Qian Wu, the Universe Country Lord

In the endless void stood an imposing figure. He opened his eyes, their depths as vast as the starry sky.

"I've become Venerable Qian Wu, the Qian Wu Country Lord?"

Yang Hao looked utterly bewildered. What was going on?

As he sifted through the memories in his mind, Yang Hao realized he had transmigrated into the universe of Swallowed Star.

The Qian Wu Country Lord, the Virtual Universe Company, the pinnacle races—countless memories flooded in.

But of all people, why did he have to transmigrate into the Qian Wu Country Lord?

In the original story, the Qian Wu Country Lord had been among humanity's earliest powerhouses. His strength was naturally unfathomable. In the early days, he had helped humanity expand its territory, and even among Universe Venerables, he was exceptionally powerful, having reached the High Universe Venerable level.

Unfortunately, once he exhausted his potential, his strength stagnated for a very long time. Obsessed with making another breakthrough, he continued venturing through the universe.

But his luck was truly abysmal. After dying once, he borrowed a Supreme Treasure from a friend and ventured onto the Primal Star. He died three times in succession, leaving him buried in debt.

He owed six Venerables 2.1 Supreme Treasure points. Having been resurrected three times in succession by his race, he also owed them 2.5 Supreme Treasure points, for a total debt of 4.6 Supreme Treasure points.

Those 4.6 Supreme Treasure points could be exchanged with his race for three or four ordinary offensive Supreme Treasures. Even an average Universe Overlord probably had only that much wealth.

Qian Wu was simply too unlucky. After all, anyone who dared venture onto the Primal Star had some confidence in his abilities, but alas...

Now, with his potential long since exhausted and a mountain of debt hanging over him, he could only serve as a Universe Country Lord and cultivate younger generations for his race, slowly repaying his debts over endless years. His former glory was gone.

For a Universe Venerable, even a High Universe Venerable, paying off 4.6 Supreme Treasure points under normal circumstances would truly take endless ages.

But on second thought, Yang Hao realized the situation wasn't that bad. At the very least, the Qian Wu Country Lord was still a High Universe Venerable with a virtually unlimited lifespan.

He possessed incredible strength and ruled a High-level Universe Country encompassing a hundred million galaxies. So what if he owed some debts? He had already been a deadbeat for so many years. Once you were buried in debt, a little more made no difference.

This was countless times better than being an ordinary person in his previous life. If all else failed, he could ride Luo Feng's coattails and reap plenty of benefits.

In the original story, Qian Wu had taken Luo Feng's own son as his disciple, then secretly helped Luo Feng's family. Through that connection, he had secured Luo Feng's backing and even brought three of his creditors along. That was one way out.

As for Yang Hao, he knew how the story would unfold. If necessary, he could swallow his pride and take Luo Feng as his disciple during the genius battle.

Master-disciple bonds were extremely strong in this universe. In the future, wouldn't a few scraps from Luo Feng be enough to clear his debts? This is a super angel investment. Forget returns of hundreds or thousands of times-this will pay back at least a hundred million times over.

Just as Yang Hao was considering his options and preparing to give up trying, a voice rang out in his mind.

Ding! Host transmigration successful. Check-in system activated!

"Oh? My standard transmigration perk is here?" Yang Hao jolted. His system had actually activated.

Unbeknownst to him, that slight lift of his hand had torn a fissure in the void.

The Check-in System allows check-ins at irregular intervals, based on the host's cultivation progress or encounters with special events.

The system's voice sounded again.

Host strength detected: High Venerable. Checking in grants a High Venerable-level reward.

Ding! Host's first check-in has triggered a critical bonus. Check-in reward upgraded to Universe Master level!

Ding! Host's excessively bad luck has triggered a critical bonus. Check-in reward upgraded to Universe Strongest level!

"What the hell? Being too unlucky can trigger a critical bonus too?"

"Check in!"

Yang Hao didn't hesitate. Even without a critical bonus, a High Venerable-level reward might contain something good. And now he had triggered a critical bonus, giving him a reward equivalent to the Universe Master level.

Qian Wu wasn't merely so poor that he had to pawn his pants-he had to keep pawning them indefinitely. Whatever the reward was, he would check in first!

Ding! Check-in successful. Special reward triggered: first turn of the reincarnation inheritance secret technique, Hunyuan Ten Turns!

"Hunyuan Ten Turns? What's that?"

Yang Hao felt a flood of memories enter his mind.

It turned out that Hunyuan Ten Turns was a secret technique for raising one's gene level. In the Primal Universe, such techniques violated the operation of cosmic rules and normally could not manifest.

Luo Feng, after all, had relied on the Nine Tribulations Secret Manual to cultivate all three of his clones to the perfect gene level.

However, because of the reward's level, he had not received the complete secret technique, only its first stage.

But that was already enough, because the first stage of Hunyuan Ten Turns could raise his life gene level to 300 times!

Over endless ages, Qian Wu had used all kinds of treasures to improve his life genes, barely reaching 30 times. Now he could increase that tenfold!

"A life gene level of 300 times!" That means my strength will increase tenfold outright!

The main factors affecting a Universe Venerable's combat power were secret techniques, divine body size, life gene multiplier, and Supreme Treasures.

An ancient Venerable like Qian Wu had indeed created an ultimate Universe Venerable Ultimate Secret Technique. However, members of the Human Race generally did not have particularly large divine bodies, and he had no Supreme Treasures at all.

"That means the same move will have ten times its former attack power."

"Once I cultivate the first turn of Hunyuan Ten Turns, my life gene level can reach 300 times. And cultivating it is relatively safe-at least much safer than Luo Feng's Nine Tribulations Secret Manual."

After all, every tribulation in the Nine Tribulations Secret Manual was extraordinarily dangerous. The slightest mistake could reduce the cultivator to ashes. Only because Luo Feng had three clones could he afford so much trial and error.

The Qian Wu Country Lord, on the other hand, had no clones, so a safe secret technique was ideal.

Yang Hao was delighted. He had originally planned to coast through his days, yet now this opportunity had fallen into his lap. He only needed to spend some time cultivating. Once his life genes reached 300 times, he would be ten times as strong as he was now.

At the center of the Qian Wu Secret Realm, the Qian Wu Country Lord sat upon a throne within a boundless palace hall.

His expression was imposing as he said coldly, "I intend to enter seclusion for a while. During that time, the seventh prince will handle the affairs of the Qian Wu Universe Country."

"Where are the Eighteen Divine Generals?"

Eighteen figures wore golden armor. Their heights varied, but the powerful auras radiating from them showed that they were all experts.

"Country Lord!" The Eighteen Divine Generals dropped to one knee and spoke in perfect unison, their gazes filled with fervor as they looked toward the great being on the throne. As a revered Universe Country Lord, Qian Wu naturally had powerful Immortals serving under him.

The most renowned among them were the Eighteen Divine Generals, whose strongest members had nearly reached the pinnacle of the Marquis Immortal level.

"While I am in seclusion, assist the seventh prince well. Only summon me if you encounter something you cannot handle."

Yang Hao's voice carried effortless authority as it echoed through the hall.

"Yes, Country Lord!"

"Go!"

Whew! Yang Hao let out a small breath. Whatever else had changed, his soul was still that of a young man.

The Eighteen Divine Generals under him had followed Qian Wu for hundreds of thousands, even millions of eras-an unimaginably long time. He himself was merely a young man in his twenties.

A thought stirred in Yang Hao's mind. Qian Wu was a dignified High Universe Venerable, yet he didn't have a single King Rank subordinate. Buried in debt, he could only take on Marquis subordinates.

He split off part of his consciousness to connect to the Virtual Universe, ignored the numerous debt-collection messages, and finished handling some of the universe country's affairs.

"The cheapest thing in the universe of Swallowed Star is time. I wonder how long this seclusion will take."