Under the cover of night, flames raged sky-high within the royal city.
Fiona Li and the six Martial Saints rampaged through the city, killing and burning at will, and only left after more than two hours of mayhem.
After a while, everyone regrouped outside the city.
Despite two hours of chaos, Fiona and the others showed not a trace of exhaustion—instead, their faces were full of excitement.
"Commander, should we keep going and sack the First Prince Ironhorn's city next?" Marcus Meng asked eagerly.
Ian Song thought for a moment and said, "It’s been nearly ten hours since we wiped out the Ninth Prince’s city. Darius Ironhorn has surely gotten word and will send people to investigate soon. The First Prince will be on guard too, so we can’t hit his city now."
"Ah!"
When they heard they’d have to let the First Prince’s city go, everyone couldn’t help showing disappointment—after all, that was a fortune just within reach.
Ian glanced at the six and continued, "Of the three princes, we’re only leaving the First Prince’s city untouched. If you were the other two, what would you think?"
None of the six were stupid. After Ian put it that way, they got his point—he was deliberately sowing discord between the three princes. Still, they couldn’t help feeling a bit regretful.
The Sixth-Grade Profound Pills Ian had gifted them earlier had left a deep impression.
Suddenly, Ian had an idea and said, "How do you plan to handle your resources? If you want to sell, why not sell them to me? I can pay with pills, silver, or spirit crystals!"
Spirit crystals!
When the six heard Ian would use spirit crystals to buy resources, they were immediately intrigued.
"What grade of spirit crystal do you plan to use, Commander?" Hannah Han asked, her eyes gleaming shrewdly.
"Top-grade spirit crystals!" Ian replied with a smile.
At once, the six began to breathe faster.
For experts like them, getting some upper-grade spirit crystals wasn't hard, but top-grade ones were nearly impossible.
And the price difference between the two was astronomical.
An upper-grade spirit crystal goes for a million silver, but is usually priceless.
Top-grade spirit crystals once appeared at a major auction, selling for five hundred million silver each.
The price is so high because the spiritual energy inside is incredibly pure—a single top-grade spirit crystal can boost an ordinary Martial Saint’s cultivation by at least ten years.
"Commander, are you really going to use top-grade spirit crystals to buy our resources?" Jason Song stared at Ian, afraid he was joking.
"Of course."
Ian nodded.
"Awesome!" Jason Song couldn’t help but cheer, then looked at Ian expectantly. "Commander, my share is worth about 22 billion—let’s call it 20 billion. Can you pay all of it in top-grade spirit crystals?"
"No need for that," Ian waved. "Pay 20 billion in top-grade spirit crystals, and settle the remaining 2 billion in silver."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ian took out forty top-grade spirit crystals and 2 billion in silver notes, handing them to Jason.
Oh my god, these are top-grade spirit crystals!
Jason took the crystals and stared at them in fascination, feeling the surging spiritual energy inside and itching to begin cultivating.
If he used all forty, it would be enough to push his cultivation to the peak of Martial Saint.
The other five, seeing Jason’s crystals, were transfixed.
"Commander, can we trade the same way?"
"Of course!"
Ian nodded, then bought out the other five’s resources the same way. The Alliance Chamber of Commerce’s expansion had brought Ian not only a mountain of Spirit Medicines, but also a huge pile of silver notes.
After all, a second-grade Breakthrough Pill costs five hundred thousand silver, and third-grade ones go for even more—any single pill can fetch millions. While most pills were traded for Spirit Medicines, some were bought with silver.
Even so, Ian had nearly a hundred billion in silver notes on hand.
The reason Ian used top-grade spirit crystals to buy the six’s resources was to win them over.
With top-grade spirit crystals in hand, the six thanked Ian and rushed off to test their cultivation effects.
After they finished, Lynn Ning—dressed as a boy—came over.
"Brother Huang, you weren’t hurt on this mission, were you?" Lynn Ning asked with concern.
Lynn Ning looked especially charming dressed as a boy. Ian gave her a gentle smile. "Who do you think your Brother Huang is? Of course I’m fine."
"Brother Huang is always the strongest," Lynn Ning said, nodding in agreement.
"In your heart, right?" Ian sighed softly. After Lynn Ning served him a late-night meal, they each returned to their rooms.
With a thought, Ian entered the Divine Temple.
He gazed at the mysterious iron cabinet floating in the starry sky, wondering how to open it.
Suddenly, Ian had an idea. "Temple Spirit, do you know how to open this cabinet?"
A figure appeared—the Temple Spirit. Smiling, it waved a hand, and one side of the cabinet opened.
Thank you!
Ian looked inside: the cabinet had three layers. On the top layer was a book. Ian waved, and the book flew into his hand.
A quick glance told him what it was—a high-level cultivation manual of the Strongarm Bull Devils.
If the Third Prince hid it here, it must be precious. But Ian lacked nothing—except cultivation manuals.
On the second layer were hundreds of spirit crystals.
Ninety percent were upper-grade, with just over twenty top-grade spirit crystals.
Even so, Ian wasn’t excited—he had thousands of top-grade spirit crystals himself.
Next, his gaze fell to the lowest layer.
There lay a broken sword.
The moment Ian’s eyes touched the sword, his Azure Lotus Sword in his sea of consciousness trembled violently. He could feel its longing and excitement; if he hadn’t suppressed it, the Azure Lotus Sword would have flown out.
Thank you!
Ian looked inside: the cabinet had three layers. On the top layer was a book. Ian waved, and the book flew into his hand.
A quick glance told him what it was—a high-level cultivation manual of the Strongarm Bull Devils.
If the Third Prince hid it here, it must be precious. But Ian lacked nothing—except cultivation manuals.
On the second layer were hundreds of spirit crystals.
Ninety percent were upper-grade, with just over twenty top-grade spirit crystals.
Even so, Ian wasn’t excited—he had thousands of top-grade spirit crystals himself.
Next, his gaze fell to the lowest layer.
There lay a broken sword.
The moment Ian’s eyes touched the sword, his Azure Lotus Sword in his sea of consciousness trembled violently. He could feel its longing and excitement; if he hadn’t suppressed it, the Azure Lotus Sword would have flown out.