I chose the safe house, and the Human Alliance regretted it.

Yu Ruins. On the long white jade bridge, Wang Wei and Qi stood side by side.

Wang Wei glanced at her sideways.

From the moment he set sail from the planet, Qi has maintained the same angle, facing the direction of that vanished point of light deep in the starry sky, like a statue that has been fixed in place.

Wang Wei suddenly suggested, "How about we take a trip to the First Empire?"

Prayer finally moved.

She turned to look at him, "Okay."

Wang Wei was somewhat surprised.

He just said it casually, but he didn't expect Qi to actually agree.

Qi seemed to sense his confusion and muttered to herself, "We've been here too long. Let's go out and take a final look."

Wang Wei didn't say anything more.

She has guarded this place alone since the Yu Dynasty, and this loneliness of ten thousand years is unimaginable to ordinary people.

"Let's go."

A moment later, the two left.

Under the starry sky, only the endless cluster of buildings in Yuxu gleamed in the starlight.

Emperor Star City is a shop that does not cheat the poor.

When Wang Wei brought Qi back, it was already dawn.

Zi Jin hadn't left yet; he sat alone on the floating chair next to the counter.

She saw the two people who came in, and her eyes flickered when she saw Qi Shi in particular.

Zi Jin is considered a beauty, but compared to Qi, she's not even in the same league.

Qi possesses an aura that doesn't belong to this era, like someone who has stepped out of an ancient painting.

"I'm going back now." Zi Jin stood up, her gaze lingering between Wang Wei and Qi for a moment before she pushed open the door and left.

"Okay," Wang Wei replied, without trying to stop him.

After all, in front of this ancestor of the Yu Dynasty, he couldn't very well continue to reduce Zi Jin's energy level.

Although Wang Wei guessed that Qi was probably also an experienced person, and frighteningly old, having another person around would still make him uncomfortable.

Only Qi and Wang Wei remained in the shop.

"You're not going to marry her?" Qi suddenly asked.

"Who?" Wang Wei asked in surprise.

"That girl from earlier."

"No," Wang Wei shook his head. "She's my client."

Upon hearing this, Qi's expression turned strange: "You're involved in this kind of business?"

"Huh?" Wang Wei was taken aback.

What did Qi see?

Qi looked around the shop: "Is this your shop? It doesn't look like a brothel."

Wang Wei's face darkened.

He realized that Qi had misunderstood.

"I only do legitimate business."

"I understand," Qi nodded.

Wang Wei, not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer, quickly said, "I'll take you around and let you experience life here."

"good."

Afterwards, Wang Wei took Qi for a stroll in the commercial street.

He led her into a clothing store, picked out a simple light blue long dress, and handed it to her.

"This one suits you better."

Over the next few days, Wang Wei took Qi on a tour around the area surrounding Dixing City.

From commercial streets to night markets, from the Starry Sky Harbor to the lakeside park.

Wherever Qi goes, people turn their heads to look – that innate temperament is out of step with the times, yet inexplicably captivating.

Someone recognized Wang Wei and called out "Hello, shop owner!" from afar, their voices carrying an unconscious respect.

Qi heard this, glanced at Wang Wei, and said, "You seem to be quite popular."

"It's alright," Wang Wei said without batting an eye. "This shop owner has a pretty good reputation."

Qi smiled but remained silent.

Wang Wei originally planned to take advantage of the free time to show Qi Hao around the entire empire.

But in the following days, the number of customers at the store that didn't rip off poor people suddenly increased.

First came the special envoy from the Changqing Empire, then the Xuantian Empire, the Dayan Empire, the Cangwu Empire... It was as if they had made an appointment, with different people walking into the store almost every day.

They all asked the same question: What exactly was that wisp of dark red energy? Would it come again? If it did, could the Imperial Allied Forces stop it?

Wang Wei sat behind the counter, offering the same price for every question: "One trillion vials of energy liquid."

Then comes the much-anticipated bargaining phase.

"Shopkeeper, can I pay with source ore? If you're willing to accept source ore, we can—"

"No, we won't accept it."

"Shop owner, we are willing to allocate the usage rights of ten administrative stars—"

"No, we won't accept it."

"Shopkeeper, what about installment payments? Ten years—"

"no."

The people from the seventeen countries were utterly humiliated.

One trillion vials of energy liquid would take these empires a long time to produce.

After seeing off the seventeenth group of guests, Wang Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi laughed and said, "What kind of business is this? I'll reject them all."

"Apart from energy liquid, nothing else is useful to me." Wang Wei shook his head, opened his eyes, and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to Purple Emperor Star."

"good."

Meanwhile, on the edge of the First Empire's territory, alarms sounded at outposts.

A mining planet located on the outermost edge of the empire.

Monitors detected unusual energy fluctuations during a routine scan.

Countless dark red streams surged in from all directions, like a fine, dark veil covering the surface of the mineral planet.

Twelve miners working were enveloped by a dark red aura.

Dark red lines appeared on their skin, and their aura began to surge.

More dark red currents of energy seemed to be aware of their own existence, automatically seeking out other life forms.

"Evacuate quickly!" someone commanded a large number of miners to evacuate.

But they clearly underestimated the speed at which the dark red aura spread—twelve, thirty, seventy… In just a moment, the number of mutants increased from twelve to three hundred and twenty-seven.

"boom!"

A vast aura erupted from the twelve people who were the first to mutate.

What level is that? Emperor level.

The miners who were originally preparing to flee were stunned, and then they made a decision that no one expected—to turn back and actively meet the dark red air currents.

This is Emperor-level!

The heights that ordinary people can never reach in their entire lives can now be achieved with just a "touch".

The next day, all the remaining personnel on the mining planet who had not yet evacuated had completed their mutations.

From low-level miners to planetary administrators, hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously broke through to the Emperor-level combat power.

Their skin was covered with a layer of dark red carapace, and their eyes had turned into blazing white orbs of light, just like the Emperor-level Star Beasts on the battlefield.

When the news reached Purple Emperor Star, the empire's top brass fell silent.

They had just finished a war against the Star Beasts, losing nearly half of their fleet and a third of their troops.

Now, hundreds of thousands of Emperor-level combatants have appeared on their own land—and just two days ago, these people were ordinary citizens of the Empire.

The First Empire's ruler sat in the empty council chamber, remaining silent for a long time.

Then he only said one sentence: "Go and beg the shopkeeper."

The word "please" has changed to "request".

During the Star Beast Crisis, Wang Wei had already emptied the First Empire's coffers.

This time, the empire didn't even have the right to ask the price.

Wang Wei already knows.

Under the light, he saw those dark red currents continuously surging into the empire's territory, and each wisp of current entering the human body would cause mutations.

All the miners on the mining planet were devoured.

On a blue planet, two people who were enjoying themselves stopped.

Wang Wei frowned: "There's some trouble that needs to be dealt with."

Qi nodded: "The important matter comes first."

Wang Wei reached out and grasped Qi's hand, and the two instantly disappeared from the spot.

The next second, they appeared above the mining planet.

The aura of mutants is still breaking through layers on the planet's surface. Once everyone completes their advancement, it will be the end of the empire.

The Empire sent a large number of warships to the outer perimeter of the planet, but has not dared to launch a rash attack.

There are hundreds of thousands of Emperor-level beings here; it's a hornet's nest, and poking it will lead to destruction.

Wang Wei didn't have many concerns.

He raised his hand, his domain expanded, and the Calamity Sword appeared in his palm.

"It's the shop owner!"

"The shop owner is here!"

"Haha, then it's all right!"

On the imperial warship, everyone exclaimed excitedly.

A sword light that stretched for thousands of miles swept across the planet's surface, and the mutants turned into dust in the golden light.

The notification sounds kept popping up:

"Slay an Emperor-level mutant and gain 1 planetary unit safe point."

"Slay an Emperor-level mutant and gain 1 planetary unit safe point."

"..."

With a single sword strike, all the mutants on the entire mining planet were wiped out.

"The shop owner is invincible!"

"The shop owner is invincible!"

A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the warship.

Wang Wei ignored them.

He looked down at the ground—the dark red currents were re-condensing, dispersing, and searching for their next host.

He raised his hand and extinguished a wisp of air, without any response.

He was about to erase everything, but then he stopped.

A very subtle feeling welled up inside me.

The dark red aura does not provide any benefit when it is extinguished, but the mutants provide a large number of safe points when they are killed.

This means that if he lets the airflow continue to erode and waits until more people mutate before killing them, he can gain a massive amount of safe points.

Actively suppressing airflow yields zero benefit.

He can gain a lot by turning people into monsters and then killing them, but the cost is that those mutated people will die.

"What's wrong?" Qi asked from the side.

Wang Wei responded truthfully: "I've encountered a choice."

"What question?"

"I gain nothing from eradicating the aura emanating from these scourges. However, once they corrupt people and find a vessel, and then mutate and are killed by me, they can enhance my strength."

Qi fell silent upon hearing this.

She certainly understood what this meant.

Wang Wei's improved strength will be entirely beneficial, both for him personally and for the impending great calamity.

However, this requires someone to make a sacrifice first.