"Junior Brother Chen Yuan, you did me a huge favor... How about this? Tonight, I'll treat you to a little relaxation in the main city?" Yu Qinglan suggested, then immediately added, "Of course, I mean proper entertainment."
"Thank you for the invitation, Senior Sister Yu, but the timing is unfortunate." Chen Yuan smiled and shook his head. "I'm about to take leave and travel far away, so I'm afraid I won't have time to attend."
"Is that so? What a pity." Yu Qinglan quietly observed Chen Yuan's expression, blinked, and tactfully chose not to press further.
Afterward, Chen Yuan bid Yu Qinglan farewell, returned to his loft to pack his things, and called the number listed in the contract.
"...That's right, my Combat Power Amplitude has reached '25,' fulfilling Clause Three of the agreement." Chen Yuan spoke into the phone while packing the necessary items into his backpack.
An unusually long silence fell on the other end of the line. The other party seemed shocked and flustered, because Chen Yuan keenly caught phrases like "Has it been confirmed?" and "Check it carefully."
At last, the dojo staff seemed to have verified his current results. Even their tone lifted slightly as they replied, "After verification, your Combat Power Amplitude has reached '25,' meeting the conditions of Clause Three in the contract. Congratulations, Trainee Chen Yuan!"
"The contract rewards will be delivered to the Training Camp within an hour," the voice on the phone continued. "Please specify the type of Spirit of Vegetation you require, as well as the parameters for the Force weapon."
"I need a Spirit of Vegetation that can increase my strength, enough to at least let me break through to Intermediate War God. As for the Force weapon's design, something similar to the Streamer Type 1 battle sword will do. Its Force attribute should be compatible with Wind Artistic Conception." Chen Yuan paused before adding, "Oh, and if possible, don't choose a Millennium Willow Heart for the Spirit of Vegetation."
The voice on the phone immediately answered, "Understood. The requirements have been recorded. For the Spirit of Vegetation, it must increase strength while excluding Willow Heart. The suitable option is Millennium Iron Birch Marrow, tree marrow produced by a Millennium Iron Birch Tree, a Spirit of Vegetation. It can enhance strength and physical toughness."
"Additionally, the Force weapon needs to be custom-made on another planet. Delivery is expected to take two to three months. The exact date will be provided separately."
"Understood." Chen Yuan replied, and the other side hung up.
An hour later, Chen Yuan went out briefly, then returned to the loft carrying a locked case and entered the basement.
Opening the case, he found that there were not many items inside this time—only two wooden boxes.
Chen Yuan opened the larger wooden box. Inside lay a silver armguard. He picked up the manual beside it and read it, immediately understanding that this silver armguard was the Auxiliary Optical Brain rewarded by the dojo.
"With this Auxiliary Optical Brain, I can log into the real Virtual Universe?" Chen Yuan curiously examined it, then set it back down and opened the other box. "I'll check out the Virtual Universe later. Improving my strength by consuming the Spirit of Vegetation comes first."
The second wooden box was lined with shockproof foam, with a milky-white crystal embedded in its center.
"This is the Spirit of Vegetation, Millennium Iron Birch Marrow? I wonder if it appeared in the original novel. I don't remember it." Chen Yuan took out the white crystal and found the instruction manual in the box.
"The method of consumption is the same as Willow Heart. Is that because they're both tree hearts?" After reading the instructions, Chen Yuan picked up the SS-Grade Streamer Sword beside him and slashed it toward the white crystal.
Bang! The white crystal shattered at once. Chen Yuan quickly held it to his mouth and swallowed every drop of the milky-white liquid inside.
A moment later, Chen Yuan's body began to react. The medicinal effects of the Iron Birch Marrow had started to take effect.
Unlike Dragon Blood, the enhancement from a Spirit of Vegetation was extremely gentle. There was no pain at all. On the contrary, Chen Yuan felt very comfortable.
"Perfect. While my body is transforming, I might as well enter the Virtual Universe and take a look." Chen Yuan picked up the Auxiliary Optical Brain beside him, put it on his left arm, and activated it.
The Auxiliary Optical Brain flashed with silvery-white light. At the same time, clear Earth text appeared on it: "Auxiliary Optical Brain activated. Beginning owner recognition procedure... Confirmed. 'Chen Yuan' has been bound as owner."
Chen Yuan smiled faintly and gave the command, "Optical Brain, connect to the Virtual Universe."
"Command received. Connecting to the Virtual Universe."
"Connecting to the Virtual Universe..." A majestic, vast voice suddenly rang beside his ears.
Then Chen Yuan's vision went black. When he could see his surroundings again, he had arrived in an entirely new world.
This was an ancient city, its streets paved with huge slabs of stone. Pedestrians of all kinds came and went along the streets, belonging to different races. Most wore plain gray clothes, and each had a little sprite perched on their shoulder.
Whoosh! Chen Yuan's figure suddenly appeared on the street, drawing some attention. But after a brief glance, everyone ignored him.
Chen Yuan looked at the broad street before him, the pedestrians with their various appearances, and his own clothes—like most people, he wore plain gray clothing, and there was also a fist-sized azure-green sprite on his body.
"So this is the Virtual Universe?" Chen Yuan found the surrounding environment incredibly realistic, far more real than the Trial Tower.
He noticed the little sprite on his shoulder and tried asking, "Are you my Auxiliary Optical Brain?"
"Yes, Master. I am your Auxiliary Optical Brain, Intelligent No. 01989." The little sprite's voice rang directly in his mind.
"No. 01989? That's your name? Too troublesome." Chen Yuan thought for a moment. "You're all green, so I'll call you Wind Sprite."
"Name updated. Intelligent Wind Sprite is at your service, Master," Wind Sprite replied.
"Wind Sprite, check my current location and account information." Chen Yuan remembered that his third reward included a Black God Set, but because he had claimed it twice, the dojo had directly converted it into cosmic currency.
That made Chen Yuan rather curious. How much was a First-Order Force Battle Suit worth? Would it be converted into Silver Blue Coins or Black Dragon Coins?
Following Chen Yuan's command, a light screen soon appeared before him. It displayed a map of the Virtual Universe, and his current location was at the edge of the Ganwu Continent—Black Dragon Mountain Island.
"So it really is Black Dragon Mountain." Chen Yuan nodded slightly, then shifted his gaze to the edge of the light screen, where his basic information was displayed.
Chen Yuan: Gene Origin Energy (Apprentice 7th Rank) Remaining Currency: 50000 (Black Dragon Coin)
The good news was that the Force Suit had been sold for the relatively high-value Black Dragon Coin. The bad news was that there were only fifty thousand of them.
"Fifty thousand... not much, but not too little either." Chen Yuan smacked his lips. But on second thought, this Force Suit was merely standard equipment for Planetary Level Martial Artists. Considering how common Planetary Level Martial Artists were, he suddenly felt that exchanging it for fifty thousand was already quite good.
After all, this was the currency of an intermediate cosmic civilization. If converted into the currency of a beginner cosmic civilization, such as Silver Blue Coins, it could at least be exchanged for sixty or seventy million!
And compared with the current Earth Currency, the value of Silver Blue Coins was incomparably higher. As a beginner cosmic civilization, the Silver Blue Empire directly controlled eight major star systems, including the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Milky Way Galaxy alone had over 210,000 life-bearing planets. And if Luo Feng and the other two were not counted, Earth was as weak as an ant before the vast scale of the Silver Blue Empire.
Of course, because of Luo Feng, Earth's status had already been rising steadily. But too little time had passed, and Earth Currency was still nowhere near comparable to Silver Blue Coins.
Pulling back his thoughts, Chen Yuan closed the light screen and wandered casually along the streets. This place was truly enormous. Even after walking for two hours, Chen Yuan had not made it out of a single street.
He saw quite a few things, but any treasure that caught his eye was something he simply could not afford at present. He could only feast his eyes on them.
Moreover, Chen Yuan still could not speak the Universal Language, so whenever he entered a shop to speak with others, he relied on translations from the Smart Optical Computer.
Chen Yuan clearly noticed that once the people in the shops realized he could not speak the Universal Language, their tones became noticeably contemptuous and disdainful. Before long, they drove him out.
After wandering for two hours, he had not spent a single Black Dragon Coin from his fifty thousand, yet had earned plenty of cold looks. Chen Yuan decided that he needed to find time to learn the Universal Language. Then, with a thought, he exited the Virtual Universe.
Because his body's enhancement had finished.
After returning to reality, Chen Yuan immediately opened the panel and focused his eyes on it.
Strength: 168550 kilograms Realm: Intermediate War God
Seeing these figures, the corners of Chen Yuan's mouth slowly rose.
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