The new head of the Virtual Universe Company's Ganwu Branch Military Department was Marquis Qianren.
Upon assuming his position, Marquis Qianren immediately overhauled the Military Department, forcing reforms alongside the Commerce and Military Departments under Marquis Zidian and Marquis Heiyan. Conservative estimates suggested that the Ganwu Branch would remain a pristine haven for at least several dozen epochs, perhaps even a hundred.
Han Jue, unable to refuse, chose to attend the welcoming banquet organized by Marquis Heiyan.
The banquet wasn't particularly noteworthy, but afterward, the Lord of Ganwu personally sent an email congratulating Han Jue on his appointment as Special Supervisory Envoy, much to Han Jue's surprise.
The Lord of Ganwu. One of the most powerful Universe Venerables in the human race, yet ironically one of the poorest.
Han Jue was well aware of the Lord's financial troubles and had a rough idea of his thinking. If the Lord were willing to invest in him, Han Jue would readily agree, though his reply email didn't betray this sentiment.
Instead, Han Jue casually mentioned in his response that Lei Shen, like Hong, would become a member of the Virtual Universe Company's Apocalypse Secret Realm, assuming the identity of an Earthling.
Han Jue had expected the Lord of Ganwu to agree immediately, but to his surprise, the Universe Venerable seemed quite interested in Lei Shen personally.
Not only did he agree to Lei Shen's departure from the Ganwu Secret Region, but before Lei Shen set out to challenge the Fantasy Ocean, he accepted him as a registered disciple!
Lei Shen was overwhelmed, suddenly experiencing the treatment afforded to a peerless genius. He then officially joined the Apocalypse Secret Realm.
On his first attempt at the Fantasy Ocean challenge, Lei Shen reached the 15th island with Universe-level strength!
The 15th island typically required Immortal Marquises with extraordinary willpower to pass. This achievement immediately alarmed many powerful individuals throughout the Virtual Universe Company.
However, those close to the water often get the moon first.
The Lord of Ganwu was deeply thankful for his foresight. He had initially only wanted to befriend Han Jue, but now he had gained an exceptional disciple who might reach unimaginable heights!
Lei Shen became the direct disciple of the Lord of Ganwu, instantly catapulting him to the highest status in the entire Ganwu Universe Country. Even the descendants of the Ganwu Royal Family were inferior to Lei Shen in standing.
The Lord of Ganwu himself was a powerful being who had existed since the early days of the Original Universe. His own strength was considerable, he was a High-level Universe Venerable, one step away from Universe Overlord status.
If he were less powerful, he wouldn't have owed such astronomical debts.
Lei Shen's apprenticeship to the Lord of Ganwu was no disadvantage. After all, his achievement as a Universe-level warrior reaching the 15th island of the Fantasy Ocean, while exceptional, wasn't quite enough to attract a Universe Lord to accept him as a direct disciple. The Lord of Ganwu was actually an excellent choice.
With the support of the entire Ganwu Universe Country, Lei Shen might lack precious treasures and supreme arcana, but he certainly had no shortage of basic cultivation resources.
The successive appearances of Hong and Lei Shen also heightened the importance of Earth among the human elite. Han Jue seized this opportunity to present his proposal, revisiting a concept he had suggested before the Fantasy Ocean challenge.
In the Virtual Universe, within the Holy Land of Earth, a brand new tower now stood. Its exterior was simple yet elegant, its decoration reminiscent of ancient Chinese architecture, exuding a unique charm that resonated with the spiritual heritage of humanity's ancestral civilization.
The Tower of Cultivation.
This tower boasted nine floors, each corresponding to different cultivation levels.
The first three floors corresponded to Apprentice, Planetary, and Stellar levels respectively.
The middle three floors corresponded to Universe level, Domain Lord level, and World Master level.
The final three floors represented increasingly refined mental states that transcended ordinary comprehension.
To pass all nine floors of this tower signified willpower and consciousness comparable to that of a peak World Master, extraordinary mental fortitude that could resist illusions, maintain clarity in battle, and comprehend the Origin Laws with unprecedented speed.
Those at Universe level or below who passed the corresponding floors of the Tower of Cultivation were eligible to join the Apocalypse Secret Realm of the Virtual Universe Company through recommendations from Earth's representatives.
Those at Domain Lord level who passed the Tower's challenges were granted special privileges to access the Fantasy Ocean. If they later demonstrated sufficient consciousness strength in the Fantasy Ocean and showed adequate talent for cultivation, they too would have the opportunity to enter the core ranks of the Virtual Universe Company.
The Tower of Cultivation's primary function was to cultivate the mind, the most crucial foundation for any warrior's growth.
Within its halls were countless secret manuals, meditation techniques, and philosophical texts left behind by ancient Chinese sages and warriors, a treasure unique to Earthlings that reflected millennia of accumulated wisdom regarding mental cultivation!
Starting today, millions of qualified warriors on Earth had gained access to the Cultivation Tower to challenge themselves and strengthen their minds. Given time, many Earthlings with exceptionally strong mental states would surely emerge, proving Earth's value to the entire human race!
But this was all a story for later.
Han Jue was now preparing to attend to another matter, one that had been on his mind for some time.
Ganwu Universe Country.
Cui Lang Star Region, Bain Asteroid Cluster.
Pan Xi, the leader of the slave organization 'Fire Phoenix Group,' resided there.
However, Han Jue preferred to call him '6.3 Billion.'
The man had used 6.3 billion Hunyuan Units worth of Rocke Divine Water, an incredibly precious cultivation resource, to nurture plant lifeforms that were even less powerful than the Moyu Vine. It was a sheer waste of natural resources!
Han Jue felt it was imperative to salvage this wasted Rocke Divine Water. The resource was far too valuable to remain in the hands of someone who couldn't properly utilize it.
The Bain Asteroid Cluster was a group of celestial bodies orbiting a star, consisting of 209 asteroids. The smallest had a diameter of only 1.2 kilometers, while the largest measured 898 kilometers across.
"Rimuru, break through directly," Han Jue ordered his intelligent ship AI.
"Yes, Master!" Rimuru responded happily.
Whoosh!
The Ice Wasteland spacecraft appeared, an F9-class ship manufactured by the Virtual Universe Company, one of the most advanced vessels available to Domain Lords. Its appearance resembled a sharp sword, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
With several accelerations, it easily cut through the outer defensive asteroid formations, heading straight for Pan Xi's hidden base.
Han Jue quickly located his target using the ship's scanning systems.
"Boom!"
As the Ice Wasteland spacecraft instantly accelerated to maximum velocity, the deep purple, sword-shaped craft in the distance, Pan Xi's personal vessel, was instantly cut in two, its defenses utterly inadequate against an F9-class ship's assault.
"Who are you?!"
A figure fled from the shattered spaceship. It was none other than Pan Xi, the World Master level 3 warrior known as the leader of the Fire Phoenix Organization.
"I'll handle this," Han Jue said, gesturing for Ian to remain seated.
Whoosh!
Eight colors of flames enveloped Han Jue's body, his aura rising steadily as he activated his full power!
256 times the base power of a World Master erupted from his frame!
Power comparable to that of an Immortal Marquis instantly manifested, and before Pan Xi could even react, invisible force fields locked down the surrounding space, capturing him completely.
"Immortal!" Pan Xi's face went pale as he sensed Han Jue's overwhelming aura. Seeing no hope of escape, he immediately gave up any thought of resistance.
"Sir, spare my life! I have some friendship with the Seventh Prince of the Ganwu Royal Family!" Pan Xi tried to use his connections to suppress Han Jue, hoping his backing would make the attacker reconsider.
"Seventh Prince?" Han Jue shook his head slightly.
He had only come here to obtain the Rocke Divine Water and had no interest in Pan Xi's political connections or his slave-trading empire. He would leave those matters to Luo Feng in the future, or perhaps take the mission himself if the Virtual Universe Company issued it with sufficiently high point rewards.
Pan Xi was still struggling against the binding force, desperately releasing two plant lifeforms from his World Ring. The Iron Vine Grass and Sha Luo Flower materialized, both had reached the ninth level of World Master rank. He deployed them in a final attempt to delay Han Jue long enough to escape.
Han Jue flipped his hand, and the Ice Wasteland Sword appeared in his grip, a blade that shimmered with crystalline frost.
Swish!
Han Jue killed the two plant lifeforms more easily than pulling weeds from a garden, his sword technique so refined that even World Master level 9 plants couldn't withstand a single strike.
He then killed Pan Xi just as casually, the slave trader's life ending without ceremony. Such was the fate of those who committed atrocities against trillions, no amount of backing could save him when true power arrived.
Han Jue dissipated the flames surrounding his body and retrieved Pan Xi's World Ring, quickly searching through its contents.
Soon, he found an ordinary-looking token among the collection of treasures and slave-control devices.
After erasing the mental imprint on the token, Han Jue's mental power penetrated into its interior space.
Within the world inside the token, there lay a lake with a diameter of more than ten kilometers, its surface shimmering with an otherworldly blue-silver radiance!
This was the Rocke Divine Water worth 6.3 billion Hunyuan Units, one of the most precious cultivation resources in the universe!
The cultivation resources for the fourth prison of the Ice Peak Nine Prisons Body had finally been secured!
...
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