Chapter 498

Sun Hao’s intuition was completely correct, but it was too late to change anything now. Lin Zhen’s Star Power was no weaker than his. With the combined attack of Lin Zhen’s main body and his clone, along with their extensive combat experience and numerous tactics, Sun Hao was immediately at a disadvantage.

Lin Zhen’s joint attack technique had mastered the integration of his main body and clone. Often, within 0.1 seconds after the main body’s attack, the clone could seize the exact moment to strike the vital spot that Sun Hao had to defend.

As soon as the attack was blocked, the main body’s offensive came again, leaving no breathing room for the opponent, and never giving any chance for rest. Any carelessness would result in instant death!

In particular, Lin Zhen sensed that Sun Hao might have some killer moves to unleash but simply didn’t give him a chance. High-powered moves like Thunder Kill and Phantom God Strike were not used because they were too slow.

Quickly attacking with seamless transition between the previous and the following move was the best way to fight against a powerful opponent!

Although he didn’t know what Sun Hao’s ultimate move was, under Lin Zhen’s aggressive offensive, he never had a chance to use it.

Although Sun Hao was at the Star System Level 2, he was only human, not a machine; making mistakes under such pressure was inevitable.

Especially when Lin Zhen used time acceleration, Sun Hao couldn’t adapt at all.

Tenfold acceleration of the main body!

Tenfold acceleration of the clone!

This acceleration during intense battles was deadly. Sun Hao, caught off guard, had a large hole immediately torn in his abdomen!

The scream hadn’t yet ended when Lin Zhen’s next move arrived.

Time Deceleration!

While the clone was tenfold accelerated, Sun Hao was tenfold decelerated. If it had been any other time, he might have been able to respond, but at this moment, keeping calm was a pipe dream.

In the end, Sun Hao’s attempt to struggle and teleport was mercilessly interrupted by Lin Zhen. Although Sun Hao was in the Star System Stage, his Spiritual Power had not reached 100% of the Sky Blue level.

Spiritual Evil Spirit Shock!

After the interruption, Sun Hao, slowed down by Lin Zhen’s tenfold deceleration, moved as slowly as a snail and could no longer resist the attack of the clone’s Cliff Corner Spear.

Spurt~~~!!!

A red flower bloomed at Sun Hao’s heart, and a drop of blood shot out. Sun Hao staggered back several steps, his eyes starting to lose focus.

“This… this cannot be.”

Despite his abilities, Sun Hao had no opportunity to demonstrate them under Lin Zhen’s relentless attack. His Spiritual Power was suppressed, and the outcome was inevitable.

“Nothing is impossible. Although a martial artist’s realm is important, it’s not everything.”

“Spare me… save me… enslave me! Cough cough~~!! Your Spiritual Power is so strong, you can do it …”

Lin Zhen shook his head with a smile: “Unfortunately, you don’t even qualify to be my slave. However… I can send you to a new world.”

Sun Hao’s eyes lit up, thinking that Lin Zhen would spare him.

With a wave of Lin Zhen’s hand, Sun Hao was taken into the Dark Star Space, and the ravenous clone immediately followed.

Lin Zhen sensed a strong desire to devour from the clone. Sun Hao was a Star System-Level 2 expert; the energy contained in his body would undoubtedly be a great supplement for the clone, especially since he was alive, which meant a better devouring effect.

Of course, Lin Zhen couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing as devouring a person and let the clone act on instinct.

The screams from inside the Dark Star reached Lin Zhen, but he didn’t look.

About ten minutes later, when Lin Zhen turned his attention back to the Dark Star Space, Sun Hao had already been devoured without leaving a trace, leaving only his Space Ring behind.

Lin Zhen collected Sun Hao’s Space Ring. After all, Sun Hao was a Star System Stage expert, as well as a prince of an Intermediate Cosmic Nation, so his ring must be valuable.

As for the clone, it sat beneath the Star Fruit Tree to cultivate, further awakening its bloodline.

Qi and blood surged around the clone, which had already lost its original appearance under its armorized state and was now half-transformed into a Kirin.

Lin Zhen could feel the power of the clone after its evolution. Although its Star Power had not yet caught up with the main body’s Dark Star Stage, it was almost at around 600.

Withdrawing his attention from the Dark Star, Lin Zhen allowed the clone to slowly digest its gains.

“Sun Hao! A Star System Second Level Expert; I hope your wealth won’t disappoint me.”

When he opened the ring, Lin Zhen was stunned.

There wasn’t much money inside; what was piled up like a mountain were various Star Artifacts, Sacred Artifacts, and even God Artifacts!

There was also a gigantic furnace; this guy was actually a Star Shift Master!

Lin Zhen had also been a Star Shift Master before, but ever since he left Earth, he had been busy with cultivation amidst dangerous situations, and no longer had time for Star Shifting.

Unexpectedly, Sun Hao had such skills. Looking through the ring, Lin Zhen even found Sun Hao’s Star Shift notes, which recorded his experience and insights about Star Shifting.

At a glance, he realized Sun Hao’s Star Shift technique was far from perfect—he was a trainee Star Shift Master.

Inside this huge space ring were all sorts of materials that he had collected over the years, intending to formally cultivate when he had the time. But before that time came, he was killed by Lin Zhen.

After seizing all of Sun Hao’s wealth, the total value was an astronomical figure.

“Since you don’t have time to cultivate Star Shift anymore, leave it to me. I’m very interested in this matter too.”

After putting the items in the Dark Star Space, Lin Zhen didn’t have time to deal with them for now. What he had to do now was absorb the Thunder Crystal ore on this resource star!

Ascending to the sky, Lin Zhen began to exert gravity on the large pile of garbage on the ground.

Under the influence of gravity, a large amount of interstellar garbage was absorbed into the Dark Star Space, gradually exposing the ground.

Lin Zhen didn’t do this before because he couldn’t be sure which planet was the resource star, so he couldn’t bring a lot of garbage waste into the Dark Star Space.

Now that it was confirmed, there were no more concerns, and a large open area was quickly cleared.

Looking down from the sky, this place was a basin, surrounded by thousands of meters of garbage mountains. On the ground, tiny patches of blue light were hardly noticeable if one didn’t look closely.

Lin Zhen’s feet landed on the ground, and he squatted down and gently fiddled with the soil.

A piece of ore with blue light was directly dug out by him with his hands.

“It’s really the Thunder Crystal mine! I’ve been in the Chaotic Star River for more than half a year, and I’ve finally found a real resource star. I can finally hope to advance!”

Lin Zhen was somewhat eager, he sat down just like when absorbing the metal aura before, and prepared to start absorbing the Thunder Crystals.

But as soon as he started, Lin Zhen realized that things were a bit different from what he had imagined.

As he began to cultivate, strands of blue light from the surroundings started to converge towards Lin Zhen’s body.

This was the power of the Thunder Crystals. As long as Lin Zhen absorbed enough of these light points, he would be able to advance to the next level.

However, among these light points, there were too many other substances floating around, mixed within the light points, making it extremely difficult for Lin Zhen to absorb them.

“No good!”

Lin Zhen quickly gave up on absorbing them, as he felt that the impurities included various other metal elements and even the breath of decaying objects, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Continuing to cultivate like this could even lead to entering a demonic state.

“This won’t work. After all, the metal here is ore, not refined Thunder Crystals. While forced absorption could achieve the result, the impurities would cause an unstable foundation, making it even more troublesome to deal with in the future.”

“There are only two ways to absorb it. One is to slowly absorb it, but this is prone to waste. Chris has said that the power of these crystals can only support me to Constant Star Eighth Level at best, but my goal is the Peak of Level Nine, so I absolutely cannot afford to waste.”

“There’s only one other way, and that’s refining!”

Lin Zhen was a Star Shift Master after all, and he had quite a good understanding of refining. It involved smelting the ore with high-temperature fire to remove the impurities, leaving only the desirable substance.

However, this method was for ordinary metals, and Lin Zhen had never experimented with refining Thunder Crystals.

“No matter what, I have to try. There’s no other way for me to go now. I already have the foundation for it, and Sun Hao’s huge furnace is perfect.”

Unexpectedly he had to use Sun Hao’s wealth already, so Lin Zhen simply took out a high-quality and good-looking huge furnace from Sun Hao, and placed it in the center of the garbage basin.

With a single hand, he absorbed a chunk of ore and threw it directly into the furnace.

“This furnace has already automatically separated the upper and lower layers. The innate condition is already in place. My first task is to find the melting point of the Crystal Stone and the boundary between the melting points of other objects in order to accurately refine them.”

“I hope I can use my Flame Power. I have neglected the cultivation of elements for these years.”

A ball of flame emerged from Lin Zhen’s palm. He was of Fire Kirin’s bloodline, and even the Black Hole Beast was an expert in playing with fire, so he was quite adept at this method.

Orange flames enveloped the ore and began to burn, Lin Zhen silently waited.

About twenty minutes later…

“Something’s wrong, the temperature is a little low, and other substances are gradually melting, but the elemental particles of the Crystal Stone are not being stripped away.”

“But… but my flame power is only this strong!”

There are flames ranging from low to high in color, from red, orange, yellow, white, and blue. Lin Zhen’s current flame level is only at the late stage of orange, and it is absolutely impossible to completely smelt the Thunder Crystal ore.

This discovery made Lin Zhen extremely frustrated. Unable to smelt the ore, he felt like he was guarding a mountain of gold but had to beg for food.

He couldn’t possibly go back to the Fire Kirin Empire and find a mining group to develop this Thunder Crystal vein, it was simply not realistic.

“It’s a pity… If only I had Feng Qingluan’s white-hot flame, smelting these ores would be no problem.”

“Am I supposed to ask Feng Qingluan for help? Ask her to help me out because we are from the same Sanjiang Star Domain Federation?”

With this thought, Lin Zhen couldn’t help but smile. With Feng Qingluan’s icy beauty, this kind of request would definitely not work. It’s better to give it up.

But without seeking help from Feng Qingluan, how could he smelt these ores? Lin Zhen couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.