22: Chapter 22 Xuanhuang Stone

He could roughly guess that whoever offered such a price was likely a lord who possessed high-tier troops and was in urgent need of forming combat strength quickly. Long Ao's threatening words were still hanging in the channel, and one could figure out with their toes that he had definitely made a "contribution" to it.

"Hehe, get angry, be furious, gnash your teeth!" Lin Tian felt no pressure; instead, he thought with a bit of mischievous humor, "The angrier you are, the more valuable my card sale was, and the more you need it! Next time I have good items, I'll list them on the auction again. You're welcome to come 'sponsor' me again, Boss Long Ao!"

As if he could see Long Ao jumping up and down on the plateau cursing, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

For this kind of overbearing, arrogant, and self-righteous guy, he had not the slightest bit of affection. Threats? He was God knows how far away; if he had the ability, he should crawl over through the internet cable!

"But then again, this also proves from the side that although high-tier troops have a high starting point, their development limitations are also great, with resources and time strictly constrained."

Lin Tian rubbed his chin, his mind habitually beginning to analyze again, "On the contrary, my 'Fusion' style seems to have a low starting point, but its flexibility and growth potential might be stronger... Of course, the premise is having enough resources and materials."

Looking at the balance of 546 Spirit Crystals on the panel, his sense of security greatly increased.

Clutching the "huge sum" of 546 Spirit Crystals, Lin Tian felt his backbone stiffen quite a bit.

"Money not spent won't lay eggs! Conversion, it must be converted immediately!" He was full of energy and first contacted two "old customers."

[Lin Tian] sent a message to Master Blacksmith Li Zhenguo: "Brother Li, give me another 50 units of Refined Iron! Same old price!"

[Master Blacksmith Li Zhenguo] replied quickly: "No problem! Brother Lin is straightforward, I'll arrange it immediately!"

[Lin Tian] then contacted Lord Su Wan: "Lord Su Wan, I need another 50 units of moon birch spirit wood, still settling in Spirit Crystals."

[Lord Su Wan]: "Okay, wait a moment~" (She replied quickly, accompanied by a cute emoji of packing goods for shipment.)

Both transactions were completed quickly, and the resources were received. Next, Lin Tian made a big purchase on the Trading Platform, directly buying 100 units of iron ore and 100 units of ordinary stone to reserve raw materials for tomorrow's "troop surge" and infrastructure construction.

After some shopping, 220 out of the 546 Spirit Crystals were spent. Lin Tian looked at the remaining 326 Spirit Crystals and nodded with satisfaction: "I'll save some to recruit new soldiers tomorrow morning, bringing the total number directly to 300! Then... hehe, I'll let every new recruit evolve at least once!" He seemed to have already seen the spectacular scene of three hundred elite soldiers lining up before him, full of motivation.

However, excluding the 106 Spirit Crystals needed for recruitment, looking at the remaining 130, Lin Tian rubbed his chin and felt he should go search for materials suitable for his Rock Armor Soldiers.

"My Rock Armor Soldier brothers have followed me without complaint, always serving as reliable meat shields; I can't treat them poorly. I need to find if there are any good materials suitable for their Fusion and advancement, preferably ones in large quantity, filling, and cost-effective!"

He plunged back into the vast information stream of the Trading Platform, his eyes filtering through countless product lists like a scanner.

From rare metals to strange bones, from energy crystals to elemental cores... it dazzled his eyes, making him rub his temples, but he just couldn't find that kind of cheap and abundant material.

Just as he was about to give up and plan to deal with it tomorrow, a piece of transaction information in an inconspicuous corner caught his eye:

[For Sale: black-yellow stone]

Seller: Chen Hao

Unit Price: 1 Spirit Crystal/unit

Quantity: 10 units

Description: Hard and durable, an excellent product for building cities.

"black-yellow stone?" Lin Tian stopped his scrolling fingers, "The name sounds more imposing than ordinary stone! 'Black-yellow'... it sounds very sturdy. Perhaps it is the key to the Rock Armor Soldier's evolution!" He immediately sent a friend request to this seller named Chen Hao.

Nighttime is when lords are active in trading and chatting, so the request was quickly approved.

[Lin Tian]: "Brother, I see you are selling black-yellow stone. How is the quality of this stone? What are its specific characteristics?"

[Chen Hao]: "Yes, yes, brother, wait a moment, I will send you the detailed description."

After a while, a more detailed introduction was sent over:

[Item: black-yellow stone]

Type: Mineral/Stone material

Characteristics: Produced in deep black-yellow stone veins, the texture is exceptionally dense, with a hardness about five times that of ordinary granite, while also possessing good energy permeability and stability. It is a high-quality material for building permanent fortifications and strengthening earth-stone creations.

Note: High mining difficulty, large unit volume weight.

"The hardness is five times that of ordinary stone! And the energy permeability is good too!" Lin Tian's eyes lit up instantly; this was exactly the material he had been dreaming of, which might significantly increase his Rock Armor Soldier's defensive power or even grant them new characteristics! "How much stock do you have there now?" He hurriedly asked.

[Chen Hao]: "To tell you the truth, I discovered a vein of this near my territory. But this thing is too hard to dig, it's time-consuming and labor-intensive, and in the early stages, everyone is either short on Spirit Crystals or thinks using ordinary stone is enough, so few people buy it, and the cost-performance ratio isn't high, so I didn't dig much. I only have these 10 units in stock right now."

[Lin Tian]: "Understood, understood, there are few people who recognize good stuff. This price... 1 Spirit Crystal per unit, can you lower it a bit?"

[Chen Hao]: "Brother, it really can't be lowered. In the time it takes to dig 1 unit of black-yellow stone, I could dig 5 units of ordinary stone. This price is already a fair price; I'm just earning some hard-earned money."

[Lin Tian]: "Deal! Then we'll go with your price, I'll take all 10 units!"

[Chen Hao]: "Alright! Happy trading!"

With a flash of light, 10 pieces of black-yellow stone, each nearly half a cubic meter, with a deep and heavy color and faintly glowing with a dark yellow luster, appeared before Lin Tian. He picked one up and weighed it; it was indeed much heavier than ordinary stone, cool and solid to the touch, and emitted a dull and solid echo when tapped gently.

"Good stuff!" The more Lin Tian looked at it, the more satisfied he was, his face blossoming with a smile.

Returning to the chat interface, he continued to ask: "Brother Chen Hao, if you were to mine this black-yellow stone with full effort, what would be the approximate daily production? I want to get it long-term."

[Chen Hao]: "If I let my guys do nothing but dig this... I estimate there could be about 100 units a day. Why, brother, do you need so much? It shouldn't be that urgent for building a city wall, right?"

[Lin Tian]: "Haha, brother, your production capacity is good! It seems your troops are also quite powerful!"

[Chen Hao]: "Powerful? Not at all!" (He sent a wry smile emoji) "My troops are rare mid-tier Earth-drilling Miners; they are good at mining and prospecting, but they are terrible at fighting. I can only make a living by selling some stone and mineral products in the early stages. When everyone has enough basic resources in the later stages, my days will be tough."

[Lin Tian]: "Brother, you are too modest! With this skill, you can accumulate capital in the early stages! Just by selling high-grade stone materials, you already have a higher starting point than many people."

[Chen Hao]: "Sigh, that's easy to say, but one has to plan for the future. Whatever, I'll earn what I can for now, survive first."

[Lin Tian]: "Brother, those words make sense! How about this: I'll take all the black-yellow stone you mine tomorrow! How about it?"

[Chen Hao]: "Really?! You want it all? Brother, you aren't joking, are you? Why do you need so many black-yellow stones? It wouldn't really be for building a city wall, right? How large a scale would that be?"

[Lin Tian]: "Yes, yes, yes, brother, you guessed it right! I just got a city wall blueprint, thinking if I'm not going to build it, fine, but if I'm going to build it, I'll build it sturdier and use some good materials!" (Using the excuse of building a city wall to cover it up; after all, his talent is a bit heaven-defying.)

[Chen Hao]: "Whoa! Boss, you're generous! Using black-yellow stone to build a wall directly—the defensive power is scary just to think about! Don't worry, for the sake of this big order, I will definitely make my guys give it their all to dig tomorrow!"

[Lin Tian]: "Then it's settled! I'll take whatever you dig! The price will be as it is now, happy cooperation!"

[Chen Hao]: "Great! Brother, rest assured, I, Chen Hao, am reliable in doing things; as long as you don't stand me up, it'll be fine!"

Ending the communication with Chen Hao, Lin Tian looked at the ten heavy pieces of black-yellow stone in front of him, in a great mood.