“My deepest thanks!” The Thunder master didn’t stand on courtesy. If he could break out of the encirclement, he would absolutely return the billion dao crystals. It wasn’t just a matter of face, but also his dignity!

This was too pathetic!

He was borrowing money from two juniors. The entire chaos would look down on him if word of this got out.

Gan Wuliang swiftly disappeared, gathering all of the dao crystals he could find in the dao universes, Li Hao’s river, and various exalted emperors...

When he reappeared, he handed a storage ring to Li Hao. “Your Lordship, there’s only eight hundred million here after collecting everything I could find...” he transmitted.

That wasn’t enough. This is all the personal wealth that we have.

Li Hao’s group spent money very quickly. While they’d reaped a great harvest from toppling so many worlds, they’d quickly consumed most of their gains. The young man also spent money like water. Who knew how much it would take to saturate his one thousand worlds?

Void and Silver Moon’s dao universes were also bottomless pits. Regular people couldn’t afford to support them at all.

Li Hao realized that he’d overestimated his wealth since they were short two hundred million. It looked like everyone had a fast rate of depletion, since a dozen worlds were consumed so quickly.

But that was fine!

“Senior, we only gathered eight hundred million dao crystals, but we have a treasure that can endlessly produce chaos strength. It can produce a lot. But, it’s the core dao star of one of our exalted emperors. If we give it to the senior...”

“That won’t do!” The Thunder master immediately protested upon hearing these words.

“We must keep our word!” Li Hao set his jaw after further thought. “How about this? We’ll loan this item to the senior, as well as give you the eight hundred million dao crystals. We’ll fetch it when we have a moment.

“In addition, I’d like to point out that this item has tracking characteristics. That means to say that we’ll be able to know where Thunder World is if you take it home with you. If the senior is not at ease about this...”

Tracking characteristics?

It was normal for a dao star to be a homing beacon. Although the Thunder master felt that it was best if his whereabouts couldn’t be traced, the two juniors had been so forthright about it. He was also depending on their largesse. In that case... he would keep the dao star for now.

If there came a time in which his world needed to get away... he might discard the dao star. But it wouldn’t be now.

“What does that matter?” he said solemnly. “The little friends would be looking down on me to think otherwise. Since I am its temporary caretaker, I will be sure to look after it well. I will not have harm come to the exalted emperors under your banner.”

A dao star that can produce chaos strength? What kind of dao is it? How much strength can it produce?

His questions were answered the next second as a dao star materialized. It was very weak, just of the Fused Dao level. It was one of the queen’s many dao stars that Li Hao had selected. It produced chaos energy at a furious pace. Given this rate, it would be normal for it to produce several hundred dao crystals a dao.

That was... incredible.

Several hundred a day wasn’t that much, but it would be one hundred thousand dao crystals after a year. Li Hao had 360 of such dao stars, which meant he would earn tens of thousands of dao crystals a year.

And this was just when the queen was a second rank.

She was producing the equivalent of several minor worlds’ worth in one year. Once she reached third rank and proceeded all the way to sixth, she might produce a major world’s equivalent in a year. How terrifying!

Li Hao naturally wouldn’t go into that much detail. Offering up this dao star was just a drop in the bucket for Thunder World’s needs. There was an immaterial world present in the star at the moment. The Thunder master could sense a thing or two. He raised a brow—this was indeed a dao star, but it wasn’t just that either.

There seemed to be a dao domain on it!

He glanced at Li Hao, a question in his eyes.

“This is to ensure that the star doesn’t collapse as soon as it leaves this place!” Li Hao explained. “I’ve attached a miniature dao domain of my making to it!”

A dao domain! As I thought!

The Thunder master was curious. He possessed dao domains as well, but they weren’t useful after they were parted from him and entered another world. And was there a need for the Silver Moon king to do this?

Was he worried that Thunder World might destroy his dao star? Then why give it to him?

The Thunder master started hesitating. Although the person in front of him was only a fifth rank... indeed, a fifth rank, he was suddenly ill at ease. Could there be other functions to this dao star, aside from location tracking?

Were there?

There really were!

The seventh rank Thunder master had not discovered the river of time. With the dao star in place, that was the equivalent of throwing open the world gates to Li Hao!

Yes, the world gates!

With the immaterial world inside Thunder World, Li Hao could lead his people straight in if he was nearby. One should always be on guard against potential threats.

And not just threats, but ulterior motives from others as well. However, this was not yet the time to be so candid.

Seeing that the Thunder master was growing concerned, Li Hao quickly said, “I can add a term to the dao treaty that I will never do anything to harm Thunder World!”

The dao star wasn't meant for an attack on Thunder World, but to be a backdoor in cases of emergency. For example, if the world fell to enemies or was in a critical situation, or if Phoenix major world was about to overrun it... Li Hao would have a chance to lead his people in.

Therefore, the dao star might be so much more useful than expected!

There was no need to set plans in place against Thunder World. Li Hao just thought that the Thunder master might not emerge victorious against Phoenix. Now there was a world full of conniving fellows!

Once Thunder World falls to chaos beasts and the dao star is still there with the immaterial world, I’ll be able to access its core anytime and take out the big guys! This is a perfect contingency plan!

He hadn’t had a chance to do so and would’ve never dared attempt to do so in Phoenix. Otherwise, Li Hao would’ve wanted to leave behind a dao star in Phoenix major world to be his backdoor. It would grant him access anytime!

The Thunder master’s face twitched. He wanted to say that there wasn’t a need to do so, that he trusted the Silver Moon king. But on second thought...

Forget it, I don’t actually trust you. We just met, after all, so it’s better to have a dao treaty in place.

Mmhmm, this is just a precaution. It doesn’t mean that I don’t actually trust you, don’t misunderstand me now. You’ve got to have some plans of your own in mind. There’s no reason why you would give me this. You’re either doing this to make a move against me or against someone else.

It was hard to determine for now.

Li Hao was also concerned that being too candid would make the other unhappy. Can I come out and say that this is just in case your world is conquered by another? That I want to make sure I can still access it?

That’d be thinking poorly of the Thunder master’s future prospects!

It was enough that he had such expectations in mind, there was no need to come out with it.

Things went much smoother since they shared mutual understanding. It was easy to sign a dao treaty. There were two conditions on the table and a dao universe as the medium. After that, a world was needed to be the sacrifice.

Li Hao had a few minor worlds left. And since the Thunder master could not utilize his own dao universe, Silver Moon’s would do. It was just a medium.

Given last time’s experience, this process went very smoothly. The two quickly finished signing!

The Thunder master promptly received eight hundred million dao crystals and a dao star that continuously produced chaos energy. It felt like a dream. Had he accomplished his tasks so easily?

How... bemusing!

He was much more forthright after they signed the agreement. “I’m embarrassed that I’ve received so much from the two little friends. I’d like to point out that there aren’t many treasures in the worlds that belong to chaos beasts. They eat everything, so normally leave nothing behind...”

Li Hao nodded. He was also much more at ease after they signed the agreement.

“We know,” he chuckled. “One world isn’t worth much. But if there’s hundreds or a thousand worlds... then there’s a lot!”

“......” The Thunder master gaped at the young man.

“There’s no need to be so surprised, senior,” Li Hao smiled. “We took out more than fifty worlds in Phoenix’s sphere of influence before this. We’re here to eliminate even more worlds!”

“......”

You guys are crazy! Completely barking mad! What do you want so many worlds for?!

The Thunder master was utterly stunned. No wonder you guys wanted me to leave! You guys don’t have your sights set on this handful of worlds, but on hundreds and a thousand more!

This is so crazy that I can’t even begin to imagine.

“The Dragon master won’t stay in the other regions for long, he’ll return within one year...” The Thunder master sounded a note of caution. You guys are nuts. With so many worlds in your hands, you’ll have to spend a long time just running from him.

“We’ll take down as many as we can within a month. Have no fear, senior!”

Oh, I see. You guys are just bluffing.

That’s good.

You won’t even be able to make the rounds of all of the worlds in a month, much less conquer them.

The Thunder master relaxed, but offered one final word of prudence. “The two little friends are very strong, but there are very possibly seventh ranks in the vicinity. You must be careful! I sensed it earlier, that there must be one in the void nearby!

“It’s why I’ve yet to make a move. Your powers of hiding may be stronger than mine, but a seventh rank is still someone to be reckoned with!”

“We know, thank you for your warning, senior,” Li Hao nodded. “I must also say that Phoenix major world is far more than meets the eye! They have more than one seventh rank, and they also have a dragonic seventh rank with them! Apparently they have one more, which makes for three!

“In addition, their Foreign Affairs Office has at least one hundred exalted emperors present. They’re all from off world! Phoenix has been biding its time for a while. They might have spies on your inner council. These plants might already be testing the waters in your absence...”

“There are, I killed one earlier...”

“One? There’s way more than that!” Li Hao shook his head. “I didn’t see the Phoenix master, but have met the Phoenix princess and dragon seventh rank. They’re very shrewd individuals. I suspect there’s something wrong with all of the exalted emperors you recruited these years!”

The Thunder master jerked with surprise. Was that possible?