On the Purple River Empire's Imperial Capital Star, there stood a manor measuring a kilometer in both length and width.
In the manor's courtyard, more than ten figures were waiting quietly.
Before long, a streak of light flew over from the distant sky and soon stopped above the manor. It was a flying-saucer-shaped spaceship more than a hundred meters in diameter.
Whoosh!
The spaceship's hatch opened, and two figures flew out. One wore bright silver battle armor, while the other wore earthen-yellow battle armor. They were the fellow disciples Huang Ziwei and Lu Qingshan, who had come from Pastoral Song Star.
The Purple River Empire's Imperial Capital Star was not particularly far from Pastoral Song Star. After flying through the Dark Universe for more than ten days, Lu Qingshan and Huang Ziwei had arrived.
"Greetings, Master!" Upon seeing Huang Ziwei, all the figures waiting below bowed in greeting.
Lu Qingshan looked at them. The two at the front were at the Star Level, while all the others were at planetary level nine.
"Mm!"
Huang Ziwei nodded slightly, then headed toward the manor's living room as he introduced it to Lu Qingshan beside him. "Junior brother, this is the manor I bought on Imperial Capital Star. As for these people, they're slaves I bought to manage the manor!"
"If you're interested, you could buy a manor here too and become my neighbor. These days, a small manor measuring a kilometer in length and width only costs around 1.5 billion Golden Lion Currency!"
"I'll pass!"
Lu Qingshan quickly shook his head. "I've spent practically all the money I have on cultivation resources. Buying a manor on Imperial Capital Star right now would be far too wasteful!"
"Besides, don't you already have a manor here, senior brother? Surely you wouldn't turn me away if I came to Imperial Capital Star in the future?"
"Of course not!"
By then, Huang Ziwei had already led Lu Qingshan into the manor's living room. After signaling for the servants to bring fine wine and delicious dishes, he promptly said, "Junior brother, tell me if you're short on money. I can't promise anything else, but I can still come up with over a hundred billion Golden Lion Currency!"
An ordinary Star Level warrior's total wealth amounted to several billion Golden Lion Currency at most. But as Kanuo's disciple, Huang Ziwei had been granted a life planet as his territory over three thousand years ago. It could be said that he earned over a hundred million Golden Lion Currency every year.
Now that more than three thousand years had passed, even after spending some resources, he still had at least a hundred to two hundred billion Golden Lion Currency on hand.
"Thank you, senior brother!"
Lu Qingshan promptly said, "If I need it, I certainly won't stand on ceremony with you!"
For ordinary Star Level warriors, over a hundred billion Golden Lion Currency was already an unimaginably enormous sum;
but for Lu Qingshan, who wanted to keep cutting down the time spent accumulating energy, twenty billion Golden Lion Currency was merely a cup of water thrown on a burning cartload of firewood.
For him, the best approach was still to join one of those major powers and then obtain precious resources through his own strength.
Seeing the manor's servants bring over an array of fine wines and delicious dishes, Lu Qingshan could not help asking, "Senior brother, aren't we going to see the Virtual Universe Company staff now?"
"There's no hurry!"
Huang Ziwei raised a cup of fine wine and invited Lu Qingshan to drink with him, then promptly said, "I'm contacting some friends who've stayed on Imperial Capital Star for a long time to learn about the situation. It won't be too late to act once we have a clear picture!"
"So that's how it is!"
After hearing Huang Ziwei's words, Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then likewise raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.
Huang Ziwei had, after all, followed Kanuo for over eight thousand years. Over those long years, he had surely built up quite a network within the Purple River Empire. Now that he was on Imperial Capital Star, he could naturally obtain more detailed information.
"Junior brother, I've gotten definite information!"
After a round of hearty drinking, Huang Ziwei promptly said, "This time, the Virtual Universe Company plans to select a total of six hundred flourishing life planets across the six galaxies ruled by our Purple River Empire to build its offices!"
"The Virtual Universe Company has two criteria for selecting life planets. The first is the strength protecting the planet, and the second is how prosperous the planet is!"
"With Teacher on Pastoral Song Star, we can definitely pass the first criterion. But Pastoral Song Star has only been developing for a little over thirty thousand years. In terms of prosperity, it certainly can't compare to life planets that have been developed for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years!"
"So if we want to secure the qualification for Pastoral Song Star to host a Virtual Universe Company office, we'll have to think of something!"
"Next, I plan to follow Teacher's instructions and pay a visit to the Kunbu Family to see if they can lend us a hand. Would you like to come along, junior brother?"
"No problem!"
After hearing Huang Ziwei's words, Lu Qingshan promptly said, "I'd also like to see what a great family that has been rooted in the Purple River Empire for over eight hundred thousand years looks like!"
"Hahaha!"
Hearing this, Huang Ziwei laughed and said, "Junior brother, you'll know once you get there!"
"Although the Kunbu Family currently has only one more Universe Level expert than our Kanuo Family, they've always had Universe Level experts presiding over their family throughout the past eight hundred thousand years. Their accumulated foundations are far beyond what our Kanuo Family can compare with!"
"I've just contacted a core member of the Kanuo Family. Let's head over now!"
"All right!"
Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then set off for the Kunbu Family with Huang Ziwei.
After arriving at the Kunbu Family, Lu Qingshan and Huang Ziwei were soon led into a living room by that core member of the Kunbu Family.
Only after they had waited in the living room for more than ten minutes did a burly man in golden battle armor walk in.
Upon seeing the burly man, Huang Ziwei hurriedly signaled for Lu Qingshan to stand, then bowed to the man. "Greetings, Martial Uncle Buerwo!"
Buerwo and Kanuo were not actually fellow disciples. Rather, they had once adventured together in the universe for a time and were on very good terms.
"Mm!"
Buerwo nodded slightly, then looked toward Lu Qingshan. "You're the young disciple Brother Kanuo recently took in?"
"Yes, Martial Uncle Buerwo!" Lu Qingshan promptly nodded in reply.
"To comprehend the Earth Domain at the Star Level!"
Buerwo promptly asked, "Your talent is indeed very good!"
Lu Qingshan did not find Buerwo's words strange.
After all, his teacher Kanuo had told him before that geniuses who entered the domain realm at the Planetary Level were exceedingly rare in the Purple River Empire. Thus, apart from a small number of people in the Kanuo Family, no one knew that he had comprehended the Earth Domain at the Planetary Level.
So Lu Qingshan promptly replied respectfully, "Thank you for your praise, Martial Uncle!"
"Brother Kanuo has already told me why you've come!"
After nodding slightly, Buerwo soon turned to business. "However, the quotas for building Virtual Universe Company offices really are very tight this time. Most have been assigned to life planets under the imperial family. Even in our Kunbu Family, only ten planets successfully obtained a quota!"
"Your Kanuo Family's strength is indeed sufficient, but Pastoral Song Star has been developing for too short a time. It doesn't count as particularly prosperous within our Purple River Empire!"
"How about this? I'll help you contact a Virtual Universe Company staff member, and then we'll see whether there's a chance of persuading them!"
"But there's one thing you must remember: never try to bribe these staff members! Some families previously tried to obtain quotas by bribing them, only to be directly blacklisted by the Virtual Universe Company!"
"We understand!" Huang Ziwei and Lu Qingshan hurriedly nodded.