Ganwu City, Treasure Pavilion.
As her consciousness returned to reality, Supervisor Ruyan hurried toward the top floor of the Treasure Pavilion.
"Shali, does my lord have time right now? I have important news to report."
Even when facing an Intelligent Life, Ruyan remained respectful.
After all, she was the Intelligent Life belonging to the person truly in charge of the Treasure Pavilion.
"Supervisor Ruyan, my lord is free right now. Go on in."
A clear female voice rang out from Shali, and the tightly shut doors opened. Supervisor Ruyan walked inside.
The moment she entered, she saw an imposing figure sitting cross-legged on the floor, cultivating.
This was a World Lord Level expert, thousands upon tens of thousands of times stronger than a lowly supervisor like Ruyan. What was more, he was a trusted subordinate of that Immortal God. A single word from him could leave a lowly supervisor like Ruyan with nowhere to go.
"My lord."
Ruyan's manner was respectful.
"Speak. What is it? It had better not be some chicken-feather-and-garlic-skin trifle..."
The voice sounded neither male nor female, giving an impression of softness laced with malice. Ruyan's heart tightened. Every time she met this lord, she felt an indescribable physical revulsion.
But she dared not show even the slightest trace of it...
"My lord." Ruyan bowed before continuing, "Just now, one of our five-star members contacted me in the Virtual Universe, saying he had two thousand cubic meters of Locke Divine Water to sell... Its value exceeds five Hunyuan Units, and I lack the authorization, so I came to seek your instructions... Besides, my lord once said that any treasure involving Immortal Gods must be reported to you. I have always kept that firmly in mind!"
"Locke Divine Water, of all things!"
A measure of surprise appeared on the effeminate man's deathly pale face. "Experts capable of producing such a treasure are rare. Do you know this member's true identity?"
"My lord, that member is a Two-Leaf Ganwu Practitioner. His previous transactions were all around one Hunyuan Unit, and the Treasure Pavilion has not investigated his identity."
"A Two-Leaf Ganwu Practitioner. That is troublesome... But how could a mere Domain Lord possess a treasure that even Immortals crave?"
The effeminate World Lord pondered briefly, then said, "Contact him and proceed with the transaction. Draw out as much information about his identity as possible. You need not concern yourself with anything else..."
"Yes, my lord!"
Ruyan nodded, then withdrew from the hall.
She returned to her quarters on the second floor.
Ruyan let out a long breath. Under those circumstances, every second had been torture for her.
But her lord's instructions...
Ruyan was torn.
She certainly dared not offend her lord, but that Two-Leaf Ganwu Practitioner was clearly not someone she could afford to offend either.
Two-Leaf Ganwu Practitioners were outstanding even among Domain Lords. Not to mention, he could produce so many precious treasures. Even a World Lord's entire fortune might not match his.
And she was just a lowly Universe Level...
After a while, Ruyan made her decision. "Conduct the transaction normally without deliberately fishing for information. If something really does go wrong afterward, it will have nothing to do with her..."
As for her lord, she would find an opportunity to put him off and say that the other party was tight-lipped.
In truth, Ruyan did not want anything to happen to that Two-Leaf Ganwu Practitioner. After all, she had received tangible benefits from their past few transactions.
Deep down, she did not want to lose this customer, but she had no power to interfere with decisions made above her...
Having thought it through, Ruyan immediately contacted Lu Qingshan.
The two met again on the Ganwu Continent in the Virtual Universe.
"My lord, I have consulted my superior. The Locke Divine Water you possess is a treasure our company greatly needs. Seventeen Hunyuan Units. Once you hand over the Locke Divine Water, the money will be transferred to your account immediately!"
"All right. Come to the Ganwu Dojo tomorrow for the transaction. Bring your money and a World Ring to store the Locke Divine Water."
"Rest assured, my lord. I will be there on time tomorrow."
Ruyan hurriedly replied, but when she looked up again, his figure had already vanished from the Virtual Universe.
Lu Qingshan did not want to go to the Treasure Pavilion. Naturally, he had some concerns. After all, the Treasure Pavilion had an Immortal God backing it.
As for the Ganwu Dojo, his status as a Two-Leaf Ganwu Practitioner identified him as a member, so they would not deliberately reveal his identity.
Still, if the Treasure Pavilion really wanted to investigate, Lu Qingshan knew he could not possibly keep it hidden!
However, he had no plans to leave Ganwu City anytime soon. Even if they had ten thousand times the courage, they would not dare make a move in Ganwu City!
"I hope this Treasure Pavilion knows what's good for it... Otherwise, even if you have an Immortal God behind you..."
Lu Qingshan lowered his eyes.
There were still vast differences between Immortals. Even an Immortal Expert like Hu Yanbo, who barely qualified as a Marquis, had fallen in the boundless sea of stars...
The Treasure Pavilion's backer was, at most, an Immortal Army Lord. Once he spent hundreds of thousands or a million years consolidating himself at the World Lord stage, he might well be able to take down an Immortal Army Lord.
Perhaps the Star-Eating Grass can help me accomplish this feat.
Lu Qingshan sank his awareness into the World Ring. Of the remaining Locke Divine Water, he kept some for his own cultivation and gave the rest to the Star-Eating Grass to absorb slowly. This Locke Divine Water... might just give the Star-Eating Grass a chance to break through to the World Lord stage!
The Star-Eating Grass's innate talent ranked among the best of plant life. Having consumed eight Life Fruits in succession had further completed its foundation. If he did not choose the most lavish evolutionary path and simply evolved it into a World Lord with seventy-two vines, the resources required would not be outrageous.
Of course, cultivation improvements and further evolution after reaching World Lord were where the truly terrifying expenditure lay!
The next day, Lu Qingshan went to the entrance of the headquarters dojo and completed the transaction with Ruyan, who had already been waiting there for quite some time.
Once the seventeen Hunyuan Units reached his account, Lu Qingshan's personal inbox soon received more than a dozen messages.
Even in an interstellar era when the Virtual Universe spanned the entire universe, personal information was still so easily leaked.
Lu Qingshan opened every email.
He first looked through those from unfamiliar accounts... leaving the Universe Galaxy Bank and the Giant Axe Arena for last.
"Mr. Lu Qingshan... We are from the Genesis Development Company. We apologize for disturbing you. Please spare one minute of your valuable time to look at our company's advertisement..."
The Genesis Era Development Company... Lu Qingshan searched for it. The company was quite famous in the Virtual Universe, with its headquarters in the distant Noah Universe Country.
Their business covered a mixed assortment of services, such as remodeling planets and installing interstellar orbital cannons.
The service they introduced to Lu Qingshan was their main business: creating worlds!
They helped experts who needed it create worlds of their own in the real universe. They offered templates as well as private customization.
The plan began with purchasing a star system, planet, or secret-realm continent under absolute sovereignty... and building one's own created world.
For example, immortal cultivation worlds, eerie worlds, god-and-demon worlds, fantasy worlds, technological worlds, wizard worlds, sword-and-magic worlds, summoner worlds... If you could imagine it, they could make it happen. They not only offered world remodeling, but also cultivation methods matching the system...
Within this world, the purchaser would be the Creator God, an omnipotent deity who ruled over everything.
Lu Qingshan also saw a very interesting case. A Domain Lord had purchased a star system and turned it into a world of swords and magic. He had even personally created two opposing races of gods and demons, staging a war between them every few thousand years... He also liked abducting ordinary people from other native planets, letting them believe they were transmigrated protagonists... He gave them resources and watched them grow and save the world...
In truth, those so-called gods and demons were merely at the Star Level, while the God King and Demon Lord sealed for ten thousand years were only Universe Level slaves purchased by the creator.
Lu Qingshan had little interest in these flashy ways of playing for now. Perhaps once he broke through to Immortal and possessed eternal life, he could commission a world to experience it.
Lu Qingshan saved the email, then turned to the others...
(End of chapter)