After giving a few more instructions, Wang Yu dismissed his butler, Venina.
Wang Yu remained seated high upon his throne.
The little reward and funding he had given her were merely a drop in the bucket to him, not worth mentioning at all.
He had the Lord Mall and could use Lord Funds to purchase any item from it in unlimited quantities.
The spatial ring and Universe Crystals from earlier had simply been bought on the spot and taken out on the spot.
A one-thousand-cubic-meter spatial ring was not expensive, costing only 2,000 Universe Coins. Descendants of major families could receive one as a gift even at the Planetary-level, so it was nothing special.
If Venina had not merely been an ordinary Ninth-Order Star Level, unable to keep powerful treasures safe and liable to invite disaster upon herself, he would not have minded giving her something even better.
After all, she was his butler. Even a massive spatial ring worth hundreds of thousands or millions of Universe Coins would have been nothing to him.
After all, he had started with ten billion.
The selection funding of ten thousand Universe Coins was the same—he had merely handed it over casually.
Although even the Ganwu Universe Country had only been established for five hundred thousand years, and the Black Dragon Mountain Empire and Silverblue Empire from the original novel did not exist at this point in time.
Still, the currencies of lower and Intermediate Universe Countries were generally worth about the same.
Taking the Black Dragon Mountain Empire as an example, the official exchange rate between the Black Dragon Coins it issued and the Ganwu coins issued by its suzerain, the Ganwu Universe Country, was 1,000 to 1.
But in reality, it was difficult to exchange them at the official rate. On the black market, the rate could reach 1,500 to 1.
Likewise, Ganwu coins were difficult to exchange for Universe Coins at the official rate of 3,300 to 1. In reality, it often took 4,000 to 1.
That meant one Universe Coin was officially worth 3.3 million Black Dragon Coins, but could actually be exchanged for 6 million Black Dragon Coins.
The ten thousand Universe Coins he had given amounted to 60 billion Black Dragon Coins!
That was equivalent to five or six Black Dragon Mountain X81 Spaceships, the kind Luo Feng had used when he first entered the universe!
Though he was currently in the Blue Silver Empire, not the Silverblue Empire.
And its suzerain Intermediate Universe Country was not the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, but the White Dragon Sea Empire, whose official currency was the White Dragon Coin.
Still, prices were more or less the same.
He had given so much just to hold a talent selection across fifty planets.
Surely Venina would give him a satisfactory result.
Of course, if he had already spent the money and she still could not get things done for him, then he could only replace her.
He had money, after all. Managing planets was not some rare skill, and the universe was full of professional companies that specialized in such business. Replacing someone would be no trouble at all.
The only reason he had not immediately replaced her with one of those professional management companies was because he could not be bothered with the hassle and wanted to give someone else an opportunity along the way.
As Wang Yu pondered this, he was about to carefully study the Lord Mall.
But at that moment, his heart suddenly stirred as the system sent a new notification.
[A citizen has broken through to the Planetary-level. Reward: 1 Origin Energy.]
"Hm?" Wang Yu's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
One citizen breaking through to the Planetary-level earned him 1 Origin Energy?
Was that not one Universe Coin?
"Just breaking through from Apprentice Grade to the Planetary-level earns one Universe Coin?"
"Wouldn't that mean a huge profit?"
"The system gives this much?"
Wang Yu was genuinely stunned!
If calculated in White Dragon Coins, buying a Ninth-Order Planetary Level slave cost only thirty thousand for a warrior and one hundred thousand for a spirit reader.
One Universe Coin equaled six million White Dragon Coins. That could buy two hundred Ninth-Order Planetary Level warriors!
The gap between the two was simply enormous...
"I knew the system would be generous, but I never expected it to be this generous!" Wang Yu was shocked as he rapidly considered the matter.
"It isn't difficult for an Apprentice Grade cultivator to break through to the Planetary-level. For breakthroughs at such a low level, there have long been mature and stable potions. Even counting everything, it would cost at most ten thousand White Dragon Coins."
"A cost of ten thousand for a return of six million? The cost is practically negligible. It's pure profit!"
"Never mind whether buying slaves back would count for rewards. Just raising the more than one hundred billion existing citizens in my territory from Apprentice Grade to the Planetary-level would bring in more than one hundred billion Universe Coins!"
"This is a fortune!"
The more Wang Yu thought about it, the more excited he became!
The system gave far too much!
Breaking through to a worthless Planetary-level actually earned Universe Coins!
But after his excitement faded, Wang Yu gradually calmed down.
"Calm down! I need to calm down. I can't let money cloud my judgment..."
"Although the system gives a lot, I can't rush to claim it all at once. If I make over one hundred billion Apprentice Grade cultivators break through to the Planetary-level in one go, the move would be too big and would inevitably attract attention..."
"It isn't suitable to be too outrageous when I've only just started. I need to be more conservative. Since a big move won't work, I'll make a small one first."
"Let one hundred million Apprentice Grade cultivators break through to the Planetary-level!"
Wang Yu quickly made his decision.
If he spent money to use potions to raise all of his more than 160 billion citizens to the Planetary-level, it would require an investment of roughly 300 million Universe Coins.
A First-Order Universe Level slave warrior cost only ten million Universe Coins.
As a newly advanced Universe-level cultivator, if he immediately invested 300 million Universe Coins into the citizens of his territory, he might as well be shouting, "Who dares kill me?"
But if he selected only one hundred million relatively talented citizens, the investment would be merely two hundred thousand Universe Coins. That figure was acceptable—it would only make him seem somewhat more generous.
Moreover, the system did not only reward breakthroughs across major realms. It also gave rewards for cultivation and achievements, such as increasing one's amplitude, mastering a certain secret technique, participating in large competitions like the Genius Battle, or obtaining major gains in a Universe Secret Realm.
Selecting talented people to cultivate would not look abrupt to outsiders, and spending somewhat more money would be reasonable as well.
Furthermore, talented people were more likely to achieve success in cultivation and accomplish things, earning him even more rewards.
"But I can't keep hiding everything forever. It affects my ability to act too much. I still need to obtain the identity of a major faction as soon as possible, borrow its prestige, and reveal a little more wealth. Then no one would dare move against me lightly."
"I wonder when my mentor will reply? I'm in a hurry to go teach and nurture talent at the Ganwu Dojo!"
Restricted by his status and unable to make any major moves, Wang Yu could see the system rewards yet could not claim them. It truly made him anxious.
That mentor from the Ganwu Dojo did not reply until three days later.
The two met in the Virtual Universe.
Inside an upscale restaurant, a short bald man with green skin sat opposite Wang Yu. This was Mentor Yoda, the mentor with whom he had the best relationship.
"I was previously in seclusion comprehending the laws and shut off all communications in the Virtual Universe. I only saw your email after finishing my cultivation. I'm truly sorry!" Mentor Yoda said with a gentle smile.
"You're too polite, Mentor. I'm the one who should apologize for disturbing your seclusion," Wang Yu hurriedly replied.
Wang Yu held this Mentor Yoda in considerable respect. During his cultivation at the Ganwu Dojo, this mentor had taken good care of him and guided him several times. Otherwise, he could not have reached the sixth level of Domain at the Star-level.
Mentor Yoda was a veteran One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept of the Ganwu Dojo, a Universe-level 9th Order cultivator who also possessed the title of Giant Axe Warrior. He had a considerable chance of breaking through to the Domain Lord Level, and his status was exceptionally high.
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