Chapter 190
The Star Guild moved fast.
Once Lu Chuan was confirmed as the next Guildmaster, they couldn’t wait to announce it to the world. Not only were the higher-ups of the other four major guilds sent invitations, but even the master-rank players still trapped in dungeon worlds received messages through a special item.
Such a move inevitably caused a massive stir.
Even the Star Guild’s own members were shocked, nearly thinking they were dreaming.
“Ah, did I hallucinate from lack of sleep yesterday? Did I really see news saying Lu Chuan is becoming guildmaster?”
“…You’re not dreaming. I’ve pinched myself several times—my thigh’s bruised.”
“I remember Lu Chuan is only 24 this year.”
“…Yeah, two years younger than me.”
“So young, and he’s already becoming guildmaster?”
“Look closer—he’s ranked 14th on the master-rank list. Aside from the Ocean Guild’s guildmaster, who’s stronger than him right now?”
“I swear I was just cheering for him on the rookie rankings not long ago. Am I witnessing a legend’s rise?”
“Seems so.”
The guild’s younger members especially were in uproar.
They had already admired Lu Chuan as a peer, but now that he’d leapt into such a high position, they were overwhelmed.
This feeling—of following someone from the start, watching them grow step by step—was something nothing else could compare to.
Even if a few people grumbled, Lu Chuan’s supporters quickly beat them down.
The former guildmaster had acknowledged him, the vice guildmaster and senior staff approved, and even his strongest rival Starry Ming had admitted it publicly. Who were they to object?
Lu Chuan himself didn’t dare leave home these days—any appearance would cause a stampede.
Meanwhile, the secondhand housing prices in Golden Glory Estate skyrocketed again. Even the newly built phases six and seven were packed full. His subordinates had to work overtime day and night to keep up—none of them wanted to drag their boss down at such a critical moment.
If they pushed through this period, once their boss officially became guildmaster, their futures would be secured.
If even Lu Chuan’s subordinates were this loyal, it was no surprise that his friends were even more so.
Starry Shasha, for the first time in her life, realized she had so many “friends.”
Because of her [Lucky Demon] ability, ever since becoming a player she’d been someone everyone avoided. Only people like Shen Li, strong enough to withstand her ability without harm, could stay close. Everyone else shunned her. But now that news of Lu Chuan’s ascension spread, all her so-called “friends,” “neighbors,” “classmates,” even distant relatives suddenly crawled out of the woodwork—so many it gave her near social anxiety.
She couldn’t help it. In the guild, Lu Chuan was acknowledged as being closest to three people:
Shen Li, Starry Shasha, and Edith.
Shen Li was the obvious one: a squad captain, a master-rank player, and now busy with the succession ceremony. Even when seen, his aura kept most people from playing games around him.
Edith had transferred in later, knew almost no one in the guild, and with her cold and powerful demeanor, she was hard to approach.
So that left Starry Shasha—young, familiar, easy to trick. Naturally, a horde of people tried to cozy up to her, hoping to use her to reach Lu Chuan.
Starry Shasha was exasperated, but she wasn’t stupid. She couldn’t risk bringing trouble to Lu Chuan at such a critical time.
“I don’t care why you’re here, but let me be clear: I’ve unlocked my restrictions. Even if items suppress me and I can’t use the full power of [Lucky Demon], it’s still enough to deal with you. From this moment on, I’ll keep my ability active until you all leave.” She hardened her resolve, ignoring their faces.
The moment she finished, a flock of pigeons flew overhead, their droppings raining down on the crowd.
“Ugh! Who stepped on my foot?!”
“My stomach suddenly hurts!”
“Stop shoving! Don’t hit me!”
One after another, the onlookers fell into streaks of bad luck, while Starry Shasha remained completely unscathed.
Soon, the area around her was empty, leaving her sitting alone, somewhat dejected.
“Edith, do you think not a single one of them truly wanted to be my friend?” she asked, holding her face in her hands, crestfallen.
“True friendship isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality.” Edith had come worried about her, but seeing Shasha able to fend for herself, she was relieved. “You’re still young. Even if you make just one true friend a year, by the time you’re old you’ll have many. Why rush?”
“You’re right.” Starry Shasha cheered up quickly. “Brother Lu is way older than me, but even he doesn’t have many friends. I’m not in a hurry.”
“Ahem. Just don’t say that in front of Lu Chuan,” Edith advised sincerely.
Meanwhile, the other guilds were equally stunned by the news.
Who would’ve thought the Star Guild would really push such a young man—only 24—into power? And more shocking, that they’d let such a talented player slip through their fingers, when they once had the chance to recruit him themselves.
People who trade stocks often know this: what’s even harder to swallow than a loss is missing out completely.
They once gave up on Lu Chuan because they weren’t willing to pay the price. As a result, they had to watch him soar all the way to a height they could never reach. Every time they woke in the middle of the night, they would slap themselves hard across the face.
How could they have let Lu Chuan slip away back then?
And yet, the invitation from the Star Guild had arrived—they couldn’t not attend.
Players from other guilds who had once gone into dungeons with Lu Chuan, like Gu Quan’an from the Abyss Guild, had also received invitations.
Even though Gu’s attempt to break into the Master-Rankings failed and his eyesight never fully recovered, his life after stepping back and training the younger generation of Abyss Guild members wasn’t bad at all.
After class, many students would crowd around Gu with endless questions:
“Teacher, teacher, did you really go into dungeons with Lu Chuan before?”
“Is he really that powerful?”
“I heard he can change into anything—is that true?”
To the kids, Lu Chuan was a full-on hero—there seemed to be nothing he couldn’t do.
Hearing them, Gu remembered Lu Chuan’s performance in Flesh Apartment and couldn’t help but praise:
“I can’t tell you too much. All I can say is, every step he took was something none of us expected—yet it was always useful. In all these years, he’s the only player I’ve seen take that kind of path.”
Back then, in Flesh Apartment, Gu had actually been wary of Lilus from the Resurrection Guild. Who would’ve thought the one to become a legend would be Lu Chuan instead? Not even Lilus himself would’ve guessed it.
It was said that Lu Chuan found the former Guildmaster Wen Renxu inside a dungeon, and only by gaining Wen Renxu’s recognition could he smoothly inherit the leadership position. As for the Abyss Guild—who among them could quickly find their own leader?
Resurrection Guild
After receiving their invitations, Lilus and his sister Cynthia threw themselves into dungeon runs, ignoring outside gossip about Lu Chuan and brushing off questions from the guild higher-ups.
All those questions boiled down to prying for news about Lu Chuan, or wondering if the siblings could be like him.
What a joke. If simply knowing what Lu Chuan did was enough to become him, the world would already be full of imitators.
Anyone with half a brain could see that.
Because of Lu Chuan, the Resurrection Guild—though the strongest guild—had been repeatedly overshadowed. Now that he was about to become one of the five great Guildmasters at such a young age, it naturally made them wary.
True, Lu Chuan wasn’t yet ranked as high as their own leader [Undying], but [Undying] was still stuck in a dungeon and hadn’t returned to reality. Who could guarantee Lu Chuan’s rank wouldn’t keep rising? He was still young, wasn’t he?
What’s more, Lu Chuan could stay in reality indefinitely. Even if he did nothing but outlast others, sooner or later he’d wear down the guilds with no successors and bring Star Guild back to glory.
That danger was a thorn in their throats—impossible to ignore.
But Lu Chuan was ranked 14th on the master-rank list. His items and abilities were obviously extraordinary. Even if they wanted to strike, there was no one capable of killing him. All they could do was watch him keep advancing.
At best, they could push Cynthia and Lilus harder, urging them to catch up—so that maybe one day, they too might compete for a Guildmastership role.
Lilus only sneered at such talk.
“When we were close with Lu Chuan, they said we lacked ambition. Now they expect us to recreate his legend? What a joke. Only in Star Guild could he rise so quickly. If he were in our guild, these middle-aged power holders would’ve crushed him flat.”
He wasn’t wrong. After a major reform, Resurrection Guild was at its peak, boasting the most Master-Ranked players among the five guilds. But that also meant too many factions inside—none willing to yield power. Having fought tooth and nail for their positions, they would never hand them over to youngsters easily.
“Lu Chuan chose Star Guild from the start.” Cynthia smiled faintly. “He’s smart. He knew only there could he truly take control. Star Guild was desperate for a shot of adrenaline, and he was exactly the miracle they needed. Only there would his strength be acknowledged. In other guilds, the resistance would’ve been overwhelming.”
Being born into a powerful guild was both a blessing and a shackle. You couldn’t have it all.
“Then what do we do next?” Lilus asked curiously. “Now that he’s Guildmaster, will he still run dungeons with us?”
“He will.” Cynthia thought for a moment. “Compared to becoming Guildmaster, he probably has even bigger goals.”
She recalled the hunting missions from the Main God System—tasks to hunt divine beings that had been assigned to both her and Lilus.
A suspicion flickered in her heart, but she dared not dig deeper. That was not her place.
But she could tell: after reaching the Master-Rankings, Lu Chuan had grown urgent. He could’ve advanced steadily, yet he still risked death to seek out Wen Renxu. Clearly, he too felt the crisis pressing on him.
Sometimes, Cynthia hated that she thought too much. Life was harder that way.
Noah Guild
Messiah, upon hearing the news that Lu Chuan was becoming Guildmaster, immediately began preparing gifts.
He didn’t have any schemes of his own.
But others in the guild scrambled to pry into Messiah’s relationship with Lu Chuan—asking what type Lu Chuan liked, even floating ideas of arranging a marriage alliance with Star Guild.
But honestly—if Messiah’s looks couldn’t move Lu Chuan, finding someone more attractive inside their guild was basically impossible.
Hearing this, Messiah could only laugh helplessly:
“If you really want to win him over, you’d be better off casting him a life-sized golden statue. He’d definitely love that.”
“What? Just gold? That’s not presentable!”
“Messiah, stop making random suggestions. If we really gave that, where would our guild’s dignity go?”
“So tacky!”
Messiah only shrugged, exasperated. He’d already given them the best idea, but no one believed him.
“Messiah, Lu Chuan is already ranked 14th on the master-rank list. You, with your [Resonance] ability, still haven’t moved up much. You should learn from him and improve your rank.”
“If I climb too fast, who knows what god will latch onto me next?” Messiah smiled radiantly. “Last time it was only a mid-tier god. If I keep leveling up through dungeons, next time it might be a high-tier god or even a conceptual deity. If they use my body to influence reality—could you control that?”
The room went silent.
Messiah chuckled and went back to preparing Lu Chuan’s gift.
Ocean Heart Guild
Meanwhile, they were simply relieved to have secured a stable business partnership with Lu Chuan. No fear of him burning bridges later.
The Center of It All
As for Lu Chuan himself?
He was busy trying on outfits for his inauguration as Guildmaster while grumbling with #888.
“They want me to look both solemn and approachable. Don’t they realize those requirements contradict each other?” Lu Chuan groaned. This was already the 100th outfit he’d tried.
[Because you insisted the clothes be embroidered with gold and silver threads.] #888 teased. [Those materials require special designs to balance them out—and the designs can’t outshine you. No wonder the stylists are losing their hair.]
To be fair, the Star Guild was pulling out all the stops for his leadership ceremony—wanting nothing less than to shock the world.
Lu Chuan hardly needed to lift a finger; he just had to cooperate. Honestly, he had the easiest job.
“And yet I’m exhausted,” he sighed. “I wanted the banquet tableware all replaced with solid gold, but they refused. What’s the point of being Guildmaster if I can’t even do that?”
[Didn’t they agree to at least use gold dust for the patterns?] #888 tried to console him. [With so many guests attending, what if someone tried to pocket the gold dishes? We can’t frisk everyone’s inventory spaces one by one.]
“They’re not me. Why would they covet a few gold dishes?” Lu Chuan shot back.
That shut #888 right up.
[Host, maybe after you finish trying clothes, you should go relax in a dungeon world?] #888 suggested. It had been busy auditing accounts lately anyway. Since Star Guild now belonged to Lu Chuan, so did all its finances. Anyone caught embezzling or misusing guild funds was hunted down by #888 without mercy.
No one was allowed to take advantage of its host!
In comparison, Lu Chuan was actually getting in the way a little.
As incoming Guildmaster, he couldn’t micromanage finances like before (even though he wanted to, the vice leader flatly refused). So for now, Lu Chuan was left with nothing to do.
“Fine, I’ll go relax for a bit.” Lu Chuan was honestly getting annoyed.
According to him, there was no need to hold some grand ceremony — just send a few people to other Guilds to collect red-envelope gifts and be done with it. Throwing a celebration was pure wastefulness.
But that idea of Lu Chuan’s met with fierce opposition.
The Stardust Guild had finally gotten the chance for such a grand event; there was no way they were going to let it end on a perfunctory note.
After trying on the ceremonial outfit, Lu Chuan used the excuse that he was tired and wanted to go home to rest, escaping in a hurry.
This time, Lu Chuan warned #888 not to let his full-sanity self set up any more traps for him — he was determined to enjoy himself.
#888 agreed.
The moment Lu Chuan stepped into a dungeon world, he was bombarded with congratulations.
Clearly, news of him becoming the Stardust Guild’s guildmaster had spread among many high-level NPCs and players inside the dungeon worlds as well.
Dungeons and reality always influenced each other. Something as big as this happening to Lu Chuan could hardly go unnoticed in the dungeon worlds.
Just like Chen Ji and Herbert, who immediately offered their congratulations.
Chen Ji promised to upgrade Lu Chuan’s VIP status at the Extreme Loan Company and even asked Lu Chuan to send him more business — from now on, Stardust Guild members could get a 10% discount when borrowing there. Herbert, on the other hand, decided to host a New Year’s goods festival at the Golden Tower to celebrate Lu Chuan’s promotion, with all merchandise marked down to 12% off.
Lu Chuan, who’d thought entering a dungeon would finally let him relax, didn’t expect to have a mountain of things waiting for him there too.
He immediately asked where Cang Jiu was, deciding to seek him out and unwind first.
Cang Jiu had set aside the mission the Main God System had given him, and had also swept through a boss’s territory in some dungeon, gathering a pile of gold and silver treasures to present to Lu Chuan as a meeting gift.
Number 18, seeing how hard his senior was working, had also collected some of that glittering “trash.”
Personally, he couldn’t understand why Lu Chuan disliked eating but loved useless gold so much.
“Ah, it really is so much calmer here,” Lu Chuan said happily when he saw that there wasn’t a soul near Cang Jiu and Number 18. “I don’t get mobbed the moment I show up.”
“Congratulations on becoming the Guildmaster so quickly.” Cang Jiu produced his gift.
Number 18 hurriedly offered up the loot he’d brought.
Lu Chuan glanced at the heap of gold and jewels on the ground; just from the look of it, he could tell they’d been grabbed in a rush.
But that was fine — money didn’t need a pedigree.
Lu Chuan smiled and accepted it outright.
“Didn’t expect you to give me something too, Number 18,” Lu Chuan teased. “I thought you’d give me food.”
“Senior wouldn’t let me,” Number 18 snorted. “You two talk; I’ll keep watch.”
Soon, only Lu Chuan and Cang Jiu remained.
Cang Jiu studied him.
“Your soul’s divinization is almost complete, and the fortune energy around you has gathered a lot.”
Indeed, once he’d officially become Guildmaster, all of the Stardust Guild’s wealth had effectively landed on Lu Chuan’s head — a crucial step in drawing the world’s fortune to himself.
Next, he could start preparing for the divinization of his body.
“Once my system upgrade is done, I can begin the bodily divinization,” Lu Chuan said frankly. “But that means I’ll probably have to face off against the Main God System.”
“The Main God won’t directly expose your identity,” Cang Jiu replied after a pause, “but it will rally all players to hunt the ‘God of Wealth.’ The system has its limits — it wants to kill you, but part of its own rules also have to protect you.”
“Sounds like the Main God’s got split personalities,” Lu Chuan quipped. “But clashing with it was only a matter of time.”
“By the way, how’s your revival progress?” Lu Chuan asked. “Number 6 was dealt with by Wen Renxu, so shouldn’t your rank have moved up? Why are you still Number 9?”
Cang Jiu was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m used to it.”
