Cosmic Trading System

"Now, with over fifty trillion Spirit Crystals, even if I were to buy robots with the strength of a level eleven cultivator, I could only afford five robots with initial level eleven strength, or one robot with the strength of a mid-level eleven cultivator. I couldn't even afford two..."

Having concluded his third trade, Lin Yun furrowed his brows amidst the starry cosmos, deep in thought.

This level of strength was inferior to that of Master Ming whom he had met previously. Furthermore, Master Ming was even wealthier now and could easily increase his strength even further.

"I could elevate Mengmeng's mental strength to the initial state of level eleven, but not to the mid-term of level eleven. At most, she could only learn another psychic attack skill... The increase in strength would be limited..."

Lin Yun shook his head.

Summing it up, none of these options were feasible.

So, it seemed that there was only one way left.

A glint flickered in Lin Yun's eyes.

"Buzz——"

Quickly, he selected an item on the Cosmic Trading System. Simultaneously, over fifty trillion of his Spirit Crystals vanished from the Cosmic Trading System, leaving him with only a few trillion.

This item had cost Lin Yun more than fifty trillion Spirit Crystals.

Lin Yun believed that given their current predicament, this was the only way to break the deadlock.

Knowing oneself and the enemy leads to victory. Hadn't they always been one step behind because they lacked information?

So, he might as well buy a superpowerful reconnaissance and shielding device.

Spending over fifty trillion Spirit Crystals... and that was just for reconnaissance and shielding. It didn't include anything else, allowing Lin Yun to buy a device that could be considered top-tier even in a level nine civilization.

Furthermore... this device could be overclocked. However, that would shorten its lifespan.

Every time it was overclocked, the device would sustain irreversible damage. Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire

If it was overclocked for a certain duration, the device would become practically worthless, even for scrap materials.

However, its effects were indeed powerful.

Once overclocked, unless a special type of reconnaissance and shielding device was used, nothing could trace even a hint of it on the Cosmic Trading System.

All these special devices were well beyond the technology of a level nine civilization. Each one came at a considerable price. Lin Yun estimated that not even Master Ming could afford it, even if he dealt with the entire Kodis Empire.

Over these past few days, Lin Yun wasn't left completely clueless either.

Based on his analysis, Master Ming wasn't particularly powerful before his arrival at the Kodis Empire. He had just started to rise in prominence over there.

Hence, after Lin Yun bought this device, the chances of Master Ming pinpointing their whereabouts were very slim.

...

One minute later, Lin Yun received the device.

The device was only the size of a single-person table. Every minute detail of its material design was highly prized. The exterior was black and unadorned, simple to the point of austerity.

"Fifty trillion Spirit Crystals, only to buy something this big..." Zhao Gang clicked his tongue in disbelief when he saw the table.

"That's not so bad. A robot with the strength of a level eleven cultivator costs the same, but it's not even as big as this..." Lin Jianfei shook his head.

Having been a mercenary, he was particularly sensitive to battle robots.

"I hope it proves useful," Lin Yun murmured under his breath.

As long as it was helpful, the fifty trillion Spirit Crystals would be worth it.

"Buzz——"

Lin Yun activated the device, and soon, an invisible wave spread out from it, enveloping the entire battleship in just an instant. Simultaneously, the device began to emit a variety of network signals, connecting to the networks of the entire Star Domain.

Whether it was for surveillance... or shielding... both were greatly linked to the network...

...

Somewhere else in the Kodis Empire...

"Beep beep beep..."

An alarm started ringing on a battleship.

"Hmm? Where'd those people vanish off to?"

In the control room, a young man slightly furrowed his brows.

If Lin Yun were here, he would definitely recognize this young man, who was the same Master Ming he had met in the Kodis Royal Family.

"It seems like they've bought a seriously powerful shielding device... they really spared no expense..." Master Ming murmured.

He knew exactly how advanced his exploration tools were and what level of shielding device would be needed to block its detection. The traces of Lin Yun and his crew had been locked on by him, and to shake off this locking, the required level of the shielding device was no small affair.

"Damn the constraints of the Cosmic Trading System's owner. If not for them, I would have killed them back at the Kodis Royal Family and wouldn't be dealing with this now..." Master Ming was irked.

The profits were limited; if his opponent earned more, it meant he earned less.

An hour later, Master Ming purchased another exploration tool on the Cosmic Trading System and chose to activate it.

Since he didn't know where Lin Yun and his team were, he had to scan the entire star domain of the Kodis Empire.

This meant it would take longer.

A day later, Master Ming's expression darkened.

It had taken a full day, the exploration tool had nearly scanned the entire Kodis Empire star domain, but it still didn't find any trace of Lin Yun and his team.

"Could it be, the level of the exploration tool I bought is too low? But even the top-tier shielding devices of a ninth-level technological civilization couldn't possibly avoid detection entirely, could they have...?" Master Ming furrowed his eyebrows.

The exploration tool he bought was not on the low end and had cost him sixty to seventy trillion spirit crystals.

Only because he had earned a lot of spirit crystals recently was he willing to make such an expenditure. Besides, it also had other usages that were quite useful, so he considered the purchase well made.

His face changed excellent colors as he continued to wait.

Three more hours passed and the exploration tool had finally completed scanning the entire Kodis Empire star domain, but it still hadn't discovered any traces of Lin Yun and his team.

"Overclocking, their shielding device must be capable of overclocking..." Master Ming's face darkened as he thought of this possibility.

Otherwise, with the exploration tool he bought, it would be impossible not to detect any trace of them. As for higher-level shielding devices... he didn't consider that. Such technology surpassing a ninth-level civilization was too expensive.

His opponent surely couldn't afford it.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have let him off last time.

The device he bought could not overclock...

With that, his only option was to buy another exploration tool that could.

However, he was very aware of the cost of some overclocking devices. Many of them came at the price of reduced lifespan, which was akin to throwing vast treasure into the sea and listening for the splash.

Although he still had a lot of funds, he really didn't want to waste his resources like this.

Especially since, even if he used an overclocking exploration tool, if the opponent also used an overclocking shielding device, he might only be able to vaguely locate their approximate position without knowing precisely where they were.

Thus, his ability to deduce their exact intentions from their location would be quite difficult.

The investment was huge, but the potential gains were unknown.

"Damn it!" Master Ming said angrily.

He hadn't expected his opponents to have such audacity, to effectively throw away at least fifty trillion spirit crystals.

"And here I was hoping to elevate my mental strength to a peak of the eleventh level. There are also many eleventh level mental skills that require a great deal of consumption." Master Ming's expression kept changing.

Though his main cultivation was not of the mental system, his practice did involve the mental system. The Cosmic Trading System could directly enhance a person's mental strength level. A high level of mental strength would provide a lot of benefits in all aspects, and many owners of the Cosmic Trading System practice mental systems as well.

After much thought, he eventually gave up the idea of tracing Lin Yun and his crew.

"Anyway, I've almost reached out to all of the major forces in the Kodis Empire. I'll quickly go to the remaining ones and hope I don't run into you. Otherwise, I won't be as polite as last time. As for you gobbling up some of the other fish, what does it matter to me..." Master Ming huffed coldly, murmuring to himself.