Li Ze transferred all the Demon Race corpses into his Inner World to await refinement once his Golden Crow Physique finished advancing.
Then Ze took out the World Ring Divine Pupil Venerable had given him in the Space-time Fortress.
He sat cross-legged in the Cultivation Room and gently stroked the World Ring. It did not take him long to refine it.
He sent his psychic power into the World Ring. The world inside was small, only ten thousand kilometers across, and held two silver-white boxes.
The smaller box was about a meter long, half a meter wide, and 0.4 meters high.
The other was somewhat larger: about two meters long, 1.3 meters wide, and 0.7 meters high.
With a thought, Li Ze drew the smaller box into his hand.
He took a deep breath and opened it.
Click! Inside the silver-white box lay a pale red sprig of grass, carefully arranged. It stood just over fifty centimeters tall. Its leaves were pale red, with liquid flowing slowly through them.
"What plant is this?" Confusion flashed in Li Ze's eyes.
He had never encountered it before, nor had it appeared in his inherited knowledge.
"Walli, search for this plant." Since he did not recognize it, he turned to his Intelligent Optical Computer.
"Right away, Master!"
A beam shot from the Intelligent Optical Computer onto the plant before him.
"Master, this is Blazing Grass. It is currently in its juvenile stage!"
A moment later, Walli's voice sounded in his mind.
"Blazing Grass?"
"Yes, Master. I'll send you the information now."
"Blazing Grass, also called Three Thousand Blazing Grass, is an unusual form of Plant Life born in the centers of certain stars. As it grows, it absorbs the stars' fire energy and gradually develops three thousand vines. It generally takes all the energy of a star to reach its complete form, at which point it attains Universe level. The star dies after its energy is exhausted, while the Blazing Grass wanders the cosmos in search of another star to take root in and devour."
Plant Life came in many varieties.
Some specialized in defense, some in attack, and some in both. Others had entirely different functions. There were so many kinds of Plant Life that their abilities were countless. Some could even give birth to other living beings. Others, like trees, had to remain rooted in soil and required care even when transplanted. They could not roam freely like the Moyun Vine.
In short, they varied enormously in form and function.
"Once it absorbs enough fire energy to reach the World Lord ninth stage, 2,999 of its vines wither. All its energy gathers in the remaining vine as it transforms toward the Immortal stage."
"As a form of Plant Life, its body is enormous, so its chance of becoming Immortal is less than one in a million. Naturally growing Blazing Grass also extinguishes one star after another. Other races destroy it when they find it, making Immortal Level specimens rarer still."
"But once Blazing Grass reaches Immortal Level, it undergoes a remarkable change. All three thousand vines regenerate in a short time. Its vast body gives it powerful offensive abilities, enough to reach Peak Marquis combat strength."
"Immortal Level Blazing Grass is prized less for combat than by master equipment refiners. After advancing, it produces a material called Blazing Powder. Adding it during refinement raises the flame's temperature and makes materials more suitable for engraving Mystic Patterns."
"How many resources would it take to cultivate this Blazing Grass?" Li Ze asked after reading the introduction.
"Unlike other forms of Plant Life, Blazing Grass has no cultivation paths of varying grades, so the required resources are fixed. If it is not allowed to absorb a star's energy, it needs large quantities of fire-attribute resources. Reaching Universe level costs 61 million Cosmic Coins; Domain Lord level, 5.97 Hun Yuan units; World Lord level, 11,900 Hun Yuan units; and Immortal Level, 17 million Hun Yuan units."
The cost left Li Ze feeling helpless.
His entire fortune amounted to only a little over fifteen thousand Hun Yuan units. At most, he could raise it to World Lord level, but he still needed to buy other cultivation resources. Raising it only to Domain Lord level would be of little use to him.
"Can this Plant Life remain in its juvenile stage indefinitely?"
"Yes. Placing some Cosmic Crystals around it at regular intervals will keep it alive," Walli replied.
"Then it can wait. I can't afford to cultivate Plant Life right now." Li Ze closed the box and put it back in the World Ring.
With a thought, he drew out the slightly larger box.
I hope what's in this box is useful to me right now. Li Ze took a deep breath and opened the silver-white box.
Click! The box opened.
Hiss!
The instant it opened, a flame sprang into being above it.
The flame's intense heat warped the air over the box.
Inside, a mass of liquid hovered. It was the source of the energy feeding the flame.
"Walli, can you find out what this liquid is?" Divine Pupil Venerable had given Li Ze two rewards, and he could not identify either of them.
A beam from the Intelligent Optical Computer struck the liquid.
This time, Walli remained silent for a long while.
"Master, my database has no information on this liquid. I connected to the army's knowledge base, but looking it up will cost 600 Cosmic Coins."
"Go ahead and look it up." If even Walli could not identify it from his stored information, Li Ze wanted to know what it was.
"I found it, Master!" Walli said a moment later.
"What you're looking at isn't a liquid. It's a suit of armor!"
"What? Armor?" Li Ze was startled.
"Yes, armor! Touch that 'liquid' with your Original Force, and you'll feel what it is."
At Walli's answer, Li Ze reached into the box. Heat spread through his fingers as he touched the "liquid" and channeled Original Force into it.
Whoosh!
The moment his Original Force entered it, the heat-radiating "liquid" flowed through the skin of his fingers and into his body.
Gradually, all of it entered him. It followed his Original Force across his body, spreading to every patch of skin. The red liquid slowly fused with him.
Boom!
Once it had fused with all his skin, streams of energy emerged on the surface. Their color deepened as they took solid form.
They became a suit of armor fitted to Li Ze's body. It was almost weightless, clinging to his skin.
Whoosh!
Li Ze darted around the Cultivation Room and found that the inner armor did not hinder him at all.
"Master, this is called Slo Armor. It made Slo, a master armorsmith from long ago, famous throughout the cosmos!"
"Its greatest strength is its defense. Armor of this grade can minimize the damage even from a Sector Lord's surprise attack. Its protection rivals armor made from F-grade Metal, and wearing Slo Armor won't prevent you from wearing another suit over it."
"Master Slo died in an accident. No one among the cosmos's many races has managed to make this armor since, so it is extremely valuable. The last suit to appear at an auction in the Shenting Universe Nation sold for 12,000 Hun Yuan units!"
Only then did Li Ze grasp how precious the armor was. Twelve thousand Hun Yuan units was the entire fortune of some poorer Immortals.
"Not bad. Divine Pupil Venerable's rewards really are something!"
He knew that a Venerable possessed immense wealth. To Divine Pupil Venerable, these two rewards were worth next to nothing.
But what suited him was what mattered. Even setting aside the juvenile Blazing Grass, the Slo Armor alone was worth nearly his entire fortune.
In fact, Divine Pupil Venerable had put some thought into rewarding Li Ze. As a Venerable, he had nothing suitable for someone at Universe level; even the least of his possessions required an Immortal to use.
Simply handing over money would have been beneath him. After searching through his collection, he had finally found these two items among the unprocessed spoils from an Immortal he had killed.
Li Ze put the metal box on the floor into his Spatial Ring, sat down cross-legged, and familiarized himself with his new armor.
Time passed as he cultivated.
Three months went by in the blink of an eye. Li Ze found it strange that his Teacher, King Yuchi, had said he would draw up a cultivation plan for him but had not contacted him since.
Li Ze could not bring himself to ask, so he spent those three months continuing to study the Origin Law.
During that time, Lairui'er gathered everyone to distribute the proceeds from selling their spoils. Li Ze received another two hundred-odd Hun Yuan units.
Also worth mentioning was that, apart from Li Ze, every member of the Tongfeng Team had reached the top thirty-one in the individual rankings thanks to his help earning points during the final stage of the Sacred Mountain Battle. Each of them had successfully become the disciple of a King-level Immortal.
For the past three months, they had all been absorbed in cultivating under their King-level teachers' guidance.
Ding!
"Master, you have an email from the Fourth Outer Domain Battlefield Cosmic Army Command Center!" Walli announced.
"Open it."
"Right away!"
"Soldier Li Ze,
Congratulations on earning a Sacred Mountain Baptism Quota for Yulan Continent's Universe level participants. The Sacred Mountain will open soon. In three days, your Legion Commander will lead you there.
You must arrive on time!
Fourth Outer Domain Battlefield Cosmic Army Command Center"
To be continued.
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