Tyson's remaining team members were defeated by the plant beasts, and they reached the end of the battle.
After Huo Yin dealt with Ji Ming's affairs, he brought a group of brothers over to make up for the fight and ended the battle completely. The Huaguoshu were victorious, and none of them died.
In addition to more than a dozen source cores, the members of Zhan Song also left behind a lot of spoils. Huo Yin first let Feng Chenxiu help the team members treat them and then distributed the spoils reasonably.
In the next two weeks, Huaguoshu carried out a large-scale cleaning of the area to solve the potential threats brought by Zhan Song and Ji Ming.
Before leaving the Creation Planet, Huo Yin decided to stay in District 3 and concentrate on improving his plant abilities.
The members of Huaguoshu also have their trial tasks. After the incident here, they parted ways. Only Tully and the others chose to stay and continue to team up with Huo Yin to level up.
By the lake, a man with a naked upper body clasped his hands empty, and the green lawns flowed between his palms, sprinkled on the ground little by little.
After a while, a green vine broke out of the ground, the branches branched and the leaves stretched, like a fountain. Generally, it grows in a meandering direction to the surroundings, paving the earth with a layer of vibrant greenery.
At this time, a slender woman came over, the vines touched her toes, coiled up gently, wrapped around her waist, and sent her to the man.
The man clasped her slender waist with both hands, raised his head, and kissed her lips, lingering and passionate.
The vines continued to grow, entwining around the two of them, the breeze blew, and the yellow flowers bloomed one after another, and the fragrance wafted away.
"Xiao Chu." Huo Yin pressed her forehead with joy in his eyes, "My plant power has reached level 9."
"Congratulations."
"Haha." Huo Yin's hearty laughter sounded between heaven and earth.
Yuan Chu reached up and picked a small flower. She brought it to her nose and took a gentle sniff. The pink petals spread out on her fingertips and the smell drifted away with the wind.
Huo Yin stared at her quietly, feeling a satisfaction he had never felt before.
He put her down, and the vines that were wrapped around her body also scattered, spreading out on the ground in layers.
"I want to take you back to Blue Star." Huo Yin said in a domineering tone, not allowing any refusal.
"Um."
Huo Yin took her hand and kissed it.
With her by my side, I have everything I need for the rest of my life.
When the two returned to the camp, they heard Feng Chenxiu's cadenced voice from a distance.
"Speaking of which, what are your plans after the boss returns to Blue Star?"
Jiang Pengfei said hesitantly, "I want to go back too."
"Do you have a space source core?" Feng Chenxiu asked unceremoniously.
The space source core is the key to returning to Blue Star, and a space source core can only take one person. Huo Yin has four space source cores in his hand, and he can only take two people at most.
Jiang Pengfei lowered his head in frustration, fiddling with the metal in his hands.
Su Mo, who was grilling meat, looked up and saw the two people walking towards him. "You're back just in time. It's time to eat."
"Mm." Huo Yin pulled Yuan Chu down to sit and helped her set up her bowl and chopsticks.
Tully appeared out of nowhere and sat next to Yuan Chu. The cold aura permeated the surroundings, ghost fog drifted from time to time, and the temperature dropped sharply.
Huo Yin couldn't help but look sideways. Feng Chenxiu, Jiang Pengfei, and Su Mo even retreated three feet away, but Yuan Chu remained calm.
"I say, has the ghost aura on Tully gotten heavier again?" Feng Chenxiu asked fearfully.
"Probably."
Tully was so obsessed with cultivation that she had condensed several ghost servants and had already become a 7th-level ghost master.
Su Mo was very envious. He was also a spirit-type, but his leveling speed was far slower than hers.
"I plan to return to Blue Star in three days." Huo Yin suddenly said.
"Boss, you... broke through level 9?" Feng Chenxiu asked uncertainly.
"Mmh." Huo Yin replied lightly.
Everyone looked at him in unison, their expressions complex. They were both happy for him and felt a sense of loss at the thought of parting.
"I'll be back." Huo Yin made a promise. As long as he has a space source core, he can travel between two planets freely.
He will not abandon his brothers, and one day, he will help each of them obtain a space source core.
Everyone fell silent. They believed Huo Yin, but they were not sure if they would live to see him again.
"Yuan Chu." Tully pulled Yuan Chu's sleeve and looked at her with a faint gaze, "Can you take me with you?"
Tully is a very insecure person. She only has an inexplicable dependence on Yuan Chu. On this planet, she only trusts Yuan Chu.
Yuan Chu touched her head and reassured, "Don't worry."
"Mm." Tully lowered her head, her long hair almost covering her entire face. She was surrounded by a sinister aura.
Huo Yin saw it in his eyes, and he thought about it.
"No." Yuan Chu gave him a meaningful look.
Huo Yin didn't expect her to deny: "Are you sure? I still have two extra space source cores, I can give her one."
"There are eight of us."
Huo Yin: "8?"
Yuan Chu said in detail: "Su Mo, Tully, Feng Chenxiu, Jiang Pengfei, Sa Bu, Ji Ming, plus you and me, so 8."
"Don't count Ji Ming." Huo Yin didn't plan to let him go back alive at all.
"Then seven."
"Why did you even count Sa Bu?" This guy's behavior was not very good.
"His ability is good."
Huo Yin scolded: "What's the use of his good ability? His personality is too bad."
"You can transform him." Yuan Chu said seriously.
Huo Yin: "...Why should I reform him?"
"Sa Bu has no relatives and no official nationality." Yuan Chu paused, then continued,
"Tully is framed and homeless; Feng Chenxiu is unlucky; Su Mo is difficult to fit in groups; Jiang Pengfei has a weak personality, but has a high mechanical talent."
Huo Yin was puzzled and didn't understand why she told him this in the first place. After thinking for a moment, he quickly reacted: "You mean, they are all teammates worthy of training?"
Yuan Chu nodded.
Huo Yin chuckled: "Okay, I see."
Afterward, he suppressed his smile again. From a metal cabinet, he retrieved a box and opened its lid to reveal seventy or eighty Huaguoshu emblems neatly arranged inside.
Each emblem, engraved on the back with a name, represented a fallen member of Huaguoshu.
"Guys, we're going home soon," Huo Yin said in a low voice, his rough fingers brushing over the old and new coats of arms.
He then picked up one of them, the one engraved with the words 'Hua Zang.'
"He was my best friend," Huo Yin said slowly, "And also half of my teacher. All the knowledge I have about Creation Star comes from him. He loved to study all things unknown, even at the risk of his own life. It was dangerous. Four years ago, he said he was going to District 5 to search for a rare beast, and we never heard from him again."
A flicker of nostalgia and sadness crossed Huo Yin's eyes. Although he held onto hope, he also understood the harsh reality of losing contact with a creator star.
A soft hand gently rested on his head. "Don't worry," a voice whispered.
Huo Yin smiled slightly and looked up at her.
"When you comfort others, is 'don't worry' your go-to phrase?" He mentioned it because he noticed she used it with Tully earlier.
"Not always," Yuan Chu replied. "But sometimes, 'don't worry' truly means there's nothing to worry about."
"I understand," Huo Yin said, kissing her face. "Go to bed first. I'll be out for a while."
He tucked her into bed before turning and heading outside.
Stepping into a dimly lit tent, Huo Yin cast a cold stare at the figure locked on the metal frame.
"Do you know what this is?" He asked, placing the box in his hand on the ground.
Ji Ming looked at the familiar coat of arms and quickly turned his eyes away.
"Half of the people here died for you." Huo Yin solemnly said, "And how did you repay them?"
Ji Ming angrily retorted, "I never asked for all of you to do this!"
"Before we came to the Creation star," Huo Yin said slowly, "We swore a pact: defeat the disease, surpass ourselves, and save the Huaguo Country. We paid a heavy price for this shared goal. Now, you tell me you never asked for this? We didn't force you onto this path. So why did you live for ten years? When your brothers fought brutal battles before your eyes, did you feel no distress? No sense of remorse, no guilt? Did you never consider rising to fight alongside them? The life you've been given – a chance to improve faster than anyone else – has yielded nothing but wasted potential!"
"Shut up!" Ji Ming roared. "I'm not a waste, I'm a level 9 botanist, and few people in the world have reached this level."
"Do you realize the limitations of your talent?" Huo Yin said coldly. "Ten years. Countless sacrifices. And all we managed to achieve was a level 9 botanist? Is that all it's worth to you?"
"I'm the youngest level 9 botanist ever! How dare you say I lack talent!"
Huo Yin raised his hand slowly. Greenlight pulsed between his fingers, and then with a flick of his wrist, a verdant carpet of energy materialized at their feet, reaching Ji Ming's toes.
"It took 10 years for you to reach level 9, and it took me only 10 months."
Ji Ming stared at him in disbelief.
A cluster of blue fire sprang up from the palm of his hand, reflecting Huo Yin's face like a ghost.
"Now, you can die." The reason why he didn't kill Ji Ming immediately at that time was to let him understand that he was not as important as he thought, that he was not a privileged existence.
The blazing blue fire engulfed Ji Ming, and the shrill screams sounded in the night. But for a moment, there was no sound, only a pale mummified corpse remained.
Huo Yin opened the tent and went away.
---
Three days later, Huo Yin had everything in order and was ready to depart the Creation Star with Yuan Chu. Su Mo and the others all came to see them off.
There's no need for elaborate goodbyes. As long as they have the locator with the space source core installed, they can travel anywhere, anytime.
Several people stood in the camp, looking at each other silently.
"Let's go," Huo Yin said, pulling Yuan Chu close for a final farewell. With a lingering look at their comrades, he activated the locator.
Space shimmered as the portal ripped open. After a tense silence punctuated only by the hum of energy, everything settled. The camp, along with its occupants, was gone.
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