Chapter Sixty: Deals and Bargains

Wu Tiande hesitated for a moment at Liu Zong’s question. He considered it seriously for quite a while before finally nodding. “That’s simple. There are many ways to control the position. You can refer to ‘A Handbook of Position Selection’ and ‘The Advanced Guide to Positioning’—these two threads.”

Liu Zong quickly searched for the two threads, skimmed them, and then shook his head. “This isn’t what I’m looking for. What I want is a presence that can hover above the main fortress and form a massive rain cloud or cloud layer, so that the fortress and its various defensive systems can move freely within the clouds, achieving overall mobility.”

Wu Tiande, a top student specializing in biology, immediately understood what Liu Zong wanted, though some details were left unsaid. “You’re researching the Eastern bone dragon, and you’ve found that bone dragons without wings can’t fly, right? That’s the main difference between the Eastern and Western types. Many things in the Eastern system are invisible. There’s actually a specialized study on this—you can check the thread ‘Complete Guide to Making Eastern Ghost Dragons.’ It explains everything in detail. Also, ghost dragons don’t use rain clouds; they use something like a curtain of darkness. I imagine you’re familiar with that.”

Listening to Wu Tiande’s explanation, Liu Zong quickly searched and indeed found the thread, but it appeared to require payment and the price was not low.

Normally, Liu Zong might have skipped it, but with Wu Tiande’s recommendation, he gritted his teeth and bought it, reading it with utmost attention.

After about half an hour, Liu Zong slapped the table and stood up. “This is exactly what I need! Thank you, Wu—wait, where did Wu go?”

Upon realizing Wu Tiande had already left, Liu Zong didn’t linger in the forum. He copied the ‘Complete Guide to Making Eastern Ghost Dragons’ thread, turning it directly into a card to take with him.

Leaving the forum, Liu Zong quickly departed the school, heading underground to the southwest of Yang City, where the transaction point for players with dark attributes was located. With new ideas in mind, he planned to purchase some items there.

It was the same shop as before—Black Bone Goods. Liu Zong entered and called out loudly, “Little Black, are you here? I want to buy something.”

The owner, whose entire body was black, even the whites of his eyes, quickly appeared from the back room. Seeing Liu Zong, he broke into a smile. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want to buy this time?”

“Let’s talk about that later. I have eleven units of fire-attribute bones, sixty-seven units of ordinary electrical fragments or parts, and twenty-one units of electrical fragments or parts with fire or dark attributes. Can you estimate their current value for me? I’ll need it for trading.”

As he spoke, Liu Zong laid out his spoils from the Storm Archipelago—of course, he had kept anything useful for himself; these were the leftovers.

Little Black said nothing, swiftly picking up various instruments to test the items. Compared to Liu Zong, who could only carry cards as a level zero weakling, Little Black was a level two advanced player, able to virtualize the items in the card.

After calculating everything, Little Black quoted him a price equivalent to 271 units of magical mercury or roughly 9117 units of currency.

Knowing how much spare money he had, Liu Zong began to browse the shop with clear intent, pointing out items to turn into cards and take away.

Little Black couldn’t help commenting, “Looks like you’ve struck it rich this time. But you’re picking top-tier items—what if you fail the job change?”

“You and your jinxing mouth,” Liu Zong retorted, bullying Little Black for having no whites in his eyes and giving him a glare. “Can’t you say something nice? I risked my life for these things. If your words spoil my luck, what then?”

Little Black chuckled slyly, suddenly remembering something. “By the way, I just received a treasure map. Want to take a look? Level zero.”

Hearing this, Liu Zong hesitated. After pondering for a while, he shook his head. “I probably won’t have time soon. I’ve got too many things to deal with, most of which require slow, persistent effort. My plan was to buy all the materials I need at once, then spend half a year in the lab.”

At Liu Zong’s words, Little Black let it go. After all, Liu Zong wasn’t his only customer. Still, Liu Zong’s good purchases made him think Liu Zong’s luck was strong lately, and maybe treasure hunting would yield even more benefits.

After leaving Black Bone Goods, Liu Zong visited several nearby shops, buying a large amount of materials he needed. Most were level two, but because he bought them in scattered batches, no one could guess what he intended to do.

With his purchases in hand, Liu Zong returned to the forum, this time seeking out Wu Tiande directly, hoping he could cultivate some level zero flood dragons for him.

Liu Zong had no requirements for their combat strength, only that they not be too large—ideally as thick as a human arm—and that they could originate from snakes or predatory fish species.

Additionally, they needed to be able to fly freely within the clouds formed by the curtain of darkness, and to grow by consuming flesh or negative energy. If they could naturally breed new flood dragons in a nest, that would be best; if not, a large quantity would suffice.

Wu Tiande agreed without hesitation, saying that such flood dragons were plentiful and could be delivered immediately.

So when Liu Zong returned to his rented space, he found himself accompanied by nearly a thousand flood dragons.

Bringing them inside, Liu Zong did not kill them, but instead threw them near the energy distribution chamber, then cast a soul-calling spell there.

These flood dragons were just as Liu Zong had requested—small but agile, and lacking intelligence. Once released near the energy distribution chamber, they tried to scatter and escape.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they relaxed, they were enveloped by the surrounding soul mist. The seven vines attached above the shrine swiftly sprang into action. The fine white-haired tendrils beneath the leaves pierced into the bodies of the flood dragons like needles.

In almost an instant, a thousand flood dragons were reduced to shriveled corpses, most of which turned to dust and merged into the soul mist. Only fewer than a hundred, under Liu Zong’s soul-calling spell, stirred anew, transforming into corpse flood dragons attached to the vines, perpetually circling the energy distribution chamber.