Chapter Eighty-Eight: Exchange

Outside the castle, more than ten thousand adventurers murmured among themselves.

“Is this real?” Luo Feng, Hong, Thor, and the others exchanged glances.

“What on earth is this?” Luo Feng asked under his breath.

“What else could it be? It has survived for so long, so it must be the auxiliary intelligence of that dead world lord,” Luo Yuan said. “Alone for millions upon millions of years—who knows whether this intelligence has already evolved into a true intelligent life-form. If it has, then after all that loneliness, it may have become twisted.”

“Twisted?” The others frowned at his words.

The leaders of the five great factions, including the Ninth Prince, were also staring at the castle.

Above the castle, beams of light converged, and a projected figure appeared: a chubby old man with a white beard. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at the more than ten thousand people below, making many of the adventurers feel a chill. Most of those present had some knowledge.

Light forming a human image was generally a method of intelligence or technology.

“Little fellows, you came here for the treasure of this Inner World, didn’t you?” the white-bearded old man smiled as he looked down. “Yes, my master did place his treasure in the Inner World, and I was the one guarding it.”

“My master’s treasures are many.”

“Look!”

The old man pointed to his side. Above the castle, beams of light gathered again, and a huge screen appeared at once, covered with images of countless items. There were all kinds of treasure pictures, so many that they dazzled the eyes. At the very center was a crystal sphere of strange and brilliant color.

“The inheritance crystal sphere!” Ninth Prince Burolin’s eyes lit up.

“It is the inheritance crystal sphere!” The leaders of the other four factions were all thrilled with expectation.

Within the crowd, including Luo Yuan, more than ten thousand people stared excitedly at the many treasure images on the screen.

“My master has many treasures.”

“Let me sort them carefully. Altogether, there are sixty-eight kinds of treasures, three hundred and twelve items,” the white-bearded old man said, pointing at the screen beside him. A ranking list then appeared.

“Number one: complete spatial secret technique inheritance crystal sphere deposit bank account, triple-account version
Number two: master’s bank deposit account
Number three: world lord-level bloodline potion, one dose
Number four: Mo Yun Vine sapling, one
...
Number sixty-eight: fifth-tier force weapon, Skyfire Wheel”

Silence.

Everyone stared at the screen. It was too magnificent. Sixty-eight kinds of treasures, some of which came in three or four pieces, some in six or seven. In total, that made three hundred and twelve items!

“So, so...”

“They’ve gone mad, gone mad.”

“The worst one is still a fifth-tier force weapon. Heaven!”

“One treasure and I’d become the richest man in our star system.”

The more than ten thousand adventurers all had blazing eyes. They were utterly mad.

The projected intelligent life, the white-bearded old man, looked at the greedy expressions below and revealed a kind, yet eerie smile.

“Want these treasures?” he laughed loudly. “All you need is thunderstone! Every treasure here can be exchanged with thunderstone. Look, each item has a detailed price!”

At once, the list on the side shifted slightly.

“Number one: complete spatial secret technique inheritance crystal sphere deposit bank account, triple-account version. Each account layer requires ten million thunderstones; with all three accounts combined, the deposited inheritance crystal sphere can be withdrawn from the Universe First Bank.
Number two: master’s bank deposit account, eight million thunderstones.
Number three: world lord-level bloodline potion, one dose, three million thunderstones per dose.
Number four: ...
...
Number nine: life fruit, three in total, eight hundred thousand thunderstones each.
...
Number thirty-two: D6 orbital cannon, three in total, two hundred and ten thousand thunderstones each.
...
Number sixty-eight: fifth-tier force weapon, Skyfire Wheel, one item, one hundred thousand thunderstones each.”

The entire list drove everyone below into a frenzy.

“What is thunderstone?”

“I’ve never even heard of thunderstone!”

“It can actually be exchanged for these treasures. Thunderstone must be incredibly valuable.”

The discussion erupted without end.

Luo Feng, Hong, and Thor looked at the white-bearded old man’s words, then turned to Luo Yuan in shock, as though they were seeing a ghost.

“Third Brother, did you already know these treasures would be exchanged for thunderstone?” Luo Feng asked through his gaze, his expression complicated.

Hong and Thor looked at Luo Yuan with the same expression.

Seeing this, Luo Yuan merely nodded and said nothing. There was no easy way to explain it. Luo Feng and the others did not ask further; they understood Luo Yuan well enough. If he did not want to speak, asking would be useless. They only felt that Luo Yuan was becoming more and more mysterious.

After the white-bearded old man explained what thunderstone was and displayed the distribution map of thunderstone, the five factions under the castle quickly sprang into action. Teams of two or three hundred people immediately flew off in all directions, beginning their hunt for thunderstone.

In the end, only Luo Yuan and the fourteen others remained standing calmly in place.

Seeing that Luo Yuan and the others had not moved, the white-bearded projection frowned and said, “Why aren’t you rushing to seize thunderstone?”

Luo Yuan smiled, then directly took out a piece of thunderstone and weighed it in his hand. “You mean this kind of stone?”

“You... how do you have that? Did you prepare in advance?” The white-bearded old man showed an incredulous expression.

“Never mind how I got it. According to the rules, can I now exchange it for the treasures inside?” Luo Yuan said evenly.

“Ah, hahahaha, of course!” The white-bearded old man was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

...

Inside the ancient castle.

Under the guidance of the castle’s intelligent life, Luo Yuan entered a dim, cold old chamber.

The chamber was chilly and silent. A faint light illuminated the whole room, yet the mottled marks on the walls spoke of its ancient history. The walls were built from slabs of bluish-black stone, still faintly carrying a lingering aura.

“What do you want to exchange for, little one?” a deep voice echoed through the chamber.

The room remained silent.

Luo Yuan looked around; there was no one there.

“I want to exchange for all the treasures except the inheritance crystal sphere ranked first and the ten items at the bottom of the list!” Luo Yuan said with a smile.

“Hmm, are you sure? Do you have enough thunderstone?” the deep voice of the white-bearded old man continued.

“Yes.”

With a sweep of Luo Yuan’s hand, a heap of thunderstone, as high as a small mountain, appeared before him.

“Very good. It seems you came prepared. I am quite curious how you learned my rules,” the deep voice said in surprise.

“After the exchange is done, I’ll tell you!” Luo Yuan bluffed.

“Hahaha, interesting. Very well, I’ll grant your wish!”

As the voice faded, faint footsteps sounded from the corridor outside. Then a chubby white-bearded old man stepped inside, his body subtly haloed with light. Luo Yuan could tell at a glance that this white-bearded elder was an intelligent life-form, just like Babata back in the Meteoric Ink Starship, formed into a body of energy.

“Little one, you may call me Lord Mist. This is a spatial ring, and inside are all the treasures you want.” The white-bearded old man smiled, his body shimmering faintly with light. He directly handed a spatial ring to Luo Yuan, not even glancing at the small mountain of thunderstone.

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