Spoils of War

Zhou Yuan returned to the spaceship near the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite and laid out the storage equipment he had searched from the Blood Fiend Race members.

He first inspected the storage equipment belonging to the five Level 6 Universe Blood Fiend Race warriors. These were all the most ordinary thousand-cubic-meter models. Ordinary universe-level powerhouses generally used storage equipment ranging from a thousand to several tens of thousands of cubic meters. It seemed these Blood Fiend Race warriors were not particularly wealthy.

He opened one of the storage devices. Aside from some cultivation potions and spare third-tier weapons, it contained only ordinary C-grade metals such as Black Iron Essence and Crimson Copper Essence.

Although these C-grade metals were considered decent resources outside, they held little appeal for Zhou Yuan now.

After checking the storage equipment of all five Level 6 Universe Blood Fiend Race warriors, Zhou Yuan found that their contents were largely similar, with a combined value of roughly ten million Purple Zenith Currency.

Although this was not a small sum, compared to the Cosmic Crystal mine he had discovered, it was practically insignificant. Zhou Yuan shook his head and gathered the contents of those storage devices into a single storage device, intending to sell them later to merchants who specialized in purchasing miscellaneous goods.

Next, Zhou Yuan opened the storage ring of the Level 7 Universe psychic. This storage ring had a capacity of ten thousand cubic meters, considerably larger than the storage equipment of the Level 6 Universe warriors.

Zhou Yuan extended his psychic power into the storage ring and immediately discovered a spare third-tier psychic weapon—the Crimson Feather Shuttle.

This set of Crimson Feather Shuttles consisted of three hundred and sixty crimson-red shuttle blades. Each blade contained powerful psychic fluctuations, and it was clear at a glance that they were no ordinary items.

"Beibei, check the value of this set of Crimson Feather Shuttles," Zhou Yuan said to his intelligent assistant, Beibei.

"Understood, Master," Beibei immediately replied. "Searching for the value of the Crimson Feather Shuttle... Master, this third-tier psychic weapon, the Crimson Feather Shuttle, is worth ten million Purple Zenith Currency. Including the other miscellaneous items and minerals in the storage ring, the total value exceeds fifty million Purple Zenith Currency."

Zhou Yuan nodded in satisfaction. He had not expected this Level 7 Universe psychic to be so wealthy. Although he had no use for the Crimson Feather Shuttle, he could sell it to other psychics or a treasure shop in exchange for cultivation resources he needed.

Zhou Yuan put away the Crimson Feather Shuttle and the other items, then picked up the final spatial ring—the spatial ring of the Level 8 Universe Iron Blood.

This spatial ring actually had a capacity of one hundred thousand cubic meters, ten times larger than the storage ring of that Level 7 Universe psychic.

Zhou Yuan extended his psychic power into the spatial ring. The first things he saw were a spare set of third-tier origin force battle armor and a third-tier battle axe, equipment worth more than ten million Purple Zenith Currency. Beyond that, the spatial ring contained quite a few precious cultivation resources and minerals, with a total value far exceeding that of the Level 7 Universe psychic.

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan's psychic power touched a pile of silver metal. The silver metal gave off a faint glow and looked remarkably extraordinary. Zhou Yuan's heart stirred, and he immediately took out a small piece of it. "Beibei, check whether this is D-grade Liquid Silver Essence. It's extremely rare, and legend says it's worth as much as E-grade metal."

Beibei immediately connected through the virtual universe to the cosmic materials database and began investigating the metal's specific details.

Before long, Beibei found the relevant information and projected images and data on Liquid Silver-series minerals before Zhou Yuan. "Master, this is indeed Liquid Silver Essence. It is commonly an associated mineral of Liquid Silver, while large Liquid Silver mines are also accompanied by Flowing Silver Motherlode. Liquid Silver Essence is an ultra-rare D-grade metal worth 1.6 billion Purple Zenith Currency per ton."

Zhou Yuan's eyes lit up instantly. He had not expected this pile of silver metal to actually be the legendary Liquid Silver Essence. Liquid Silver Essence was an exceptionally rare D-grade metal, and its value even exceeded that of some ordinary E-grade metals.

Looking at the Liquid Silver Essence in his hand, Zhou Yuan calculated inwardly. Where there is Liquid Silver Essence, there must be Liquid Silver. It looks like their spaceship should still have a batch of Liquid Silver ore. I'll look for the ship's controller.

Zhou Yuan immediately resumed searching Iron Blood's spatial ring and, sure enough, found the spaceship's controller in a corner. Holding it, he said to the virtual assistant Beibei, "Beibei, bring the spaceship over and see what's inside."

"Understood, Master. Please wait a moment." After receiving the controller, Beibei immediately began cracking the spaceship's authorization. With the controller in hand, the task was extremely simple. Before long, Beibei completed the crack and controlled the spaceship as it flew toward Zhou Yuan.

This spaceship was somewhat larger than Zhou Yuan's. It was a standard vessel manufactured by the Purple Chen Universe Nation, designated CW191. It was over two hundred meters long and rated C9, far superior to Zhou Yuan's original C1-grade spaceship.

"Master, one quarter of the ship's cargo hold contains Liquid Silver ore—approximately three million tons, worth around three hundred billion Purple Zenith Currency. There are also roughly two million tons of D-grade Star-Melting Ore, worth around one hundred billion Purple Zenith Currency." Having taken control of the spaceship, Beibei quickly determined the ship's cargo situation and excitedly reported to Zhou Yuan.

Hearing those figures, Zhou Yuan's heart could not stop pounding. The cargo assets aboard the spaceship alone were worth more than four hundred billion Purple Zenith Currency. Adding the more than two hundred tons of Liquid Silver Essence in Iron Blood's spatial ring, the total value was nearly eight hundred billion Purple Zenith Currency.

One had to know that even a poor Domain Lord outside only possessed a few hundred billion Purple Zenith Currency in wealth. Zhou Yuan could not help sighing. "Secret realms really are rich in resources. One haul of spoils has given me nearly the wealth of a Domain Lord. But compared to this Cosmic Crystal Meteorite I found, it's still far inferior."

As Zhou Yuan calculated the resources he had obtained from Iron Blood and the others, then looked at the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite below, he suddenly felt that he was truly fortunate. He had first discovered the Earth Heart, then the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite, and now someone had even delivered resources straight to him.

Zhou Yuan felt that it would be better to keep a lower profile. He planned to leave the secret realm first, find a safe planet to cultivate in seclusion for a while, and convert these resources into strength.

"Good things never come more than three times. Once I deal with the Cosmic Crystal, I need to leave this secret realm. So many good things have fallen into my lap that this little body of mine can barely handle them." Having made up his mind, Zhou Yuan immediately began mining.

He first filled several storage devices with Universe Crystals, then filled the cargo holds of both spaceships with Universe Crystals. Yet he had not even mined one-tenth of the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite.

Looking at the remaining Universe Crystals before him, which he had no way of taking away, Zhou Yuan's face was full of regret. So many Universe Crystals were worth more than ten trillion Purple Zenith Currency. Giving them up like this was simply too wasteful.

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan thought of an idea. The Hunyuan Dao Seed needed source power to grow, and Universe Crystals were formed from compressed source energy. Could the Hunyuan Dao Seed directly absorb the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite?

As soon as the thought arose, Zhou Yuan acted on it. He summoned the projection of the Hunyuan Dao Seed from his mind and attempted to make it absorb the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite. He conveyed his intention of absorbing the Universe Crystals to the Hunyuan Dao Seed.

Then a terrifying suction force erupted from the projection of the Hunyuan Dao Seed. Like a black hole, it instantly swallowed the entire Cosmic Crystal Meteorite.

Staring at the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite, which had vanished in an instant, Zhou Yuan was completely stunned. He had not expected the Hunyuan Dao Seed to truly be able to absorb the Cosmic Crystal Meteorite, much less do so with efficiency far beyond his imagination.

"Beibei, take control of the spaceship. We're preparing to leave the secret realm." After recovering from his shock, Zhou Yuan returned to the spaceship and spoke to Beibei.

Although the secret realm was rich in resources, it was also filled with danger. Now that he possessed so many resources, once other powerhouses discovered him, it would certainly bring a deadly calamity. His most urgent task was to leave the secret realm as quickly as possible, find somewhere safe to cultivate in seclusion, and turn these resources into strength.