Chapter 755: Proceeding According to Plan

However, he wasn’t disappointed. This was just one of the thousand planets in the commercial district.

There were also plenty of materials for sale in the other market areas and on the planets owned by the major commerce associations.

They then teleported to a “Market Star,” a planet dedicated to independent merchants setting up stalls. Su Ze set up his own stall to sell some of the loot from his bandit raids. Meanwhile, he had his clone stage a fake transaction to transfer all of its money to him.

Afterward, the clone found a deserted spot and self-destructed.

After selling off a good deal of the loot, Su Ze took the Pope and began to wander around.

They hopped from one planet to another, searching for the materials they needed.

During their search, Su Ze didn’t find any suitable upgrade materials for himself, but the Pope came across several.

Unfortunately, none of them upgraded the “Blood and Flesh Parasite” skill after being absorbed.

But finally, their efforts paid off!

On a planet leased by the Pan Clan Commerce Association, they discovered a peculiar, jelly-like, eighth-rank ore. After the Pope absorbed it, the “Blood and Flesh Parasite” skill was finally upgraded to the eighth rank.

Su Ze had planned to keep searching, but he sensed that Dou Er and Dou San were getting very close.

‘Mr. Ya and the others are almost here!’

He didn’t waste any time and returned to the spaceship docking bay at the commercial district’s entrance to wait for them.

About half a day later, the Hero landed in the docking bay.

Su Ze didn’t approach them. Instead, he used Spiritual Transmission to communicate.

“How did it go? Is the Super Star still there?” Su Ze asked.

“It is! And it doesn’t look like anyone has claimed it!” Mr. Ya replied, his voice filled with excitement.

Su Ze let out a long sigh of relief. “Excellent! In that case, we’ll stick to the plan!”

Now that they had confirmed the Super Star was still unclaimed, they could proceed. Their mission: get enough money to buy a Giant Spatial Artifact!

Su Ze ordered Dou Er to stay at the docking bay. Using a spiritual communication device, he commanded everyone to sell off all the resources they had, return to the bay, and hand over all their money to Dou Er.

Mr. Ya and Dou San headed to the core commercial district to find their own suitable upgrade materials.

As for Mage, he took the Moon God-level Spaceship and prepared to make a trip back to the Tree Spirit Race’s home planet, just as Su Ze had promised him.

Meanwhile, Su Ze and the Pope continued their own search for upgrade materials.

Everything was proceeding step-by-step, just as planned.

…

「In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed.」

In that time, Su Ze had visited roughly ninety percent of the planets in the commercial district, leaving only a few that weren’t open to the public.

He had also finally found a suitable upgrade material, successfully upgrading his “Spongy Body” skill to the eighth rank.

“Even with all this money, it’s still not quite enough to buy a spatial artifact that can hold a Super Star,” Su Ze sighed, weighing a Space Ring in his hand.

The Space Ring contained all the money they had between them.

The members of the Starry Sky Guard Team had sold all the loot from their raids, but even when added to their previous savings, it wasn’t enough to afford a Giant Spatial Artifact.

They could probably only afford it if Su Ze was willing to sell his two Sun God-level Spaceships, the accumulated Moon God-level Spaceships, and every Divine Artifact in his possession.

And that didn’t even account for the ninth-rank exotic beast Su Ze also planned to buy.

During this time, Su Ze had collected more Soul Poison. He was now confident he could completely destroy the Nian Race’s Sun God Consciousness within the Soul Nourishing Jade Stone, allowing King Mu to take its place.

Furthermore, the Pope’s “Blood and Flesh Parasite” was now at the eighth rank, so it was time to consider acquiring a ninth-rank exotic beast.

‘Whether we can afford the Giant Spatial Artifact and the ninth-rank exotic beast will all come down to the upcoming auction.’

In the meantime, Dou Yi had been contacting the major commerce associations. He had figured out which of them possessed Giant Spatial Artifacts and ninth-rank exotic beasts, and he’d gotten price quotes from all of them.

The prices were all quite similar, so for Su Ze, it didn’t matter which association he bought from. His main concern was choosing a partner to cooperate with for the upcoming auction of the Bloodline Divine Artifact.

‘First, I’ll rule out the Spirit Race Commerce Association. This entire Public Star Realm is Spirit Race territory. If they tried to pull any tricks, I’d be powerless to resist.’

‘Next, the Saint Race Commerce Association is out. They’re the ones who covet this Bloodline Divine Artifact the most. If they hosted the auction, they’d almost certainly try something.’

‘Even the smaller, well-reputed associations are a no-go. For one, they lack influence, which could lower the final sale price. For another, they might not be able to withstand pressure from the Dominator Races.’

‘Relatively speaking, the only one with a good reputation that can stand up to both the Spirit Race and Saint Race Commerce Associations is the Alliance Commerce Association.’

Coincidentally, the Alliance Commerce Association had both the Giant Spatial Artifact and the ninth-rank exotic beast that Su Ze needed.

Su Ze gave Dou Yi his orders. “Tomorrow, go to the Alliance Commerce Association. Tell them you want to buy the ninth-rank exotic beast. Use the auction of the Bloodline Divine Artifact as a bargaining chip to negotiate a lower price for the beast.”

“If they show good faith by lowering the price, promise them the right to auction the Bloodline Divine Artifact.”

“As you command.” Dou Yi accepted his orders and withdrew. He left behind the Metalization Belt, which was a Bloodline Divine Artifact, taking only the Dimension Ring, and then waited outside the door.

They were currently meeting in the vacuum of space, in an outer region far from the core district.

Su Ze picked up the Metalization Belt and began to absorb it.

Now that his “Spongy Body” skill was at the eighth rank, he could try absorbing the Metalization Belt to break through to the ninth rank.

He had to absorb the Metalization Belt before the Dimension Ring was taken to be auctioned. Otherwise, its presence might be sensed by someone else holding a Bloodline Divine Artifact.

The Metalization Belt transformed into liquid metal and flowed into Su Ze’s body.

Su Ze’s entire body immediately began to burn as it underwent a transformation.

And in the spot where the Metalization Belt had been, a single drop of golden blood appeared!