Preparing to Grind Money

Man Ji scratched his head and said, "He Ya, these items are certainly treasures, but how to divide them is a huge problem. They are diverse in category, vary wildly in value, and some are even special items that have a price but no market. If the four of us divide them piece by piece, I'm afraid we'd argue for years without reaching a fair split, and we'd only end up damaging our friendship."

Carlos nodded in agreement.

Shadow Shuttle was concise: "Converting them to money is best."

Lu Ming looked at He Ya and spoke up: "He Ya, we've discussed it. We'd like to ask for your help. We want you to step in, package all these treasures, and entrust the Cosmic Galaxy Bank with a professional appraisal and auction. They have extensive channels and can maximize the value of these items. Once everything is converted into Hunyuan Units, we will distribute them based on the total value. This is the fairest and most worry-free way."

Handing all the treasures over to the highly reputable Cosmic Galaxy Bank was undoubtedly the most secure and professional choice.

Furthermore, having He Ya—the lord of Horned Dragon Planet who dealt with the bank frequently—handle the matter would save them a great deal of trouble.

He Ya agreed readily, without a moment's hesitation.

"Haha, no problem! Leave it to me! This won't be difficult to manage. I guarantee we'll get a good price!"

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

During this year, under He Ya's full-scale efforts and the powerful channel support of the Cosmic Galaxy Bank, the batch of precious treasures from the secret realm was sent in waves to top-tier auctions across the Ganwu Universe Kingdom and other prosperous regions of human territory.

Each auction caused quite a sensation, especially the astonishing quantity of Ink Meteor Mother Gold, which sparked fierce competition among many master blacksmiths and large factions.

On this day, He Ya once again invited Lu Ming, Carlos, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle to his grand hall.

Unlike a year ago when it was piled high with treasures, the center of the hall now held only a floating virtual screen emitting a soft light, displaying a long string of heart-stopping numbers.

"Everyone."

He Ya wore an irrepressible smile, his voice slightly raised with excitement.

"All the treasures have been sold. After deducting the bank's commission, the final net profit has been calculated."

The four men's gazes instantly focused on the bold, enlarged number at the bottom of the screen.

Total Profit: 269 Hunyuan Units

Even though they had been mentally prepared, when the number actually appeared before their eyes, a collective gasp echoed through the hall.

Hunyuan Units!

This was the currency unit commonly used for large-scale transactions between Immortal Gods!

1 Hunyuan Unit was equivalent to 1 trillion Universe Coins!

269 Hunyuan Units meant this was a terrifying fortune of 269 trillion Universe Coins!

Many ordinary Immortal Gods might only have a total net worth of a few dozen to a few hundred Hunyuan Units.

The harvest from their exploration had already surpassed the entire wealth of many Immortals!

"269 Hunyuan Units..."

Man Ji muttered to himself, pinching himself hard to confirm he wasn't dreaming.

Carlos and Shadow Shuttle also had vacant stares, somewhat dazed by the impact of such an astronomical figure.

Although Lu Ming had the strongest state of mind, his heart couldn't help but accelerate a few beats as well.

After the excitement came the most critical part: the distribution of profits.

He Ya looked at the four of them and said solemnly, "The profit is here. How to distribute it is something you all must discuss and decide together."

The hall fell silent.

How to fairly distribute these 269 Hunyuan Units was indeed a problem.

After a moment of silence, Carlos spoke first. He looked at Lu Ming with a sincere tone: "In this secret realm exploration, if it weren't for Old Lu, we would never have achieved such a massive harvest. Not to mention the mountain of Ink Meteor Mother Gold at the end; without Old Lu's Thunderlight Vine, we wouldn't have had the strength to mine it. Even just considering when we encountered the three Domain Lord-level beasts, it was Old Lu who solved it single-handedly. Forget about getting treasures; whether we could have escaped with our lives was an unknown. In terms of contribution, Old Lu deserves the top spot! I propose that Old Lu takes forty percent!"

Although Man Ji was rough, he understood reason and immediately chimed in.

"Carlos is right! If it weren't for Old Lu, we probably wouldn't even have gotten a taste of the soup! I agree, Old Lu takes forty percent, and the four of us split the rest!"

Shadow Shuttle was concise: "Agreed."

Lu Ming pondered.

Forty percent was 107.6 Hunyuan Units, which was definitely a massive sum.

But after thinking for a moment, he spoke.

"I appreciate your intentions. Forty percent is too much. We are a team, and the harvest shouldn't be divided like that. How about this: I'll take thirty percent, and you can split the remaining seventy percent equally."

Lu Ming voluntarily lowered his share, mainly because he had also obtained a Life Fruit Tree.

Its value was also very high.

It wouldn't be wrong to count it as worth a dozen or so Hunyuan Units.

It wasn't that he didn't want to bring it out, but he was planning to use the tree for a sacrifice-and-return process.

Seeing that Lu Ming was firm in his stance, the group looked at each other and finally nodded in agreement.

"Let's do as Old Lu says!"

And so, the distribution plan was settled.

Lu Ming: Thirty percent, 80.7 Hunyuan Units.

Carlos, Man Ji, Shadow Shuttle, and He Ya split the remainder equally among the four of them.

Following He Ya's operations, the massive wealth was transferred into each person's respective Cosmic Galaxy Bank account.

Looking at the long string of zeros in their accounts, a heartfelt smile appeared on everyone's face. This secret realm exploration had concluded perfectly!

Each of them had leaped into the ranks of the wealthy within the universe.

At the Domain Lord level, who else could produce this much money!

Hahahahaha!

With the wealth distributed, everyone was completely satisfied.

This sudden, enormous fortune would require time to digest and plan for.

With so much money, their strength would all see a significant boost.

Carlos, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle took their leave one after another; they also needed to return to their own territories to make good use of these resources to enhance their strength or manage their factions.

He Ya was even rubbing his hands together, preparing to vigorously develop his Horned Dragon Planet.

Lu Ming also bid farewell to the group, boarded his Azure Bird spaceship, and departed from Horned Dragon Planet.

The spaceship sailed steadily through the dark universe, and Lu Ming sat alone in the control room, his mind sinking into his body.

His attention was not entirely focused on the 80.7 Hunyuan Units of massive wealth that had just arrived, but rather on the system panel in his mind.

[Sacrifice Return System]

Host: Lu Ming

Realm: Domain Lord Level 9

Available Sacrifice Counts: 2 (Automatically restores 1 time per year)

Sacrificed Items: Body, Thunderlight Vine...

[Sacrifice][Warehouse] (Empty)

"It really can accumulate."

Lu Ming looked at the "Available Sacrifice Counts" displaying 2, a knowing smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

During the past year spent waiting for the auction results, he had deliberately refrained from using the newly refreshed sacrifice opportunity, wanting to verify whether this annual sacrifice chance could stack.

It appeared now that the system did not restrict the accumulation of counts, which was decent news.

"However, in this Swallowed Star world where time is calculated in terms of ten thousand years or epochs, refreshing once a year—whether it accumulates or not—doesn't actually hold much significance."

Lu Ming quickly calmed down.

For powerhouses who often go into seclusion for hundreds or thousands of years, one year is indeed fleeting.

"Two chances... just right."

A flash of brilliance crossed Lu Ming's eyes.

"The Life Fruit Tree harvested earlier must definitely consume one, and as for the other..."

He already had a plan in mind.

The Life Fruit Tree was of immeasurable value; as a sacrifice, the returned reward would surely be astonishing, and this would be the focus of his first sacrifice.

As for the remaining chance, he prepared to sacrifice his own spaceship.

Regardless of the final result, he would sell it, then combine that with all his current wealth plus the proceeds from the spaceship sale.

Purchase, then sacrifice, then sell again!

That's right!

He was going to start grinding for money!