Helick's Great Trove

When danger struck, Yu Xian was the greatest pillar of support. Yet when no danger was around, Yu Xian was the greatest danger of all. In Crescent Bay, the moment the group teleported in, the sky abruptly went dark. Everyone looked up only to see a colossal shoe stomping down upon them. "Run!" Zhang Shou's eyes widened, and he threw his arms out as if intending to hold back the gargantuan sole through sheer personal grit. The others reacted swiftly. Gong Qian clenched her fists, readying a strike; Qingniao had already transformed into her avian form, determined to give it everything she had; Little Nora and Little Huangquan ducked behind Yu Xian's trench coat; and Xiong Da, who had been asleep the whole time and hadn't a clue what was going on, was jolted awake by Zhang Shou's roar, his expression utter bewilderment. This time, Nora did not freeze up. She instantly conjured several pentagram flame bombs, clearly unwilling to abandon Zhang Shou. Just then, however, the foot about to crush them came to an abrupt halt and pulled back, revealing a simple-looking giant. The giant had an honest, rustic face, and a comical festive hat sat atop his bald head. He scratched the back of his scalp and muttered to himself first, "Odd. How did people sprout out of the ground?" Then he looked at Yu Xian and the others, offering an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that. I didn't know people sprouted from the ground. I must've frightened you." "Salty Fish, what's he muttering about?" Zhang Shou asked Yu Xian at once upon hearing the giant's rambling. Yu Xian replied, "That's the Universal Language of the Myriad Realms. I forgot you guys haven't learned it yet. Give me a moment." With that, he condensed several droplets of blood in his palm and guided them into everyone's foreheads between their eyebrows. Instantly, the surrounding clamor made sense, and they could all understand the universal tongue. "Big guy, it's fine. It wasn't your fault—it's mostly because someone here just acts on a whim," Gong Qian said to the giant the moment she understood his words, rolling her eyes at Yu Xian in the same breath. Zhang Shou nodded in agreement. "Gong Qian's right. This wasn't your fault at all." As he spoke, he nudged Yu Xian with an elbow, signaling for him to show some remorse. Yu Xian apologized obediently. "Sorry. I shouldn't have used teleportation recklessly without checking the destination first." He truly hadn't given it much thought. After all, he had gained a solid understanding of Crescent Bay through his Star Ring over the past few days, and he knew full well that with his strength, he wouldn't run into any real danger so long as he didn't actively court death. "It's fine, as long as everyone's okay," the giant replied with a bashful, goofy grin. Noticing that his companions had already walked far ahead, he quickly bade them farewell and hurried off. Watching the giant depart, the group realized he was carrying an enormous pack on his back, and further ahead were several other giants just like him. "Salty Fish, is that big guy strong?" Zhang Shou asked curiously. Yu Xian replied, "By Earth's standards, probably peak Tiger rank." "That's pretty impressive," Zhang Shou remarked. Yu Xian gave Zhang Shou a speechless look. "What if I told you that not a single person on this street is below Tiger rank?" "I'm below Tiger rank, but do you see me acting proud?" Zhang Shou retorted without missing a beat. Qingniao suppressed a chuckle and chimed in, "I'm below Tiger rank too. Our Lord Fish God, I am truly sorry for embarrassing you." "All right, stop fooling around. Yu Xian, where are we going next?" Nora was soft-hearted after all and stepped in to bail Yu Xian out. Gong Qian joined in as well. "Yeah. Bringing us to Crescent Bay all of a sudden, and these clothes are so bizarre. Why do we have to wear masks on our faces? It can't be because you're famous in Crescent Bay too, right?" "Actually, it does have a bit to do with that." Yu Xian led the group forward, explaining the situation with the voyeur as they walked. "Because you all appeared in the film," he said seriously, "we have to wear masks to keep anyone from recognizing us." "How can someone be so disgusting? No way, we have to drag that bastard out, make him cough up every single cent he earned, and even make him pay for our emotional distress!" Zhang Shou yelled indignantly. Gong Qian nodded. "Right, we definitely can't let him off. But speaking of money, Salty Fish, do you have Crescent Bay currency? Can Earth money be used here?" "I don't. Last time we only stayed in Crescent Bay for a short while before returning to Earth," Yu Xian answered. Then, pointing toward the distant sky with a smile, he added, "So our first objective is... make money!" Zhang Shou and the others followed Yu Xian's finger, looking up at the sky with question marks practically hovering over their heads. What did that mean? Were they waiting for money to fall from the heavens? Ten minutes later. Nora and the others stared at Yu Xian in absolute speechlessness. They were currently sitting on the lawn of a public garden, with a pile of Gray Star Coins stacked in front of Yu Xian. Yu Xian gripped a Gray Star Coin and channeled energy into it. Once the coin was fully charged, the originally gray coin turned silver, and the star emblem in its center shifted to gold. In truth, there were many ways to make money, especially in a semi-chaotic place like Crescent Bay. To name the simplest method: challenge a Star Tower's master. Slaying the tower master granted ownership of the entire Star Tower, providing more tax revenue than one could ever spend. On top of taxes, every floor master of each Star Layer had to pay rent to the tower master, which was likewise an astronomical sum. One could say that with sufficient strength, one could live exceptionally well in Crescent Bay—the greater the strength, the more lavish the life. Of course, after issuing a challenge, a challenger first had to survive until the day of the duel, and then defeat the incumbent tower master in combat. Even if they won in the end, they still had to watch out for allies backing the former master who might team up to play dirty. Moreover, the masters of the Star Towers kept extremely low profiles. Not a single battle recording of them could be found online. Picking a fight with such individuals blindly was far too dangerous. To make matters worse, many of Yu Xian's abilities had already been exposed in the voyeur's video. On the intelligence front alone, Yu Xian had been stripped down to his figurative underwear. He certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to go challenging those Star Tower masters under such conditions. As for the remaining avenues to earn cash, they were either too time-consuming or not to his liking. Acting as a humanoid battery, on the other hand, was both fast and convenient for him. In any case, he had more energy than he knew what to do with; as long as it wasn't righteous intent or the special energy required to activate Little Nora's bloodline, he had as much of the rest as anyone could ever want. Indeed, Star-rank powerhouses made money fast. Even when toiling as bottom-tier draft horses, they earned far more than ordinary workhorses ever could. In half an hour, Yu Xian accumulated over ten thousand Star Coins. That was an amount an ordinary battery laborer would need at least half a year to earn. Now that they had money, the next step was naturally to spend it. Yu Xian led everyone straight toward a distant, soaring tower. Every single floor of that tower floated independently in midair, hosting shopping areas, cultivation quarters, technique revision services, dual cultivation facilities... virtually everything one could imagine. It was the largest commercial center on the 26th Star Layer of Tower 79: Helick's Great Trove. In the hearts of Feiliqi and his companions, Helick's Great Trove was truly a place where money could grant any wish—far more tempting than a Forbidden Fruit. Unfortunately, their greatest problem was a lack of coin. Fortunately, Yu Xian had plenty of money. And so, he set off to see just how extraordinary this Helick's Great Trove truly was.