Chapter 331
You call this doing business? This is called colonization!
primordial universe.
The headquarters of the Hongmeng Daoist Temple, Qianwu.
Before a magnificent golden palace, a towering, blood-red figure quietly appeared.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, three figures soared into the sky, each radiating a vast and boundless aura of divine power.
"The Giant Spirit King has met the Hongmeng Envoy."
"We were unaware that the Hongmeng Envoy had come in person; we have failed to properly welcome him."
"Your Excellency Hongmeng, please come inside quickly. I have already ordered a banquet to be prepared."
The three immortal kings all smiled and spoke very politely.
Venerable Qianyu nodded slightly and said calmly, "I have served as the Hongmeng Envoy of the Qianwu Branch for several years. This is my first time here to inspect. Please lead me on a tour."
"Of course, of course."
The three immortal kings all nodded and bowed as they spoke.
These three immortal powerhouses are Giant Spirit King, Minister of Martial Arts, Dark Descendant King, Minister of Commerce, and Blood Sinking King, Minister of Military Affairs of the Qianwu Branch. Each of them wields enormous power and is known to the outside world as the three giants of the Qianwu Branch.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, the Hongmeng Daoist Temple rose to prominence... and was already the undisputed number one power among humankind.
Later, the three top powers—the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, the Cosmic First Bank, and the Cosmic Galaxy Bank—announced their merger into the Hongmeng Dojo, making their power even more extraordinary.
Among these, the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance was mainly incorporated into the Martial Department of the Hongmeng Dojo, while the Cosmic First Bank and the Cosmic Galaxy Bank were under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Department.
In other words, the Hongmeng Dojo's martial arts department or commerce department alone is more powerful than one of the previous five top forces.
The power of the Minister of Armed Forces and the Minister of Commerce was, of course, astonishing.
It is precisely for this reason that the headquarters of the Hongmeng Dojo has established the position of "Hongmeng Envoy" in each of its first-level branches.
The Hongmeng Envoy is a cosmic venerable and is not responsible for any specific affairs, but has great supervisory authority. He has the power to dismiss all personnel in each branch except for the department head, and can also conduct in-depth investigations into the department head after applying to headquarters.
It can be said that, regardless of their status, authority, or strength, none of the three giants dared to offend Hongmeng in the slightest.
……
"Envoy Hongmeng, please."
The three immortal kings, all smiles, warmly led Venerable Qianyu into the Qianwu branch.
"Our Qianwu branch is located in the Vast Sea Secret Realm. This secret realm was not formed naturally, but was created more than a billion years ago by the Ice and Fire True God using his earth-shattering power."
As Xuechen Wang walked, he explained.
Among the three major figures of the Qianwu branch, the Minister of Military Affairs and the Minister of Commerce wield considerable power, but they are slightly inferior to the Minister of Military Affairs.
"The defense of the entire Qianwu Universe Kingdom is the responsibility of our military."
"Hongmeng Envoy, please look at the star map. My Qianwu Universe Kingdom has more than 13,000 star fields. As long as any alien invasion occurs anywhere, it will be detected by the Nine Towers Realm's AI in an instant, and then my military will arrive on the battlefield within three seconds."
"From the appearance of the alien race to the arrival of our troops... it will take no more than five seconds."
"Blood King said with great confidence."
The Hongmeng Dojo was able to promote martial arts across the entire human territory primarily because it established a comprehensive, three-dimensional defense system covering the entire territory.
It was precisely because of this comprehensive defense system that countless powerful figures of the Three Races Alliance perished, until they no longer dared to carry out large-scale destructive operations within human territory.
"Let's inspect the Qianwu Legion's encampment first."
Venerable Qianyu said with a serious expression.
Human territory defense has always been a top priority for the leadership of the Hongmeng Daoist Academy.
The last time an alien invasion occurred on human territory was 300 million years ago... It was suspected that the "Adilas Clan" immortals teleported into the Ancient Lang Universe Kingdom and caused widespread destruction.
In that incident, the Gulang Legion reacted slowly, taking a full seven seconds to arrive at the battlefield.
Seven seconds...
For an immortal king, that's enough to accomplish many things.
Although the Gulang Legion ultimately succeeded in killing the immortal king, they paid a heavy price.
According to the subsequent investigation, this disaster affected seven star systems of the Gulang Universe Kingdom, directly destroying approximately 520,000 inhabited planets and causing more than 60 quadrillion deaths.
This incident enraged the higher-ups at the Hongmeng Dojo.
The Gulang Universe Kingdom branch was basically stripped of its leadership from top to bottom, and the Gulang Military Minister, "King Yilun," as the person directly responsible, was sentenced to Star Prison for 100,000 epochs.
The Hongmeng Envoy "Green Mountain Venerable" of the Gulang branch was also implicated. The higher-ups of the Daoist temple sent him to guard the bitterly cold land of the universe for a million epochs on the grounds of "ineffective supervision".
This incident caused a great sensation within the Hongmeng Dojo back then.
Although judging from the results of the battle, the alien race lost one King-level Immortal, while the human side lost about two star systems, the alien race's losses seem to be more severe.
However, the high importance that the Hongmeng Dojo leadership placed on territorial security also led the Hongmeng envoys of various universe kingdoms to pay great attention to the supervision of the "military headquarters".
After all, if something goes wrong, even a cosmic venerable would not be able to withstand the punishment from the higher-ups of the Hongmeng Daoist Temple.
"The Qianwu Legion has a total of 30,000 members, and the ordinary soldiers are at least Immortal Army Lords."
"One hundred ordinary soldiers form a unit, with the captain holding the title of Marquis and Immortal."
"One hundred teams form a regiment, and the regimental commander is crowned an immortal king."
"Three battle groups form one legion, and I will personally serve as the legion commander."
"Blood King introduced with a smile."
As the Minister of the Army, one must command three immortal kings and hundreds of immortal marquises. To gain the respect of the people, one's strength must be at least that of an invincible king.
As for the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Military Affairs, the requirements for strength are not high. According to the rules, it is enough to reach the level of immortality as a king. In reality, most of them are at the peak of the kingship, and a few are at the limit of the kingship.
"How well do the three major battle groups of the Qianwu Legion understand the 'Primordial Four Phases Grand Formation'?"
Venerable Qianyu, with his hands behind his back, continued to inquire earnestly.
"Hongmeng, please rest assured."
Blood King laughed and said, "The legion conducts drills every year... The Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Azure Dragon can all form a formation in a very short time."
"Ah."
Venerable Qianyu nodded solemnly and said, "The reason why large-scale legion battles can achieve victory against the odds is mainly due to the tactics of battle formations, so we must not be complacent."
"Understood."
King Xuechen nodded in agreement.
The Primordial Four Phases Formation is a legion battle formation created by Ye Xingkong, the Primordial Dao Master, hundreds of millions of years ago.
This technique is said to be derived from the "Seven Stars Radiance Array," which can gather the power of hundreds or tens of thousands of immortals into one person, thereby unleashing strength beyond one's level.
A hundred military-level immortals, under the leadership of a marquis-level immortal, can form the Four Symbols Formation, which is comparable to a king-level immortal.
When ten thousand immortals form an array under the leadership of a king-level immortal, their combat power is comparable to that of an ordinary universe venerable.
Of course, this so-called "Primordial Chaos Four Phases Grand Array" was not formed out of thin air...
Firstly, this formation places high demands on each immortal in the battle, requiring perfect teamwork and no mistakes can be made;
Secondly, to form a large formation, special treasures are required.
People, methods, and tools are all indispensable.
However, although this battle formation has very high requirements, its power is also enormous once it is formed.
For nearly a billion years, the reason why the human race has been able to protect such a vast territory is not only due to the real-time monitoring of the Nine Towers Realm's intelligence, but also mainly due to the massive army built up by the "Hongmeng Four Symbols Array".
A legion composed of 30,000 ordinary immortals, once in formation, possesses strength comparable to a cosmic venerable, enough to guard a cosmic kingdom.
Of course, this type of military formation is not invincible, and its flaws are quite obvious. In a normal clash between powerful individuals, a military formation composed of tens of thousands of immortals would be no match for a single universe venerable.
Its biggest drawback is its low mobility.
A cosmic being can teleport thousands of light-years away in an instant.
On the other hand, once a military formation is formed, it is not so easy to move around.
Unless a normal cosmic master is extremely foolish, they can easily defeat an army by employing "guerrilla warfare" tactics.
Therefore, the massive legion system established by the Hongmeng Dojo is primarily for protecting the territory, not for launching attacks.
······
The military headquarters is of paramount importance.
It took Venerable Qianyu several months to finally complete his inspection of the Qianwu Army.
Such a massive military organization, with a full 30,000 immortal god soldiers, is a force that cannot be ignored anywhere.
The Qianwu Legion has been established for hundreds of millions of years, and the enormous interests behind it involve all aspects of society.
It would be completely impossible to say that there were no problems with Xuechen Wang serving as Minister of the Army.
However, Venerable Qianyu understood the principle that "too much water has no fish."
As long as it's not too outrageous, he'll turn a blind eye to some minor issues.
In fact, with the capabilities of the Nine Towers' intelligence, they could easily monitor the entire human territory.
Anywhere... even in a completely barren and cold starry sky devoid of life, the presence of an alien race can be detected immediately.
Did the Hongmeng Dojo really have no awareness of the actions of these powerful individuals?
Clearly, the higher-ups at the Hongmeng Dojo tacitly approve of this.
"My lord, this is information from the Qianwu Merchant Department over the past three hundred million years. Please take a look."
With golden hair, wine-red eyes, and an exceptionally handsome appearance, the Darkborn King spoke with great enthusiasm.
During the time that Venerable Qianyu was inspecting the military headquarters, he had already prepared the materials in advance.
"There's no need to look. I still have that much trust in you."
Venerable Qianyu waved his hand, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Clearly, he wasn't stupid.
Since these materials were brought to him by the Darkborn King, they must be genuinely safe.
Even if there were problems at the beginning, they were probably modified in advance.
“Darkborn King, tell me about the main operations of the Ministry of Commerce.”
Venerable Qianyu said calmly.
"As ordered!"
The Darkin King's smile remained bright, but a slight unease settled in his heart.
It seems this new Hongmeng Envoy is not so easily fooled!
"Your Excellency, the Commerce Department of our Qianwu Branch is mainly divided into two sections: one responsible for internal affairs and the other for external affairs."
"Internally, it mainly involves Hongmeng Bank, Hongmeng Technology Company, Hongmeng Pharmaceutical Company, and the Nine Towers Virtual World..."
The Darkborn King reported in detail.
Given its current size, the Hongmeng Dojo can be said to have monopolized the most profitable industry among humankind.
Harmony Bank is responsible for controlling the finances of the human race.
HarmonyOS Technology Co., Ltd. mainly researches and sells high-tech products, and its technological level is in no way inferior to that of the Mech family.
Hongmeng Pharmaceutical Company... needless to say.
Potions are a domain that the Hongmeng Daoist School dominates in the universe!
The virtual world of Nine Towers can also generate astonishing profits.
As for the remaining industries that Hongmeng Daocheng hasn't covered, it's not that they lack the ability to get involved, but rather that they've already earned enough to leave a little something for those below them.
"Hmm, not bad."
Venerable Qianyu nodded slightly.
He had no doubt about the Hongmeng Dojo's ability to make money.
The military commands a powerful legion comparable to a cosmic sovereign.
The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Military Affairs, standing side by side, control the economic lifeline of a cosmic nation.
"The above refers to the internal departments of my business division."
"Internally... I think everyone knows that no matter how much money we make, it's all money earned by the human race itself, and it can't actually create value for the race."
"Therefore, the external business sector of my Qianwu branch has always been the focus for hundreds of millions of years."
The Darkborn King smiled slightly.
"foreign?"
Venerable Qianyu asked with some doubt.
He knew that the Ministry of Commerce was very profitable, involving huge economic interests, but he didn't know much about how the Ministry of Commerce operated.
In particular, in recent years, the high-ranking officials of the Hongmeng Dojo have been pushing for reforms within the human race, including the military and the business sector. Many things are no longer the same as before.
"Please take a look, Envoy Hongmeng."
The Darkborn King smiled slightly, waved his hand, and a silver-white spaceship phantom appeared in the void.
"This F-class spaceship, model Tianhe T100, was developed by Hongmeng Technology Company and is an export product that our human race sells to other forces in the universe."
"The Darkborn King said."
"Sell to other ethnic groups?"
Will any powerful entities come forward to buy it?
Venerable Qianyu was taken aback and couldn't help but ask.
Of course there will be!
The Darkborn King said with great confidence, "The spaceship technology of my Hongmeng Dojo has long surpassed that of the Machine Race. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the best in the universe."
"The powers in the universe have a huge gap in technology compared to our human race. If they want good spaceships, they can only buy them from us."
"Weren't these high-tech spaceships previously classified as strategic resources and strictly prohibited from being sold to alien races?"
Venerable Qianyu couldn't help but ask.
"Times have changed."
The Darkborn King shook his head and said, "Hongmeng Technology Company produces an F-class spaceship at a cost of only 90 Hunyuan, while selling it to other races in the universe costs tens of millions of Hunyuan... Then, we can use these tens of millions of Hunyuan to purchase non-renewable resources such as F-class metals from alien races, or special resources that our human race does not have. The profit is dozens of times higher, so why not make money?"
"It's so true!"
After understanding the reasoning behind it, Venerable Qianyu was quite shocked.
Doing business within human territory, no matter how much money you make, will not create any value for the community as a whole.
But if you're making money off other races, then you're creating real value.
Furthermore, the current strength of the human race lies in the strength of its top-tier individuals.
Selling a few high-tech spaceships or some special resources cannot fundamentally change the situation in the universe. (End of Chapter)