On the virtual screen, all manner of top-tier innate secret methods were displayed in dazzling variety. Many of them were things Shen Mu had never even heard of before.
However, with Shen Mu's authority, the owners of the powerful innate secret methods he could look up were all members of powerful races; there were no special lifeforms among them.
Of course, the innate secret methods of certain peak bloodlines were even more powerful than those of many special lifeforms.
For example, the time suspension of the Starry Sky Behemoth Hui Suo Behemoth, and the spatial strangulation of the Tail Remnant Race's imperial bloodline. In total, there were twenty-six powerful races born with High-Level Law ultimate moves as innate talents.
Shen Mu's targets were precisely those races naturally capable of unleashing High-Level Law ultimate moves. Using the ultimate moves was secondary; the most important thing was improving his own talent for laws.
"First, let's see how many of the biological materials sold in the marketplace I can afford."
Shen Mu opened the Virtual Universe Company's internal marketplace, selected the biological materials category, and searched through the entries one by one according to the information he had just obtained.
"Tail Remnant Race imperial bloodline: 0 Planet-Level biological materials, 0 Star-Level biological materials, 0 Cosmic-Level biological materials, 0 Domain Lord-Level biological materials, 3 World Lord-Level biological materials."
"Mosquito Snail Race ancestral bloodline..."
"..."
"Prison Race Demon Ancestor clan: 0 Planet-Level biological materials, 17 Star-Level biological materials..."
Shen Mu let out a long breath and calmed himself down. Good, good. There was something he could afford.
Among these twenty-six peak bloodlines, fifteen possessed one of the three great spatial ultimate-move talents. Yet peak bloodlines found it extraordinarily difficult to reproduce, and their populations were sparse, so biological materials were naturally scarce as well.
Take the Tail Remnant Race, for example. They had almost no interaction with the Human Race, and Tail Remnant Race members could only occasionally be encountered on extraterritorial battlefields. Those with imperial blood were even rarer, making biological materials impossible to obtain.
"Luckily, the Prison Race has deep ties with humanity."
As a transmigrator, Shen Mu naturally knew that the Prison Race, like the Human Race, was one of the universe's six peak races.
Among the six peak races, humanity bordered the territories of the Demon Race, the Insect Race, and the Machine Race, so their grudges ran deepest. Their relationships with the Crystal Race and the Prison Race were somewhat better, but not by much.
The Prison Race had the most complex makeup among the six peak races. Whether they were rock lifeforms, energy lifeforms, flesh-and-blood lifeforms, or otherwise, as long as they were born in the dangerous region of the universe known as "Prison," they were all members of the Prison Race.
As a result, the Prison Race possessed many bloodlines and was also the only one among the six peak races to possess peak bloodlines of the universe.
The major peak races generally assassinated one another's talented descendants. That was why the Virtual Universe marketplace had materials from Star-Level Prison Race peak bloodlines.
Although Shen Mu's Replication Secret Method had no level restrictions and could analyze and replicate another's innate secret methods as long as he had biological materials,
the issue was that high-level materials were too expensive. Only Star-Level materials were affordable in the short term.
Among the seventeen Star-Level materials from Prison Race peak bloodlines, the prices varied according to their degree of completeness.
The most expensive was an intact corpse. It was roughly humanoid, over a hundred meters tall, with a scorpion tail growing from its back. Its skin was pure black, covered in strange dark-silver secret patterns.
The cheapest was a damaged piece of black skin no larger than a palm, yet it still cost as much as 3.5 Chaos Units.
"A tiny piece of Star-Level skin, not even one ten-thousandth of the body's full skin, is worth 3.5 Chaos Units. That's ridiculous."
Still, the price was understandable. After all, the innate secret method possessed by the Prison Race peak bloodline was one of the three great spatial ultimate moves: "Teleportation."
The mysteries contained within the dark-silver secret patterns on its body were likely far from simple. They would be of tremendous help in comprehending the Space Law.
"Even 3.5 Chaos Units are beyond my reach."
Once again, Shen Mu found himself worried about money.
One Chaos Unit was one trillion Cosmic Coins. His entire fortune amounted to only a little over ten thousand Cosmic Coins.
His consciousness withdrew from the Virtual Universe, and Shen Mu looked at Babata, who floated in midair.
Babata was currently selecting various treasures, calculating how to spend those ten thousand Cosmic Coins for the greatest value.
"Babata, can we discuss something?"
"Lord Babata is busy. If you have something to say, say it quickly." Babata sounded excited and did not even look up.
Shen Mu said, "Babata, I want to use force-fed advancement to break through to the Star-Level sooner, then head to the Qianwu Universe Country's Giant Axe Fighting Arena and take part in life-and-death battles."
Babata froze. "What do you want to enter life-and-death battles for?"
"To make money. I want to buy a Domain Lord-Level Bloodline Evolution Potion. Even with a discount, it costs more than a hundred Chaos Units."
"I figured the only way to make money quickly was to fight life-and-death battles in the fighting arena while you bet on me."
The Giant Axe Fighting Arena was a place where powerful fighters killed one another while others placed bets on them.
To participate in arena fights, one had to be at least Star-Level. The Giant Axe Fighting Arena had never opened Planet-Level matches.
Investments, starting companies, and the like all took time to generate returns. The fighting arena was still the most profitable option, and it could temper him as well.
"No problem. Force-fed advancement is fine, and life-and-death battles are fine too. Even after reaching the Star-Level, there probably won't be many stronger than you. It will be perfect for tempering yourself."
"Once you or Luo Feng break through to the Star-Level and inherit your teacher's account, I'll use your teacher's account to sell some treasures. After that, neither of you will need to worry about money."
In the past, Babata would have worried that Shen Mu's force-fed advancement would leave him unable to progress further in the future. But it was already preparing to buy Shen Mu a Bloodline Evolution Potion, so it no longer mattered.
It would be even better if he could break through to the Star-Level sooner. Even if he remained stuck at the ninth rank of the Planet-Level, everything would be easily resolved once the potion arrived.
"However, you don't need to absorb Azure Wave Essence and slowly break through anymore. The efficiency is too low."
After Babata spoke, a virtual screen appeared before Shen Mu.
One Planet-Level biological evolution chamber and its accompanying nutrient solution: 3,000 Cosmic Coins.
Three thousand Cosmic Coins converted to between ten and fifteen billion Black Dragon Coins.
That price was utterly outrageous. One had to know that fifty billion Black Dragon Coins would definitely be enough to purchase a ninth-rank Star-Level warrior slave.
"I plan to have both you and Luo Feng soak in nutrient solution and evolve directly to the peak of the ninth rank of the Planet-Level."
Two days later, two sets of Planet-Level evolution equipment and a thousand Mu Ya Crystals were delivered to a storage base on Yan Lin Star, 210,000 light-years from Earth.
Earth's coordinates were concealed by a spatial secret method, so purchasing resources required a transfer station where Shen Mu and the others could retrieve them personally.
The nearest storage base to Earth that was currently listed for sale was the one on Yan Lin Star.
That very day, Shen Mu piloted the Black Dragon Mountain Spaceship and left Earth once more.
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