After the soul-binding was complete, the Universe Rank Qila and the twenty Star Rank Nine Disi women called Li Dui Master and knelt before him.
Li Dui told them to get up, then said to the green-eyed man, "Go take care of your work. I'll borrow your place to rest for a while."
The green-eyed man readily agreed, saying Li Dui could rest for as long as he liked and could give him orders anytime. Then he left with the other staff.
Li Dui looked at the Universe Rank Qila. "What's your name?"
"Master, my name is Laheboqiborenmogangwu," the Universe Rank Qila replied with her head lowered.
"Uh... I'll just call you Qila. Are you a native or a Cosmic Human?" Li Dui asked.
"Yes. I'm a Cosmic Human," Qila replied woodenly.
"A Cosmic Human. Good. Help me take care of a few things. In twenty thousand years, I'll give you your freedom back." Li Dui spoke casually.
Qila's eyes lit up. She dropped to one knee and asked, "What would you have me do, Master?"
"Just a few simple things. Working for me won't be complicated. I have only one requirement: keep your mouth shut. Anyone who goes around leaking information about me—well, they won't live to regret it." As he spoke, his gaze swept over the twenty-one slaves.
The twenty women at Star Rank Nine all knelt at once. Some said they understood, others said they would remember. They were all somewhat anxious.
That's right, Li Dui had chosen twenty women at Star Rank Nine. Perhaps after spending decades at Xin'an Residence in Tulan City, Xueluo World, where he had been attended only by maids and no men, he had gotten used to it.
"Get up. You don't have to kneel every time. Just don't go blabbing outside."
As he spoke, he tossed Qila a Space Ring. "Deposit the Universe Crystals inside into your bank account. If you don't have an account with Galaxy Bank or First Bank, go open one. Then buy a C9-Class alloy spaceship. One that's a little faster. Come back here when you're done."
Qila inspected the ring. It was over two hundred meters long and wide, easily large enough to hold a spaceship. It was empty except for more than ten thousand cubic meters of Universe Crystals in the middle.
Qila was astonished. A C9-Class alloy spaceship cost around ten million Kehe Coins, or just over three thousand Universe Coins. Her new Master had actually entrusted her with that much money. She could buy two more slaves like herself with it and still have plenty left over.
"Looks like he might really mean it when he says he'll give me my freedom back in twenty thousand years," Qila thought as she left the secret room.
Li Dui closed his eyes and said nothing. Using his three-times-gene clone, he logged into the Virtual Universe.
Compared with a true Clone Secret Technique, the Secret Technique of Puppet Body of Self did have one shortcoming in this regard. A clone had a truly independent soul and consciousness. It could act on its own without any burden.
Li Dui's clone, on the other hand, needed him to devote some of his consciousness to controlling every action.
"Xiao Le, search for Soul Control Secret Techniques."
A full page of search results appeared.
Li Dui turned the page, then another. He spotted a familiar name: Ten Thousand Heart Soul Control. It cost 1.5 million points, with a thirty percent discount in the God Origin Secret Realm.
Li Dui entered a price limit in the search box: under thirty thousand points.
A technique like Ten Thousand Heart Soul Control was certainly good. But he couldn't afford it. Besides, he had no use for it.
He just needed some random technique to use for the time being. At most, he would use it to control a few Universe Rank or Domain Lord Rank targets, making it easier to manage his hidden operation. He didn't need anything high-end.
After comparing a number of options, Li Dui settled on a technique called Soul-Eroding Sound. It cost 27,000 points. The technique could control opponents with weak resistance to Soul Attacks and also served as a decent Soul Attack.
He clicked to redeem it. The transaction was successful.
A message appeared on the screen:
18,900 points deducted; 188,628 points remaining.
Please wait. The technique will be delivered shortly.
Li Dui could hardly believe it. He had no idea what the Virtual Universe was thinking. Why did they have to send a technique over in person? Couldn't they just make a visual effect and have it appear on the table?
After a short wait, the administrator called to say the delivery person had arrived.
Li Dui went outside and brought back the silver briefcase containing the technique.
All Soul Secret Techniques had one thing in common: the stronger the soul, the easier they were to learn.
Li Dui had a hundred-times-gene level, so his soul was naturally strong. His weakness was his low level of understanding. He was only a little Universe Rank fighter, while the technique had been created by an Immortal. It would take him some time to learn.
When Qila returned from running her errand, Li Dui left Ousai Planet with his twenty-one slaves aboard the C9-Class spaceship, heading in the direction he had chosen.
Black-armored Li Dui sat cross-legged in the captain's cabin, seemingly cultivating. In reality, Li Dui's true self was inside the Space Ring, frantically occupied.
Studying the laws and learning Soul-Eroding Sound could be done at the same time. With the Ring connected between them, progress on both fronts was quick. But that would leave too little of his consciousness for the two clones traveling through the clouds above Xueluo World, slowing them down considerably.
So Li Dui had no choice but to lower the priority of studying the laws and focus on learning Soul-Eroding Sound first.
Whenever the two twenty-times-gene clones in Xueluo World found a target and prepared to fight, Li Dui put everything else aside and focused on the battle, to avoid any mishaps.
Time passed.
Three years later, in the C9-Class spaceship's captain's cabin.
A woman with delicate features and a well-proportioned figure gazed at Li Dui with complete obedience.
"Get up, Du Ya. From now on, you'll handle things outside," Li Dui said.
Du Ya was his first Soul Slave. Half a year ago, he had finally mastered Soul-Eroding Sound. He then ordered the spaceship to head to the nearest major commercial planet along their route. They had waited there for several months before he managed to buy Du Ya, a Universe Level Sixth Order fighter.
A Soul Slave kept by his side was naturally much more reassuring than a slave controlled by a chip. At Universe Level Sixth Order, she also had a suitable status to handle ordinary affairs on his behalf.
The C9-Class spaceship traveled at roughly twice the speed of light. After two and a half years of nonstop flight, Li Dui had traveled more than fifty million light-years from the Primordial Secret Realm, leaving the Kehe Universe Kingdom behind.
He had set a course toward the Battle Axe Secret Realm. He planned to travel to a place about two Universe Countries away from it, find a low-level Universe Country, and buy an inconspicuous planet to settle on.
He would stay hidden and cultivate without showing his face, leaving outside affairs to Du Ya and the others. That should make him quite safe.
The strongest person in a low-level Universe Country was at most a World Lord. Given Li Dui's current combat strength—and the fact that he had two clones willing to fight to the death—how unlucky would he have to be to die in some backwater place like that?
The only exception would be an assassination by an Alien Race. The three pinnacle races bordering the Human Race—Zerg, Monster Race, and Machine Race—were all willing to pay a high price to eliminate human geniuses.
Given the talent and strength Li Dui had displayed, if they learned of his whereabouts, they might really send an Immortal Level assassin after him.
Li Dui remembered that Luo Feng had been targeted by an Immortal God assassin before the Chaos City Lord took him as a disciple. His own performance so far was even more impressive than Luo Feng's had been at the same stage. Surely the Alien Races were watching him, too.
But they were certainly watching the Li Dui in Xueluo World. No one would ever imagine that Li Dui's true weak point—his true self—was aboard such an inconspicuous spaceship.
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