Chapter 1986: Borrowing Money

Despite being the Seven Courts’ representative on the overseers’ council and even being rumored to be Xia Ji’s illegitimate son, Xia Sheng had surprised Bu Laoweng and the other overseers by showing a friendly attitude towards Lu Yin. It had even surprised Lu Yin.

Despite being aware of Xia Sheng’s friendliness, Lu Yin did not really care much about it. There were too many people who wanted to use him or take advantage of him, and it did not matter if there was one more. Even if this person was an overseer, it made no real difference.

As the Tower of the Fifth neared completion, more and more people gathered in the nearby Cosmic Sea.

Anyone who was capable of reaching the Abyss of the Sea was not an ordinary cultivator.

The Cosmic Sea remained the same Cosmic Sea as ever, and it would never become gentle just because of the number of people inhabiting it.

If the monstrous powers from the Neoverse did not send out a powerhouse to lead their disciples, their only way of crossing the Cosmic Sea was to rely on one of the various crews that roamed about the sea. The Cosmic Sea was a cruel place, and at this moment, almost all of the native crews were waiting around the Abyss of the Sea. How could any of them have the spare time to escort more cultivators across the Cosmic Sea? The crews were also all eager to be among the first to enter the Tower of the Fifth and receive an inheritance. The fewer people present, the less competition there would be upon entry.

Given the current situation, the only way to arrive at the Abyss of the Sea was without the guidance of a Cosmic Sea crew. However, one could only imagine the struggles and sacrifices needed for such people to reach the Abyss of the Sea.

Lu Yin had already foreseen this situation.

While the purpose of the Tower of the Fifth was to educate humanity and improve the overall strength of the Fifth Mainland, not everyone was qualified to enter. The Cosmic Sea was the first obstacle that needed to be passed. Just reaching the Abyss of the Sea itself was an indication that people had passed the first trial, and the next trial was to cross over the Abyss of the Sea and enter the Tower of the Fifth. This was yet another challenge.

However, at the moment, surviving the battles raging just outside the Abyss of the Sea could be considered the second trial before they could enter the Tower of the Fifth to seek an inheritance.

Everyone was hoping to eliminate a few others, so the fighting never ceased.

It was also worth mentioning that the Mavis Bank, Aurora Enterprises, Shamrock Enterprise, and other similar mammoth corporations had already established branch offices just outside the Abyss of the Sea.

After Lu Yin rose up from the seabed, his first task was to visit the local branch of the Mavis Bank that had been built on a new island just outside the Abyss of the Sea.

There was the same towering tree as always, decorated with universal currency that fluttered in the breeze. The bank radiated a feeling of peerless wealth.

Lu Yin still remembered the first time that he had seen one of the Mavis Bank’s branch offices in the Great Yu Empire on Zhenyu Star. His shock at beholding such a sight remained fresh in his memory even after so many years.

During his first visit to the Mavis Bank, the sight of seeing them literally throwing money away had been such a foreign concept that he could not understand it at all. However, tossing around cash for others to pick off of the ground did indeed exude a sense of abundance and nobility.

At the current moment, the tree covered with cash somehow seemed ordinary to Lu Yin.

Given the exchange rate between star essence and universal currency, the people who were able to reach the Abyss of the Sea could not be bothered to pick up the money that littered the ground on the island.

Every single branch of the Mavis Bank gave off the same atmosphere as all the others. Lu Yin emerged from the void to step into the bank, only to see that there was not a single customer in the building.

Lu Yin's arrival caused everyone in the Mavis Bank to rise to their feet in surprise, and they all looked at him with admiration and respect.

"Lu Yin?" someone exclaimed.

Lu Yin turned his head and gave a small smile. "Lulu, I didn't expect you to be running this place."

Lulu Mavis was the one who had called out to Lu Yin, and she was accompanied by another familiar face: Grandini Mavis.

The two of them had been put in charge of this branch of the bank.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Student Lu, it’s been a long time." Grandini Mavis greeted Lu Yin with a smile.

Lu Yin nodded. "So are you two in charge of this place?"

Lulu rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what the elders are thinking, giving the two of us responsibilities like this."

Grandini Mavis just laughed. "Of course they’re worried about you being inexperienced, which is why I’m here—to keep an eye on you."

Lulu bared her teeth. "I'm already overseeing more than twenty branches! Do you want to start a fight, Grandini?"

The older girl rolled her eyes.

Lu Yin found the entire exchange rather funny. He had not seen the two young women together since their time in the Astral Combat Academy. "I'm here to make a withdrawal. What’s the maximum withdrawal that this branch allows?"

Lulu and Grandini both turned to look at Lu Yin. "How much do you want to take out?"

"What’s the limit?" Lu Yin repeated.

Grandini Mavis replied, "A billion star essence."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "That much?"

It was already impressive for a typical branch office of the Mavis Bank to allow someone to withdraw 100,000 star essence, and the main branches in each of the Innerverse’s eight great flowzones allowed withdrawals in the tens of millions. Even most of the important branch offices only allowed someone to take out a few tens of millions of star essence in a single transaction.

However, this branch had a limit of one billion star essence per withdrawal.

Lulu explained, "We’re next to the Tower of the Fifth, which is currently the most popular place in the entire Fifth Mainland. Countless people have flocked here from all over the Fifth Mainland. It’s only natural that we’ve gathered enough liquid assets here to avoid the possibility of our funds here being overdrawn. So? What’s it going to be? Is a billion star essence enough for you?"

Lu Yin smiled as he pulled out the gray crystal card that he had received from Yunying Mavis. "I'm sorry, but that’s not going to be enough."

"A gray crystal card?" Grandini exclaimed.

Lulu was also caught off guard. She had been visiting the Ancestor Tortoise when Yunying Mavis had given this crystal card to Lu Yin, so she had not seen it before.

"This card had 5 billion star essence on its account, and it also allows one to take out an emergency loan of 20 billion. I want all of that. By the way, could you ask Elder Yunying Mavis a question for me? What’s the maximum loan that I can take out from your bank given my status?" Lu Yin asked as he clasped his hands behind his back.

Every number that he mentioned left the girls in shock, and even the bank employees eavesdropping on the conversation were stunned.

Everyone sent to this particular branch had been selected because of their experience and capabilities. They routinely handled tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of star essence, but Lu Yin was casually discussing a transaction over billions of star essence as soon as he arrived. This one person could potentially clean out the entire branch’s funds.

Lulu grew serious. "Are you sure that you want to take out that much?"

Lu Yin nodded. He did not really have a choice, as his expenditure rate was just too excessive. "Please ask for me."

Lulu nodded before turning and leaving around.

At this moment, fighting could be heard from outside the Mavis Bank.

Lu Yin's domain spread out. Given his current strength, there were few people who could detect Lu Yin’s domain.

He found there were quite a few people fighting outside the bank, as well as an acquaintance: the Wen family’s Wen Yao.

Lu Yin grew curious after seeing Wen Yao, so he moved over to the bank’s entrance. An employee moved behind him to set up a table and some chairs before preparing some tea.

Lu Yin accepted the courtesy and sat down.

The Second Nightking remained hidden in the void, but Grandini accompanied Lu Yin.

"Do you not mind that people are fighting right outside your bank?" Lu Yin asked.

Grandini shrugged. "It happens far too often. Everyone wants to get rid of some of the competition, and right now, every place around the Abyss of the Sea is a battlefield. There are times when the fighting has even spilled over into my bank."

Lu Yin found this quite entertaining.

Just outside the bank, Wen Yao was facing off against a middle-aged Enlighter. While the man’s cultivation was at a similar level to Wen Yao’s, he was overpowering Wen Yao. In fact, if not for the Literary Prison, Wen Yao would have already lost.

Within the range of his domain, Lu Yin could not see anyone else from the Wen family who could use Literary Prison aside from Wen Yao. The battlefield was quite chaotic, and it looked like it was mostly filled with independent cultivators.

Grandini spoke up to say, "The Wen family is the only Innerverse power from any of the eight great flowzones that hasn’t joined the Great Eastern Alliance. They’ve started cooperating with independent cultivators who’ve gathered around the Tower of the Fifth to form a common interest group. Right now, they’re fighting against people from the World League."

Lu Yin found this surprising. "The World League? The cooperative formed from the 3,000 hidden worlds?"

Grandini nodded. "Do you see that young man just outside the battlefield with two maids next to him? That’s Yan Chen from the Red Prism World. He’s typically called Prince Yan."

Prince Yan? Lu Yin had heard this name before, as it had been mentioned during a fight in Skyraiser City that had taken place between Xi Gu's granddaughter, Xi Shuang, and some people who belonged to Prince Yan.

"The World League is rather united, and given the competition surrounding the Tower of the Fifth, they’ve fully banded together. They aren’t relying on any of the major Neoverse powers, but they also aren’t afraid. As for the Wen family, they can't rely on the Great Eastern Alliance, so their only option is to try to pull over the independent cultivators. There aren’t many powerhouses, but there are a lot of average cultivators among the independent cultivators, and they also have a great number of eyes and ears. There are a lot of other groups that have come together around the Abyss of the Sea so far, both big and small. The largest one is the Great Eastern Alliance’s group," Grandini said, while glancing over at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin found this unexpected. "There’s even a group from the Great Eastern Alliance?"

He truly had not known about this, as he had already provided the means of the Overlaying Stacks Path and battle force cultivating method to many of the high-ranking members of the Great Eastern Alliance. However, after the Great Eastern Alliance had dominated the Outerverse, countless organizations had joined it since, but may not have been directly managed by the Great Eastern Alliance as core members However, they would all unite when faced with outsiders.

"The group from the Great Eastern Alliance is currently the largest group in the Abyss of the Sea. While their overall strength isn’t very impressive, no one dares to move against them. After all, you’re the leader of the alliance, and also the one who started the Tower of the Fifth," Grandini explained.

The battle outside the bank ended rather quickly with Wen Yao and others being defeated. Many of the independent cultivators had been seriously injured or had even died. Wen Yao himself had been forced to run away.

Outside the battlefield, Prince Yan sneered at the outcome. "Just a mob."

One of the beautiful maids behind him quickly handed him a piece of fruit while complimenting the young man.

"Prince Yan, after we clean things up, you can proceed." The middle-aged man who had fought against Wen Yao approached Prince Yan and spoke to the young man in a very respectful manner.

Prince Yan was dismissive. "They were just unlucky to run into us. Keep an eye on the Wen family. If they dare to offend this prince, they’ll never be allowed to enter this branch of the Mavis Bank ever again."

The middle-aged man nodded.

Prince Yan moved towards the Mavis Bank step by step. A bit of universal currency drifted down, carried by the breeze, and landed on his head. He simply reached up and tossed it aside. To someone like Prince Yan, universal currency was no different from simple paper. No, it was worth even less, as paper could at least be used for writing and still had a bit of use.

As Prince Yan moved closer to the Mavis Bank, his eyes were instinctively drawn to a young man who was sitting in the lobby and casually sipping on some tea. Prince Yan frowned at this sight; who was arrogant enough to watch his business?

However, after he caught a clear view of the lounging man, Prince Yan’s body trembled, and all of the arrogance disappeared from his eyes. He spoke softly and dismissed both of his maids before hurrying into the bank. He approached the man sipping on tea and respectfully greeted him. “So Alliance Leader Lu is here. Yan Chen offers his greetings."

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Lu Yin looked at Prince Yan. The World League oversaw the 3,000 hidden worlds, and there were various Envoys and powerhouses among those hidden worlds. In fact, Prince Yan's father, Lord Yan, was one of them.

An Envoy was a powerhouse in the Fifth Mainland, so it was perfectly normal for someone like Prince Yan to be rather arrogant.

"I've heard of you several times before, Prince Yan." Lu Yin stood up and calmly observed Yan Chen.

Yan Chen was startled by this admission, and although he looked terrified, he remained respectful towards Lu Yin. “I am honored that you have heard of me, Alliance Leader Lu."

Grandini glanced at Yan Chen. Prince Yan was absolutely insane. He acted arrogantly when visiting the Mavis Bank, and even going so far as to disregard Grandini and Lulu. This was the first time that Grandini had seen the young man act so humbly.

Lu Yin smiled. "Just now, you…"

He hesitated in the middle of speaking, and Yan Chen dropped his head even lower. He nervously looked at Lu Yin's feet, as he had no idea what Lu Yin was about to say.