Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

"Contractor, we don’t know where this Little Fox came from. Now that its injuries are healed, it’s time for it to leave," Yun Han said, looking at the Little Fox unhappily.

’This Little Fox was incredibly intelligent. It didn’t seem like an Exotic Beast at all—more like a person wearing an Exotic Beast’s skin.’

’Besides, the Little Fox was extremely powerful. Yun Han felt that if it came to a real fight, he might not be its match.’

"WHIMPER..." As if it understood Yun Han, the Little Fox abruptly buried its head in Ning Xuan’s arms, clinging tightly to her clothes, terrified it would be abandoned.

"It’s just a sentient beast. Master saved its life, so it must be grateful to her. That’s why it’s helped us so much," Nine-tailed interjected.

When Yun Han shot it a dark look, Nine-tailed fearfully lowered its head and retreated two steps.

Although Yun Han was a Contracted Slave in name, his personal strength and background spoke for themselves. Combined with Ning Xuan’s clear favoritism, no one dared to treat him like a mere slave.

"Don’t you guys find it a little strange? We’ve come this far without encountering a single desert Exotic Beast," Ning Xuan asked, supporting the Little Fox sprawled on her with one hand.

"Maybe there just aren’t many Exotic Beasts in the desert," Chen Nan guessed.

"Or maybe *it* sensed the Exotic Beasts ahead of time and dealt with them," Yun Han said, glancing at the Little Fox.

The others all turned to look at the Little Fox. Thinking about it, Yun Han seemed to be right. Since the Little Fox joined their group, their rate of encountering Exotic Beasts had decreased significantly.

On the contrary, it was the Little Fox that would drag back an Exotic Beast or two every so often. This was just the first time it had brought back so many at once.

Ning Xuan waved her hand, storing the kills in her Ring Space.

"With no Exotic Beasts to block our path, our progress has sped up considerably. Let’s move. The energy signature ahead is getting stronger. We’ll go take a look," Ning Xuan ordered.

Their exploration of the Red Sand Sea served two purposes. First, to map the terrain of the Red Sand Sea and complete their exclusive S-rank squad mission. Second, to search for a spiral nebula. When they accepted the mission, they had received a tip that a spiral nebula was present in the operational area.

When the joint graduation exam was first announced, the authorities had revealed that the New Star Body, while teeming with a virus, also possessed a viral derivative: the spiral nebula. This substance, a unique, condensed Energy Body, could improve a person’s physical constitution, increase their spiritual power, and refine their genetic lineage. It was an opportunity they couldn’t possibly miss.

The desert storms were always sudden. Even though Zhang Nan could sense the storm’s approach in advance and Ning Xuan’s group made a series of preparations, they were still battered and left in a sorry state by its sheer intensity.

Inside the tent, buried beneath sand and gravel, Lin Mo switched on a flashlight, pulled a tent lamp from his pack, and hung it in the very center.

Despite being protected by Yun Han, Di Youlin, and Lin Mo, Ning Xuan had still gotten a mouthful of sand before she managed to get inside the tent. Everyone’s hair was once again a wind-blasted mess.

They looked at each other’s pathetic states with resignation. When the storm erupted, the ground beneath them had suddenly caved in. If Lin Mo hadn’t used his Guardian Barrier, who knows what would have happened?

About ten minutes later, Zhang Nan summoned his Golden Hamster to burrow out of the sand and assess the situation. It took a full twenty minutes for the Golden Hamster to send a message back to him.

Zhang Nan gave a wry smile. "Miss Ning, we’re buried under a sand dune. Based on the feedback from the Golden Hamster, it’s an extremely tall one."

The tent’s frame let out a cringe-inducing groan. Luckily, their tent’s skeleton was made of an exceptionally tough, high-tech material. Even though it looked ready to collapse, it held firm.

The fine sand dislodged by the Golden Hamster’s exit trickled down onto the tent roof with a soft rustle. Ning Xuan brushed the grit from her hair and looked up to see the top of the tent already bowing inward under the weight.

"If we stay buried here for too long, we’ll run out of oxygen. We have to find a way out." The tent was only about nine feet tall. Yun Han put his backpack down to stand on it, inspecting the supports in the roof.

Di Youlin suddenly burst into a fit of coughing. He had inhaled a mouthful of sand earlier.

Zhang Nan handed Di Youlin a water bottle, telling him to rinse his mouth.

"Zhang Nan, can you find the shortest route out? Or can you calculate our exact depth?" Ning Xuan asked.

"Yip..." The Little Fox pawed at Ning Xuan, then pointed its claw at the ground beneath them.

"Are you saying there’s an exit underground?" Ning Xuan asked it.

The Little Fox nodded eagerly.

Zhang Nan overheard the exchange between Ning Xuan and the Little Fox. Looking thoughtful, he quickly pulled out the map he had been drawing and cross-referenced their position. He discovered that there was a deeply buried, hidden underground river in this area.

"Above us is all fine sand; it’ll collapse the second we try to dig. It’s impossible to get out that way. We’d be better off trying to dig down," Lin Mo suggested.

"Let’s check the ground beneath us first. See how easy it is to dig." Ning Xuan cut a slit in the center of the tent’s floor to inspect the ground.

It was still a sandy composition below, but compared to the fine sand covering them, the grains here were larger and had a higher moisture content.

"Can a storm this intense also cause the ground to collapse? Judging by the moisture in this sand, the distance we fell when the storm first hit must have been considerable," Ning Xuan mused.

Once they determined it would be easier to create space by digging down, Ning Xuan’s group waited for Zhang Nan’s Companion Spirit, the Golden Hamster, to return. When it did, they sent it back out to explore the subterranean environment. Sensing the information relayed by the Golden Hamster, Zhang Nan sketched out a map of the area below.

Guided by the underground map and using tools from their Space Artifacts, the dozen or so of them worked together. In just 13 minutes, they had dug down about ten to thirteen feet. Just as they heard the sound of flowing water from below, the earth became extremely hard.

"What is this rock? The color is beautiful," Chen Nan exclaimed in surprise.

"This is Lan Green Stone. The Federation has it, but in very small reserves. This stone can be refined into Gold Green Sand, which is an extremely strong conductor of light energy. It’s the primary material for the light absorption panels on large Starships, and it’s incredibly expensive," Yun Han said, staring in astonishment at the Lan Green Stones, which were emitting a green glow. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

’I never expected to find such a valuable mineral here.’

"Well, if it’s that valuable, what are we waiting for? Let’s start digging," Ning Xuan said with a delighted grin.

Even if the stones hadn’t been valuable, they would have had to dig through them to reach the hidden underground river anyway.

But now that they knew the stones were valuable, they dug with even greater vigor. Piece after piece of Lan Green Stone was excavated and stored away in their Space Rings.

Ning Xuan and her team worked with gusto. Half an hour flew by, but they didn’t feel the slightest bit of fatigue. All they wanted was to dig up more.