Chapter 410: Chapter 238: Stealing Divine Power

"Tsk..."

The moment Su Chen tried, he discovered it was no simple task. Using his Spiritual Power to envelop the Netherworld Stones was met with what felt like a natural resistance.

The Netherworld Mother Stones, in particular, drained his power at a terrifying rate.

Su Chen continuously used his Gourmet ability to generate more Spiritual Power, but even so, he still couldn’t take a portion of the stones he had excavated today.

They were only Child Stones, but he roughly estimated their value at two or three million Star Coins.

’What a pity...’ Su Chen was helpless. What he couldn’t carry out, he simply couldn’t carry out. The next time he entered, he would just appear in a random area covered by the Flame Fire, not back here.

If his physical profession wasn’t already Tier Five, with ample Physical Strength and the ability to convert a huge amount of Spiritual Power, he would have been able to take even less.

After a moment’s thought, he carried the raw ore he couldn’t take with him out of the mine.

Another group of Netherworld Creatures had gathered at the entrance to the mine. Just like before, they scattered the moment he appeared.

Only one creature hesitated, not leaving. It was two meters tall, covered in jet-black fur, with a single horizontal eye on its forehead.

’Is that the black ape?’ Su Chen looked at it; it was one of the creatures from his previous "assembly line."

It still looked somewhat like an ape, at least its body wasn’t covered in any bizarre growths. On a whim, he tossed all the Netherworld Stones he couldn’t carry over to it.

He had already realized that these Netherworld Creatures occupied this place because they fed on something contained within the Netherworld Stones.

The black ape looked excited. It snatched them up, glanced at Su Chen, and then began stuffing them into its mouth, swallowing them whole.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Su Chen felt that after it swallowed the Netherworld Stones, its previously indistinct fur seemed to have become more solid.

"Thank..." A psychic ripple reached him.

’It’s actually thanking me...’ The thought struck Su Chen as odd, but he didn’t dwell on it. He gave a dismissive wave, enveloped the remaining Netherworld Stones, and vanished.

...

Back on the Floating Island, Su Chen opened his eyes. He instinctively looked in front of him and, sure enough, saw a pile of Netherworld Stones.

"Truly amazing..." Su Chen couldn’t help but marvel. ’The Nether Realm must be a plane that exists somewhere between the illusory and the real.’

’The final resting place of all spirits... Interesting...’

He reached out, stuffed all the Netherworld Stones into his Storage Space, and sent a message to Ming Lin.

He tidied himself up a bit and gulped down some Nutritional Potion to restore his Physical Strength.

Less than an hour later, Ming Lin returned to the Floating Island. He hurried into the room and impatiently chugged a large mouthful of water. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Whew... Those guys are a real handful..."

He was now acting as Su Chen’s steward, so all external socializing and hosting fell to him.

"If you can’t be bothered with them, just turn them down," Su Chen said.

"No need." Ming Lin grinned. "I have to admit, it’s pretty satisfying. On Red Thunder Star, those guys are at the level of a Chief Judge or a department chief, and now they’re all greeting me with big smiles."

"Heh... It’s a great feeling."

Su Chen chuckled and asked, "How are those black market merchants you met through Ding Fan?"

"Hmm..." Ming Lin sat down and replied, "They’re decent enough. You have something to sell? Deceitful God’s Power?"

Ming Lin guessed as much. He knew Su Chen had collected a large amount of Deceitful God’s Power when he left Red Thunder Star.

That was one of the reasons Su Chen had him get in touch with those black market merchants through Ding Fan in the first place.

"No, not Deceitful God’s Power." Su Chen’s eyes glinted as he took out a dark brown stone.

"A Netherworld Stone?" Ming Lin froze. He hadn’t been idle lately, having crammed all sorts of basic knowledge, and he recognized it at a glance.

"You want to sell this?" He looked like he wanted to say more but held his tongue. He frowned. "That’s a bit of a problem, then. We can’t use the merchants Ding Fan introduced us to."

"However..." His tone shifted, carrying a hint of pride. "I’ve also made contact with a few merchants on my own."

"Impressive," Su Chen complimented, though he wasn’t particularly surprised.

Ming Lin had managed to rise through the ranks of the Judicial Court and rally his own faction; he was clearly no simple man.

Who knew if the contacts made through Ding Fan had hidden risks? It was only prudent to find another group on his own. Now that Ming Lin had the channels, contacting others wouldn’t be difficult.

"This piece of Netherworld Stone ore, a Child Stone, could probably sell for seven or eight hundred thousand Star Coins..."

"It’s not just one piece." Su Chen shook his head, pulling a huge pile from his Storage Space and dropping it on the floor.

Ming Lin’s face froze, his expression one of pure shock. "Mother Stones? Two of them? Where did you get these?"

He asked reflexively. Due to the issue with the Flame Fire, resources related to the Nether Realm were hot commodities within the Bronze Sect, and it was forbidden to resell them after acquiring them through the Sect’s exchange.

"Can you sell them?" was all Su Chen asked.

Ming Lin’s expression wavered as he considered it carefully. "It might be a little risky."

He didn’t try to hide his concerns, explaining, "Those buyers will be able to guess, more or less, that these things came from inside the Sect."

"If the Sect ever discovers that Netherworld Stones are being resold, they’ll probably be able to trace it back to us."

"Resold?" Su Chen shook his head. "Don’t worry. These weren’t taken from the Sect to be resold."

"They weren’t?" Ming Lin was surprised, but also relieved. That made things much simpler.

It didn’t matter where Su Chen got them; as long as they didn’t originate from the Sect, the risk was reduced by eighty percent.

"Then there’s no problem." Ming Lin was about to take them when Su Chen added, "After you sell these Netherworld Stones, help me purchase the Cunning Fox’s Divine Power. Middle-tier Divine Power."

"You want to *buy* a Deceitful God’s Power?" Ming Lin was stunned all over again.