Chapter 90: Status Soars, Preparing Treasures

While Lu Qingshan and his disciple Hogs were drinking merrily, the voice of the AI lifeform Deep Blue suddenly echoed in his mind: “Master, your superior, the Marquis of Qingcang, is here to see you—he’s already at the gate of your mansion!”

“Qingcang?” A flicker of confusion crossed Lu Qingshan’s face: “I have no current mission—could Qingcang be here because I cleared the Heavenly Bridge’s fifteenth level?”

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan rose quickly and headed out with Hogs to greet him.

“Qingcang!”

At the mansion’s gate, Lu Qingshan smiled and stepped forward: “What brings you to my place?”

“Of course, to congratulate you on clearing the Heavenly Bridge’s fifteenth level!”

The Marquis of Qingcang laughed: “I always knew you’d break through to the Marquis-level Immortal, but I never expected you’d do it so fast!”

“Qingcang, you flatter me!”

Lu Qingshan smiled and introduced: “This is my disciple Hogs—he’s from Transport Division too. He came to celebrate with me and even brought a bottle of ‘Silver Frost Dew.’ Let’s go inside and eat and chat!”

“Silver Frost Dew?”

Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Qingcang nodded slightly at Hogs, then smiled: “Silver Frost Dew is a rare treasure—I once had the fortune to taste it at a banquet hosted by my master in the real world. The flavor still lingers! Your disciple spending so much on this for you—even in the Virtual Universe—is truly admirable!”

“But today I have no luck tasting it—also, you must come with me, Qingshan!”

“Qingcang, what’s happened?” Lu Qingshan asked immediately.

“Don’t worry—it’s good news!”

The Marquis of Qingcang replied at once: “Since you cleared the Heavenly Bridge’s fifteenth level, your benefits in Transport Division will be upgraded further! I’m here to congratulate you on reaching Marquis rank, and to take you to meet Lord Heifeng—he’s waiting for us both at his mansion. Let’s go quickly!”

“Lord Heifeng?”

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan’s heart stirred.

After all, his main goal in clearing the fifteenth level was to boost his authority and status within the Virtual Universe Corporation.

Lord Heifeng was his direct superior in Transport Division—being summoned by him was clearly good news.

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan’s gaze turned to his disciple Hogs.

“Master, your official duties come first!”

Hogs hurriedly said: “We can celebrate again after you’re done!”

“Alright! I’ll email you once I’m finished!”

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly to Hogs, then turned swiftly to the Marquis of Qingcang: “Qingcang, let’s go!”

…

As one of Transport Division’s directors and a King-level Immortal, Lord Heifeng’s mansion was located extremely close to the massive mountain range at the center of Thunder Island.

Moments later, Lu Qingshan and the Marquis of Qingcang arrived at the guest hall inside Lord Heifeng’s mansion on Thunder Island.

“Greetings, Lord Heifeng!” Lu Qingshan and the Marquis of Qingcang bowed slightly in unison.

“Hahaha!”

Seeing them, Lord Heifeng laughed heartily: “Qingshan, Qingcang—you’re both my most capable officers. No need for such formalities—take your seats!”

“Thank you, Lord Heifeng!”

Lu Qingshan and the Marquis of Qingcang bowed again in gratitude, then sat on chairs on either side of the hall.

What surprised Lu Qingshan was that standing behind Lord Heifeng was Kalista, someone he knew well.

“Qingshan!”

Lord Heifeng looked at Lu Qingshan and smiled: “I assume Qingcang already told you why I called you here?”

“Yes,” Lu Qingshan replied promptly and respectfully.

“Any Immortal in Transport Division who reaches Marquis rank sees a massive rise in status!”

Lord Heifeng continued: “I called you here to ask—what kind of work do you want? Would you like to manage other Immortal Commanders like Qingcang, or prefer to operate alone?”

“I am willing to follow the Corporation’s arrangements!”

Lu Qingshan replied quickly: “But if possible, I’d prefer to act alone.”

Managing other Immortals would waste his cultivation time—he naturally preferred solitude if given the choice.

“Good!”

Lord Heifeng nodded: “Since you prefer to work alone, I won’t assign you any subordinate Immortals. Qingcang will inform you of the benefits granted to Marquis-level Immortals in Transport Division.”

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan immediately turned his gaze to the Marquis of Qingcang across from him.

After receiving Lord Heifeng’s permission, the Marquis of Qingcang spoke quickly: “Qingshan, the Corporation highly values Marquis-level Immortals—especially in Transport Division, where the benefits are truly enviable!”

“First, the F-class starship you were previously assigned—the ‘Blood Red No. 3’—is now fully yours. Additionally, every hundred thousand years, you may claim a 500-point energy subsidy from Logistics using your rank.”

“Moreover, your authority, leave, and rewards have all been significantly upgraded. As a newly promoted Marquis, you now receive ten thousand years of leave and ten thousand points in rewards for every hundred thousand years of service.”

“Beyond that, Transport Division provides various subsidies—roughly 1,500 points every hundred thousand years.”

“And if your mission requires leaving Human Clan territory for alien lands, you’ll receive additional compensation during the mission.”

“Leaving Human Clan territory?” Lu Qingshan asked, puzzled.

“Correct!”

The Marquis of Qingcang smiled and explained: “Many of our missions involve dealing with alien elites. But only those with Marquis-level strength or higher can accept such tasks—so you never saw them before.”

“Once you’ve served longer, you’ll understand these missions better. Don’t worry—fixed teleportation routes connect Human Clan territory with allied alien lands. No one in those alien realms dares offend Human Clan elites—your safety is guaranteed.”

“I understand,” Lu Qingshan nodded quickly.

These words reminded him of Luo Feng’s experience in the original story, when he sold loot taken from a Mechanical Clan King-level Immortal.

Luo Feng had sold those treasures to two alien King-level Immortals through Zhen Yan Wang in the Hong Alliance, with the Virtual Universe Corporation handling the transport.

After the Marquis of Qingcang finished detailing the benefits of Marquis-level Immortals, Lu Qingshan felt deeply impressed.

Just in income alone, combining all subsidies, he earned 12,000 points every hundred thousand years.

That’s 120 million points over a billion years—nearly matching the entire fortune of an ordinary alien King-level Immortal.

Of course, very few Marquis-level Immortals stayed in Transport Division for a billion years—many grew bored and requested transfers, or even applied for the Outer Warfront.

Most also didn’t hoard their points—they used them to enhance their strength, train descendants, or indulge in luxury…

In short, even though Transport Division offered excellent benefits, accumulating one hundred million points as a new Marquis was still extremely difficult.

“That’s all I needed to explain—you may leave.”

Lord Heifeng ordered directly: “Kalista, see them out.”

“Yes, Grandmaster!” Kalista, who had been standing behind Lord Heifeng, responded promptly.

Lu Qingshan and the Marquis of Qingcang immediately rose and bowed respectfully: “We take our leave!”

Soon, under Kalista’s guidance, Lu Qingshan and the Marquis of Qingcang departed Lord Heifeng’s mansion.

After accepting Kalista’s congratulations, Lu Qingshan promptly invited both her and the Marquis of Qingcang to his mansion for a banquet.

Kalista and the Marquis of Qingcang gladly accepted the invitation.

Lu Qingshan then summoned his disciple Hogs, and the four of them drank heartily together.

After the banquet ended and Hogs and the others left, Lu Qingshan went straight to his study.

“Deep Blue, how many points do I have now?” Lu Qingshan asked directly.

“Master!”

The AI lifeform Deep Blue replied immediately: “Including the points you earned for clearing the Heavenly Bridge’s fifteenth level, you currently have 12,476,300 points.”

“My points are quite sufficient,” Lu Qingshan thought to himself after hearing Deep Blue’s answer: “No need to rush into the Illusion Sea.”

Now that he had reached Marquis rank, his mental strength had risen noticeably, and his will had undergone a slight transformation during his last visit to the Yan Secret Realm—clearing the eighteenth and nineteenth islands of the Illusion Sea should now be easy.

But since he wasn’t short on points, there was no need to rush into the Illusion Sea.

Over a million points was a substantial sum for a new Marquis-level Immortal.

“My second body is heading to the Outer Warfront soon—I must carefully plan how to use these points.”

Lu Qingshan sat in his study, calculating: “First, no need to buy anything too valuable—I’m still weak in the Outer Warfront. If I face mortal danger, I’ll have to self-destruct my body, and all my resources will be lost.”

“But I can’t be too shabby either—a Marquis-level Immortal using weapons forged with only a few thousand points would be laughed at.”

“And Kashi—I didn’t nurture him well back then due to lack of resources, but he’s been with me for nearly ten million years. He deserves a chance to break through to Immortal status.”

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan asked immediately in his mind: “Deep Blue, how many points does Kashi need to break through to Immortal rank?”

“Master, your auxiliary lifeform Kashi was poorly nurtured from the start, so even if he becomes an Immortal, his strength will remain low. Based on your current points, I’ve selected three options for you.”

The voice of Deep Blue echoed in Lu Qingshan’s mind: “Option One: Spend 680,000 points for an 80% chance to break Kashi through to Immortal rank—he’ll reach only Common Commander level afterward.”

“Option Two: Spend 2,560,000 points for a 60% chance to break Kashi through to Immortal rank—he’ll reach High Commander level afterward.”

“Option Three: Spend 12,310,000 points for a 40% chance to break Kashi through to Immortal rank—he’ll reach Marquis-level rank afterward.”

Hearing these three options, Lu Qingshan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

This was the consequence of poor early nurturing—low potential, and higher resource cost to reach the same strength.

If he had nurtured Kashi from the start aiming for Marquis-level, it would have cost far less than ten million points.

Of course, when Lu Qingshan first nurtured Kashi, though he controlled his family’s accumulated wealth from countless eons, he dared not waste resources on Kashi—he needed to save for the initial Universe insight slot.

“Kashi has been lucky—I’m not short on resources now. If I were just an ordinary Immortal, I’d have abandoned him long ago.”

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan made his decision: “Since I won’t take Kashi to the Outer Warfront, I’ll choose Option One—raise him to a Common Immortal to guard my family on Thunder Star. Deep Blue, place the order.”

“Yes, Master!”

Deep Blue’s voice echoed quickly in Lu Qingshan’s mind: “Purchase successful. Total cost: 680,000 points. All materials will arrive at your mansion on the Virtual Universe Corporation’s main continent within three days.”

“Hmm,” Lu Qingshan nodded slightly.

“Master, would you like to purchase anything else?” Deep Blue asked again.

“Buy a suitable weapon and battle armor.”

Lu Qingshan continued: “Total cost under one million points.”

“Per your requirements, I recommend the ‘Cocoon Shell Armor’ and the ‘Purple Thunder Sword.’”

The intelligent lifeform Deep Blue continued: “The Chrysalis Shell Armor is a battle armor favored by many Immortals, offering excellent defense—it can completely block all physical attacks below the Immortal realm, reduce attacks from Junior Military Lords to one-tenth of their original power, cut attacks from Senior Military Lords to half, and lessen attacks from Junior Marquis-level beings to eighty percent. However, attacks from Senior Marquis-level or higher cultivators cannot be reduced at all—it costs 600,000 credits!”

“The Purple Thunder Sword is a standard divine weapon crafted by the virtual universe corporation’s master armorer ‘King Moltenfire,’ perfectly suited for Immortals who breakthrough using the Thunder Primordial Law—it can fully withstand battles between Junior Marquis-level cultivators, priced at 300,000 credits!”

Upon hearing this, Lu Qingshan quickly ordered: “Deep Blue, place the order for me!”

He was already familiar with the Chrysalis Shell Armor—in the original novel, Luo Feng received it as one of three rewards from Tianyu Wang after collecting ten thousand black tokens within the Demon Sound Mountain.

However, Tianyu Wang had purchased the Chrysalis Shell Armor for only 500,000 credits, while Lu Qingshan now had to pay 600,000—this clearly reflected the difference in status between Marquis Immortals and Sovereign Immortals within the Virtual Universe Corporation!

As for the Purple Thunder Sword, he had never heard of it, but since it was forged by a Sovereign-level master armorer, its quality was certainly beyond doubt!

“As for the new auxiliary lifeform, there’s no need to rush its cultivation!”

Lu Qingshan thought to himself: “With my current strength, cultivating a Military Lord-level auxiliary lifeform would be useless, and cultivating a Marquis-level one would be far too costly—if my second avatar perishes on the Outer Battlefield, the loss would be catastrophic!”

“Moreover, I am already a Marquis Immortal, unlike Luo Feng in the original novel, who entered the Outer Battlefield as only a World Lord—I have no need to spend heavily on auxiliary lifeforms to protect myself!”

“For me, the best approach is to make my second avatar appear as an ordinary Junior Marquis—this allows me to hone myself without drawing the envy of other powerful beings!”

“As for spaceships and detectors, there’s no need to buy top-tier ones—I’ll join an elite squad upon arriving at the Outer Battlefield to familiarize myself, and use their ships and detectors for now. Even if they’re destroyed, I won’t care!”

Thinking this through, Lu Qingshan quickly instructed Deep Blue to spend 200,000 yuan units to purchase a detector with a one-hundred-million-kilometer detection radius—this level of detector was quite valuable for a Junior Marquis just entering the Outer Battlefield.

At the same time, Lu Qingshan spent 8,000 credits to buy four decent-quality Class-E starships.

In addition, there were other auxiliary items, such as detection robots and so on…

Altogether, the total expenditure reached over 1.8 million credits—an enormous sum for an ordinary Junior Marquis Immortal.

“I hope this trip to the Outer Battlefield doesn’t end up a loss!”

After instructing Deep Blue to purchase all these supplies, Lu Qingshan couldn’t help but think inwardly.

While interacting with Marquis Storm Lu Xiusi and others, Lu Qingshan had learned about their experiences.

According to Luo Si, each time he roamed the Outer Battlefield for one hundred thousand years, he typically gained tens of thousands of yuan units in wealth; Lu Xiusi, being slightly stronger, likely earned two million yuan units per century.

Of course, when facing powerful enemies, they sometimes burned their Immortal energy in battle, and if they used artifacts to restore it afterward, they naturally spent a considerable amount of resources.

“My current strength is nearly equal to Lu Xiusi’s before his death!”

Lu Qingshan thought to himself: “If I stay in the Outer Battlefield for one hundred thousand years, I should break even—even if I perish, I won’t lose!”

Of course, for Lu Qingshan, the most important reason to enter the Outer Battlefield was to hone himself through life-or-death battles with alien cultivators; wealth was merely incidental.

If it could accelerate his cultivation, even losing several million—or even tens of millions—of yuan units would be worth it?

(End of Chapter)