Right then, Seraphina shot out of the Divine Colosseum too. One look at her face, and it was clear—something was off. Uneasy, maybe even a little embarrassed. Cicero caught the expression and couldn’t help but press her.
"Seraphina, you failed too? The Divine Colosseum didn’t work for you either?!"
"It’s not that it didn’t work..." Seraphina shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "It’s just... it’s way too expensive."
"Too expensive?" Cicero and Auremax exchanged confused glances.
"How expensive are we talking?"
"Fifty billion gold coins... and five million units of the six core resources..." Seraphina mumbled.
Both Auremax and Cicero froze. Then they just let out a long, helpless sigh and gave a bitter laugh.
They weren’t the ones managing the treasury, sure—but even they knew that Emerald Castle’s entire net worth probably didn’t even hit a few dozen billion gold coins. Maybe two or three hundred thousand units of the six core resources, tops.
Yeah, they made a lot—but they burned through it just as fast. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn ɴovelfire.net
Castle construction, daily upkeep, recruiting and maintaining troops—none of that came cheap. And it never stopped. It was a constant drain, a bottomless pit.
No matter how much they poured in, it was never enough.
So now, asking Emerald Castle to cough up fifty billion gold and five million core resources on top of everything else? Forget it. They didn’t have it. And even if they did... it’d be a pipe dream. Totally impossible.
Seraphina knew all that. She really did. But she still looked up at Ethan with those big, pleading eyes, her voice soft and hopeful.
"M-Master... they said... if I could pay an extra fifty thousand units of Tier 5 or higher Special Resources... they could grant me a random innate skill. Maybe even teach me a new kind of magic..."
"Fifty thousand units of Tier 5+ Special Resources?!"
"Are they outta their damn minds?!" Auremax’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. His face twitched in disbelief.
"Yeah..." Ethan let out a dry cough. Even he felt a tightness in his chest. Tier 5 Special Resources?
The only thing he could even think of that might qualify... was that tiny Dragonblood Crystal vein Thandor had left behind.
But even that was barely a Medium-grade vein. Its output cycle was once every seven days—and each cycle only produced 0.1 units. That’s it. So in a whole year? Just six units.
Fifty thousand units of Dragonblood Crystal? That would take over eight thousand years—maybe even close to ten thousand—to gather.
What kind of joke was this?!
Fifty thousand units of Tier 5+ Special Resources. Eight to ten thousand years of accumulation.
When you compared that to what the Divine Colosseum was offering—new innate skills, possibly even new magical laws and powers—was it really that outrageous?
Honestly... no. It wasn’t.
In fact, it was a steal.
Seraphina was a Crimson Ultimate Hero. She was already standing near the peak of power in the world of Ashan. Any chance to push her even further—to break through that final ceiling—was priceless.
Opportunities like that? You couldn’t put a number on them.
So yeah, it was worth it. Totally worth it.
But the problem wasn’t whether it was worth it.
The problem was... they were broke.
And this? This was just way too damn expensive.
"Ah... guess we’ll just have to take it slow and grow bit by bit. We’ve got time, after all..." Ethan let out a long sigh, then turned to Seraphina. "Come on, Seraphina. You know we’re flat broke right now... and that price is just insane. We’ll come back when we’ve got the funds."
"...Alright." Seraphina nodded, clearly frustrated, but she didn’t argue. Reality was reality.
Seeing her so down, Ethan couldn’t help but try to lift her spirits. "But hey, don’t get too discouraged. I’m planning to start pushing into the Dungeon soon. If we can pull it off, gold and the six core resources won’t be a problem anymore..."
"Sure, fifty billion gold and five million core resources is a lot, but compared to what the Dungeon holds? It’s actually not that bad. The real headache is gonna be those Tier 5+ Special Resources. Even in the Dungeon, I doubt they’re easy to come by..."
He never doubted how resource-rich the Dungeon was.
If they could conquer it and establish a foothold, then forget fifty billion—he wouldn’t even blink if the cost doubled.
That’s the terrifying thing about the Dungeon.
It’s loaded. Like, really loaded.
And more importantly, the Divine Colosseum had made one thing painfully clear to Ethan—he was poor. Not just regular poor, but dirt poor. And that realization only made him more eager—more desperate—to dive into the Dungeon and start turning things around.
"Dungeon?" Seraphina’s eyes lit up instantly. A spark of realization flashed across her face. "I get it now, Master! I understand! I’m going to the Dungeon! I’m gonna take territory!"
Clearly, the crushing financial pressure had lit a fire under her. No gold? No core resources? No Special Resources? No problem—she’d just go raid the Dungeon for them!
Growth, war, territory—it all came down to one thing: resources. Power. Strength. That’s what it was always about.
"Master, the Dungeon really is a solid move," Cicero chimed in. "The surface world’s gotten way too dangerous. Devils, Red Dragons, Black Dragons—they’re everywhere. Sure, we’re not afraid of them, but if the Inferno Demon King or the Dungeon King locks onto us... that’s a whole different problem."
"Yeah," he added with a nod. "We’re just not strong enough yet to go toe-to-toe with monsters like that."
"I agree," Auremax said, nodding as well. "The Dungeon’s resource density is insane. It even surpasses the oceans—easily the richest region in all of Ashan. It’s the perfect target. If we keep relying on just Sylvanwood, it’s going to hold us back. Maybe even choke our growth."
"With the scale of resources Sylvanwood offers, it won’t be long before it can’t even support our regular army anymore."
"You all think that?" Ethan blinked, surprised. But then he started seriously considering it. Maybe it was time to shift his priorities.
Honestly, up until now, the Dungeon had only taken up about 20% of his strategic focus. But hearing all this... maybe it was time to bump that up to 50%.
He never thought he was smarter than Cicero or Auremax—especially when they both agreed on something. When that happened, there was no need to overthink it.
"Alright, let’s head back," Ethan said.
"I’m not going!" Seraphina shook her head quickly, her eyes blazing with determination. "Master, there’s still about a third of Sylvanwood left unexplored. I’m not going back—I’m gonna keep searching for resources. I’m gonna make money!"
Ethan couldn’t help but laugh, half exasperated, half amused. "Alright, alright—go on then..."
Before he even finished speaking, Seraphina had already taken off.
Outside the underground cavern, her army of Green Dragons was still waiting for her—ready to follow her lead into the wilds once more.