Because the old patriarch had been escorting Jiang Yao and the other geniuses when the Domain Lord of Yinhu Island damaged his D9-class alloy spaceship with Star Sand Zircon Silk, the ship that carried Jiang Yao and the others to the Main Sect was a D1-class spaceship that Old Patriarch Meng Yi had taken out of his Space Ring.
The Space Ring had limited capacity, so this backup ship was rather small. It was also slower than the D9-class spaceship, and they took several extra days to reach the Main Sect.
The Lingtong Race's Main Sect was located on a massive planet, with obvious signs of having been built by hand. According to Old Patriarch Meng Yi, the planet had been constructed in the Jiuyuan Holy Land—the God Kingdom of the Lingtong Race's Immortal God—and then moved into space.
Centered around this planet, 216 nearby star systems were home to the Lingtong Race. Jiang Yao couldn't help but marvel at the scale.
That was a characteristic of forces built around bloodline-based races.
A Sacred Land like Yinhu Island served the geniuses of the entire Kasolo Empire, so it didn't need much territory or many star systems.
But the Lingtong Race's Sacred Land was built around its own people. It needed a sizable territory where they could thrive and multiply. The more people there were, the greater the odds of producing geniuses.
The Lingtong Race was practically a low-tier cosmic civilization in all but name—and a particularly powerful one at that.
Meng Yi seemed to read their thoughts. He shook his head with a smile. "Do you think 216 star systems is a lot? The clan thinks it's too few. Otherwise, we wouldn't keep splitting off branches to settle elsewhere."
Jiang Yao recalled the information he had found in the Virtual Universe about the Kasolo Empire's six great Sacred Lands. Only two of the six were race-based forces.
The other four Sacred Lands were extremely wary of the instinctive desire of a race-based Sacred Land like the Lingtong Race to expand its living space. They would spare no effort to stop it.
Even the Kasolo Empire Emperor had his limits. A race-based force like the Lingtong Race was effectively a country within a country.
So the Lingtong Race had long since given up trying to expand the territory where its Main Sect's people lived. Instead, it had turned to spreading out branches beyond the Kasolo Empire.
Race-based forces might fall short of non-race-based forces like Yinhu Island in the range and diversity of their recruitment, their tolerance for failure, and their openness. But every loss came with a gain. In terms of unity and sense of belonging, the Lingtong Race was unquestionably the best of the six Sacred Lands.
Meng Yi watched the young people from the Yanhe Branch curiously take in the buildings and crowds on the enormous planet. He shook his head with a smile. "Although this planet is nominally the Core Land of the Lingtong Race's Main Sect, it isn't really that important. We're not like Yinhu Island. The true core of my Lingtong Race is mainly the Jiuyuan Holy Land and Jiuyuan City in the Virtual Universe.
"About half of the Main Sect's powerful figures live in the Jiuyuan Holy Land—in other words, in our ancestor's God Kingdom. Most of the rest are spread across these 216 star systems. But the true center of power is still Jiuyuan City.
"When our people living in these 216 star systems log into the Virtual Universe Network, they'll appear in Jiuyuan City. It will also be the main place where you live, socialize, find entertainment, compete, and even cultivate."
As he spoke, Meng Yi led Jiang Yao and the other seven to their lodgings. The planet was densely populated with Lingtong Race members, so there wasn't much room for housing. Their accommodations were much like Jiang Yao's on Yanhe Planet: they would live in a large apartment building.
But at the Star Level, as Meng Yi had said, most socializing and daily life took place in the Virtual Universe. Even sparring and studying could mostly be done there.
This wasn't Jiang Yao's first time logging into the Virtual Universe, but Jiuyuan City was clearly on a different level from the small city where the Longshan Federation was based on the Virtual Universe Network. Its population density and the number of powerful figures were incomparable.
Jiuyuan City was located on Kasolo Island, on the outskirts of Xuanshang Continent in the Virtual Universe Network. Its buildings were enormous, all silver-gray, and built in a somewhat archaic style that gave the place a wild, primordial feel.
A tiny pig with two pairs of wings sat on Jiang Yao's shoulder. It was only about the size of a fist: the Taihuan Token Envoy, "Bajie." His voice sounded in Jiang Yao's mind.
"Tsk, tsk. These buildings are all made of Huige Stone, right? Even if it's much cheaper in the Virtual Universe than in reality, your Lingtong Race sure is loaded to build an entire city out of it."
Jiang Yao had noticed that, despite Bajie's mysterious origins and the fact that he came from another Source World, every secret technique he offered was priceless. But perhaps playing games in the Virtual Universe without enough money to buy VIP upgrades had made him increasingly obsessed with money, to the point that he'd lost the dignity befitting a Taihuan Token Envoy.
Meng Yi glanced at the little pig on Jiang Yao's shoulder and paid it no mind. After all, everyone had a little sprite on their shoulder, and each person could customize its appearance however they liked.
The bearded man spoke with a hint of pride. "My Lingtong Race rents the space for Jiuyuan City from the Virtual Universe Company. The city itself was built in the Virtual Universe out of Huige Stone we bought there. Only three groups can afford to build a city of their own on Kasolo Island: the Jiuyuan Holy Land, the Zhuchong Holy Land, and Yinhu Island."
Bajie curled his lip and complained in Jiang Yao's mind, "The Zhuchong Holy Land is also one of the only two race-based forces among the six Sacred Lands. Obviously, the only ones who need their own cities on Kasolo Island are you suckers from the race-based Sacred Lands. As for Yinhu Island, maybe it's because they're the number one Sacred Land and need to save face? What normal Sacred Land would waste money like that?"
Jiang Yao agreed with the little miser. The other, non-race-based Sacred Lands recruited geniuses from across the Kasolo Empire. They didn't have many people at the Star Level, but those they did have were all elites. Buying a building on Kasolo Island as a place to gather was enough.
Unlike the Lingtong Race, whose people lived across 216 star systems and produced a great many Star Level members. Add to that the people from its various branches who came to the Main Sect, and the strong sense of belonging unique to a race-based force, and it made sense for the Lingtong Race to rent land and build a city.
Still, Jiang Yao could clearly see that plenty of people in the city didn't look like members of the Lingtong Race. In fact, the Lingtong Race seemed to make up less than half of the city's residents.
Meng Yi seemed to notice their confusion and explained, "There are no barriers within Kasolo Island. It's essentially one enormous city, and the three cities built by us, the Zhuchong Holy Land, and Yinhu Island are simply three special districts.
"But over time, these three districts, each built on land rented by a Sacred Land, have become centers of trade, entertainment, and social life across Kasolo Island. Most of the shops in our city belong to the Lingtong Race. The profits cover our rent and leave us with plenty to spare."
After showing the seven young geniuses from his hometown a little of Jiuyuan City, Meng Yi smiled and said, "I have a meeting at the Elder Council shortly. You can go to a First Universe Bank branch and activate your accounts first. After all, you're already at the Star Level. This is the property the Yanhe Lineage is giving you. Each of you is part of the Yanhe Lineage's future, so you'll all receive the same amount. No one will be favored over anyone else."
The money wasn't provided by the Lingtong Race's Main Sect. The Sacred Land was already doing more than enough by providing branch geniuses with various training resources for free. The property given to Jiang Yao and the others came from the Yanhe Branch. It was a way to win these geniuses' favor, in the hope that when they became true powerhouses, they would still feel a sense of belonging to the Yanhe Branch.
"But in practice, you won't have many expenses. You're all Star Level geniuses preparing for the Peak Battle. For the more than three hundred years before it, the clan will provide you with secret techniques and even weapons for free. You'll also be able to watch the Star Level Life-and-Death Battles at the Giant Axe Coliseum for free.
"You can also use the Killing Space for free. In it, you can even create Star Level opponents who have sensed the Origin Law!"
Seeing the young people's astonished expressions, Meng Yi smiled. "You should know how precious this opportunity is. The Killing Field's services are already expensive. It costs extra to create an opponent with a Domain in the Killing Space, let alone one who has sensed the Origin Law."
Meng Yi's words had everyone fired up. At the Planetary Level, the clan had focused on how quickly they could cultivate the Mental Power Amplitude secret technique. Their assessments hadn't involved combat, and no one expected Planetary Level cultivators to fight enemies.
But at the Star Level, they had reached the minimum qualification to serve as cannon fodder for the great Sacred Lands. Only now would their combat ability become part of their training.
Jiang Yao was eager to try it too. Sensing the Origin Law and crossing the threshold of the law was one thing; being able to bring that understanding to bear in battle, and seeing how far he could take it, was another. He barely gave a thought to the fact that he finally had money of his own to spend.
Bajie, however, cared very much. When he saw the balance of 20 billion Xuanshang Coins after activating the account, disappointment showed on his pig face.
Jiang Yao, who had no real concept of money, did a quick conversion. One Universe Coin was worth roughly 3,000 Xuanshang Coins, so 20 billion Xuanshang Coins came to more than six million Universe Coins. That seemed like a decent amount.
Prose looked delighted. "I didn't expect the clan to be so generous. Plenty of Universe-level cultivators don't have this much spending money. Now I can drink all the Lingrong Fruit Wine I want. I've been holding back for ages."
Even Kuman, the golden-haired young man with the perpetually cold expression, couldn't help the corners of his mouth from turning up. Whether or not he had anything to spend it on, having a substantial amount of money under his own control was naturally exciting.
The Virtual Universe accommodations were larger and better than those in reality. Instead of a matchbox-sized room, they had a small courtyard.
Back in his own courtyard, Bajie went on about how the money still wasn't enough.
Jiang Yao was puzzled. "Is more than six million Universe Coins still not enough for you to buy VIP membership for the games you play?"
The little pig sighed. "Sigh, you really underestimate the Virtual Universe Company's ability to get your Human Race to spend money."
After a brief pause, he continued more seriously, "Do you think I want money just for myself? I'm trying to help you grow faster, so you can avoid being possessed by that stupid Desolate Beast will.
"Didn't we analyze this on the spaceship? You have five ways to strengthen yourself. The first is to raise your realm, but before that Peak Battle, you'll only be able to reach Star Level Nine at most.
"The second is to improve your Domain and your understanding of the Origin Law.
"The third is to strengthen your body and raise your Gene Level.
"The fourth is to see if we can turn the innate divine ability Bizhang can use at this stage into an Origin Secret Technique that your human body can cultivate.
"The fifth is to advance your Control Chapter of Xu Yuan Opening from the first level, which is all you've reached so far, to the second level.
"Both the fourth and fifth paths require treasures. They require money. What can you do with just over six million Universe Coins?
"Of course, you could also just take your time cultivating the Control Chapter of Xu Yuan Opening. But you should know how quickly Bizhang's will is growing. If you train at a steady pace, you're just waiting to die!"
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