Jiang Ming quickly figured out the reason.
"I'll take that Dragon Horn race member at the Stellar level ninth stage."
After looking around, Jiang Ming found a suitable target. He had two original intentions in buying slaves. One was to protect Earth.
He would spend most of his time inside the star. If Earth only relied on Luo Feng and the others now, it was still far too vulnerable.
The other reason was that he wanted Luo Feng and the others to witness the cruel side of the universe.
The Dragon Horn race was naturally strong and possessed formidable combat power. Their strength among those of the same level was quite impressive.
"Alright."
He would receive quite a substantial commission from such a large order for a Stellar level ninth stage slave.
"I don't need any discount on the price. Throw in a hundred Planetary level ninth stage Mental Master slaves for me. Remember, I want them to be from the Black Meng race.
"Then throw in ten Stellar level First Order warrior slaves as well. Don't tell me you can't afford that."
Jiang Ming did not need too many slaves, nor did he want to spend too much money on them.
"No problem."
The manager immediately replied. Soon, a young woman in a white dress, her face veiled with a light gauze, entered the room. A pair of black horns resembling dragon horns grew from her head.
After completing the ownership transfer procedures, Jiang Ming left with the slaves.
Inside the virtual space.
"A weak race in the universe... sigh."
Thor recalled the scenes he had witnessed earlier, and his heart still felt cold.
"I plan to sell the Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft and exchange it for resources to improve our strength."
Jiang Ming spoke up then. At first, he had not had such a plan, but now he realized that the pressure the starry sky placed on him was far greater than he had expected.
His current rate of progress was still not fast enough, even though he was already very powerful.
"Alright. I have some things on me too. I'll sell them later and exchange everything for resources."
Everyone nodded. In truth, Jiang Ming did not need to inform them whether he sold the Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft or not. It was his personal property.
"Now that we're familiar with Qiu Long City, we'll split up shortly and make our purchases quickly."
Jiang Ming announced.
Soon, the group went their separate ways. Since Jiang Ming lacked sufficient channels, the Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft ultimately sold for 12 billion, a little lower than the price Luo Feng had sold it for in the original timeline.
Still, Jiang Ming was fairly satisfied with that price.
With money in hand, Jiang Ming began buying things frantically. First on the list were starfield reconnaissance devices. Once installed on the various satellites throughout the Solar System, they could detect unfamiliar spacecraft in advance.
Such things were not expensive. A little over a hundred thousand Black Dragon Coins could buy a decent one.
They were extremely cost-effective.
"Still too poor."
Jiang Ming looked at the balance remaining in his account after all his purchases and felt somewhat irritated.
One Cosmic Coin was equivalent to 3,300 Ganwu Coins and 3.3 million Black Dragon Coins, but that was only the theoretical exchange rate.
On the black market, one Cosmic Coin actually exchanged for four million Black Dragon Coins.
Jiang Ming did not know whether he was being overcharged, but those were the only channels he could find.
Even so, Jiang Ming still came away with plenty. He purchased three cubic units of Cosmic Crystals.
That was enough for Jiang Ming to drive the Wheel of Time at high speed for quite some time.
At the spaceport.
Jiang Ming and the others met up.
"You bought so many slaves too. Looks like you gained quite a bit."
Jiang Ming smiled when he saw the batch of slaves Luo Feng had bought.
"I sold the Lone Blade Disc."
Luo Feng did not hide it either. The four of them could now all feel the invisible waves of pressure emanating from the profound starry sky.
Jiang Ming felt it, Luo Feng felt it, and naturally Hong and Thor felt it too.
"Let's go."
Jiang Ming patted Luo Feng on the shoulder and headed toward the new spacecraft.
It was also a C5-class spacecraft, with performance comparable to—or even slightly better than—the Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft.
After all, it was a new ship. The Black Dragon Mountain, while not heavily worn, was still a million-year-old antique.
They boarded the spacecraft and set out into the starry sky.
"This ship is much more comfortable than the Black Dragon Mountain."
After leaving Qiu Long Star, everyone could remove their disguises. Thor reclined in a comfortable chair as he spoke.
"Of course. Although the Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft was also a C-class ship, it was ultimately a million-year-old relic. Even if it wasn't badly worn, it still fell short of new ships in every respect."
Babata was fairly satisfied with the new ship and began familiarizing himself with it.
"Pure-metal spacecraft really are extravagant. Alloy spacecraft have the same performance, yet pure-metal spacecraft cost so much more."
Thinking of the difference between the Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft's price and this ship's price, Jiang Ming spoke.
"Alloys work better and are harder. A spacecraft made from alloy costs only a tenth of a pure-metal spacecraft, perhaps even less.
"For your current level, using a pure-metal spacecraft like the Black Dragon Mountain really is extravagant."
Babata explained.
"This trip has given us a preliminary understanding of the universe beyond Earth. You've all seen the situation.
"If outsiders from the universe discover Earth in its current state, we'll be in danger."
Jiang Ming's words immediately made the other three think of what would happen if Earthlings also became a slave planet.
"So next, I'll stay inside the Sun to cultivate. I'll need you to keep a closer watch over matters on Earth."
Now that everything was ready, Jiang Ming estimated that he would enter a rather lengthy period of seclusion, tempering all of his combat power and realms until they were complete.
However, with the Wheel of Time, the real time Jiang Ming needed to spend would not be too long.
"Alright, leave it to us. Go into seclusion without worry."
Hong answered. Jiang Ming's strength represented Earth's strength. As Earth's strongest person, the stronger he became, the greater Earth's confidence would be.
"You need to work harder as well. Make use of those Stellar level slaves we bought. They're not just bodyguards and thugs—they can also be Teachers.
"They're more than capable of teaching you Planetary level fighters."
Upon hearing Jiang Ming's words, the three nodded in unison. Even though Jiang Ming's strength had already far surpassed theirs, they would never think protecting Earth was Jiang Ming's responsibility alone.
Nine days later, Jiang Ming and his group returned to Earth.
After briefly learning about Earth's situation, Jiang Ming returned to the Sun.
"Going by the timeline, the Ruo Lan Shan Family's troops will discover Earth on November 23, China time.
"As long as I eliminate them before they send back the information, Earth will be safe for the time being."
Jiang Ming recalled the situation from the original timeline.
"Even if Ruo Lan Shan himself comes, I'm confident I can make him stay here for good. Still, it's better to avoid trouble.
"Once my strength rises later, dealing with them will be easy."
With the Wheel of Time, although the period was short, it would not be difficult to increase the Fire God clone's strength.
Dealing with the Ruo Lan Shan Family would be easy, but Jiang Ming did not want to waste too much effort on them.
He still needed a little more time before he could truly step onto the universe's stage.
"Soon."
Feeling the Wheel of Time's time-acceleration efficiency soar after it gained Cosmic Crystals as an energy source, Jiang Ming thought to himself.
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