Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 98 53 times

For cultivators, time is something that is both precious and not valued much.

Like a banquet on Red Leaf Star, it had been going on for nearly three days.

After all, such opportunities to gather the elites of the entire Blue Bay Starfield are rare.

The powerful realm masters and some key members of the Blue Bay branch of the Virtual Universe Company gathered in groups of three or five, chatting about the past, exchanging ideas, or sharing information and seeking cooperation—a lively scene indeed.

As the owner of this place, Qi Yuan was naturally very busy.

Besides exchanging polite greetings with each guest, he also used the system's functions to continuously investigate the young people from various world-leading families and forces present.

However, all this hard work is definitely worthwhile.

After some investigation, Qi Yuan discovered that among the thousands of young people present, more than 10 had a basic return rate of over 40 times!
In other words, if Qi Yuan's estimation of the aptitude level represented by the system's basic return rate is correct, then among the thousands of young people present, there is a high possibility that more than 10 world lord-level powerhouses will emerge in the future.

That's a very considerable number!

After all, those present were just young people at the planetary or stellar level, which did not represent the true foundation of these families.

Their core elites are still those elite domain lords and cosmic-level race members who have been selected and accumulated over a long period of time.

Of course, even if someone has the qualifications to become a realm lord, whether they will ultimately succeed is not a certainty.

In the vast universe, all sorts of unexpected situations can happen at any time.

If someone were to die in battle, or if their family were to fall and suddenly lose their source of resources, a talent who could have broken through to the level of a World Lord might be buried and disappear into the river of time.

However, Qi Yuan doesn't need to think that far ahead for now. Right now, he's just figuring out how to select a few suitable disciples from among these outstanding young people.

As his gaze swept over the group of young people, his expression suddenly changed.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely joyful smile appeared on his face.

"Hehe, after waiting for several years, there's finally some pleasant surprise."

He subtly shifted his consciousness and quickly sent a message—

"Go, bring these two people to me."

While Qi Yuan waited silently, a quarrel suddenly broke out in a corner of the banquet hall.
"Chief Dillon, have you thought this through? All you're asking is to give up 80% of your wealth, and you think that will guarantee the Stuart family Lord Tauer's protection forever? Is money really more important than the lives of the hundreds of millions of members of the Stuart family?!"

"Get out of here, Pierrevis, you traitor to the Stuart family!"

Dillon Stuart, the current patriarch of the Stuart family, glared angrily at a middle-aged man in a black robe with four eyes and a layer of ugly bumps on his head.

"If it weren't for you, the family wouldn't be in such a predicament!"

"Hehe, Dillon, you're not right about that."

The middle-aged man in black robes with four eyes frowned slightly and said coldly with sarcasm.
“I was never a member of your Stuart family; I was just a minor citizen in your territory. Although I have received some resources and training from your Stuart family, it doesn’t mean I have to be tied to you!”

"Hmph, the Stuart family has always followed the principle of voluntariness when recruiting elite talents for its members. Those who are willing to accept will naturally contribute to the family in the future, and those who are unwilling will not be forced!"

The silver-robed, white-haired, middle-aged Dilong clan chief's eyes were practically spitting fire. He glared fiercely at the four-eyed middle-aged man and cursed angrily.
"But you shameless parasite, not only did you not appreciate the vast resources my Stuart family has invested in your upbringing, but you also deliberately leaked a lot of family secrets to seek personal gain, and in the end, you even caused the family to fall into such a passive situation. You deserve to die!"

However, the ugly, four-eyed middle-aged man merely smiled contemptuously upon hearing this:
"Go ahead and kill me now if you dare, I promise I won't resist. But heh heh, if I die, Lord Taur will have a perfect excuse to pay a visit to your Stuart family."

Upon hearing the mention of Lord Taur by the middle-aged man with four eyes, Dillon Stuart's eyes showed a hint of apprehension.

Normally, a world-leading family with such a long history would have some allies and partners with whom it has a good relationship. Even if it declines, with the help of these allies, it would not fall into disintegration in a short period of time.

The reason the Stuart family was in such a difficult situation was because they had been targeted by the 'Lord Taur' mentioned by the four-eyed middle-aged man.

Under the intimidation of Lord Taur, no one dared to stand up for the Stuart family.

Because this person is a powerful, immortal god!

You will pay the price for your actions sooner or later!

Dillon Stuart glared at the middle-aged man with the four eyes, then turned and walked away.

The middle-aged man with four eyes remained seated, his face still bearing a half-smile.
The argument lasted only a very short time; by the time others heard the noise and looked over, the two had already scattered to different places.

Elsewhere, Qi Yuan, who was chatting with the fox-man-like Director Wiggins while waiting, saw this scene unfold and couldn't help but ask curiously via telepathy:
"Brother Wiggins, what's the relationship between these two? They seem to have a deep-seated grudge."

"The grudge runs quite deep."

The refined, fox-man elder Wiggins, standing nearby, smiled faintly and explained telepathically.
"Belvis was originally a resident of a life-bearing planet within the Stuart family's territory. After displaying considerable talent for cultivation, he was recruited by the Stuart family as an elite disciple for training. This Belvis lived up to expectations, rapidly advancing to the World Lord level with the help of the abundant resources provided by the Stuart family." "Shouldn't Belvis and the Stuart family have a rather close relationship? How did things turn out like this, with them arguing in public?" Qi Yuan asked curiously.

"It's nothing more than a matter of resources and interests."

Wiggins sighed, "You may not know this, but for some ordinary cultivators, the difficulty of acquiring resources is thousands or even tens of thousands of times greater than that of family scions with backgrounds and backers!"

"Although this Bervis has broken through to the Realm Lord level, he is not a member of the Stuart family by blood. Therefore, in terms of the allocation of power and resources, he is naturally inferior to some of the direct elites of the Stuart family."

"Because of his resentment and the desire to acquire more resources, he secretly betrayed a significant portion of the Stuart family's interests for personal gain. Later, when his scheme was exposed, he directly betrayed them and fled the Stuart family's sphere of influence."

Wiggins paused slightly, then added lightly,
"Furthermore, he secretly revealed to a not-so-reputable immortal deity that the Stuart family possessed an extremely precious treasure. Heh, as a result, the Stuart family has come to the attention of a powerful immortal being, and their days haven't been easy."

"So that's how it is. This Bervis is really shameless," Qi Yuan sighed silently.

The old fox-man beside him shook his head and smiled: "Cultivators will stop at nothing to obtain resources. Such things are almost everywhere. Who really cares whether they are shameless or not?"

"Too."

After this little incident, nothing else unexpected happened.

Soon, Liao Li, a purple-haired girl dressed in silver-white armor, led the two into the main hall and headed straight for Qi Yuan.

"Hey, look! Isn't that Changfeng, Uncle Changfeng? Wasn't he not coming? Why is he here again!"

In a corner of the banquet hall, where the Xue Lan family members were gathered, a young man with short black hair inadvertently spotted someone following behind the purple-haired girl—

It was the burly young man with a scar on his cheek who had come to Red Leaf Star with them.

Even he noticed it, let alone the venerable Xue Lan, who was at the realm lord level.

"Changfeng? Heh, you've finally figured it out, kid. Why care what others think? Come on, come with me. Let's see who dares to gossip!"

Ancestor Xuelan smiled and greeted the burly, black-haired youth with a telepathic message.

"Great-grandfather"

However, upon seeing Ancestor Xuelan, the burly youth did not stop at all. "Grandpa, this sir needs to take me to see the master of Qiyuan Tower first. I... I'll come back to speak with you later."

"The owner of the Qiyuan Tower?"

Ancestor Xuelan was somewhat surprised, but then nodded gently and said, "Alright, alright, then you go first. If you need anything, send a message to your grandfather. I'll wait for you here."

Yes, Great-Grandpa.

On the other side, Mr. Dillon, the patriarch of the Stuart family who had just had a big argument with a traitor in his family, also saw a familiar figure from his family.

"Ninth Girl, come over here."

He spoke with a smile.

"Uh, Ancestor, wait a moment, I'm going to collect an award first!"

The four-winged girl winked playfully at him.

"To receive an award?"

Dillon Stuart's eyes flickered slightly. He had been arguing with the traitor Bervis and hadn't paid attention to what was happening with Ninth Girl.
"Oh? So you've completed all the tests?" he asked telepathically.

"Of course! I passed the test with ease!"

The four-winged woman smiled smugly, "Hehe, I'd like to see what kind of heaven-defying opportunity awaits us after we've overcome all of these challenges!"

"Hehe, then you can go over there first."

Dillon Stuart's mind raced, but he solemnly instructed, "If I'm not mistaken, the owner of the Qiyuan Tower is none other than Mr. Qiyuan, whom we are to pay our respects. You must be very respectful in your attitude later!"

"Understood! Don't worry, Ancestor!"

At this moment, Qi Yuan, who had been chatting with Wiggins while waiting, finally met the two young men who had performed well in the Qiyuan Tower challenge.

The moment they met, his eyes lit up slightly!
[Target: Mireya Stuart; base return rate: 53x; can be bound to her after she becomes a disciple.]

"53 times!"

(End of this chapter)