Swallowing the Stars: Recruiting Apprentices and Getting Cash Back

"As expected of the methods set up by the Mountain-Sitting Guest." Looking at that ordinary blue planet, Nolan Mountain couldn't help but sigh.

His spaceship hovered above the Earth for a long time, yet he couldn't discern anything different about Earth, or why the races born on Earth possessed naturally powerful souls.

"Alright, we'll talk about it another day. Ah Fu, enter Earth's atmosphere." Nolanshan commanded, and the spaceship transformed into a streak of light and rushed towards Earth.

Noranshan did not secretly infiltrate Earth this time; instead, he informed Luo Feng's wife, Xu Xin, beforehand.

Xu Xin was not surprised by Nuolanshan's arrival, because Luo Feng had given instructions three days ago. She had even prepared a grand welcome banquet for Nuolanshan, which would be attended by all the world's top leaders.

However, Noranshan refused; he couldn't be bothered with such pointless socializing. Besides, these people were quite powerful on Earth, but they were nothing in front of Noranshan. In fact, outside of Earth, they wouldn't even qualify to be sold into slavery.

Nuolanshan went directly to Luo Feng's manor, and only Luo Feng's family could see him.

"Teacher." This is how Luo Feng's entire family, including his parents, addressed Nuolanshan. They treated Nuolanshan with great respect, a mixture of admiration and fear.

"You don't need to be so nervous, I'm still quite kind and approachable." Nuolanshan even gave a friendly smile.

However, Luo Feng's family did not think so, because Nuolan Mountain's aura was too strong, and the power it possessed was too great. They were as weak as ants in front of it.

Even if they were close, they were instinctively afraid. And, to be honest, Nuolanshan's smile was more frightening than his still smile.

Observing their increased nervousness, Nuolanshan came up with an idea and said, "I heard from Luo Feng that there's a custom on Earth. When elders meet juniors for the first time, they have to give them something like... a greeting gift."

"No need, no need," Xu Xin quickly waved her hand.

Luo Feng invited Nuolanshan over to help solve the Zerg mother nest problem, so he should have given Nuolanshan a fee for his hard work. He shouldn't be asked for a gift from him.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Here, everyone gets one." Nuolanshan waved his hand, and a box appeared in front of each of them.

Although Luo Feng's two sons, Luo Ping and Luo Hai, had been told not to be unruly, they were still children and didn't listen to any of it. It was already rare for them to remain silent for half a day. Upon seeing the gift, they hurriedly opened the box.

Inside the box, a blood-red fruit lay quietly.

"This is a Blood Crystal Fruit, which has the effects of enhancing blood circulation, prolonging life, and healing injuries," Nuolanshan explained.

"Teacher, this is too valuable, we can't accept it." Luo Feng's parents immediately closed the box and pushed it back to Nuolanshan.

They had been exploring the universe for several years and knew its value; it might be more expensive than an Earth.

"Keep it; it's nothing to me. Luo Feng won first place in the Genius Battle, and as his teacher, I also made a fortune."

"Alright, enough of the reminiscing, it's time to get down to business." Nolanshan didn't allow them to refuse, and then steered the conversation to serious matters.

"Pingping, Xiaohai, say goodbye to Grandpa," Luo Feng's mother said to the two children.

The two children obediently said to Nuolanshan, "Goodbye, Grandpa," waving their little hands as they did so, which was very cute.

Nuolanshan smiled. Although the original Nuolanshan had been an ancestor for many years, this was the first time he, a transmigrator, had been called "grandpa."

"Two little ones." With a wave of his hand, Nuolanshan placed name tags around the necks of the two children.

There is a restriction set up by Nuolanshan on it. Once the child suffers a fatal attack, this sign will be activated. It contains Nuolanshan's full-force attack, enough to kill any opponent below the level of a Realm Lord.

"Thank you, Grandpa." The two children happily accepted the gift and left the room with their grandparents.

Xu Xin turned on the projector screen and said, "Teacher, the Zerg mother hive is located deep in Shennongjia on our Earth, which we have named the No. 31 Ancient Civilization Relic. In the past, we did not know what it was, only that it was surrounded by highly poisonous substances that made it difficult for ordinary people to approach, and that no vegetation grew within a radius of several miles."

Sure enough, the photos provided by Xu Xin show that a pale green poisonous fog permeates the air around the Zerg mother hive.

"The closer you get to the Zerg hive, the stronger its toxicity becomes. So far, apart from photos, no one has actually been able to get close to the Zerg hive, so this is all we know about it," Xu Xin said.

"Okay, I understand. Send me its exact coordinates, and I'll head over right away." Nuolanshan nodded.

"Teacher, shouldn't you rest for a night? After all, you've only just arrived on Earth," Xu Xinyan said.

"We'll talk about it after we rest. The important business is more important." Nolan Shan waved his hand. It was just a flight on the spaceship today, and it wouldn't tire him out.

"Alright then." Xu Xin didn't insist anymore and sent the precise coordinates of the Zerg mother hive to Nuolanshan. After glancing at the coordinates, Nuolanshan flew directly towards Shennongjia.

Watching Mount Nuolan vanish in a streak of light, Xu Xin asked worriedly, "Ahua, do you think Teacher can take down the Zerg nest?"

"Based on the information I've gathered, it's almost impossible. That's a calamity that even immortals can't withstand, and our teacher is merely at the cosmic level. We should prepare for the worst and earn enough cosmic currency to launch a global migration plan before the Zerg hive awakens," Luo Hua said.

Although Luo Hua is not a martial artist, he is calmer than any martial artist, and it is precisely because of this calmness that he is invincible in the turbulent stock market.

"I will communicate with the leaders of the five major powers," Xu Xin said.

At Nuolanshan's speed, he quickly arrived at Shennongjia. With a sweep of his telekinetic powers, he discovered the location of the Zerg mother nest and immediately flew there.

Just as shown in the picture, the Zerg hive was enveloped in a layer of green poisonous mist.

Norlanshan took out a valuable antidote from his world ring and cast a Force shield around himself before stepping into the poisonous fog.

At first, everything seemed normal, but as they went deeper, the poisonous fog thickened, and Nuolanshan felt a wave of fatigue. With his cosmic-level strength, this should never have happened.

"Damn it, the poison is too strong." Nuolanshan cursed under his breath, took out another enhanced antidote and drank it down, and the feeling of exhaustion finally disappeared.

drink!

With a powerful leap, Norlanshan plunged deeper into the swamp at incredible speed. A minute later, he finally passed through the toxic fog, which could kill even those with cosmic-level poison, and arrived in front of the Zerg mother hive.

He could certainly be faster, but Norlanshan didn't want to make too much of a commotion, lest he awaken the Zerg Queen, in which case even if he used all his trump cards, he would still die.

From the outside, the Zerg hive is a huge black sphere with a diameter of over 800 meters. Its surface is uneven and covered with shell-like textures, like the heart of a giant creature.

Its outer shell is as hard as cosmic gold, and dark green viscous venom constantly seeps out from its crevices. The poisonous mist around it is the aura emitted by this venom.

"Good stuff, Star Eater, collect it." Upon seeing the venom, Nuolanshan hurriedly ordered the Star Eater to collect it. If the Star Eater could refine it, its vines would be highly poisonous, enough to kill even a Realm Lord.

"Yes, Master." The Star-Eating Grass immediately began collecting the venom using a specially made small green bottle.

Noranshan was not idle either. He used his mental power to carefully infiltrate into the crack in the mother nest.

The interior of the mother nest resembles a giant honeycomb, filled with countless hatching chambers of insect eggs of varying sizes.

The passageway was winding and twisting, with countless Zerg warriors of various shapes standing in it like sculptures, still in battle stances.

Clearly, they all stopped abruptly, like robots whose power was forcibly cut off.

Passing through the passage, the space became increasingly spacious, eventually leading to a palace-like place—the residence of the Zerg Queen.

Upon entering the palace, I indeed saw a beautiful insectoid woman standing there with a blank stare.

She is the Zerg Queen, a ruler of the realm—Irina.

It stands twelve meters tall, its entire body is translucent like crystal, its skin is so white it glows, it has a pair of transparent wings like butterflies, and its body proportions are perfect.

Although she is not human, if she participated in a beauty pageant, she would definitely outshine all the other beauties.

Noranshan used his telekinesis to move forward, wanting to get closer to Irina.

Chi!

The psychic power felt as if it had been slashed, causing it to suddenly retract.

Even when Irina is asleep, she will instinctively release her psychic power to protect herself. The strength of her psychic power is unmatched by ordinary immortals, let alone a universe-level power like Noranshan.

"As expected, it can't be solved." Nuolanshan rubbed his throbbing head.

However, he already knew in his heart that he couldn't eliminate this Zerg mother hive. After all, in the original story, Luo Feng only completely defused this time bomb after reaching the Domain Lord level. The current strength of Nuolan Mountain is far inferior to Luo Feng's strength when he was a Domain Lord.

The reason why Noranshan came to Earth so quickly was actually for another purpose.