Chapter 2: Initial Universe Comprehension Slot

Tianlei Star, the most prosperous core region.

A magnificent, soul-stirring towering structure stands here; even several kilometers of lawn surround it. In this core area where land is worth its weight in gold, such extravagance is rare.

Yet passersby walking around here feel no sense of impropriety; instead, their eyes are filled entirely with envy.

Because this is the 'Universe Star River Bank'!

Whoosh!

Only then did the surrounding space tremble slightly, and a figure appeared before the entrance of the Universe Star River Bank—Lu Qingshan, who had rushed here from his secluded retreat.

The fall of the Seventh Son, Lu Hongyuan, indeed saddened Lu Qingshan greatly, yet he adjusted his state of mind within a very short time.

First, after countless ages had passed, most of Lu Qingshan's relatives had already departed this life; he had long since grown accustomed to it.

Second, in Lu Qingshan's plan, as long as he could successfully breakthrough to become Immortal, he would definitely go and cling to Luo Feng's thigh in the future. Once Luo Feng reached the peak, Lu Qingshan could fully request his help to resurrect his close ones!

Even if the Lord Realm could not resurrect those who fell due to the limit of lifespan, once Luo Feng became a Sovereign Lord, he would certainly be able to do so; it would merely require waiting a bit longer!

"Four-Star Customer?"

After Lu Qingshan stepped into the entrance of the Universe Star River Bank, the branch manager of the Universe Star River Bank stationed on Tianlei Star immediately received a notification from the bank system, then hurriedly rushed over at the fastest speed to welcome him.

After all, to become a Four-Star Customer, one's deposit in the Universe Star River Bank must exceed ten thousand Hunyuan units. Customers of this rank would not exceed ten people even across the entire Lei Guang Hai star region!

Moments later, in the grand hall on the top floor of the Universe Star River Bank.

"My Lord Lu Qingshan!" the branch manager said respectfully, bowing to Lu Qingshan.

Although he belonged to the Universe Star River Bank, facing such a noble Four-Star Customer, he too had to be utterly respectful!

"I wish to transfer funds!" Lu Qingshan said calmly.

The main reason he came to this branch of the Universe Star River Bank was to transfer the deposits from the Seventh Son Lu Hongyuan's account into his own account.

Although he did not know how much money was in Lu Hongyuan's account, even if it were merely ten-plus Hunyuan units, it would be enough to equal the accumulated wealth of his entire clan over a thousand years.

"My Lord Lu Qingshan, may I ask which account number you wish to transfer from?" the branch manager asked respectfully in haste.

"9655, 7342, 9573..." Lu Qingshan quickly recited the Universe Star River Bank account number left by the Seventh Son Lu Hongyuan.

"Please wait!"

After the bank manager accurately entered the account number without error, he continued: "My Lord Lu Qingshan, since you are not the owner of this account, you must verify your bloodline before you can proceed!"

Having finished speaking, this bank manager quickly retrieved a sophisticated instrument capable of detecting bloodlines from one side of the hall.

Seeing this, Lu Qingshan immediately understood that this was some preparation made beforehand by the Seventh Son Lu Hongyuan.

In fact, such situations are very common in the universe; just like Luo Feng in the original story, when receiving the first batch of property left by his master Hu Yanbo, he required the exclusive mental power of the Fallen Ink Star lineage!

Afterwards, Lu Qingshan shifted his mind, and very quickly let a drop of blood fall into that sophisticated instrument.

"Beep!"

"Data matches!"

Hearing the prompt sound from the detection instrument, the bank manager said to Lu Qingshan respectfully once more: "My Lord Lu Qingshan, please input the three-layer four-dimensional wave password. You may choose mental input, voice input, or manual input."

This three-layer four-dimensional wave password changes constantly and must be calculated based on the original password, time, spatial coordinates, and so on, making it incredibly complex.

Unless the account owner personally states it, it is impossible for anyone to crack!

Lu Qingshan shifted his mind and very quickly input that incredibly complex password through his thoughts.

"Check balance!" After everything was settled, Lu Qingshan quickly spoke again.

"Ding!"

Accompanied by a prompt sound, a line of data quickly appeared on the virtual screen before Lu Qingshan.

"2321.47? Hunyuan units?"

Upon seeing the balance in the account, Lu Qingshan was slightly stunned.

Know that this was neither Universe Coins nor the cheaper Yanfeng Coins, but Hunyuan units!

In the universe, the price of an ordinary life-bearing planet is merely around one billion Yanfeng Coins, while one Universe Coin equals 3300 Yanfeng Coins, and one Hunyuan unit equals ten trillion Universe Coins.

An ordinary Domain Master-level powerhouse, exhausting his entire million-year life, could at most accumulate wealth of several hundred billion Universe Coins!

Although the assets of a World Master-level powerhouse would be somewhat greater, they generally amount to only ten-plus Hunyuan units.

Although Lu Hongyuan had already gained the acknowledgment of the Origin Law of Wind, his cultivation time was still relatively short, so naturally the wealth in his hands would not be too great.

But now...

"I never expected Old Seven's account to hold so much money!"

Lu Qingshan was slightly stunned, then thought silently in his heart: "It seems he must have encountered a great opportunity in the Outer Battlefield. I wonder if this has any relation to his fall?"

"However, with my current strength, investigating the cause of Old Seven's fall is still too difficult! Fortunately, now that I have these two thousand-plus Hunyuan units from Old Seven, I have gathered enough wealth to purchase the Initial Universe Comprehension Slot!"

"When I go to the Initial Universe in the future and successfully breakthrough to become Immortal, I will then find a way to investigate the cause of Old Seven's fall!"

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan immediately looked at the branch manager: "Transfer! Transfer all the wealth in this account to the account bound to my mental imprint!"

After the transfer was completed, Lu Qingshan quickly returned to his meditation chamber where he cultivates, then connected his consciousness to the Virtual Universe.

Under the jurisdiction of the Yanfeng Continent lies the 'Ice Crystal Island'.

This is a beautiful island constructed entirely of transparent ice crystals; countless undulating palaces are built upon it, and the towering palace at the very center reaches over ten thousand kilometers in height.

This Ice Crystal Island is precisely the office of the Virtual Universe Company's Yanfeng branch.

Because the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom is too vast, the office location of this Yanfeng branch naturally had to be set within the more convenient Virtual Universe.

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a spatial shift, a figure clad in a standard black robe suddenly appeared before a towering palace on this Ice Crystal Island—this was Lu Qingshan, whose consciousness had connected to the Virtual Universe.

As an external member of the Virtual Universe Company, Lu Qingshan naturally had the qualification to appear here.

And the one he came this time to seek an audience with was his direct superior, the Immortal Deity 'Malthus'!

Now that Lu Qingshan wishes to apply for the Initial Universe Comprehension Slot within the Initial Universe Company, he naturally needs to apply to this Malthus.

Fortunately, he had already served under Marsas since he was a Domain Lord, and after millions of years, he had developed some rapport with Marsas—certainly, the other would not block his application.

Lu Qingshan pushed open the door and soon entered the palace hall.

Inside the hall sat a burly man clad in a white robe—Marsas, the Immortal Deity—while two young men in uniform black robes stood behind him.

On Ice Crystal Island, most people could only wear specific robes, even Marsas, an Immortal Deity, was no exception.

Only the three directors overseeing the entire Yanfeng Branch had the privilege to wear robes of other designs.

Yet these three directors held extremely high status; Lu Qingshan had served the Virtual Universe Corporation for millions of years and had only seen them a few times!

"Lord Marsas!" After entering the hall, Lu Qingshan bowed respectfully to Marsas.

"Ah, it's Qingshan!"

Marsas, with two silver scales on his forehead, smiled and asked: "What brings you here? Are you having trouble with your duties in the Lei Guang Hai?"

Know that the Immortal Deities of the Yanfeng Branch were few—only a few hundred—yet the Yanfeng Universe Nation spanned thousands of star domains.

Thus, under normal circumstances, one Immortal Deity was responsible for over a dozen, even dozens, of star domains.

The Lei Guang Hai was one of the star domains under Marsas's jurisdiction.

But since Lu Qingshan gained the recognition of the Lightning Primordial Law, Marsas had gradually entrusted him with the Lei Guang Hai's duties, rarely interfering—and this task had allowed Lu Qingshan to accumulate considerable wealth.

"There is a rather important matter!" Lu Qingshan said.

"Speak."

Marsas smiled: "Qingshan, just tell me straight what you need."

"It's like this!"

Lu Qingshan hurriedly said: "I heard the Corporation has some Domain Lord-level slots for initial universe contemplation. I've come to ask if I can apply for one!"

"Oh?"

Marsas paused slightly, then asked curiously: "Domain Lord-level slots for initial universe contemplation require three million contribution points. Have you saved up enough, Qingshan?"

Marsas was not at all surprised by Lu Qingshan's request for an initial universe contemplation slot.

In fact, every Domain Lord in the Virtual Universe Corporation wanted to enter the initial universe for contemplation!

After all, Domain Lords who had undergone initial universe contemplation had a high chance of breaking through to Immortality—even if they failed, their strength still rose dramatically.

But to enter the initial universe for contemplation, one needed sufficient contribution points!

Three million contribution points were a staggering fortune even for an Immortal Deity like him, who had served the Virtual Universe Corporation for hundreds of millions of years—let alone for an ordinary Domain Lord like Lu Qingshan.

"My contribution points are indeed insufficient!"

Lu Qingshan hurriedly said: "But I still have some cosmic coins—I should be able to gather enough contribution points by trading."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Marsas was taken aback: "Looks like you're quite wealthy, Qingshan! You've only cultivated for a few million years and have already amassed such wealth—faster than I did!"

"It's mainly due to my family's accumulated wealth over countless ages!"

Lu Qingshan hurriedly said: "To secure this initial universe contemplation slot, I'll likely exhaust all the wealth my family has gathered over endless eons!"

"I see," Marsas nodded slightly.

As the head of the Virtual Universe Corporation's operations in the Lei Guang Hai, he had heard of Lu Qingshan's family.

Even when he first took charge of the Lei Guang Hai, Lu Qingshan's family was already among the top ten great families in the star domain, and each generation produced Domain Lord-level cultivators.

Through generations of accumulation, they had indeed built up considerable wealth.

Especially in the past few million years, Lu Qingshan rose rapidly—he not only became a Peak Domain Lord recognized by the Primordial Law, but also trained many Domain Lord-level children and disciples, making the entire family even stronger!

Had it not been for this, Marsas would never have entrusted Lu Qingshan with most of the Lei Guang Hai's duties.

Thinking of this, Marsas immediately said: "Qingshan, applying for an initial universe contemplation slot is simple—I can handle your application right now!"

"But you must know, the Corporation's Domain Lord-level slots are much cheaper than auction prices, so many Domain Lords—even Immortal Deities—are watching them closely! To secure one, you'll need to put in extra effort."

"Thank you, my lord, for the reminder!" Lu Qingshan hurriedly said.

He had planned for millions of years to obtain this slot—he knew these matters all too well.

"Here's what I'll do!"

Marsas continued: "I'll give you a Virtual Universe Network ID—it belongs to one of the directors in the Martial Division who reviews initial universe slots. He's a friend of mine. Just tell him I sent you—he'll know you, and your application will go smoother."

As he spoke, Marsas winked at Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan instantly understood.

Marsas was clearly hinting that bribing the official reviewing the slots would make securing the Domain Lord-level contemplation slot easier.

But since they were within the Virtual Universe Network, this could never be said outright!

Of course, the implication was unmistakable.

Still, the Virtual Universe Corporation's high command generally turned a blind eye to such matters—as long as no explicit rules were broken, there would be no consequences.

"Thank you, my lord, for the guidance!" Lu Qingshan nodded quickly.

Though he had already devised another plan, since Marsas had recommended a suitable contact, he had no need to trouble his own disciples.

"Alright, I won't keep you," Marsas smiled.

"Your servant takes leave!" Lu Qingshan said hastily, then bowed respectfully and withdrew from the hall.

(End of Chapter)