It was a small card, dark gold, with the Star Spirit Flower clan's crest engraved on the front. The back was densely covered with countless distinct and varied patterns. There were well over a thousand of them.
Among these patterns, Lu Sheng spotted one that looked quite familiar. It resembled a design formed by two leaves. If his memory served him correctly, this should be the emblem of the Little Forest Star Region [TN: Yamu Star Region, Sheng's family's current home].
"What is this?"
Sheng blinked and glanced indifferently at Zi Yanxin in front of him. Yanxin bowed her head slightly and replied respectfully, "With this card, Your Excellency may obtain resources totaling no more than ten billion Golden Serpent Coins from any Star Spirit Flower Guild or allied guild's trading posts throughout the entire Celestial Serpent galaxy.
The quota is refreshed once every ten cosmic years."
Sheng was momentarily taken aback by her answer. He now understood exactly what this card was. It was essentially a kind of super VIP card.
Within the Celestial Serpent galaxy, wherever the Star Spirit Flower Merchants' Guild—or any guild allied with or friendly to it—conducted business, the holder would enjoy treatment befitting a super VIP. And the emblems engraved on the back of the card likely represented the Star Regions under the Star Spirit Flower Clan's influence. A full thousand Star Regions. The Star Spirit Flower family's business was indeed massive.
Sheng sighed softly to himself. After a moment's thought, he asked, "What does ten billion Golden Serpent Coins amount to?"
Yanxin froze for a moment, likely surprised that Sheng didn't even know what Golden Serpent Coins were. She certainly couldn't have imagined it.
Sheng was not yet thirty years old. It had only been a few years since he had emerged from that remote corner of the cosmos on planet Azure—in the middle of nowhere. And the vast majority of that time had been spent in martial arts cultivation.
He wasn't even very familiar with the currency system of the Little Forest Star Region, let alone the global currency system of the entire Celestial Serpent galaxy. In a sense, he was a true "country bumpkin of the cosmos."
Yanxin paused briefly to choose her words carefully before speaking: "Each third-tier Blue Cosmos Star Core I previously presented to Your Excellency is worth roughly ten billion Golden Serpent Coins on the market…
That's not much, Sheng thought to himself, while listening to Yanxin's explanation. But on second thought, it actually wasn't a small amount.
According to Yanxin, the credit limit on this card could be refreshed. Once every ten years. Over the years, it would indeed accumulate into an enormous fortune. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a gold mine.
But to Sheng, this card was worth no more than a third-tier Blue Cosmos Star Core. Because he had no idea if he'd even live to see the next decade.
Sheng didn't realize it, but the casual indifference that inadvertently slipped into his expression left Yanxin feeling a bit bitter. It was her own fault for being too generous on previous occasions. She'd been giving away Star Cores by the crate. Third-tier Blue Cosmos Star Cores, resources that could almost be called strategic assets for the clan. As a result, the genius standing before her seemed to regard the 10 billion Golden Serpent Coins as nothing.
This wouldn't do. There were certain things she needed to remind him of. With that in mind, Yanxin couldn't help but speak up: "Within our Star Spirit Flower Clan, only Leaders or Elders of Level 5 or higher are permitted to possess this card."
Sheng asked, "What rank does Wu Tian hold in your clan?"
Yanxin glanced around cautiously before replying quickly, "Level 3."
"Oh, Xinxin." Lu Sheng now felt a glimmer of the Star Spirit Flower Clan's sincerity.
"Sir."
Yanxin held the small card in both hands, her voice hesitant as she struggled to find the right words. Sheng was, of course, fully aware of what she wanted to say but was too shy to voice. He nodded, casually took the card from her hands, and said indifferently, "It's just an invitation for me to become a Guardian of your Star Spirit Flower clan, isn't it? I accept."
"Lord Sheng?!"
Upon hearing this, Yanxin jerked her head up, looking at Sheng with a face full of surprise and delight. She had previously asked Hai Jidao to tactfully convey her intention to "recruit" Lu Sheng. Since he had accepted her gifts without hesitation, it stood to reason that he was willing to accept the offer. But with nothing yet finalized, Zi Yanxinxin still felt a lingering sense of unease. Now, hearing Sheng's agreement, she could not hide her delight.
"But let me make one thing clear: I will refuse any demands that are too harsh or unreasonable."
Sheng immediately added his conditions for serving as a "consecrated servant."
He was currently short on resources, and since the Star Spirit Flower Clan was willing to provide them, he was more than happy to accept. After all, in a few years, when the forces of the Dark Side invade, Sheng's goal is to fight to save the entire Celestial Serpent galaxy. The Star Spirit Flower family would naturally be included in that effort. He felt perfectly justified in accepting these resources.
During that time, if there were minor matters or minor troubles that needed his attention, he didn't mind. But if they treated him, a "Consecrated Servant," like a dog to be ordered around… that would be absolutely out of the question.
"There will be absolutely no harsh or unreasonable demands!" Yanxin assured him with righteous conviction. "We won't even trouble Your Excellency in the slightest. What the family truly values is... the future that Your Excellency possesses!"
"That's for the best." Lu Sheng nodded.
He, too, hoped the Star Spirit Flower Clan would fulfill their role as "angel investors" well. The two exchanged a few brief words, mainly regarding how they would contact each other should Sheng or Yanxin need assistance in the future. With that, the matter of the "patronage" was thoroughly settled.
Anon Turing stood to the side, effectively "witnessing" the entire process of their collaboration. His envy was plain to see. Though Anon, hailing from a prestigious Starry Sky clan, knew little about the Star Spirit Flower family, his broad perspective and insight allowed him to grasp the family's true strength and depth simply from the sight of their Immortal-class Star Spirit Flower spacecraft.
It was undoubtedly a colossal entity beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Compared to it, the Turing family might as well be cosmic dust before a star. And for such a superpower of the cosmos to extend an olive branch to Lu Sheng—with terms so incredibly generous—he simply couldn't help but feel envious. Of course.
Yet to Anon, this offer seemed perfectly natural when it came to Sheng. In fact, he even felt that the Star Spirit Flower Clan had snagged a huge bargain.
"At Level 12, he can already crush Level 13 opponents like they're nothing, and he's grasped more than one law—including an Extreme Rank Law… No one can predict Lu Sheng's future. This time, as we head to the Celestial Throne Academy for further studies, I'll be his classmate. If we can maintain this relationship well, it might bring immense, unforeseeable benefits not only to myself but also to the Turing family in the future."
Thoughts raced through Anon's mind, and in an instant, he had firmly decided on his future approach to dealing with Sheng. If his previous attempts to befriend him had been tinged with a hint of rivalry—a trace of the arrogance that comes with being a martial arts prodigy himself, not a shred of that remained. All that was left was the resolve to cling tightly to Sheng's coattails.
Come on, if even the Star Spirit Flower Clan was licking Lu Sheng's boots like a lap dog, what was wrong with him being Lu Sheng's "dog"? Is it bad to be a dog? Woof!
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Little Forest star region aka Yamu star region aka Sub-Jupiter Region
Sheng's family's current home. The Star Region led by Speaker Dunlop.
My earlier hypothesis seems to be confirmed :) Yamuxingqu is Little Forrest star rergion, not Sub-Jupiter Region. On the card Sheng received, he "spotted a pattern that looked quite familiar. It resembled a design formed by two leaves. If his memory served him correctly, this should be the emblem of the Little Forrest Star Region". Two leaves make me think of a tree and a forest more than it makes me think of Jupiter.
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Golden Serpent Coins aka Golden Snake Coins
A new currency.
一百亿金蛇币 (trad. 一百億金蛇幣), yībǎi yì jīn shé bì: 一百 one hundred 亿 hundred million 金 gold 蛇 snake, serpent 币 money, currency
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Zi Yanxin aka Xinxin, Zi Yanxinxin, Purple Heart
Sheng addresses her as "Xinxin" after feeling her sincerity. The author then mirrors it and calls her Zi Yanxinxin once.