In the end, Gu Nan wasn't able to learn the true relationship between Ying Ge and Zi Dian from his questions.
Of course, neither the anger nor shame that Ying Ge revealed could be trusted—Gu Nan didn't believe even a single punctuation mark of hers. These Star Rulers' true attitude towards others could only be seen from their actions, not their words.
Zi Luo Heaven was a large plane in the truest sense, but its absolute volume actually wasn't big, It was far smaller than even a plane like Star Realm.
This was because the spatial characteristics of Zi Luo Heaven were completely different from the planes Gu Nan saw in the past.
There was no such thing as a planet or outer space here. The sky was above their head and the earth was below their feet, which was the "round heaven, square earth" concept in the truest sense.
"You drove away the guide who delivered herself right to my door, so are you ready to be a guide now?"
Ying Ge patted her flat chest and said confidently, "All the major organizations have a branch in Zi Luo Heaven, and their locations haven't changed in tens of thousands of years. Where do you want to go? Just tell me."
Gu Nan thought for a moment. "What's the best place to earn origin crystals?"
Origin crystal was the common currency for both Void Cutter and Star Ruler cultivators. It might not have much purchasing power for some extremely rare objects, but its innate value wasn't low.
"Of course that's… Astral Gate."
...
Gu Nan and Ying Ge slowly walked out of a teleporter in Zi Luo Heaven. Gu Nan was still holding a round bead that glowed faintly blue.
"So this is an origin crystal?" Gu Nan tossed the round bead up and down in his hand with a somewhat curious expression.
Something like money was rarely seen even at the Prodigious Realm, because Prodigious experts all had different cultivation paths. Without a common pursuit, it was naturally difficult for currency to exist.
But it was a different story for those above Void Cutter Realm.
At least for those at Void Cutter and Star Ruler Realms, they both had a common pursuit—world origins—but Void Cutter cultivators mainly observed and deepened their comprehension of it, while Star Ruler cultivators also needed to absorb it.
And origin crystals, as their name implied, were crystals condensed from world origins.
Origin crystals were very troublesome to make, and the power required of the producer was very demanding. Ordinary Star Rulers couldn't even unseal them, let alone duplicate them.
Therefore, the purchasing power of origin crystals was slightly higher than its actual value. Among that, the manufacturing process accounted for a considerable part of that gap.
In addition to its function as a circulating currency, origin crystals could also be converted into highly active world origins, which was the main way of "cashing" origin crystals.
Such an unusual monetary system was the result of tens of thousands of years' development in the Myriad Heavens Universe, and it was still popular all over the world today.
In Gu Nan's hand was one such origin crystal, but it was of the smallest denomination and contained only one unit of world origin.
In Zi Luo Heaven, Void Cutter and even Star Ruler powerhouses weren't allowed to teleport within the plane without permission. They must use Zi Luo Heaven's teleportation arrays.
And teleportation arrays naturally charged a fee. Gu Nan didn't even know what origin crystals looked like. Of course he asked the rich and imposing Classmate Ying Ge to help out.
"By the way, why do you still have origin crystals despite having been sealed for so long?"
"None of your business!"
Gu Nan could only shrug at Ying Ge's uncooperative attitude. However, this brief interlude didn't affect their arrival at the border of a large organization.
Astral Gate.
Zi Luo Heaven was indeed a top-notch neutral plane. Gu Nan could even find a remote organization like "Radiant Tower" here, not to mention Astral Gate.
Astral Gate was a major organization well-known throughout the entire Myriad Heavens Universe, and it was famous for its openness in accepting members. Anyone could join.
Moreover, this organization's internal structure also had a developed exchange system to ensure that members could trust each other.
Even a small fry like Lu Zhanyu could gain a Void Cutter powerhouse's recognition through her own ability after entering Astral Gate. This was enough to illustrate the problem.
How do they ensure the trust between members? It's simple—Astral Gate just hunts down rule breakers and slaughters their entire family.
The truly large organizations and forces basically all use this method to ensure the loyalty of their members.
After Gu Nan walked out of the teleportation array, he found himself inside a city. Countless pedestrians of different cultivation realms walked along in the streets.
Gu Nan swept a glance over them. There was almost no difference between cultivators and mortals, who were mixed together. He even saw a Void Cutter export walking on the streets.
Only within an extremely powerful organization could such a structure be formed.
"I'm going to join Astral Gate. Do you want to go together?" Gu Nan glanced at Ying Ge.
"Of course! What will you do if I got abducted because I didn't follow you?" Ying Ge gave him a look that screamed, "Are you kidding me?"
She continued, "Plus, I'm an 11-star member of Astral Gate, so I can carry you!"
A completely open organization like Astral Gate was indeed extremely popular with wandering cultivators. Even Ying Ge spent some time in this organization.
Ying Ge took Gu Nan to Astral Gate's main hall. Here, just like what Gu Nan saw at the Heavenly Mystery Dao Hall, the space was divided into separate blocks.
The current Gu Nan had long gotten used to this. He knew that the interior of Starry Ocean Pavilion was bound to have this kind of arrangement as well. The Heavenly Mystery Dao Lord learned it from there.
"Welcome back, 11-star member Blood Song."
Gu Nan and Ying Ge entered at the same time, so they were assigned to the same block of space. A soft female voice rang out in front of them.
"Change code name to Ying Ge[1]," Ying Ge's first sentence was to change her previous code name.
She didn't explain why she did this, but Gu Nan could guess—she probably didn't want her past acquaintances to know her current identity.
"Code name change confirmed. New code name recorded," the female voice quickly responded to Ying Ge's request. The voice always sounded soft and mellow, but its tone seemed to remain unchanged from beginning to end.
Ying Ge was clearly very familiar with Astral Gate and said without hesitation, "I want to recommend a new member."
However, the response given by Astral Gate surprised her a little.
"Command confirmed… No suitable target detected."
"Welcome back, normal member Evil God."
The latter sentence was obviously said to Gu Nan. As early as Tier 3, Gu Nan had the experience of coming into contact with Astral Gate and left a record inside.
Ying Ge stared blankly, then reacted to what happened, pointing to Gu Nan as she burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Normal member! And Evil God, what a shoddy code name!"
Gu Nan had long gotten used to Ying Ge's theatrical antics, so he didn't take it to heart. He just casually picked a code name back then, but it was inappropriate now.
As he leveled up, he may come into contact with people from the World of Gods at some time. Wasn't using the code name "Evil God" just asking for trouble?
Gu Nan glanced at Ying Ge and asked, "Can the code name be changed at will? What happens if multiple people pick the same code name?"
Ying Ge was still howling with laughter. She finally managed to speak with difficulty, "You can change it if you don't think it's too much trouble. And it doesn't matter if your name is the same as someone else's. Astral Gate records your law origin as identification, not your code name."
Gu Nan nodded. "Change code name to… Ying Ge's Daddy."
The laughter finally came to an abrupt end.