Longshan Company

In a quiet room deep within the core of Yanhe Star, a solid black rectangular nutrient pod sat in the very center of the chamber.

The nutrient pod was not large, measuring only five meters in length and two meters in width.

Because the Lingtong Race themselves were not large—their average height being just a little over two meters—they naturally did not require massive pods. Compared to the tens-of-meters-long pods capable of accommodating most human bloodline individuals, these smaller ones were also slightly cheaper.

Jiang Yao lay inside this nutrient pod, which was worth ten billion cosmic coins, yet he felt no particular excitement. After all, the initial cultivation of geniuses within the Lingtong Race was free; geniuses earned their treatment through assessment results. Jiang Yao had never spent a single cent, and there was not even any money in his account.

He could completely and righteously claim that he had no concept of money.

This was also a point that the lazy Taihuan Token Envoy complained about repeatedly. After all, most games in the Virtual Universe required payment, and this pig had to face a payment screen halfway through every time it played, which left it extremely dissatisfied.

After all, the clan only covered cultivation resources and daily necessities, not entertainment within the Virtual Universe.

Jiang Yao lay naked in the nutrient fluid, never once considering just how expensive the fluid he absorbed every second truly was.

He only felt waves of vibrant energy seeping into his body through every pore, the life energy even more refined than Muya Crystal.

His body was constantly growing stronger, his bones becoming denser, yet he felt a faint sense that the depletion of his body's origin still showed no signs of being replenished.

Jiang Yao had a feeling that under normal circumstances, the depletion of his origin could not be recovered.

The Envoy, while eating some unknown food manifested in the Taihuan Token space, comforted Jiang Yao:

"Relax, think about it. For a Planetary Level like you to reach a 10-fold soul amplitude within half a year using a shortcut technique, paying such a price is already a good deal. The Xu Yuan Opening truly did consume your potential. The superficial external damage can be recovered with this D-grade nutrient fluid, but the damage to your origin is unavoidable.

However, once you step into the Stellar Level and cultivate the technique I taught you, these won't be problems at all."

Jiang Yao felt only a slight regret, but in truth, he had no feelings of remorse. Damaging his potential and lifespan in exchange for the mysterious divine ability of the Xu Yuan Opening—he felt it was worth more than anything.

The more he cultivated the Control Chapter, the more he felt this divine ability held great mysteries. If it had any flaws, it was that it could not be manifested in the Virtual Universe.

According to the Envoy, the Xu Yuan Space could not be considered a truly existing thing.

After Jiang Yao returned to his senses from meditation, he discovered that time was up and he had reached the ninth stage of the Planetary Level.

This feeling of going from the first stage to the ninth stage overnight made him sigh silently: "Being a genius in this world is just great!"

Once one had experienced this feeling, they would never want to return to the experience of grinding away, absorbing cosmic energy to cultivate genetic origin power while climbing up stage by stage.

It wasn't that he couldn't endure hardship—after all, he had suffered immensely while carving the Yan Script to shape his treasure of opening—but rather that he would constantly feel like he was wasting precious time and energy.

When he emerged from the nutrient pod, he discovered there were spectators in the quiet room.

Prose and Kuman were staring straight at him, which made Jiang Yao feel somewhat embarrassed.

He immediately put on his black alloy combat suit and greeted them sheepishly: "Lord Prose, Lord Kuman..."

He was interrupted by the golden-haired Kuman: "No need to call us Lord; you will be at the Stellar Level soon enough."

With that, the cold and arrogant face of the golden-haired youth was filled with fighting spirit: "Break through to the Stellar Level as soon as possible. Once you do, I want to spar with you and see if your willpower can break my illusions!"

Prose looked at Jiang Yao and smiled helplessly: "Kuman also possesses a domain, and he is an illusionist. The fact that you broke free from his illusions in three seconds last year has kept him brooding ever since. Although it was only an illusion for a Planetary Level assessment, you were just a newcomer to the Planetary Level at the time. He naturally couldn't hold it against you, but now he's found his chance."

Although Prose spoke of Kuman's brooding, he himself was filled with deep emotion.

A year ago, he was one of the top Stellar Level geniuses in the clan, while the youth before him was merely a Planetary Level one with mediocre telepathic talent.

The gap between the two was so great that it was unlikely they would have any intersection after twenty years. According to Jiang Yao's telepathic talent, the possibility of him reaching the Stellar Level was very small, and even if he were lucky enough to reach it eventually, it would be hundreds of years later.

Yet in just one short year, he remained the same, but the youth he had brought in had undergone a complete transformation, and would soon be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

Regarding Kuman's challenge, Jiang Yao could only agree, but he felt a bit panicked. After all, a Stellar Level spar within the clan would certainly take place in the Virtual Universe, and his Xu Yuan Space could not be used there; he would definitely be exposed.

He could only hope that the "technique that can only be cultivated at the Stellar Level" mentioned by the Envoy could be mastered quickly—or at least, he needed to get a quick start on it.

After teasing him, Prose turned serious: "Jiang Yao, the Patriarch has already spoken to the old Patriarch at the Main Sect about your situation. The Main Sect is also aware and attaches great importance to you. They have agreed with the Patriarch's decision to let you cultivate in peace on Yanhe Star, awaken your bloodline divine ability, and break through to the Stellar Level. Whenever you break through and awaken your ability, the Main Sect will arrange for experts to come and escort you."

Speaking of this, Prose smiled bitterly: "Originally, the Main Sect demanded that you be sent to the Jiuyuan Holy Land immediately, but the Patriarch argued strongly, saying that the Longshan Company would definitely intercept the ship.

However, the Main Sect kept saying that the Longshan Company couldn't possibly be that bold. They said the Peak Genius Tournament is approaching, and the Main Sect is bringing in geniuses from various branches to prepare for it. They reached an agreement with Yinhu Island long ago not to engage in underhanded tactics or intercept each other's personnel for three hundred years.

Yinhu Island will certainly restrain its subordinate forces. If Yinhu Island dares to break the agreement, it would mean inciting a Holy Land war. Yinhu Island definitely wouldn't dare do that before the Genius Tournament.

But the Patriarch kept arguing that we shouldn't take even the slightest risk, so the Main Sect finally relented, allowing you not to depart for the Holy Land immediately, and they will even send experts to escort you.

Jiang Yao, the Patriarch is doing this for your safety!"

Following the Patriarch's instructions, Prose tried his best to convey the Yanhe Lineage's care for Jiang Yao through his words.

In this way, the Main Sect could only be cast as the villain, while the Patriarch would have the glorious image of someone who, for the sake of Jiang Yao's safety, did not hesitate to stand up to the powerful and argue his case.

Well... of course, what the Main Sect said was indeed true, and Prose also believed that since the Main Sect said there was no problem, safety shouldn't be an issue. Yinhu Island also had subordinate forces and geniuses to cultivate; would they really incite a Holy Land war just to kill one Jiang Yao, causing thousands of their own experts and geniuses to be buried with him? No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't worth it.

Jiang Yao possessing a domain at the Planetary Level was indeed a big gimmick, but he would reach the Stellar Level soon. That amount of time might not be enough for his domain to progress further, and once at the Stellar Level, his combat power might not even be as good as his or Kuman's. How far he could go was unknown; it was just that his potential was quite large.

It was just that the Patriarch insisted on keeping Jiang Yao until he broke through to the Stellar Level and mastered his bloodline divine ability before going to the Holy Land, all to show a bit more favor and make Jiang Yao feel more of a sense of belonging to the Yanhe Lineage.

This was, after all, beneficial to the future of the Yanhe Branch. Prose was older and had deeper feelings for the Yanhe Star System where he was born and raised, so he also agreed with the Patriarch's idea.

Thinking of this, Prose decided to add fuel to the fire, exaggerating the danger to make the Patriarch's insistence on having Jiang Yao break through to the Stellar Level on Yanhe Star seem more reasonable.

"Jiang Yao, this Longshan Company is an opponent that has been fighting us for hundreds of epochs, and the grudge between the two sides is not small."

Jiang Yao naturally dared not be careless about matters concerning his own life, so he listened intently to Prose's explanation.

"The Longshan Company is actually the nominal ruler of our Yanhe Star System, the Longshan Federation, governing over two hundred star systems. However, its reputation is poor, mainly because its core business is the slave trade."

Jiang Yao raised an eyebrow. Good heavens, this was a slave trading company disguised as a low-level civilization?

At this point, Prose also revealed a hint of disgust: "A slave trading company has become a civilized nation governing over two hundred star systems; I have no idea what the Kasolo Empire is thinking."

The Longshan Company doesn't just capture slaves; they also raise them, specifically designating over a hundred star systems as 'slave breeding bases' for them to multiply and thrive.

After hundreds of epochs of operation by the Longshan Company, this Longshan Federation has become the most famous slave production and trading center in this star region, renowned throughout the universe.

Jiang Yao could hear the sarcasm in Prose's words.

"However, the reason the Longshan Company is so arrogant is that they truly have the capital to be arrogant. The highest level of the Longshan Company is the Board of Directors, which consists of 11 directors in total, all of whom are Domain Lord level powerhouses!"