After wandering around for a long time, Xu Yiru finally said it was getting late and she needed to go home. Shang Yunyan walked her back to Villa 11 and then turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Xu Yiru's mother, standing in the second-floor bedroom, was lost in thought as she watched Shang Yunyan's figure fade away.
"What are you looking at, dear?" Xu Daqiang's voice came from beside her.
"Nothing! Our daughter just got back! Honey, are you and the boys going to be talking late into the night again?"
"Ah, the eldest suggested I sell off some small and medium enterprises, but those companies are bound to make money in the future. I really don't want to do it! So tonight, I might have to think of another way. I called those three over."
"You're working hard, honey. If you get hungry in the middle of the night, just let me know, and I'll whip something up for you."
Xu Daqiang nodded and walked over to his wife. Suddenly, he spotted Shang Yunyan in the distance and said, "What, is our daughter out shopping with that kid?"
"She was with me originally, but I ran into him and went home early because my stomach was upset! I've been drinking that weight loss tea, and it's just given me diarrhea—definitely not helping me lose weight! I think those products are just scams!"
Xu Daqiang noticed his wife's expression but didn't see any flaws, so he kept quiet. He only told his wife to warn their daughter to stay away from Shang Yunyan.
Xiao Wei understood where Xu Daqiang was coming from and said, "If you want to say it, our daughter is grown up and has her own ideas about who to be friends with. Why is it always me who has to handle the conflicts?"
"Oh come on! This isn't the same as when you said our daughter should sacrifice her marriage for the Xu family! Now you're worried about offending people and want me to deal with it!"
"I won't argue with you! I'm going to watch a show!" Xiao Wei knew she couldn't win an argument with Xu Daqiang, so she just turned and walked away.
The Xu family talked late into the night without making any progress. But if this dragging on continued, it wouldn't be long before the Xu family would be dragged down too!
The massive labor costs and company expenses were astronomical, and banks were starting to cautiously evaluate loans to the five great families to prevent another giant company from going bankrupt and failing to pay back the banks!
Late at night, Shang Yunyan was chatting with the system, and the system suggested he use up all the other functions. However, Shang Yunyan didn't follow the advice. Instead, he entered the Universal Mode and looked at the Heavenly Crown Divine Tree, which had grown over three meters high. He suddenly asked, "System, now that this tree is so tall, if I start picking its leaves and cutting its bark, can I make those miraculous medicines or cosmetics you mentioned?"
"Yes! Not only that, but mixing the leaves or powdered bark from the divine tree into health products or drinks can also have longevity effects! But based on the current state of the Heavenly Crown Divine Tree, if you're not careful, it might die from your actions!"
"Wait, what? Die? I can't touch it now? It's over three meters tall!" Shang Yunyan felt pleased at first but was left speechless by the later part of the system's response.
"Dude! The Heavenly Crown Divine Tree can grow hundreds of meters tall. Right now, it's just a sapling, and you want to mess with it? It could easily die! Besides, there might not be many of these trees in the entire universe. You've got a rare one!"
"Fine, I'll wait a bit longer. My pharmaceutical company and cosmetics tech company haven't even started construction yet. I can wait! By the way, why are there suddenly two extra keys on your control panel?" Shang Yunyan noticed two new buttons labeled Self-Protection and External Scanning on the right side of the original control panel.
"Is this also a function key?"
"These two keys aren't entirely system function keys; they're host-specific functions. One is to protect you in a crisis, and the other helps the host discover things on this planet or other planets!"
"Wait! Other planets? You're not asking me to leave Earth and explore Mars or Mercury, are you?"
"Not at all! You'll understand once you upgrade the system to level seven or above in the future!"
Hearing this, Shang Yunyan furrowed his brow. He had heard the system say this at least four times already and knew it must be hinting at something. But he couldn't outsmart the system; it had its own rules!
"Got it, system!"
Shang Yunyan returned to the system control panel, which was as wide as five or six meters and over three meters tall. He reached out, and the panel moved closer to him!
"Let's use the lottery key!" After thinking it over, he decided the other two keys could wait, but the lottery key didn't matter, so he activated it.
"Ding! The host is using the lottery key. Lottery in progress, please wait! ~ Ding! Lottery complete. Congratulations, host, you have won the Heavenly God Ship!"
"Heavenly God Ship? What is that? Sounds like a spaceship!"
"Please check the system storage space for the Heavenly God Ship's documents and materials!"
Shang Yunyan turned to the system storage space. Inside, thick files were quietly arranged. The first book he saw was the contract, and when he opened it, he was stunned!