Ten years later.
Outside Earth's atmosphere, starships were berthed one after another.
Aliens of every bizarre shape and form traveled, traded, produced, and lived across nations.
Ever since the All-Races Life Support Apparatus was installed, Yu Xian had allowed Crescent Bay to establish diplomatic relations with the nations of Earth. Earth had thus entered an interstellar era, though what truly represented Earth was the Huaxia grotto-heaven.
Because currently, only Huaxia could build starships capable of crossing the universe and even the Abyss, leaving other nations no choice but to purchase them from Huaxia.
The aliens of Crescent Bay were sensible enough. At least, they all understood deep down that Earth was Yu Xian's amusement park: they could visit, but not make trouble; they could do business, but not scramble over each other or push too far.
In fact, Yu Xian had long stopped living on Earth; he resided in the God Vault Space.
When the repair progress of the God Vault Tower reached ten percent, those faces had already awakened and granted Yu Xian three authorities.
The first authority was issuing tokens, with a quota of three each year.
The second was that the repaired continent could have its terrain and climate reshaped according to Yu Xian's wishes.
The third was adjusting the flow of time in designated areas of the God Vault Space.
The tokens Yu Xian received in the first year went to Nora, Niman, and Zhang Buyao. In the second year, the tokens went to Little Nora, Little Huangquan, and Su Zhuo. In the third year, they went to Zhang Shou, Gong Qian, and Qingniao. In the fourth year, to Cheng Pi, Xiong Da, and Bat. In the fifth year, to Yu Lie, Xiao Cheng, and Shui Yuetian. In the sixth year, to Jin Sheng, who had finally awakened, as well as Jin Dajun and Hua Qiang, who happened to be present at the time.
For the remaining years, he had saved up the tokens; if he met decent friends in the future, he would consider giving them one.
In the God Vault Space, a massive landmass floated within the azure expanse.
At the center of this continent stood the God Vault Tower, soaring into the clouds, with six other towers standing around the continent's edges.
Around the God Vault Tower were various houses. Currently, only Yu Xian, Nora, Niman, Zhang Buyao, Little Nora, Little Huangquan, and Su Zhuo lived there. If the rest wanted to enter the God Vault Space, they still had to contact Yu Xian and receive permission to access the Everlasting Silence Prison Tower before they could come in freely.
As for Nora and the others, Yu Xian had inducted them as jailers of the Everlasting Silence Prison Tower. Although they had to stay in the Everlasting Silence Prison Tower for three days each month, they gained the privilege of entering and leaving it freely—a massive gain by any measure.
Furthermore, they received a salary. Though not as high as Yu Xian's as Warden, every ten years they could enhance an item once. The most formidable aspect of this enhancement was that it never conflicted with any item's inherent abilities; it merely added brilliance to perfection.
Even miraculous items could be enhanced, turning them into upgraded versions.
Salty Fish Studio, Yu Xian's residence, remained an antique-style Chinese compound, but its footprint had expanded from three mu to thirty mu. He had built the estate into a magnificent paradise. Salty Fish Lake in the center sparkled with crystal-clear water; various ornamental fish glided as if floating unsupported in air, cruising leisurely through the lake.
In the very center of Salty Fish Lake sat a small, circular island. At this moment, Yu Xian was sprawled out asleep inside a pavilion on the island, while Nangong Wanwan fanned him with a fan in hand.
It was worth mentioning that Nangong Wanwan had indeed entered using a token, but because Yu Xian had no intention of ever letting her leave once she came in, he had reclaimed the token upon her arrival. Without a token of her own, she could only stay forever in the God Vault Space as a maid in Yu Xian's household, serving him perpetually.
"What time is it?"
Yu Xian woke from his sleep, sat up with a stretch, and asked through a yawn.
"Proprietor, it's already four in the afternoon," Nangong Wanwan answered, glancing at the wristwatch on her arm while continuing to fan him.
Four o'clock. Still early.
Hearing that, Yu Xian pulled out his phone, planning to scroll through some videos for a while.
It was worth noting that the God Vault Space originally had no connection to the outside world, but after Yu Xian and Zhang Buyao resolved the crisis, the whole world had plunged into an ocean of joy, allowing Xiao Sensen to harvest plenty of smile points.
As a result, Yu Xian acquired five more singularities, one of which he used on a signal station.
Items with relatively single functions typically received an enhancement aligned with that function, granting Yu Xian the miraculous item [Super-Linked Signal Station]. As long as the signal station was erected, any network within ten million square kilometers could be accessed freely, and it could connect to any network whatsoever.
Earth, Crescent Bay, and even other regions within the Abyss—such as Fire Ridge Heaven, the Broken Dream Ruins, and the Death Calamity Sea—as well as the myriad heavens and realms beyond the Abyss, could all be connected. Yu Xian could scroll on his phone without end; there was an inexhaustible stream of content.
"Every single day, Big Brother either sleeps, plays on his phone, or dives into virtual reality games. He's practically a giant dried salted fish."
As Yu Xian scrolled, he happened across Little Nora's live stream. To his surprise, someone in the chat asked Little Nora about him, and Little Nora actually roasted him for being a salted fish!
"Who's a salted fish? I'm cultivating, all right?" Yu Xian typed indignantly and hit send.
As the saying goes, one must balance work and rest. Both of his cultivation stints inside the Sun Emperor Feng Laixian's storage ring had been excruciatingly painful. Living leisurely now was merely healing his wounded little heart—how could that be called being a salted fish?
Besides, he didn't need to cultivate at all right now; he hadn't even exhausted all the experience points from practicing his punches in the sea of flowers.
As long as the energy inside his body continued to accumulate, his strength would naturally rise without needing to do anything extra. Basking in the sun was essentially getting stronger.
"Big Brother, I wasn't speaking ill of you! They tricked me into saying it!" Little Nora hadn't expected Yu Xian to be lurking in the chat and quickly scrambled to explain.
Grinning, Yu Xian typed: "See if I believe you."
"Big Brother, you have to believe me!" Little Nora replied pitifully, tears welling in her eyes.
After shooting the breeze with Little Nora for a while, Yu Xian began to feel hungry. With a mere thought, he teleported himself and Nangong Wanwan directly to Little Nora's stream location.
It was worth noting that Little Nora's stream was still hosted aboard the Aska. However, Yu Xian had brought the Aska directly into the God Vault Space, and under Muse's renovations, it had become a colossal open-air residence.
Houses in the God Vault Space actually had no need for roofs, as rain naturally avoided these dwellings.
Still, Yu Xian's aesthetic sensibilities wouldn't allow his house to go without a roof, so all the roofs were detachable: installed when needed, and stored away in a storage ring when not.
After the Aska transformed into its open-air residential form, its footprint became truly staggering. With Yu Xian's permission, Muse had been continuously expanding the warship, turning it into a veritable behemoth.
Little Nora's stream setting was actually what used to be the sunroom, now a vast grassland. Little Nora sat on a massive picnic blanket in the middle of the meadow, before two mountain-high piles of food.
"Big Brother, have mercy!"
Seeing Yu Xian appear out of thin air, Little Nora instantly dropped to her knees, sticking her rear into the air as she cried out.
The two bantered and playfully tussled for a moment before sitting side by side to eat together, the air filled with joy and laughter.
Chapter 385