Following the coordinates provided in the Universe Galaxy Bank's email, Li Che left the World Castle and soon found the spaceship delivering his life fruits on a satellite in Black Dragon Star's outer orbit.
It was a dark green spaceship roughly seven hundred meters long, cast entirely from a high-grade metal Li Che had never seen before. Incredibly intricate secret patterns of the spatial laws covered its surface, while the ram at its prow hinted at its unparalleled destructive power.
"A top-tier, all-metal spaceship made from F9-Class nethermurk copper mother?"
With his intelligent computer's assessment, Li Che quickly determined the ship's grade and felt a flicker of surprise.
High-grade spaceships of this caliber generally cost three to five million Hunyuan Units. That was not something an ordinary Undying Deity could afford.
Could the immortal in charge of the Universe Galaxy Bank's Black Dragon Mountain Branch be an expert?
He walked forward and found two World Lords in black Universe Galaxy Bank uniforms standing ramrod straight before the ship's hatch.
When they saw Li Che approach, both World Lords put on impeccably standardized smiles and bowed deeply to him.
"Esteemed four-star bank client, we are responsible for delivering the goods you purchased. Please cooperate with us in completing the verification process."
As one of the World Lords spoke, he presented a silver-white case to Li Che.
"Performing the first identity verification through iris data."
"Performing the second identity verification through bioelectric wave frequencies."
"Performing the third verification through spiritual force, Gene Origin Force, or World Force."
"Verification complete!"
Only after Li Che completed each verification as instructed did the two World Lord employees hand him the silver-white case.
Li Che swept his World Force through the silver-white case. After confirming that all one hundred and two life fruits were present in the world box, he completed the final delivery acceptance procedure.
"Everything is in order."
At his words, the two World Lord employees, who had still looked somewhat tense, gradually relaxed. They bowed deeply to Li Che once more.
"Transaction successful. Thank you for supporting the Universe Galaxy Bank."
"Mm."
Li Che replied casually. The two employees did not linger. One took an E9-grade spaceship out of his internal world, and they swiftly departed from Black Dragon Star's satellite.
Li Che did not find this strange.
He had noticed that a tall, burly dragonman had appeared at the F9-Class spaceship's hatch at some point. About four meters tall, he had azure scales inscribed with secret patterns of the laws covering his entire body. He was watching Li Che.
The fluctuations of divine power emanating from his body confirmed to Li Che that this was an Undying Deity.
And a powerful immortal military lord at that.
"Greetings, World Master of Guixu of the Fourth Battlefield. I am Military Lord Chenliu, administrator of the Universe Galaxy Bank's Black Dragon Mountain Branch."
Seeing Li Che look his way, the dragonman narrowed his eyes and gave him a friendly smile.
Clearly, he knew who Li Che was.
"Greetings, Military Lord Chenliu!" Li Che nodded to the dragonman Undying Deity in acknowledgment. He remained polite, but showed none of the restraint an ordinary World Lord would display before an Undying Deity.
The other man was an immortal military lord, which meant his strength in a direct fight was most likely inferior to Li Che's. There was naturally no need for Li Che to lower himself.
"Haha! As expected of a Military Lord-level World Lord rated as such by the military system. You truly have an extraordinary bearing, World Master of Guixu!" Military Lord Chenliu stepped aside and invited Li Che into his spaceship.
Li Che accepted without ceremony and strode into the F9-Class spaceship. The two seated themselves on a pair of stone thrones.
"This really is a surprise. I thought we would meet in the virtual universe. I didn't expect you to come in person, Military Lord."
He was interested in joining the Universe Galaxy Bank, so it was only natural that the immortal in charge of its Black Dragon Mountain Branch would approach him to discuss it. He simply had not expected such sincerity, or that the man would take the time to meet him in person.
"A World Lord with the combat strength of an immortal military lord is precisely the kind of talent every organization needs. Since you're interested in joining the Universe Galaxy Bank, of course we must give you due consideration."
Military Lord Chenliu was tall and imposing, with a thick dragon tail covered in azure scales trailing behind him. He grinned as he spoke.
"My clearance only allows me to access footage of your battles from two eras ago, World Master of Guixu. But after watching the recording of your fight against that Undying Deity-level Ziqian Ten-Thousand Serpent, I can say with certainty that you are a genius worth making this trip for."
Li Che was briefly taken aback, then nodded slightly. "You flatter me. That's ancient history from over twenty thousand years ago."
The battle Military Lord Chenliu mentioned had taken place two eras earlier. Back then, Li Che had ambushed an Undying Deity of the demon race's royal Ziqian Ten-Thousand Serpent clan in the battlefield's starry expanse. A fierce battle had erupted, and he had successfully slain his opponent.
As Li Che recalled, that Ziqian Ten-Thousand Serpent's comprehension of the laws and secret techniques had been a complete mess—crude enough to barely qualify him as a mid-level Undying Deity.
But as a member of a Demon Race royal clan, he possessed a large divine body, tremendous strength, and a higher genetic level than an ordinary human. His base divine power far surpassed that of human Undying Deities at the same level, forcibly elevating his rating on the Extraterrestrial Battlefield to that of a top-tier immortal military lord.
"It's no flattery. I hope you won't laugh at me, World Master of Guixu, but even now, I could barely fight that Ziqian Ten-Thousand Serpent to a draw. The Demon Race's advantage in divine bodies is simply too great. Even without an undying body, he would have been extremely, extremely difficult to kill."
Military Lord Chenliu sighed with feeling.
As someone from the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield, the instant he learned Li Che's identity, he had instinctively compared him to another legendary World Master from their starfield-Time World Lord Luo.
Then he had discovered that, compared to this World Master of Guixu who was only a little over fifty thousand years old, Time World Lord Luo fell far short in every respect.
He knew that Time World Lord Luo had already lived for more than nine hundred eras. Even when unleashing his secret techniques at full power, his combat strength only reached the level of a mid-level Undying Deity. That was respectable among Undying Deities, but hopelessly inadequate compared to Li Che.
At this point, Military Lord Chenliu's expression gradually grew serious. His keen draconic eyes met Li Che's, and his voice became low and earnest.
"Your Excellency Guixu, you should understand that at your current World Lord level, joining the Universe Galaxy Bank is unquestionably your best choice."
"But as far as I know, the Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Battle Arena are the strongest of the five major powers." Li Che was quite willing to have a proper discussion with this immortal.
"That is indeed true. The Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Battle Arena are the strongest. More than half of the top five great beings of our human race belong to those two organizations."
Military Lord Chenliu did not deny Li Che's point. Even though he belonged to neither the company nor the arena, he still held both powers in great reverence.
"The problem is that they're too large, with numerous internal factions. To maintain fairness, every genius who joins must follow the rules. Certain precious resources require waiting in line."
Li Che nodded. From what he knew of Luo Feng's growth, as well as the growth of Li Che in the Mountain Sea Realm, there had certainly been no shortage of struggles between the company's major factions.
"But the Universe Galaxy Bank is different. We have only two major factions. Our internal resources are plentiful, we're united, the benefits are generous, and the competition isn't nearly as fierce."
Military Lord Chenliu pointed at the F9-Class spaceship behind him and said proudly,
"You may have noticed, Your Excellency Guixu, that I'm nowhere near the top among immortal military lords. But by putting in a few more eras of service at the bank, even I could afford to commission a top-tier vessel like this."
He was enthusiastic, sparing no effort in explaining the Universe Galaxy Bank's generous benefits to Li Che, as though he wished he could get Li Che to sign the bank's genius contract on the spot.
Military Lord Chenliu certainly had reason to be so enthusiastic. Immortals like him who were posted to the various intermediate civilizations received recruitment commissions. For every outstanding genius they recruited for the bank, they earned a very substantial reward.
Only two major factions? That's because your Universe Galaxy Bank only has two Universe Masters. There's no possibility of establishing a third faction...
Li Che grumbled inwardly, but still adopted the manner of someone earnestly seeking advice.
"My home lies in the direction of the Rongbing Empire. In the future, I may come into conflict with a marquis-level Undying Deity. I hope to use that conflict as an opportunity to better demonstrate my abilities."
At this, a gleam of law-infused light suddenly flared in Military Lord Chenliu's eyes. He stared at Li Che for a long time before saying with feeling,
"Of course. If you can fight a marquis-level Undying Deity head-on, Your Excellency Guixu, that would put you on par with the geniuses in the upper core ranks of the five major powers. With enough luck, it's even possible that one of the bank's great beings might be willing to take you as a disciple."
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