Man Ji scratched his head.
"Heya, the items are valuable, but figuring out how to divide them is a real problem. They're all different, with wildly varying values. Some are rare treasures that money can't buy. If the four of us split them up item by item, we could argue for years and still not come up with a fair division. We might even damage our friendship that way."
Carlos nodded in agreement.
Shadow Shuttle was succinct. "Turn them into money. That's best."
Lu Ming looked at He Ya and spoke. "He Ya, we've discussed it and would like to ask you for a favor. Could you take the lead and have all these treasures appraised and auctioned professionally through the Cosmic Galaxy Bank? They have extensive connections and can maximize the value of these treasures. Once everything has been converted into Hunyuan Units, we can divide it according to the total value. That would be the fairest and easiest way."
Entrusting all the treasures to the reputable Cosmic Galaxy Bank was undoubtedly the safest and most professional choice.
And having He Ya handle it, as Horned Dragon Planet's lord and someone who dealt with the bank more often, would save them a lot of trouble.
He Ya agreed readily, without a moment's hesitation.
"Haha, no problem! Leave it to me! This won't be difficult to arrange. I'll make sure we get a great price!"
Time flew by, and before they knew it, a year had passed.
Over the course of that year, thanks to He Ya's tireless efforts and the Cosmic Galaxy Bank's extensive network, those precious treasures from the secret realm were sent in batches to top auctions across the Ganwu Universe Kingdom and other prosperous regions of Human Territory.
Each auction caused quite a stir. The astonishing quantity of Ink Meteor Mother Gold in particular sparked fierce bidding among numerous master refiners and major powers.
On this day, He Ya once again invited Lu Ming, Carlos, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle to his great hall.
Unlike a year ago, when it had been piled high with treasures, the hall now held only a virtual screen floating in its center, glowing softly. A long string of numbers was displayed on it, enough to make anyone's heart race.
"Everyone."
He Ya's face was lit with an irrepressible smile, and his voice rose slightly with excitement.
"All the treasures have been sold. After deducting the bank's commission, the final net proceeds have been tallied."
The four of them immediately fixed their eyes on the enlarged, bold number at the bottom of the screen.
Total proceeds: 269 Hunyuan Units
Although they'd been prepared for it, when the number actually appeared before them, a chorus of sharp intakes of breath still filled the hall.
Hunyuan Units!
This was the currency commonly used for large transactions between Immortal Gods!
1 Hunyuan Unit was equivalent to 1 trillion Universe Coins!
269 Hunyuan Units meant a staggering fortune of 269 trillion Universe Coins!
Many ordinary Immortal Gods had a total net worth of only a few dozen, or perhaps a few hundred, Hunyuan Units.
The spoils from this expedition had already surpassed the entire wealth of quite a few Immortals!
"269 Hunyuan Units..."
Man Ji muttered to himself, pinching himself hard to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Carlos and Shadow Shuttle were equally stunned, dazed by the astronomical sum.
Though Lu Ming was the most composed of them, even his heart betrayed him, beating faster for a few moments.
Once the excitement faded, the most important matter remained: dividing the spoils.
He Ya looked at the four of them and said solemnly, "The proceeds are here. How to divide them is for all of you to discuss and decide together."
The hall fell silent.
Dividing these 269 Hunyuan Units fairly really was a problem.
After a moment's silence, Carlos was the first to speak. He looked at Lu Ming with earnestness in his voice. "Without Old Lu, we could never have gained so much from this secret-realm expedition. Not to mention the mountain of Ink Meteor Mother Gold at the end. Without Old Lu's Thunderlight Vine, we wouldn't have been able to mine it at all. And when we ran into those three Domain Lord Level ferocious beasts, Old Lu dealt with them all by himself. Without him, we wouldn't have stood a chance of getting the treasures. We might not even have made it out alive. Old Lu deserves the greatest share! I propose that he take forty percent!"
Man Ji was a rough sort, but he understood what was fair and immediately agreed.
"Carlos is right! Without Old Lu, we probably wouldn't have gotten so much as a taste! I'm with him—Old Lu gets forty percent, and the rest is split among the four of us!"
Shadow Shuttle was succinct. "Agreed."
Lu Ming fell into thought.
Forty percent came to 107.6 Hunyuan Units. That was an enormous sum.
But after considering it, he spoke.
"I appreciate the gesture, everyone, but forty percent is too much. We're a team, and we shouldn't divide the spoils like that. How about I take thirty percent, and you split the remaining seventy percent among yourselves?"
Lu Ming was voluntarily taking a smaller share, mainly because he'd also obtained a Life Fruit Tree.
It was extremely valuable.
It could easily be worth more than ten Hunyuan Units.
It wasn't that he didn't want to take it out. He planned to offer the tree to the Sacrifice Return System.
Seeing how resolute Lu Ming was, the others exchanged glances, then finally nodded in agreement.
"We'll do as Old Lu says!"
And so, the division was settled.
Lu Ming: thirty percent, 80.7 Hunyuan Units.
Carlos, Man Ji, Shadow Shuttle, and He Ya would split the remainder equally.
With a few moves from He Ya, the enormous fortune was transferred into each person's Cosmic Galaxy Bank account.
Looking at all those zeroes in their accounts, everyone wore a genuine smile. Their secret-realm expedition had come to a perfect end!
Every one of them had become fabulously wealthy in the blink of an eye.
What Domain Lord Level expert could come up with that much money?
Hahahaha!
With the fortune divided, they were all satisfied.
This unexpected windfall would take time to absorb and plan around.
With that much money, all of them would be able to improve their strength considerably.
Carlos, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle said their farewells one after another. They needed to return to their own territories and make good use of these resources to improve their strength or build up their organizations.
He Ya was even rubbing his hands together, ready to develop Horned Dragon Planet on a grand scale.
Lu Ming also said goodbye to everyone, boarded his Azure Bird spacecraft, and left Horned Dragon Planet.
The spacecraft cruised steadily through the Dark Universe. Sitting alone in the control room, Lu Ming sank his mind into his body.
His attention wasn't entirely on the 80.7 Hunyuan Units that had just arrived in his account. Instead, he focused on the system panel in his mind.
[Sacrifice Return System] Host: Lu Ming Realm: Domain Lord Level, ninth rank Available sacrifices: 2 (automatically restores 1 per year) Items sacrificed: body, Thunderlight Vine... [Sacrifice] [Storage] (empty)
"So it can accumulate."
Looking at the "Available sacrifices" count of 2, Lu Ming smiled knowingly.
During the past year, while waiting for the auction results, he'd deliberately refrained from using the newly refreshed sacrifice opportunity, wanting to see whether the one sacrifice granted each year could be saved up.
As it turned out, the system didn't limit how many could accumulate. That was good news.
"Still, in the Swallowed Star World, where people measure time in tens of thousands of years or even epochs, getting one every year means that whether they accumulate or not doesn't matter all that much."
Lu Ming quickly calmed down.
For experts who might go into seclusion for hundreds or even thousands of years, a year was indeed a short time.
"Two opportunities... Perfect."
A glint flashed in Lu Ming's eyes.
"The Life Fruit Tree I obtained earlier will definitely use up one. As for the other..."
He already had a plan.
The Life Fruit Tree was priceless. As an offering, it was bound to bring back an astonishing reward, making it the focus of his first sacrifice.
As for the remaining opportunity, he planned to sacrifice his spacecraft.
No matter what the result was, he would sell it afterward, then add the proceeds from the spacecraft to all the wealth he had now.
Buy, then sacrifice, then sell!
That's right!
He was going to start farming money!