Swallow the starry sky, grind to become the strongest in the universe

Chapter 8 Virtual Universe Network
The Mo Lian Star was filled with trading markets of all sizes. Yu Duan ultimately chose a shop belonging to the royal family of the Chi Lian God Empire—Chi Bao Shop.

Within the territory of the Blazing Lotus Empire, any business with the characters "Blazing" or "Lotus" in its name is almost always related to the royal family.

This Chibao store, as a 'large-scale shopping mall' in the interstellar era, occupies an extremely vast area, comparable to a large plaza on Earth. On Molian Star, where land is extremely valuable, it can be described as luxurious.

The store is filled with a wide variety of goods, which are divided into different categories: equipment area, cultivation resource area, technology area, spaceship area, etc. Yu Duan's target for this trip - the energy shield - is located in the northeast corner of the first floor.

Within the energy shield area, holographic projections of various shield models are suspended, accompanied by detailed parameters.

As soon as Yu Duan and his companions stepped into the area, they saw a female sales guide from the Dream Fish Clan gracefully swimming towards them. She had a slender figure, and her lower body was a fish tail covered with milky white crystalline scales. Her skin was smooth and translucent, emitting a faint fluorescence. Her face was similar to a human's, delicate and beautiful.

"Gentlemen, may I ask how I may assist you?" The Dreamfish woman bowed slightly, her voice ethereal.

Pointing to one of the projections at the endpoint, he said simply, "A Type A1 Unified Force Field Large Energy Shield, one copy."

"Sir, this is the flagship product of the 'Blazing Star' series developed by the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Its performance..." the woman immediately introduced enthusiastically.

“I know this series, no need for introduction, let’s get straight to the deal,” Yu Duan interrupted her directly.

“…Okay, sir.” The woman reacted quickly, her smile unchanged. “A1-grade Blazing Star Unified Field Shield, priced at 12,000 Blazing Lotus Coins. If you are a member of our store, you can enjoy a 20% discount.”

To become a member of the Blazing Treasure Shop, even the lowest-level member, one must accumulate at least hundreds of millions of Blazing Lotus Coins in spending. Therefore, Blazing Treasure Shop members are generally cosmic-level powerhouses.

Fortunately, the purchase process was not disrupted because Yu Duan was not a member.

When Yu Duan and the others came out of the Chibao store, Kun Zhu had a dark blue crystal ball the size of a football in his hand.

It is crystal clear, like the purest sapphire, radiating a dreamlike glow. This is the form of the A1-class celestial shield, capable of protecting the entire planet, before it is activated.

"This tiny thing... can withstand a planetary-level bombardment?"

Kunzhu's voice rang out in the three-person encrypted virtual network channel, filled with unbelievable shock, "The methods of a cosmic civilization... are simply inconceivable!"

Yu Duan responded in the channel with a hint of ease: "Once we're on the spaceship, Brother Kun can take his time to study it."

Having achieved all their objectives, Yu Duan and his companions did not linger and headed straight for the planet's docking port, setting off to return to Light Source Star that very day.

……

In the dark universe, the Blazing Lotus Star spaceship travels at a constant speed of light.

At this speed, according to the technological theory of the Light Source Star, all communication methods should theoretically be cut off, since the signal transmission speed is at most the speed of light.

However, virtual universe networks are not affected by speed.

Compared to other communication networks, the virtual universe network is a completely 'irrational' existence.

Inside the spaceship's main control room, Kunzhu lay on the sofa, studying the virtual universe network through the optical computer arm guard. The more he studied, the more he couldn't help but sigh.

"The fact that the virtual universe network can be logged into from anywhere and can communicate in absolute real time is simply too exaggerated."

Although Kunzhu was not born in the new era of the Light Source Star and had not received scientific education, that does not mean he was unaware of it.

The god in the white robe nodded, but said with a somewhat helpless expression, "The virtual universe network is great in every way, but you have to pay for everything."

Within the virtual universe network, almost everything costs money, and the expenses are extremely high. Yu Duan glanced at the prices in the 'Killing Arena' and immediately gave up.

In the original novel, Luo Feng and his companions' daily training in the virtual universe consisted of immersing themselves in the killing field, simulating various levels of powerful individuals for special training, and dueling with geniuses from across the universe.

With money, anything is negotiable.

Taking Yu Duan, a planetary-level 1st rank cultivator, as an example, the price for one day of training in the Slaughter Arena is 20 Blazing Lotus Coins.

A fourth-tier Kun Master at the Planetary level needs 50 Blazing Lotus Coins to cultivate for one day.

As a mentalist, Shenjian is only at the third level of the planetary level, but the price he needs for one day of cultivation is 200 million Blazing Lotus Coins, which is 5 times that of a martial artist.

Kunzhu waved his hand, an optimistic smile appearing on his face: "Money can be made slowly. At least the trip to the universe went smoothly. The crisis on 'Death Star' has been resolved, so we have enough time to cultivate. Once we're stronger, we'll find ways to make money!"

Shen Jian pursed his lips, somewhat wistfully saying, "I wonder how many years it will take before we become strong."

Previously, when Yu Duan and his two companions were handling various procedures on Mo Lian Star, they had passed by a huge slave square.

All sorts of slave traders lined up neatly with their respective "goods," waiting to be chosen by buyers like livestock.

Shen Jian had curiously scanned the auras of those slaves with his intelligent light brain... The most powerful of these slaves had an energy intensity that had reached the peak of the ninth rank of the stellar level!
Stellar level, ninth rank... Even a god like Shen Jian doesn't know if he can reach that level in his lifetime.

Now, only Yu Duan is confident that he can become a star-level expert.

However, even a peak ninth-order stellar-level being would inevitably become a slave in the vast universe.

At this moment, Yu Duan was also somewhat troubled.

"money……"

Yu Duan leaned back in his seat, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the armrest, his brows furrowed.

Even if he were to sell the Blazing Lotus Starship, he would only get about 160 million Blazing Lotus Coins – enough for him to squander in the Killing Fields for 8 days!
Apart from places like killing fields, everyone in the virtual universe has the same physical attributes as a peak apprentice, and they are unable to use abilities such as domains or laws.

You can't exactly hold up a sign in the virtual universe that says, "I am a planetary genius with expertise in a field, and I'm asking for guidance from a renowned teacher," can you?

"Let's first look into how to join a major power."

Yu Duan used his smart assistant No. 1 to search for intelligence on various forces.

Half an hour later, the information was compiled.

The five top powers do not have an open application channel; they can only passively wait to be recruited after demonstrating their talents.

Excluding these five high mountains, the largest, lowest-entry-barrier, and least restrictive talent cultivation force within the Blazing Lotus God Empire is the 'Northern Divine Realm'!
The Northern Divine Realm is the only 'higher academy' within the vast territory of the Northern Divine Universe Kingdom that can recruit students across regions.

Aside from the five top powers, the many powerful figures under the jurisdiction of the Beiming Universe Kingdom can only recruit geniuses from their own territories as disciples. Only those at the Beiming Divine Realm can disregard these restrictions and recruit students on a large scale.

Although the Northern Divine Realm's foundation and resources are far inferior to the five top powers, its advantage lies in the fact that its entry threshold is practically non-existent.

As long as one has legal citizenship in the universe, and pays an application fee of 1000 Blazing Lotus Coins and an annual tuition fee of 10 Blazing Lotus Coins, one can become a student of the Blazing Lotus God Empire branch of the Northern Divine Realm.

(End of this chapter)