Chapter 189
“Old Shen, is my Golden Tower finished yet?”
The very first thing Lu Chuan did after returning to reality was to run straight to Shen Li, not even bothering to check the loot he’d earned in the game.
Those items weren’t going anywhere, but the Golden Tower had supported him through thick and thin — that was far more important.
Arriving in the Golden World, Lu Chuan saw a magnificent building gleaming with gold, cleverly designed from top to bottom, perfectly matching his taste.
The last time something had suited his aesthetic so perfectly was Cang Jiu’s true form.
That alone showed how satisfied Lu Chuan was now.
Trouble always seemed to come uninvited.
Shen Li felt a headache coming on. He turned and looked at Lu Chuan, his face full of helplessness.
“The main structure’s done, but the interior’s still under construction. It’ll be a while yet.”
Lu Chuan was genuinely startled by Shen Li’s weary, overworked expression.
“Old Shen, why do you look so worn out? My Golden Tower isn’t in a rush to be finished,” Lu Chuan hesitated. “Honestly, it already looks great as is.”
That didn’t add up — Shen Li’s Creation ability should only get smoother with use.
Given the deadline Shen Li himself had set for the tower, it should’ve been plenty of time. He wasn’t the type to overwork himself.
And since Lu Chuan had been busy in dungeons these past days without bothering Shen Li, there’d been no “supervisor” hanging over his shoulder — work should have been relaxed.
“Don’t even mention it.” Shen Li looked frustrated as he tossed a few disks to Lu Chuan. “These are the surveillance recordings from the past few months. Watch them yourself if you don’t believe me. I originally had a generous timeline to finish your Golden Tower, and I’d even made a schedule so I could work steadily and rest properly.
“But somehow, someone’s been watching me every day — just to steal.
“There are so many gold veins here. If they were only stealing raw ore, I could tolerate it. But no, they always take the refined gold I just purified!
“Over and over, I have to mine and refine again. Naturally, progress got delayed. I even set up defenses in this world using tools, but the thief still gets through. Isn’t that strange? I suspect there’s a ghost in your dungeon world!” Shen Li said, dead serious.
At first, Lu Chuan was furious — someone daring to steal his gold was outrageous.
But as Shen Li finished, realization dawned on him.
“Uh… don’t get mad, actually, not a single piece of gold—”
“How can I not be mad!” Shen Li cut him off. “To have this happen right under my nose, forcing me to work overtime — if I catch that gold thief, I’ll skin him alive!”
Lu Chuan sheepishly rubbed his nose.
Uh… sorry, that thief you’re talking about is probably me.
Lu Chuan recalled using the God of Wealth skill repeatedly in the Forbidden Zone for Humans dungeon.
It must have consumed not only his own reserves of gold but also the Golden World’s supply, making Shen Li do unpaid work.
But seeing how angry Shen Li was, Lu Chuan decided not to confess. It wasn’t because he was scared — mostly he didn’t want to endure Shen Li’s endless nagging with no way to explain himself.
“By the way, why are you being so generous today? Normally, if someone stole your gold, you’d be furious.” Shen Li squinted suspiciously at him.
“Haha, I just saw how mad you were, so I decided to let it slide.” Lu Chuan laughed lightly. “Besides, I just came out of a dungeon and got a lot of good stuff. I’m in a good mood — I don’t care about a little gold.”
“Really?” Shen Li still found it fishy, but he couldn’t be bothered to press further, so he changed the subject. “Didn’t you say you were going into a casual dungeon? Then why did your leaderboard ranking rise so fast? Lu Chuan, don’t compare yourself to others too much. I’m here working hard for you, and you’re secretly getting ahead of me — isn’t that going too far?”
“Huh? My leaderboard rank jumped a lot? Let me check.” Lu Chuan blinked, looking completely clueless.
[So much! Host, you’re already fourteenth on the Master Ranking — hahaha! Actually, calling it fourteenth isn’t even accurate. You’re practically on par with the top three, because almost everyone above you is trapped inside the game world. The only one still active outside is the leader of the Ocean Guild.]
#888’s voice was full of glee.
High-ranking players, like Wen Renxu, often had to spend time asleep suppressing new personalities born inside them, or slowly wearing them down.
Other powerful leaderboard players all had their own problems too.
At that level, they possessed strength comparable to Executors, so naturally, they encountered corresponding troubles.
Risk and reward always came hand in hand.
Lu Chuan opened his game interface and finally saw his current stats:
Name: Lu Chuan
Game Nickname: Arrival of the God of Wealth
Age: 24 (Congratulations! You’ve survived another year in the Infinite World.)
Charm: 92 +5 / 100 (With your rising sanity, you’re practically a true enchantress.)
Stamina: 110 / 150 (Congrats! Your stamina’s upgraded — you can last much longer.)
Speed: 110 / 150 (You’re already the sprinting champion of the human world.)
IQ: 90 +5 / 100 (Your wit, like your charm, fluctuates.)
Luck: ??? (Suspected interference from extraordinary forces — impossible to determine.)
Sanity: 62 / 100 (Same as always, nothing special.)
Titles: Master Ranking #14, Lord of the Golden Tower, VIP of the Extremely Evil Loan Company … New title: Master of Divine Seeds (check for effects).
Wealth: Immeasurable.
Special Achievement: Congratulations on clearing the Forbidden Zone for Humans dungeon and achieving the first kill! You’ll receive a special gift from the Evil Game World — stay tuned!
Lu Chuan scrolled through the details, finding nothing too exciting.
Oh, except that the points awarded for clearing Forbidden Zone for Humans were enormous — so many zeros he couldn’t even count them.
888 was ecstatic, saying it could upgrade several skills and even start transforming Lu Chuan’s body into something divine.
One dungeon had given more points than all his previous clears combined!
Lu Chuan didn’t care about those things—he handed all the points over to #888 so it could upgrade itself.
“Hey, you might not believe this, Brother Shen, but I actually never planned on entering the Forbidden Zone of Humanity instance. It was purely an accident, really. Let me explain…” Lu Chuan knew he couldn’t dodge the questions, so he simply pulled Shen Li aside and carefully went over everything that had happened inside the instance.
Of course, he left out the part about being the God of Wealth, but added in more of Cang Jiu’s help, as well as Guildmaster Wen Renxu’s overwhelming strength, and so on.
At first Shen Li was confused, but later he took out a pen, wrote things down, and carefully pieced everything together before finally understanding what all those “timelines” Lu Chuan mentioned actually meant.
After hearing it all, Shen Li felt like he didn’t even want to go to work today.
“…No wonder he’s the Guildmaster. I mean Wenren, not you.” Shen Li sighed, clearly shaken. “To have lived over twenty years in that kind of chaotic timeline—Guildmaster is truly incredible. And you, kid, you’re only alive thanks to Cang Jiu substituting your death with a Life Seed. Otherwise you’d have been finished.”
When Lu Chuan had gone through instances with them before, he had never faced such severe threats to his life. But in the Forbidden Zone of Humanity, he had actually died once—that was terrifying.
Not to mention, every single team member Starry Ming had taken with him had perished, which showed just how brutal that place was.
Even if Lu Chuan had brought their own team in, perhaps not even half of them would have made it out alive.
Shen Li thought to himself that if he were trapped in such a twisted timeline, seeing humanity living in such misery, he probably wouldn’t continue searching for new nodes. He would have focused on helping those humans survive, using his Creation ability to build up their foundations. But doing so would only wear him down until he died in that timeline, waiting for Lu Chuan to come save him—or perhaps never meeting again at all.
As for Sasha, with her naïve personality, she was even less suited for that chaotic kind of instance.
“Exactly,” Lu Chuan admitted, still shaken. “That’s why I came to you first. In a while, let’s go meet with the vice guildmaster together. I already got Guildmaster Wenren’s token and promise, and Starry Ming can vouch for me. Brother Shen, you’d better appreciate still being on equal footing with me now, because soon enough, you’ll have to call me ‘Guildmaster.’”
Shen Li’s face darkened.
“Guildmaster, my ass. Even if you became a god, you’d still just be a brat in my eyes!” Shen Li said proudly. “I’m older than you, I’ve got more experience—those are things you can’t erase.”
“Yes, yes,” Lu Chuan nodded, about to say more when his phone suddenly lit up with a flood of calls.
The first was from Lilus.
“AAAAH, Lu Chuan, you bastard! You snuck off! You went through a super high-difficulty instance without telling us? And now your ranking jumped this high—tell me, did you plan this all along?” Lilus’s outrage crackled through the phone. Lu Chuan could practically picture him pulling his hair out right now.
Truly, words alone could conjure the image of Lilus in a meltdown.
“Cough, Lil, it’s not like that. I almost died—you have no idea how hard it was…” Lu Chuan started to explain, but Lilus wasn’t listening.
“I don’t care! You did it on purpose. From now on, you’re not allowed to go through any more instances. I’ll raise my rank together with my sister as fast as I can!” Lilus was fuming. For the past few months, he and Cynthia had been steadily clearing instances, climbing over a dozen spots on the leaderboard. Cynthia was already ranked 60th on the Gods List, and Lilus was pushing into the top 100.
Then they woke up to find Lu Chuan far ahead of them.
It was infuriating.
Hadn’t Lu Chuan sworn he’d take it easy in casual instances for a while? Instead, he’d been secretly working hard behind their backs.
“All right, Lil, let me talk.” Cynthia patted her brother’s shoulder and took the phone. “Lu Chuan, congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Hearing Cynthia’s voice calmed Lu Chuan a little. “It was pure chance. Honestly, if I had the choice, I wouldn’t want to go again.”
“If your ranking rose this much, then clearing that instance must have been a life-and-death ordeal.” Cynthia chuckled softly. “Now that you’re so high on the Gods List, your rank in the Star Guild is second only to Guildmaster Beidou Xing. I imagine I’ll be hearing news of you becoming Guildmaster soon.”
In her view, Lu Chuan would first serve as vice guildmaster for a couple of years to build experience before naturally taking over as Guildmaster.
Even then, he would still be the youngest Guildmaster in history, with no rivals in that regard. Perhaps even decades later, no one younger than him would hold that title.
Cynthia knew this instance and ranking boost would be absolutely pivotal for him.
“That’s where you guessed wrong, Cynthia.” Lu Chuan grinned smugly. “I’ve already gotten the Guildmaster’s approval. Soon enough, I’ll be the Guildmaster directly. When that time comes, I’ll invite you to my inauguration ceremony.”
Cynthia froze. “That fast?”
Had Beidou Xing been bewitched by him?
Lu Chuan was only 24—at the age when most were still rookie players, he was already among the top names on the Gods List, and now he was set to become Guildmaster. If this were a novel, people would call it ridiculous.
“Yep, that fast.” Lu Chuan was full of pride. “The times make the hero. If anything, I think it’s a little slow.”
This time, Cynthia was truly shaken.
“…I need to cool off. Let’s talk later.” She hung up, then turned a serious gaze toward Lilus.
“Sis, why are you looking at me like that? You’re scaring me,” he shivered.
“Lil, you need to work harder.” Cynthia patted his head. “Come on, let’s clear another instance. Even if we can’t be Guildmaster, we can at least aim for vice guildmaster.”
“Eh? What are you saying? Oh, right, what did you and Lu Chuan talk about just now? You give him way too much credit—there’s no way he’s becoming Guildmaster. He’s still so young…”
Clearly, Lilus had been too busy being angry to actually listen to their conversation.
Cynthia just gave her foolish brother a pitying look and said nothing.
People comparing themselves to others—it could really drive you mad.
The other calls soon followed one after another.
Messiah, Xingchen Sasha, Edith, and even some of Lu Chuan’s subordinates all reached out to confirm what had happened.
The only one who hadn’t called was the vice guildmaster.
Lu Chuan knew that must mean Starry Ming was reporting to him, likely analyzing the entire instance and everything about Guildmaster Wen Renxu, which explained the delay.
So he didn’t disturb them.
Although Lu Chuan respected Wen Renxu greatly, the bonds between the vice guildmaster, Starry Ming, and Shen Li were much deeper than his own.
At that moment, inside the Star Guild headquarters office—
The vice guildmaster was indeed, just as Lu Chuan guessed, carefully discussing the Forbidden Zone of Humanity instance with Starry Ming.
Especially regarding Guildmaster Wen Renxu—they had gone over those matters again and again.
“So, Guildmaster really chose to stay asleep and keep looping, just to suppress the Devouring God’s personality?” The vice guildmaster, upon hearing Wen Renxu was still alive, had felt an immense weight lifted. But learning that Wen Renxu’s abilities forced him into slumber, unable to leave the instance, brought sorrow instead.
He had waited over twenty years already. How much longer could he wait?
Perhaps by the time Wen Renxu finally emerged, he himself would have been dead for years.
When that happened, if Wen Renxu came out to find no familiar faces left in the guild, would he be too heartbroken and choose to return to the instance and sleep again?
No one understood Wen Renxu better than the vice guildmaster.
He was deeply emotional, and cared deeply for the guild. He would never willingly bring trouble upon them.
Otherwise, if he wanted to sleep, couldn’t he just forcibly suppress the Devouring God and then sleep in the real world instead?
The only reason he stayed inside was to avoid harming the guild.
“Yes.” Starry Ming’s face was also heavy with sorrow. “Without Guildmaster, both I and Lu Chuan would have died in there.”
“The Devouring God is a conceptual god, immensely powerful. Guildmaster managed to contract with Him partly because He hadn’t fully revived yet, and partly, I suspect, because the Main God System was pushing from behind, trying to use Guildmaster to suppress its enemy.” The vice guildmaster shook his head. “It’s inevitable. Guildmaster refuses to return for our own sake. If our guild got dragged into the conflict between gods and the Main God System, there would be nothing waiting for us but destruction.”
Starry Ming fell silent.
“The Guildmaster chose Lu Chuan as his successor. What do you think of that?” the vice guildmaster asked at last.
He had never fully supported Starry Ming as the next leader. Starry Ming was harsh on others, harsher on himself, and not the type to easily reveal flaws—sometimes even giving people false hope. If the guild truly had no successor, then perhaps he would be the only option.
But with someone better now, Starry Ming’s advantages dwindled.
Lu Chuan’s ranking had already surpassed his.
At such a young age, to rise so far in such a short time—Lu Chuan was already a living legend in the eyes of many. If he became Guildmaster now, even objections about his age or lack of seniority wouldn’t hold weight.
Even if he were just a figurehead or a mascot, Lu Chuan taking the top seat was still far better than Starry Ming doing so. At the very least, with someone so young and so powerful, other Guilds would think twice before plotting against the Star Guild.
By contrast, Starry Ming had spent years building his connections and influence within the guild. If he deliberately clashed with Lu Chuan, it would only drain the guild’s own strength.
“I naturally respect the guildmaster’s every decision. If he wishes for Lu Chuan to take the position, then he will be guildmaster.” Starry Ming’s expression gave nothing away, as if he really had accepted it as a matter of course.
The vice guildmaster studied him several times but still couldn’t see through him, leaving him unsettled and doubting whether Starry Ming’s words were genuine.
“Vice guildmaster, Lu Chuan is indeed stronger than me now, so supporting him makes sense.” Starry Ming noticed his doubt and added, “But before he showed such strength, why did you support him?”
“Perhaps it was the resolve in his eyes.” The vice guildmaster smiled. “In this world, there are far too few people who always know what they want and pursue their desires unwaveringly. Our guild has been suppressed for so long, and everyone’s been lost and confused. That’s why we need someone who’s never lost his direction to lead us out of this predicament.”
After this conversation, the vice guildmaster immediately called a meeting to confirm Lu Chuan’s succession as the new Guildmaster. He even brought out Wen Renxu’s token of authority—leaving no room for dissent.
All of the Star Guild’s true powerholders attended, including Shen Li and Starry Shasha. Only Lu Chuan himself, as the subject of the discussion, stayed outside to avoid suspicion.
But that was fine—#888 was live-streaming the whole thing to him.
[Wow, Host, they all look so shocked, it’s hilarious hahaha.]
[Shen Li just shut them down! Nice!]
Those dragged into the meeting were all dumbfounded. Their ages and seniority were more than double Lu Chuan’s, and now they were hearing he was to be Guildmaster?
Naturally, they were stunned.
What was going on?
Lu Chuan had just risen in the rankings—was there really such a rush?
Many of them turned their eyes to Starry Ming.
“I have no objections,” Starry Ming said seriously. “I will carry out Guildmaster Wen Ren’s decisions to the letter. From now on, Lu Chuan is ourStar Guild’s guildmaster. Whoever stands against him stands against us all.”
It was over—the strongest rival had defected.
“Then… then maybe let Lu Chuan serve as vice guildmaster first, or acting guildmaster, and make it official in a few years—at least until he turns thirty,” someone suggested. “He’s just too young.”
“Oh? And where were you all when he was this young? You weren’t even on the rookie rankings, were you?” Shen Li sneered. “If strength were divided by age, shouldn’t you all be number one on the master-rank list by now?”
“Shen Li, you’re siding with Lu Chuan, of course you’d defend him,” someone retorted.
“If he weren’t capable, what would be the point of me defending him?” Shen Li shot back mockingly. “Let’s be clear—the guild doesn’t need freeloaders like you. The vice guildmaster didn’t call this meeting to ask your opinion, but to inform you. If you’re not convinced, go challenge Lu Chuan one-on-one. If you can beat him, fine, then we’ll talk.”
But Lu Chuan was already ranked 14th on the master-rank list. Among the players still in the real world, aside from the Ocean Heart Guild’s guildmaster, none could surpass him. How could they possibly beat him?
“If there are no objections, then it’s settled.” The vice guildmaster cleared his throat and spoke calmly. “Prepare for the inauguration ceremony of our new guildmaster.”
