Chapter 474: Excitement

On the 86th floor meeting hall of Pinghai Corporation.

“Xu Jie, everything should be okay, right?” the short-haired woman looked at Xu Xin.

“It’s fine,” Xu Xin sat calmly.

Luo Feng had been in Chaos City for over 30 years, while on Earth in the original universe, a century had passed. A hundred years seemed long, yet in the vast universe, it was but a fleeting moment. Especially for Xu Xin who possessed the ‘Eternal Body’; her appearance had barely changed in a hundred years, except for her eyes and demeanor, which had matured significantly, like jade polished by time, exuding her charm.

“I wonder if we can make it in time.” Xu Xin closed her eyes, silently murmuring, “Luo Feng is about to leave Chaos City. I hope the final inspection goes well in these last few days.”

Knock! Knock! Knock! The sound of knocking echoed.

“Come in.” Xu Xin opened her eyes, her gaze deep and wise, an aura naturally cultivated from managing a massive corporation and overseeing billions of employees.

The door opened, and Deputy Director Botele, dressed formally, entered, accompanied by a middle-aged woman with silver hair and green eyes. Behind them followed eight subordinates, all entering the meeting hall together.

“How did the inspection go?” Xu Xin stood up with a smile.

“Haha, I knew Lady Luo wouldn’t disappoint us,” Botele laughed heartily. The middle-aged woman beside him, with silver hair and green eyes, smiled as well: “Lady Luo, according to our Audit Department’s thorough verification, the semi-annual report you provided is entirely accurate, with an error margin of less than 0.01%.”

Xu Xin’s face immediately lit up with excitement.

“Xu Jie, we did it,” the short-haired woman beside her excitedly exclaimed.

“Congratulations, Lady Luo!” the silver-haired, green-eyed woman smiled and extended her hand. “Shaking hands is the Earth custom, right?”

“Thank you, thank you,” Xu Xin tried to suppress her excitement as she shook the other’s hand, but tears of joy were evident in her eyes. She had been waiting for this day all along, and finally… finally, at the last moment, they had made it.

“Lady Luo.”

Deputy Director Botele smiled. “According to the semi-annual report, Pinghai Corporation currently has a net asset of approximately 100,012 Primordial Units. According to our Virtual Universe Company’s classification system for its many subsidiaries, Pinghai’s net assets have now reached the threshold for a level-two subsidiary. Therefore, we will submit the application directly, and within a day, Pinghai’s level will be adjusted, and Lady Luo will gain the corresponding authority.”

“That’s right,” the silver-haired, green-eyed woman nodded. “Later, the headquarters will send someone directly to arrange the matter of Lady Luo joining the core tier.”

“Congratulations, congratulations,” Deputy Director Botele laughed. “Lady Luo will enter the core tier ‘Apocalyptic Secret Realm,’ while Mr. Luo is in the core tier ‘Primordial Secret Realm.’ The two of you, husband and wife, both entering the core tier of our Virtual Universe Company, this is truly a beautiful tale.”

Xu Xin’s face radiated uncontrollable excitement and joy.

“Thank you, our company has already prepared a banquet for everyone—” Xu Xin quickly said.

“Lady Luo,” the silver-haired, green-eyed woman shook her head with a smile. “We need to return immediately to report the results of this audit to our superiors and submit Pinghai’s classification application. Therefore, we cannot stay any longer.”

“That’s right. The matter of upgrading a subsidiary’s level is very important, and we dare not delay,” Deputy Director Botele also said.

A short while later.

The personnel from the Virtual Universe Company departed, leaving only Xu Xin and her assistant in the meeting hall.

“Xu Jie, Xu Jie,” the short-haired woman excitedly exclaimed. “We did it, we really did it! Truly, we actually expanded the company’s scale and crossed the threshold of a level-two subsidiary’s net assets before Mr. Luo returned. Wow, this is just too incredible, too incredible!”

“Mm,” Xu Xin nodded repeatedly, a trace of excitement on her face. “As long as we work hard, it can be done.”

“We succeeded.”

“We really did succeed.” Xu Xin turned her head, gazing out of the large floor-to-ceiling window. Her faint reflection in the glass showed her image. Compared to the time when Earth faced the calamity of the Devouring Beasts, her appearance had barely changed—still beautiful, still with a great figure. Having held a high position for a hundred years, she had rarely felt this excited anymore.

Yet at this moment,

The woman reflected in the glass window seemed as excited and expectant as a girl on her first date.

“I wonder what expression he will have when he sees me at Yuxiang Mountain,” Xu Xin softly thought, her eyes filled with anticipation.

…

In the past 20 years that Luo Feng had been in Chaos City, over 60 years had passed in the original universe.

Over 60 years, Xu Xin had managed the previously merged company, which had reached ‘over 30,000 Primordial Units’ after fundraising, and its total net assets had expanded to over 100,000 Primordial Units! This growth was partly due to Luo Hua’s efforts, but Xu Xin’s role as the helmsperson was even more indispensable.

Over 60 years, earning over 60,000 Primordial Units!

Such a rate of profit-making was far beyond what the master of the Yimo Star could achieve. Of course, the reason Xu Xin could reach this point… the initial capital played a significant role. Because Luo Feng had given large sums of money to his younger brother and wife, when Pinghai Corporation was first integrated, its total assets were already close to 600 Primordial Units.

600 Primordial Units!

Comparable to the wealth of a super-rich Monarch, or an ordinary impoverished Immortal, this immense fortune was something even the emperor of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire couldn’t muster all at once.

With such a large initial capital,

It was naturally much easier to scale up. If we assume that the starting capital was only one billion cosmic credits (still considered a super-rich in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire), such a sum could buy hundreds of life-bearing planets, but even after striving for millions of years and expanding the assets ten thousandfold… it would only amount to one trillion cosmic credits, which is merely one Primordial Unit!

Therefore, initial capital is very important.

Because of Luo Feng, Pinghai Corporation started with nearly 600 Primordial Units. Then, relying on Xu Xin’s business management skills and Luo Hua’s ability to reinvest funds… the massive capital grew slowly and with difficulty, entering a virtuous cycle. This attracted investments from the Virtual Universe Company, leading to a significant leap in scale, and continued growth thereafter.

Finally!

After 100 years, Pinghai Corporation’s total net assets finally exceeded 100,000 Primordial Units, a colossal fortune that even many Immortals could only hold their breath in awe.

…

In Chaos City,

The air currents drifted, and Luo Feng sat cross-legged on the rooftop of his cultivation residence. On other rooftops, there were also figures standing or sitting—cultivators. At a glance, there were tens of thousands of cultivators, each seizing the moment to observe the externalized laws and runes swirling in the sky like interlocking gears, then closing their eyes to cultivate.

Luo Feng seemed to be cultivating.

In reality, his consciousness had entered the training ground of the Virtual Universe Network, undergoing repeated drills.

“The Nine Heavens Chaos Tablet cultivation chamber will be available for the next batch of cultivators tomorrow afternoon,” Luo Feng had already checked it out earlier. “So tomorrow morning, I will attempt to conquer the fifth level of the Skyward Bridge. As for now… this is the final training and integration period, to merge all my years of cultivation insights into one, maximizing the power of the Shenshen Spear.”

Cultivation is important.

Being able to manifest the insights gained from cultivation is also very important.

“Hmm?”

Luo Feng on the rooftop opened his eyes.

“Come see me immediately!” A voice rang directly in Luo Feng’s ears and mind. “Come see me immediately!” “Come see me immediately!” “Come see me immediately!” “Come see me immediately!”… The voice echoed repeatedly, causing all 816 surviving geniuses out of the original 1000 sent there to stop cultivating.

“Is it the Venerable?” Luo Feng immediately shot into the sky.

…

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!…

In the vast and boundless Chaos City, where air currents drifted, figures shot into the sky from various districts, nearly a thousand figures in total, all flying in the same direction.

Above Chaos City, a long, deep blue giant fish, like a monster in the chaos, slowly swayed its tail fins as it flew through the chaotic space that alternately shattered and coalesced. The high and mighty aura that compelled involuntary submission emanated from this ‘deep blue giant fish’ spaceship.

Click!

The belly hatch of the ‘giant fish’ opened, and more than ten figures flew out, led by a man with purple scales wearing a cyan battle robe. Suddenly, the ‘giant fish’ that had been hovering in mid-air vanished.

At this moment, Luo Feng and the other 816 geniuses, along with nearly 100 Immortals, had already gathered respectfully in the sky above Chaos City.

“Greetings to the Venerable!” the group of Immortals respectfully saluted.

“Greetings to the Venerable!” Luo Feng and the vast crowd of geniuses also respectfully saluted from mid-air.

“Hmph!”

A low snort rang out, as if a hammer had struck the hearts of everyone in mid-air. The cyan-robed, purple-scaled man stood like a celestial deity, his cold eyes sweeping over the large crowd below. The thousands of cultivators in Chaos City felt an immense pressure in their hearts and dared not even raise their heads to look.

“It’s too terrifying,” Luo Feng couldn’t help but sweat from his forehead.

It felt as if

An ant was being stared at by a ten-thousand-meter dragon.

“I didn’t expect the Venerable’s anger to be this terrifying,” Luo Feng held his breath inwardly. “The first time I met the Nine-Sword Venerable in the Virtual Universe Network, perhaps only the Venerable’s consciousness was present in the Virtual Universe Network, so the oppressive force wasn’t that strong. The last time he came, he had always restrained his pressure. I didn’t expect that even a slight release…”

Silence.

Nearly a hundred Immortals and over 800 geniuses dared not utter a word.

“Chaos City was arranged for you as the safest place,” the cyan-robed, purple-scaled man stood in the void like a celestial deity, looking down at the crowd below. “Out of the 1000 of you, nearly two-tenths have died, which really disappoints me!”

Silence.

Above Chaos City, Luo Feng and his group could only obediently listen without daring to speak.

“There are ten days left, and then you will leave Chaos City,” the cyan-robed, purple-scaled man said indifferently. “After that, it won’t be as safe as now. If two-tenths of you died in such a safe place as Chaos City, then when you return to the original universe, you will probably be reduced to only 500 people within a hundred years.”

“Hmph.”

“You all should use these last ten days to your advantage. Those who want to challenge the Skyward Bridge should go challenge it, and those who want to cultivate by the Chaos Tablets should hurry up. Once you leave Chaos City… it will be a long time before you can come back again.” The cyan-robed, purple-scaled man waved his hand and ordered, “Go now.”

“Yes!”

A large group respectfully responded.

Then in a flurry, they dispersed and flew in various directions toward Chaos City below. The pressure from the Venerable was simply too great.