Arriving at the Branch

The staff member behind the counter smiled at Qi Tian as he approached to ask a question.

"May I have your identification, sir?"

"Qi Tian."

Qi Tian watched as the staff member immediately lowered his head to look him up. Clearly, he often handled requests from people like Qi Tian, who had joined the Virtual Universe Company.

A few seconds later, the staff member found Qi Tian's information and notified someone inside.

"Mr. Qi, please have a seat over there and wait a moment. Someone will be here to meet you shortly."

"Thank you."

After thanking him, Qi Tian walked over to the sofa beside the service desk and sat down, glancing around the platform.

"From what I've heard people talking about, a lot of them are in finance, and some are here seeking investments."

Qi Tian couldn't understand their technical jargon. But hearing people who were at the Domain Lord Level or even Universe Level casually mention hundreds or thousands of Hunyuan Units still surprised him.

After a short wait, a metal disc with a ring of white light gliding around it came from deep within the passage. A semicircular sofa was mounted on top.

A powerful being in a Silver Battle Suit, with gray skin showing, stepped off and walked toward the counter.

The staff member who had helped Qi Tian immediately came out from behind the counter, bowed respectfully to the newcomer, then pointed out where Qi Tian was.

When Qi Tian saw the newcomer looking at him, he realized the man had come to meet him.

Qi Tian could sense the aura of a Domain Lord Level powerhouse, but he couldn't gauge the man's true strength at all. He had to be a World Lord Level powerhouse or stronger, so Qi Tian immediately stood and bowed slightly.

The people waiting there all looked toward the newcomer with respect. That made it clear he was not only powerful, but also held a high position.

After all, an ordinary World Lord Level powerhouse usually had a net worth of around ten Hunyuan Units.

That was hardly enough to intimidate these stockbrokers and financiers, who casually talked about sums exceeding a hundred Hunyuan Units.

"You're Qi Tian?"

The World Lord Level powerhouse from the Virtual Universe Company, dressed in a Silver Battle Suit, walked over to Qi Tian and asked with a smile.

Qi Tian nodded and bowed slightly. "Yes, sir."

"My name is Jianos. I'm an instructor at the Virtual Universe Company's Beihua Branch. Lord Tegages arranged for me to meet you and another member."

Since Tegages had personally arranged for Jianos to meet them, he was clearly aware of Qi Tian's talent. His manner toward Qi Tian was quite warm.

"Come with me."

"Yes, Lord Jianos."

Qi Tian followed Jianos onto the metal disc. The ring of white light around it began to shimmer, and the disc sped toward the depths of the passage.

The disc had no spaceship's gravity-control system, yet with the ring of light surrounding it, it raced along without Qi Tian feeling even the slightest vibration.

"Lord Tegages has high praise for you. He said our Beihua Branch had recruited a true elite."

Jianos sat on the curved sofa and smiled at Qi Tian. Anyone who had earned Tegages's attention could at least become a World Lord someday. Jianos took him seriously.

"Lord Tegages is too kind."

Qi Tian answered modestly, but didn't deny it. As far as the Beihua Branch was concerned, he was confident he could be the strongest among those of his level.

Even among all the members of the Noah Universe Kingdom Branch, he was confident he could earn a place in the challenge for the Doomsday Secret Realm—and even defeat some of its participants.

The improvement to his Innate Secret Technique, Indestructible Golden Body, especially bolstered his confidence.

Jianos heard Qi Tian's reply, and his smile remained. He had been just like that in his own day.

The two rode the disc through the passage for several minutes before entering a vast space.

Qi Tian looked out at the suddenly wide-open interior of the planet, which had been hollowed out into an enormous grassland. Blue skies and white clouds stretched over lush green fields.

From a distance, it looked as though they were standing on a green planet, a complete contrast to the metallic exterior.

Qi Tian looked up at the sky. The azure expanse was bright with sunshine, and white clouds drifted by.

But he could tell clearly that it was a technological projection. After all, they were inside a planet. How could there be an open expanse of land like this?

They continued forward and entered the grassland. After crossing a hill, they saw ten enormous arenas, surrounded by a ring of buildings.

"That's the Beihua Branch's elite training grounds. There are dormitories, a common area, and a combat zone."

"Although you're a Special Grade Elite of the Beihua Branch, you're actually a genius representing the Beihua Branch at the Noah Universe Kingdom Branch. Your rank is higher than theirs."

Qi Tian nodded. He already knew that.

The Virtual Universe Company's elites here all thought that the Noah Universe Kingdom was the headquarters and Beihua was the branch.

In fact, the true Virtual Universe Company's Universal Headquarters was on a vast continent floating in space.

Their qualifications made it all but impossible for them to ever reach that place, so to them, the headquarters was wherever the geniuses from across the Noah Universe Kingdom gathered.

As for the Four Great Secret Realms and the true headquarters, they simply called them "that place."

The disc soon arrived at the dormitory area. Jianos brought Qi Tian to a detached villa, and they both stepped off.

"This is your temporary residence. The common area is nearby, so you can visit whenever you like."

"Also, besides the arenas, there's a service center in the combat zone run in cooperation with the Universe Mercenary Alliance. They have World Lord Worlds specifically arranged for elite training."

"Given your strength, those World Lord Worlds should pose almost no danger to you. Still, you can go take a look if you're bored."

Qi Tian's eyes lit up. Ordinary World Lord mission worlds really posed little threat to him, but he hadn't even registered as a mercenary yet.

There was a Universe Mercenary Alliance service center here, so he might be able to run a couple of mission worlds and raise his mercenary rank, saving himself some time.

After all, out in the wider universe, most World Lord mission worlds were left behind after World Lords died. They were scattered all over, at varying distances.

But here, several had been brought together to serve as combat training worlds. That would save him the time spent traveling.

"Sorry for the trouble, Lord Jianos," Qi Tian said with a smile.

"It's part of my job," Jianos replied with a faint smile. "We originally planned to leave for the Noah Universe Kingdom training grounds in nine months, but it seems another member, Chi Xin, will be arriving soon."

"That means we'll have to adjust the gathering time for the other batch of Star Level elites who were already scheduled to travel with you to the training grounds."

Qi Tian hadn't expected his and Chi Xin's early arrival to affect the gathering time of the other elites traveling with them. He immediately asked, "Lord Jianos, will that cause you trouble?"

Jianos shook his head with a smile. "I was coming to meet the two of you anyway. I was just going to bring them along as well. Normally, I wouldn't personally go meet those Star Level elites."

"I'll be going now. We're expected to set off for the Noah Universe Kingdom training grounds in a month. You'll be notified of the exact date in advance."

"All right. Sorry for the trouble, Lord Jianos." Qi Tian bowed slightly and thanked him.