Chapter 525: Reluctant to Part

"There's something in hell that's definitely a treasure-grade substance, capable of strengthening one's physical body and increasing power," the Great Witch Zhao Qing immediately informed them.

With a smile on her face, she elaborated, acting like a dutiful subordinate and maid.

This made Zihuan roll her eyes. This witch was being overly obsequious and proactive; did she truly intend to stay and engage in questionable activities with Chu Feng?

"There's a type of black ant in hell that can consume fierce birds and beasts of the Arhat level as food, which is terrifying."

Zhao Qing explained that in those terrifying ant nests, there's a divine liquid. It's reportedly brewed by these hell ants, much like bees collect pollen to make honey. However, these hell ants are even more fearsome; the secret liquid they brew can make one's physical body incredibly strong and generate terrifying power.

"How strong are its effects?" Chu Feng asked.

"It's said that after consuming this divine liquid, physical strength can increase by at least five times, and so can power. Imagine two people who were originally evenly matched. If one of them consumes the divine liquid brewed by the hell ants, when they fight again, the balance will surely be severely disrupted."

Chu Feng listened, nodding seriously. He naturally understood what a sudden multi-fold increase in physical strength and power meant; it was akin to an extra evolution.

"Very good." Chu Feng nodded.

"For many years, beings aiming to reach the pinnacle of power have never missed out on hell ant liquid. Even top-ranked factions, such as the Great Dream Pure Land and the Celestial Race, require their cultivated geniuses to consume this divine liquid. It's an indispensable step."

Chu Feng frowned. Top-tier powerful races had many methods for cultivating their descendants. He had only just heard of this treasure-grade substance, yet for the top ten factions, it was an essential item.

"What else is there?" he continued to ask.

Zhao Qing replied, "Naturally, there are other divine items, but they are too rare, difficult to find even over many years, such as the Primordial Magnetic Sacred Fruit, the Nine-Aperture Tribulation Flower, and the Myriad Star Grass."

Upon hearing this, Chu Feng frowned deeply. The things she mentioned were too extraordinary, defying common sense; under normal circumstances, they would be impossible to find.

Because, back on Dragon Tiger Mountain, he had heard Yaoyao mention that these sacred substances were effective for Yaoyao's revival and were essential!

Then, he asked Yuan Mo and Zihuan to add more information, but the rare substances they mentioned were largely similar.

In summary, at Chu Feng's current level, there wasn't much he could buy on the black market, only hell ant liquid and divine bee nectar, among a few others.

During the subsequent auction, the people behind the various Divine Sons and Holy Maidens felt distressed because Chu Feng specifically requested hell ant liquid and nominated ten individuals at once.

The sects and families behind those ten individuals were stunned on the spot. Hell ant liquid was incredibly rare and precious, and extremely difficult to collect. These ants fed on Golden Arhat-level creatures; their colonies were dense and overwhelmingly powerful as a whole, making it very hard to infiltrate their nests and steal.

Furthermore, there were rumors that some exceptionally powerful ant queens could devour Saints!

Not long ago, Qin Luoyin had just returned from hell. She had personally gone to seek opportunities and acquire hell ant liquid. Of course, she had protectors with her; otherwise, success would have been impossible.

It's imaginable that even a major sect like the Great Dream Pure Land didn't have much hell ant liquid in reserve, making it exceptionally precious.

In a sense, hell ant liquid was no less valuable than Celestial God Liquid, and their prices were similar.

Any genius who aimed for peerless dominance at their cultivation level would not miss out on hell liquid.

"Ten Divine Sons and Holy Maidens for ten drops of hell ant liquid, what do you think?" Chu Feng asked.

In the starry sky, the sects and families of those Divine Sons and Holy Maidens immediately looked extremely displeased. This was somewhat unacceptable. Even if they spent immense wealth to buy it on the universal black market, it wasn't guaranteed to be available.

"A single drop of hell ant liquid is enough for a genius to purify their physical body; more than that might not necessarily be tolerable," the Great Witch Zhao Qing reminded Chu Feng.

Chu Feng nodded, but he genuinely wanted to stock up on a few more drops.

However, those sects clearly couldn't agree. A single drop could cause a person's physical body and power to multiply several times, and their combat strength to surge. This was a treasure-grade substance, so expensive it was called priceless.

"Young friend, you must understand, hell ant liquid is very difficult to acquire. Those who manage to obtain it generally won't sell it. It's as rare as Celestial God Liquid!"

"Yes, Brother Chu Feng, you're asking for something difficult. If you truly insist on an exchange, we can only guarantee finding one drop."

"Not long ago, a Saint fell. A powerful ant queen killed a Saint and devoured their holy blood, which has made hell ant liquid increasingly expensive now."

"One drop? Impossible!" Chu Feng shook his head.

However, he finally sighed, thinking that he hadn't even managed to exchange for a single drop of Celestial God Liquid yet, so acquiring ten drops of hell ant liquid of the same caliber would indeed be hard to achieve.

Someone sighed, "Two drops, that's all our reserve! This stuff isn't easy to preserve, and nobody actually stores it long-term. Whoever gets it immediately uses it to rapidly boost their strength."

Then, they offered to provide some more cosmic currency, because there really wasn't any more hell ant liquid. They had already inquired with the universal black market, and there was no supply recently.

Chu Feng could tell that this was truly their limit.

"Alright, two drops of hell liquid, plus 50 billion cosmic coins as compensation." Chu Feng made an exorbitant demand, because this was a one-time deal, and he had already offended them long ago.

"You... you're truly merciless!" Some old monsters from various sects even wanted to curse aloud.

As for the ten Divine Sons and Holy Maidens, they were utterly mortified. Why had they even come to Earth? To be sold back to their home planets was simply too humiliating!

Next, Chu Feng brought out ten more Divine Sons and Holy Maidens, still demanding hell ant liquid from the forces behind them. Eventually, agreements were reached, with conditions similar to the previous group.

"What a pity," Chu Feng said, shaking his head. "Unbeknownst to me, I've sold dozens of people. There aren't many left."

Then he sighed, "Divine Sons and Holy Maidens are only missed when they're needed!"

These words, when spread throughout the starry sky, made a group of people curse. People say "books are only missed when they're needed," but his statement made people want to punch him.

In fact, Chu Feng wasn't actually mocking everyone. He was completely serious. In his eyes, Divine Sons and Holy Maidens were all hard currency.

He muttered to himself, "Should I keep some Divine Sons and Holy Maidens? This kind of hard currency is even more useful than cosmic coins and retains its value better."

A group of people were speechless, while the aggrieved parties wanted to kill him!

The situation remained lively. Chu Feng sold all the remaining Divine Sons and Holy Maidens, ultimately not keeping too much of the hard currency for himself.

"Tongtian Express!"

Three days later, Chu Feng contacted this highly mysterious wormhole company, preparing to "ship" his goods.

He had successively received some "payments." Moreover, if there were any issues, the Original Beast Platform would provide a guarantee.

Chu Feng chose an island in the East Sea and found a folded space. This was because the wormholes opened by Tongtian Express could only appear in such locations and could not enter Earth's main space.

Deep within the island, inside the folded space.

This time, a wormhole opened, and a container made of special material appeared. Nominally a life pod, it was actually the "packaging box" for mailing Divine Sons and Holy Maidens.

"Brother, have a safe journey!" Inside the folded space, Chu Feng saw them off one by one. He was currently patting a Divine Son vigorously on the shoulder, saying, "Take care!"

Anyone who didn't know might have thought their bond was deep. Yet, the next step, he shoved that Divine Son into the "packaging box" and sealed it!

"Next!" Chu Feng said.

Beside him, Zihuan was placing orders, carefully filling in the address coordinates and other details for the Divine Sons and Holy Maidens to be mailed using an optical computer. Li Feng assisted her, carefully proofreading.

Because if they accidentally mailed someone to the wrong address, it could be fatal.

The next person was a Holy Maiden, her face full of resentment. She dared not speak out against Chu Feng, though she seethed inside. Now that she was to be sent back to her homeland, it truly made her feel humiliated.

She was a Holy Maiden from a high-level planet, but had been defeated and humiliated here, feeling utterly disheartened.

"Sister, cheer up! You're going home; this is good news. I'll miss you!'" Chu Feng comforted her, acting very solicitous, as he helped the Holy Maiden into the "tin can."

Once this Holy Maiden had been mailed away, Chu Feng called out, "Next!"

Next, it was a Divine Son's turn. Chu Feng looked him in the eyes and said, "Brother, if we meet again someday, I'll buy you a drink. I look forward to that day, meeting an old acquaintance in the starry foreign lands."

"Damn you!" The Divine Son really wanted to curse loudly, but he hadn't left yet, and it wasn't safe. So he could only endure it, and whispered, "I hope we never meet again in this lifetime!"

People noticed that Chu Feng saw them off one by one, never repeating his words each time, and with a sincere expression. Anyone who didn't know would truly believe he was reluctant to part.

"Sister, your name is Li Miao, right? Honestly, I really didn't want to sell you. I had originally hoped for a tale of beauty and companionship to endure, but circumstances compel me. Go well. I will visit you in the starry sky someday!'"

"Brother, go back and cultivate diligently; strive to become the strongest person on your planet. That way, if I ever come looking for you, I'll have bragging rights!'"

In this manner, Chu Feng sent off dozens of people, giving countless admonitions and instructions with overwhelming enthusiasm.

Then, when it was Princess Xu Liang's turn from the Great Xu Dynasty, Chu Feng was even more earnest, saying, "Your Highness, if you ever need anything in the future, just find me. For example, if you want to become empress, I'll help you achieve it."

Xu Liang glared fiercely at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense!"

"Then off you go!" Chu Feng immediately tried to stuff her into the life pod!

"You've got it wrong! I'm not going back; I choose to stay on Earth!" Xu Liang hastily cried out. This scoundrel was too hateful. He had just been so warmly seeing her off, and now he was directly trying to shove her into a tin can.

"The Great Xu Dynasty paid an extra protection fee to have Princess Xu remain," Zihuan reminded him.

"My apologies, I made a mistake. Your Highness, this way please, you're free now," Chu Feng said, releasing Xu Liang.

Similarly, Fu Huang also chose to stay, paying an additional protection fee.

At this point, the grand and tumultuous auction of Divine Sons and Holy Maidens drew to a close, ending completely.

By Chu Feng's side, the Great Witch Zhao Qing remained; she had chosen to stay. Luo Miaoxiang and Qi Yu, however, were temporarily detained by Chu Feng.

"For now, you cultivate at sea. I'm going to visit a friend," Chu Feng said, plunging into the seawater and heading to the East Sea Dragon Palace to find the Dragon Lady.

Upon seeing the Dragon Lady again, Chu Feng handed her a few Golden Snake Fruits, then said, "I want to enter the True Dragon's Lair for secluded cultivation!"

The Dragon Lady felt the immense power of the Golden Snake Fruits and was exceptionally delighted. She was very grateful to Chu Feng. A single one of these items was worth 100 million cosmic coins in the starry sky, and had astonishing effects on purifying the bloodlines of snake races and similar beings.

"I'll take you!" The Dragon Lady led the way.

Finally, Chu Feng entered the True Dragon's Lair. He planned to practice his fist techniques here, consume hell ant liquid, and so on, beginning his secluded cultivation.