Mysterious Stele

"This matter... must not be spread!" An Changyan said in a deep voice. Her entire body was covered in black armor, obscuring her features.

One didn't need to guess to know she must be grinding her teeth in hatred.

"Understood..." Chen Beixun kept his head low, not daring to look An Changyan in the eye.

Regarding the Machine Race Spaceship, Chen Beixun didn't ask further; he only wanted to leave this godforsaken place as quickly as possible.

"Your Highness, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave." Chen Beixun finished speaking and prepared to depart.

"Wait." An Changyan stepped forward to block him. "There is still a Machine Race Spaceship here; come with me. There will be benefits for you."

Chen Beixun chuckled.

He always felt that An Changyan hadn't suffered enough. A normal person would surely avoid this place like the plague, yet this person... why did she act as if she were flocking to it?

Is she using me as a meat shield?

Or does she want to use the traps inside the 'Machine Race Spaceship' to finish me off?

These two thoughts popped into Chen Beixun's mind.

An Changyan opened her helmet, revealing her face, her bright eyes filled with anticipation.

Do 'Kekumeng Race' members have such volatile mood swings?! Chen Beixun swallowed hard and thought to himself.

"Silence means you agree." An Changyan tilted her head, appearing charming and moving.

To Chen Beixun, this scene looked like crocodile tears.

"Your Highness... the 'World Castle' is about to open, and as a member of the Lotte Family..." Before Chen Beixun could finish, An Changyan lunged forward, grabbing him and pulling him toward the 'Machine Race Spaceship'.

"Let's go!" An Changyan pulled at his hands with all her might, but Chen Beixun stood rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.

"You are only at the Universe Level 2, not even at your peak yet." Chen Beixun said, pinching his fingers together and flicking An Changyan on the head.

"Ow." An Changyan rubbed her head and groaned, then said in surprise: "You knew I was a 'Kekumeng Race' member?"

Chen Beixun smiled. "The 'Kekumeng Race' isn't some mysterious species; they are not much different from other races within the human race."

"Say, is your father an Immortal?" Chen Beixun's smile widened as he waited for An Changyan's answer.

"Yes... so what if he is?" An Changyan was stunned for a moment before asking suspiciously.

"Nothing, just curious." Chen Beixun wiped the smile from his face.

An Changyan changed the subject. "Are you willing to explore the 'Machine Race Spaceship' with me or not?"

"Fine, fine." Chen Beixun rubbed his hands together, his expression calm.

"However," Chen Beixun's gaze darkened, "can you have your family recommend me to the core of the Virtual Company or the Giant Axe Martial Arena?"

"That... well." An Changyan pondered for a moment. "It's not that easy. The core of the Five Giants isn't somewhere you can just enter whenever you want."

"You can enter through the 'Warrior Tournament' or 'Internal Selection'."

"But the 'Warrior Tournament' is too brutal; I don't really recommend it." An Changyan shrugged. "But I can help you get a spot for the 'Internal Selection'! But only if you help me!"

Chen Beixun thought for a moment and said: "Many thanks."

The ship's system defenses were comparable to standard F-grade human ships, so it took quite some time to crack.

"Qishan, how is it?" Chen Beixun stood on a hillside, gazing at the giant lizard-like creatures flying in the distance.

"It's alright," Qishan said. "The ship's programming is too advanced; the underlying logic calculations alone are an astronomical figure."

"Standard artificial intelligence would take tens of thousands of epochs just to finish the calculations."

As Qishan deactivated the ship's stealth function, the two finally saw the full appearance of the vessel. The 'Machine Race Spaceship' was entirely silver, about 200 meters tall, and shaped like a pyramid.

"It should be one used by an ordinary World Lord of the 'Machine Race'. I estimate... it's worth about 900 Hunyuan. This World Lord seems quite poor!" Qishan said.

Chen Beixun examined the behemoth before him, sighing with deep emotion: "Still, it belonged to a World Lord."

900 Hunyuan was already higher than the net worth of most World Lords, excluding those who had great opportunities, were heaven-defying, or were cultivated by the Five Giants.

Directly facing Chen Beixun and his companion, the 'Machine Race Spaceship' split open to reveal a triangular entrance.

"Let's go." Chen Beixun looked at An Changyan, thinking to himself: So you didn't have the ability to open this ship after all.

The two turned into streaks of light and flew inside.

As soon as Chen Beixun stepped onto the silver-white metal floor, he heard An Changyan's envious voice: "Your intelligent life... is very advanced."

Hearing this, Chen Beixun thought: Qishan is an intelligent life that belonged to a Marquis-level powerhouse.

Seeing that Chen Beixun didn't respond, An Changyan added: "Is your master an Immortal?"

Possessing a top-tier plant lifeform like the Demon Island Vine and having such high standards, it was hard not to make others suspect he was a disciple of some powerful Immortal.

"Uh..." Chen Beixun just grinned.

Seeing he wouldn't answer, An Changyan stopped asking; after all, everyone had their own trump cards.

"Let's go!" An Changyan moved forward first, showing a keen interest in these rare things.

Chen Beixun followed by her side, calmly observing the internal structure of the ship.

"The craftsmanship of the 'Machine Race' is truly remarkable!" he remarked with genuine admiration.

The two strolled through the spaceship, discussing the situation in the World Lord World and their past adventures, the atmosphere harmonious.

An Changyan: "You come from the 'Tianchen Empire'?"

Chen Beixun: "Yes."

An Changyan: "That medium-sized cosmic nation is tiny, and it's still home to many organizations that traffic in slaves."

From her tone, it was not hard for Chen Beixun to see that she was highly compassionate, much like he once was; reality had worn away his hot-headed nature, and time had smoothed over his impulse to champion the weak.

Heh... a guy who didn't even dare to slaughter a fish in his past life now treats killing people like cutting grass.

When Chen Beixun killed for the first time, he had been filled with terror, pacing a small path for a long time; afterward, he had nearly taken his own life out of guilt.

"Hmm..." An Changyan seemed to have kept something bottled up for a long time, and at this moment, it was finally released: "Are you interested in becoming my bodyguard?"

"I'm offering 1 Hunyuan Unit per 10,000 years!"

Chen Beixun turned his head to size up this 'Her Highness'.

Whether from the perspective of profit or otherwise, recruiting Chen Beixun was a sound idea, precisely because he held the title of 'suspected disciple of a powerful Immortal'.

The price in the Demon Island Domain was calculated by the vine: one vine cost 100 Hunyuan.

One hundred vines would be 10,000 Hunyuan Units! Moreover, the Demon Island Vine was both offensive and defensive, and it was a parasitic plant lifeform. Such plant lifeforms were entities that were bid up to the heavens at auctions.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" An Changyan nudged Chen Beixun with her elbow.

Chen Beixun raised his head, his thoughts churning, "A stable and peaceful life of cultivation."

"As long as I act as a bodyguard, a protector, for this young lady..."

"Wait... Master..." He remembered his fallen master; Qishan had told him about his master's exploits.

Whether his master's enemies would come knocking had become a major concern. If he were discovered while serving as An Changyan's bodyguard, it remained to be seen whether her family's Immortals would help his master's enemies capture him!

"This is troublesome..."

Thinking of this, Chen Beixun's expression stiffened slightly, and he immediately spoke: "I need to consider it."

"Ah?!" An Changyan looked at him in disbelief, "That's 1 Hunyuan! My grandfather, King Fengwu, only gives me a few dozen Hunyuan occasionally."

1 Hunyuan was an amount that an average Army Lord Immortal would struggle to earn in several thousand years! One must understand that this was only through conventional means; if one were to adventure in secret realms or fight in the Outer-Domain Battlefield, the speed of accumulating wealth would naturally be faster.

At the same time, the major giants were keeping a close watch on this place.