Qiu Long

"Whew, this planet's gravity must be more than three times that of Yuan Planet's." Lu Yan'an jumped out of the hatch and immediately felt the strange difference in gravity between planets. Before he could marvel at it, he suddenly noticed a commotion behind him.

"Hm?"

Following the sound, he saw a bald, muscular man in a gray-black uniform, about three meters tall, flying swiftly toward him. Most astonishing of all was the man's red skin. He slowly landed in front of Lu Yan'an and addressed him politely in fluent Universal Language: "Welcome to Qiu Long Planet, sir. The parking fee for your Tianfeng X96 model spacecraft is 2,000 Black Dragon Coins per year! Any period under a year will still be charged at 2,000 Black Dragon Coins. Here is your parking card." As he spoke, he held out a pale gold, translucent card with a D marking for a berth in Docking Area D.

Lu Yan'an smiled as he took the card, then flipped his hand and put it away. With a casual wave, a handful of coins appeared in his palm. He didn't bother counting them and simply tossed them toward the bald man.

The man fumbled as he caught them. Then his eyes lit up when he realized that all the coins—more than a dozen of them—were Ganwu Coins!

According to the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's official exchange rate, one Ganwu Coin could be exchanged for 1,000 Black Dragon Coins, but 1,000 Black Dragon Coins could not be exchanged back into a Ganwu Coin! It was possible through the black market, but usually it took between 1,000 and nearly 2,000 Black Dragon Coins to get a single Ganwu Coin. Most ordinary citizens didn't even know where the black market was.

"Keep it parked for five years. Anything left over is yours," Lu Yan'an said offhandedly, waving his hand.

"He's flying a luxury spacecraft from the Tianfeng series, and he's paying in Ganwu Coins. He must be from a major family." The bald man was consumed with envy.

He was a Planetary Level One martial artist.

On Qiu Long Planet, he was considered a fairly distinguished citizen. Thanks to his Planetary Level strength, he now served as the supervisor of this docking port, and he'd seen his share of the world. Even so, when someone arrived in a luxury spacecraft built entirely from D-grade metal and casually paid in Ganwu Coins, he couldn't help but feel awe. That was true even though, by all appearances, this person was far weaker than he was!

There was no need to ask!

This was the bearing of a scion from a major family, out on a trial!

"Thank you, sir." The bald man was exceedingly respectful. A scion from a major family could find a Star Level subordinate in a matter of minutes. There was no need to grovel, but he absolutely couldn't afford to offend one.

Lu Yan'an waved his hand, and two figures in dark, black clothes appeared beside him: two Mithril Guards.

One Mithril Guard could protect while the other entangled an enemy; together, they protected each other and restrained their opponents. They were vastly safer than Flowing Silver Guards, which were one tier lower in the same series! Of course, they also cost vastly more than Flowing Silver Guards.

For overall value, then, Flowing Silver Guards were far more popular throughout the universe!

So why didn't Lu Yan'an use the relatively low-key Flowing Silver Guards? Quite simply, in Lord Shen's collection, Mithril Guards were practically the lowest-grade option! As Lord Shen himself put it, "I never collect garbage!"

Hearing Lord Shen say that, Lu Yan'an had been thoroughly depressed. By Lord Shen's reckoning, an ordinary Planetary Level martial artist like him was worth less in the universe than the manufacturing cost of a single Flowing Silver Guard!

Composing himself, Lu Yan'an rose into the air. The two Mithril Guards followed, while Lord Shen, as always, perched on his shoulder. From a distance, Lord Shen looked like a pet Lu Yan'an had raised. Who would have guessed that beneath that adorable exterior was enough power to run rampant throughout the universe?

Three people and one pet flew through the air. At least, that was how it looked to outsiders. In truth, among this group, the seemingly most harmless pet was the one leading the way.

"So beautiful."

Lu Yan'an looked up at the sky. Qiu Long Planet's sky seemed like a thin veil of purple, turning blue in the distance. The colors shifted in distinct layers, creating a beauty and allure all its own.

"The color of Qiu Long Planet's sky really is one of a kind. The sky has a diverse range of colors, with clearly defined layers that even change often! Especially when sunlight passes through the atmosphere and shines on the ocean—the sight is breathtaking! It's this unique scenery that has drawn many powerful people to settle on Qiu Long Planet. Over time, it's become one of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's calling cards!"

Lord Shen explained this to Lu Yan'an.

As they talked, they soon flew hundreds of kilometers.

It wasn't until they'd been flying for two hours that Lu Yan'an finally saw a gigantic city in the distance. Its ancient, pitch-black walls stretched all the way to the horizon. Along the tops of the walls stood transparent crystal carvings, like a blue dragon soaring above the city!

As they drew closer, he saw intricate patterns on the ink-black walls. From afar, they looked like carvings of hornless dragons, but up close, it became clear that they were secret techniques made up of law patterns. The energy contained within them was enough to make anyone uneasy. Once activated, the secret techniques on the city walls could instantly annihilate anyone below the Domain Lord level.

"Qiu Long Main City is over ten thousand kilometers long and wide, and it's more than ten million years old," Lord Shen told Lu Yan'an.

Only then did Lu Yan'an truly grasp the vast scale of time in the universe. Yuan Planet's civilization had developed from its beginnings to the present day in barely ten thousand years. Compared to the universe, where time was often measured in hundreds of millions of years, the time Yuan Planet had spent developing wasn't even a fraction of theirs!

The city gate was enormous, nearly five kilometers wide and ten kilometers high.

The streets were thronged with people, including some strange-looking life-forms. According to Lord Shen, these bizarre beings were all Cosmic Humans, just from different races. Clearly, the definition of the human race in the universe was much broader.

Lu Yan'an and the other two walked through the city gate together.

Right after they entered, Lord Shen received a communications number for Qiu Long City.

A communications number was similar to a phone number on Earth. Even the most powerful communicator couldn't "make a call" across many light-years, so some civilized planets automatically sent a code to the "Auxiliary Optical Computer" and other devices belonging to certain life-forms who arrived on the planet. While on that planet, people could use their "communicators" to chat with one another. It was like an internal network for the planet, except that it didn't rely on electromagnetic waves. Of course, to communicate across planets, they would need to enter the Virtual Universe Network.

"Lu Yan'an, I just used the communications number to contact the local service line. The Administrative Building is about a thousand kilometers from the city gate. You need to go there now to join the Black Dragon Mountain Empire and obtain citizenship."

"Right. Let's go." As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yan'an rose into the air again and continued on his way...

An hour later.

From afar, Lu Yan'an saw a huge building carved to depict a black dragon coiled around a mountain!

This was the Administrative Building of Qiu Long Planet.

At the entrance stood two guards, each nearly six meters tall with bronze-colored skin. They looked incredibly imposing.

When Lu Yan'an reached the entrance, the guard on the left warmly opened the door and said, "Please come in, sir! Though you'd be better off putting away your Mithril Guards. This is one of the safest places on Qiu Long Planet!" His words carried a hint of pride.

Lu Yan'an glanced at the Mithril Guards behind him. Without another word, he put them away, then entered the Administrative Hall.

As soon as he went in, two Flowing Silver Guards in black uniforms followed behind him.

"Hm? Those are Flowing Silver Guards!" Lu Yan'an asked uncertainly.

"They're Flowing Silver Guards," Lord Shen confirmed.

At last, Lu Yan'an had the privilege of seeing Flowing Silver Guards—the so-called "garbage" that Lord Shen didn't even deign to collect.

Lu Yan'an smiled as he entered the hall, the two Flowing Silver Guards behind him.

After casually checking the directory of services on each floor, he quickly found the one he needed. Lu Yan'an sat down on the round sofa nearby. A Flowing Silver Guard stood to one side and said, "72!"

The platform beneath the round sofa glowed with a faint white light, then shot straight upward without the slightest shake. When it stopped, they had reached the seventy-second floor.

"Hello, sir." A woman with a pair of fox ears flew over, bowed slightly, and smiled. "How may I help you?"

"I want to become a citizen of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire," Lu Yan'an said.

In the universe, having citizenship was essential for handling many things. Anyone without legal status was basically liable to be captured by slave traders and sold.

"Citizenship?" The receptionist looked a little surprised, but said nothing more.

"Please come with me!" She then led Lu Yan'an to the room where applications were processed!

Three hours later, when Lu Yan'an left the Administrative Hall, he had finished all the paperwork. He had 950 Black Dragon Coins left over; that was the change he'd received after paying the citizenship fee with one Ganwu Coin.

"Then should we open an account on the Virtual Universe Network next?" Lu Yan'an asked.

"Correct. That's also the main reason you came to Qiu Long Planet! Once you enter the virtual network, you can officially begin cultivating," Lord Shen said serenely from Lu Yan'an's shoulder.