Chapter 141: A Strange Planet (Part 2)

The gravity here is over twenty thousand times that of Earth. Not to mention trainee-level martial artists, even weaker planetary-level ones would struggle to endure it. Planetary-level experts rely on the repulsive force generated by the miniature planets within their bodies to counteract gravity, but this has its limits. Any force exceeding that limit must be borne by the physical body itself. Although the bodies of cultivators are formidable, a gravity thousands or tens of thousands of times stronger places an immense burden on the body, especially the internal organs. Of course, the universe is full of wonders; there are special races born with exceptionally powerful bodies and higher tolerance levels.

"It seems the physical bodies of the Viska natives are at least on par with weaker star-beast species," Jiang Chen quickly concluded.

—

The spacecraft passed through the clouds and landed in the wilderness. During the descent, the ship's sensors had already mapped the surrounding terrain, generating a comprehensive map. Landing in the wilderness was a deliberate choice by Jiang Chen. Descending in an area far from human traces made it easier to avoid causing a stir, facilitating his infiltration and assimilation into this planet.

"The main body will stay here to develop in secret, while the clone infiltrates the natives to gather information."

"The clone will take one-quarter of the mechanical legion, and the rest will remain with the main body."

Jiang Chen made his decision swiftly, leaving the World Ring containing the mechanical legion and the armory with his main body, while the clone departed with a quarter of the legion, flying toward the nearest city.

The natives of this planet detest technology. Despite their endless history and highly developed cultivation systems, their technology remains primitive and backward. Using technological equipment in front of them would be tantamount to exposing his status as an "outsider," which would invite relentless pursuit. Bringing the mechanical legion along was purely a precaution. Unless there was a life-threatening crisis or a treasure valuable enough to tempt him, Jiang Chen did not intend for the clone to deploy these forces.

"Master, this planet is shrouded in a special magnetic field. Apart from visual sensors, our other detection methods for energy fluctuations, electromagnetic signals, and the like are suppressed to a range of a few tens of thousands of kilometers; we cannot scout distant areas. Communication is similarly restricted; other than the Virtual Universe system, no other means can connect to the satellites parked outside the atmosphere," Jarvis suddenly reported.

"Detection and communication are suppressed?" Jiang Chen nodded upon hearing this. The data provided by the Virtual Universe Company did indeed contain such descriptions. Of course, Jiang Chen had harbored a bit of wishful thinking initially, hoping that the detection equipment he had designed and manufactured was far more advanced than what average cosmic-level geniuses used, perhaps allowing him to ignore this suppression. It seemed, however, that he had been overestimating himself. At the very least, E-grade detection equipment was insufficient to pierce the special magnetic field of Planet Viska. Being unable to contact the satellites above the atmosphere meant he could not blanket the entire planet in surveillance, which brought some trouble. However, these issues were within his expectations and were not something he couldn't accept.

"According to what I saw during the landing, the nearest city is over ten thousand kilometers away. I'll wait and see if the clone can infiltrate and gather some information." Jiang Chen found a relatively secluded valley to stay in, waiting for feedback from his clone.

—

On the other side, Jiang Chen's clone had already changed his appearance. Dressed in neat black combat armor with a short blade strapped to his back, he looked like the quintessential martial artist, heading toward the nearest city. The gravity on this planet was so intense that even planetary-level experts struggled to fly, and even for stellar-level or cosmic-level beings, speed was significantly reduced. A distance of ten thousand kilometers was nothing on an ordinary planet, but on Planet Viska, it would take some time. Moreover, Jiang Chen did not travel at full speed so he could observe the environment and sense his surroundings.

Several hours later, Jiang Chen saw the silhouette of the city in the distance. He was still some way off, but he could already sense numerous "human" auras nearby.

"The natives of Planet Viska don't seem to venture too far from their city?"

Jiang Chen vaguely realized something. He concealed his presence and approached a group consisting of over a dozen distinct auras. In the distance, a team of martial artists was loading the carcasses of ferocious beasts onto vehicles. The leader, a bearded man, shouted in the local dialect: "Move faster! It's almost dark! We must be back inside the city before nightfall!"

The words "nightfall" seemed to trigger something terrifying in the other martial artists; everyone displayed a hint of nervousness and instinctively quickened their pace.

"Nightfall?" Jiang Chen couldn't help but glance up at the sky. There was no light source from a star, yet the sky above was bright. In the pale blue expanse, streaks of purple glow were visible, looking quite spectacular. Even with Jiang Chen's extensive knowledge, he couldn't guess where this light came from. He could only vaguely surmise it was related to the unique environment of Planet Viska.

"According to them, Planet Viska also has 'day' and 'night.' And looking at the behavior of this team, it seems there might be danger outside the city after dark."

Jiang Chen connected his consciousness to his detection equipment to quickly scan the strength of the team. There were thirteen people in total. Aside from the leader, who was a first-tier cosmic-level, the other twelve had internal energy and spiritual power levels at the fifth or sixth stellar tier. What surprised Jiang Chen, however, was that the sensors showed these native martial artists all possessed a gene level of over ten times the baseline. Every stellar-level martial artist was ten times, while the cosmic-level leader had twenty times.

"Is he special? Or do the genes of the natives on this planet improve as they level up?"

A thought crossed Jiang Chen's mind. Without revealing himself, he quickly departed to find another team to observe. After a round of observations, Jiang Chen discovered that most of these teams in the wilderness were doing the same thing: hunting ferocious beasts and transporting the entire carcasses back. Many teams that spoke frequently mentioned "needing to get back before nightfall." Clearly, on this planet—or at least around this city—something bad happened after dark. No wonder Jiang Chen had seen almost no signs of human activity far from the city.

Another discovery was that the teams leaving the city weren't particularly strong. They usually consisted of one or two cosmic-level experts leading a group of stellar-level ones. At least within his sensing range, he found no one exceeding the cosmic level; the highest was only a fifth-tier cosmic-level expert. Of course, he also hadn't seen anyone particularly weak; the lowest were at least fifth-tier stellar level. These martial artists shared a striking commonality: regardless of their strength, their gene levels were at least ten times the baseline. Those with ten to twenty times exceeded one-tenth of the population. The latter seemed unrelated to strength, but in every group, there were always one or two individuals with higher gene levels than the rest. Among those Jiang Chen had observed so far, the highest was a fourth-tier cosmic-level martial artist with a gene level of thirty-two times.

"Is the gene improvement due to treasures on this planet? Or is it their unique bloodline?"

Jiang Chen felt puzzled. Ordinary geniuses arriving on this planet would find it difficult to immediately notice the peculiarity in the natives' genes. They would likely only sense something was off after engaging in combat. Most mainstream detectors in the universe lacked the function to scan gene levels. Jiang Chen had specifically designed his detectors to be comprehensive for his mechanical legion, and he hadn't expected such an astonishing discovery immediately upon arrival.

In the universe, and even on the higher-level Origin Continent, "gene level" is extremely important. Given the same comprehension and talent, a higher gene level leads to clearer perception of laws, naturally resulting in faster cultivation. With the same level of law comprehension, a higher gene level provides a larger pool of internal energy, spiritual power, and divine power, naturally granting a greater advantage in combat. Among the human race, excluding artificial enhancements, the branch with the strongest natural bloodline has a gene level of ten times, comparable to a Golden Horned Beast. Yet, on Planet Viska, Jiang Chen had already seen dozens of people with gene levels over ten times in such a short period. If it wasn't a unique bloodline, then this planet held a massive secret concerning gene levels.

The "Blood-Luo Crystals" of the Blood-Luo World could also improve gene levels, but they required activating the "Blood-Luo power" within the body, and the effect was temporary. The natives of Planet Viska, based on his observations, didn't need to trigger anything to maintain their gene levels; it was deeply rooted in their bloodlines. In terms of pure genetic improvement, it was even more powerful than the Blood-Luo Crystals.

"Planet Viska certainly holds a great secret. But for me now, the most important thing is not exploring these secrets, but understanding the basic intelligence of this planet. Especially the uniqueness of 'nightfall'—if there is truly danger in the wilderness, will my main body be in trouble?"

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen looked up again. In the short time that had passed, the sky had dimmed slightly. Although the change wasn't drastic, there were clear signs of a transition toward "night." At this rate, it would enter "night" in a few hours.

Even with the mechanical legion at his side, Jiang Chen felt fully confident in facing danger. However, he wasn't a reckless brute. If the danger wasn't severe, leaving his main body in the wilderness as a "backup" was fine. If the danger was too great, he would immediately have his main body head to the city. On the other hand, he needed to confirm if the city's entry management was strict. If he were caught as an "outsider" while entering, he might have to fight his way out.

"Should I capture a team and use illusion techniques to search their memories?"

Jiang Chen made his decision. For the sake of accuracy and speed, using illusions to directly extract memories was the most efficient and effortless method. Given the strength of these wilderness martial artists, they stood no chance against him.

Jiang Chen approached a team in a relatively remote location. Without revealing himself, he hid in the shadows and channeled his spiritual power, weaving layers of illusions to envelop the team. With his consciousness and proficiency in illusions, few geniuses in the core secret realms could withstand his methods. These native martial artists didn't even have a chance to notice the anomaly before they were trapped in the illusion.

Through the illusion, he infiltrated and controlled their souls. Jiang Chen channeled the "Soul Searching" technique taught by the Illusory Spirit King and began to scan their memories. This technique was a specialty of illusionists, though it carried high risks. Of course, the risk was for the target. Simple, brutal soul-searching methods often caused the target's consciousness to collapse under the pressure of the intruder's spiritual force, leaving them an idiot. The technique taught by the Illusory Spirit King was far more refined, but it still required Jiang Chen to manipulate it carefully to avoid causing permanent damage.

Since his own safety was involved, Jiang Chen didn't care about the well-being of these natives. He finished the search as quickly as possible, retrieved the information he needed, wiped their recent memories, and quietly slipped away.

The dozen or so martial artists, their memories wiped and their spirits severely traumatized, collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, the damage Jiang Chen inflicted wasn't lethal. After more than an hour, the cosmic-level leader began to regain consciousness.

"Hiss... my head hurts! It feels like my soul was torn apart!" The martial artist clutched his head and groaned. Opening his eyes, he saw his companions lying in disarray and his expression changed drastically. Subconsciously, he looked up at the sky. The glow on the horizon had dyed the entire sky purple, and at the far edge, a black curtain was slowly rising, as if to shroud the entire sky.

"How could so much time have passed?!"

The martial artist's face turned pale. He hurriedly shook his companions, using his internal energy to stimulate their consciousness: "Wake up! Night is coming! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

As the others were awakened and realized the sky had darkened, they all looked terrified. One martial artist, ignoring his own condition, shouted anxiously: "What do we do, Boss? It's definitely too late to transport the cargo back now!"

"Leave! We're retreating immediately! Forget the cargo!" the leader gritted his teeth, looking pained.

"Forget it?! What about the 'tribute'?" the others asked anxiously.

"Save your lives first! I still have some savings, and if you all chip in, we can make this 'tribute' payment! As long as we're alive, we can earn it back later!" The leader signaled his companions: "Hurry, leave the cargo here, or we won't make it!"

"Go!"

"Back to the city!"

"Damn it, this is a huge loss!"

Though they looked devastated, none dared to hesitate. They grabbed their weapons, soared into the sky, and sped toward the city at their maximum velocity.