If one were to ask where the place with the highest foot traffic in the Sun Moon Federation currently was?
In the past, people might have said it was Shrek City within Heaven Dou City, where Soul Masters gathered in droves, or perhaps the Spirit Pagoda. Those were all places with massive crowds.
But today, it was certain that the place with the absolute highest foot traffic belonged to the Star-Chasing Chamber of Commerce!
As early as her initial arrival on the Douluo Plane, while Hei Loulan was searching for business opportunities to make money, she had already spotted the clues.
The entire world seemed to exist solely to serve high-level Soul Masters, which perfectly matched the underlying hue of this world where strength reigned supreme. As for the peace and equality for all promoted after Mo Lan became the Speaker of the Federal Parliament, that should just be taken as a joke, right?
It was more like an illusion presented to the general public, while these Soul Master clans--or rather, Soul Master aristocrats--secluded themselves behind the scenes, vanishing from the public eye.
The entire social structure was a highly deformed pyramid. Any high-end items, such as different tiers of mechas, sports cars, or even all kinds of natural treasures, were distributed from the top. Almost the entire economy here was derived from the Titled Douluos at the very apex.
The higher a Soul Master's rank, the more they focused on elevating their own cultivation, abandoning all sorts of tedious worldly tasks, which then fell upon the shoulders of the general public.
When things truly reached a certain high level, what they consumed was no longer so-called Gold Soul Coins, but rather more ephemeral things like favors. Take the Divine Tier forging of a Divine Craftsman, for instance; there were roughly thirty-odd Limit Douluos within the Douluo Plane, yet only a dozen or so truly possessed Four-Word Battle Armor.
So, to ask a question, how should one make money quickly in such a world?
By utilizing the information gap between ordinary people and Soul Masters. For ordinary people to make money, they basically had to earn it from Soul Masters. This meant establishing a large-scale mission hub, consolidating the scattered businesses of major associations, gathering and pooling all kinds of natural treasures, finished spirit devices, and even providing custom crafting.
The reason a relationship similar to that of a cultivation world had not formed between Soul Masters and ordinary people was inseparable from this unique construct of power. The life stage of Soul Masters had not transcended mortals by too much; they would still visit supermarkets, browse shopping malls, and even fall in love just like ordinary people.
"It would be hilarious if high-level Soul Masters and ordinary people had reproductive isolation."
Thus, Douluo Department Store and Douluo Mission Hub became the embryonic forms developed by the Star-Chasing Chamber of Commerce.
Ningguang, as the representative, was pushed to the forefront of this wave. The label of an ordinary person lacking soul power talent proved to be incredibly useful.
It managed to mystify the major associations and Soul Master organizations for a while, while also aligning with the collective interests of the vast number of low-level Soul Masters.
By the time the Star-Chasing Chamber of Commerce grew to prominence, it was already too late for them to intervene.
Ningguang fit perfectly with the internal development ideology of the Sun Moon Federation and was highly suited to act as a white glove; she just needed to regularly hand over "protection fees."
Even tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves possessed a degree of spiritual purity; if they were to feast, they had to feast in a civilized manner!
The outcome was obvious. The Star-Chasing Chamber of Commerce had already grown into a colossal monster, intertwined with various factions, and was no longer a small merchant association that could be bullied at will.
Subsequently, milk tea shops, restaurants, real estate, and even bathhouses were established, generating a massive number of jobs and networking connections.
At this very moment, the Star-Chasing Chamber of Commerce had already become a major tax contributor to the Sun Moon Federation.
The Spirit Treasure Pavilion, heavily imbued with Douluo characteristics, successfully claimed the top spot. The four types of inheritance for Law Seekers--the four categories of "Law," "Talisman," "Treasure," and "Body"--also began to slowly enter the public eye.
With the arrival of divine abilities, the power accumulated over many years directly soared, allowing them to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the major organizations that possessed ten thousand years of heritage.
They had impressively managed to carve out a domain of their own among the major factions.
"Haha, the World of Divine Abilities Grand Forum is fully complete! A resounding success!" After ending her live stream, Hei Loulan pinned the video to the top, and that was that!
"However, these spiritual contracts, soul power contracts, and blood pacts--you shouldn't have known how to use them previously, right?" Ningguang turned her head to look at Hei Loulan, who was stretching in front of her.
According to the previously established live stream itinerary, she was only supposed to display a contract simulated by Law power; those things shouldn't have been there.
"Hehehe, the whim just struck me. It's the kind of thing you look at and just know how to do. I just researched it on the fly. Besides, I'm a genius, aren't I?"
As a "self" created by the Anatta Avatar, these "selves" were all a single self among ten thousand selves. All variations are myself!
Since it was "my" Natal Divine Ability, how could you say I wouldn't know how to use it?
"Forget it, I won't bother with you. I'm going to look over the cooperation projects with the Sun Moon Federation. Recently, there's only a marine research base project that looks decent," Ningguang said casually to Hei Loulan as she smiled and walked out of the live stream room.
"Huh? They can't possibly be interested in that Sea God divine war, right? Although there are indeed quite a few remnants in the energy field there, the Sea God's blood should have all returned to this world by now." Hei Loulan thought about what else on that land was worth salvaging.
"Yes, there are studies being conducted in that regard, but there is also a desire to establish diplomatic relations with Skadi. After all, this place is quite close to [Aegir]. The Federation is truly a bit terrified of the Sea God. By the way, in a few weeks, those spectating Limit Douluos will probably be gathered to hold a grand conference together." Ningguang casually spoke of information that was already considered top secret within the Federation.
"Got it. Isn't it just that they were penalized because their mothership, which they built as a detour due to the limitations of spirit devices that haven't been broken through for ten thousand years, got wrecked? They don't have an anti-god weapon, so they're terrified. How pathetic."
Tsk tsk, fighting the Sea God on his home turf in the ocean--what an idea. If they wanted to fight, they probably could only resort to Rank 12 Fixed Soul Missiles, and even then, hitting him would be a toss-up. The ocean, after all, occupied seventy percent of the entire Douluo Planet.
"Right, is Chen Xinjie dead yet?" Hei Loulan thought of the Sea God Priest whom she had thoroughly thrashed before.
After being possessed by the idiotic Tang San, he was directly served up on a platter. He even fearlessly devoured the Seaborn cells of the Sea God's true form, resulting in him being completely consumed.
Ningguang recalled carefully, weighed her words, and gave an accurate answer:
"Not entirely dead. The Seaborn cells flooded his body, causing extensive Seabornization, but his main brain is fine. He just can't wake up. However, this body is still at the 'god' level tier and holds great research value in all aspects. His 'corpse' is currently being fought over back and forth..."
Unconsciously, the two walked up to a helicopter that was completely enveloped in a faint yellow spiritual light. Before they even arrived, it was already unmanned, preheating and adjusting its heading.
Its entire body was crafted using Spirit-Forged metal. Following the technological refinements made by little Herta, these machines had already attained the kind of spirituality that only so-called "god"级 mechas could possess.
However, the Spirit Engineers who built it referred to it as the "Mecha Soul." It was already driving a reformation in spirit devices, beginning to bestow spirituality upon these machines. They had now begun to praise Madam Herta as the "God of All Machines."
It probably wouldn't be long before Rank 9 Soul Missiles with a Mecha Soul were produced. Just thinking about it felt mind-blowing.
Before boarding, Ningguang asked:
"What do you plan to do next? Continue tempering your body?"
Hearing this, Hei Loulan immediately said to her dissatisfaction:
"People who don't cultivate shouldn't talk. Divine ability cultivation isn't something you can just practice casually. Furthermore, my Law bodies can all be controlled. This is called retracing the path of cultivation, alright?"
"A genius like Gao Haoguang only entered the great divine ability fruit position when he was in his forties."
"And a certain amber-and-green-eyed fellow slacked off for so long, only recently awakening the divine ability they wanted--the Time-Stealing Peach Blossom Immortal."
Looking at herself flailing her arms and legs in a chaotic defense before her, Ningguang smiled knowingly, casually took out a black card, and handed it to her.
"Fine, fine! Take it and swipe it as you please! I won't say it's unlimited, but there's at least a few billion Federal Coins in there. Cultivate if you want to. I can afford to raise a little slacker!"
Hei Loulan silently accepted the gift from herself, and then quietly went off to cultivate.
To actually corrupt me with money, "I" truly deserve to die!