Xu Luo's parents were interstellar explorers. Although their salaries were high, they earned it by risking their lives. Consequently, Xu Luo didn't have much pocket money each month.
Motorbikes—every man's dream! With his current divine realm's output, he could afford one, but it would hinder his divine realm's development.
"Forget it, I'll endure a bit longer!"
Xu Luo decided against using faith power to exchange for credits to improve his lifestyle. He focused on strengthening his abilities. Once his divine realm developed further and his daily faith power income increased, he could upgrade his living conditions, move out of his current apartment, and enjoy better food.
Wang Xiaoling's recruitment attempt was just a minor episode. Subsequently, Xu Luo encountered several other factions' attempts to win him over, which he politely declined. Some even threatened him, but he merely responded with a cold smile, leaving them to understand his resolve.
After school, Xu Luo boarded the rail train and soon arrived home. Connecting through the game pod, he entered the world of the gods. Instead of heading directly to his divine realm, he first went to the novice main city.
After seeing so many deceptive items in the black market last time, Xu Luo now preferred buying from legitimate stores. Though pricier, they were safer and offered reliable after-sales service.
[You have received a transfer. Please claim it promptly!]
Upon entering, a message awaited him with an address. Xu Luo claimed the transfer—one million units of faith power. The address likely belonged to the school logistics department.
Following the address, Xu Luo spent a bit of faith power to teleport there.
"Wow..."
Seeing the bustling marketplace, Xu Luo was stunned. Double-checking the address, he confirmed it was correct. After explaining his purpose, the staff verified his identity and assigned someone to help him choose his reward.
Inside the marketplace, Xu Luo found a dazzling array of items—everything related to divine realm development, from basic resource cards, terrain cards, species cards, to numerous skills, talents, and even divine spell scrolls. There were also rare species and resources.
However, he was only allowed to choose from the ordinary items.
While browsing, Xu Luo saw several items he liked but could only choose one, making the decision difficult.
Talent Card: Fire Poison
Grants species the ability to infuse their attacks with fire poison. (95% compatibility with Mantis, significantly enhancing its damage!)
Talent Card: Frost Ice
Grants species the ability to emit cold, slowing down opponents' movement and attack speeds while enhancing their defense. (89% compatibility with Beetle, greatly enhancing defense!)
Besides these, there were magical stones, spirit stones, and various other minerals with unique effects.
There were also species whose genes could be extracted and fused with the Zerg, not evolving new species but enhancing their strength.
Finally, Xu Luo found something he couldn't ignore—a rare metal.
[Memory Metal: Contains a large amount of memory metal from an unknown plane!]
The card description read:
Memory Metal: Possesses memory functions and can self-repair.
[Ding! Discovered exotic metal that can fuse with the Queen, granting all Zerg powerful self-healing abilities!]
Though he hadn't acquired the ogre chieftain's self-healing ability before, fusing with memory metal could provide a similar effect. A blessing in disguise!
Without hesitation, Xu Luo chose this resource card.
If he had to buy it himself, the internal student price was marked at seven hundred thousand faith power!
"Made your choice? I'll fetch it for you."
The attendant, seeing Xu Luo had decided, promptly retrieved the item.
"By the way, I also want the Fire Poison and Frost Ice talent cards!"
Knowing he could purchase items, Xu Luo immediately decided to buy the two talent cards he had his eye on.
"Fire Poison costs fifty thousand, Frost Ice one hundred fifty thousand, totaling two hundred thousand. As the freshman champion, you get a 10% discount, so the total is one hundred eighty thousand."
The attendant became enthusiastic upon hearing Xu Luo wanted to make a purchase.
"Freshman champion?"
Xu Luo was puzzled.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. I'm also from Sixth Middle School, a senior this year. Just doing some work-study here!"
The senior didn't seem embarrassed about his work.
Xu Luo couldn't help but smirk. Without being told, he would've thought the senior was twenty-five or twenty-six.
"Students can do work-study?"
"You don't know, do you? Even as the freshman champion in the elite class, the initial reward of one million is barely enough. As your species and subordinates increase, all their needs require money. The divine realm needs development, followers need arming, and you must defend against invasions. Chaotic storms and divine abominations necessitate protective measures, all costing money. Faith power from followers alone won't suffice; developing a side business is essential!"
The senior vented his frustrations, clearly having bottled them up for a long time.
Xu Luo sympathized but knew his Zerg didn't face such troubles. They didn't need special living conditions and only required evolution points for sustenance.
In the school store, Xu Luo collected his desired items and soon returned to his divine realm.