Chapter 459 - 409: Resources Emptied, the Inaccessible Mysterious Room, Zuo Xuan is Dumbfounded

While the battle raged in the Thunder Restricted Area, Jiang Qiu and Snow led Shangguan Yue through the interior of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship. They were searching for the core area and the ship’s layout diagrams; finding Liu Zili in the process would be even better.

However, even with Shangguan Yue’s help, finding the core area of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship took a considerable amount of time. The ship was simply too vast. Furthermore, Shangguan Yue was only at the Peak of Dao Entry Realm, meaning the power gap between her and the Harmonization Realm was immense. Even though she had mastered the Path of Returning to Simplicity, she couldn’t utilize it to its full potential. She needed time to block the deeper levels of detection.

In other words, Shangguan Yue’s current Realm was a little too low. Although the Laws and detection systems specifically arranged by Zuo Xuan couldn’t sense her, she still needed considerable time to use her Path of Returning to Simplicity to extend a similar cloak of immunity over Jiang Qiu and Snow.

Most of the ship’s detection functions couldn’t be blocked so easily. When they involved Laws, one needed a certain level of power to be effective. Only because Shangguan Yue had mastered the Path of Returning to Simplicity could she accomplish this. Anyone else wouldn’t have even been able to get through the door of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship.

After some time, Shangguan Yue successfully led Jiang Qiu and Snow to the core area and managed to block its highest-level detection Laws. "This is the core area," she said. "I think I’ve also detected some strange auras..."

The core area was deserted. This was Zuo Xuan’s exclusive domain; no one could set foot here without his permission. Yet, Shangguan Yue sensed some strange, faintly familiar auras in this place.

After confirming this was the core area, Jiang Qiu and Snow began their search for treasure. However, after investigating for a moment, Jiang Qiu raised an eyebrow. "Why does it feel like there aren’t many treasures hidden here? For a super-warship commanded by a Harmonization Realm expert, this is far too little..."

He, Shangguan Yue, and Snow had gone through several rooms in the core area, even visiting the special chambers supposedly for storing Treasures of Heaven and Earth, but they hadn’t found anything of significant value.

Unsure which room was the most important, Jiang Qiu had them search most of the rooms in the core area. Under the cover of Shangguan Yue’s Path of Returning to Simplicity, they didn’t trigger any of the Laws. It was as if they weren’t there at all, and they even took the opportunity to collect some valuables.

The wealth they gathered was by no means insignificant. What they found was likely even more valuable than the Soul Race’s treasures they had seized in the Desolate Realm. However, it was completely out of proportion for a vessel of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship’s caliber.

After all, the Eight-direction Reversing Ship was a super-warship that specialized in exploring new frontiers and engaging in trade along its routes. A ship like this should have been transporting massive quantities of Treasures of Heaven and Earth; that was the entire point of its commercial voyages.

For example, whenever Zuo Xuan passed through chaotic regions, he would round up talented individuals and others to serve as slaves, transporting them to other worlds to be sold. This practice generated enormous wealth. In the Thunder Great Realm alone, he had made an astronomical sum in less than a month.

But where was all that wealth?

The value of the Treasures of Heaven and Earth he had earned in the Thunder Great Realm alone was an unimaginable sum. Even if a portion was used to refuel the ship’s energy reserves, what about the wealth accumulated from decades, or even a century, of exploring the frontier?

’Even if we don’t know exactly how long Zuo Xuan has been traveling since leaving the Nine Venerable Great Realm, or how much trading he has done among the various outer worlds, he must have earned a fortune in the ten-plus years since leaving Blue Star!’

’He couldn’t possibly be exploring at a loss, just out for a tour without making any money, right? And that all his supposed "business" was just to cover the energy costs for the Eight-direction Reversing Ship...’

’That’s simply impossible. The Eight-direction Reversing Ship must have stored a vast fortune from at least a century of trade and exploration—enough to make an entire small world prosperous, or even propel a major clan within a Great Realm to immediate dominance. It had to be a hoard that the Soul Race’s entire fortune couldn’t even begin to compare to!’

’But now, it’s all gone. Only scraps, a mere drop in the bucket, are left. Without a doubt, for some special reason, the Eight-direction Reversing Ship has somehow consumed this immeasurable hoard of resources gathered from trade and plunder.’

At this thought, Jiang Qiu couldn’t help but frown. ’What could possibly require so many resources?’

His understanding of this cluster of worlds was still limited. Perhaps his perspective just wasn’t broad enough, but he couldn’t imagine what could possibly consume that many resources all at once.

’Then again, it might not have been all at once,’ he mused. ’It could have been consumed over time. But that’s still unreasonable. Those resources were Zuo Xuan’s personal fortune. What did he spend them on?’

’Drawing from my own experience, there were very few occasions that required consuming such a vast amount of resources. The only time was when one was on the verge of a breakthrough. But Zuo Xuan had practically no room left for advancement. He wouldn’t just be chomping down on resources like candy. Even if he did, it wouldn’t do much good—there were far too many to get through.’