Cultivating by the Book is Just Waiting for Death!

Because the D9-grade alloy spaceship of the elder Meng Yi, who was escorting Jiang Yao, Prose, and the other geniuses, was destroyed by the Star Sand Zircon Silk used by a Domain Lord from Yinhu Island, the ship Jiang Yao and the others took to reach the main sect was a D1-grade vessel that the elder retrieved from his space ring.

Due to the limited capacity of the space ring, this backup ship was somewhat small and slower than the D9-grade vessel, so it took several extra days to arrive at the main sect.

The location of the Lingtong Race main sect was a massive planet with obvious signs of artificial construction. According to the elder's introduction, this planet was forged within the Jiuyuan Holy Land—the God Kingdom of the Lingtong Race's Immortal God—and then relocated into this region of space.

With this planet as the center, the surrounding 216 star systems were all settlements for the Lingtong Race, which left Jiang Yao feeling quite astonished.

This was a characteristic feature of factions that relied on bloodline inheritance.

Holy Lands like Yinhu Island catered to geniuses from the entire Kasolo Empire, so they did not require vast territories or the occupation of many star systems.

However, since the Lingtong Race was a Holy Land based on its own clansmen, it required a significant sphere of influence to allow the population to multiply as much as possible; the greater the number of clansmen, the higher the probability of geniuses being born.

It could be said that the Lingtong Race was only missing the title of a primary cosmic civilization, and a quite powerful one at that.

Meng Yi seemed to perceive the thoughts of Jiang Yao and the others, shaking his head with a smile: "Do you think 216 star systems are a lot? The clan itself thinks it's too few, otherwise, we wouldn't constantly be splitting off branches to go elsewhere to multiply and thrive."

Jiang Yao recalled the information he had checked in the Virtual Universe regarding the six great Holy Lands of the Kasolo Empire; only two of the six were race-based factions.

The other four Holy Lands were extremely vigilant toward the instinctual desire of race-based Holy Lands like the Lingtong Race to expand their living space, and they would spare no effort to stop them.

Even for the Emperor of the Kasolo Empire, a race-based faction like the Lingtong Race was no different from a state within a state, and there was a limit to his patience.

Therefore, the Lingtong Race had long ago abandoned attempts to expand the living space of the main sect, shifting early to branching out and establishing offshoots outside the Kasolo Empire.

Although race-based factions were inferior to non-race-based factions like Yinhu Island in terms of selection range, diversity, fault tolerance, and openness, there were gains to be made from the losses; in terms of cohesion and sense of belonging, the Lingtong Race was indeed second to none among the six great Holy Lands.

Watching the young people from the Yanhe branch curiously examining the buildings and crowds on this massive planet, Meng Yi shook his head and smiled: "Although this planet is nominally the core of the Lingtong Race main sect, it is not actually that important. Unlike Yinhu Island, the true core of my Lingtong Race lies primarily in the Jiuyuan Holy Land and Jiuyuan City in the Virtual Universe.

A small half of the main sect's powerhouses live in the Jiuyuan Holy Land, which is the ancestor's God Kingdom, while the majority are distributed across these 216 star systems. In terms of the true power center, it is actually Jiuyuan City.

All clansmen living in these 216 star systems will appear in Jiuyuan City when they log into the Virtual Universe network, and it will also be the place for your future life, entertainment, social interaction, competition, and even cultivation."

As he spoke, Meng Yi led the seven of them to their living quarters. The number of Lingtong clansmen on the planet was extremely high, so naturally, there wasn't much living space; the conditions were similar to Jiang Yao's accommodation on Yanhe Planet, all located within a large building.

However, once one reached the Stellar Level, as Meng Yi said, the main places for social interaction and life were in the Virtual Universe, and even duels and learning could mostly be completed there.

It was not Jiang Yao's first time logging into the Virtual Universe, but clearly, Jiuyuan City was not comparable to the small city of the Longshan Federation on the network; in terms of population density and the number of powerhouses, they were not on the same level.

Jiuyuan City was located on Kasolo Island on the periphery of the Xuanshang Continent in the Virtual Universe network. The buildings were extremely tall, all silver-gray in appearance, with a style that was slightly primitive and exuded an aura of wildness.

Sitting on Jiang Yao's shoulder was a small pig the size of a fist with two pairs of wings, none other than the Taihuan Token Envoy "Bajie," whose voice rang out in Jiang Yao's mind:

"Tsk tsk, this is all built from Huige Stone, right? Even in the Virtual Universe, the price is much cheaper than in reality, but to build an entire city out of Huige Stone, your Lingtong Race is truly wealthy and overbearing."

Jiang Yao discovered that although Bajie had a mysterious background and came from another Source World, and every secret technique he produced was a priceless treasure, he had perhaps become increasingly obsessed with money due to playing games in the Virtual Universe without the funds to pay for VIP status, losing the dignity befitting a grand Taihuan Token Envoy.

Meng Yi glanced at the little pig on Jiang Yao's shoulder but didn't pay it any mind; after all, everyone had a little sprite on their shoulder, and the appearance of the sprite could be shaped by the individual at will.

The bearded man said with a hint of pride: "The space for this Jiuyuan City was rented by my Lingtong Race from the Virtual Universe Company, and the city was built using Huige Stone purchased in the Virtual Universe. The only ones who can afford to build a city alone on Kasolo Island are my Jiuyuan Holy Land, the Zhuchong Holy Land, and Yinhu Island."

Bajie curled his lips and complained in Jiang Yao's mind: "That Zhuchong Holy Land is also one of the only two race-based factions among the six. It's obvious that building a separate city on Kasolo Island is a need only you 'big spenders' of the race-based Holy Lands have. As for Yinhu Island, perhaps it's because they are the number one Holy Land and need to save face? Which normal Holy Land would spend this kind of wasted money?"

Jiang Yao agreed with this assessment from the little money-grubber. Other non-race-based Holy Lands recruited geniuses from the entire Kasolo Empire; the number of Stellar Level individuals was not large, but they were all elites, and buying a building on Kasolo Island as a venue for gatherings was sufficient.

Unlike the Lingtong Race, the number of Stellar Level individuals born from clansmen living in 216 star systems was quite large, plus there were those coming to the main sect from various branches, and coupled with the race's unique sense of belonging, there was indeed a need to rent land and build a city.

However, Jiang Yao could clearly see that many people in the city looked different from the Lingtong Race, or rather, the Lingtong Race actually only accounted for a small half of the city's residents.

Meng Yi seemed to see the confusion of Jiang Yao and the others and explained: "There is no segregation inside Kasolo Island; it is actually a super-large city in itself. The three cities built by us, the Zhuchong Holy Land, and Yinhu Island are equivalent to three special districts on the island.

However, over time, these three districts, including Jiuyuan City, which were rented and built separately by the Holy Lands, have become the trade, entertainment, and social centers for the entire Kasolo Island. Most of the shops in the city belong to my Lingtong Race, and the profits obtained from this not only cover the cost of renting the land but also earn quite a bit of money."

After leading the seven young geniuses from his hometown to get slightly familiar with the environment of Jiuyuan City, Meng Yi smiled: "I have to go to the Senate for a meeting in a while. You should go to the First Universe Bank branch to activate your accounts first. After all, you are already at the Stellar Level. This is property gifted to you by the Yanhe branch of the clan. Each of you is the future of my Yanhe branch, and everyone receives the same amount; there will be no favoritism."

This money was not provided by the Lingtong Race main sect; in fact, the Holy Land providing various free training resources to geniuses of the branches was already doing its utmost. Therefore, the property gifted to Jiang Yao and the others was provided by the Yanhe branch, which was also a way to bestow favor upon these geniuses, hoping that after they became true powerhouses, they would have a sense of belonging to the Yanhe branch.

"However, in reality, there aren't many places where you will need to spend money. You are all Stellar Level geniuses preparing for the Peak Battle. In the three hundred years before the Peak Battle, you can obtain secret techniques and even weapons provided by the clan for free, including free access to watch live broadcasts of Stellar Level life-and-death battles at the Giant Axe Coliseum.

And you can use the Killing Space for free; in the Killing Space, you can even customize Stellar Level opponents who have comprehended the Origin Laws!"

Meng Yi smiled at the surprised looks of the youngsters: "You should know what a precious opportunity this is. The cost of using the Killing Space is not cheap, and simulating opponents with domains, or even opponents who have comprehended the Origin Laws, in the Killing Space requires extra money."

Meng Yi's words made everyone's blood boil. It should be known that at the Planetary Level, the clan valued the speed of cultivating mental power amplification techniques; it was an assessment without confrontation, and no one expected Planetary Level individuals to fight enemies.

But at the Stellar Level, in the various Holy Lands, one reached the baseline qualification to be cannon fodder, so combat ability was put on the training agenda.

Jiang Yao was also eager to try. After all, comprehending the Origin Laws and stepping into the threshold of the laws was one thing, but whether one could exert the comprehended laws in battle and to what extent was another, so he didn't care much about the fact that he finally had disposable property.

However, it was clear that Bajie cared very much. After activating the account and seeing the amount of 20 billion Xuanshang Coins, a look of disappointment appeared on the pig's face.

Jiang Yao, who had no concept of money, did a quick conversion. 1 Universe Coin was worth about 3,000 Xuanshang Coins, so 20 billion Xuanshang Coins was over 6 million Universe Coins, which seemed quite substantial.

Prose looked joyful: "I didn't expect the clan to be so generous. Many Universe Level individuals don't have this much disposable property. Now I can drink that Lingrong Fruit Wine to my heart's content; I've been dying for it during this time."

Even the cold-faced blond youth Kuman couldn't help but curl his lips. Regardless of whether there was a need to spend money, having a significant amount of property that one could control was naturally exciting.

The residence in the Virtual Universe was larger than the one in reality, and the conditions were better; it was no longer a matchbox but a small courtyard.

After returning to his own courtyard, Bajie continued to nag about the money not being enough.

Jiang Yao was puzzled: "Is 6 million Universe Coins not enough to open a VIP membership for the games you play?"

The little pig sighed: "Sigh, you underestimate the ability of the Virtual Universe Company of your human race to induce spending."

After a moment of melancholy, he straightened his expression: "Do you think I want money just for myself? Isn't it to help you grow faster? To let you avoid being possessed by the will of that stupid Desolate Beast?

Didn't we analyze it on the ship earlier? There are five paths for you to enhance your own strength now. One is to improve your realm, but before that so-called Peak Battle, that can only reach the Stellar Level 9 at most."

The second path is to improve your comprehension of domains and origin laws.

The third path is to strengthen your body and raise your so-called genetic level.

The fourth path is to see if you can modify the origin divine abilities currently usable by Bizhang into origin secret techniques that your human body can cultivate.

The fifth path is to rapidly advance your current level in the first stage of the Control Chapter of Xu Yuan Opening to the second stage.

Both this fourth and fifth path require treasures and money; what can a mere 6 million-plus cosmic coins actually do?

Of course, you could also let nature take its course and slowly cultivate the Control Chapter of Xu Yuan Opening, but you should be clear that the growth rate of Bizhang's will is very fast; cultivating step-by-step is simply waiting for death!