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

Chapter 12 The Great Octopus
The scene that appeared in the live stream.

It is not a river.

It's not a lake either.

It was a swamp.

A vast, boundless swamp, like a boundless ocean!

In the dark green shallow water, clumps of grass dotted the surface, and a hazy gray mist floated on the water, stretching into the endless distance.

Within the gray fog, large disturbances could be seen from time to time, indicating the presence of some living creatures. Closer up, one could hear the gurgling sound of bubbles bursting in clusters, as well as the occasional splashing sound.

While netizens from all over the world were stunned, Qi Xuan stood in the woods by the swamp, equally shocked.

When he came to his senses, the expression on his face immediately became very complicated.

"Unfortunately, the previous guess was wrong. The end of the water vapor was not a river, but a swamp. The idea of ​​finding the natives through the river has obviously failed."

"But the ecosystem of swamps is often quite complete under natural conditions, and all kinds of creatures live in them. For explorers like me, we may be able to obtain enough food reserves, various medicinal herbs, and even tools and materials from them."

"Let me go over and see what's in this swamp."

Qi Xuan stepped closer.

The closer you get to the swamp, the heavier the moisture in the air becomes, and the stronger the fishy smell becomes.

Qi Xuan keenly sensed that the fishy stench was likely related to the gray fog that covered the surface of the swamp.

Most importantly, the fog was clearly toxic; the more he breathed, the more he felt a very slight stinging sensation in his lungs.

This is under the premise that he has the ability to devour. If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely have died on the spot if they reached his current position.

Even so, ingesting too much gray fog, once exceeding the digestive limit, will obviously harm the body.

But with such a large, mysterious swamp right in front of us, should we just leave without doing anything?
Qi Xuan hesitated for a moment.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from afar.

Looking in the direction of the sound, Qi Xuan was completely stunned.

Netizens around the world were stunned.

Then a giant python, as thick as a train, suddenly emerged from the gray mist, raised its head, and stood upright as if supporting the sky and the earth.

But the most terrifying part is that upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this thing is not a giant python at all, but an extremely strong tentacle, which is vaguely connected to its mountain-like body. It lies prostrate in the swamp, and its terrifying shape can be vaguely seen through the swirling mist.

"Holy crap, what the hell is that?!"

"An octopus? Are there octopuses that big in the world?"

"Damn it, is this thing some kind of Cthulhu?"

"No! I don't want to encounter the Great Old Ones!"

"Please give me eyes that didn't see this thing!"

"So erotic! I want to see the doujinshi featuring it and the giant mushroom tomorrow!"

"This looks perfect for grilling, streamer, come check it out!"

……

Netizens had mixed reactions.

Shocked, many people, fearing the world was not chaotic enough, hoped that Qi Xuan could go closer and take a look.

Some genuinely wanted to see some fun, while others were simply curious about the unprecedented octopus monster. As for the rest with ulterior motives, they just wanted Qi Xuan dead.

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality.

If no one successfully logs in, that's fine.

Now that Qi Xuan is the only one to log in and has the entire floating continent to himself, he will attract as much envy and jealousy as possible.

Not to mention that there are also distinctions based on nationality, skin color, and so on. As long as you don't belong to their camp, no matter how well you do, there will always be people who oppose you and wish you dead.

However, Qi Xuan didn't care at all.

The reason why... is that he can't see the comments at all!!

So when he saw that terrifying octopus monster, his only thought was to run away.

Just kidding, even Foundation Establishment cultivators might not find this useful. What good would it do for a mere Qi Refining Level 1 shrimp like him? He wouldn't even be enough for someone to swallow him whole.

However, you can't say "escape" to someone's face. Can a strategic retreat be called an escape?
Qi Xuan coughed lightly and said to the live stream:
"We've traveled far enough today, and I think it's about time to rest. We'll stop here for now."

After I finish my stream and get some rest, I'll go and fight that octopus monster for three hundred rounds. I'll report back to you all tomorrow on the results.

To find out what happens next, don't miss my live stream tomorrow!

After he finished speaking, the sky lights that were scattered all over the world disappeared instantly.

The light screen disappeared so quickly that netizens from all over the world didn't even have time to react.

But it's okay. Even if the live stream disappears and you can't send comments, there's still the internet, right?
At that moment, a massive number of netizens flocked to social media to share the news:
"I'm so damn angry. Every time I say I'm going to end the broadcast, I just end it right away, without stopping for a second."

"Exactly, this whole ending was even more sudden than my breakup with my ex." "This kid better not run into me, or I'll be begging him to give me a live stream."

"I'm so anxious, I don't even know if the streamer can beat the giant octopus."

"Are you kidding me? With the size of a giant octopus, even if the streamer had seven legs, there's no way he could win."

"Don't even mention the streamer, you couldn't win if you put anyone on the field. That thing can just flip over and kill as many of us ants as there are."

"The streamer said there were many monsters in the forest, and I thought he was talking nonsense. Even if there were monsters, how strange could they be? Until the giant octopus crawled out and slapped me hard."

"Today I might run into the Giant Octopus, tomorrow I might run into King Kong, and the day after tomorrow Godzilla will make a dazzling appearance. Holy crap, could it be that the floating continent is actually Skull Island?"

"Then I'm going to really get behind the wheel of the Crimson Storm! The government should remember to send me a girl as my partner, no high requirements, just big boobs, curvy hips, and eighteen years old."

"Hello, is this the police station? Someone stole my Evangelion Unit-01! The culprit is wearing a red combat suit and is one-quarter Japanese. Please send the unit and the culprit over here. I'm going to teach her a lesson!"

……

Netizens kept having fun, and even when they discussed how to kill the giant octopus, it was all just talk.

But in the operations room of the fourth aircraft carrier, a group of officers were earnestly discussing how to kill the giant octopus:

"...The tentacles are as thick as trains. Considering only its size, ordinary firearms should be ineffective. In addition, the target is in a swamp covered in gray fog, with low visibility and soft ground, which greatly limits the mobility of heavy land-based equipment. Air-dropped bombs, such as thermobaric bombs and thermite bombs, should be considered. Their destructive effect should be very significant. Furthermore, that octopus is likely capable of burrowing underground, so bunker buster bombs should also be prepared to prevent its escape..."

After a long period of discussion, a feasibility report of several thousand words was quickly compiled on how to kill or capture the giant octopus and presented to Liu Wang.

However, after receiving the report, Liu Wang only glanced at it casually and didn't pay much attention to it.

Firstly, they knew too little about the giant octopus and were unaware of its special abilities, so their initial reports were obviously rather crude.

Secondly, they haven't broken through the thunderstorm barrier yet, and it's uncertain when they'll be able to enter the floating continent.

Thirdly, even if they get inside, they might not encounter the giant octopus—it might already be dead at the hands of other monsters.

After finishing reading the report, Liu Wang pinched the bridge of his nose, a look of worry rising on his face.

Seeing this, Xiao Li couldn't help but ask with concern:

"Sir, what are you worried about?"

Liu Wang glanced at the recording on the screen and said worriedly:
"I'm afraid this kid will really run off to find the giant octopus."

"It shouldn't be that bad, right? The giant octopus is so terrifyingly large that no normal person would approach it. Qi Xuan is a graduate of a prestigious university, so he shouldn't lack this kind of rationality."

"But he's doing a live stream now, so it's hard to say."

Liu Wang said in a deep voice:
"You should know that if there are no rules to restrain them, many streamers will do anything to increase the popularity of their live stream. Especially now that everyone is paying attention to that giant octopus, Qi Xuan is a smart man and he must understand this. I'm just afraid that he will desperately try to get closer to the giant octopus in order to gain popularity."

After a pause, he said again:
"Now it seems that not having bullet comments is actually a good thing."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li immediately realized what was going on.

The absence of bullet comments means that one will not be influenced by netizens and will not make exaggerated moves in order to cater to them.

It's worth noting that on some underground websites abroad, streamers do all sorts of outrageous things in pursuit of money and fame, including theft, prostitution, and murder.

When people are swept up in the irrationality of the crowd, it's not surprising that they do anything.

From this perspective, the absence of bullet comments is indeed a good thing, at least it allows Qi Xuan to maintain a calm and rational judgment.

"Forget it, there's no use worrying about it anymore. Now we can only rely on him."

Liu Wang chose to console himself:
"I hope he can act cautiously, pay attention to his own safety, stay away from danger, and not eat indiscriminately."

……

"Ptooey! What a piece of junk!"

Qi Xuan spat out the fruit, his face contorted with a sour, tooth-aching expression.

"If I had known that candied fruit was so sour, I wouldn't have eaten it. Isn't this a complete rip-off? Who said this thing was edible? The person who listed it in the encyclopedia must have been a pregnant woman, right?"

Qi Xuan kept rinsing his mouth with a resentful look on his face. After rinsing back and forth seven or eight times, he still felt it wasn't enough, so he took out his toothbrush and brushed his mouth vigorously.

He only stopped when the last trace of sourness in his mouth disappeared.

Leaning against the tree, he took out the secret pomegranate again and began to enjoy it immensely until the last one was eaten. Qi Xuan couldn't help but sigh softly.

After that, there are only wild vegetables like wild gourd and gray amaranth. They are edible, but they don't taste as good as pomegranate.

Is this the end of the days when I was healed by the pomegranate?

Qi Xuan felt a pang of sadness.

To cheer himself up, he decided to try his luck in the lottery.

Upon opening the lottery page, a bright, prominent logo is prominently displayed in the upper right corner—

2B x 2.5 =
5B.

That's right, he got a total of five chances to win prizes during the afternoon's live stream!

(End of this chapter)