Chapter 122
The senior members of the Ocean Heart guild frowned after reading Vivian’s report.
“Vivian, are you saying you hadn’t finished gathering intel on the gods before the instance collapsed? And most of Xi Jiangyuan’s legacy was taken by Wen Zhi, while the rest went to Lu Chuan’s group. You left with three teammates but only brought one back…”
The leadership of Ocean Heart couldn’t possibly be satisfied with Vivian’s performance.
But honestly, sending her and three others to handle Lu Chuan’s group was asking too much. By now, Lu Chuan had parachuted straight into the Master-Rank Leaderboard at rank 100, surpassing many veteran players.
Even so, the guild hadn’t expected Vivian to return without a complete account of the instance. They were very interested in the connection between the Abyss Guild and Xi Jiangyuan, and even more curious about Xi Jiangyuan’s legacy.
An abnormal instance, personally keyed by the Ocean Heart guildmaster, had also attracted a master-ranking Executor and the vice-guildmaster of the Abyss Guild—clearly there was something off inside.
Their demands weren’t high—they only wanted Vivian to bring back some information. Unfortunately, even that hadn’t been achieved. Now, looking at her report, they felt a headache coming on.
Wasn’t this a case of losing both the wife and the army?
“Apologies. I let down the guild’s trust in me,” Vivian admitted honestly.
“This isn’t entirely her fault; she did her best,” another senior spoke up. “Her report says Lu Chuan’s group stirred up a god war. In that situation, keeping herself and her teammate alive was impressive enough. We all know the gap between players can be enormous.”
At their age, after seeing so many players and witnessing the rise of legends, they certainly understood that much.
But Lu Chuan had none of those worries — he was simply delighted that his business was about to grow bigger and bigger.
“Mm, Brother Lu works super hard,” Starry Shasha affirmed.
Shen Li and Edith silently averted their gazes.
Poor guys… they really had it rough.
—
The Extreme Evil Loan Company.
Friendly reminder: you have a new client entering the Master Ranking, please follow up promptly.
Come on, close this deal and you’ll be the sales champion!
…
The “Loan Bro” manually shut the crow’s beak that was giving him reminders.
“My client got on the Master Ranking? Hmm, I haven’t been showing up in any divine dungeons lately. Oh, right — that guy running a high-interest lending scheme!”
He instantly remembered the player from the Flesh and Blood Apartment who had borrowed from him, then turned around and lent money to others.
He had only given that guy a business card.
But how long had it been? And already this guy had climbed up to the Master Ranking?
“Let me see… Ah, Lu Chuan, here he is — ranked one hundred?” Loan Bro stared at the list, almost thinking he misread it. “The Main God System really rates this guy that highly?”
If Lu Chuan’s ranking were lower, he might have tried to pull him into his own company.
But with such a high rank, there was no way he had nothing to do with the deities.
As a veteran employee of the Extreme Evil Loan Company, he knew far more than an average Master Ranking player.
The higher a player ranked, the deeper their entanglements with the gods — some, by the mid to late stages, even evolved into a kind of low-tier deity themselves.
For Lu Chuan to start so high meant the Main God System had already marked him for special attention, and he was certainly tied to several powerful deities.
Hmm… that made him harder to approach.
Oh well, better mark him as “Key Focus” first.
Next time Lu Chuan entered a game dungeon, he’d tag along for a look.
[Anomalous dungeon of Xi Jiangyuan has been cleared. 5 Merit Points awarded.]
[Executor Number 9 turned in the Remnant Seed of Desire. 3 Merit Points awarded.]
…
Number 18 happily drove Number 9 back to report their mission.
It was always good having a senior — after finding the remnant Seed of Desire, Number 9 had shared half with him, handing in only the other half.
The Seed of Desire was one of the most potent True-God seeds; eating it was far more satisfying than devouring several mid- to low-tier deities.
Number 18 felt full now.
If he’d been paired with any other Executor, who would have shared such spoils? Back then, to be partnered with Number 9, he’d had to devour a lot of low-rank Executors, relying on sheer notoriety to win the chance.
And now — he was eating well again.
“Senior, you seem to only eat the seeds,” Number 18 said, puzzled. “Sure, seeds taste the best, but you can’t be that picky. Those other deities are edible too, just a bit of a mixed flavor. If you don’t eat more, how will you progress?”
They had once met Executor Number 5 — now that guy ate anything, even his own partner. The Main God System had eventually been forced to curb Number 5’s appetite just to keep the new partner alive.
“If we don’t eat, we won’t starve,” Number 9 replied calmly.
“But hunger is awful, I hate that feeling,” Number 18 shook his head.
“It isn’t you who’s hungry,” Number 9 said softly.
It was the divine spark — stripped of all authority — that still belonged to him.
Only by devouring more gods and monsters could that spark feel even slightly whole.
Looking at the clueless Number 18, Number 9 felt the whole situation was absurd.
Once, those gods had all become monsters.
Each had lost their sanity, their authority shattered, until they turned into one monster after another, the so-called evil spirits or abominations.
“Number 18, you are not allowed to eat Lu Chuan,” Number 9 ordered. “At any time, you’re not to touch him — or let anyone else touch him. Understand?”
“I got it — he’s your prey,” Number 18 said cheerfully. “I won’t touch him.”
Number 9 fell silent.
He recalled the startled look on Lu Chuan’s face when he’d said the words ‘God of Wealth Candidate.’ It was almost funny.
Who would have thought that in this world, he could still witness the birth of a new True God?
By rights, Lu Chuan should have grown under the blessings and attention of other deities, becoming the darling of the world.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t entirely on his side — he had appeared in a world wrecked and crisis-ridden by the Main God System.
Yet his luck wasn’t entirely bad either: here, all gods were either fallen or mutated, so no one could unite to seize his authority or divine spark.
The road to godhood was full of obstacles. More than anyone, Number 9 looked forward to another True God appearing in this world.
A world with only one deity was far too lonely.
“Come, come, take a look — these are the favorites of master-ranked players Lu Chuan, Cynthia, and our brand-new Number 1 beauty Messiah! Brought to you by the Ocean Heart Guild — the pearl necklace that’s crossed who knows how many kilometers to reach you!”
“Haha, such a big pearl necklace must cost a fortune. Can’t afford it? No problem — we’ve got budget versions.”
“Want it no matter what? We also offer installment plans — twelve months, interest-free, but you’ll need a guarantor. If something happens to you, the guarantor keeps paying!”
…
In all the big player cities, the storefront displays were dominated by pearls.
Pearl and shell luxury goods were selling like crazy.
Bags came out branded as “pearl bags,” shoes as “pearl shoes,” even pearl shirts and pearl dresses — almost everything carried some kind of pearl element.
Players were rich, and so were their families.
Give them an opportunity, and they’d buy and buy without stopping.
Plus, it was rumored that buying the same necklace Lu Chuan wore entered you in a lottery — grand prize: dinner with Lu Chuan.
That made his diehard fans eagerly empty their wallets.
The Ocean Heart pearl trade was practically monopolized by Lu Chuan.
Of course, the Ocean Heart Guild would have liked to raise prices, but Lu Chuan had bound them by a “Divine Contract.”
It was stricter than a standard covenant, and as an S-class item, it forbade breach. They had no choice but to supply him with pearls at the original price for three years; only after that could they raise prices.
But by then, Lu Chuan would have moved on to the next product — there was no way he’d only sell pearls.
He was already planning to expand into new lines.
“System, what do you think about me hosting an auction — selling dinner slots with me?” Lu Chuan rubbed his chin. “Dinner with me for, say, ten million — that’s not much, right? Lots of high-tier players are loaded; they’d bid just for a meeting.”
“That way I solve my dinner and make money at the same time. Genius! Pure profit — no wonder Buffett does this.” Lu Chuan felt he should study such advanced tactics.
[Host… maybe keep a bit of dignity, hm?]
“If ‘dignity’ can’t turn into money, what’s the point? If I weren’t still only acting guildmaster of the Star Guild, I’d already be issuing mutual funds. Finance really is the fastest way to make cash.”
#888 hurriedly changed the topic: [Host, perhaps check which Divine Challenge instances are available to you?]
“The god I’m most involved with is the God of Desire, right? There aren’t many other god dungeons.” Lu Chuan spoke casually. “I’ll just pick one when the time comes.”
[Host, maybe take a look first before saying that?]
“Why do you keep nagging me to look?” Lu Chuan grumbled, reluctantly opening his game panel to see what challenges the Main God System had pushed.
“Divine challenges related to me are… hmm, the God of Desire dungeon — knew that’d be there. The Ultimate Challenge of the God of Light, and the Omniscience God’s dungeon — both familiar clients of mine. Huh?”
Lu Chuan’s voice faltered; he seemed to catch #888’s point. “Weird, what’s this [God of Exchange]? When did I get tied up with that deity?”
