Chapter 485

Chapter 485: Resource Battle

The True Dragon Heritage wasn’t just a single type, but the sum of dozens or even hundreds of different branches.

The "Black Iron Dragon Flame" Midi obtained actually had a formal name—Primary True Dragon Breath Technique.

This was an attack-oriented heritage, with dragon flames as its offensive method.

The Black Iron Dragon Flame itself was divided into stages: initial, small success, master, peak, and perfection.

After reaching perfection, obtaining a higher-tier True Dragon Breath Technique would allow upgrading the Black Iron Dragon Flame and undergoing a second Rebirth Through Fire.

But leveling up solely through an offensive heritage proved difficult.

Midi’s rise from Level 63 to 64 mainly came from that Rebirth Through Fire, not the Black Iron Dragon Flame itself.

In fact, having all his power condensed into the Black Iron Dragon Flame had increased the resources needed for his next level up.

The "Radiance of Darkness" alone could no longer meet Midi’s requirements.

The "Primary True Dragon Body Refinement Method" clearly focused on leveling up. Acquiring it would let Midi abandon tedious Radiance of Darkness refinement and stop relying on the Shaded Realm’s sparse magic for upgrades.

Even the Death Scorpion cavern’s magic concentration now felt insufficient.

The Body Refinement Technique would solve this perfectly.

It resembled mounting an indestructible battering ram onto a siege engine with a mighty engine. If the True Dragon Breath Technique was the sharp ram, the Body Refinement Method would forge Midi into that powerful engine.

Though Midi’s Black Iron Dragon Flame seemed unstoppable, his endurance hadn’t improved—it had actually worsened. Against true experts like Warrior Thor, failing to kill swiftly in prolonged combat would spell disaster.

The Primary True Dragon Body Refinement Method would patch this weakness, synergizing with the Breath Technique to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Naturally, Midi considered this method a guaranteed hit.

But 1,000,000 Black Flame Coins meant gathering enough Black Dragon Remnant Tokens for a 10,000-day stay in the dragon fortress—nearly thirty years. Normally impossible.

Yet Midi believed the Dragon God Temple wouldn’t set this price without providing means. Otherwise, creating the high-tier list would only breed despair among fighters.

"How does one advance from low-tier to mid-tier, then high-tier?" Midi asked calmly, though determined to get the technique.

"Exchange enough Black Flame Coins for specific items at the Dragon God Temple. No bottlenecks—just time," the Dragon Head explained. "Your Black Dragon Remnant Token shows your coin count. Trading Black Crystal Plants directly works too, but isn’t advisable."

Black Crystal Plants could be stolen, and amassing enough for a million coins would create transportation nightmares. Converting them into token values remained the best method.

"But how many plants are here to collect?"

"Many? Fifteen kilometers ahead lies the Black Crystal Forest—they cover the ground! But beware: overharvesting triggers the forest’s backlash and attacks."

"I see." Midi finally understood.

The Dark Dragon God wanted fighters to wage a "resource war."

A large-scale war with the ultimate goal of plundering resources!

“Can we begin the exchange now?” Midi asked calmly.

The enormous Dragon Head appeared slightly surprised by Midi’s composure, studying him before replying, “You’ve only got just over 1,000 Black Flame Coins. That won’t buy much.”

“It’s enough to take the first step. Besides,” Midi smiled, glancing at his companions, “I actually have around 4,000 coins, don’t I?”

Having pledged their lives to Midi, Zaknavan and the others complied without hesitation. Along with the Black Crystal Plants Midi had gathered during their journey, their total reached 6,500 Black Flame Coins.

They needed to reserve 500 coins for basic upkeep to avoid being teleported out of Crystal Dragon Fortress. The remaining 6,000 would serve as their foundation.

Midi didn’t waver in his choices. Among the low-tier items, he selected only two:

The 200-coin Black Crystal storage unit “Honey Pot.”

The 500-coin Black Crystal harvester “Worker Bee.”

Eleven Worker Bees cost 5,500 coins. Two Honey Pots, after confirming their capacity, took 400 coins. With 5,900 spent, only 600 coins remained – barely enough for a day and half if split among four.

Midi had burned his bridges. Survival now depended on relentless Black Crystal harvesting.

“Why not get sensors?” Mason frowned. In his view, sensors would outperform these “Worker Bees” in locating Black Crystal Plants.

Zaknavan added, “What about dragon-scale defenses? Overharvesting might provoke the forest’s wrath.”

Midi shook his head. Every coin must fuel raw resource gathering. Though risky, this was their Golden Era – while rivals like Death Scorpion and Death Bats remained trapped in the underground Dragon Tower’s lower levels, the Black Crystal Forest belonged solely to them.

Full-scale development couldn’t wait. But true collection meant strategy, not mindless stripping of nearby plants. Hence Midi bought Worker Bees but skipped the “Compound Eyes” sensors.

Elite fighters from Mososbury City shouldn’t grub for crystals. Their role was reconnaissance – mapping resource-rich zones, identifying safe areas, planning collection networks and base locations. What practitioners called adventure, soldiers termed reconnaissance, and alchemists named prospecting.

The Worker Bees would maintain basic harvesting during scouting. But speed was critical – rival teams would arrive eventually.

This all-in strategy left them vulnerable. No defenses. No combat units. The team would scatter to scout, leaving one member struggling to protect eleven Worker Bees. A serious counterattack could destroy their operation, maybe even kill defenders.

Midi’s gamble: sacrifice defense for explosive growth. Success meant unmatched harvesting capacity. Failure meant expulsion from Crystal Dragon Fortress.

But in this place, standing still meant being left behind. Only by running forward could they survive.