Chapter 412: Gains, Losses, Bestowals

At the same moment the Great Axe Founder resurrected the myriad cosmic overlords, Lu Qingshan, returned to the Primitive Universe's territory, began tallying up his gains from this expedition.

He had roamed the Cosmic Sea with the Lord of Yanshan for over four million eons; overall, his luck was merely adequate—he encountered barely a handful of treasures at the level of supreme artifacts!

Aside from the high-grade domain-level supreme artifact he had just acquired, his total wealth from that period amounted to barely over a hundred supreme artifact points.

In contrast, the high-grade domain-level supreme artifact, though he had given part of it to the Lord of Dark Core with his aid, still left the Lord of Yanshan with enough to transfer 190 supreme artifact points' worth of resources to Lu Qingshan after keeping the artifact for himself.

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan quickly checked his current wealth in the Human Clan's treasure vault: 236 supreme artifact points, 1,879 precious artifact points.

Recall that after Lu Qingshan exchanged for treasures like the Flowing Star Meteor Sword and other resources, his remaining wealth had been nearly depleted.

Now, however, he had accumulated a sum that, even for an ordinary cosmic overlord, was quite substantial.

This included the supreme artifact points just transferred by the Lord of Yanshan, as well as rewards he earned from resurrecting Human Clan and Hong Alliance cosmic overlords.

In addition, Lu Qingshan's earlier gains from the Cosmic Sea had yet to be contributed to the clan's treasury—if he did so, he would gain at least a hundred supreme artifact points.

"This journey into the Cosmic Sea, though less profitable than before, is still quite impressive!"

Lu Qingshan thought to himself: "Once I exchange these treasures into the clan's treasury, I'll return to the Cosmic Sea. But Yanshan needs rest for a while—should I travel alone next, or invite another cosmic overlord?"

For Lu Qingshan, traveling alone had its advantages, but partnering with other cosmic overlords also held benefits.

Though he wasn't worried about encountering fatal danger, traveling with other strong ones allowed mutual protection, and if they encountered supreme artifacts alongside forces from other factions, they'd gain an edge in the competition.

Just as Lu Qingshan was pondering whether to invite others to form a team again…

"Disciple seeks audience with Master!"

Lu Qingshan's ear suddenly rang with the voice of his disciple, Lawrence.

"Lawrence?"

Hearing Lawrence's voice, Lu Qingshan blinked in surprise: "Has the Great Axe Founder ended his seclusion?"

Lu Qingshan was, of course, fully aware of how Lawrence had been slain by the Meng Yao Zu's Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe.

Yet Lawrence's life gene level was extraordinarily high—two thousand times that of an ordinary cosmic life—and with numerous precious supreme artifacts in his possession, he had long possessed the strength of a cosmic overlord.

Under these circumstances, Lu Qingshan alone could never resurrect Lawrence; only the Great Axe Founder could do it.

But when Lawrence perished, the Great Axe Founder was in seclusion, so the resurrection was delayed until now.

"Yet…"

Lu Qingshan thought inwardly: "If Lawrence has been resurrected, then Master Ningshuang must have been resurrected too!"

Lu Qingshan, when mentioning Master Ningshuang, naturally intended to offer her some compensation.

After all, Master Ningshuang, like Lawrence, had fallen to the hands of the Meng Yao Zu's Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe.

Had Lu Qingshan not enslaved the Meng Yao Zu's You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe, Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe would never have dared strike at the Human Clan's cosmic overlords.

Indeed, beyond Master Ningshuang and Lawrence, many Human Clan cosmic overlords and immortal deities had perished in the Meng Yao Zu's retaliation.

Over these past four million eons, the Human Clan had lost 129 cosmic overlords to Meng Yao Zu elites—a figure triple the normal casualty rate!

Even Lu Qingshan's disciple, Stritch, had perished in the Ancestral Secret Realm at the hands of a Meng Yao Zu cosmic overlord.

Fortunately, Stritch's will was strong enough to avoid soul enslavement, so Lu Qingshan later reversed time to resurrect him.

In fact, not just Stritch, but every cosmic overlord of the Human Clan who had perished due to the Meng Yao Zu had been resurrected by Lu Qingshan through time reversal.

Lu Qingshan not only waived the cost of reversing time to resurrect them, but also granted each compensation according to the circumstances of their deaths.

Thus, despite the origin of the conflict being Lu Qingshan's enslavement of the Meng Yao Zu's You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe, the Human Clan's cosmic overlords held no resentment—they instead launched a furious retaliation against the Meng Yao Zu.

As a result, over this period, the Meng Yao Zu suffered equally heavy losses, with roughly a hundred or more of their cosmic overlords slain by Human Clan elites.

As for immortal deities, the casualties were even greater.

Yet immortal deities were always the main force in the four peak clans' conflicts; on the perilous Outer Battlefield, immortal deities perished constantly, so Lu Qingshan merely spent some resources to raise the bounties on Meng Yao Zu elites.

Beyond that, there were the fallen immortal deities of the Lu Clan.

Since Lu Qingshan's rise, the Lu Clan had produced over a thousand immortal deities, most of whom were immortal military lords; only about a hundred held the rank of Marquis Immortal, and among them, only three—Lu Zixuan, Lu Ping'an, and Lu Yuhua—had achieved the rank of King Immortal.

Over the long centuries, the Lu Clan had lost only dozens of immortal deities, and among them, only one had been soul-enslaved by an alien race—the rest died in ordinary ways.

Thus, after Lu Qingshan reached the cosmic overlord realm, he reversed time to resurrect all fallen immortal deities of his clan.

Yet within the mere few hundred thousand eons after Lu Qingshan enslaved You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe, the Lu Clan lost over a hundred immortal deities—including more than ten Marquis Immortals, and Lu Zixuan, the Lu Clan's first-ever King Immortal.

Among them, three Marquis Immortals and over twenty immortal military lords had been soul-enslaved—no matter how powerful a cosmic overlord, even time reversal could not resurrect them.

Of course, though the Lu Clan lost so many immortal deities, they also unearthed numerous Meng Yao Zu spies embedded within the Human Clan's territory, including some insect race spies who had taken advantage of the chaos.

When all was weighed, it was unclear who truly lost and who gained!

Though the Human Clan had lost slightly more powerful beings, making their losses appear greater, the spiritual energy Lu Qingshan expended to resurrect them meant nothing to him; excluding these spiritual energy costs, the Human Clan's losses were nearly equal to those of the Meng Yao Zu.

Moreover, in recent years—especially after Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe targeted Lawrence and Master Ningshuang—the Meng Yao Zu's retaliation had gradually slowed, and their conflict with the Human Clan was now returning to normal levels.

In truth, such events were common in the past.

For example, if a cosmic overlord's disciple was assassinated by an alien spy, the overlord might retaliate against that alien race;

Just as before Lu Qingshan's arrival, the young disciple Rosha of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance's Huang Jian Zifeng Zunzhe had been assassinated by a Meng Yao Zu spy, prompting Huang Jian Zifeng Zunzhe to raise bounties on Meng Yao Zu elites by fifty percent—many warriors then flooded the Outer Battlefield to hunt them down.

Though Lu Qingshan's enslavement of You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe was far more serious than the occasional assassination of a genius after millions of eons, it did not strike at the Meng Yao Zu's core interests, so their retaliation was neither desperate nor prolonged.

After all, the Meng Yao Zu's true foundation lay in their two cosmic supreme ancestors and their multitude of cosmic overlords.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Lu Qingshan swiftly waved his hand and opened the palace gates, then ordered: "Enter!"

"Disciple bows before Master!" Lawrence, upon entering the mansion's grand hall, immediately knelt reverently before Lu Qingshan.

"Lawrence!"

Lu Qingshan looked at his disciple and said: "You were slain by the Meng Yao Zu's Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe, and your many supreme artifacts were seized—this was primarily because I enslaved the Meng Yao Zu's You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe. What do you think of this matter?"

"Master, you are too kind!"

Lawrence quickly replied respectfully: "After you enslaved the Meng Yao Zu's You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe, you already warned us!"

"My being slain by Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe was due entirely to my own lack of caution! Fortunately, I used the resources you granted me to exchange for a soul-type supreme artifact, which prevented Catfish-Jiao Zifeng Zunzhe from successfully enslaving my soul!"

"Actually, it's not your fault."

Lu Qingshan quickly shook his head and said, "You are already careful enough in your daily life, but since the Meng Yao Zu intends to strike at you, they will find an opportunity sooner or later!"

"Later, go to my residence on the Headquarters Continent; on your way, invite Master Ningshuang, who was resurrected alongside you, and I will wait for you both there!"

Hearing Lu Qingshan's words, Lawrence's heart stirred, and he immediately said, "Yes, Master!"

On the other side, after being resurrected by the Great Axe Founder reversing time and space, Ning Shuang Zifeng Zunzhe quickly connected her consciousness to the Virtual Universe and rushed to her teacher Long Xing Zhi Zhu's residence.

Her death at the hands of the King King Nianjiao Lord of the Meng Yao Zu was likely due to the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds enslaving You Mo Zifeng Zunzhe of the Meng Yao Zu.

Now that she has fallen, all the supreme treasures on her person are lost; although the resources in her possession are sufficient to pay the price of this resurrection, she still needs to discuss it with her teacher.

Virtual Universe, Lei Ting Island, atop the mountain, inside Long Xing Zhi Zhu's residence.

"Master!"