Chapter 1603: Center of Attention (II)

Something similar to a red moon appeared in the Sword Sovereign’s hand—the remnants of the seventh rank’s dao mark.

“A seventh rank dao foundation crystal... Hmm, there’s a lot in it. A seventh rank’s dao foundation coalesces into a crystal upon death. You guys know that, right?”

Void nodded, as did Li Hao. A dao foundation crystal was different from a regular dao crystal. The former contained dao comprehension. The crystals that Li Hao had collected in Demon Summit were dark dao foundation crystals. Meanwhile, dao crystals were made of pure energy.

One contained dao comprehension, the other did not. The difference in value was tremendous.

The higher rank the dao foundation crystal, the greater the value. A dao foundation crystal formed after the death of a seventh rank was priceless. Most exalted emperors did not have many chances to listen to powerhouses discuss dao. Dao foundation crystals were possibly the only chance they could ever have.

“One thousand dao foundation crystals... not bad!” The Sword Sovereign tallied up their gains. “These dao foundation crystals are worth a lot. In some worlds, the dao foundation crystal of a seventh rank can be traded for several hundred thousand dao crystals! Ten million dao crystals can be traded for a minor world...”

That meant to say that their haul of dao foundation crystals alone could fetch several dozen minor worlds. That made sense.

What was a minor world worth?

Those could produce a third rank at most; dao foundation crystals were born from high ranks. Trading a few dozen minor worlds in return for killing a seventh rank... was a poorer bargain compared to killing a few dozen third ranks.

Most minor worlds had masters that were only first or second rank. Third rank was very rare to find.

Trading the death of a high rank for some minor worlds... was the decision of an idiot. Those who could accomplish that deed wouldn’t care about a minor world, and those who cared about a minor world wouldn’t be able to achieve the task.

“Dao crystals... Hmm, there’s a lot of them. He had a lot to begin with and his dao strength crystallized into more after his death. I haven’t counted how many there are, but there should be several hundred million.” The Sword Sovereign broke out laughing after his words. They were rich!

It was worth it to kill a seventh rank! This was his first time ever killing one!

Granted, this amount of gain would be a devastating loss to many. This was all that killing a seventh rank resulted in?

But that had been an enemy, so they would’ve had to kill the Red Moon seventh rank even if they didn’t gain anything for it at all.

“There’s a lot of random knickknacks here, let me take a look... Oh? There’s a minor world inside the dao mark, a compressed one.” The Sword Sovereign saw a minor world being carried in the dao mark.

Minor worlds were useless to high ranks. It’d been likely kept around as a reward for others. A minor world was useful only for initial ranks.

Li Hao felt that these gains were rich, whereas Void didn’t think much either way. He’d never been short on resources in his life and he was a sixth rank now. What he lacked was knowledge and comprehension of the great dao.

Reeling off the gains was a futile exercise when faced with a rich young master. The Source of Light that Void had consumed was worth more than a minor world. It might even be worth a mid world, which was ten times the value of a minor world.

For many fifth and sixth ranks, being able to spontaneously recover their dao strength was so much more important than a mid world.

“That’s all the valuables in here,” announced the Sword Sovereign after a close look. “There’s a lot of other random stuff that isn’t worth anything and isn’t useful to us. Typical high ranks wouldn’t carry around these things either.

“I’ll price the dao foundation crystals at three hundred thousand dao crystals each! One thousand of them means three hundred million dao crystals. He left an additional two hundred million dao crystals. If the minor world is worth ten million dao crystals, altogether we’ve got five hundred and ten million dao crystals worth of loot.

“We expended roughly the same amount of effort in killing that guy. So... let’s split it evenly! Each of us gets about one hundred and seventy million dao crystals. We can buy two mid worlds with that, not bad!”

Despite the Sword Sovereign’s grin, the results were not worth it. He himself could easily destroy two mid rank worlds and not assume any risk for it. But in reality, he was no killing fiend. He wasn’t in the habit of randomly picking a mid world to annihilate.

It could be seen from this just how rich Red Moon’s bounty was. Capturing Silver Moon would mean the reward of a mid world. No wonder countless cultivators were tempted.

Void wanted to protest; Li Hao preempted him. “Take it, Brother Void. Treat it as compensation for your losses! You expended a lot of resources to teleport over, not to mention that Source of Light is priceless. This is a token of the Sword Sovereign’s sentiments, so don’t turn down the senior’s good intentions!”

Void nodded after some thought, that was true. He had indeed expended countless dao crystals to teleport over. All the same, he wasn’t interested in dao crystals.

“Could I have some more dao foundation crystals instead? I’m a bit interested in Red Moon’s great dao. So it speaks to the most primal instincts deep within our heart to aggravate the core origin of our great dao!

“I underestimated it before. I always thought that Red Moon cultivators only knew how to pose and posture. It’s my first time thinking that this ability is quite something.”

“Sure, no problem!” nodded the merry Sword Sovereign. “I have no interest in Red Moon’s dao. Not to mention, Red Moon is our enemy. We have plenty of opportunities to kill their powerhouses! And you, Li Hao? What do you want?”

“The minor world, dao crystals, and a portion of the dao foundation crystals.”

The Sword Sovereign raised an eyebrow. The kid welcomed all comers and didn’t care what he got, huh? Li Changsheng also wanted the minor world—it wasn’t valuable in itself, but a cultivator like him could study the world’s structure and also look into a different dao system. Other cultivators wanted it in order to devour it, but he did not.

Li Hao didn’t want to devour it either, he was of the same mindset as the Sword Sovereign. He wouldn’t waste it after he studied it either; Silver Moon could devour it. Although Silver Moon was currently inside the Skyward dao universe, Panther was the heavenly will and it was outside.

Panther could devour it.

The Sword Sovereign decided to acquiesce to the request for their first partnership. If he was miserly and haggled, that might make the two think less of him and be unwilling to work together.

“Very well, then you can have the minor world, forty million dao crystals, and four hundred dao foundation crystals. Does that work?”

Li Hao nodded with a smile. As he thought, there was no karma for bad deeds! What were dao crystals?

A first rank would coalesce only three hundred or so in one year of closed door cultivation. This time’s gains were sufficient for several hundred thousand years of cultivation. What an interminably long period of time that was!

“I’ll give you five hundred dao foundation crystals and twenty million dao crystals.” The Sword Sovereign looked at Void. “The rest goes to me, is that alright?”

Void nodded, blithely unconcerned. It was fine!

The Sword Sovereign was very happy. There were no problems this way! How very nice!

Dao foundation crystals from a seventh rank, and one from Red Moon... were actually useless for him. He just needed to keep one hundred for himself for brief study. There was no need to ponder them too deeply.

It was dao crystals that were more useful to him. Whether it was for cultivation or sending them back to the core origin dao universe, or even enhancing the main world’s dao strength... the dao crystals would be very useful in that regard.

He didn’t bother to say anything about Li Hao taking the minor world.

And so, the division of spoils was easily concluded.

“Killing a seventh rank of a major world, I mean one that’s not a master of the world, doesn’t lead to great gains!” said the Sword Sovereign. “Killing a master of the world is the best. They are the world itself and the dao universe. They’ll have a variety of dao crystals and dao foundation crystals on them as well. That’s when we’re really rich!”

One could not buy a dao universe with any sum of money. Transactions were made for mid worlds, but no one ever heard of a transaction for a major world.

Li Hao soon received his gains; he was immensely satisfied when they piled up on the riverbed of his river of dao. All those dao crystals would be sufficient for his cultivation. At the very least, he wouldn’t need to worry about a lack of energy for the cultivation to come.

As for the dao foundation crystals, it would be nice to study them for a bit. There was something to learn from all seventh ranks. And even if he didn’t need them, there was someone who could use them—Gan Wuliang.

The guy’s immaterial dao shared similarities with Red Moon’s dao of desire. He might have some gains if he studied these crystals. Silver Moon denizens needed to grow stronger themselves! One just needed to take a look at New Martial.

Was the Human King strong?

Very!

But without the supreme, Sun God and Ash Emperor... The Human King might’ve long been mobbed to death without the aid of these heavyweights.

And why hadn’t he now?

Because the existence of these people could save his life at critical moments. They gave him sufficient support. When he took action on one end, they could take action on another. That was their reassurance!

As for Silver Moon...

Li Hao sighed to himself. Silver Moon was too young. As young as New Martial also was, at least it’d been in development for more than one thousand years. It was also a major world to begin with, whereas Silver Moon hadn’t even counted as a minor world.

Producing multiple exalted emperors was already a reach for it. Li Hao had entered mid rank, but it would be very difficult for others to do the same. At the moment, there was great potential to be excavated in the two masters of dao and Panther.

Panther was the heavenly will and, as such, a figure similar to the master of Silver Moon world. The strength of the world complemented Panther’s own strength.

These three had a chance to swiftly set foot over certain thresholds, but it would be difficult for the rest.

Those marooned on Skyward, including Lin Hongyu who’d set down roots in his river, would find it very difficult to improve themselves. A portion of New Martial citizens, such as Capsize Sea and the rest, had also followed Sky Sword to Skyward. Only Zhang An had followed Lin Hongyu off the major world.

“What are you thinking about?” asked the smiling Sword Sovereign when he saw that the young man was in deep thought.

Li Hao raised his head and looked at the Sword Sovereign. “Nothing much, just feeling that my world is too weak and too poor. When will we produce a strong cultivator like Uncle Li?”

Ai, Silver Moon!