Chapter 444 - 428: The Sovereign’s Greed
"A Divine... Rune!?"
The Sovereign’s solemn, heavy voice rang out once more. This time, however, it was far from calm, laced with an immeasurable and unpredictable ripple of divine might.
A mix of joy,
and killing intent.
Behind this ancient Cosmic Sovereign, the Star Sea formed by countless stars split open, forming an abyss so deep the eye could not follow. This chasm stretched across nearly half the Unfastened Boat Star Realm. From a distance, it looked as if the Creator had struck the massive vessel with an axe, cleaving a gaping wound in its hull.
A Pillar Stone of a nation,
was terrifying to this degree!
As a General-class powerhouse, the Tower King’s status was already extraordinary, and he was normally deferential in the Sovereign’s presence. But now, he was trembling with fear. He knew all too well how this Pillar Stone of the nation would cast everything aside, how ruthlessly decisive he could be when an opportunity arose.
To give an example that was no exaggeration...
If sacrificing 99% of his Star Domains and subjects would allow him to ascend to "New God," this Sovereign would do so without a moment’s hesitation! He would even worry that sparing the remaining 1% might compromise his godhood.
If he hadn’t been on the verge of collapse in the recent battle, the Tower King would never have summoned the Sovereign.
He could only hope now that the Sovereign wouldn’t detect his selfish desire to claim the Divine Rune for himself.
"Your intelligence pleases me."
"Find it."
"And you shall become the fourth Prince of the Cosmic Country."
The Tower King secretly breathed a sigh of relief, his heart finally at ease.
...
The Sovereign’s violent emotional fluctuation tore a rift across the Unmoored Boat.
Many unlucky adventurers were caught in the unexpected disaster.
"Dammit!"
Piloting his ship, a red ape-man narrowly dodged a spatial rift. Like a monkey, he nimbly maneuvered his small, several-meter-long vessel, weaving back and forth between the fissures. His ears pricked up on both sides as he activated his innate skill, "Heaven-Reaching Hundred Ears."
’The Unfastened Boat Star Realm really does have a rare treasure appearing.’
’Only the emergence of a rare treasure could cause such a commotion.’
’This trip was worth it!’
...
...
...
While the Tower King was "reporting his duties" to the mysterious and powerful Cosmic Sovereign, and adventurers from surrounding Star Domains swarmed in for the treasure, Shi Ming had already returned to Azure Star.
He exchanged 200 Cosmic Crystals for Cyan Blue Coins.
In the Hub Tower, using a new identity, he spent a huge sum of Cyan Blue Coins to purchase the "Power Rankings" for the experts of the Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country.
’Expensive!’
’Way too expensive!’
It was just an extremely brief list.
It only contained ranks and names (or codenames); all other information on the ranked powerhouses, including skills and appearances, was missing. Even so, its price was a staggering 120 Cosmic Crystals, equivalent to one-tenth of Rui Liang’s entire reserve.
It might have been much cheaper on the black market.
But the black market on Azure Star wouldn’t circulate such "low-value" information; there was simply no market for it. As for the black markets of other civilized Star Domains, Shi Ming had no way to access them.
Besides, the accuracy of information from the black market was impossible to verify.
The information from the Hub Tower was comparatively more reliable. The powerhouses of the Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country also needed to compete for anchor points. The various Nirvana Powerhouses were colleagues but also rivals, and the Sovereign strongly supported their competition, as it also helped improve the overall strength of the Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country.
However, these rankings weren’t updated in real-time.
For instance, reclusive powerhouses who had hidden themselves within their civilizations for thousands or even tens of thousands of years without taking action, living in peaceful seclusion, were not registered. Furthermore, a newly ascended Nirvana-rank powerhouse like Shi Ming was certainly not on the list either.
It could only serve as a reference.
As much as it pained him, Shi Ming could still afford the 120 Cosmic Crystals. Rui Liang’s wealth was mainly concentrated in his collection; his liquid assets were rather limited. Besides, just the "Sorrow" skill origin he had in reserve could easily fetch a sky-high price. There was no need to be too stingy about these things.
He examined the list.
The first on the list was, naturally, the "Sovereign."
The second, the "Star Queen."
The third, the "Angler."
All of them were codenames.
Shi Ming quickly scanned past the rows of names and codenames, finally finding "Tower King" at number 13.
’Ranked 13th,’
’In that case,’
’If I were on this list, I could make it into the top five.’
Shi Ming estimated that by using less than half of his trump cards and strength, he had managed to force the Tower King to call for emergency aid and had even snatched the Heart of the Star Spirit—forged from the remains of the Star Spirit Race—right from his hands. At a minimum, his power should rank in the top 5 of the Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country’s list, perhaps even higher!
Generally speaking, when one’s strength ranked in the top 20 of an ordinary Cosmic Country, they could be called a [General].
Reaching roughly the top three meant one was a [Sealed King].
With Shi Ming’s current strength, he could most likely be considered a King-Sealing Powerhouse as well. His foundation was probably a bit weaker, since it had been less than half a year since he entered the Nirvana realm. But even so, he could roam the entire Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country without danger, as long as he didn’t run into the Sovereign or some exceedingly strange ultimate treasures.
The "Sovereign" and the second-ranked "Star Queen" seemed to be only one spot apart.
But a Sovereign, by definition, wielded the power of an entire nation as their own.
The gap of a single rank was as wide as a heavenly chasm.
After memorizing these expensive names,
Shi Ming continued to browse the Hub Tower for other high-end intelligence to purchase. Azure Star was only a mid-tier civilization, and its Hub Tower didn’t have high enough clearance, so he occasionally felt the frustrating powerlessness of having money he couldn’t spend.
’Looks like I’ll have to make contact with a high-tier civilization at the very least.’
’Mid-tier civilizations don’t even have Nirvana-rank powerhouses.’
’High-tier civilizations... that’s where I belong.’
The Cyan Blue Coins he’d gotten from exchanging 200 Cosmic Crystals were all spent.
He prepared to leave Azure Star.
"Honored guest, your spending at the Azure Hub Tower has accumulated over 100,000 points. You have been automatically promoted to a One-Star VIP user of the Hub Tower. You may now join the esteemed [Hub Club - Azure] and enjoy the glorious treatment of a One-Star member."
"This includes numerous distinguished features, such as chat rooms, social mixers, and more."
"This is your [Hub Club - Azure] membership card, a symbol of your honored status. Please be sure to keep it safe."
The female attendant with a swaying blue tail respectfully presented a card.
The card could connect to any terminal,
allowing an ordinary screen to display the Hub Club’s exclusive page. On this page were chat rooms, social mixers, interest groups, trading zones, and more, all relying on the Hub Tower’s extremely low-latency text message transmission.
There was also a daily curated VIP morning report.
Shi Ming accepted the card and nodded with an air of nonchalance, as if this was all routine for him.
"We hope to see you again soon!"
"Have a pleasant journey!"
The attendant watched Shi Ming leave with reluctance. This tycoon had accumulated enough points to enter the Hub Club in a single day. If only she could get his contact information, she might find an opportunity to latch on to him.
A shame...