"You were in the spotlight again today."
Seeing Yu Longyue stride off the stage with effortless flair and head straight toward her, Gu Yue went up to meet him.
Yu Longyue had just been about to say something when his stomach rumbled.
"Uh... I just got a bit of exercise, and now I'm hungry again."
"It's just about lunchtime anyway." Gu Yue glanced at him.
Yu Longyue checked the time, then took a basket of black steamed buns out of his spatial storage:
"I've got something urgent to do, so I won't go stuff myself at the cafeteria. I'll have some fast food instead."
"Fast food?" Gu Yue watched Yu Longyue eating something that looked like a big black steamed bun. "That's... wait, you're just eating it like that?"
Gu Yue recognized the food that looked like a big black steamed bun.
Though it looked like a black steamed bun, it was actually meat.
It came from a very unusual kind of deep-sea fish. It wasn't a Soul Beast, but it lived more than three thousand meters below the surface.
Because it endured tremendous water pressure, it had developed an exceptionally high nutritional content and was extremely valuable-the kind of thing money couldn't buy.
No matter how rich someone was, it was practically impossible to buy this ingredient. After all, the top powers had monopolized it, and even in the academy, only the elders of the Sea God Pavilion were qualified to eat it.
Only a few were distributed each month.
Even a Titled Douluo would receive a tremendous boost from eating one. Not only could it improve Qi and blood, it could also strengthen the physique and accelerate cultivation through the body's internal circulation. It was one of the finest resources on the entire continent.
Yu Longyue polished one off in a few smacking bites and gave Gu Yue a puzzled look:
"What's wrong? I've eaten them like this since I was little. I remember my unscrupulous dad fed me a bite when I was three, and it hurt so much I wished I were dead. But after I got through it, I felt pretty good."
With that, Yu Longyue couldn't help savoring the memory of how he'd felt after enduring it.
It felt better than sex.
"After that, my unscrupulous dad fed me a bite every three months, right up until my Martial Soul Awakening when I was six. I awakened my Martial Soul easily, with Innate Full Soul Power, and then my grandpa fed me a whole one."
"You..." Gu Yue's heart pounded as she listened. "It's a miracle you're still alive."
"I think so too." Yu Longyue nodded in wholehearted agreement. "When there's no danger around, my dad is the biggest danger. But I have to admit, thanks to him playing around like that, I've got such a strong body."
He still remembered the day he turned six vividly.
His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon had awakened with Innate Full Soul Power at rank ten. Then a ray of seven-colored holy light had emerged from his body, piercing heaven and earth, and just like that, he'd gained another ten ranks, reaching rank twenty.
After he awakened a God Level Martial Soul, his grandpa had been so overjoyed that he'd fed him a whole one of those things. The backlash had nearly killed him—it had been too much of a good thing...
So close. He'd been that close to heading west.
Luckily, he'd had good luck. Otherwise, he would have been a transmigrator who'd been nourished to death just as he was about to take flight.
"Want a bite?"
With a black steamed bun between his teeth, Yu Longyue held one out to Gu Yue.
"It doesn't taste particularly good, and it doesn't have much flavor, but it really fills you up. Want to try one?"
"Do... do you know how much one of these is worth?" Gu Yue couldn't help asking. "Millions of Federation Coins, or even tens or hundreds of millions, couldn't buy a single one, and you're giving it to me?"
"Yeah. What's wrong with giving you one?" Yu Longyue was puzzled. "Aren't we friends? It's normal for friends to share."
Gu Yue looked at the black steamed bun Yu Longyue was offering her, a complex mix of emotions welling up in her heart.
Friends...
"This is too valuable. I can't accept it."
Yu Longyue thought nothing of it. "Valuable? To me, it's just food. It fills my stomach and makes me stronger. Besides, my family has plenty, so you don't need to worry about me."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Gu Yue finally accepted the black steamed bun. "Thank you."
Yu Longyue watched as she took a small bite. Then Gu Yue swayed, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Huh? You can't handle even one bite?" Seeing her like that, Yu Longyue remembered himself as a child.
Gu Yue took a deep breath and opened her beautiful eyes. She looked at the black steamed bun in her hand, with one bite missing, and seemed a little helpless.
"I'm full."
Yu Longyue held out his hand. "If you're full, give it back. We can't waste food."
"But I've already eaten from it..." Before Gu Yue could finish, Yu Longyue snatched the black steamed bun back and demolished it in a few big bites.
Gu Yue: "..."
That was an indirect kiss...
"You're full, so were you planning to save it and keep eating it later?" Seeing Gu Yue's reaction, Yu Longyue raised an eyebrow. "Once the skin's broken, the nutrients inside gradually dissipate over time. Wouldn't saving it be a huge waste?"
Gu Yue's pretty face turned rosy, and she shot him a glare. "Tell me, you knew perfectly well I have a small appetite, but you still gave it to me. Don't tell me you did it just to... to..."
"Huh?"
"I'm not talking to you anymore." Gu Yue turned and stalked off in a huff.
She left Yu Longyue standing there, completely baffled.
"Just to what? How was I supposed to know her appetite was really that small, that she'd be full after one tiny bite?"
He didn't dwell on it. In any case, he ate more than thirty in one go and finally got full.
He'd polished off a fifth of the basket, and there were still plenty left, enough for several more meals.
That afternoon, Yu Longyue brought Huo Yuhao along to have a look around the Spirit Pagoda.
Huo Yuhao had been waiting a long time at the Spirit Pagoda's main entrance, but he couldn't help complaining:
"Seriously, is that really a branch office of yours? It's already huge."
"I suppose it's to suit Shrek City. It is the continent's number one city, after all." Yu Longyue thought for a moment. "Besides, it's not that big. The main problem is there isn't much space. There are people specifically assigned to maintain the website equipment, manage the platform... and there's building websites and lots of other complicated stuff. The branch team alone has over a thousand people. The headquarters is over in Eastsea City, and the whole company has tens of thousands of employees, maintaining the website we recently launched and so on, as well as doing work in other areas..."
"And... and that's still not enough?" The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched.
"After all, we've more or less taken on the entire internet sector. How could that handful of people be enough?" Yu Longyue curled his lip. "Luckily, there was a ready-made team, and my family has money and was willing to invest. Anyway, we only operated at a loss for half a year, and after a year we started turning a profit. If I added up all the assets now, they'd probably come to around ten billion Federation Coins? I can't really calculate it myself. After all, the entire continent uses our new products, and all the old ones have been phased out."
"Then... what about those tempting headlines on the website that lure people into clicking on them?"
"Huh? Those? They're for novels and things like that, which make the least money. That stuff is about a steady trickle over time, but it's the foundation for everything. Without novels, there wouldn't be adapted comics, short videos, long-form video stories, and so on. Those are only for satisfying non-Soul Masters, and they account for just one-fifth of the profits. Pitifully little."
Yu Longyue fell into thought, silently doing the math.
"The real lion's share comes from just one app, one platform that lets Soul Masters across the continent share and trade information and intelligence, as well as auctions, buying Soul Spirits, preordering Soul Spirits, information on newly available Soul Spirits, the Spirit Ascension Platform, and so on... I hear even the Tang Sect uses our stuff."
"Anyway, it's all terribly complicated, and we've only just gotten started. Give it more time, and the profits will snowball." Yu Longyue folded his arms and couldn't help adding, "Those old men in my family never used to like the look of me much. But now, with all the money I'm making to support so many people, pay for their cultivation resources and spiritual items and whatnot, and provide benefits for the family... they all call me young sect master so politely now."
"Besides, I've benefited society, created so many jobs for everyone, and fulfilled the dreams of the existing team. Isn't that a contribution to society? I'd say it's all right. As long as everyone has enough to eat, that's good enough."
"You're damn impressive." Huo Yuhao gave him a thumbs-up. "If I'd known, why would I have bothered becoming the Spirit Pagoda's master? I could've just followed you."
"Haodong, oh Haodong, how could you have fallen so low? You haven't even completed the KPI Lord Dragon God gave you yet..."
Yu Longyue patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder and led him into the Spirit Pagoda.
Huo Yuhao gave a wry smile. "Then once we've killed Tang San, I'll have to follow you and enjoy myself. You're good at that sort of thing. I need to learn from you how to balance work and rest."
"Who knows what year of the monkey that'll be... speaking of which, is it really appropriate to say that now? Don't you think you're raising a flag?"
Just after entering, Yu Longyue narrowed his eyes, seeming to spot someone remarkable, and stopped in his tracks.
Huo Yuhao stopped with him and looked in the same direction. A young man dressed in splendid white stood there, surrounded by everyone like stars around the moon.
"What is it?"
Yu Longyue said calmly:
"Qiangu Zhangting."