Citizens of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire

Before them stretched a vast starry sky. Not far away hung a gigantic planet, shimmering with red, orange, yellow, and green light. Two satellites were faintly visible around it.

"Beep~"

"We've received a guidance signal," Babata said. "The ship will follow it to the planet's docking port. Signal received—we're heading to the C-Class Zone."

Inside the enormous spaceport, the black spacecraft descended slowly and finally came to a stop in its designated position.

The hatch opened, and Luo Feng flew out with Yin Congyang and the others, followed by the two Flowing Silver Guards.

After paying off the spaceport staff with a single Ganwu Coin, the group quickly flew toward Qiu Long City, several thousand kilometers away. Qiu Long City was the city responsible for administering and operating all of Qiu Long Planet. It was a supercity.

As they walked along the city streets, they were intensely curious about the many kinds of aliens around them. But Hong and Thunder God were both exceptionally composed, and Yin Congyang and Luo Feng were also firm-minded. No matter how curious they were, they didn't show the awkwardness of country folk visiting a city for the first time.

"I logged into the planet's service website. The Black Dragon Mountain Empire's administrative building on Qiu Long Planet is about two hundred kilometers from here," Babata's voice sounded in their ears. "Your first priority should still be obtaining citizenship."

The group shot into the sky and flew about a hundred meters above the ground. A little over ten minutes later, they reached the Black Dragon Mountain administrative building. The entire structure looked like a gigantic black dragon coiled atop a mountain.

They took an elevator up to the 32nd floor. To the astonishment of the reception staff, the four of them paid 200 Black Dragon Coins and became citizens of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, a medium-level universe nation.

Next, they headed to a place more than a hundred kilometers away to open accounts with the Virtual Universe Network—the Qiu Long Planet branch of the Virtual Universe Company. On the way, Babata gave them a rundown of humanity's five colossal powers: the Giant Axe Dojo, the Virtual Universe Company, the Universe Mercenary Alliance, the Universe Galaxy Bank, and the Universe First Bank.

After opening their accounts, the four bought Consciousness Sensing Helmets and several Anonymous Helmets.

In a private room at a restaurant in Qiu Long City.

After opening their accounts at the Virtual Universe Company's branch, Yin Congyang and the others returned to Qiu Long City and found a restaurant for a meal.

"Now there's just one thing left that we absolutely have to do—join the Ganwu Dojo." Luo Feng spoke to the three of them as he ate. "Then we can figure out what else we need to take care of. I had Babata look into it. We're not ready to become Earth's lord yet—the main problem is that we don't have any money!"

"Yeah, there's nothing else we particularly need to buy for now. If anything, we could see whether we can get our hands on some treasures that would help us advance as Planetary Levels. But like Luo Feng said, we're broke." Hong sipped an alien drink as he spoke.

Yin Congyang and Thunder God both nodded. No matter how rich they were on Earth, that money was useless in the universe. They couldn't spend it here.

Luo Feng hesitated, then glanced at Yin Congyang.

Yin Congyang gave him a baffled look. "Why are you looking at me? I don't have any money either. You know I still don't have a suitable Force Weapon or spiritual force weapon, let alone any currency from the universe."

Luo Feng sighed. "I have two spiritual force weapons. One is the Sky-Escaping Shuttle, which Brother Hong knows about. The other is called the Arc Blade Disc. Babata gave it to me. I originally wanted to give the Arc Blade Disc to Congyang, but he's always focused on the warrior path and uses an axe, so he doesn't really need it. That's why I've been hesitating. We're badly short of universal currency right now. With money, we could buy treasures and slaves to protect Earth better. I had Babata check, and the Arc Blade Disc would fetch an even higher price than the Sky-Escaping Shuttle. But then I wouldn't be able to give it to Congyang..."

Yin Congyang was taken aback. He couldn't help feeling a little moved. "Luo Feng, there's no need. To be honest, I've never expected to get anything from you, so don't act like you owe me. But you're right—we really do need money. Whether it's buying the things we need or studying and training in the Virtual Universe, both take plenty of money. Besides, we've finally made it to the universe after all this effort. Did we come all this way just to sightsee?"

"So," Yin Congyang continued, taking a sip of his drink. The taste hit him so hard that his head swam a little. "If you're not going to use the Arc Blade Disc yourself, Luo Feng, I say sell it. That'll give us our first pot of gold and help us develop faster. With how quickly the four of us are improving, and with our strength, I doubt we'll have to worry about money forever. Once we're rich, what good stuff can't we buy? I could buy an Arc Blade Disc and throw one away for every one I keep! Haha... Brother Hong, Brother Lei, what do you think?"

Yin Congyang's words made them all laugh. After giving it some thought, they agreed he had a point. Hong and Thunder God exchanged a glance. "Congyang makes sense. I agree, too. A spiritual force weapon we don't need right now would clearly help us more if we sold it."

Thunder God nodded as well. "Once we break through to Star Level, we should have other ways to make money. So what we're short of now is our first pot of gold..."

Yin Congyang continued, "Babata said the Virtual Universe contains everything. It can't just be a place to spend money—there must be ways to earn it, too. We can look into that. By the way, I remember Luo Hua knows a lot about stocks and funds, doesn't he? The system might be different, but the underlying principles are the same. It's definitely something we can try. And like I said, we need money. Without it, we can't even enter the Virtual Universe!"

Luo Feng finally made up his mind. "All right, I'll take your advice. We'll sell the Arc Blade Disc in a bit and treat ourselves to a spending spree."

What he was thinking was that once his Earthling Clone advanced to Planetary Level Seven, his spiritual force would reach Stellar Level One. Then he could claim the first part of Hu Yanbo's inheritance. The assets would surely be worth more than the Arc Blade Disc, and he'd be able to buy more suitable treasures for his brothers.

After making their decision, the group quickly finished their meal. Then the three of them stood guard while Luo Feng entered the Virtual Universe to look up the relevant information.

It took Luo Feng over an hour, with Babata's help, to find the information he wanted.

"Come on, let's sell the Arc Blade Disc first, then go on a shopping spree. We'll join the Ganwu Dojo before we leave." Luo Feng strode out at the head of the group, full of confidence.

The four went to a shop called the All-Things Pavilion, which they had found through their searches and which had a good reputation and plentiful stock.

When the owner of the All-Things Pavilion learned that Luo Feng wanted to sell a Tier 3 Spiritual Force Weapon, he came out personally to receive them. "Sir, which spiritual force weapon are you looking to sell? Could I take a look at it first?"

Luo Feng took out the Arc Blade Disc. The owner brought out a testing device and scanned it. "Hmm, it's a standard Arc Blade Disc. The materials are good, and it's in perfect condition. I can offer you 15 billion Black Dragon Coins."

"18 billion. That's the lowest I'll accept," Luo Feng said firmly. "The going price for an Arc Blade Disc in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire is 21 billion. Besides, I'm going to buy a lot of things from your shop. If your selection and quality hadn't been good, I wouldn't have chosen you."

The owner of the All-Things Pavilion considered it for a moment, then nodded. "All right. We'll go with your price. Let's draw up the contract!"

None of the four had a bank card, so they each went to the Universe Galaxy Bank and got one. The two sides completed the transaction quickly.

The Universe Galaxy Bank in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire only served customers with deposits of over 100 million Black Dragon Coins. So Luo Feng simply transferred 500 million Black Dragon Coins to each of the other three. It was the first time any of them had possessed so much currency they could actually use in the universe. Luo Feng, with well over ten billion in cash, was also more than a little excited.

After returning to the All-Things Pavilion, the group discussed things and decided to buy Green Wave Marrow, the best substance for strengthening a Planetary Level body.

After buying enough Green Wave Marrow for all of them, they followed the plan they had made earlier and went to the Slave Market. Slaves there ranged from Planetary Level all the way to Stellar Level Nine, and it was even possible to order Universe Level slaves. The reality hit them like a bucket of ice water, dousing the excitement they'd felt at suddenly coming into a fortune. It brought them all back to their senses—the universe was ultimately a cruel place.

After Luo Feng bought over a thousand slaves, including 16 at Stellar Level, he had them all sent straight to the spaceship to be bound to him. Luo Feng had initially proposed assigning each of the others several Stellar Level slaves, but the three refused. He had no choice but to take on the responsibility of commanding the slave army himself.

Then they hurried to the Ganwu Dojo to register. After signing up and paying the fees without a hitch, they returned straight to the spaceship, took off, and left Qiu Long Planet's spaceport.

A short while later, they reached the speed of light and entered the Dark Universe through Cosmic Shuttle.

The group entered the control room. Babata locked the hatch, and only then did they begin connecting to the Virtual Universe.

In the Virtual Universe, on Ganwu Continent, on Black Dragon Mountain Island.

The busy streets teemed with people of all kinds. From time to time, someone appeared out of thin air. Yin Congyang and the others appeared just as abruptly.

"Mr. Yin Congyang, your Universe Galaxy Bank account has been detected. Would you like to link it?" A gentle voice sounded in Yin Congyang's mind.

"Link it."

The group all appeared on the street at the same time. It was the first time Yin Congyang and the other two had entered the Virtual Universe, so everything felt new to them. Luo Feng went to buy a second base and purchase the various metals he needed. Of course, the three others didn't know about the metal purchases.

Yin Congyang, Hong, and Thunder God wandered around Black Dragon Mountain Island, stopping to look at and ask about whatever caught their interest. They could also use the little spirit hovering over their shoulders to look up basic information.

Luo Feng quickly finalized the arrangements for the second base. With Babata's help, he also completed the purchase of the metal formulas and components. He then joined the other three and wandered around Black Dragon Mountain Island with them.

A few days later, the spaceship arrived at Bailan Planet and left some of the slaves there to guard the survival base. Luo Feng bought two castles, each covering an area of one million square meters. One would be placed on Bailan Planet, and the other was intended for Earth. After all, they now had more than a thousand slaves alone, so they needed a big enough place to house everyone.

After taking care of everything, the spaceship lifted off and entered the Dark Universe once more, returning to Earth.

In Chapter 6, after taking two readers' suggestions into account, I changed the protagonist's trip to HR to sell materials into a trip to the Limit Dojo. Anyone interested can go back and take a look. Readers are welcome to share more suggestions.