Making peace with Kunshaluo?
Thirteen or fourteen years ago, Lu Qingshan might still have given it some thought.
Now he had broken through to World Master, and he had his Ghost King avatar besides.
And if he granted the ship he had bought to his disciples, all he would get back was a peak E-grade ship, one that could briefly hold off an Undying Army Leader's attack. Kunshaluo would no longer pose much of a threat to him.
Lu Qingshan's movement technique, Thunderlight Flash, had already been cultivated to the third level's perfected stage—108 Time Illusion Bodies.
Against someone like Kunshaluo, an Undying who had only just broken through, there was nothing he could do in a short time. Lu Qingshan need only board the ship and he could stroll off right under Kunshaluo's nose.
And that was only his true self.
The One-Horned Ghost King's side was even simpler.
With time acceleration applied to himself, Kunshaluo might not even be able to catch up with him!
And if he were pushed to the limit and unleashed his ultimate move, Time Reincarnation, Kunshaluo probably would not die—but his divine body would certainly suffer severe damage.
Lu Qingshan intended to send the Ghost King avatar out. Now it should be Kunshaluo and his Treasure Pavilion who had reason to worry.
...
Time passed quickly; in the blink of an eye, another year.
"Lei Ming, Paris, your plant life forms have been cultivated to Cosmic Level Ninth Stage. As your master, I have one more gift for you."
Lu Qingshan took out two interspatial rings, each holding a D-grade Machine Race universe ship, and handed them over.
He had bought one of the ships in the public area; the other had been a parting gift from his father-in-law.
At his current level, D-grade ships were far behind his needs.
Fortunately, the first ship might come with an extra bonus, and a D-grade Machine Race ship met the conditions for granting...
...
After sending his two disciples off, Lu Qingshan went to see Ling Yu.
"Ling Yu, after you take part in the Genius Battle you will certainly join the Virtual Universe Company. There's not much I can do to help you, so let this universe ship be my gift to you, and may it help you as you grow in the years to come."
She was not a direct disciple, so such a gift had no proper standing. Apart from the Horn, which he had said was meant for her, Lu Qingshan had never given Ling Yu anything else. This was a first...
"Master, this gift is far too precious!"
Ling Yu had a universe ship of her own, but hers was only D-grade. She could tell that the one Lu Qingshan was giving her was at least E-grade.
"Call it an investment of your teacher's. Once you enter the core of the Virtual Universe Company, you will very likely surpass me someday, so long as you do not fall. When you hold power in your hands, you can repay your teacher then."
Lu Qingshan would not let her go on refusing. After handing her the ring with the ship, he turned and left.
Back at the villa where he was staying, Lu Qingshan checked his gains.
Two D-grade Machine Race ships, a hundredfold return, yielding two E6-grade universe ships, a little less than Lu Qingshan had expected.
Still, even an E6 ship was beyond the reach of almost any World Master. The Virtual Universe's standard models were only E5-grade, priced at around nine Hunyuan units.
This E6-grade universe ship would be just right for his human true self to use... fitting his status without drawing attention.
As for the other one...
Lu Qingshan's gaze came to rest on the enormous silver, pyramid-like colossus within his World Master inner world.
The Machine Race E-grade ship performed even better than the E9-grade ships produced by the Virtual Universe Company, and it was a treasure many Undying Army Leaders dreamed of owning.
Its value...
was probably around 2,000 Hunyuan units.
Compared with a thousandfold return, that price might fall a little short. But Lu Qingshan soon noticed something unusual about this ship.
In the ship's core control room there was a special space ten meters long, wide, and high, built from F9-grade natural ore. It could easily withstand physical attacks from an Undying.
Even if the ship took damage it could not survive, this space could protect the control cabin and the ship's pilot well enough for them to accelerate and escape...
The value of that space alone was probably a good deal higher than the whole ship's.
Lu Qingshan understood how the System worked. Peak E-grade was already the limit; even the cheapest F-grade ships cost anywhere from several hundred thousand to over a million Hunyuan, putting them entirely outside the range of returns.
Besides, everything the System produced was top quality...
That barely-F-grade junk was probably nothing the System would deign to hand over.
That made a great deal more sense.
"Nesethes, can you operate this Machine Race E-grade ship?"
Lu Qingshan asked.
Other ships came with their own intelligence; Machine Race ships were the exception. The Machine Race were intelligent life forms themselves, and they handled a ship more smoothly than any intelligence could.
"Yes. I can split off a second-tier intelligence to serve as the ship's pilot."
Nesethes's figure appeared on the Machine Race ship's screen. A completely new ship like this would soon be under his command.
"Disguise the ship's grade. Drop it to D-grade."
At Lu Qingshan's command, the ship's appearance changed drastically. It shrank considerably, and some camouflage was worked into its metal exterior.
That was the advantage of a Machine Race ship—it could disguise itself easily. Judging from appearance alone, even Lu Qingshan could not tell this ship apart from the D-grade ships he had given his disciples.
"Nesethes, get thoroughly familiar with the ship's controls. It won't be long before your second-tier avatar sets off with the ship."
...
Qianwu Continent, the Treasure Pavilion.
Ever since Kunshaluo had taken the Dragon Blood Bodhi Seed from the shop last time, he had not come back once.
He still ordered his subordinates to keep a close watch on Lu Qingshan's movements.
The top floor of the Treasure Pavilion.
Cold light flickered in the Demonic World Master's eyes. "That Lu Qingshan came out for a trip again yesterday and went back in less than half an hour. The fellow is like a loach—slippery as anything!"
He could understand Lu Qingshan. With an Undying Deity watching him... in his place, he would never leave the Qianwu Secret Realm either.
"Soon, soon... I've sent people to investigate every star domain of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom. The next one to check is Black Dragon Mountain Starfield. I refuse to believe that fellow just appeared out of nowhere!"
"Once I find his home and seize his kin and descendants, we'll see whether he still dares to hide and refuse to show himself."
"Master, there is a major transaction on the first floor that requires your personal confirmation."
The voice of Sally, the intelligent life, came through, cutting off his thoughts.
"A major transaction?"
The Demonic World Master's face lit up with pleasure.
Deals that required his confirmation generally involved more than five Hunyuan units, and for one that required him to go downstairs in person, the amount probably had to be several times that.
Business at the Treasure Pavilion had seemed good lately. A promising sign!
Soon he was downstairs.
"You are the one ordering Black Obsidian Mother Ore? And a quantity amounting to a hundred Hunyuan units?"
Black Obsidian Mother Ore was an E9-grade natural ore, suited to forging weapons and building ships... a fairly common kind of ore.
"That's right... Don't tell me your Treasure Pavilion has none."
The World Master across from him, his body covered in armor with only a pair of eyes showing, gave a cold snort.
"Sir, valuable as this Black Obsidian Mother Ore is, our Treasure Pavilion does have some in stock. But it will take time to move the ore here to headquarters before we can trade with you..."
"About how long?"
"The ore is all kept in a very remote warehouse, so about three months. The shipping cost is high, though, so we must be sure that you will definitely buy before we proceed."
"I'll give you a deposit. Is one Hunyuan enough?"
"It is. One Hunyuan more than covers our shipping costs!"
Smiling, the Demonic World Master had someone bring up the finest wine.
As fellow World Masters, he could hardly pry into the other man's background. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two signed the contract... and the armored World Master paid a deposit of one Hunyuan unit.
"Notify the warehouse on Heilan Star to ship the goods at once. Send all the Black Obsidian Mother Ore to headquarters."
The Demonic World Master gave the order.
It was a very large transaction; he did not dare treat it lightly.
Chapter 70