novelraw Chapter 126: Investment in the Barren Star Sector
Chapter 126: Investment in the Barren Star Sector
"I have never met anyone as profoundly learned as you, Lord."
Ye Kunlun sighed in admiration.
Even after coming into contact with the Universal Human Empire and witnessing those grand figures who roamed the Starry Void, he still felt they paled in comparison to Su Yuan.
Ye Kunlun's impression of Su Yuan was one of absolute infallibility—a man who calculated every detail without a single omission.
Problems that he considered incredibly difficult, or even impossible to solve, were not issues at all once they reached Su Yuan.
"Is the sect faction you belong to in the Infinite Bloodline world planning to launch a trial mission soon?" Su Yuan asked, his gaze resting upon Ye Kunlun.
"Yes."
Ye Kunlun nodded immediately.
The sect faction he belonged to was called the Azure Phoenix Sect. Its sect master was a bloodline cultivator at the Post-Realm of a Starry Sky Lifeform.
Compared to the Broken Void World, which had only been released a few years ago, the Infinite Bloodline world had existed for a much longer time—hundreds of thousands of years—attracting a massive influx of powerhouses.Coupled with the fact that bloodline cultivators and evolvers found it easy to cultivate in the early stages, beings at the Post-Realm of a Starry Sky Lifeform, or even Stellar Lifeforms, were not uncommon in the Infinite Bloodline world.
"When are you planning to begin your trial mission?"
Su Yuan inquired.
The trial mission was the examination for outer disciples of the Azure Phoenix Sect to advance and become inner disciples. It usually involved several outer disciples teaming up to complete the objective.
"Sometime in the next few days."
Ye Kunlun replied.
"Which day exactly?"
Su Yuan pressed.
"Which day?"
Ye Kunlun pondered the question. In truth, he was not sure himself. However, since Su Yuan had asked, he thought for a moment before giving his answer. "The day after tomorrow, I suppose."
"Mm."
Su Yuan gave a slight nod.
In reality, had Su Yuan not asked this question, Ye Kunlun would have begun his trial mission five days from now.
After all, outer disciples could initiate their trial missions to become inner disciples at any time. Without Su Yuan prompting him, Ye Kunlun would not have made a decision so quickly.
And starting the trial mission in five days? That was not the outcome Su Yuan wanted to see.
Su Yuan wanted Ye Kunlun to undertake the trial mission the day after tomorrow.
This was because, during the trial mission the day after tomorrow, Ye Kunlun would cross paths with the little princess of the Phoenix Clan, Feng Lingzhu.
She was a genuine, pure-blooded Heavenly Phoenix who had entered the Infinite Bloodline world entirely out of curiosity. Other than Su Yuan, not a single powerhouse knew her true identity within the Infinite Bloodline world.
Not even the Virtual Network itself was aware.
The focal point of Su Yuan's grand design for Ye Kunlun rested entirely on this little princess of the Phoenix Clan, Feng Lingzhu.
The two would develop feelings for each other during this fateful encounter, ultimately allowing Ye Kunlun to smoothly integrate into the Phoenix Clan through Feng Lingzhu.
According to the multitude of answers provided by the gray mirror, Ye Kunlun's personality was exactly the type that Feng Lingzhu would fancy.
Of course, this came with a prerequisite: Ye Kunlun could not approach Feng Lingzhu with deliberate intentions.
The perception of the Phoenix Clan was extremely acute. They would instantly sense if someone was approaching them with ulterior motives.
This was exactly why Su Yuan did not directly order Ye Kunlun to start the trial mission the day after tomorrow. Instead, he took the initiative to ask, steering Ye Kunlun into volunteering that timeframe himself.
If Su Yuan had assigned a specific time for the trial mission, Ye Kunlun, no matter how dense, would have realized that Su Yuan was orchestrating a specific task for him.
That awareness would inevitably contaminate his subsequent interactions with Feng Lingzhu.
Only by Su Yuan pressing the question and having Ye Kunlun proactively decide on the time would he remain free of any suspicion.
Thus, in his upcoming contact with Feng Lingzhu, the situation would unfold exactly as Su Yuan desired.
"The trial mission dictates whether you can advance into the inner sect. Go and prepare."
Su Yuan said, his gaze settling on Ye Kunlun.
Through these casual words, he subtly reinforced the urgency of the trial mission in Ye Kunlun's mind.
"Understood."
Ye Kunlun nodded.
At this moment, he also felt that his most pressing priority was indeed the trial mission.
After all, the mission was starting the day after tomorrow. He did not have much time left to prepare.
Through a mere conversation, and entirely without his own realization, Ye Kunlun's previously unscheduled trial mission had been firmly locked onto the day after tomorrow, all driven by Su Yuan's subtle influence.
From beginning to end, Ye Kunlun failed to notice any discrepancy in the sequence of events. He solely believed it to be Su Yuan's sincere concern for his progress.
Swish!
Ye Kunlun bowed respectfully to Su Yuan and then logged out of the Personal Space.
Su Yuan's expression remained perfectly tranquil.
Yet, deep within his sea of consciousness, he was continuously questioning the gray mirror.
He needed to verify if the future Ye Kunlun was about to experience aligned precisely with what he wanted.
"It is settled."
A smile blossomed on Su Yuan's face.
Meeting Feng Lingzhu, the little princess of the Phoenix Clan, was entirely the result of Su Yuan's interference.
The original trajectory of Ye Kunlun's future was nothing like this.
And the future destiny of that very same Feng Lingzhu had also been irrevocably altered by Su Yuan's meddling.
'The true method of a tactician is the ability to utilize absolutely everything available, and emotions are no exception,'
Su Yuan mused to himself.
His orchestration of Ye Kunlun and Feng Lingzhu's meeting mirrored the maneuvers of a supreme strategist.
It was like a spring breeze bringing rain—nourishing the earth in absolute silence.
From start to finish, he roused no suspicion whatsoever. Even Ye Kunlun, the core participant of this scheme, remained blissfully unaware that he had been manipulated by Su Yuan into becoming a pawn in a plot against the Phoenix Clan.
Of course, with the gray mirror providing paths to absolute success, Su Yuan's methods were infinitely more terrifying than those of any mortal tactician.
'This Ye Kunlun truly has exceptional luck...'
After pondering for a moment, Su Yuan let out another sigh of amazement.
Although Ye Kunlun functioned as a mere pawn throughout this entire scheme, paving the way for Su Yuan to be the ultimate victor who reaped the greatest rewards.
But what about Ye Kunlun? As Su Yuan's pawn and the crucial hidden card embedded within the Phoenix Clan, the benefits he would ultimately acquire were also incredibly immense.
Inside the Personal Space.
Su Yuan leaned back in his chair, fully satisfied that Ye Kunlun's future was proceeding exactly as he desired.
Suddenly, the voice of AI Xiaolan chimed in.
"Master, the Crystal of Eternal Darkness that you listed on the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire's trading network has been sold for 520 million Azure Surge Coins."
"Five hundred and twenty million Azure Surge Coins."
Su Yuan glanced at the deposited Azure Surge Coins and gave a slight nod.
The Crystal of Eternal Darkness was a spoil of war Su Yuan had acquired while ransacking the vaults of The Truth Society.
It was simultaneously the single most valuable treasure on Blue Star. Countless eons ago, two terrifying Life Forms had battled to the death. The crystal was a tiny fragment of armor worn by the Life Form that had been forced to self-destruct. This minuscule shard alone was worth hundreds of millions of Azure Surge Coins.
One could only imagine the astronomical price of that terrifying Life Form's complete set of armor.
Yet, despite possessing such gear, that terrifying Life Form had still been driven to the desperate end of self-destruction.
'520 million Azure Surge Coins is the highest price it could fetch in a century,' Su Yuan thought to himself.
Before selling the Crystal of Eternal Darkness, he had already used the gray mirror to ascertain the optimal time to sell and the peak price he could command.
And 520 million Azure Surge Coins was the absolute ceiling within this hundred-year period.
In one hundred and thirty-六 years, he could have sold it for 630 million Azure Surge Coins, but that was simply too long of a wait.
Given Su Yuan's explosive rate of growth, what would he be like in a hundred and thirty-six years? He wouldn't even bat an eye at ten billion Azure Surge Coins.
'520 million Azure Surge Coins. This will be my seed capital for entering the universe,'
Su Yuan silently mused.
As for the wealth he had amassed in the Broken Void World, the vast majority of it had been funneled into his own cultivation.
A multitude of cultivation resources and numerous Superior-grade Martial Arts Manuals all had to be exchanged for money.
Naturally, Su Yuan's cultivation plan had been formulated by the gray mirror. It was the absolute most suitable regimen for his personal physique, possessing the highest cost-to-performance ratio possible.
If other cultivators or evolvers wished to maintain an identical pace of cultivation, the resources they would need to expend would be hundreds or even thousands of times greater than Su Yuan's.
"With such a substantial sum of Azure Surge Coins, I can finally begin laying out my plans,"
A smile surfaced on Su Yuan's face.
To an Initial-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform, 520 million Azure Surge Coins was an astronomical fortune.
Even for a Mid-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform, it would take a very long time to earn such an amount. The vast majority of standard Mid-Realm Starry Sky Lifeforms did not possess 520 million Azure Surge Coins in liquid funds.
After all, powerhouse Mid-Realm Starry Sky Lifeforms needed to spend most of their money purchasing weapons, Secret Methods, and the like. Actual liquid capital? They had very little of it.
In the Broken Void World, a single Superior-grade Martial Arts Manual was valued at 100 million Azure Surge Coins entirely because these manuals could significantly accelerate an Initial-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform's comprehension of a specific Cosmic Force.
Simply put, a Superior-grade Martial Arts Manual could drastically reduce the time it took for an Initial-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform to break through to the Mid-Realm. Many Initial-Realm Starry Sky Lifeforms remained trapped at this bottleneck for tens of thousands of years, utterly unable to advance.
But if they could fully comprehend a Superior-grade Martial Arts Manual, they just might achieve that breakthrough. This was the exact reason why these manuals commanded such an exorbitant price.
Moreover, Superior-grade Martial Arts Manuals were not just useful to those at the Initial-Realm; Mid-Realm Starry Sky Lifeforms also deeply coveted them.
For an Initial-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform to step into the Mid-Realm, they had to fully comprehend a certain type of Cosmic Force.
Conversely, for a Mid-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform to ascend to the Post-Realm, they needed to fully comprehend multiple types of Cosmic Forces, and furthermore, these various forces had to combine into a perfectly stable cycle.
For instance, the Five Elements represented by metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, or the Four Symbols embodied by earth, fire, wind, and water—these were all combinations of Cosmic Forces capable of forming a perfect cycle.
The reason the combat prowess of a Post-Realm Starry Sky Lifeform far exceeded that of the Mid-Realm, allowing them to effortlessly obliterate a living planet, was precisely because they had mastered these stable, cyclic blends of multiple Cosmic Forces.
'The Barren Star Sector...'
Su Yuan's thoughts raced.
The Barren Star Sector was the focal point of his upcoming strategy.
These so-called Barren Star Sectors were the uncharted regions of space that the Universal Human Empire had yet to explore.
Even the Virtual Network was unable to extend its coverage into these remote sectors.
The unexplored and the unknown represented mortal danger, but they simultaneously symbolized exorbitant profits.
Because of this very fact, every year a massive number of Imperial Citizens would form exploration teams to venture out into the treacherous Barren Star Sectors.
The Universal Human Empire heavily encouraged this kind of pioneering behavior, willing to pay premium prices to acquire whatever these exploration teams managed to salvage from the unknown frontiers.
Over the endless eons, there had been countless instances where a lucky exploration team stumbled upon a resource-rich planet, sold their precious haul, and became overnight billionaires.
Of course, far more common were the exploration teams that simply never returned. However, the pursuit of immense wealth naturally demanded severe risks—a harsh reality that every single team was intimately aware of.
Su Yuan's designs on the Barren Star Sector naturally did not involve exploring it himself.
That was far too dangerous. Ordinary Imperial Citizens only possessed a vague understanding that uncharted star sectors were hazardous.
But as to exactly how perilous they were, or the specific terrors they might encounter, they had very little actual concept.
But Su Yuan?
Through the gray mirror, Su Yuan had learned far too much about the terrifying horrors lurking within the Barren Star Sectors.
Perhaps a seemingly ordinary planet served as a conduit to a hellish Secret Realm, violently sucking in anything that dared to draw near.
Perhaps an empty stretch of the starry void was actually the gaping maw of a Saint-level starry sky behemoth, and an exploration team would unwittingly pilot their ship straight down its throat.
Or perhaps they would trigger an uncharted space-time storm, becoming completely and eternally lost within its tempest.
In short, the uncharted frontiers housed a sheer magnitude of dangers that made even Su Yuan's scalp tingle with dread.
Ignorance bred fearlessness.
The more Su Yuan learned, the more naturally terrified he grew of those domains.
Su Yuan's strategy for the Barren Star Sector relied entirely upon a method of 'investment.'
At every given moment, countless Imperial Citizens within the Universal Human Empire were looking to organize exploration teams to brave the Barren Star Sectors.
However, assembling an exploration team required money.
Procuring High-Tech Weapons cost money. Purchasing an exploration vessel cost money. Equipping high-tier sensory and detection arrays also cost money.
And not just a little—a staggering amount of money.
Where did this funding come from?
Out of their own pockets?
If they already possessed such immense wealth, why would they risk their lives exploring uncharted space? Why gamble with their heads tied to their waistbands?
Under these circumstances, a specialized demographic known as 'investors' was born.
Investors would provide financial backing to sponsor a particular exploration team.
In return, the exploration team would pledge a percentage of the bounties harvested during their subsequent void expeditions to their benefactors.
The investors bore the financial risk. If the exploration team struck it rich in the uncharted sectors, the investor naturally raked in a massive return.
But if the expedition yielded nothing, or if the team perished during their journey into the unknown, the invested capital evaporated into the void.
Yet, when discoveries in the uncharted sectors were made, they were always monumental. Both the investors and the explorers would gorge themselves on the ensuing riches.
'The universe is boundless and infinite. It harbors endless dangers, but also boundless opportunities,'
Su Yuan thought to himself. 'These opportunities are predominantly clustered within the uncharted regions that have yet to be explored.'
As for the star sectors that had already been mapped? They had been picked clean over countless sweeps. It was exceedingly rare to find any undiscovered fortunes there.
'Exploration teams...'
Su Yuan rubbed his chin. The paramount risk of investing in an exploration team was the likelihood of them encountering an insurmountable catastrophe and dying in uncharted space.
If that happened, every single coin invested would vanish without a trace. There wouldn't even be a chance to recoup a fraction of the losses by liquidating the team's vessel and armaments.
But Su Yuan was entirely different. Armed with the gray mirror, he could divine the future outcome of every single expedition. All he had to do was selectively invest in the exploration teams destined to return safely with massive hauls.
The uncharted Barren Star Sectors were beyond the reach of the Empire's Virtual Network, meaning Su Yuan could not micromanage an exploration team's navigation in real-time. As for preemptively providing them with an exploration 'walkthrough'... that was far too likely to leave behind suspicious evidence.
Therefore, Su Yuan merely needed to identify the exploration teams guaranteed to strike gold in the future and invest in them ahead of time.
For other investors, backing an exploration team was an extreme gamble. Success yielded massive profits, while failure guaranteed devastating losses.
But for Su Yuan, investing in these expeditions carried absolutely zero risk. It was a trade that guaranteed a one-hundred-percent profit margin.