Chapter 124: Earth

Original Universe, a magnificent palace erected amid the starry heavens of the cosmos.

A towering giant whose stature spans tens of thousands of kilometers casually reclines upon a massive throne.

He gently sways the wineglass in his hand, and a faint, helpless wry smile appears on his face, which is covered with strange crimson patterns.

"To be taken as a disciple by the Chaos City Lord at this very moment—this can't be good!"

"Nevertheless, I'll give it a try."

He downs the red liquid from the massive goblet in one gulp, and his consciousness instantly links to the Virtual Universe Network.

It is not only him; in many places across the cosmos, powerful beings belonging to the Axe Arena lineage have taken similar actions.

Initial Universe, Chaos City.

Zhou Yang sits cross‑legged on the rooftop of his dwelling, his consciousness immersed in the endless deductions of the Yandao Secret Manual.

Suddenly his brows twitch, and he reluctantly accepts the incoming call request.

"Ancient Universe Venerable, yes, I am Zhou Yang. Thank you, Venerable; it is my honor to be a disciple under you. Earth? Sorry, Venerable, Earth is the birthplace of my race, I will not sell it."

A moment later the connection ends, and Zhou Yang's face shows a helpless expression.

"This is the third Venerable who has contacted me today; it seems the founder of the Axe Arena has already gone to Earth to investigate."

Unlike the original story, the lord of Earth is now myself instead of Luo Feng, and I was taken as a disciple by the Chaos City Lord ahead of schedule.

Therefore, the incident in the original where the Night Candle King infiltrated Earth to coerce Luo Feng never occurred.

However, given that today multiple parties have contacted me seeking to purchase Earth's ownership, the planet's secrets are inevitably being exposed.

"Rather than waiting passively, it's better to take the initiative ourselves."

Zhou Yang's gaze steadied, "Babata, connect to the Virtual Universe and transport to the teacher's palace on Thunder Island."

Virtual Universe, Thunder Island.

At the summit of Thunder Island, within the hazy Chaos Airflow, stands a temple—the highest temple on the entire island.

As a direct disciple of the Chaos City Lord, Zhou Yang is qualified to be here.

"Swoosh."

Zhou Yang suddenly appears before the temple; inside there is no servant or attendant, only emptiness and the omnipresent Chaos Airflow.

He strides in, and only after entering the main hall does he stop, respectfully saying, "Teacher."

"What business?"

From deep within the Chaos Airflow, the voice of the Chaos City Lord echoes.

"Teacher, recently several Venerables from the Axe Arena have approached me to purchase Earth's ownership. I, as a disciple, do not know the reason but find it suspicious, so I seek your counsel."

Zhou Yang replies respectfully.

"I will assign your second senior brother to investigate; go ahead."

The Chaos City Lord's voice resounds.

"Yes, Teacher."

Zhou Yang bows respectfully and takes his leave.

The report has been submitted; next comes the balancing of interests between the Virtual Universe Company and the major factions, and I can no longer intervene.

All I can do is see whether, by virtue of being Earth's lord and a direct disciple of the Chaos City Lord, I can secure additional benefits.

Soon after, Venerable Gui Yi personally went to Earth to investigate and returned, reporting the planet's peculiarities to the Chaos City Lord.

The Axe Arena faction, seeing they cannot monopolize, simply disclosed Earth's secrets to the Universe Mercenary Alliance and three other forces, joining them to pressure the Virtual Universe Company for greater gains.

After a round of squabbles among the high‑level leaders of the major powers, a plan for handling Earth was quickly finalized.

Venerable Gui Yi personally arrived at Zhou Yang's Virtual Universe manor.

"Junior junior brother, I never expected our reunion to be in such a setting."

The bald, man‑like Venerable Gui Yi smiles at Zhou Yang, a wave of calm and serene aura emanating from him.

Even within the Virtual Universe, Zhou Yang cannot help but be affected by his aura, feeling his whole being settle into tranquility.

"You've made second senior brother trouble himself!"

Zhou Yang says respectfully.

"Minor matter," Venerable Gui Yi replies with a faint smile, flipping his hand to produce a document.

"I have come this time to explain the contract documents the Virtual Universe Company has drafted concerning Earth's transactions; there are two proposals—take a look first."

"Understood!"

Zhou Yang respectfully takes it.

The document's contents are not complex; he scans through them quickly.

Just as in the original, the Virtual Universe offers two options.

The first proposal has Zhou Yang sell Earth to the Virtual Universe Company, with the company taking full responsibility for handling Earth.

Thus, Zhou Yang would immediately receive 5,000 billion Hunyuan Units!

Of course, for his safety, the sum will not be given to him in a single lump.

The specific distribution plan is:

World Master Level: Zhou Yang receives 500 billion Hunyuan Units.

Immortal Level (or after passing the World Master Level Tongtian Gate): Zhou Yang obtains the remaining 4,500 billion Hunyuan Units.

The second proposal, considering that Earth is Zhou Yang's hometown and he may be unwilling to sell it,

as a peerless prodigy of the Human Race from the ten‑millionth era, the Virtual Universe Company also offers a compromise.

The content is that Earth's humans may continue to inhabit the land, but all oceans and the air above them belong to the Virtual Universe Company, which will construct a 'Floating City' above the seas, among other things.

It also promises that alien residents of the Floating City will never disturb human life, and that massive resources will be spent to cultivate Earth's people.

Naturally, under this scheme Zhou Yang's gains are far smaller; he can obtain at most 2,000 billion Hunyuan Units, also disbursed in two installments.

At the World Master Level, he can obtain 200 billion Hunyuan Units.

When he breaks through Immortal or passes the World Master Level Primordial Tongtian Mountain, he can obtain the remaining 1800 billion Hunyuan Units.

The general terms of the two plans are roughly the same as those seen in the original work, but apparently out of deference to the Chaos City Lord, Virtual Universe increased the funding amount considerably.

"Junior brother."

Seeing Zhou Yang finish reading the terms, Venerable Guiyi, who looked like a bald man, said:

"Junior brother, I know these two plans; whichever one it is, it will make you feel a bit uncomfortable."

"However, you must understand that the teacher not only has to consider the internal affairs of the company, but also has to take the entire Human Race into account, so I hope you will not harbor any resentment in your heart."

"Second senior brother, you speak heavily; how could I resent the teacher?"

Zhou Yang hurriedly replied respectfully, "If the teacher's protection were absent, my hometown would likely suffer a considerable calamity."

"Then that is good."

Venerable Guiyi looked at Zhou Yang, his smile softening, and added softly.

"Additionally, the teacher asked me to tell you alone: whichever plan you choose, when the day comes that you can sit side by side with him, he will fully support you in reclaiming all ownership of Earth."

In the end, Zhou Yang, just as in the original work, chose the second plan.

After receiving Zhou Yang's reply, Venerable Guiyi quickly departed.

Virtual Universe Company is extremely efficient; just half an hour later, Zhou Yang's account had an additional massive sum of 200 billion Hunyuan Units!

Moreover, shortly thereafter, they directly used Divine Kingdom Teleportation to dispatch a large contingent to Earth, immediately began constructing a Floating City, and also built a Temple in the edge of the Solar System's Xingkong, the Temple's size nearly comparable to the Sun.

Within this Temple, several super beings are stationed, responsible for guarding Earth's safety; after all, Earth is exceedingly important.

Virtual Universe Company indeed kept its promise and did not interfere with the lives of Earth's indigenous residents.

However, Zhou Yang understands that this is only temporary.

When a large number of distinguished offspring from prominent families of the Cosmic Human Race actually move in, Earth's human life will inevitably be affected.

He pondered briefly and quickly made up his mind.

"Babata, of the 200 billion Hunyuan Units harvested this time, allocate one quarter to remodel Earth's land regions, deploy a full suite of monitoring equipment along all oceanic coasts, and fully cultivate a batch of plant life. Oh, and first contact Luo Feng and Hong for me."

(End of chapter)