All-out: Starting with the Awakening Special Operations Unit, search, attack, and withdrawal.

"Junior Nephew Chu, I... I also have a dream..."

Behind him, a slightly hesitant voice startled Chu Hong. He turned around and saw his beautiful and aloof senior sister, Bai Ningzhi, looking at him with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Chu Hong stared blankly, as if he hadn't reacted.

Wang Suming, on the other hand, looked surprised.

"Senior Bai, do you also need Little Red's help? Are you in urgent need of Source Energy Points like these other senior students?"

Bai Ningzhi shook her head and pondered for a moment.

Chu Hong, who was surrounded by the crowd, was pulled aside.

"I have special connections for things like Little Red. All the Little Red items I find in the secret realm are handled and consigned to the merchant guild. However, I have a few other things on hand... Do you want them?"

Chu Hong frowned.

Why does it seem like there's something you can't say outright?

"Senior Bai, we don't need the forbidden item right now..." He could only assume that Bai Ningshi was going to use the forbidden item on him, but he saw the latter shaking her head repeatedly.

After taking Chu Hong to an even farther place.

Finally, he spoke in a low voice.

"It's not a forbidden item, it's a genuine red-quality collectible, and... it's bright red! However... it's a [Source Core] item dropped by a Core Condensation Realm pioneer after their death in reality... Do you dare to accept it?"

Chu Hong's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

What the hell!

His gaze toward Bai Ningzhi instantly turned horrified.

"Don't look at me like that. In the past two years, the activities of those bastards in the Black Hole Council have become more and more rampant. In particular, there are quite a few traitors in Great Xia. Not only do they secretly collude with Tianzhao Kingdom, but they also secretly plan various sabotage operations in secret realms with the Black Hole Council."

"I was merely slaying some parasites..."

Bai Ningzhi's eyes held a hint of warning: "Master also knows about this matter, so you'd better not spread it around. Just because we can't get evidence of someone's treason doesn't mean they can't be killed."

Chu Hong turned around and looked behind him.

He pondered for a long time.

"What's the price? How much stock do you have?"

......

Bai Ningzhi's residence was not an elegant, antique villa like Chu Hong's; instead, it was located on the mountainside of a towering peak in the middle-level Xuanlong City.

A cave dwelling carved out of the mountain, it looks simple from the outside, but there is a whole different world inside.

"Wait here..."

Chu Hong was carried back here by Bai Ningzhi on a flying sword.

She left Chu Hong with a single sentence, telling him to wait in the living room, and then vanished in a flash.

"Tsk tsk tsk, even if this is the cultivation side, there are no cultivation techniques or secret manuals to practice. It's just another way of evolving source energy, yet they insist on making it so fancy, living in a cave..."

Chu Hong silently complained to himself.

Throughout the living room, you can see stone objects, such as stone tables and benches that have been chopped and made with sharp tools.

Judging from the marks, they were most likely made by this beautiful senior sister with a sword.

That's what I was thinking.

Bai Ningzhi, who had just disappeared, reappeared in the living room with a whoosh, now holding two sealed metal boxes in her hands.

One big and one small.

"You're buying so many red-quality collectibles without even considering their specific uses. It doesn't seem like you're just trying to make a profit. I've been thinking about it... it must be related to your level two skill, right?"

Bai Ningzhi spoke earnestly, and seeing Chu Hong nod, she opened the two boxes in front of her with a beep.

"These two [Source Cores], one came from the city lord of a local base city, and the other from the branch manager of the Pioneers' Guild... Don't worry about who they are specifically, but there's one thing..."

"If you expose this, trouble will only come your way."

Chu Hong nodded.

Before me were two objects: one was a vase-like vessel made entirely of glass, and the other contained faces displaying different expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, making it look extremely eerie.

The other item was a shield arranged like a tortoise shell.

[Item Name]: Pot of Power and Desire

[Item Level]: Red

Value: 4,331,000

[Type]: Craft collectibles

【Weight】: 6kg

[Occupies backpack slot capacity]: 2×3

[Item Description]: Legend has it that this water bottle, tainted by demonic power, carries a curse. Whoever obtains it will quickly gain power, but will also have their life force gradually devoured by it, until, like an illusory power, their body collapses like sand.

Noticing Chu Hong's gaze, Bai Ningzhi explained calmly, "If this [Pot of Power and Desire] is fused into a source core, it can be used to subdue monsters within the secret realm by consuming source energy, and then control them as puppets, with no limit on the number."

Chu Hong's breath hitched slightly. As expected of a great red object that could be condensed as a source core.

Its value is as impressive as its efficacy.

Chu Hong's gaze then fell upon another item.

[Item Name]: Shield of the Non-Attacker's Curse

[Item Level]: Red

Value: 3,922,871

[Type]: Weapons and Tools

【Weight】: 28kg

[Occupies backpack slot capacity]: 3×4

[Item Description]: The Hell Turtle clan can only use the power of the Death Curse once in their lifetime. This is a deal made between their ancestors and Satan. They are never allowed to harm any living being, but at the moment of their death, the Death Curse will cause all those who have harmed them to suffer a hundredfold retaliatory damage.

"As a source core item, the [Shield of the Non-Attacker] not only grants that guy extremely high defensive capabilities, but also provides additional defensive bonuses to his armor. Anyone who attacks it will suffer greater source energy consumption, and those with debuffs will have their debuff effects and durations doubled."

Bai Ningzhi said that she could tell just from the other party's words.

Killing those two people was definitely not an easy task.

However, these two items, now placed in the [Crimson Collection Room] display case, are directly level 1 Crimson items, which has benefited Chu Hong.

"Master, name your price!"

"Considering that even if you no longer need these two items, you can't resell them to others... fifty million each!"

"Twenty-five million!" Chu Hong said.

Bai Ningzhi thought that the other party was raising the price again, just like when they were dealing with the senior students at the market.

After hearing this clearly, Bai Ningzhi's usually cool and aloof expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

"You, why are you trying to lower the price? Lowering the price is one thing... but why are you cutting it in half?"

Bai Ningzhi was somewhat annoyed: "I'm your senior martial arts master!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Hong smiled and moved closer, a familiar fragrance of epiphyllum lingering around his nose.

"Yes, Uncle-Master, you said it yourself, you are my Uncle-Master. How can I not give you a gift when I'm meeting your junior disciple? Besides..." Chu Hong chuckled.

"Although I am at the Dragon Roar Sacred Academy, I still have quite a few things left behind at the Heavenly Craft Academy because I left in a hurry."

Bai Ningzhi frowned deeply: "You still want to go back? Back to that lousy place, Tiangong Academy?"

"A run-down place? I think it's alright. At least... Senior Sister Tao and Senior Brother Wei are quite capable. Oh, right, I met Wang Xinghe, the eldest young master of the Wang family from Yunzhou Base City, during the secret realm assessment. This rich and easy-going third-generation rich kid is also at Tiangong..."

Chu Hong kept rambling on, which only made Bai Ningzhi's expression grow increasingly unpleasant.

Chu Hong said so much, but what she actually heard was just one thing.

"Uncle Bai, you wouldn't want your master to blame you for handling things poorly, for not even being able to save a single person, would you?"

Bai Ningzhi took a deep breath: "...Twenty-five million is too low. Even in a normal auction, these two items would be worth at least thirty million. Besides, they are source cores..."

"What Senior Uncle Bai is talking about doesn't seem to be any of the advantages, does it? Can they even be sold normally these days? Besides... what's the difference between a Source Core and a regular Crimson Essence, except that it can be easily identified as having come from a dead body?"

Bai Ningzhi: "..."

Finally, after some haggling, the two items were priced at 5500 million energy points.

Settlement in one lump sum.

"Ding!"

Seeing the message notification from the communicator, Bai Ningzhi's expression softened slightly.

She glanced at Chu Hong, who was carrying two items and quickly stuffing them into his backpack.

He snorted coldly, looking as if he had suffered a great loss.

In reality, she was already overjoyed.

Even she herself would find it difficult to digest this kind of thing, and she couldn't use it herself.

Now, with the 5500 million energy points in her account, plus her own savings, she could participate in the auction and bid for the [Azure Spirit Sword] she had been longing for.