A massive fish? What kind of fish could be so large that Xia Qiming would use the word “massive” three times in a row?
Besides, the external world fragments on Blue Star—the dungeons—should have all been cleared by now.
This meant this so-called “big fish” was likely a new expedition target that the Blue Star Heavenly Dao had its eye on.
Interesting. Was the target world so powerful that the Blue Star Heavenly Dao felt the local job-holders couldn't handle it alone, prompting Xia Qiming to seek Chen Xu's help?
Given the current strength of Blue Star's job-holders, anything the Heavenly Dao found troublesome would have to be at least eternal-tier.
To prevent the Blue Star Heavenly Dao's crude behavior from offending an eternal-tier powerhouse and bringing disaster upon Daxia, Chen Xu decided it was best to head back and take a look.
Chen Xu resonated with his own statue to locate Blue Star. Once locked on, he opened a spatial gate.
Stepping through, he appeared atop his statue in Xinwang City.
The Hero Plaza in Xinwang City was relatively empty this time. Chen Xu expanded his soul perception, scanning the entire planet.
Strange. There weren't many job-holders on Blue Star, and high-level ones were even rarer.
In Daxia, for instance, of the many mythic-tier experts, only two or three remained on the planet. One was Xia Qiming, who seemed to be staying behind specifically to wait for Chen Xu's arrival.
Chen Xu locked onto Xia Qiming's location and teleported directly. As usual, the man was sitting at his desk.
However, times had changed. There were no paper documents on Xia Qiming's desk, only a large screen emitting the electronic voice of Fuxi Intelligence.
Xia Qiming was lounging in a specialized recliner, sipping tea while giving instructions to Fuxi.
From the luster of the chair and the fragrance wafting from the tea, neither was an ordinary item—they were at least legendary-tier.
Chen Xu dropped his concealment, revealing his presence, and spoke with mock gravity.
“Daxia Discipline Department! Comrade Xia Qiming, your crimes have come to light. Please come with us!”
Xia Qiming's hand trembled, spilling tea from his cup.
But he quickly recovered. What “Daxia Discipline Department”? There was no one in that department strong enough to bypass his senses. Only that brat Chen Xu could suddenly appear like this.
Circulating his power to evaporate the tea on his pants, Xia Qiming looked away from the screen and glared at Chen Xu.
“You brat, since when did you start working for the Discipline Department? I didn't get the memo. And ‘crimes’? If I have any, it’s that I diverted too many resources to you back then!”
“Hehe, see, you’re getting all worked up. I just haven't seen you in a while and wanted to lighten the mood.”
“Hmph. Look at you. You don't have the slightest air of an expert, and you're supposed to be someone who has reached the world's peak.”
“No, no, no, Professor Xia. That’s just a stereotype.”
An air of an expert? Who said powerful people had to be stiff? Among those Chen Xu knew, few actually acted the part.
The Mother of Hell was a complete mental patient, her moods as erratic as the wind.
The Lord of Heaven, the secret boss of the Myriad Worlds' number one divine pantheon, looked the part—stiff and formal—but he fell apart the moment Thor was involved.
And martial dao lords like Li Taiji were busy running competitions between factions and trying to open martial arts halls in the Land of the Undead.
If it weren't for the sudden incident in Hell, those halls would already be open.
As far as Chen Xu knew, the powerful didn't necessarily have a “grand” demeanor. In fact, because of the endless passage of time, they often became bored and prone to bizarre behavior.
Why were middle-aged men obsessed with fishing? The reason was similar. After a long time, everything else just became tedious.
Xia Qiming didn't bother arguing. Chen Xu was the one in the unique-tier, not him. The power of discourse lay with Chen Xu.
He spoke to the screen.
“Fuxi, send a copy of the Dragon Realm information to Chen Xu.”
Then he turned back to Chen Xu.
“By the way, do you still have your smart terminal? If it’s broken, I’ll apply for a new one for you.”
“I have it, but it’s out of battery. Though I don't think I need it. Honestly, Professor Xia, your thinking is slower than Fuxi’s. Even the AI knows to find me through the Undead Network.”
As Chen Xu's birthplace, Blue Star naturally had access to the Undead Network.
However, the Undead Network functioned similarly to the job-holder panel. Blue Star's job-holders didn't usually chat there; they used it as a platform to get news from other worlds.
Essentially, it was a place to keep up with interstellar gossip.
Aside from that, they used it to access various skills hosted on the network.
The Undead Network had been built with the Blue Star job-holder template in mind, making it incredibly intuitive for them to use.
They could seamlessly insert skills called from the Undead Network into their regular combos, creating a relentless offensive that significantly boosted their strength.
Naturally, Blue Star's job-holders were the biggest contributors to the Undead Network's skill database, given their vast and diverse range of classes.
After browsing the information Fuxi sent, a spark of realization lit up Chen Xu's mind.
“A world that moves and hides itself? Frequented by dragons and reeking of treasure?”
“This description sounds a lot like the vast Dragon Realm Sindragosa mentioned.”
The data from Fuxi said the Blue Star Heavenly Dao had discovered a world with a dense draconic aura, and this world actually moved through the Cosmic Sea.
If Blue Star hadn't specifically enhanced its world-searching capabilities for the sake of expeditions, it might have missed this Dragon Realm entirely.
Chen Xu forwarded the information to Sindragosa for verification.
She replied quickly, confirming that the world discovered by the Blue Star Heavenly Dao was indeed the Dragon Realm from her memories.
According to her, that Dragon Realm had existed for countless ages. It was ancient and incredibly wealthy.
Dragons were pathologically obsessed with wealth. After eons of accumulation, the amount of treasure stored within was unimaginable. Even Chen Xu felt his heart skip a beat.
However, such an ancient realm surely held powerful enemies. It wasn't like the world fragment Chen Xu had visited before.
Just then, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao appeared in its true spirit form—the same young child as before.
But this time, the child's attire was very traditional: a plain daoist robe, a cinnabar mark on the forehead, red lips, and black hair. He looked like a young daoist acolyte.
The Heavenly Dao looked at Chen Xu and spoke.
“So, are you interested? I noticed you were quite fond of dragons in the past, so I made sure to leave a mark on that world.”
Chen Xu put his hands behind his back and looked down at the Heavenly Dao without saying a word.
The Heavenly Dao felt unnerved by the gaze, his hands fidgeting within his wide sleeves.
“I know the rules. How about a 30/70 split? Leaving that mark took a lot of effort; it’s a technical job.”
“A 30/70 split? Why do I only get 30%? Hmm?”
Chen Xu feigned ignorance and released a wave of pressure toward the Blue Star Heavenly Dao.
“Stop, stop, stop! 30% for me, 70% for you! I said I know the rules—the one doing the heavy lifting gets the lion's share.”
“Only 70%?”
“What? Isn't 70% enough? You... you...”
The Blue Star Heavenly Dao grew anxious, but he was helpless. After a brief struggle, he sighed in resignation.
“Fine, 20/80 then. I take 20%, you take 80%. Is that okay? I still have to give a portion of my 20% to the Blue Star job-holders. Any less and I’ll be operating at a loss!”
Rate on N.U.
