Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1221: Star Creation Lifeform

The sound of running water from the bathroom continued, yet to Nan Xiaonan’s ears, it was like a torrential downpour.

The trembling of her soul was unmistakable — it could not be faked. She had once faced a world’s will head-on — an immortal, even a King-ranked Immortal, just one step away from eternity itself.

But eternity was distant and illusory. For beings of her level, it was only a legend — so she risked everything, crossing countless worlds and timelines, all in search of the Origin.

No one had ever told her what the Origin truly was. Yet when she ascended to the rank of King Immortal, it was as if someone in the unseen depths had whispered to her — the Origin is the homeland of eternity.

The will of a sub-world was one of the greatest obstacles standing in the way of that path.

When the heavens collapsed and the earth shattered, when true apocalypse came — countless mighty beings fell in an instant, the order of the sub-world was completely destroyed, and all life returned to its most primitive state. She had never forgotten that life — the war of all immortals and false immortals, the war that shook the heavens.

When the strongest beings of that world gathered together to challenge it, it finally appeared…

And now, that same feeling — no, even stronger — several times, dozens of times more overwhelming — was pressing down upon her!

Nan Xiaonan’s face turned pale in an instant. Her cerebral cortex went into a frantic overdrive again, her mind accelerating beyond physical limits.

“Sit.” Luo Qiu glanced at her casually and said, “Overthinking isn’t good for your health. You don’t have enough fat in your body to fuel that much brain activity.”Nan Xiaonan’s body was slender and thin — almost fragile.

Her accelerated thought process stopped abruptly. She took a deep breath. If this young man before her truly was the vessel of a world’s will, then in her current state, she had no chance of resistance. Even her true body might not be able to break free.

Silently, she sat down on the sofa. It was soft and comfortable, yet she felt as though she were sitting on pins and needles.

Luo Qiu set a glass of water on the coffee table in front of her.

“Thank you…” Nan Xiaonan forced a strained smile and picked up the cup. When the warmth reached her hands, she realized her fingers were already ice-cold.

The water wasn’t too hot — just the right temperature for drinking, clearly prepared for a guest. Nan Xiaonan froze slightly.

“You… are you the will of this sub-world?”

The question had to come eventually. She took a deep breath, regaining her composure. She had always been strong-willed — it was how she’d survived hopeless situations and earned a chance to travel through worlds.

She took a small sip of water, her eyes fixed on him, trying to read more.

“I’m not,” Luo Qiu said, shaking his head. Then he added, “But… it should listen to me for now.”

Cough—!

Nan Xiaonan choked on her water, coughing violently.

— I’m not.

— But it should listen to me for now.

Those two short sentences echoed madly in her hyperactive mind. Her stomach even began to ache faintly.

She had no doubt that he was telling the truth — it was real.

The higher one’s level of existence, the more one understood about the world’s will, and the more one’s actions resonated with it. Ordinary people could curse the heavens without consequence unless they truly provoked cosmic wrath — at most, a thunderclap might answer.

But for the extraordinary, it was different. If they resisted the world’s will from the heart, disasters would come swiftly — terrifyingly so.

Yet in his case, there was no reaction at all from the sub-world’s will.

Just what kind of being have I encountered…?

Nan Xiaonan stopped her futile overclocking — she knew that even if she burned all her body’s energy down to dust, she wouldn’t find a solution.

All she could do was accept reality.

The trembling of her soul still hadn’t stopped. This was no longer a clash of power levels — it was something far deeper, far more dangerous.

They say the closer you get to the front-ranked sub-worlds, the more dangerous they are. Why didn’t I listen…

Nan Xiaonan wailed inwardly. She’d been running from danger all this time, only to stumble into greater and greater threats — and now, unknowingly, she had reached this place.

“Relax,” Luo Qiu said suddenly. “Stop trying to feel it. I can’t completely suppress my soul’s fluctuations right now — you’ll get hurt.”

Already hurting, she thought bitterly.

“Maybe this will be better,” Luo Qiu said next.

Gradually, the soul-trembling sensation faded. Nan Xiaonan finally felt relief — during that earlier state, she could hardly think or move, her accelerated thoughts slowing instead of quickening.

Now, she truly exhaled a long breath.

He said he couldn’t suppress his soul fluctuations — then how had he just done it? Did he use something else to cover them?

“Not long ago, I met a man called Mr. 24,” Luo Qiu said after some thought. “Miss Nan, your original self should be stronger than him.”

“24?” Nan Xiaonan frowned.

“He’s like you,” Luo Qiu continued softly, “someone who got caught in the last spacetime disturbance and was dragged here by accident.”

Nan Xiaonan’s face stiffened slightly. So he already knows… She had been so cautious all this time, and it turned out he’d seen through everything.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on you… or your people,” she said after taking a deep breath. “I’ll leave immediately.”

He didn’t seem hostile — in fact, he was unexpectedly polite, which only made her more uneasy. Perhaps he was just being courteous before showing her the door.

It suddenly clicked in her mind — this young man must be the son Ren Ziling mentioned.

And she finally understood — the reason the sub-world’s will publicly protected Ren Ziling wasn’t because she was a Child of the World… but because she was someone being protected by the world’s will itself.

Not blessed — sheltered.

“No need to rush. Let’s talk for a bit,” Luo Qiu said with a small smile as he sat down too.

Nan Xiaonan’s heart tightened, and her expression grew awkward.

This man — the one even the sub-world’s will obeyed — was sitting here casually in an ordinary living room, chatting with her.

Shouldn’t they be speaking in a towering palace, before a supreme throne, or atop the world itself?

“Talk… about what?” she asked nervously.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she had felt this anxious — not since she was a novice mage standing before a King Immortal.

“Miss Nan, do you know your sub-world’s serial number?” Luo Qiu asked after a pause.

Nan Xiaonan nodded. “0124 — a sub-world governed by magical law. Though I only began calling it that after learning more about spacetime. In my world, we called them planes.”

“I see.” Luo Qiu nodded thoughtfully.

The Altar was omniscient, but as the Boss, he had to pay a price to share in its knowledge. So once again, he found himself in a situation where he could gain information freely — without cost.

The Club — or rather, the Altar — didn’t exist in every sub-world. It appeared wherever the Substitute’s will desired to conduct business.

Apparently, in World No. 0123, no trace of it had been left. Nan Xiaonan clearly had no concept of a shop that could “sell anything.”

Luo Qiu rather enjoyed that.

Now that he could freely choose when to initiate trades instead of being bound by the system, meeting a visitor from a sub-world with no knowledge of the Club felt refreshingly novel.

He could play any role he wished… though Nan Xiaonan, too, had the right to enter the Club.

Forget it. If Nan Xiaonan really shows up, then I’ll receive her as the Boss.

No need to hide anything. Even with Luo Qiu standing in front of Nan Xiaonan, without concealing anything, his personal identity and his identity as Boss would be completely separate in the guest’s perception… unless he himself chose to blur the distinction and reconnect the two.

Boss Luo began calculating in his mind, but Nan Xiaonan didn’t dare to breathe heavily… In her mind, she had already placed this young man at a level beyond comparison, probably… the legendary Primordial Eternal. Otherwise, how could he have such terrifying power — suppressing an entire world’s will and making it obey…

“Miss Nan, could you tell me about your original world?” Luo Qiu asked with a slight smile. “I’m curious.”

Nan Xiaonan had no choice but to nod. Her clear voice slowly described the situation of her sub-world.

The world map of Sub-world 0124 was different from that of Luo Qiu’s 0003 sub-world.

After several changes, the continent was left with only two regions and two races: Nan Xiaonan’s original Human race and the Demon God race.

These two races had only emerged after the Dark God Era of Sub-world 0124, and both had lost any historical records from before that era. All they knew was that it had been an apocalyptic disaster — countless powerful beings fell when the Dark God Era arrived, the world shook, and all civilization was erased. No records or ruins remained.

The use of power had to be redeveloped, though the concept of magic still remained, and power units were the standard for measuring individual ability.

In her original world, Nan Xiaonan had studied many things, but her main professions were Star Creation Saint Guide and Arcane Master.

Arcane Master was easy to understand — a method of attacking using magical power.

“Star Creation Saint Guide?” Luo Qiu blinked curiously. “What kind of ability is that?”

Nan Xiaonan said proudly, “Star Creation Saint Guide, simply put, is the ability to use the power of the Star Spirits, along with certain rituals, to create life. In my original plane… in my sub-world, after tens of thousands of years following the Dark God Era, there were only three Star Creation Saint Guides — I am the last one!”

“Create life?” Luo Qiu was slightly taken aback. “Even true souls can create life?”

“True souls?” Nan Xiaonan blinked, but having experienced many sub-worlds, she quickly realized he meant, “You mean the real soul, right?”

“Probably the same concept,” Luo Qiu said.

Nan Xiaonan shook her head and admitted nervously, “Creating a real soul is the level of a Creator, the level of a world’s will… I can’t do that. The ‘life’ I create is giving simple thought to an object and modifying its structure so it can move and converse simply. Furthermore, depending on the difficulty of the ritual, the abilities of the created lifeforms vary — some may be weak, some may have no abilities at all.”

“I see… a bit abstract. Can you show me?” Luo Qiu preferred practical demonstration.

Nan Xiaonan forced a bitter smile. “With my current power, I can’t even perform one Star Creation ritual… and I haven’t yet analyzed this sub-world’s rules. Even if I had enough power units, the ritual might not create a highly intelligent lifeform.”

“I see…” Luo Qiu pondered, then lightly snapped his fingers. “You can try now… use this.”

A pink pillow floated in front of Nan Xiaonan.

Try it?

Nan Xiaonan was startled. This terrifying hidden power of the sub-world was really pushing her limits.

She smiled bitterly to herself. With her remaining power units… wait, power units?

30,000 power units?

30… thirty thousand power units???

When did that happen?!

At the same time, the sub-world’s rules unraveled in her soul like a verified equation. Streams of rule energy aligned perfectly with her knowledge, merging in terrifying precision!

Nan Xiaonan gasped. In an instant, she felt like a native being of this sub-world; the constant oppressive sensation vanished completely.

No… she had integrated her original world’s power system directly into this sub-world’s rules!!

Her heart raced uncontrollably. Seeing the man before her, she couldn’t think properly…

All this, just to satisfy curiosity about a Star Creation ritual, she had merged her original world’s system into this sub-world’s rules…

And it had happened in a single breath…

Why such recklessness…

This was a real powerhouse.

“Can you demonstrate it now, Miss Nan?” Luo Qiu asked with a smile.

“Y-Yes,” Nan Xiaonan swallowed and, trembling, reached out to take the floating pillow.

Even though 30,000 power units were far from her peak, it was enough to perform a top-level Star Creation ritual.

The key to a Star Creation ritual wasn’t the number of power units — it was mastery of the rule energies involved.

Nan Xiaonan took a deep breath. Afraid her ritual might fail to impress, she hesitated, then focused entirely on the ritual.

Her fingers slowly traced the surface of the pillow.

One by one, strange symbols appeared, glowing a vivid crimson like fresh blood.

Sweat formed on her forehead.

This was the most meticulous and strenuous carving she had done since becoming a King Immortal, consuming almost the same amount of effort as the very moment she achieved that rank.

But… why a pillow?

Using a top-tier Star Creation ritual on a pillow, Nan Xiaonan felt as if her ritual were silently crying…

Finally, when all the symbols were completed and integrated into the pillow, it glowed a deep crimson.

In front of Luo Qiu, the pillow suddenly leapt into the air!

Its shape began to change — first a short “address” appeared, then a pair of furry eyes on the pillow surface, followed by a split that became a wide mouth.

It started hopping across the floor, finally landing in Luo Qiu’s arms, squeaking like a baby:

“Master, I can finally talk to you!”

(End of Chapter)