Chu Hao pushed open the doors of the Exchange Hall and walked straight in.
The moment he entered, a "trader" dressed in elaborate clothing approached him.
Every trader wore a polite smile on their face.
Seeing Chu Hao, they immediately stepped forward and spoke.
"Greetings, sir. Are you here to buy or sell? What would you like to trade?"
"One thing to note: we currently have a large inventory of world resources for sale, including world rules, special species, and even blood from mythic beings. As for world cores, we are currently low on stock, and the price would be extremely high.
"However, if you wish to sell excess world cores, our purchase price may satisfy you."
…
Chu Hao paused.
World cores—one of the most valuable resources in this world.
Besides the single world core provided free to each student during university, almost every other world core had to be acquired through trade.
Alternatively, a powerful individual could invade secret regions, destroy a world, and extract its core—but both approaches were costly:
Buying is expensive.
Conquering a world requires immense resources and carries risks. Each soldier in a divine world is a precious asset, and no one can guarantee their world is invincible. Many secret worlds were far stronger than ordinary humans could imagine.
"I'll sell some things first, then buy resources and other special items."
Chu Hao created a wisp of divine fire and manifested dozens of world rules.
These rules were looted from the secret worlds he had destroyed. Many shared attributes with the rules of the Endless Abyss, which was why he chose to sell them.
Importantly, these rules were all "wild"—uncommon and unavailable in normal worlds.
Ordinary, known rules had no value; only wild rules from secret regions had research significance.
The moment Chu Hao revealed his divine fire, the traders' eyes lit up.
"A genuine lower-tier god!"
Although many lower-tier gods existed, a young god like Chu Hao was rare.
When he displayed dozens of world rules, the traders' expressions changed immediately.
Even bystanders stared in disbelief.
"How… how can there be so many? Did he really destroy three or four secret worlds alone?"
Typically, one secret world yields around ten tradable rules, shared among two or three people. Chu Hao had produced dozens by himself, explaining the shock.
"What's wrong?" Chu Hao asked, frowning slightly.
"Aren't you going to have them appraised first?"
All world rules required appraisal before trading, even among gods. No one would be merciful when it came to profit.
"Oh… of course!" one trader responded, taking the rules from Chu Hao.
"Please wait while we appraise these. Meanwhile, feel free to browse our resources and items."
Chu Hao nodded and went to the trade area.
The trading floor was bustling, but he ignored the crowd and approached a trading window.
"I'd like to purchase world resources."
Without delay, Chu Hao stated his requirements.
The trader retrieved a massive "nebula," speckled with black points.
Each black point represented a "chaotic continent" roughly the size of an ordinary world.
Every continent contained abundant unassigned elements. They could be injected into any world to form new planes or serve as vast resources for world wars.
Although a world core could be converted into resources, it was inefficient. Using them to enhance a world's potential or acquire rules was far more practical.
"How many do you need?"
Chu Hao's account balance had converted his world rules into trade points.
He raised his head and uttered a terrifying number:
"One hundred continents."
The trader froze mid-smile.
"Uh… one hundred?"
"Yes, one hundred."
Such a quantity of resources… even an ordinary world could not contain them. Each was a massive continent.
The trader was shocked, unaware that Chu Hao could indeed absorb so much.
Chu Hao needed these resources—not out of desire, but because the Endless Abyss, his fearsome low-dimensional world, craved them.
Over the past months, the Abyss had undergone a terrifying transformation.
The internal resources of its incubation pools were failing to meet the consumption rate required for war preparation.
Even if Chu Hao slowed the incubation, the Endless Abyss had become an insatiable giant. Its growth rate was nearing uncontrollable levels…
And with that, Chu Hao realized a critical flaw within the Endless Abyss itself.