Humans devour, and the proverb "living off a woman is eternal" holds true.

Page 45

Brolin was overjoyed to see that Lin Hao didn't intend to keep the treasure for himself. She turned around and shouted loudly, quickly dividing the group into teams.

"Quickly, everyone get moving!"

"This way, this way."

Beneath the castle, the five factions sprang into action, forming small teams of two to three hundred men, rapidly flying in all directions to seize the Thunderstone!

However, each faction left a small number of people behind, one to observe who went to the castle to exchange for treasures, and the other to keep an eye on Lin Hao's movements.

Unexpectedly, Lin Hao turned around and walked straight into the castle!

Guided by the intelligent life form in the castle, Lin Hao quickly entered one of the cold and secluded old houses.

"You're amazing, little guy. But do you have Thunderstone now?"

A deep sound echoed inside the old house.

"Of course."

Lin Hao said.

"Oh? I just announced the rules."

His deep voice carried a hint of surprise.

With a wave of his hand, Lin Hao conjured a pile of thunderstones in front of him.

"very good."

He finished speaking in a deep voice.

Faint footsteps came from the outside corridor, and then a chubby old man with a white beard walked in. He had a faint halo around his body and was none other than the intelligent life form 'Lord Mist', who was like Babata.

"How did you think of digging up these little things beforehand? They're worthless outside."

The white-bearded old man smiled as he looked at Lin Hao.

"Hello sir, I don't know how to address you... I didn't see these little things before, so I thought they were treasures and just dug some up out of curiosity."

Lin Hao was very polite.

If he wants to cause trouble, he needs 'Lord Mist's' cooperation, at least to avoid causing trouble for himself. It's never wrong to be polite.

"Little one, you can call me Lord Mist."

The white-bearded old man smiled, a faint halo swirling around his body.

"Oh, Lord Mist, I want to exchange for treasures."

Lin Hao had absolutely no interest in small talk and urged him on slightly.

"Why are you in such a hurry to talk to me?"

The white-bearded old man was somewhat dissatisfied.

Lin Hao shrugged. He was already doing well to maintain a facade of respect; expecting him to be a chat partner was wishful thinking.

"Since you're in such a hurry, then let's exchange it."

The white-bearded old man's expression changed swiftly, instantly becoming indifferent. "What do you want to exchange?"

"Fifth-tier Force weapons 'Ice Soul Blade' and 'Sky-Slicing Blade'."

"Oh?"

The white-bearded old man was very surprised.

"There's one last one, two Life Fruits."

Lin Hao bowed slightly, "Lord Wu, these are the four items."

"Just these four?"

The white-bearded man's aura suddenly became much brighter, staring at the black-haired youth in utter astonishment. "The fifth-tier Force weapon 'Ice Soul Blade' requires 130,000 Thunder Stones. 'Sky-Slicing Blade' requires 280,000 Thunder Stones. And the two Life Fruits require a whopping 1.6 million Thunder Stones! This castle is within my surveillance and detection range of 10,000 kilometers. Although you have considerable strength and talent, how did you manage to obtain so many Thunder Stones all by yourself?"

"Lord Mist, you were just lucky."

Lin Hao gave a perfunctory answer.

"Forget it."

The white-bearded old man blinked and said casually, "Four treasures? Okay, no problem."

"A total of 201 million Thunderstones."

"Lord Mist, please accept this."

Lin Hao handed over an ordinary spatial ring. The two teams he had killed earlier had quite a few ordinary spatial rings on their hands.

"Oh?"

The white-bearded old man waved his hand, and a spatial ring flew into his hand. Then a smile appeared on his face. "Hmm, that's exactly 201 million Thunderstones."

"This is the fifth-tier Force weapon, the 'Ice Soul Blade'."

With a flick of his hand, the white-bearded old man conjured a strange weapon—a double-layered, silver-blue curved blade. Instantly, the temperature in the entire old house plummeted, and the moisture in the surrounding air began to condense. The blade of the strange weapon was incredibly sharp.

The Ice Soul Blade hovered in front of me...

Good knife, it's a pity it's not the style of the Mo Dao (陌刀). But it doesn't matter, it suits my personality quite well.

Lin Hao felt a surge of joy within his own body's primal force, and he reached out and grasped it in his hand.

"This is a fifth-tier Force weapon called the 'Sky-Slicing Blade'."

With a flick of his hand, the white-bearded old man conjured a three-meter-long battle blade, identical in style to the third-tier Sky-Slaying Blade Lin Hao had used, which then floated in mid-air.

The runes on it were more complex than those of the third tier, and the space around the blade seemed to tremble.

Compared to the Ice Soul Blade, it was a perfect match, and Lin Hao was also gradually able to understand the secret runes on it.

He didn't understand the secret runes of this fifth-tier Sky-Slicing Blade at all, but that didn't matter; he just liked the design of the blade.

He casually put the 'Fifth-Tier Sky-Slaying Blade' directly into his spatial ring.

The white-bearded elder, Lord Wu, looked solemn. Light flowed in his palm, revealing a translucent stone box with a warm, jade-like luster: "Little fellow, the first two items are merely ordinary weapons of a Realm Lord. This one is different—it contains a life force that is almost regenerative, a rare treasure refined from the essence of the universe—the Fruit of Life!"

The stone box is semi-transparent, and a deep blue shadow flows inside, seemingly pulsating with life.

"This is a miraculous crystallization nurtured by the vast galaxy, and the life force it contains is nothing short of heaven-defying. Even a realm lord who can shatter stars with a wave of his hand, after exhausting his primal force and suffering severe damage to his origin... a single fruit is enough to instantly revive him, as if he has been reborn!"

Lord Wu's gaze fell on the stone box, and he exclaimed in amazement, "The creation of the universe is truly a masterpiece of nature!"

Lin Hao remained calm and composed as he placed the stone box containing the priceless treasure into the wrist guard space where Babata was located.

"Thank you Lord Wu for the generous gift."

Lin Hao bowed deeply, his expression sincere.

Lord Wu stroked his beard and smiled, his eyes gleaming: "Ha, it's alright. You are very strong, so make sure to collect more Thunderstones. My treasure trove of rare and precious items... still has many surprises waiting for you."

His words were incredibly alluring.

"I will certainly do my best."

Lin Hao smiled and nodded, then turned and gracefully left.

Chapter 53 The end of the universe is—paying taxes!

After leaving the castle, Lin Hao had almost completely drained his supply of Thunderstones.

He didn't go anywhere. He told Babata to feed the Moyun Vine with the Fruit of Life, and then he blocked the castle gate, carefully examining and studying the Ice Soul Blade.

"This is the Tier 5 Ice Soul Blade from the list!"

"He was clearly using a Tier 3 Sky-Slaying Blade before; this must be one he just exchanged for!"

"Strange, how did he get Thunderstone... Report this to higher authorities immediately."

The five factions that remained behind reported Lin Hao's latest actions, triggering an even fiercer struggle near the Thunderstone mine!

……

Time passed slowly, and half a month quickly went by.

During this time, some people tried to enter the castle, but Lin Hao stood guard at the entrance like a gatekeeper, and ordinary people dared not provoke him.

With Brolin's experience serving as a cautionary tale, the five major powers are all taking a wait-and-see approach, since they don't currently have enough Thunderstones to exchange for Inheritance Crystal Balls.

"Your Highness, this is the Thunderstone brought up by the Second Brigade. They mined two areas and killed three squads. They obtained a total of about 210 million Thunderstones."

In the crowd of allied forces, the Ninth Princess Brolin, surrounded by eight bodyguards, sat there, while a man respectfully handed her a spatial wristband.

"Your Highness."

Another man rushed in, bowed respectfully, and handed over a spatial ring, saying, "This is the 168 million Thunderstones obtained by the Fifth Brigade."

She returned to the castle last night with eight bodyguards, but Lin Hao guarded the gate and wouldn't let anyone else in. She hadn't collected all the Thunderstones yet, so she waited one night.

At this moment, Brolin's eyes lit up. She picked up the spatial ring, then looked conflicted before quickly standing up: "Now I have enough to exchange for a first-level password. Never mind, let's go ask Lin Hao what he's up to!"

Brolin, accompanied by bodyguards, headed straight for the castle, immediately attracting the attention of countless members of the Allied forces.

"Lord Lin Hao, you..."

Upon getting closer, Brolin respectfully asked.

"Blorene, have you thought it through? You're willing to date me?"

Lin Hao stopped studying the secret runes on the Ice Soul Blade, looked at Brolin, and his eyes shone.

"Lord Lin Hao... please don't do this."

Startled, Brolin unconsciously took two steps back.

"Don't be nervous, I don't mean any harm... It seems you're not interested in dating me yet, and want to go in to exchange for treasure?"

"Hmm... I wonder what Lord Lin Hao's plans are?"

Brolin asked with a complicated expression.

Lin Hao stood up, shrugged, and casually created a water curtain that enveloped the castle gate. He then loudly announced this to everyone in the surrounding allied forces.

"For everyone's safety, I hereby announce that I will be in charge of security for the treasure exchange, providing security services to all adventurers entering the castle to exchange for treasures and ensuring their confidentiality!"

"As compensation, I will only charge you based on the number of Thunderstones you possess. Let's say 30 Cosmic Coins per Thunderstone!"