Chapter 84: Gathering of the Mighty

“Hiss hiss~~” Luo Yuan used the ‘Red-Mixed Copper Mother Fragment’ to drill downward at full speed, spending an entire day before he finally reached his destination. With a flick of his mental power, a stone shot out and landed in Luo Yuan’s hand.

The stone was pitch black, with thunder patterns etched upon it. Luo Yuan couldn’t help but smile when he saw it.

“Yes, there are cosmic crystals at three thousand two hundred meters underground,” Luo Feng whispered.

“Cosmic crystals?”

“What, cosmic crystals?” Thor’s eyes widened instantly.

“Don’t dig for those cosmic crystals. Just dig stones like the one in my hand!” Luo Yuan said.

“Huh? Third Brother, why dig these black stones instead of cosmic crystals? Is there something special about them?” Thor asked boisterously. Luo Feng, Hong, and their ten attendants also turned their eyes to the stone in Luo Yuan’s hand.

“Heh, this stone is called Thunderstone, a specialty of this world. It may have little value outside, but in the Thunder World, it’s worth a fortune. Trust me and dig for these stones. Their value rivals billions of cosmic crystals,” Luo Yuan laughed.

“This… Third Brother, are you sure?” Hong asked solemnly.

“No doubt. If you trust me, just follow my advice,” Luo Yuan replied earnestly.

“Alright, I believe you,” Hong said directly.

Though Luo Feng and Thor appeared puzzled, they still chose to trust Luo Yuan. Thus began their quest to find and excavate Thunderstone. While other teams pursued cosmic crystals, only Luo Yuan’s group dug up stones others deemed useless, drawing inevitable ridicule from the other teams—but Luo Yuan ignored it completely.

As each squad in Thunder World sought their own treasures, the higher-ups from various powers, upon learning news about the world-within-a-world and cosmic crystals, hurried to the villa in Thunder World. Even domain lords grew restless, for the Thunder Lord who created this world had amassed many coveted treasures, among them spatial secret techniques so many desired.

…

Three domain lords and twenty-one cosmic-level experts stood at the villa’s entrance, each with their own distinct presence—cold, domineering, cheerful, or sinister. The villa’s guards didn’t dare obstruct them, but standing in their way was a woman with short silver hair and a gleaming silver battle suit.

Virtual Universe.

The sky was a flawless azure, pure and unblemished, with mist swirling all around. In this cloud-shrouded void, a gigantic stone round table, dozens of meters in diameter, hovered in midair, its surface marked by mottled patterns. Around the floating stone table were stone chairs made of the same material.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

One figure after another appeared out of nowhere in this void, each selecting a stone chair and sitting down.

“I represent Three-Axe Mountain.” General Tianchen sat and spoke coldly.

“I represent the Ice Sea Divine Kingdom.” The woman in snow-white robes, her hair nearly transparent, smiled as she spoke.

“I represent Black Dragon Mountain.” The domain lord, nearly four meters tall with scales covering his face and only his blood-red eyes visible, spoke in a deep voice.

Twelve figures.

They represented four organizations, two holy lands, and sixteen great families. The sixteen families sent a single representative each, while the four organizations and two holy lands dispatched a total of eleven domain lords.

“Let’s begin the meeting,” the scaled giant from Black Dragon Mountain said in a low tone.

“The entrance to Thunder World is now guarded by the special envoy ‘Qinya’ from the Qianwu Branch of the Universe Mercenary Alliance, and no adventurers below star-level are allowed entry,” Tianchen’s voice echoed in the void.

“This Qinya—what is her background?” The gentle voice came from the female domain lord of the Ice Sea Divine Kingdom.

“Her teacher is the commander of the Third Legion of the Qianwu Universe Nation,” Tianchen replied. “The Third Commander is very fond of her.”

“The Third Commander?”

The other eleven domain lords were visibly startled.

“Yes, so we can’t force our way in.” Tianchen swept his gaze across the assembled domain lords. “That leaves only one solution: send large groups of ninth-grade star-level adventurers, using the pretext of the probationary mercenary exam, to enter Thunder World.”

“Good idea!”

“Indeed.”

“How many will each faction send?”

“What’s the quota?”

“The sixteen families may each send up to ten thousand star-level adventurers.”

“The four organizations may each send up to two hundred thousand star-level adventurers.”

“The two holy lands may each send up to five hundred thousand star-level adventurers.”

…

Thunder World, the world-within-a-world.

Luo Yuan’s group continued their search for Thunderstone.

“Beep beep beep~ Luo Yuan, you have an incoming communication request from Ming Yu, external executive of the Martial Division, Virtual Universe Company, stationed at the Black Dragon Mountain branch!” the intelligent Xiaoba reminded.

“Accept!”

“Connection established!”

A light screen appeared on Luo Yuan’s wristwatch.

“Lord Ming Yu,” Luo Yuan smiled at the figure on the screen.

“Luo Yuan, tell me—are you currently in the world-within-a-world of Thunder World?”

Luo Yuan nodded to the burly man on the screen. “Lord Ming Yu, what is it you need?”

“This world-within-a-world was created by a famed domain lord from Black Dragon Mountain Starfield millions of years ago. His name was Kabu, known as the Thunder Lord,” Ming Yu explained quickly. “Kabu was exceptionally lucky and wealthy among domain lords, possessing several renowned treasures that even domain lords covet!

I’m contacting you to inform you: due to certain reasons, only star-level adventurers are currently permitted in Thunder World. But the treasures in the world-within-a-world are too enticing. Now, every major force in Black Dragon Mountain Starfield is dispatching armies composed of ninth-grade star-level adventurers into Thunder World.”

“What?” Luo Yuan feigned surprise.

“These armies are assembled from the top elite experts of the starfield, after a ‘Domain Lord Conference’ determined that nearly two million adventurers would be sent in total. The adventurer teams vary in size; some serve domain lords, others serve sector lords or cosmic-level masters,” Ming Yu smiled encouragingly. “Fortunately, they aren’t united, so if you keep your head down, you still have a chance to survive.”

“Understood,” Luo Yuan nodded, inwardly marveling at the audacity of these powers sending two million ninth-grade star-level troops—a truly formidable force. Even cosmic-level experts would flee before such numbers. Ants can bite an elephant to death; to a cosmic-level, ninth-grade star-levels are mere ants, but two million ants would exhaust even the strongest.

“Luo Yuan, I know you’re a clever man. Right now, on Canglan Star, there are masses of cosmic-level experts, over a hundred sector lords, and nearly ten domain lords! Tell me, if you emerge from Thunder World, how tragic would the outcome be? Could you even protect the treasures you’ve acquired?” Ming Yu grinned at Luo Yuan, though with his burly physique, his smile was rather intimidating.

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