"T-the Tower of G.o.d...? The Battle Through the Heavens...?" Lars spoke out loud, shocked and speaking to both his penguin companion and the Duke before him."Yes, haven"t you heard of it...?" Leanne c.o.c.ked her head as she blinked, feeling that it was exceedingly odd that he did not know of it.
She sipped her chalice of swirling red liquid as they spoke, savouring the taste. Lars leaned over and picked up a cup to take a taste as well, but choked and sputtered at the biting and acidic taste - totally not to his preference!
Even as they took a short pause from the conversation, Leanne"s mind was shocked too.
"I thought... Every major sect and power on Yiluo planet knew of it... Unless he"s truly a rogue cultivator? And not aligned to any faction...?" She maintained her smile despite her curiosity regarding her guest"s origins - but determined that she really had to find out just what his backing was!
"Well if you"re talking about a lot of money... That IS one option... But it"s only for those below the age of 18... Is your disciple eligible...?" She blinked slowly and smiled brightly, forcing Lars to turn away for fear of falling for the alluring and fascinatingly mature woman!
"Yes, yes... I am... I mean, my disciple is only 15 years old this year."
"Ah, then... Well he IS eligible, it"s just that, I"m not sure if he can match up against the opponents... Most of them will be almost 18 years old this year and have a head start whether in years of practice or in physical and mana development... Even my daughter Helen and the other n.o.ble scions will be hard pressed to even make it past the first round... But..." She raised her eyebrows in curiousity at these words.
"Ahhh, don"t worry, don"t worry... My disciple is more than capable of holding his own... All he needs is just the opportunity." Lars nodded, a.s.suring the woman of his alter-ego"s capabilities.
At that, Leanne smiled happily and laughed cheerfully, saying, "Of course, of course... I should not have doubted your great disciple"s strength..."
"Well, the selection compet.i.tion held at the Gorun Stadium where you were is actually held to select suitable candidates for that grand compet.i.tion, one that encompa.s.ses the entire Leez continent! This compet.i.tion is called the Battle Through the Heavens and is held once every 2 years to unearth the greatest talents."
"These talents will enter the mystical pocket realm, the Tower of G.o.d where there are countless challenges, traps and snares. From there then be recruited into the true major powers of the galaxies and cosmo!"
"Huh? She"s talking about the ascent of the Tower of G.o.d as if though it"s just a test... Hmm... Lars! Probe further!"
Eyes widening in awe at the words he heard both with his ears and in his mind, Lars listened attentively as she continued her explanation of how to earn money; ready to ask for more details to satisfy his contracted demon"s queries.
"Only, to qualify for that compet.i.tion, first we have to pa.s.s the Nationals... And for the past 20 years, ever since I"ve arrived here, there"s been not a single person from Gorun city who could make it past even the second round of the Nationals, much less make it to the Continent stage!"
"That is, until this year... Where my daughter who is only 17 years old but is already at the beginner Master level will be pursuing the ambitions of our Gorun city and the entire Northpoint region! We are pinning our hopes on her, and in the next compet.i.tion, Natalie Sarouneh! This time, we will make it! To the Nationals![1]"
Then she paused shortly, then finished off the last of her tale.
"...And if she"s lucky..."
"She"ll be recruited as an Outer Disciple of one of the major powers who sponsors this Battle Through the Heavens..."
"The All-Heaven Divine Empire!"
The five words resounded like thunder in Lars" ears!
"That name again... Curses... Why does it seem like their shadow is over everything I"m doing...? Their all-pervasive presence... Like a scourge!"
Then he decided to check a bit more about the mysterious Tower of G.o.d.
"So... What IS the Tower of G.o.d...? Is it like, some sort of local testing grounds? What is it like...? And how is it related to earning lots of money?"
"The Tower... Well, to be honest, it"s not really known what it is, except that every 2 years at a set place and time, a vast portal will open. But as the number of entrants is limited, the various nations across the world strive against one another for entry!"
"The world...? I thought it was just across this continent?" Frowning in confusion, Lars c.o.c.ked his head slightly.
"Ah, the thing is, there are several entrances to the Tower in various locations."
Lars nodded. That made more sense.
"And as for why there"s great money... Well, every time a person enters the Tower, they start at the lowest floor. It is said that, for every floor they ascend, they are able to have a wish granted up to the value of the floor they climbed to! Though, these are all rumours to us of Gorun city and the Kingdom - we"ve not ever had a contestant even get to the top 16 of the Battle Through the Heavens!"
"Rumours have it that the greatest Empire of this planet, the Yiluo Empire was founded by just one girl who ascended to the 12th level... Some gossip says that there are more than a hundred levels to the Tower and if one were to reach the top..."
She shrugged as she recited the hearsay she had heard over the years, surely exaggerated many times over.
"...They could even become a G.o.d or..."
"A Transcendent one!"
Lars blinked slowly, trying to absorb what he had just learned - about the Yiluo Empire and its might and history, about the Tower of G.o.d and about the ability to make a wish come true.
If that were true... Then if he ascended to the top of the Tower, wouldn"t he be able to wish for whatever he wanted...?
Wouldn"t he be able to wish for his deepest, greatest heart"s desire...?
He would wish... To have all the money in the universe!
"Sorry Moira... I"ll make sure to buy the Kingdom of the Sands once I have that money..." But his mental voice did not sound repentant or sorry at all, instead he was overcome by greed!
"Lars... L-Lars!!! It"s the real thing, the real deal, the true blue Tower of G.o.d!!! Oh my gosh, how could there be permanent entrances on this planet? How could no one have discovered it???"
"S-sorry, then what about the earning money part...?" Lars overcame his shock and the noise his companion was making and got back to the main point of it all - why and how much money could he earn?
"Oh! I, yeah, I got carried away and completely forgot! What happens is that, every time the entrance opens, the Yiluo planet controlled by the Empire will offer up the majority of the entrance slots to the Universe Alliance and the five major powers that rule over the entire cosmos! We ourselves of this planet only receive a handful of slots, which is why the talents across the entire world vie to be chosen ones of their continent in the Battle Through the Heavens!"
"As for the money, all you need to do once you qualify to ascend the Tower of G.o.d is to either sign a contract with one of the major nations here, or if you are lucky, with one of the larger cosmos empires! For the truly truly special ones, they will even get scouted for a ludicrously immense contracts with the true major powers of the universe!"
"...H-how much money could I get for those contracts?"
"Wow... He really doesn"t seem to know anything, does he...? Oh well... I guess hoping to get in touch with his backers is a futile effort; seems he really is just a lone cultivator..." She sighed internally but continued her salesman"s smile as she answered the last bit for him.
"Oh, before the amount, the types of contracts can be almost anything from service contracts to fight in the army, to endors.e.m.e.nt contracts to do recruitment or product advertis.e.m.e.nts, or even disciple contracts which are the most loose of all - simply an agreement to join the major power"s ranks once you reach a certain realm of might!"
"In terms of how much the contracts pay... Well, don"t quote me here, since we don"t even know of anyone in the Leez continent who has gotten one... But what we hear on the vines is that the payment is somewhere around 50,000 units..."
"U-units...? 50,000...? How m-much is t... That?" Lars felt his heart racing as he heard an unknown unit of currency. His eyes flashed with fanaticism at the imaginary sound of the 50,000 units of yet to be determined value clinking together.
Even if the conversion rate were only 1 unit to 100 platinum coins, he would still be filthy f***ing rich! He could make a platinum swimming pool filled with platinum coins and pay Legendary combatants to serve him drinks!!
"Units... I"m not sure since none of us have ever seen them, much less needed to use them... But what I heard is that 1 unit is equivalent to 100,000 platinum coins..."
*THUMP*
Duke Leanne looked on in shock and panicked as she quickly channelled her still depleted mana to heal the collapsed man before her!
To her horror, her guest had fainted right in front of her, nose spurting with blood!
And if she were not mistaken, he was still mumbling something like a religious chant repeatedly even while supposedly unconscious...
"5 trillion.... 5 trillion... 5 trillion... 5 trillion platinum..."