by <unknown>
Even right now, a lot of materials were still spurting out of the interior of the planet and into space, making the planet look like both a geyser and a beast with a weird tail that extended to the ocean of cascades.
If it were a random planet, after such a blow, the broken planet would certainly have collapsed inwardly because of the revolutions and slowly turn into a small sphere.
However, the bright gold planet maintained the incomplete, half-sphere shape, like a gold apple that had been bitten and was still decaying.
Looking at the inside through the 'wound', one would be able to see the internal metal structure that was more complicated than a maze and a core covered in dazzling brilliance that did not appear natural at all!
The planet turned out to be hollow. Inside the planet were buildings that constituted underground cities.
Despite the thick rocks on the surface that formed an extremely solid crust, it was still an out-and-out artificial celestial body!
"Is this Kunlun, the Pangu Clan's super warship?" Professor Mo Xuan mumbled to himself, his voice shivering in excitement.
Like Li Yao, he was also a super magical equipment fan. Although the refinement of starships was not their specialty, such an authentic 'planetary warship' was still making their souls bouncing in joy.
Particularly, because of the fatal strike the planetary warship suffered, its shell was completely torn apart, and the sophisticated internal structure was revealed clearly.
They greatly enjoyed the incredible view and almost couldn't move their eyes away.
"Click! Click!" Sparkle's crystal cameras immediately started shooting crazily.
"After we establish the space communication system and send the pictures back to the Heaven's Origin Sector, Leader Si is definitely going to be overjoyed," Li Yao said amusingly.
Si Koulie, the proposer of the Ice God Project and the leader of the Star Fighter's Alliance, was one of the best starship specialists in the three Sectors. It had been his dream to build a 'planetary warship'.
If he had the files about 'Kunlun', a super warship of the Pangu Clan, even though they were nothing but the appearance of the warship, it would still be a great inspiration on his project.
"The spiritual waves of this area are very stable. The interference from the pulsar is weak, too. It is very suitable to deploy the star beacons and the space communication facilities here."
Professor Mo Xuan calculated for a moment and continued. "However, we did not expect that Kunlun would be so ragged that it was spurting out tremendous materials every second. Such materials become space garbage and might be a threat to the star beacons and the communication facilities when pushed by the pulse storm.
"To guide such a super warship as Burning Prairie with dozens of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Core Formation Stage Cultivators to jump over, the star beacons and the communication facilities must be unfolded to the maximum. Then, it will be a very tricky issue to avoid the scourge of the space garbage!
"If we deploy defense rune arrays first, which will generate an immense twisting force field, before we unfold the star beacons and the communication magical equipment, it will take at least seventy-two hours for us to finish the work."
Li Yao nodded. "Alright. Let's stick to our original plan. My four senior brothers will maneuver Sparkle to finish the deployment of the star beacons and the communication magical equipment, send back the astronomical parameters to the Heaven's Origin Sector, and clear an area where Burning Prairie can land.
"The three of us will go to 'Kunlun' and explore it first. If the Immortal Cultivators arrive in advance, we can be better prepared!"
It was the plan that they had made before they left. They were not behind on their schedule yet.
The three of them examined their Cosmos Rings and magical equipment one last time. Li Yao summoned the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Dark Flame Gold and embedded the few Cosmos Rings on it. The Fire Ant King put on his plant biochemical armor. Professor Mo Xuan crawled in the artificial body that looked like a metal octopus.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Three capsule-like single assault cabins were spat out by Sparkle and darted toward Kunlun.
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
Crouching inside the cabin, Li Yao heard the sound of metal being twisted and saw the fire out of the window. He was secretly surprised.
It was a sign that the cabin was having intense friction with the atmosphere.
But how was that possible?
Kunlun was obviously half broken. Even if it had an atmosphere in the beginning, the atmosphere should have split apart and escaped after it took such a heavy blow.
How did the Pangu Clan manage to cover a 'planetary warship' with a man-made atmosphere that was still concentrated without dispersing despite such serious damage?
Where was the energy that supported the atmosphere from? They were right inside the crab nebula where there was no sun at all!
Li Yao was once more greatly impressed by the technology of the Pangu civilization. However, it did not mean that he was scared; he was simply even more eager to explore and study.
Very soon, all three assault cabins broke into Kunlun's atmosphere and landed on the surface of the planetary warship!
Chapter 1223: Miner in Space! |
They did not choose to enter the inside of the planetary warship from the broken side of Kunlun because the bottomless damage was still spurting out millions of tons of materials incessantly.
Many components of the warship boasted extremely immense spiritual energy. They crashed in the vacuum, leading to fusion reactions that turned them into small suns. The suns rushed out along with the massive, fast materials and congregated into a raging river of fire and steel!
Running into the damage was like running into the crater of a volcano when it was erupting, suicidal.
Also, Kunlun's scale was much larger than that of normal satellites. Its internal structure was certainly extremely sophisticated. Without the navigation of a map, they might not be able to get out of in a year and a half if they were trapped inside.
Therefore, they decided that they should land on Kunlun's surface first.
Since there was an atmosphere and a solid crust, something had to have been left on the ground.
They chose the side that was exactly opposite the broken, enormous hole, and they localized the point where the metal reaction and the spiritual waves were most intense. Adjusting the spurts of the assault cabins, they crashed into the land like three shooting stars!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of kilometers away from each other, the three cabins landed one after another, leaving deep craters on the ground and triggering three bright blue pillars of smoke.
Li Yao raised his wariness to the maximum. He unleashed his telepathic thoughts and perceived the surroundings at first. Having detected no anomaly, he opened the hatch of the assault cabin and crawled out of it.
This was a planet with 'surging tides'.
As far as one's eyes could reach, the ground was full of folds that looked like waves. There was barely any flat land. It rose to thousands of kilometers high at points and fell to bottomless gaps without a sign elsewhere. Hot, colorful steam was also flowing out of the gaps, blossoming in the sky like bizarrely-shaped flowers.
Bright purple clouds occupied the sky. They were rolling a hundred times faster than those in the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, leaving a very strong sense of depression.
Enormous spots of light appeared within the bright purple clouds every now and then, each replacing one another. They provided the basic light for Kunlun.
However, the world was still rather dim. It felt like the weather before a storm in the Heaven's Origin Sector.
This is so heavy!
Crawling out of the assault cabin, Li Yao staggered and almost tripped himself over.
He found it difficult to breathe, and his hands and feet seemed to be bound to weights. He had to resist them with
his spiritual energy in order to move normally.
Kunlun's gravity was more than ten times that of the Heaven's Origin Sector!
This is truly incredible. Kunlun's size is similar to the size of a regular satellite. Its gravity should be one third to one fifth the gravity of the Heaven's Origin Sector. Why is it so heavy? Li Yao thought quickly and soon realized the reason.
Kunlun was a man-made planet. There must be a lot of alloys with super high densities and masses inside. It might seem small, but its total weight might even be higher than that of the Heaven's Origin Planet. Also, together with the artificial rune arrays and force fields, it was not strange that the gravity here was ten times higher than that of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
Ten times the standard gravity was not a problem for Li Yao right now. He jumped up and down and punched hundreds of times. Soon, he was adapted to the environment. He released 'Neltharion' to explore from the sky and analyzed the air pressure and constituents within.
Surprisingly, although there were quite a few unrecognizable constituents in the air, the double analysis of the crystal processor and the biochemical brain showed that they were not life-threatening. No ancient germs or parasites were detected, either. The air quality was a bit worse than that of the Blood Demon Sector, but that was all.
It might have been impossible for ordinary people to breathe such air directly,but for Cultivators in the Nascent Soul Stage, it was absolutely not a problem.
Besides, Li Yao sensed that the spiritual waves there were much more active than the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector. The electromagnetic field around the planet was at least five times stronger than that of the three Sectors. Hardly had he landed when every cell inside his body was seething, and he felt that his internal organs seemed to be blossoming in spring.
His eyes glittering, Li Yao mumbled to himself, "This is truly a natural paradise!"
Those words amused him. This was the legendary 'Kunlun', a place where the deities lived. It was certainly a paradise!
Human beings and the Pangu Clan were of similar biological structure. The two parties belonged to the same lineage. Now that this was a planetary warship of the Pangu Clan with an atmosphere, it was only reasonable that the air was readily breathable for human beings!
Li Yao pressed a rune array on the left side of the helmet. Then, a red spot appeared at the center of the pure black facial cover, which was as smooth as mirror. Eighteen long, narrow red lines extended from the spot, dissecting the facial cover and gliding to the back of the helmet.
Li Yao took a deep breath of the air of Kunlun. He felt a mysterious coolness flow from his lungs to his entire body. His every nerve ending could not have been more comfortable, and he moaned in great satisfaction.
The Pangu Clan's technology is truly incredible. Training in such a natural paradise is five times more efficient than training in the Heaven's Origin Sector!
Li Yao was amazed. He could not help but fantasize how many experts would be raised in the next hundred years if Kunlun was built into a training facility that belonged to the federation.
Centered at him, Neltharion searched the dozens of square kilometers nearby. Very soon, Professor Mo Xuan and the Fire Ant King were both found.
The two of them were also fascinated by the extraordinary views on Kunlun and immediately started the most fundamental research instead of looking for their companions.
Other than them, Neltharion also discovered colorful moss on several high mountains, which appeared to be a certain low-level creature.
Since there was an atmosphere and even 'clouds', the ecological system still seemed to be functioning normally. Of course, some lives must have been kept after millions of years.
Other than the mosses, there might be lives of a higher level which were even a threat. They had to pay attention to that.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Li Yao soon reached out to Professor Mo Xuan and the Fire Ant King. The communication with Sparkle was established, too.
However, since the atmosphere here was very unique and contained serious interferences, it was impossible to speak clearly just through the internal antennas of the crystal suits. The transmission of telepathic thoughts was intermittent, too.
It seemed that they had to deploy a fixed signal base somewhere after all.
Very soon, the three of them finished the basic exploration and gathered together.
"What an incredible planet!" exclaimed Professor Mo Xuan excitedly as he waved his mental tentacles. "The planet is half torn, yet the basic structure, the atmosphere, and even the ecological system have been maintained!
"It is only one seventh the size of the Heaven's Origin Planet, yet it boasts a gravity ten times higher and such a strong electromagnetic field!
"It is so far away from any star, yet it is so bright. The temperature here is between the freezing point and the boiling point, too. This is amazing!"
"And there are creatures here, too," the Fire Ant King added. As a specialist in botany, cytology, and genetics, he was particularly interested in lives. "I have only explored for less than twenty minutes, and I've discovered more than thirty types of fungi and spores. Judging from the trend of their distribution, more advanced life forms, or even animals, may be somewhere deep down the bottomless folds!"
"The air constituents here are incredible, too!" Li Yao offered his examination result. "There is a lot of inert gas in the air that is highly antioxidant and anti-corrosion. Other than slowing the aging of cells inside living creatures, it can also significantly slow down the deterioration of metals. This place is essentially an enormous crisper!
"I estimate that if some bodies of the Pangu Clan are here, they will definitely be not as feeble as the one in space. At the very least, they will not crumble the moment we touch them!"
All three of them were excited by the discovery.
It did not matter how well the bodies of the Pangu Clan were preserved. As long as they could get a few weapons of the Pangu Clan, this journey would prove to be priceless!
"But how is it possible?"
Looking at the continuous folds far away and the glittering light spots in the sky that was brimming with purple clouds, Li Yao was greatly baffled.
"Even if the Pangu Clan was truly capable of building a synthetic atmosphere on the surface of the planetary warship, how did they make sure that the atmosphere would not disperse after such a long time? And why are the atmosphere and the ecological system undamaged when the planet suffered such a heavy blow that half of the body was ripped apart?
"What is the source of energy to sustain such a system?"
Professor Mo Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "I have an immature hypothesis. Maybe, the pulsar not far away provides incessant energy for Kunlun!"
"The pulsar?"
Li Yao and the Fire Ant King were both interested.
"Yes. The rapidly-revolving neutron star is emitting super intense radiation every second of every day. It is the best source of energy.
"Kunlun happens to be at a tipping point of the pulsar, neither too far away nor too close. If it was closer, it would be attracted and swallowed by the pulsar. If it was farther away, it would not be able to absorb the energy from the pulsar at the highest efficiency. This is definitely not a coincidence!
"Therefore, I suspect that 'Kunlun' is some sort of 'workstation' that the Pangu Clan built to develop the pulsar. Some super magical equipment must be somewhere deep inside Kunlun!
"Such a piece of super magical equipment can absorb the radiation from the pulsar, which is an inexhaustible energy source!
"After multiple transformations, such energy partly maintains the normal functions of Kunlun and partly forms a synthetic atmosphere, an ecological system, and even the light spots in the sky that are replacements of the sun!
"With such dense spiritual energy here, Kunlun is definitely a super natural paradise. It is needless to say that the source of the energy is
also the pulsar!
"It means that this is a workstation that retrieves spiritual energy from the pulsar, or rather, a 'miner' in space. Through Kunlun, the Pangu Clan was able to train themselves by absorbing the energy of the pulsar!"
"Training with the pulsar!" Dumbfounded, Li Yao and the Fire Ant King were both awed by Professor Mo Xuan's magnificent idea!
Chapter 1224: Giant! |
However, on second thought, it was quite a plausible theory. Otherwise, it would have been unnecessary to build Kunlun right next to a pulsar.
"The surface of the Kunlun must've been less ragged in the beginning. It was definitely flat and suitable for living and training," Professor Mo Xuan said. "Then, Kunlun suffered an overwhelming strike, and all the terrain was hence changed.
"The crash nearly tore Kunlun apart. The side on the point of impact was nearly all tossed into space, resulting into the ocean of star dust that surrounds Kunlun. Even the side opposite from the point of impact was crushed into layers of folds. The mountains and canyons we are seeing right now were formed at that time, too.
"However, as a planetary warship, Kunlun obviously boasts an excellent damage management system. Even though it has been reduced to such an extent, it is still functioning at the minimum efficiency in some sort of 'hibernation' state instead of complete death.
"Even the atmosphere and the ecological system on the surface of the planet have been maintained. So, chances are that there are better-preserved parts inside Kunlun that we can excavate!
"Seven hundred kilometers to our west is the center of metal reaction and spiritual waves on the surface of Kunlun. Something must be there. Let's go and take a look!"
The three of them flew toward the west wearing their crystal suit, artificial body, and plant armor. After flying westward for four hundred kilometers, they landed on a fold that was fully covered with mosses.
They deployed a very inconspicuous attack formation in this place.
