Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 77 The Pillar of Light Illuminating Space

A small asteroid less than ten kilometers in diameter floating in space.

A robot is operating a huge cannon barrel that is over fifty meters long.

The power supply lines around the cannon barrel glowed faintly, revealing futuristic patterns.

The muzzle, which was ten meters in diameter, gleamed with an incredibly dazzling light.

However, this happens to be a crater on the asteroid's surface, completely obscuring the muzzle. The light can only be seen from a specific angle.

Meanwhile, in a distant silver-gray spaceship, a group of people were completely unaware of this and were still chatting amongst themselves.

"Captain, do you think we'll find any valuable cargo this time?"

"Exactly. Being stuck in this spaceship for over two years, even if we can log into the virtual universe, it's still incredibly boring. If we don't gain much after all this time, we'll be at a huge loss."

"I heard that this 'Lost Star Sector' used to be the territory of a big shot, and maybe some treasure was left behind. When that happens, the captain will take the lion's share, and we'll get our share of the scraps. We can live a carefree life for the rest of our lives!"

Each adventurer dreamed of their future gains.

For adventurers, exploring native planets is extremely risky.

Some indigenous planets may be technologically backward, but they might also have powerful and capable inhabitants.

Throughout history, there have been numerous instances where adventuring teams discovered native planets only to be wiped out by the powerful native inhabitants.

But countless adventurers still flock to it, because discovering an indigenous planet can bring enormous profits.

If there are some valuable treasures on the planet, then one will never have to worry about anything for the rest of their life.

"Alright, we're not far from our target. Be on high alert!" The handsome captain suddenly interrupted their casual conversation, speaking seriously, "Gentlemen, it's almost time for us to reap the rewards of our victory. However, the closer we get to this point, the more vigilant we must be! After all, this is a planet once ruled by an invincible powerhouse, and we know almost nothing about it!"

"Don't worry, boss!"

"Understood, Captain!"

"Captain, don't worry, we won't be careless."

The crew members all responded in unison.

A skinny crew member chimed in, "How could we possibly capsize in a ditch? We are..."

But he hadn't finished speaking.

Suddenly, a blinding beam of light flew from afar, heading straight for the spaceship traveling at near the speed of light.

The outer armor of the spaceship provided no protection and was instantly melted through.

The next moment, the beam of light swept through the interior of the spaceship, and before the crew members could even react, they were reduced to nothingness under the extreme heat.

The dazzling white beam of light swept across the spaceship and continued straight ahead, shooting into the distant starry sky before disappearing from sight.

A spaceship pierced through from front to back has lost all its power, but due to inertia, it continues to travel along its previous route, albeit at a significantly reduced speed.

Whoosh~!

A figure flew out of the spaceship; it was none other than the handsome captain.

The captain's body was grazed by the beam of light; his right chest, shoulder, and even his entire arm had disappeared, leaving behind black marks from the high temperature burning the wounds.

Even if he were a star-level powerhouse, such an injury would take away most of his life.

If not treated in time, it can even lead to death.

But now, the captain, who came from the Noranshan family, disregarded his injuries and screamed in horror and disbelief, "Laser cannon? At least a C-class laser cannon?! How could there be such a thing here?!"

The laser cannon, capable of destroying his C5-class spaceship in one shot, must be of a high level.

Even if this spaceship is just a regular flagship model without any special defensive enhancements, it would still require a laser cannon of grade C or higher to penetrate it.

The laser cannon must be at least C5 level to instantly penetrate the entire spaceship, leaving the people inside no time to react!

Weapons of this caliber would be extremely expensive even in space, so how could they possibly appear near a mere native planet?!

The captain knew he had almost no chance of surviving.

With his spaceship destroyed and himself severely injured, how could he possibly fly back to his family in space? Absolutely not.

The captain instinctively wanted to inform his family of what was happening, but when he tried to raise his right hand, he discovered that his personal computer, along with the right half of his body, had been destroyed by that laser cannon.

In fact, if it weren't for the instinct honed through long-term life-or-death adventures that allowed the captain to dodge before the laser cannon attack, he wouldn't even have had a chance to be seriously injured; he would have died instantly from the laser cannon's attack.

His quick dodge didn't get him out of the laser cannon's range, but at least it saved his life.

However, this may not necessarily be good news.

Just as the captain was contemplating whether to surrender or find a way to escape, a spaceship flew in from afar and stopped in the void around him.

Twelve mechs, each over a hundred meters tall, emerged from the ship's cabin, raised their left arms, and revealed their fully charged laser cannons to the captain.

The B6-class laser cannon poses no threat whatsoever to the C-class spaceship.

However, killing a stellar-level martial artist, especially one who is severely injured, is more than enough.

The captain's eyes widened in terror, and he cried out, "Don't kill me! I surrender!"

The twelve 'Goliaths' made no response and, under Jarvis's control, activated their laser cannons.

The twelve beams of light instantly annihilated the captain.

Subsequently, twelve mechs swiftly flew towards the downed spaceship, carefully inspected it, and after confirming that no survivors were left, destroyed the entire spaceship.

The Nolan Mountain family adventure team was completely wiped out!

The third line of defense was completely useless.

-

On Earth, Jiang Chen received a message from Jarvis and informed Luo Feng of this 'good news'.

"They didn't spread the news, did they?"

Luo Feng was somewhat uneasy.

"Probably not, but I can't be 100% sure." Jiang Chen shook his head.

After the 'Goliath Giant' inspected the spaceship, it was found that all other life on board had perished in the first round of laser cannon attacks, and the spaceship's intelligence was also destroyed in that instant, making it impossible for any messages to be transmitted.

However, Jarvis couldn't accurately determine whether the communication devices on the severely injured expert were still intact.

Jiang Chen glanced at Luo Feng and said, "We need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Assuming he has already spread the news, perhaps in a few years, even more powerful space adventurers will come to Earth. Until then, we must have sufficient strength to ensure Earth's safety."

-

Although the incident was resolved smoothly, neither Jiang Chen nor Luo Feng could completely put their minds at ease.

Luo Feng even put aside his cultivation and went to the South American base to have a face-to-face talk with Jiang Chen.

“I asked Babata, and the spatial secrets left by our teacher are definitely not something that ordinary people can crack. These people must have found a natural wormhole leading to the vicinity of the solar system.”

Luo Feng's first words surprised Jiang Chen slightly.

In the original novel, Luo Feng captured these people alive, so it's not surprising that he knew about the 'natural wormhole'.

But now, this adventure team was wiped out before they could even get close to Earth. Just in case, Jiang Chen even blew up their spaceship, leaving no clues at all.

It is truly remarkable that they could even guess how these people arrived on Earth in this situation.

"This natural wormhole shouldn't be too far from the solar system. I'll have Jarvis search for it. But the universe is so vast, we might not find it." Jiang Chen didn't hold out much hope for it.

Without large-scale detection equipment, finding something in the vast starry sky is extremely difficult.

However, the price of detection equipment with a range measured in light-years is definitely beyond what Jiang Chen and Luo Feng can afford.

"The most crucial thing is still Earth. What if another wave of adventurers comes to Earth in the future, and they are powerful beings that we cannot defeat?" Luo Feng asked anxiously.

“Right now, we have no choice but to increase our strength.” Jiang Chen shook his head and said meaningfully, “As long as your Earthling clone reaches the stellar level, not to mention once and for all, at least in the short term, Earth will be safe.”

"Stellar-level? Why does it have to be an avatar of an Earthling?" Luo Feng was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized, "You mean the legacy left by our teacher can solve Earth's crisis?"

According to Babata, once you reach the stellar level, you can obtain the first legacy left by Huyanbo.

However, it's definitely impossible to use the Golden Horned Beast itself to retrieve it; it would require an Earthling clone.

"If there is any solution, this is the only one. If your teacher leaves you enough wealth, whether it's buying powerful slaves, high-powered weapons, or making you the ruler of Earth, it can guarantee that Earth will not be invaded. Even if there is an enemy that we cannot resist, you can buy another life-bearing planet and transfer the Earthlings there to live."

Jiang Chen reminded him, "Your focus right now must be on cultivation. No matter what, your own strength is the most important thing."

Luo Feng nodded thoughtfully and said, "I'll go back and discuss it with Babata."

After seeing Luo Feng off, Jiang Chen's consciousness returned to the third floor of the system library, where he picked up a book titled "The Element of Wind - The Foundation of Wind Laws" and continued reading.

During this time, Jiang Chen had already solidified most of the basics of 'Arcane Technology', reaching the level required to read 'Law-type Books'.

The wind element law was also the first thing Jiang Chen began to study.

There wasn't any particular reason; it was simply because Jiang Chen's own Force attribute leaned towards the 'wind' attribute.

Generally speaking, it's easier to study the corresponding laws if one's own Force attribute leans towards a particular element.

Of course, Jiang Chen had no way of knowing whether the 'Elemental Laws' in the system library were the same as the laws of the Swallowed Star world.

Jiang Chen himself is more inclined to believe that there should be some connection between the two, but they are not exactly the same.

The reason is simple: there are only six 'Elemental Laws' in the third-level system library.

Earth, fire, water, wind, light, darkness.

In most magical worlds, people believe that there are six 'basic elements' that constitute the world.

The Ten Laws of the Swallowed Star world are different from the eight lower laws of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light, plus the two higher laws of time and space.

However, there are also places where the two correspond to each other.

Leaving aside earth, fire, water, and wind, the combination of light and darkness intuitively made Jiang Chen feel that these two must have some connection with the laws of light.

However, Jiang Chen knew he was not yet capable of exploring the specific differences, nor was he bothered to delve into them.

First, study the 'Wind Element Laws' and make some progress. Then compare them with the 'Wind System Laws' of the Swallowed Star world to see if there are any differences. Many doubts will naturally be answered.

-

“In ancient times, beings that were born with the world and possessed the most essential power of this world were called ‘gods’.”

"Gods are naturally powerful and have extraordinary wisdom. They naturally understand all the laws governing the world, and no secret can escape their eyes."

"But as the world's structure gradually became more complete, the shortcut to studying the world's underlying rules and laws disappeared. The life forms that came into existence later, some were powerful and some were weak, but without exception, none of them could master the most powerful force in this world: the laws."

“When life discovers the traces of the gods, marvels at their power, it worships them and prays.”

"Most gods don't care about this, but some gods find it interesting and respond to the prayers of these beings."

"Among them, there was a god who simplified the complex laws that ordinary life could not understand, and created the concept of 'magic'."

“Through ‘magic,’ people don’t need to understand the essence of the laws; they only need to learn how to utilize the power of the elements.”

"But among the weak, there are also wise ones. They use magic to utilize the elements, then analyze the elements, and finally control the elements."

"Even by controlling the rules governing the elements, one can reach or even surpass the level of a 'god'!"

"These wise men are called: Arcanists."

-

The opening section doesn't explain the laws of elements themselves, but rather an unrelated 'legend'.

Perhaps it's a parallel world, or perhaps it's a history that happened in many worlds.

This short passage made Jiang Chen feel as if he were in a great era, where a group of weak beings gained extraordinary power under the 'blessing' of the gods, gradually tracing back to the source, mastering the essence of the extraordinary, and even ultimately surpassing the gods.

The content that followed was not the 'essence of the law' that Jiang Chen had imagined, but rather a series of 'magic' casting methods that progressed from simple to complex.

That is, the method of borrowing elemental power through special rituals, incantations, and so on, which is mentioned in the opening passage, and which is used by the gods when they have no knowledge of the laws.

However, perhaps it's due to the special nature of the system library, the support of its expertise, or even a problem with the book itself.

As Jiang Chen read these incantations and rituals, he gradually gained a clear understanding of the existence of 'wind'.

It's not the wind in nature, but one of the fundamental elements that constitute the world, the wind element, and the laws it represents.

While Jiang Chen was immersed in the library, in the real world...

Suddenly, boom!

A series of cyan lights erupted from Jiang Chen's body, quickly spreading out and enveloping the entire base.