Unfortunately, while they were available, all of them had to be purchased with Lord Funds, and their prices were roughly the same as in reality.
Some lower-tier resources, such as Purple Light Dew, Azure Wave Marrow, and Mu Ya Crystals, were extremely common and produced in enormous quantities. They carried virtually no premium in reality, and the Lord Mall prices were basically the same.
As for things rare in reality, such as Blood Luo Crystals and Beast God's Blood, their output was extremely limited. Even the Virtual Universe Company had to control the amounts distributed to geniuses.
Such rare items carried a considerable premium in reality, yet there was none in the Lord Mall. Instead, the system set relatively fair and reasonable prices based on their effects and uses.
And as long as he had enough Lord Funds, he could purchase mall items in unlimited quantities!
As long as he had money, he could get himself a hundred million Star Towers!
Not only did the mall contain treasures that actually existed, it even had treasures that existed only in fantasy and not at all in reality!
"Low-tier items are produced in huge quantities. It's better to buy those directly in reality, since the cost is about the same anyway."
"It's only the more precious items that should be bought from the mall. That way, when I grant them to my subordinates, no one will know, so they won't constantly attract covetous eyes."
"As for depositing money this time, I'll directly exchange for ten thousand cubic meters of Universe Crystals. I'll just say it was an opportunity I obtained while adventuring in some secret realm. I've experienced many secret-realm adventures before, so it's perfectly normal for me to have gained some opportunities in secret. There shouldn't be any problem."
Wang Yu carefully mapped things out in his mind.
During the several-day journey through the Dark Universe, the system sent him several notifications in succession.
[One hundred million unranked subjects born. Reward: 1 Origin Energy.] [Purchased 1 billion Apprentice Grade subjects. Reward: 10 Origin Energy.] [Purchased 1 million Planetary-level subjects. Reward: 1 Origin Energy.] [One Apprentice Grade subject reached a Force Amplitude of 10 times. Reward: 1 Origin Energy.]
Wang Yu was extremely satisfied as he looked at these notifications.
He knew that the birth, cultivation, and achievements of his subjects would bring rewards, but he had not known exactly how great those rewards were.
Now, he understood much more clearly.
If the requirements were extremely easy to fulfill, then a certain number of people were needed before a reward could be obtained.
For example, all his subjects possessed the most inferior bloodlines. Their initial state did not even qualify as Apprentice Grade; they were unranked lifeforms and needed cultivation and resources before they could become Apprentice Grade.
For such unranked subjects, one hundred million had to be born before he could receive a reward of 1 Universe Coin. The same applied to buying slaves and freeing them as subjects, something he had tried before.
Fortunately, these conditions did not need to be fulfilled all at once; they were calculated cumulatively. For example, if one hundred people were needed, there would be no reward at ninety-nine, but once one more person was added, the reward would be issued.
Although such rewards were not much, as long as he provided a safe, stable, and favorable environment, his subjects would naturally breed like crazy.
Over time, the returns would still be quite good.
And right now, their bloodlines were simply the worst, so the descendants they produced all began as unranked lifeforms. But if their bloodlines improved in the future, and the babies born were directly Apprentice Grade, then the required number would naturally be far lower.
Moreover, the rewards for subjects being born were all small. The rewards for successful cultivation were clearly much greater!
"An Apprentice Grade subject reaching a Force Amplitude of ten times earns 1 Universe Coin? That's really not bad!" Wang Yu looked on with satisfaction.
"However, among the ragtag subjects under me right now, there must be extremely, extremely few who can cultivate to a Force Amplitude of ten times at the Apprentice Grade. Only those selected geniuses might be able to achieve it. There won't be many such people..."
In the original work, Babata had once told Luo Feng that the average level of Yun Mo Star's Apprentice Grade 9th Order was a Force Amplitude of ten times.
But Yun Mo Star was the main nest planet of Hu Yan Bo, who had barely reached Marquis-level. Its standards naturally differed from those of ordinary planets.
For an ordinary low-tier country, the average level was around six, while in an Intermediate Universe Country, it was around eight.
On those completely undeveloped indigenous planets under his command, the average level was around three.
Anyone who could cultivate to a Force Amplitude of ten times under the current conditions could be considered an unmatched prodigy of those shabby planets!
"Looks like he should be a barely promising genius. I'll take a look when I return. If his talent and potential aren't bad, he might be worth this lord personally taking as a disciple."
"And if the requirement is only a Force Amplitude of ten times, then I can pour in more money. Resources won't be lacking, and neither will instructors. Training everyone to that level may be unrealistic, but among those selected with slightly better talent, there should be at least a hundred thousand or a million who can be trained to that standard..."
"If I spread the net wider and increase my planetary territory and population, then my subjects' ability to earn money will be quite impressive."
"And buying slaves as subjects is also a loss when it comes to Planetary-level slaves. I suppose even Star-level and Universe-level slaves will still be a loss in the future. But once I train them up and their strength improves, then I'll be making money."
The more Wang Yu thought about it, the better it all seemed.
Five days later.
The spacecraft came to a complete stop, then gave a slight shudder as it exited the Dark Universe.
After returning to the original universe and activating the external scenery simulation, Wang Yu saw an enormous and beautiful planet in the distance ahead.
That was the Imperial Capital Star of the Blue Silver Empire. It was roughly three times the size of his War God Star, and it had been transformed at tremendous cost into an exceptionally beautiful place. Living in such a planetary environment generally gave subjects better aptitudes as well.
Large-scale improvement of aptitude did not necessarily require reaching the level of Sitting Mountain Guest's transformation of Blue Star.
In fact, as long as the environment contained more abundant energy, lifeforms would gradually improve in aptitude and bloodline through generation after generation of influence.
For example, when Luo Feng first entered the universe, he had purchased Purple Light Dew in bulk to supply billions of Blue Star humans, allowing them to evolve from unranked lifeforms into Apprentice Grade.
Once the parents' strength improved, their descendants would naturally begin at a higher point. Those descendants could then possibly surpass their own parents and give birth to even more outstanding offspring...
Such improvement was feasible, just extremely, extremely slow.
Of course, throwing money at the problem could accelerate it.
And that was exactly what he intended to do.
When the spacecraft approached Imperial Capital Star, it received a guidance signal. Under its guidance, the craft slowly entered the planet and landed at an enormous docking port.
It was an immensely vast docking port, filled with dense rows of spacecraft. The port was divided into four docking zones according to rank.
There were quite a few A-class and B-class spacecraft. C-class spacecraft were somewhat fewer, but there were still hundreds at a glance.
For spacecraft made of alloy, a C5-class vessel cost roughly several hundred million White Dragon Coins, while a C9-class vessel cost roughly ten billion White Dragon Coins.
Although C-class corresponded to the Universe-level, Universe-level experts rarely used such cheap spacecraft as their personal rides. They were usually used by geniuses from major powers or descendants of great families.
Universe-level experts more often used D-class spacecraft directly. For example, the Blue Silver Empire had arranged a D4-class spacecraft for him. It had not been given to him and was merely loaned for his use, but even if he truly wanted to buy one, it would not be too expensive.
A D1-class spacecraft cost only around one hundred billion White Dragon Coins, a little over ten thousand Universe Coins.
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