474 The Trade

"Kill!"

An officer of the alliance rushed up the 35-yard city wall as he waved his sword in his hands. "Let there be blood!"

"Screech!"

The blood-tainted sword complemented the Hundred Casted Knife perfectly as both weapons sliced through the general's armour effortlessly. The surrounding officers and soldiers flew backwards uncontrollably as their blood spewed from their necks.

Only a Meridian Opening Wu Zong would be able to create such a devastating effect!

"Die!"

At this point in time, this officer had already caught the attention of the guards on the city walls. A platoon of guards donned in gold armour and equipped with long spears started to holler as they attempted to lunge at the officer.

"Whoosh!"

In mid-air, he could deflect three spear lunges, but that was all he could do.

In the next moment, the 4 other spears heading towards him sunk into his armour without hesitation, releasing blood from his body.

Although he might be a Meridian Opening Wu Zong, as long as he was a vulnerable human being, he would still die in such a scene!

"Ha!"

The 4 soldiers who successfully penetrated the officer with their spears pulled their spears apart, splitting the corpse and revealing the innards of the dead officer.

"The officer is dead!"

Witnessing this scene, many advancing soldiers felt disheartened as they retreated like the tides of the ocean.

"Fire!"

As the soldiers from the city walls were about the advance, out of a sudden, they heard a loud noise.

"Rumble!"

Rocks weighing tonnes fell from the sky and smashed down on the city walls, turning all the soldiers on the walls into a bloodied pile of mess.

On the rocks, there were streaks of purple talismans carrying with them an enraged spiritual aura.

"Is this... The Thunderous Rocks?"

As soon as the leader of the speared soldiers witnessed this scene, he was devastated. "Retreat!"

"Rumble!"

It was all too late. All life forms were disintegrated and even the city walls were crumbled, revealing the inner structure which was strengthened by pieces of metal. In the walls, glittering talismans forming a protective array were revealed.

The killings lasted for a long while and the blood from both sides dyed the entire city wall red.

Finally, there was a bugle call.

The attacking soldiers slowly retreated. The sunset spilt red glows across the land, bringing the feeling of sorrow to everyone on the battlefield.

...

"Only the mountains will remain to witness the next sunset!"

Among the allied forces, Fang Yuan stood on a high ground and witnessed everything.

A chaos of such intensity had already lasted for 7 days. Both sides continuously surprised each other and it was the perfect demonstration of the art of war in this world, but in such a short period of time, all the tactics were already exhausted.

Fang Yuan was unaware of the state of the Jade Capital. However, in the allied forces, other than the powerful beings and the sages, even dream masters in the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage were being recruited to fight alongside the soldiers as an elite platoon by themselves. These elite platoons were tasked to ambush the city during nightfall. They were most of the time successful in breaking through but would always encounter resistance from the Hidden Dragon Guards and the Wu Zongs and spiritual knights of the Imperial Court.

"By now, everyone's limit should have been reached, right?"

After 7 days of high-intensity battles, what was left of a 30,000 strong army was 25,000. Almost 20% of the soldiers had died and the remaining soldiers felt unmotivated to carry on.

If this went on, there was no need for any war. The allied forces would have lost already.

"We don't want to end up with no more attacking forces after breaking through into the Jade Capital. We need to deploy our best troops for tomorrow's war..."

Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and gazed towards the tents in the centre of the base. Thinking about the discussion among the military personnel previously, Fang Yuan seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

The task the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards had given him was extremely simple. He only had to confirm the number of Sages among the allied forces and revolt during the crucial moment.

"To speak the truth... Although I cannot trust the alliance of dream masters, this does not mean that I can trust the Imperial Court!"

Fang Yuan entered another tent and started to laugh to himself.

He was not only a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master now, but he had also purified his dream elemental force. He was harnessing pure energy from the Demonic Heart Realm and would, therefore, be a tier higher than the native dream masters. He was not only skilled in illusionary tactics and concealment, but could also accurately identify others.

Although the two Source Crystals which the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards had given him seemed to be normal, it still gave Fang Yuan a mysterious vibe which ultimately led him to conclude that these crystals might cause harm.

Since they could possibly cause harm, it would only be wise to settle them as soon as possible.

At this point in time, the force of a spiritual territory appeared. With the brilliance of the burning flames, the majestic spiritual territory could still segregate Fang Yuan from the outside world, albeit not as complete as how a Sage could create a hollow as a separate world in itself.

"Elder Fang Yuan, why are you looking for me?"

Fiery Dragon Child appeared and from him came the voice of Elder Smelter. "This is a reminder that we should do things with privacy."

The creations of these Illusionary Divine dream masters would be their most loyal subordinates. For instance, Fang Yuan could possess any Sword Child he liked and if the Sword Child were to be killed, he could revive himself in the Sword Child.

"I am only looking to trade!"

Fang Yuan smiled before retrieving a crystal.

"This is..."

Fiery Dragon Child's eyes widened. "Oh my, such a huge Source Crystal! This will be enough for you to breakthrough to the 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! Why are you willing to trade it away?"

"I am already a True Divine. Since the war is coming, does it matter if I increase my cultivation as an Illusionary Divine dream master? Unless it can allow me to breakthrough to the 7th Tier..."

Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "Therefore, I want to change for something more useful to me!"

"Alright, just name it, I'll give you anything as long as I have it!"

Fiery Dragon Child could not take his eyes off the crystal as though he was gazing at a beautiful lady.

"I won't take advantage of you. I just want War Credits!"

Fang Yuan smiled and stated his request.

"War Credits?"

This request was unexpected but reasonable.

Since the 5 Grand Organisations came together, they had created a War Credits Rewards. They would assign missions to dream masters and reward them for their accomplishments. The 5 Grand Organisations had taken out many valuables for the dream masters to exchange with their War Credits, including their unique techniques, secret spells or even treasures.

Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had not contributed much to the war and therefore did not have much War Credits.

However, things were different for Elder Smelter.

Such an aggressive person would have fought at the frontline and had earned himself a considerable amount of War Credits.

"Alright, it's a deal!"

Elder Smelter clenched his teeth and agreed to Fang Yuan's terms.

He knew that although Fang Yuan would ask for an astronomical amount of War Credits, the fact that Source Crystals were extremely valuable to the point that even Sages would use it for themselves made the trade worth it. Furthermore, Source Crystals were not available on the War Credits Rewards.

If Elder Smelter were to miss this opportunity, he might not come across it in the future.

"Great!"

Fang Yuan nodded his head and tossed the crystal across.

"Hehe!"

After the trade, Elder Smelter started to examine the valuable Source Crystal in his hands and fell in love with it. "It seems like you have reaped quite a lot of rewards from your previous dream-traversing experience... I wonder what could have attracted your attention on the War Credits Rewards?"

Looking at Elder Smelter, it seemed like he was now interested in Planet Earth Realm and might just hop into it if not for the war.

Without fear, Fang Yuan replied. "I'm collecting!"

"Collecting?"

"Mmm, among the rewards on the War Credit Rewards, the price of the treasures which could be used to restore one's energy or recuperate one's injury are spiking. On the other hand, records or long-term techniques or even research information are dirt cheap due to the low demand. Some of these techniques are secret techniques... It is only human nature to have the lack of foresight. In this war, the allied forces will surely be victorious and in the near future, the price of all that I have just mentioned will surely spike!"

Fang Yuan calmly explained himself.

"Oh? Interesting, interesting indeed!"

Elder Smelter seemed a little interested as he nodded his head. However, he started to shake his head. "Although this is a path for you to get rich, looking at the intensity of the war, which low-tiered cultivator will be able to assure himself that he will be able to survive? Therefore, as soon as one gets War Credits, it will only be wise to exchange for treasure which will be able to ensure one's survival. If any of the treasures were to attract my attention, I will already exchange for it to use it. Also, you need to have a lot of War Credits with you, otherwise the profits you will be getting will be insignificant..."

The group of elders were extremely experienced and Elder Smelter could immediately think of the pros and cons of Fang Yuan's plan.

"Fang Yuan, you have a strong foundation and great foresight. I admire you for that."

Fiery Dragon Child paid his farewell. "If you have trades of such nature in the future, please look for me and I will make sure that you are satisfied."

"Thank you!"

Fang Yuan took his leave and left the tent. Looking at the War Credits on his inscription plate, he started to snicker to himself. 'After all that, Elder Smelter must be laughing at me for initiating such a trade. However, it doesn't matter to me. It is already a bargain for me to gain all these War Credits by trading away a possibly problematic Source Crystal.'

With the help of the Dream Realm, it would only take a single thought for the exchange of information, research materials or even secret techniques.

Fang Yuan did all of these in preparation to leave the 5 Grand Organisations.

After the war, regardless if others were to find out about Planet Earth Realm or the 8 Gates Sword Array, Fang Yuan would most likely have to stay hidden and therefore, he had to prepare for that.

'Before thinking about victory, I need to consider defeat... In the worst scenario, if the allied forces are to be victorious and if they realise my secret, I will need to disappear as far as I can go... Of course, a more probable outcome is that I will be hunted down by a sage and if that is the case, all preparations will be futile.'

Fang Yuan casually thought about the possible outcomes as he unknowingly entered another area.

In there, a deity-like young lady was already waiting.

"Elder Extreme Darkness..."

Fang Yuan smiled sneakily. "Do you want to engage in a trade?"

...

It was nightfall.

Fang Yuan, who had just reaped a huge amount of War Credits from both elders was now wandering in the Dream Realm, quickly browsing through the War Credit Rewards.

"In becoming a True Divine and a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, I have already consumed most of my resources..."

He gazed at the streaks of information and started to exchange for those he felt interested in.

"For any building to be built, the foundation is the most important! I shall not think about the path after True Divine. More importantly, I shall perfect my cultivation as a dream soldier master and my knowledge of arrays. From there, I can perfect the 8 Gates Sword Array, and create the 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"

Fang Yuan quickly exchanged for the relevant information and paid most attention to information regarding arrays.

After all, this not only concerned his future cultivation but also his survival!

The theory proposed by Sage Changli on the 9 Heavens and 6 Earths stemmed from the creation of arrays. The battle among sages was also through these two gigantic arrays and therefore, Fang Yuan knew that he had to pay close attention to it.

"I still need to find out some insider information about the happenings in the royal family..."

Fortunately, time passed at a different rate in the Dream Realm as compared to the outside world. Also, Fang Yuan could top his War Credits up with his contribution points and therefore, without any reservations, Fang Yuan spent everything.