Chapter 3: Departure

In the palace atop Ice Crystal Island.

"Teacher!"

After Lu Qingshan left, a black-robed youth behind Marthus asked in confusion, "Aren't you being far too polite to that Lu Qingshan? You even gave him Lord Wudier's Virtual Universe access code!"

"What do you know?"

Marthus then said, "This Lu Qingshan has indeed helped me quite a bit over the past several million years — otherwise I wouldn't have handed over all the work in the Lei Guang Hai starfield to him! Moreover, one of his disciples has already become an Eternal True Spirit and currently holds a position at the company's headquarters; I may well have dealings with that person in the future, so naturally it's worth establishing a connection now!"

"Besides, this Lu Qingshan's strength is genuinely formidable. If he truly manages to enter the Primordial Universe for a period of comprehension in the future, it is very possible he will break through to become an Eternal! Once he truly becomes an Eternal, the favor I've done him this time will be enormous!"

Hearing Marthus's words, the black-robed youth was suddenly enlightened: "Teacher, I understand!"

……

Lu Qingshan naturally knew nothing of the exchange between Marthus and his disciple, and even if he had known, he wouldn't have paid it much mind.

After all, if he couldn't become an Eternal, he would perish in just over a million years when his lifespan ran out — there was simply no need to care about such things; and if he successfully became an Eternal, there was even less need to care!

Therefore, after leaving Ice Crystal Island, Lu Qingshan quickly returned to his clan and began selling off many of the assets under its banner.

Once he had gathered enough wealth, he began contacting the many people close to him to exchange for contribution points within the Virtual Universe Company.

Contribution points in the Yanfeng branch were extremely precious — under normal circumstances, one contribution point could be exchanged for nearly ten billion universe coins.

In the end, Lu Qingshan spent over twenty thousand Hunyuan units and finally exchanged with others for over two million contribution points; combined with his previous accumulation, he had at last scraped together three million contribution points.

Afterwards, Lu Qingshan quickly used the Virtual Universe access code Marthus had given him to contact the Eternal True Spirit Wudier, who was specifically in charge of reviewing the allocation of Primordial Universe comprehension slots. After sending out lavish gifts worth several hundred Hunyuan units to grease the wheels on all sides, he finally obtained a Boundary Lord-level comprehension slot in the Primordial Universe, fifty-some years in the future, just as he had wished.

Time kept flowing on, and before long over forty years had passed.

This day was also the day Lu Qingshan left his homeland to head for the Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters.

Thunder Star — at the gate of the luxurious castle where Lu Qingshan resided!

His several children and disciples had long since learned of his imminent departure for the Primordial Universe, and had now gathered here to see him off.

"Third!"

Lu Qingshan looked at his third son Lu Hongwen, who stood at the front: "After I'm gone, all matters within the clan will be left entirely to you! If anything important comes up, discuss it more with Fifth, Blake, and the others!"

Ever since his seventh son Lu Hongyuan had perished on an extraterritorial battlefield, Lu Qingshan had only three sons and three daughters left.

Among them, his third son Lu Hongwen, fifth son Lu Hongtu, and fourth daughter Lu Wenxiu had all stepped into the Boundary Lord Realm, though none had yet received acknowledgment from the Origin Laws, and their strength was fairly ordinary among Boundary Lord-level powerhouses; his sixth daughter Lu Wenyun and eighth son Lu Hongguang were currently only Sector Lords, striving to break through to become Boundary Lords; as for his seventh daughter Lu Wenxuan — like his eighth son Lu Hongguang, she was born of his current wife Kalina — she had been born less than ten thousand years ago and was currently only a little Universe-level whippersnapper.

As for Lu Qingshan's several disciples, their strength was considerably greater.

Among the disciples currently serving the Lu clan, his second disciple Blake and fifth disciple Aina had already received acknowledgment from the Origin Laws; besides them, his third disciple Cobb and nine others had likewise stepped into the Boundary Lord level.

As for his other disciples, aside from his sixth disciple Huo Gesi, who had joined the Virtual Universe Company and successfully broken through to become an Eternal, the rest had either already perished or had yet to break through to the Boundary Lord level.

"Father, rest assured!"

Third son Lu Hongwen hurriedly pledged: "I will certainly take good care of the clan!"

"The Virtual Universe Company affairs must also be handled properly!"

Lu Qingshan switched to voice transmission to admonish: "Every year, seven-tenths of the profits must be sent to Lord Marthus!"

This trip to the Primordial Universe for comprehension required Lu Qingshan to be away for roughly a thousand years, so naturally he could no longer continue managing the Virtual Universe Company's various affairs in the Lei Guang Hai starfield. After discussing it with Marthus, he handed all the work over to his third son Lu Hongwen.

"Understood!"

Lu Hongwen likewise replied via voice transmission: "Father, rest assured — I will certainly handle everything with Lord Marthus properly!"

After finishing the clan affairs, Lu Qingshan turned to look at his wife and two daughters: "Kalina, Wenyun, Wenxuan — I hope that by the time I return next, you will have broken through to the Boundary Lord level and Sector Lord level respectively!"

"Qingshan-ge (Father), just rest assured!"

Kalina and the two others quickly said: "We will definitely cultivate diligently!"

"And the rest of you!"

Lu Qingshan turned his gaze to the gathered disciples: "You must absolutely not slacken in your cultivation. If you have any questions about your training, you may consult Blake and Aina directly — their comprehension of the Thunder Origin Laws is already not much inferior to mine!"

"Yes, Teacher!" The gathered disciples hurriedly bowed respectfully.

"Alright, time's about up — I should be off!"

The moment his words fell, Lu Qingshan waved a hand, and an E-grade spaceship appeared in midair before everyone.

Then Lu Qingshan's figure flickered, and he flew straight toward the spaceship hovering in midair.

Just then…

"May Father succeed and become Eternal!"

"May Teacher succeed and become Eternal!"

His several children and gathered disciples all called out respectfully.

Whoosh!

The hatch opened; Lu Qingshan waved to the crowd, then stepped directly into the spaceship.

Swoosh!

A streak of dark-golden light swiftly shot upward, pierced through Thunder Star's atmosphere, and flew rapidly toward the boundless depths of the universe.

……

Time kept flowing on, and in the blink of an eye another dozen-plus years had passed.

That day, Lu Qingshan was, as usual, quietly cultivating in the spaceship's rest chamber.

Although such cultivation brought Lu Qingshan no obvious improvement, he well understood the principle that "a rope saws through wood, water drops pierce stone" — and in order to break through and become an Eternal, he had never once slackened in his training.

And just then, the voice of his auxiliary intelligence "Hearing Shenlan" suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Master, the spaceship is about to arrive at the Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters!"

"Finally arriving!"

Lu Qingshan slowly opened his eyes, then sighed: "Time really does fly!"

The E-grade spaceship he was riding wasn't particularly powerful — in dark universe space it could only sustain a maximum of twenty times light speed. Fortunately, the Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters wasn't all that far from the Yanfeng Universe Nation, so he only needed a dozen-plus years to arrive.

Though a dozen-plus years wasn't exactly brief, for a Boundary Lord-level powerhouse like him with a lifespan of tens of millions of years, it was utterly negligible.

Moreover, he had been cultivating throughout his interstellar voyages, so it was not a waste of time!

Inside the spaceship's grand hall.

Lu Qingshan wore a dark golden inner armor forged from Kash, a Domain Master-level metal lifeform, and over it, a perfectly fitted dark golden alloy battle suit; standing in the hall, he appeared quite extraordinary.

Aside from purchasing the initial quota for comprehending the universe, the thing Lu Qingshan had spent the most on over countless eons was cultivating this Domain Master-level metal lifeform, Kash.

Kash was the most defense-specialized auxiliary lifeform Lu Qingshan could find, even stronger than the Mo Yun Vine at the same level; back then, raising it to the Domain Master realm cost him over three thousand Hunyuan units of wealth.

But it was worth it!

If not for Kash, he would likely have perished in the Outer Battlefield back then!

"Initiating interstellar jump, entering the Original Universe."

The voice of the auxiliary intelligence Hearing Shenlan sounded again: "5... 4... 3... 2... 1!"

Afterwards, the entire spaceship trembled slightly, and it took over ten seconds before things returned to normal.

"Hearing Shenlan, activate 100% external scenery simulation!"

As soon as the spaceship entered the Original Universe, Lu Qingshan immediately issued the order.

He had never visited the Virtual Universe Company headquarters before, so he was now very much looking forward to seeing what the Virtual Universe Company headquarters looked like.

Soon, the entire hall became transparent and vanished, while a dreamlike starry sky appeared around them.

Deep within that vast starry sky floated a boundless supercontinent, suspended in the endless void!

Beside that massive landmass, stars and planets that were once incomparably huge now seemed insignificant, like mere specks of starlight.

Lu Qingshan gazed ahead; even though he had mentally prepared himself, he was still stunned by this vast continent.

Compared to the continent fragments, military bases, and other things he had seen in the Outer Battlefield, this was far, far more powerful!

"The Virtual Universe Company truly lives up to its reputation as one of the five supreme powers!"

Lu Qingshan could not help but sigh: "The construction of this headquarters continent is truly breathtaking!"

"Master!"

The voice of the auxiliary intelligence Hearing Shenlan sounded again: "According to the information I retrieved, the diameter of this Virtual Universe Company headquarters continent is around several dozen light-years, and the stars, planets, asteroids, and other celestial bodies floating around it are actually extremely terrifying technological weapons; even a Universe Sovereign of that caliber would face a grave threat from them!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan could not help but silently shake his head.

His current status was still too low, so the information Hearing Shenlan could obtain from the Virtual Universe was quite ordinary.

Those celestial bodies were indeed terrifying technological weapons, but in fact, the reason the Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters could stand here for countless eons relied on the super-existences of the Universe Sovereign and even the Universe Strongest levels within the human race!

There will be another chapter this afternoon; future updates will be released between six and seven PM.

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(End of this chapter)