Astonishing Treatment

The BX10081 Star System, Storm Port, inside the Cultivation Room of the Governor's Mansion on the 888th floor.

The pale-blue light of the Virtual Universe had barely faded when Tang Ping and Luo Xiaoyu opened their eyes almost simultaneously. The moment their gazes met, they both broke into smiles.

To enter the legendary Ganwu Secret Realm together and become Core Members in one leap was far better than either of them had initially expected.

"I never thought we'd get to step through the gates of the Ganwu Secret Realm, too," Luo Xiaoyu murmured, her eyes full of delight.

She had heard that the current head of the Luo Family, Luo Feng, had a second son, Patriarch Luo Hai, who was also a member of the Ganwu Secret Realm. But he was already a Universe Level powerhouse, so his starting point was nothing like theirs.

"Let's take it one step at a time. We'll catch up eventually," Tang Ping said confidently as he reached out and ruffled her hair.

As they spoke, both their Personal Terminals received an email from the Ganwu Secret Realm. When they opened it, they found a detailed list of their respective basic benefits. The generous allowances came as a pleasant surprise to them both.

Luo Xiaoyu's benefits came first. As a third-tier Star Rank student, she would have someone from the Ganwu Dojo come to escort her to the secret realm in a month. After that, she could focus on cultivation there.

As for benefits, she would receive an allowance of ten million Ganwu Coins every ten years, which she could use to purchase all kinds of cultivation treasures and rare manuals.

Even more remarkable, many resources in the Ganwu Secret Realm that were considered "not for sale" elsewhere were available to third-tier students. They could also buy them at a ten percent discount.

In addition, Immortal Level and Marquis Level powerhouses often served as instructors in the secret realm, and mysterious realms were regularly opened for students to explore and seek opportunities. There was even the legendary Immortal Monument, inscribed with countless immortal techniques, available for them to study.

What reassured Luo Xiaoyu most was that when she was ready to break through to Universe Level, she could apply for a special grant of ten million Ganwu Coins' worth of resources free of charge. That would completely resolve her earlier worries about finding the funds for her breakthrough.

After all, one Ganwu Coin was worth one thousand Black Dragon Coins.

Tang Ping's benefits as a special-grade student were even more astonishing. His allowance would jump to one hundred million Ganwu Coins every ten years—an entire 100 billion Black Dragon Coins—and he would also receive a thirty percent discount on items from the secret realm.

When breaking through to Universe Level, he could apply for one hundred million Ganwu Coins' worth of resources for free, almost minimizing the risk of the breakthrough.

However, the email also clearly stated the evaluation rules: Star Rank students in the Ganwu Secret Realm would be screened once every ten years. Anyone ranked below one thousand would be demoted to an outer student and expelled from the core area.

Universe Level students, meanwhile, would be evaluated every hundred years and were subject to the same elimination system.

We're going to be rich!

After their brief excitement, they began discussing their plans in earnest.

"First, I need to resign from the Luo Family and hand over my management duties for the Storm Port star system to someone else," Tang Ping said thoughtfully. "You should see things through to the end. I can't just abandon my post because I'm going to the secret realm."

As for his businesses in the virtual games, he did not need to worry too much about them. After all, they might go to the Deep Cold Cavern to temper their wills in the future, and he could manage things whenever he logged in.

Luo Xiaoyu nodded and added, "We don't have any close friends or family we need to make a special effort to say goodbye to. The only other thing is to order a batch of supplies for breaking through to Universe Level and have them sent directly to the Ganwu Secret Realm. Then, when someone comes to escort us in a month, we can focus on preparing for the breakthrough once we arrive. That'll be safer."

"There's more good news," Tang Ping said, suddenly recalling what Feng Lun had told him. "Feng Lun mentioned that the evaluation for Universe Level students in the Ganwu Secret Realm just ended this year. If we break through successfully, we can enjoy the benefits of Universe Level students until the next evaluation.

It's an unwritten rule, too. That means we get to enjoy an extra hundred years of benefits."

After all, special-grade Universe Level students could apply for resources free of charge. Tang Ping could simply soak in Nutrient Solution all the way to the peak of Universe Level.

The atmosphere in the Cultivation Room gradually grew warmer. Tang Ping got up and walked over to Luo Xiaoyu, then slipped his arms around her slender waist from behind and rested his chin lightly on her shoulder. His voice carried a teasing note. "Honey, this is such a big occasion. Shouldn't we celebrate properly?"

Luo Xiaoyu rolled her eyes at him adorably.

They had been married for over a decade. How could she not know what Tang Ping was thinking? His so-called "celebration" was just an excuse to get close to her.

And how were they going to celebrate? Obviously, by clapping!

She gently tried to wriggle free, her tone half-scolding. "Be gentle. After last time, I could barely get my legs together, and my combat strength was down for days!"

Tang Ping's gaze unconsciously drifted downward, landing on Luo Xiaoyu's legs.

Even beneath the snug Origin Force Battle Suit, they still looked long and straight, with barely a gap between them. That was one of the perks of being a powerful martial artist: their recovery was astonishing. As long as an injury wasn't fatal, they would be back to normal before long.

As he spoke, he tightened his arms around her, the faint, sweet scent of Origin Force on Luo Xiaoyu lingering at his nose.

Heh heh heh~

The Virtual Universe, the core area of the Luo Family Exclusive Island, at the Luo Clan Hotel.

A colossal palace-like building stood in the center of the plaza.

To meet the growing demand for banquets within the clan, the Luo Family had simply built this hotel on their own territory. It could accommodate tens of thousands of people at once.

Rather than let outsiders profit from hosting their banquets, they might as well keep the convenience for their own people.

The hotel's outer walls were made of rare Star-Patterned Jade. Sunlight glinted off them, scattering a brilliant, iridescent glow. The two enormous lion statues carved with the Luo Family's crest at the entrance lent the place an imposing air. From a distance, it looked magnificent.

Tang Ping stood at the hotel entrance, watching the steady stream of guests. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he felt utterly speechless.

Today was supposed to be a rare day off for him, but Luo Kedi had been so insistent with his invitation that he had eventually given in and come to attend the full-month banquet for Luo Kedi's hundredth son.

Looking at the elegantly dressed guests chatting merrily, he saw direct descendants of the Luo Family, representatives of the major forces in the Milky Way Galaxy, and even members of several old families in the Black Dragon Empire.

Tang Ping finally understood a truth he had never considered before: being able to father children was a talent beyond most people's reach.

More than a decade ago, hardly anyone in the entire Luo Family thought highly of Luo Kedi.

In everyone's eyes, he was a good-for-nothing who spent his days idling about and chasing women, neglecting cultivation and caring only about having children. Compared with the geniuses of the Luo Family, who raced against time to reach higher levels, he was like mud to their clouds.

Back then, anyone who got close to Luo Kedi would be mocked behind their back for having "no ambition."

But no one had expected things to quietly turn around as time went by.

Luo Kedi's sons, grandsons, and even great-grandsons kept appearing like mushrooms after the rain, gradually putting down roots in every branch of the Luo Family.

After all, the entire Luo Family had only a few thousand direct descendants. That was nowhere near enough people to manage the 210,000 life-bearing planets in the Milky Way Galaxy, along with several million to ten million uninhabited star systems.

So "give preference to members of the Luo Family" became an unwritten rule. Whether they were direct descendants, collateral relatives, sons-in-law, or daughters-in-law who had joined through marriage, anyone with a connection to the Luo Family gained an advantage when positions were assigned.

And Luo Kedi's descendants had arrived just in time to benefit from that wave of "good fortune."

Over the past decade or so, they had gradually entered the Luo Family's administrative, commercial, and military departments, all thanks to their status as members of the Luo Family. Some had even risen to mid-level management positions, where they wielded considerable influence.

Only then did people belatedly realize how "formidable" Luo Kedi was. He seemed to idle his life away, but in reality, he had used the simplest and most direct method to pave a secure path for his family.

From then on, the clan members who had once looked down on Luo Kedi changed their attitude, and major forces in the Silver Blue Empire and even the Black Dragon Empire began actively courting him.

The banquets at Luo Kedi's home had gone from sparsely attended to wildly popular. Some people even spent a fortune just to get an invitation.

The gifts guests brought grew more generous year after year, becoming a curious "sight" within the Luo Family.

By now, not just anyone could attend a banquet at Luo Kedi's home. Without enough status, they couldn't even get through the hotel's doors.

"Ridiculous!" Tang Ping thought to himself, his expression complicated.

What bothered him even more was that he and Luo Xiaoyu had also put a great deal of effort into having a child over the years.

They had even signed up for the most authoritative "Healthy Pregnancy and Childrearing Course" in the Virtual Universe, studying all kinds of tips for trying to conceive: how to maintain positions without spilling, the proper way to exert force while kneeling, calculating the precise date of conception, and even trying the extreme method of "seven days off, one day on."

They had bought no shortage of supplements, either, from natural treasures that nourished the body to rare potions that regulated Origin Force. If it could help them conceive, they were willing to pay any price. Sometimes, to catch the ideal window, they even put their cultivation on hold and spent the entire night preparing.

But even so, there had been no good news.

If they thought about it carefully, it made sense.

The more powerful the cultivator, the harder it was to have children. The purer their Origin Force, the stronger its rejection of the process of life. Successfully conceiving a child was already a rare occurrence.

That was precisely why so many supreme powerhouses doted on their children. They were treasures bought with countless years of effort.

Tang Ping sighed softly and turned his gaze back to the lively scene inside the hotel.

Luo Kedi was surrounded by people offering congratulations, his face split by a huge grin. He looked entirely different from the man he had been more than a decade ago.