Lava Secret Realm

Su Zhe first spent ten billion Black Dragon Coins to purchase a C9-grade alloy spaceship to replace his old Black Dragon Spaceship.

C-grade spaceships are benchmarked against the Universe Level; a C9-grade vessel can withstand attacks from a Universe Level 9 powerhouse, which is sufficient for Su Zhe to use for some time. Better D-grade ships, even at the D1 level, start at a hundred billion Black Dragon Coins, which is not something Su Zhe can afford right now.

The spaceship Su Zhe purchased has a triangular exterior and is over two hundred meters long, making it quite cost-effective.

After buying the ship.

With the remaining ten billion-plus Black Dragon Coins, it is impossible for Su Zhe to break through to the Universe Level.

Even the most ordinary Universe Level 1 slave costs over a trillion Black Dragon Coins.

Therefore, Su Zhe chose not to buy any cultivation resources. He spent nearly ten billion Black Dragon Coins on a slightly better Grade 3 Force Battle Suit and decided to save the rest for now.

December 2061.

Su Zhe returned to Earth. After resting for a period, he left the Black Dragon Spaceship behind and set off again in his new alloy spaceship, heading toward the coordinates of the Lava Secret Realm.

Luo Feng was stimulated by Su Zhe's rapid progress. Although his clone had not yet finished gestating, he had been diligently studying those secret techniques and domains, hoping to master the Domain of Metal as soon as possible.

The journey to the Lava Secret Realm takes about 50 days.

On the spaceship.

Su Zhe's gaze was locked onto the screen, reviewing the mission details regarding the Lava Secret Realm.

The specialty of the Lava Secret Realm is the Fire Marrow Crystal.

The Fire Marrow Crystal is a versatile ore that can be used not only to craft force weapons, force battle suits, and spiritual weapons, but can even be used directly as an energy source.

If one is cultivating the Origin Law of Fire, remaining in an environment surrounded by a large quantity of Fire Marrow Crystals for a long time can also assist in comprehending the law.

Su Zhe is cultivating the Origin Law of Fire.

"My Domain of Fire has already reached the second stage."

"In that Lava Secret Realm, I might find an opportunity to improve it further."

Su Zhe muttered to himself.

Fire Marrow Crystals are extremely valuable; a single unit is worth 150 million Black Dragon Coins. This high profit alone is enough to make it worth Su Zhe's while to take the risk.

"Master, according to the mission details and information gathered from the Virtual Universe, the Fire Marrow Crystals in the Lava Secret Realm are usually hidden by Lava Monsters in their nests, and these nests are typically guarded by Universe Level Lava Monsters."

Xiao Yu spoke up to remind him.

Su Zhe nodded slightly.

That shouldn't be a problem.

He had already figured out how to acquire the Fire Marrow Crystals.

Perhaps he could even leverage the environment here to break through to the Universe Level or find a way to step across the threshold of the Law of Fire.

Su Zhe prepared to stay here until Luo Feng gestated his clone, or perhaps even longer.

There is no immediate crisis on Earth, aside from the Nolan Mountain Family, but as long as Nolan Mountain himself does not take action, his family does not pose a significant threat to Su Zhe.

Once Su Zhe breaks through to the Universe Level, he should be able to handle most members of the Nolan Mountain Family.

The spaceship continued to sail toward the Lava Secret Realm.

During this time, Su Zhe decided to continue testing his skills in the Decisive Battle Space.

January 20, 2062.

A triangular, deep-blue spaceship exited the Dark Universe and appeared at the edge of a crimson star system.

This is a star system controlled by the Universe Mercenary Alliance, and because of the existence of the Lava Secret Realm, it was simply named the Lava Galaxy.

The Lava Galaxy is more than twice the size of the Milky Way. There is no life on the outer planets, only staff from the Universe Mercenary Alliance, while the interior of the galaxy contains a massive secret realm: the Lava Secret Realm.

This galaxy is completely controlled by the Universe Mercenary Alliance.

After passing identity verification, Su Zhe's spaceship was allowed to enter the interior of the galaxy, following guidance toward the Emerald Fire Planet.

Only by using the ships arranged by the Universe Mercenary Alliance on the Emerald Fire Planet could Su Zhe enter the Lava Secret Realm; the entire process was extremely cumbersome.

In the entire Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector, only the Universe Mercenary Alliance recycles Fire Marrow Crystals. If any mercenary attempts to take Fire Marrow Crystals elsewhere to sell them, they will be wanted by the Universe Mercenary Alliance.

Of course, the Universe Mercenary Alliance does not concern itself with small-scale private transactions, as long as they are not too blatant.

In short.

After waiting for a long time, Su Zhe finally boarded the ship heading to the Lava Secret Realm. In the same batch were hundreds of Star Level individuals, all of whom were Universe Apprentice Mercenaries from various parts of the Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector.

"Hey, buddy, this is your first time coming to this Lava Secret Realm, right?"

A burly man sitting next to Su Zhe, who looked remarkably like a Black Ape, took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

"Why? Have you been here many times?"

Su Zhe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That goes without saying!"

The Black Ape said smugly.

"This is my third time coming to the Lava Secret Realm. I earned quite a bit the first two times, and this one will likely be my last. Once I leave the Lava Secret Realm this time, I'm going back to attempt a breakthrough to the Universe Level!"

Su Zhe spoke with an expressionless face: "Congratulations."

"Heh, you're too kind, brother." The Black Ape scratched his head and said with a smile: "Don't let the fact that the mission is rated Death-level fool you; generally speaking, as long as you don't go to the Lava Monster's lair and don't go out of your way to provoke Universe Level Lava Monsters, it's relatively safe."

"In the wilderness of the Lava Secret Realm, there are scattered deposits of Fire Marrow Crystal. Usually, only Star Level Lava Monsters go to dig for those scattered crystals, so you just have to go and snatch them from them."

"See this?" The Black Ape pulled out a large blade shaped like a pickaxe.

"A custom-made Tier 2 Force Weapon. It might not look like much, but it's incredibly fast at digging up Fire Marrow Crystal," the Black Ape said boastfully.

"This is?" Su Zhe asked, puzzled.

"Although the mission states that Fire Marrow Crystal is only produced by Lava Monsters, it doesn't forbid us from digging for it ourselves," the Black Ape said smugly. "Fire Marrow Crystal is unstable; it will explode if it suffers a violent impact."

"I tried for a long time before I found a way to mine Fire Marrow Crystal stably, but I can't tell you that method."

"Fair enough."

Su Zhe chuckled and nodded.

Mining in the Lava Secret Realm?

Su Zhe certainly wouldn't do such a thing; the speed of acquiring Fire Marrow Crystal that way was far too slow. Only a martial artist with average strength like the Black Ape would think of this way to make money, right?

For the rest of the time, the Black Ape did most of the talking while Su Zhe listened, chiming in every now and then. By the end, he had gained a fairly comprehensive understanding of the environment inside the Lava Secret Realm.

It had to be said that although this guy was a "miner," his knowledge of the Lava Secret Realm was well worth noting.

He had even shared information with Su Zhe, such as the fact that the Lava Monsters' lairs were usually located deep within the volcanic veins.