Chapter 120 The Third Planet's Ordeal

Huff!

A man wrapped up like a bear appeared out of nowhere beside Xu Jingming. His dense hair stubbornly poked out from under his headscarf, revealing only a pair of dark, beady eyes.

"Too cold, it's too cold." The man returned to the starting point, sighing in relief. "The starting point is the warmest."

"Warm?" Xu Jingming looked at him.

Such bone-chilling cold was called warm?

"Brother," the tightly wrapped man looked at Xu Jingming and smiled. "Are you new to the Third Planet?"

"Wu Hook Star Alliance, Wu Ming," Xu Jingming gave his alias.

"Changyu Star Alliance, Lanno." The man chuckled. "I've been trapped on this Third Planet for more than two months. I've frozen to death nineteen times already."

"Frozen to death?" Xu Jingming's heart tightened. "Is it that cold?"

"We explorers are all limited to the fleshly body level of the Blood Rain World." The man shook his head. "So everyone experiences the same level of cold. The feeling of freezing to death is truly unpleasant."

Xu Jingming immediately opened his personal panel and began to check the Third Planet's trial content.

Whoosh.

A virtual map of the Third Planet appeared, marking an area.

"Please reach the Third Planet's 'Land of Extreme Cold.' Success allows you to proceed to the Fourth Planet." The trial content was just a few lines, but looking at the marked location and the name of the destination, Xu Jingming had a bad feeling.

"This planet has no life other than us explorers." The man shook his head. "It's just one word: cold! Cold that freezes us to death! Brother, good luck. I'm going to try for the twentieth time!"

With that, the man buried his head and walked forward step by step.

"Frozen to death nineteen times, and still trying for the twentieth… this person's willpower is extraordinary." Xu Jingming thought to himself. "But he's still stuck on the Third Planet for more than two months."

"Choose as many clothes and armor as possible."

Xu Jingming didn't dare to be careless. He chose equipment with a high cold resistance rating from his personal panel. He wore close-fitting cotton clothes, followed by a layer of soft armor, and finally a layer of sturdy armor.

"I can't choose a helmet, so I'll have to use a belt." Xu Jingming chose a thick cloth belt and used it as a headscarf, wrapping his head and only revealing his eyes.

"Let's go."

He looked somewhat bloated. To deal with unexpected dangers, Xu Jingming also carried a gun bag.

"Fortunately, the body doesn't feel hunger or thirst and can maintain peak physical strength." While walking, Xu Jingming mobilized all his cells, trying to generate heat! With cell-level control, a single thought generated much more heat than strenuous exercise.

"My whole body is warming up."

Xu Jingming felt quite relaxed when he set off.

After all, he was wrapped tightly in armor, soft armor, and clothes. His body was generating enough heat, and his easy walk left afterimages as he advanced at a speed of over a hundred kilometers per hour.

"The distance from the starting point to the Land of Extreme Cold is 936 kilometers, not too far." After experiencing the Zerg planet trial, Xu Jingming felt this distance was relatively short.

But gradually…

"It's getting colder and colder." Xu Jingming felt that the outside cold was constantly rising. The cold began to penetrate the armor, inner armor, and cotton clothes. The heat generated by his body gradually couldn't resist such cold, and the cold air began to seep into his body.

"Tt-tt-trembling!" Xu Jingming's teeth chattered uncontrollably.

"Starspace lifeform cultivation is ultimately about controlling the body! I must control my body!" Xu Jingming's willpower tried its best to control every cell, wanting to stop his body from shivering.

But the cold invaded every cell, vying for dominance with Xu Jingming's willpower.

"How can it be so cold? I've only walked two hundred kilometers." Xu Jingming shivered but still gritted his teeth and moved forward.

At a glance, the entire world was a field of icy white. Ice covered countless rocks, with some rocks exposed, devoid of any life.

Xu Jingming walked alone.

Occasionally, he saw other cosmic citizens also walking in silence. In such terrible cold, no one was willing to speak.

"Hmm?"

Xu Jingming saw a cosmic citizen wrapped tightly standing by the roadside ahead. He was frozen in a walking posture and didn't move. His whole body was covered in a layer of ice.

"He's not dead yet," Xu Jingming watched silently. "But he won't last long."

As Xu Jingming approached the person.

Whoosh!

The cosmic citizen frozen into an ice block completely disappeared.

"Frozen to death, and you return to the starting point." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "Frozen to death after only three hundred kilometers. It's too far to reach the Land of Extreme Cold, which is more than nine hundred kilometers away."

Xu Jingming walked with his head down.

After walking five hundred kilometers, he occasionally saw cosmic citizens frozen in a walking posture. Those cosmic citizens still had consciousness; they hadn't completely frozen to death yet.

By the time he walked six hundred kilometers, Xu Jingming no longer shivered. Instead, parts of his body were numb from the cold.

"Not good, parts of my body are starting to go numb." Xu Jingming's heart tightened.

Shivering was a minor issue; numbness was a major one!

Xu Jingming's control over his body was already very strong, but he felt that parts of his body had lost sensation!

Even without sensation, Xu Jingming could barely maintain his walking. "Is the Third Planet that difficult?" Xu Jingming said silently. "Persist, as long as I reach the end, I'll win." Xu Jingming consoled himself.

However, at seven hundred kilometers, Xu Jingming lost most of the sensation in his body, and his willpower's ability to control his body weakened.

"Am I going to freeze to death too?" Xu Jingming vaguely understood that he wasn't far from being frozen into an ice block.

"This is only the Third Planet! I must persevere." Xu Jingming's fiery belief persisted.

"I can't fail!"

"I have to at least reach the Fifth Planet."

Xu Jingming roared inwardly. His mind thought of his wife and family, of his daughter who was only a few months old, and of the entire Blue Star that would soon face trials.

"Hold on, give me control of every cell, control them!" In desperation, Xu Jingming's increasingly fervent belief tried to mobilize his body.

His willpower was fighting the cold for control of his body.

Control his body! Keep walking! Eight hundred kilometers!

Xu Jingming only had one belief left: "Move forward, reach the Land of Extreme Cold!"

Even numb and without sensation, this body continued to walk step by step. Xu Jingming didn't even have the thought of opening the panel to check his position.

Only one thought remained!

Finally…

A lake appeared in front of Xu Jingming!

The deep blue lake water was still flowing slowly despite the terrifying low temperature.

"Almost there. Swim across the lake, and you can reach the Land of Extreme Cold in the middle of the lake." Xu Jingming stepped directly into the lake. The deep blue lake water was very dense, and most of his body remained above the water.

"Swim, swim across…"

Xu Jingming swam forward, but the lake water seeped through his armor, inner armor, and clothes. An even more terrifying cold invaded his body. Xu Jingming only swam a dozen meters before slowing down. His right hand extended forward extremely slowly. Gradually, a layer of ice began to condense on the surface of his body.

"Swim, swim!"

Xu Jingming's willpower was still issuing commands, but his body didn't move. Xu Jingming could sense the ice layer on his body becoming thicker and thicker. His consciousness was also being suppressed more and more, as if falling into an endless abyss.

Finally, he entered complete darkness.

The figure frozen in the lake also disappeared into thin air.

When he reappeared, Xu Jingming had already returned to the starting point of the Third Planet.

"I was frozen to death?" At this moment, Xu Jingming felt that the starting point was truly warm. The natural heat generated by his body could resist the cold.

His willpower was also fully awake.

Before, under the terrible cold, his consciousness became more and more numb and weaker.

"The feeling of waking up and having my consciousness strengthened is great." Xu Jingming frowned slightly.

He had passed the First and Second Planets in one go when he arrived at the mysterious land.

But when he arrived at the Third Planet! His first attempt failed. He was frozen to death in the Extreme Cold Lake.

"To pass the Third Planet's trial, you must have strong perseverance and extremely strong mental strength." Xu Jingming understood that these were the two key factors to passing the Third Planet.

Perseverance and resilience were characteristics that many powerhouses possessed.

For example, the person who had frozen to death nineteen times and continued to try naturally had strong perseverance and resilience.

Xu Jingming was also very persevering. Even in despair and pain, he had never given up until he froze to death.

But…

Having only perseverance and resilience wasn't enough.

He also needed incredibly powerful mental strength.

"If your mental strength is strong enough, you can still control your body even in the face of terrible cold." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "Clearly, my mental strength is still weak."

He knew that his mental strength wasn't strong.

He had only become a seventh-order Starspace lifeform after a 20x combat strength boost.

Clearly, Xu Jingming, who was only 31 years old and had cultivated the evolutionary method for less than two years, was somewhat lacking in mental strength.

"Only by reaching the Fifth Planet will I be qualified to be selected by a force in the Hunter Cosmic Sector." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "And I can't even pass the Third Planet's trial for the time being. There's an even more difficult Fourth Planet trial later on."

Whoosh.

Xu Jingming temporarily logged off.

******

When faced with difficulties, first find the best way to deal with them.

"On one hand, I have to learn how to dress to improve cold resistance." Xu Jingming searched for information on the virtual world network. "I can directly ask experts in this field to help me create a dressing plan and use clothes and equipment to reduce the power of the cold."

"On the other hand, I have to strengthen my mental strength."

"In addition to the usual training methods, I have to break through to the high realm of Starspace lifeform in reality as soon as possible." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "When the body breaks through from the middle realm to the high realm of Starspace lifeform, it will become much stronger."

"A powerful body and a powerful brain will also strengthen mental strength." Xu Jingming thought to himself.

The body and mental strength were complementary.

Why was the mental strength of eighth-order Starspace lifeforms so outrageously strong? Their outrageously strong bodies were also a key factor.

After logging off, Xu Jingming went to the underwater base and used the gravity chamber and artificial star for cultivation.

He maintained a cultivation frequency of about once every three days to ensure that his body's evolution efficiency was high enough.

"I estimate that my body will reach the high realm of Starspace lifeform in about half a month." After finishing his training, Xu Jingming took his small cosmic spaceship back home.

In the courtyard of his residence, Director Zhou was already waiting.

"Director Zhou." Xu Jingming walked out of the spaceship and looked at Director Zhou in surprise. "You could have just called me if you had something."

"It's a very important matter."

Director Zhou walked over and said in a low voice, "We have received news that a relatively powerful civilization within the Wu Hook Star Alliance—the Black Moon Civilization—has sent a delegation that is expected to arrive on Blue Star on June 2."

"A delegation from the Black Moon Civilization?" Xu Jingming's heart tightened. "June 2nd, isn't that when the civilization's protection period just ends?"

"Yes."

Director Zhou nodded. "They are making a big commotion. They even proactively released the news of their visit to Blue Star Civilization."

Xu Jingming frowned. "Proactively released the news?"

"It's to declare to the surrounding civilizations that Blue Star Civilization is their prey," Director Zhou said in a low voice.

Xu Jingming's heart tightened. "Are they acting so domineering?"

"Our Blue Star Civilization has estimated that the greatest threat we face at the end of the protection period is likely to be the Black Moon Civilization," Director Zhou said. "We once hoped that the Black Moon Civilization would look down on us, but the fact is that the Black Moon Civilization has sent a delegation."

"Fear and dread are useless. We can only do our best to face it." Director Zhou looked at Xu Jingming. "So we need you to do your part."

"At this moment, it is my duty." Xu Jingming nodded. "What do you need me to do?"