For ordinary people, a trip to the Initial Universe for enlightenment was merely a chance to broaden their horizons, experience true experts, and study the Chaos Steles a few times to improve their potential.
But for him, this was an opportunity to directly access the highest-level platform.
The Chaos Steles... he was truly looking forward to them.
On the fifteenth day after the Ganwu Auction ended.
A spacecraft belonging to the Virtual Universe Company arrived at Silver Blue Star.
"Customer identity confirmed. Transaction may proceed."
As the electronic voice sounded, the Virtual Universe Company staff placed large crates on the ground one after another, and Qian Yu stored each of them in his World Ring.
"Dear customer, thank you for your support of the Virtual Universe Company. Thank you."
Qian Yu nodded and shook hands with the man who had delivered the goods. Then they parted ways.
"The goods are here!"
He could set the other items aside for now. Aside from the things he had bought on a whim, what truly interested him this time were the Initial Universe enlightenment slot and that strange stone.
He took out the stone and examined it carefully. It seemed that, aside from being hard, it truly possessed no unusual qualities whatsoever.
Yet he still felt that this stone could not be so simple.
World Force flowed into it, but nothing changed. He tried several other methods as well, yet none could make the stone reveal its true function.
"Could I have guessed wrong? Is this really just a somewhat harder stone?"
Qian Yu shook his head. Forget it. It had not cost much anyway, so he casually tossed it into his World Ring to gather dust.
He then took out another item.
It was a silver-gray metal card.
It was precisely the token for his Initial Universe enlightenment slot. He only needed to scan it with his own Virtual Universe account to lock in his identity.
Once his identity was locked in, he could head to the Initial Universe for enlightenment.
He could go whenever he wished, but he had to make the journey himself. No one would pick him up or see him off.
Qian Yu was not bothered by that. After all, he had not entered through the Genius War.
He had merely purchased an enlightenment slot through an auction, so it was only reasonable that he had to travel there himself.
At worst, he would spend a few years flying there. It would not make much difference.
He could still study and cultivate aboard the ship.
Qian Yu immediately decided to depart. The Initial Universe was extremely far from his current location, requiring roughly three years of travel to reach. The sooner he left, the sooner he could begin his enlightenment.
The spacecraft took off. The F9-Class Cosmic Ship was incredibly fast, plunging into the Dark Universe in an instant.
After boarding the ship, Qian Yu entered the Virtual Universe and began studying the secret techniques he had purchased earlier.
His Initial Universe slot had been bought, so naturally he did not possess privileges like the core members of the five great core factions, such as using points to purchase items.
He was still unclear on how all this worked. He would have to wait until he reached the Initial Universe to find out.
For these three years, he would thoroughly study his secret techniques.
He was not in such a hurry to improve his realm anymore.
It was merely the accumulation of energy. Spending vast amounts of time just to pile up energy was not quite worth it. He had had no choice before, but now that he had an opportunity to access a higher-level platform, he did not believe he would be unable to obtain a Nutrition Pod.
In the blink of an eye, three years quietly passed.
Over those three years, Qian Yu devoted nearly all his energy to cultivating secret techniques.
The F9-Class Cosmic Ship continuously traveled through the Dark Universe, while his strength steadily improved through day after day of arduous cultivation.
Although his realm remained at First-Order Realm Lord, his combat power had improved by far more than a single level compared to three years ago.
"Ten minutes remaining until arrival at the destination. Beginning universe traversal. Entering the Original Universe."
The ship's electronic notification sounded.
Qian Yu opened his eyes and slowly rose to his feet. Through the ship's porthole, he could sense the surrounding Dark Universe space violently fluctuating.
"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1!"
Boom!
The entire spacecraft trembled slightly. Ten seconds later, everything returned to normal.
With a thought from Qian Yu, the porthole's exterior-view simulation instantly activated. The entire hall became transparent, revealing the surrounding starry sky in full.
Then he froze.
In the distant starry sky, an incomparably vast supercontinent floated silently.
That continent was so enormous that words could not possibly describe it.
Some nearby stars and planets appeared as tiny as sesame seeds in comparison. Even with the ship traveling at sub-light speed, it took more than ten hours before they truly approached one of the continent's entrances.
"So this is the Virtual Universe Company's Universal Headquarters? What an enormous continent."
Qian Yu murmured, his eyes filled with shock.
The Virtual Universe enlightenment slot he had purchased came from the Virtual Universe Company, so naturally this was where he had come to enter the Initial Universe.
Though he had been mentally prepared, seeing such a sight in person still deeply stunned him.
The spacecraft received a guidance signal and slowly entered the continent's entrance. After traveling along a dreamlike corridor for several minutes, it finally stopped.
Qian Yu stepped out of the cabin.
Outside, a staff member dressed in a silver uniform was waiting for him.
When the man saw Qian Yu, his eyes flickered slightly. He was clearly using the Virtual Universe to confirm Qian Yu's identity.
He then bowed slightly, his manner courteous yet distant.
"Dear customer, welcome to the Initial Universe. Based on the Initial Universe enlightenment slot you purchased through the auction, you will receive a basic thirty years of enlightenment time."
The staff member spoke steadily, giving a formulaic introduction.
Qian Yu nodded. The Virtual Universe Company controlled the Virtual Universe, so naturally it had the authority to examine his information.
"Is there anything else you need to know?"
The staff member continued.
"You will be granted residency in Chaos City, as well as the authority to use points to exchange for items. However, I must remind you that your authority differs from that of core members who entered through the Genius War. You cannot enjoy the many benefits granted to Virtual Universe Company core members. For example, you cannot use points to purchase high-authority secret techniques, nor can you participate in core member trial missions."
Qian Yu understood.
Just as expected.
What was bought with money and what was earned through strength were ultimately different.
Those geniuses who had fought their way in through the Genius War were all one-in-a-hundred-million monsters, the true core seeds cultivated by the Virtual Universe Company.
As for him, he was merely a tourist who had paid for a ticket.
Different authority levels were perfectly normal.
Seeing that he had no objections, the staff member continued.
"Your authority has been confirmed in the Virtual Universe. Please follow me."
"Thank you."
Qian Yu nodded, turned, and followed him forward.
After walking some distance, he arrived at an oval hall. Everything around and above the hall was transparent, and when he looked up, he could see the endless starry sky.
"Please wait here. There are seventy-two people entering Chaos City in this batch."
Qian Yu nodded. After saying that, the attendant respectfully withdrew.
Qian Yu looked around. As expected, there were quite a few others here. They had presumably obtained Initial Universe enlightenment slots through purchases or some other means.
In any case, they were probably similar to him.
There were seventy people present, meaning two were still missing.
Then he would wait a little longer.
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