Inside the highly secure receiving room at the Barracks Base, Lu Ming verified his identity and signed for several sealed special-metal boxes, their surfaces flowing with powerful Law Secret Patterns, along with several World Rings.
After returning to his Cultivation Residence and activating all the protective measures, Lu Ming opened one of the boxes with anticipation. It was the smallest of them, but had the highest level of protection.
"Femo Venom!"
Lu Ming murmured. The box contained the expensive and terrifying Femo Venom.
At three hundred million Hunyuan Units per gram, he had bought three kilograms, for a total of nine hundred billion Hunyuan Units.
"I'd better be careful. If even a little leaks out and gets on me, I'm done for."
Lu Ming took a deep breath. He didn't dare handle the Femo Venom in his Internal World, worried that one careless move might make his Internal World collapse and get him killed. That would be a truly unjust end.
"Open."
Lu Ming gently opened it.
Snap.
The box opened, revealing thirty crystals inside. In each one, a captivating purple liquid rippled and flowed slowly like mercury.
"Femo Venom, thirty vials, each containing one hundred grams."
One gram of Femo Venom was worth three hundred million Hunyuan Units. It was a terrifying concoction created by the powerful human pharmacist Femo, and was named after him. The venom had formidable corrosive power. It had been designed specifically to corrode an "undying divine body." Ten grams could generally corrode and kill a King-Level Limit expert, while one hundred grams could kill an "Invincible King."
Its power was enough to make anyone shudder.
But its weaknesses were obvious, too.
First, it was a consumable. Every bit of venom used meant there was less left. Second, the venom only worked if it touched an undying divine body.
And nearly all the universe's powerful beings wore a layer of battle armor. The venom had little to no effect on armor or other metals.
So the armor had to be torn open to let the venom touch an enemy's undying divine body. Alternatively, the attack had to strike an unprotected area, such as the face. Third, Femo Venom needed a carrier. The venom had to be smeared onto a weapon and solidified before the weapon could be used to attack.
But when a weapon cut into an opponent's divine body, perhaps only a tiny fraction of the venom on it would enter the enemy's body. The damage inflicted each time was minuscule.
Fourth, suppose one hundred grams of venom entered an Invincible King's body all at once. Upon discovering the venom frantically corroding and annihilating his undying divine body, an Invincible King would immediately cast off some of his undying divine power and use it to force the venom out of his body. Perhaps only one or two grams would have time to corrode him; the rest would all be expelled and wasted. So if the amount was small enough, the enemy wouldn't have time to force it out before the venom had already taken full effect.
Those were the four major weaknesses.
They kept Femo Venom from being worth as much as some heaven-defying weapons.
But it was still more than good enough.
"System, offer it!"
The moment he issued the command, the thirty electric crystals filled with Femo Venom seemed to be enveloped by an invisible, immense force. The captivating purple liquid inside them and the crystals themselves began to blur and turn translucent. At last, they transformed into streams of exceptionally pure, dark-purple light, each imbued with an aura of ultimate Destruction, and were drawn into the mysterious vortex deep within the system.
[Ding! Offering successful!]
[Calculating random multiplier based on the value of the offering...]
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You have received a six-thousand-fold return!]
[Generating reward...]
[Congratulations, host. You have obtained: thirty vials of enhanced "Star-Dust Annihilation" venom! (Each vial contains 100 grams of venom. Properties: extreme corrosion, divine-body collapse, Soul Annihilation. It poses a tremendous threat to life forms at the Universe Venerable level and below. Its specific effects depend on the strength of the divine body and the amount of venom it contacts.)]
[Note: A mere 0.05 grams can completely annihilate an ordinary King-Level Limit expert; 0.5 grams can completely annihilate an Invincible King; 10 grams can annihilate an ordinary Venerable.]
Whoosh!
An even deeper, more restrained, and more terrifying aura spread through the room, making Lu Ming's soul tremble instinctively.
From within the system's vortex, thirty brand-new electric crystals slowly emerged.
The liquid inside was no longer an eerie purple. Instead, it had turned a "dull gray," as though the dust of countless annihilated stars had been gathered together. It looked unremarkable, yet radiated Destruction so powerful that the surrounding space subtly warped.
"Star-Dust Annihilation..."
As Lu Ming looked at the newly produced venom, his eyes blazed with excitement.
"It can even threaten a Universe Venerable! It's more than ten, maybe a hundred times stronger than the original Femo Venom!"
He carefully put away the thirty vials of enhanced venom, feeling more confident than ever.
This would be an absolutely terrifying trump card for him on the Outer-Domain Battlefield, and in his future adventures across the universe!
"The power of Star-Dust Annihilation is too terrifying. An Invincible King needs only 0.5 grams to be annihilated, and I have a full three kilograms here. Tsk, tsk. I'm afraid my War Blade won't be enough for this."
Venom like this placed certain demands on the weapons used to carry it.
With the venom's effects so terrifying, he would need to get a new War Blade.
He'd have one custom-made in the Virtual Universe this time.
"Next is Little Thunder's evolution."
Lu Ming turned his gaze toward the several largest Space Rings.
His consciousness entered them, and he immediately sensed a vast sea of precious resources, piled up like stars!
These were the enormous resources he had purchased to raise two hundred ordinary Thunderlight Vines from Initial King to Pinnacle King-Level.
"That's quite a lot of resources to keep Little Thunder evolving."
Lu Ming sighed and transferred the entire World Ring filled with resources into his Internal World.
Rumble—
Inside the Internal World, the enormous Thunderlight Vine sensed the energy pouring in from outside, an energy that held an irresistible allure for it. Countless purplish-gold vines immediately writhed with excitement, letting out deafening thunderclaps. The entire Internal World seemed to tremble slightly.
"Little Thunder, don't rush. This is still 'coarse grain.' Let me process it into 'fine goods' for you before you enjoy it."
Lu Ming soothed the excited Little Thunder, a helpless smile on his face.
This batch of resources was far too varied, comprising over a hundred broad categories and thousands of subcategories.
His offering-and-return ability was heaven-defying, but it had its limits: each offering had to consist of a single item, or "one category" of items with highly consistent properties.
The Femo Venom earlier, for instance, had come in thirty vials. But since every vial was identical in nature, the system counted them as "one category," so he could offer them all at once.
But these cultivation resources belonged to different categories and had different properties. There was no way to group them into "one category."
That meant he would have to divide the resources into over a hundred batches, perhaps even several hundred, and offer them one by one to get them returned.
"Over a hundred offerings... This is going to keep me busy for a while."