Chapter 1263: The Terrifying King of Alien Beasts

Given Guitian Tianzun's clear stance, further refusal from Lu Yang would have seemed affected.

"Then I thank Ancestral Master."

Lu Yang bowed, dripped his blood for recognition, and became the owner of the Wupeng boat.

"So, I'll join you all in two days to go outside?" Lu Yang felt somewhat awkward. He could leave immediately, but it would be impolite to accept a gift and then turn around and depart.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye for cultivators of their caliber.

Guitian Tianzun smiled and waved his hand. "My gift shouldn't bind you. You can leave now; don't worry about us."

Lu Yang bowed again to Ancestral Master Guitian and the three seniors, then boarded the boat and flew towards the outside world.

Once the Wupeng boat reached the speed of light, everything around it seemed to stand still. Then, with a spatial leap, Lu Yang arrived at the starting point of his return journey in an instant. This route would normally take him more than ten days to fly, but with the Wupeng boat, it was done in the blink of an eye.

"This is amazing," Lu Yang couldn't help but exclaim. Most importantly, the Wupeng boat could be mass-produced. This meant that all cultivators exploring the outside world wouldn't have to worry about travel time, significantly increasing the efficiency of exploration.

While the Wupeng boat was in flight, Lu Yang wasn't idle. He took out a canvas and, as he passed each star system, he drew its appearance, recording his travel route. This was a common practice for all cultivators exploring the outside world, as the universe was vast and unknown, making it easy to get lost. The White Horse Dynasty's "Star Gazing Map," though crude and flawed, remained popular for this very reason.

When tired from traveling, Lu Yang would occasionally stop the Wupeng boat near a star. He would transform into a giant and playfully flick the stars, which tumbled in his hands like marbles, finding it quite amusing.

"Won't you try, Immortal Fairy?" Lu Yang didn't forget the Immortal Fairy when he found something fun.

The Immortal Fairy snorted in disdain and waved her hand in refusal. "No, it's childish." These were all things she had grown tired of playing with in ancient times.

Although the Immortal Fairy deemed it childish, Lu Yang found it novel and continued to enjoy it. After playing with the stars, Lu Yang carefully placed them back into their original orbits and continued his journey.

More than a month passed in a flash. Lu Yang finished his cultivation for the day, yawning from boredom. "After all this time, I haven't encountered a single life-bearing planet. Could it be that there are none in this direction?"

"Just keep looking," the Immortal Fairy replied, not feeling bored at all. How could she be bored with Little Yangzi around?

Suddenly, Lu Yang's eyes lit up. He pointed to a star not far away, sensing signs of life with his divine consciousness. "That star seems to have life?"

Lu Yang quickly slowed the Wupeng boat to avoid flying past it.

"It truly is a life-bearing planet."

This life-bearing planet seemed to have severe polarization: one side was lush and vibrant, full of life, while the other was barren and sparse with greenery. Lu Yang steered the Wupeng boat towards the vibrant side and found a random spot to land.

Upon landing, Lu Yang found the environment somewhat similar to the Demon Realm, with towering trees that blocked out the sky, making it dense, humid, and stuffy. It was like a tropical rainforest.

"There seem to be signs of human activity here?"

Lu Yang had barely walked two steps when he discovered human buildings, long abandoned and covered in vines.

"What exquisite architecture," the Immortal Fairy remarked. The building was neither made of wood nor stone, and its structure was quite complex—something she had never seen before.

"It is indeed exquisite, similar to architecture from before I transmigrated," Lu Yang murmured, touching the abandoned building with a hint of nostalgia. The architectural style resembled that of Blue Star, appearing very "modern."

"Huh? This couldn't be your original planet, could it?"

"Impossible."

"Why?"

Lu Yang pointed to a sign at the building's entrance. "Because I've never seen these characters before."

"It seems this planet's technology was quite advanced. I wonder why it's abandoned."

Just as Lu Yang was about to use his divine consciousness to survey the planet, he suddenly heard a roar.

Roar—

A striped tiger, several yards tall, slowly approached. Its tail, like a long whip, merely brushed against a towering tree, snapping it in half with terrifying force. Lu Yang was startled. "Are the tigers here really that big?"

Lu Yang attempted to communicate with the tiger, but despite its massive size, it hadn't yet developed sentience; it was simply a fierce beast. The tiger roared again and pounced at Lu Yang.

Lu Yang sighed slightly. Why was he being attacked immediately upon arriving on this planet? It was so unfriendly. He flicked his finger, and a sword qi pierced the tiger's skull, ending its life.

"Speaking of which, this planet has a lot of beasts. You can just casually run into a tiger this big."

Fully armed, the Salvation Squad moved stealthily through the jungle.

"How far are we from the Beast King's location?" they whispered, afraid of alerting their target.

"According to the intelligence we gathered, we are about 500 meters from the King of Exotic Beasts."

The captain nodded, saying nothing more. Every one of them had determined eyes, ready to die.

Thirty years had passed since the Great Cataclysm. During these thirty years, exotic beasts had occupied half of the planet's land, and human territory was steadily shrinking. If this continued, humanity would surely perish! For this reason, the human high command had gathered seven of the ten top masters to form the Salvation Squad, tasked with eliminating the most formidable King of Exotic Beasts.

The captain, Zhan Po, was ranked first among the ten top masters in this chaotic era. He spoke very little, but his every word and action influenced the team, making him their undisputed leader. Zhan Po's child had died at the hands of an exotic beast, and he had sworn to kill all of them.

The vice-captain, Shi Lingyun, was the youngest and most talented among the ten top masters of this chaotic era. Although his appointment as vice-captain was controversial, no one questioned his position after he defeated another top master. Shi Lingyun had been at the bottom of his class in school, but by chance, he came into contact with a strengthening agent. While this agent normally had side effects, Shi Lingyun possessed a unique constitution that made him immune to them, earning him significant attention from the human high command. However, his fiancée was the beautiful daughter of a human high-ranking official, and before Shi Lingyun became a top master, many people sought to trouble him because of this.

One team member, Yuan Xing, often lightened the mood with his jovial demeanor. But one quiet night, Shi Lingyun saw Yuan Xing looking at a photograph towards the sky with a sad expression, clearly harboring an untold past.

Another team member was Su Tianxing, whose father was one of the former top masters. To prove himself, he constantly worked hard and finally became a new top master. He often had disputes with Shi Lingyun, but after they jointly resisted a beast tide, they became inseparable friends.

The King of Exotic Beasts was exceptionally mysterious; its species was unknown, only that this exotic beast was immensely powerful and could command all other exotic beasts. After countless heavy sacrifices, the human high command had only managed to pinpoint the King of Exotic Beasts' location.

"Lingyun, if this operation fails, we will cover your escape," Captain Zhan Po said.

"Captain!" Shi Lingyun was somewhat agitated.

Zhan Po pressed Shi Lingyun's shoulder, his voice firm. "Listen to me. I know you're not afraid of death, but no one knows how strong the King of Exotic Beasts truly is. If the operation fails, you are humanity's last hope. Whatever happens to the rest of us, nothing must happen to you!"

"Alright, no more talk. We've arrived."

The seven members' life detectors showed life readings ahead. They exchanged glances and continued forward. The King of Exotic Beasts was just ahead!

They pushed aside a thick leaf and saw the corpse of a striped tiger, as large as a small mountain. And atop that small mountain sat a strangely dressed young man.

Their expressions turned grave. They had never felt such pressure before, and an indescribable terror spread among them. The King of Exotic Beasts was actually humanoid!