CHAPTER 863: CHAPTER 504: SWORD HOLDERS ASSEMBLE, TARGET—SHADOW DEMON WORLD

"Name your conditions. I hope you will act as an agent for human affairs; we Star Realm Merchants prefer to cooperate through transactions.

"Everything in the world has a price. I am even willing to offer a premium deal for you and the Sword Holder."

Lu Heng had discerned that there were significant internal disputes within the Star Realm Merchant Civilization.

At least, there seemed to be considerable differences between Jalama and Azik, to the point where they were almost openly hostile toward each other.

Before Lu Heng could respond, Jalama spoke first: "That’s enough, Azik. Lu Heng is my invited guest; you shouldn’t have barged into my meeting Ecological Ball without permission."

Azik flicked his cloak and turned to leave, tossing a final remark over his shoulder, "Human, consider my proposal. Trust me; the rewards you stand to gain will make you grateful for my favor."

With those words, Azik stepped into the Teleportation Device and departed.

Jalama’s expression was quite displeased, and after a moment, he turned and said, "I apologize for my kinsman’s disruption of this meeting."

Lu Heng smiled and said, "It seems there’s a lot of discord among you."

Jalama did not explain the reasons and casually replied, "Every civilization has its internal disagreements. Azik and I just have different philosophies, but our relationship isn’t as bad as it seems."

As he said, indeed, every civilization has internal disagreements.

Because between individuals, differences in thought inevitably exist.

Knowledge, personality, thoughts, and philosophies all influence decision-making.

Every individual’s ideas differ, so disagreements are inevitable.

The larger the civilization, the more and more apparent the disagreements become.

Take the Sikes Civilization, for example; they have already established a system where different factions participate in governance proportionally.

Even in the Elf Civilization, during the Bone Sovereign crisis, there were disputes between the Aureana Intelligent Network and the Arcane Council.

Human civilization, all the more so; if not for the successful implementation of the nuclear bomb silence plan, human civilization would still be in chaos.

...

In the end, the meeting concluded with a minor, unpleasant incident.

However, overall, Lu Heng’s impression of Jalama was still quite positive.

After leaving Jalama’s Ecological Ball, Lu Heng followed the guiding light pillar back to Blue Star.

This encounter with the Star Realm Merchants provided a lot of information.

Lu Heng recorded it and submitted it to the Abyssal Archive.

Having seen how the Star Realm Merchants gradually succumbed to the Abyss, Lu Heng once again realized how difficult it is to contend with the Abyss.

The Star Realm Merchants are not purely a technological civilization but rather a unique blend of magic and technology.

Therefore, the methods used by technological civilizations to measure a civilization’s level are not adequate for the Star Realm Merchants.

However, from the Star Realm Merchants’ struggle against the Abyss, it seems that their civilization level at the time of losing their home star was higher than that of the Sikes Civilization.

...

In the following days, Lu Heng helped Master Gulu prepare, then transported him to the Black Iron Dwarf Kingdom to rebuild the Molten Crown.

The Black Iron Dwarves certainly have a Talent for excavation and construction.

In just a month, the ruins of the Molten Crown had been mostly cleared, and artisans had begun to plan a new city blueprint.

As soon as Master Gulu arrived and met with the Dwarf King Sorreville Copper Furnace, he quickly joined in the work, discussing plans for constructing a Demigod Level Forging Furnace together.

Lu Heng stayed for an extra day, and seeing the rapid progress of the Black Iron Dwarves, he returned to Blue Star.

Two days later, new Summoning information appeared.

[Abyss Battlefield: Summoning Countdown 7 days.]

As the last Summoning to the Bloodline Demon World was triggered by the Zero Civilization, and there was one world left to search for the Reincarnation Source Material, which was the Shadow Demon World.

Upon seeing the Summoning information, Lu Heng prepared to Summon the white light from the Zero Civilization to inquire about the situation.

Before Lu Heng could initiate the Summoning, a white light appeared behind him, and the surrounding space instantly froze.

Seeing the white light, Lu Heng didn’t need to ask to guess the answer: "So, this Summoning was also arranged by you?"

White Light: "Yes, the target world is the Nebula City of the Shadow Demons."

Lu Heng took a deep breath to calm himself.

Because, in his memory, there was no information about the Abyss Battlefield in the Shadow Demon World.

This meant that this Abyss Battlefield was entirely unknown.

Of course, it was only temporarily unknown.

Lu Heng straightforwardly said, "Send me all the information on the Shadow Demon World as soon as possible."

This request was entirely reasonable.

White Light readily agreed: "Alright, after this conversation, the information will be transmitted to your electronic devices in a human-readable format."

Lu Heng added, "I’d prefer holographic data if possible."

White Light: "No problem; that’s an easy request."

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Do you know the scale of this Summoning?"

White Light: "I’m not sure, but it won’t be small. The Danger Level of the Shadow Demon World will be something you’ve never encountered."

Lu Heng took a deep breath and asked, "Could it reach Level 10?"

White Light: "There’s a high probability."

Lu Heng: "If it’s Level 10, wouldn’t sending human Summoners be a suicide mission?"

White Light: "The Abyss Battlefield inherently has a mode called [Survival Mode]; haven’t you come across it?"

The Abyss Battlefield has many modes, and indeed, one is called [Survival Mode].

As the name implies, in [Survival Mode] Abyss Battlefields, the primary goal is simply to survive.

The Main Quest and Challenge Tasks of the Abyss Battlefield adjust based on the Summoner’s Combat Power and the world’s Danger Level.

In general, whenever a [Survival Mode] appears in an Abyss Battlefield, it indicates that the Summoner’s Combat Power is insufficient to challenge the target world’s demons, and survival is the primary objective.

Having participated in [Survival Mode] Abyss Battlefields, Lu Heng was familiar with this concept.

Relatively speaking, when entering a dangerous world, if the goal is merely survival, the risk level is more acceptable.

Lu Heng continued, "Is there anything else you want to say about the Reincarnation Source Material?"

White Light: "Have the Star Realm Merchants contacted you?"

Lu Heng did not deny this: "Yes, I went to the Star Realm Merchants’ Ecological Ball a few days ago."

White Light: "Are they trying to seize the Reincarnation Source Material?"

Lu Heng considered for two seconds before answering: "Maybe, but I’d prefer you not to ask about the details."

White Light: "What do you think?"

With a cold tone, Lu Heng said, "Actually, the Star Realm Merchants are right. By helping you find the Reincarnation Source Material, I’m essentially saving your civilization. Yet the rewards you offer make me doubt the seriousness of your determination to save your own civilization."

White Light: "You should know that our world has been completely isolated from other worlds for a long time. The materials within our world cannot be given to you, so our rewards are quite limited.

"Of course, for any request you make that we can fulfill, I will do my best to accommodate."

Lu Heng stretched out his hand and asked, "What about the Crystal Core you mentioned last time?"

As soon as he spoke, two Crystal Cores fell into Lu Heng’s hands.

White Light: "Two Crystal Cores; one is from our previous promise, and the other is one obtained a few days ago, which I thought you might find interesting, so I brought it to you."

Lu Heng, not rushing to examine the attributes of the Crystal Cores, stored them away and said:

"I will keep my promise to help you find the Reincarnation Source Material. Once I obtain it, I will return it to you.

"However, let me say this upfront: if another civilization obtains the Reincarnation Source Material, whether we become adversaries will be reconsidered."

White Light: "Understood; you’ve already warned me. I admire your candor, and all the promises I’ve made still stand."

The conversation ended.

The White Light faded.

Lu Heng picked up his phone and sent a message to the team group: "Time to get moving; let’s make this one big."

"How big? What’s the plan?" Lin Zeyu replied quickly.

Lu Heng replied directly: "You head to the Sea Demon World, Mu Yu goes to the Elf World, and I’ll go to the Sikes Civilization. Sword Holders officially assemble—target is the Shadow Demon Lord City."