?"

The confidant immediately replied:

"Most have arrived successfully. A very small number are still at sea due to the great distance, but they should arrive by tomorrow at the latest." Barack nodded.

"Based on my estimate, the establishment of the joint exploration team will not be delayed for too long. Let them speed up their preparations for going to the island. This time it won't be a small-scale operation like before. Don't let them hold me back."

The confidant nodded and immediately went to make the arrangements.

……

Just as Barack had predicted, the huge impact of the auction gave countless people a clear understanding of the value of the island, and for a time, talk of marching into and occupying the island became rampant. This also prompted countries to speed up communication and dispatch heavy equipment such as ships and fighter jets to the vicinity to prepare for the next island exploration.

Meanwhile, as the fog on the island is about to dissipate, satellites and reconnaissance aircraft will be able to be used to monitor the entire island from all angles and collect relevant intelligence.

And it was during this lively preparation that...

Central Pacific Ocean.

Kiribati.

Near the Gilbert Islands.

A sightseeing cruise ship carrying 300 passengers is cruising nearby.

The cruise ship was filled with laughter and joy, and many tourists were thoroughly enjoying their trip.

"Alan!"

"Alan!"

On the third deck, a young couple called out anxiously and finally found the blond boy lying by the railing.

"How could you disappear in the blink of an eye? We almost couldn't find you!"

The little boy opened his beautiful big eyes and pointed to the sea below:

"Mom and Dad, look what's in the sea! It's bigger than the fish I saw at the aquarium!"

"Bigger than the fish in the aquarium?"

The young couple were somewhat dismissive of this statement.

This cruise ship only cruises around the island and doesn't go too far from the island. Even if the fish nearby are big, how big can they be?
But when they looked in the direction the little boy was pointing, their gaze froze.

Beneath the deep blue sea, a huge, dark shadow was slowly roaming.

It is nearly fifty meters long, covered with pale golden scales, and has a single horn on its head, making it look very familiar.

At this point, more and more passengers on the cruise ship discovered the enormous creature lurking nearby.

Amidst the shock, it was not long before someone realized the identity of this behemoth:

"This...this looks like that six-clawed black serpent?!"

"Wait, how did it get so big?"

"And why are its scales golden?"

"Shouldn't it be on the mainland? How did it end up here?"

"Oh no! It's charging at us! It's going to attack the cruise ship!!"

……

Amidst panicked screams, the six-clawed serpent from the seabed suddenly charged straight at the cruise ship. Its enormous body crashed into the cruise ship, which was of similar length, with a deafening explosion. One side of the ship was dented, and its sharp horn tore open a huge wound.

Seawater rushed in through the crack in the hull, causing the entire cruise ship to capsize to one side, and countless people screamed as they fell.

Heart-wrenching cries and panicked curses echoed from all around.

After several impacts, the cruise ship, which had a displacement of 1,000 tons, capsized completely.

Having completed its hunt, the six-clawed black serpent began to feast on its spoils. Its terrifying maw opened wide, capable of swallowing a dozen people whole in one gulp, instantly tearing them to shreds of blood and flesh.

The screams at sea gradually subsided, eventually fading into a dense clatter of chewing sounds.

"Click."

"Click."

……

Two hours later, the tragedy that occurred in Kiribati shocked the world.

Through the ship's logbook, the ship's video surveillance system, and several waterproof cameras that were salvaged, the outside world was able to roughly reconstruct the tragic events at the scene.

The discovery that the culprit behind the attack on the cruise ship was a giant beast that looked remarkably like a six-clawed black serpent shocked everyone from government officials to ordinary citizens.

The auction had just ended, and everyone was still immersed in the fantasy of missiles sweeping across the land, occupying islands, and seizing all kinds of resources when this suddenly appearing behemoth was like a slap in the face to everyone.

Amidst their shock and anger, a host of questions arose in everyone's minds.

How did this giant beast come out of the mainland island?

Is it just one head, or are there many other heads?

Are all of them as powerful as this one?
Where do they usually appear?

Will this have a serious impact on major trade routes?

How can we completely eliminate or even capture them?
……

International consultations were held urgently, and soon the whereabouts and general origins of the beast were known to all.

The good news is that so far only this one beast has escaped from the mainland.

Comprehensive data from acoustic detectors and wave energy buoy platforms deployed near the island showed that no large-scale escape of wild animals was observed.

Even the one that has now been discovered, because its size and various data are easily confused with a submarine, the data recorded has not received enough attention from observers.

The bad news is that this beast is most likely the six-clawed black serpent that stole the Demon King Fruit from the island.

Referring to the changes in Qi Xuan's mount before and after consuming the Demon King Fruit, although its size shrank considerably, its strength was greatly enhanced.

The Six-Clawed Serpent, which also consumed the Demon King Fruit, has likely experienced a significant increase in size alongside its increased strength.

While the situation is still somewhat tricky, it's not as troublesome as I had initially imagined.

The six-clawed dragon-snake is indeed very strong. Based on its previous performance, only the golden-eyed pterosaur that Qi Xuan encountered could easily overpower it.

Now, after consuming the Demon King Fruit, it has gained a huge boost, and its strength is probably at the level of the Golden-Eyed Wyvern.

Even if it's actually stronger than the Golden-Eyed Wyvern, it doesn't matter; it's just a matter of launching a few more missiles.

Moreover, this giant beast roams the vast ocean and harbors deep hatred for humans because of its previous theft of the Demon King Fruit.

But it was completely unaware of the power of science and even more oblivious to human monitoring methods.

As long as it continues to roam the ocean and attack humans, it won't be long before it is successfully located and forcefully eliminated by humans.

While they were still discussing patrol and capture plans, intelligence suddenly came from the French side that the Flower Moon-class frigates patrolling nearby had discovered traces of the Six-Clawed Serpent and were closely pursuing it.

While the French frigate was pursuing the Six-Clawed Serpent, the public outside also received relevant intelligence.

Since the Kiribati tragedy, television stations and news media from various countries have arrived at the scene by helicopter to closely report on the news and subsequent rescue operations.

One of the television stations from the lighthouse, upon learning of the French tracking of the six-clawed serpent, immediately arrived in the nearby waters and took the lead in filming and reporting from the air.

A beautiful reporter with wavy hair sat by the inside door of the plane, loudly reporting into the camera:

"We are currently at the scene of the human ships' pursuit of the Six-Clawed Serpent!"

"What appears in our footage is the Florence-class frigate from France."

"According to the information we received, the frigate was originally on patrol in the nearby waters. Upon learning of the tragedy that occurred in Kiribati, it rushed over to help with the search and rescue at sea. However, before it even arrived at the scene, it encountered the culprit of the tragedy, the Six-Clawed Serpent."

"The prevailing theory is that this six-clawed black serpent is the one that devoured the Demon King Fruit on the island. It is filled with hatred for the humans who tried to steal the Demon King Fruit from it. If it is not eliminated in time, tragedies similar to those in Kiribati will inevitably happen again in the future. Fortunately, our escort ship has caught up with it. Now it's time to let it see the power of humans."

As the camera zoomed in, a dark, shadowy figure, roughly half the length of the frigate, appeared in front of the ship cutting through the waves.

Many netizens were shocked upon seeing this scene:

"No wonder the cruise ship sank, this is outrageous! How could a six-clawed black serpent be so big?!"

"Yeah, I remember when it was devouring frogmen on the island, it was only twenty or thirty meters long, right? Now it's almost half again as big. It's growing way too fast."

"It's not that it grows fast, but that the Demon King Fruit's effects are too powerful! That's why it's so hostile to humans. Back then, if it hadn't been paying attention for a moment, the Demon King Fruit would have been successfully stolen by the frogmen. Now that it's encountered humans, how could it not seek revenge?"

"Thank goodness, this guy's size isn't too outrageous. If it were the giant octopus that Qi Shen encountered before, with one tentacle as thick as a train, this frigate would probably just be a sitting duck."

"It's not that bad. The mainland is so small, it can't raise a beast like the giant octopus."

"Actually, even if the giant octopus really comes, it's not a big deal. We have more than just escort ships. Under nuclear bombs, all living beings are equal."

"This time France has finally gotten some recognition, and at least they can wash away the shame of their complete defeat on the island."

"It's just a small black serpent. With my escort ship here, we can easily handle it."

"I wonder how much the corpse of this six-clawed black serpent can be sold for after we take it down?"

"You're still thinking about selling it for money? You could use the money for scientific research."

……

While netizens were chatting, the Flower Moon-class frigate had already launched an attack on the Six-Clawed Serpent.

The 100mm CADAM naval gun at the bow of the ship fired rapidly at the six-clawed serpent that was protruding from the sea.

However, due to the unpredictable movement trajectory and the great distance, only a portion of the projectiles landed on the Six-Clawed Serpent, instantly scattering a large number of sparks. Most of these sparks were blocked by the thick scales, with only a very few hitting the weak points and barely penetrating them.

Upon seeing this, the captain was greatly surprised.

On the other hand, the Six-Clawed Serpent, perhaps hurt by the ship's cannon fire, stopped fleeing and instead turned to attack the escort ship.

"Machine gunner!"

Amidst urgent shouts, the 20mm autocannon rapidly rotated its position, unleashing a barrage of bullets at a rate of 720 rounds per minute against the charging six-clawed serpent.

Shockingly, the sea in front of the six-clawed black serpent began to freeze rapidly.

The ice blocks spread rapidly toward the ship, and the machine gun shells hit the solid ice surface, splashing up a large amount of ice shards, greatly reducing their power.

Under the cover of the ice, the six-clawed black serpent rushed toward the frigate at an unimaginable speed.

"avoid!"

Amidst a terrified roar, the charging six-clawed black serpent crashed into the ship, its sharp horn instantly tearing through the hull and piercing deep inside, creating a large hole.

Seawater surged in.

After the six-clawed black serpent retreated, it continued to freeze the ice surface to imprison the ship, and repeatedly rammed the frigate underwater.

On the television cameras, everyone watched helplessly as the frigate was rammed and sunk on the spot by the Six-Clawed Serpent.

After sinking the Flower Moon-class frigate, the six-clawed Xuan Snake suddenly raised its head, its cold eyes staring straight at the camera. The next second, its sharp horns suddenly lit up with blue light, and a streak of ice spike shot out instantly, rushing forward swiftly.

The camera lens was completely black.

one second,
two seconds.

three seconds.

A full three seconds passed.

The world was then plunged into a state of utter shock and discussion:

"Why? Why can't even the escort ships stop them?!"

"That was a frigate! It was sunk so easily?!"

"Are you kidding me? Do you think we need to send an aircraft carrier to deal with a six-clawed black serpent?!"

"Wasn't that ice spike behind me the scariest thing? I almost thought it was coming straight at me! It scared the hell out of me!"

"The helicopters are flying that high, they look doomed. Anti-submarine, anti-ship, anti-air, this behemoth is too versatile!"

"It's only fifty meters long now. If it continues to grow, even to the size of a giant octopus, who could possibly deal with it in the vast ocean?"

We must find a way to nip it in the bud as soon as possible!

"Strangle? How do you strangle them? Are you suggesting we send an aircraft carrier to suppress them?!"

……

Amidst the clamor of discussions, that extremely familiar light screen quickly began to appear in the skies around the world.

Qi Xuan's live stream has started.

(End of this chapter)