There wasn’t much dao strength to be had in two sixth rank worlds. It would be a nice harvest if the Thunder master walked away with one billion dao crystals in total. That... wasn’t very useful for a seventh rank world.

Red Moon and Skycloud had spent roughly one billion dao crystals to buy a dao star. The Orchid Forest master had also paid a few billion altogether when Li Hao and Void killed external exalted emperors for him.

Orchid Forest hadn’t been a rich world, they were also preparing for their own ascension.

“Senior, one billion isn’t that much.” Li Hao made swift calculations. “If Brother Void and I pool together all of our wealth and absorb some world strength... we might be able to come up with that figure!”

“......” The Thunder master paused and stared at Li Hao. What did the young man mean?

One billion is a lot. Does he mean that he’ll give it to me? Is a free gift like that possible?

“But I also know that the senior is a proud and unyielding man, you might not accept my offer!”

I’ll accept it if you give it to me! I’m almost at the stage of killing people for this! How would I turn you down if you offer it??

The Thunder master wanted to beat his chest and roar his acceptance. I’ll take whatever you think of giving!

“But humanity cannot bear the loss of Thunder World,” Li Hao continued. “That will make Dragon Region the exclusive territory of chaos beasts. There would be no hope for humans in this region then.

“Senior, I know you’ll find my offer hard to swallow, but how about this. We won’t give it to you for free, the senior just needs to agree to a term or two. We’ll give you one billion dao crystals after you sign a dao treaty!”

“......” The Thunder master’s expression shifted. “Dao treaty? What do you guys want me to do?”

“Nothing major, it’s all in pursuit of humanity’s glory,” Li Hao responded solemnly. “Once the senior receives the dao crystals and returns to your world, you must blaze with might at the peak of Thunder World and declare that all humans can find shelter in your world.

“You will summon all willing souls within the chaos to stand against the chaos beast encroachment on human territory! This will give humanity a chance to rise and awaken in Dragon Region once more!”

“......” What kind of term was that?? That wasn’t even a task! How could there be someone in existence selfless enough to send him back so that he could openly reveal himself and prove that he was still on Thunder World?

It must mean that these two had other plans in mind and felt that they could gain more by being here. They were just concerned about being interrupted...

Fucking hell! I’m the one who’s worried about that, alright?!

“The Silver Moon king sets the best example for mankind, alright!” The Thunder master thought rapidly. “But this isn’t an appropriate trade-off since one billion dao crystals is a large sum...”

“If the senior feels embarrassed, then you can outright challenge the Phoenix world master. I think that we should aim to ruin their plans at present. They must be prepared to attack Thunder World, so the senior can send out some feelers to wreck whatever they’ve laid down...”

“......” Damn, what do you guys want to do after I draw the attention of the chaos beasts? Do you want these sixth rank worlds? But you won’t be gaining much for it!

And I already told you guys that there might be seventh ranks around.

“There seems to be seventh ranks hiding in the shadows here. If the two of you want these sixth rank worlds... I might be able to help...”

These two could utilize a dao domain that hid them from the heavens. That was good, his domain of thunder and lightning created too much disturbance. I’m so jealous! I wouldn’t need to be afraid of being discovered by others if I had that too!

Indeed, Li Hao’s dao of hiding and Void’s world of emptiness was the perfect tool for killing people and seizing their treasure! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“There’s no need for that, that’s not our goal,” Li Hao shook his head. “It’s also too easy for the senior to be exposed if you make a move here. That would plunge you into danger and disregard the safety of Thunder World. That can’t be allowed!”

LI Hao would rather that he himself took the risk!

You just need to go home and create some disturbances. That means the seventh rank masters of the world will ignore us even if we get up to anything here. They’ll be focused on you!

So you, you go kick up a fuss!

I’m sponsoring you with one billion dao crystals. I’ll sponsor you even if it takes everything I have!

The Silver Moon king spoke only of his concern for Thunder World and humanity. The Thunder master became confused. Did these two have other thoughts in mind or not?

I said that there might be seventh ranks here... Although you two are strong, you need to be careful of failing at an easy task. One billion dao crystals is a lot. It might be the sum total of what you’ll collect after conquering the worlds here.

You want to give that all to me? That’s not right, is it?

Or is it really as you say, that you can’t bear to see humanity suffering? Does it really work like that?

“This is not right...” the Thunder master couldn’t help but say.

“Senior!” Li Hao interrupted solemnly. “Thunder World is the last bastion for mankind in Dragon Region! Several billion humans are waiting for the senior to deliver them from misery!”

I see. So you want me to leave, no matter what.

“Gentlemen...” He quickly adopted a different tone. “So based on what you’ve said, I just need to challenge the Phoenix master after I return home. I can do that to attract the region’s attention, but how long do I need to do that for?”

“One month! The senior will challenge the Phoenix master to a duel in one month. Of course, it’ll depend on the situation. You don’t need to really undertake the battle. It’s just a declaration of resolve.

“We’re telling them that humans can still strike back in this region, that we can still offer resistance through our major worlds! Chaos beasts are not to bully us too much!”

One month?

So you mean to say that the two of you will do something within a month?

What are you guys going to do? He still didn’t understand it. They were paying him one billion dao crystals so that he would challenge the Phoenix master in a month. It didn’t even matter if he followed through or not. He was just to let everyone know that he was still in Thunder World and had never left!

One billion dao crystals would enable him and all of the exalted emperors within his world to recover to peak condition. It might also help him catch Phoenix major world off guard. They’d constantly tightened the flow of dao crystals to him, after all.

There weren’t many who could offer one billion in a go—they were all world masters. But he was the only seventh rank human master of the world throughout Dragon Region.

“I can do that, and we don’t need to sign a dao treaty,” he said. “I’ll do it for sure. We’d have to waste a minor world if we signed an agreement...”

“We must sign it!” Li Hao said firmly. “This will set the senior at ease and we won’t reveal that you were here either. This ensures mutual trust. Whoever violates it... will be struck by a seventh, no, eighth rank tribulation!”

Seventh rank wouldn’t do!

Li Hao didn’t even think eighth rank was enough. Ninth rank was out of the question, however. If it wasn’t for the trouble that would result from ninth rank, he’d want to put that on the table.

Was it worth it to trade one billion dao crystals for the Thunder master to distract the chaos beasts?

It was!

It was just the reserves of one or two sixth rank worlds. Once his plan was complete, he would have far more than one or two worlds to play with. He would have one hundred, one thousand!

Of course, the Thunder master would probably never believe that these two had such ambitions. They wanted to capture all of the region’s worlds in one fell swoop!

There was another benefit to this course of action—the Thunder master’s appearance would ensure that anything that happened here would be ignored. Nothing was as vital as the Thunder master. This was the greatest benefit of all!

Li Hao had been worried about concealing his movements before. But if the Thunder master agreed to the plan, none of that would be a concern.

Did the young man have one billion dao crystals?

He did not.

But he had a few hundred million and could extract more from the worlds if needed. The chaos strength supplied by the queen was also being furiously turned into dao crystals.

They could come up with enough if they stretched a bit.

He was in a much better condition than the Thunder master—he was preparing to sell dao foundation crystals! It was clear to see from that how poor he was.

The Thunder master took a deep breath, having fully understood what Li Hao intended. “Gentlemen, if you seek to topple some worlds, then I don’t need you to pay me anything,” he said sincerely. “I can immediately return to my world...”

He would always be happy to see Dragon Region factions being taken out. It was becoming apparent that these two wanted to pay him off and get him out of here, so that he wouldn’t disturb their arrangements.

Now that was a bit embarrassing!

“No, we are doing this for humanity!” Li Hao said righteously. He didn’t trust this guy, that was the long and short of it. We’ll give you money, you sign the agreement, and then we go on our ways. We might be able to partner more once I’m a sixth rank, but not before that. It’s too dangerous to do that right now.

He might only propose further cooperation after he was sixth rank and Void was seventh rank. Otherwise, it would be consorting with the devils before that. These guys weren’t New Martial, so they did not have Li Hao’s trust!

The Thunder master was surprised by the refusal. He’d already blatantly indicated that he would cooperate even without dao crystals. But he’d been turned down!

What do these two have in mind?

They’re giving me a billion dao crystals just because I say so, which means their goal is far more than that. Are you seeking to breach a seventh rank world? He didn’t understand it, how would they come by more treasure?

The Thunder master was briefly lost in thought.

“So the Silver Moon king means... that there will be only one demand in the dao treaty... and that is I will reveal myself after I return and challenge the Phoenix master to a duel in one month?”

“Correct!”

“Is there... nothing else?”

“We can add that you do not expose our whereabouts. In the same vein, we will keep a tight lip on yours and the one billion dao crystals!”

“Alright, I agree!” The Thunder master took a deep breath. “I thank you for your kind generosity. If Thunder World manages to break the siege, we will return it twofold!”

“You definitely will be able to do so! I believe in the senior!” Li Hao smiled. “Gan Wuliang, go collect dao crystals and have everyone empty their pockets. We need to satisfy the senior’s needs even if it means they don’t cultivate and we empty Silver Moon’s dao universe!”

“......” The Thunder master grew embarrassed at hearing the commands. One billion was a lot. He would have to sell a significant amount of dao foundation crystals for it.

Ai, I’m a right and proper peak seventh rank, but having a horrible time of things. Now I need a junior to sell all his worldly possessions to help me...

Although he knew that these two had their own plans in mind, he’d left his world to collect dao crystals. He’d even been prepared to be attacked for it!

But now, he was saving himself this trouble and danger. So what if these two had other plans up their sleeves?