Bodu Harvey felt as if he had been dreaming.
In the dream, the notoriously vicious Dark Blood Pirates had dragged him back to their lair and demanded a ransom of a hundred billion Cosmic Currency.
That cold family of his had chosen to look the other way, unwilling to pay the money for his life. Just when he was about to suffer the cruelest tortures, a powerful figure had suddenly appeared and killed every one of the Dark Blood Pirates' experts in an instant.
"No! I'm not dreaming."
Feeling that armored powerhouse's icy gaze, Bodu Harvey shuddered. His hands and feet were bound and his origin force was sealed, leaving him no choice but to lie sprawled on the ground.
"Thank you, my lord, for saving my life."
He slammed his head hard against the ground.
"Thank you, my lord. Thank you, my lord."
Bodu Harvey's guards woke as if from a dream and hurriedly knelt to offer their thanks as well.
Lu Qingshan merely glanced at them, and the bonds binding them burst apart.
Then he turned his gaze elsewhere and said flatly, "Come out."
A pale-skinned member of the Lizard Clan crawled out from under a table.
"Spare me, my lord! I was forced into this. My heart was never with them!"
This fellow was a Cosmic Level Expert as well. He simply hadn't joined the others in attacking Lu Qingshan's Ghost King avatar, which was the only reason he had kept his life.
Lu Qingshan gave the Star-Cleaving Blade in his hand a flick, and the eyes showing above his armor glinted with a cold light.
"My lord, I know where the Dark Blood Pirates' treasure is hidden!"
The lizard man spoke quickly, terrified that in the next second his head would be moving to a new address like everyone else's.
"Isn't their treasure in their own interspatial rings?"
Lu Qingshan beckoned, and the interspatial rings of nine Dark Blood Pirates executives appeared in his hand.
A sweep of his vast spiritual power revealed everything inside clearly.
Apart from heaps of Qianwu Coins and Cosmic Currency, the rings held some resources that were exceedingly precious to Cosmic Level experts. In Caesar's ring, the most valuable items were more than twenty Lanke Fruits, presumably meant for cultivating a plant life form—though that half-finished plant life form of his had died the moment he did.
"No, not... Caesar also has a bank account. All their money is there—1.8 Hunyuan units. I know how to withdraw it."
The lizard man was struggling to prove his worth.
"Oh? Tell me who you are."
Lu Qingshan had grown somewhat interested. He hadn't brought much money on this trip; the support his human true self could give him amounted to four pieces of fifth-order origin force equipment obtained through cashback.
That equipment was all clean. The armor on his body was one piece, the Star-Cleaving Blade in his hand another, and the remaining two he had sold in Qianwu City—the one Hunyuan unit deposit he had put down at the Treasure Pavilion as bait had come from exactly that.
He was operating under a brand-new identity now and did not want it tied to the name Lu Qingshan. A bank transfer, however high its confidentiality level, was still a loophole in the end. Who could guarantee he would never end up on the wrong side of the Universe Star River Bank someday? So a complete change of identity was the best choice.
"I'm called Shang Jie. I'm the Dark Blood Pirates' strategist..."
The pale-faced lizard man spoke cautiously.
The Dark Blood Pirates' strategist. That meant he had done no end of evil, didn't it? But what did that have to do with me?
The Ghost King avatar glanced back at the kidnapped men.
"Your ship is parked not far from here. Leave on your own. Remember to forget this."
"Yes, my lord. We will forget it for certain."
"Thank you, my lord, for saving my life."
"I'm of the Harvey Family, Bodu Harvey. I will repay your life-saving grace one day, my lord."
...
Bodu Harvey and his guards thanked him repeatedly and then hurried off. Their ship was parked on the planet and would still fly after a few simple repairs.
Having sent the strangers off, Lu Qingshan scooped Shang Jie up the way one picks up a chick.
"Look into my eyes."
Shang Jie did not dare disobey and raised his head.
Suddenly his gaze went blank, and a moment later his terror turned into an expression of open worship: "Shang Jie greets his master..."
"Heh. Not bad..."
Lu Qingshan admired his own handiwork. This lizard man called Shang Jie was the first slave he had ever placed under Heart Soul control, and it seemed to have had no effect on the soul at all.
He had cultivated Thousand-Thread Soul Refinement for years, cycling through countless reincarnations in illusions, and both his soul and his will had grown a great deal. Though he was still not very skilled in Heart Soul cultivation, controlling a little Cosmic Level fellow was easy enough.
"Shang Jie, can you really withdraw the Dark Blood Pirates' deposit?"
"Master, Shang Jie would not dare deceive you. That money was set aside by Caesar for himself and his brothers' descendants. So that the descendants could withdraw it without trouble, no complicated multidimensional password was set—only a dedicated mental force and a password are needed..."
Shang Jie's face was full of worship.
"Mm. You'll withdraw that money later. I happen to be short of funds right now..."
Lu Qingshan nodded.
Apart from some loose change, his assets at the moment consisted of the Star-Cleaving Blade and a suit of armor.
What he had just taken from the Dark Blood Pirates amounted to roughly a single Domain Master's entire fortune, and that included the Harvey family's portion. Lu Qingshan had saved their lives, so of course he would not offer the money back of his own accord, and they would not dare ask for it...
With this 1.8 Hunyuan, he would be a little better off.
Next came the real business.
"Shang Jie, your Dark Blood Pirates have been entrenched in this meteorite region of Qianwu Continent for countless years. You must know Qianwu City's merchant ship routes very well."
"Master, the Dark Blood Pirates act cautiously and never provoke fearsome enemies. We know the caravans of some great powers in Qianwu City very well; whenever we run into them, we go around them. Only when we come across lone travelers, or merchant ships below D-grade, do we plunder."
"Do you know the Treasure Pavilion's merchant ship route?"
"Master, I do... Their ships basically decelerate and leave the Dark Universe near Qiguang Star. If we just lie in wait there, we'll be able to spot their merchant ships. Generally, the merchant ships of such a large trading company have a World Master overseeing them, so they aren't worried about space pirates like us at all!"
Lu Qingshan raised his head. A C6-grade ship was rising slowly, flying out into the starry sky...
It was the Harvey family's people leaving.
Lu Qingshan went on.
"We'll leave this place too, and head for Qiguang Star. Once we're there, you help me keep watch for the Treasure Pavilion's merchant ships. Don't let them slip away!"
"Yes, Master. I'll keep my eyes locked on them!"
...
Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye two and a half months had passed.
An E-grade Machine Race ship, disguised as a meteorite fragment, lay quietly in the starry sky. Its powerful camouflage meant that none of the merchant ships coming and going had noticed it.
Lu Qingshan's One-Horned Ghost King avatar was comprehending the Time Origin Law.
That Starry Space was linked to his soul and will, and Lu Qingshan's avatar and true self shared the same soul and will, so the avatar could enter that starry space as well.
The One-Horned Ghost King avatar comprehended the Time Origin Law at a hundred times his true self's speed, so the two had divided the work: the main body had gone back to studying the Lightning Origin Law, while the One-Horned Ghost King avatar continued dissecting the Time Origin Law.
This way, both efficiency and speed improved enormously! After all, one person's work could never match two people's.
"The eleventh essence. I thought it would take three years to understand, but I never expected to grasp it in just a year and a half..."
Cultivation could be addictive at times—especially after experiencing a snail's pace of cultivation, and then suddenly becoming a genius.
"The time should be about right."
Lu Qingshan looked at the starry sky outside. The ship's detector was open at full power, and every merchant ship that passed was visible in perfect detail.
Shang Jie, eyes wide, checked each ship the detector picked up, one after another. He had not closed his eyes in over two months.
Far off in the starry sky, an enormous ship decelerated and flew out of the Dark Universe. Shang Jie's eyes went wide as he carefully made out the markings on this merchant ship!
"They're here! Master, they're here! The Treasure Pavilion's merchant ship has come!!"
Shang Jie's excited voice rang out through the cabin.
Chapter 72