Distance

After the genius battle concluded, both the exalted Venerable Nine Swords and the 1,008 powerful Immortal Beings departed directly.

However, Luo Feng and the other thousand young talents remained, as a staff member called out, "Please don't leave yet. There are still some matters to discuss regarding transporting everyone to our Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters."

A moment later.

In the second-floor conference room of Restaurant No. 2 in Central Plaza, Luo Feng and the 1,000 individuals were seated.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mana." A smiling man, approximately 2.6 to 2.7 meters tall with patterned skin on his neck, stood at the front of the conference room and said with a smile, "Because our Virtual Universe Company will arrange spaceships specifically to pick you up, please write down your precise planetary address on the paper in front of you, so we can collect you."

Luo Feng picked up the pen and paper in front of him and began to write: "Ganwu Universe Nation, Heilong Mountain Starfield, Milky Way Galaxy, Bailan Star."

The 1,000 young talents from various universe nations were all writing.

"Is this really necessary? Couldn't you just tell us the assembly point, and we'll take our own cosmic spaceships there?"

"Exactly, there's no need to pick us up, it's too much trouble," someone in the crowd called out.

Mana, standing on the stage, smiled and said, "Because the journey spans many universe nations and is incredibly, incredibly far, and many civilian cosmic spaceships are slow in the Dark Universe, it would take a very, very long time to reach our company's universal headquarters. To save everyone's time, naturally, our Virtual Universe Company will arrange the finest cosmic spaceships specifically for your pickup!"

"Among the 1,000 of you present today, the furthest individual from our Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters is approximately 1.5 billion light-years away." Mana smiled, "The ratio of distance in the Dark Universe to the Original Universe is 1 to 10.081 million. Even traveling at 1x light speed in the Dark Universe, it would still take about 150 years to arrive."

Silence!

The previously lively conference room suddenly fell silent. Even Luo Feng, who had been diligently writing his address, couldn't help but look up.

150 years?

"Oh my god, 150 years?" exclaimed a beast-man youth with a lion-like head, sitting in a corner. "The furthest I've ever traveled by cosmic spaceship was just over two months. To travel for 150 years..."

The universe was simply too vast.

Even traveling from Earth to Qiulong Star, which was merely interstellar travel within the Heilong Mountain Starfield, took ten days to half a month.

And that was just a Starfield!

Above Starfields were even larger 'Star Sectors', and each universe nation's Star Sector was immensely vast! It was not an exaggeration for the furthest universe nation from the headquarters to be 1.5 billion light-years away.

"If everyone were to take their own spaceships:"

"1. The speed is slow, requiring too much time."

"2. For such an extended journey, the energy consumed by the spaceship is astonishing."

"3. And most importantly, Dark Universe travel is not safe in certain special areas; there can be cosmic pirates, or even raids from other races. For all of you present, safety is paramount." Mana smiled from the stage, "Currently, the best civilian cosmic spaceships can only reach a few times light speed in the Dark Universe, so long-distance travel would still take a very, very long time."

Luo Feng nodded.

When a speed reaches light speed in the Original Universe, according to the laws of its operation, it is directly transmitted to the Dark Universe. In the Dark Universe, there is a lower limit to speed but no upper limit. As long as your cosmic spaceship can withstand it, you can continuously pursue the highest speed—1x light speed? 2x? 3x?

If your spaceship is good enough, it can achieve that speed in the Dark Universe.

A C-grade Heilong spaceship's maximum speed in the Dark Universe is 1.5x light speed. Even at its maximum speed, 1.5 billion light-years would still require 100 years of continuous flight in the Dark Universe.

"Beep!"

"Collection complete." Beams of colorful light fell onto the papers in front of everyone, and then a large star map appeared on a screen at the front of the conference hall, along with some complex digital symbols. Mana glanced at it, then turned to the 1,000 people below the stage, a smile on his face: "Everyone, all the addresses you've written have been recorded. Based on the different geographical locations of you 1,000 individuals, and our cosmic spaceship resources, the optimal pickup plan has been calculated."

"How long will it take?"

"How long will we have to fly to reach the company's universal headquarters?" Many people below couldn't help but ask.

Luo Feng also frowned, staring at Mana on the stage.

150 years? 100 years? No matter what, it was too, too long.

"Because the distances vary, the speed of the arranged cosmic spaceships will also differ. We can guarantee that you will all arrive at headquarters on the same day." Mana smiled, "The journey will take approximately 3 years."

"3 years?"

"That short?"

"How is that possible? How fast would a cosmic spaceship need to be to travel 1.5 billion light-years in just three years?" Among the 1,000 people present, including Luo Feng, most had very high horizons and were not ignorant. Luo Feng, for example, had participated in two Ganwu auctions, yet he was still shocked.

Three years of Dark Universe flight, covering 1.5 billion light-years, meant reaching 50x light speed in the Dark Universe!

This was an incredible figure.

C-grade spaceships typically only reached a little over 1x light speed. Even E-grade spaceships were only a few times light speed. The Machine Race spaceship Luo Feng obtained had a technological content far superior to human E-grade spaceships. Yet, its maximum speed in the Dark Universe was only close to 10x light speed.

"Our Virtual Universe Company will arrange F-grade cosmic spaceships for everyone without exception." Mana smiled from the stage, "And not just any F-grade spaceships that can be easily purchased, but… special internal F-grade spaceships of our Virtual Universe Company, whose internal technological content far surpasses the F-grade spaceships of various universe nations."

Silence.

Stillness.

Stunned.

F-grade spaceships—from the fact that Yunmo Star Master Huyan Bo spent countless resources just to acquire one F-grade Yunmo Star vessel, and that many Immortal Beings couldn't afford one, it was clear how expensive and precious F-grade spaceships were. Many Starfield-level Empires, like the Heilong Mountain Empire, didn't possess a single F-grade cosmic spaceship.

Universe nations generally had them, but the vast majority of F-grade cosmic spaceships couldn't reach 50x light speed in the Dark Universe.

"Monstrous!" muttered Wuka, the prince of Manka Star, sitting to Luo Feng's right.

Prince Wuka of Manka Star stared at Mana on the stage, gritting his teeth and whispering, "Truly monstrous. To actually, actually dispatch 1,000 F-grade cosmic spaceships at once, and with such astonishing technological content. My imperial father always said… the Virtual Universe Company's technological prowess is the holy land of human technology, but this is just too monstrous."

Among the human race, in terms of technology, the Virtual Universe Company was number one!

Even across the vast universe, among countless races, those who could rival the Virtual Universe Company in technology were few and far between. Perhaps only the Machine Race and a few other monstrous races.

"Mr. Mana, can we buy these F-grade cosmic spaceships?" someone called out.

"Exactly, can we buy them?" Prince Wuka of Manka Star shouted.

"These are internal items of our Virtual Universe Company. As core members of our Virtual Universe Company, you can, of course, purchase them. However, they can only be used by yourselves and cannot be resold… If you wish to sell them, you must sell them back to our Virtual Universe Company." Mana smiled, "It's just that F-grade cosmic spaceships are too expensive; many Immortal Beings can't afford them. So, don't be in a hurry, focus on cultivation. When you become super-powerhouses of our Virtual Universe Company in the future, the company might directly provide you with an F-grade cosmic spaceship for free."

The group of young talents below immediately pouted.

Super-powerhouses? Provided with F-grade cosmic spaceships?

To be provided for free, one would have to reach an unimaginable level of strength, which was indeed too distant for this group of Star-level youngsters.

"Awesome," Luo Feng couldn't help but murmur.

"Hey, Lunatic," Prince Wuka, the Manka Star youth beside him, leaned over and whispered, "Don't listen to this guy's boasting. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world; you have to pay for what you get, that's what my imperial father said! But I'm telling you, this Virtual Universe Company is definitely a holy land for the human race. There are countless treasures and secret techniques. It's a pity we couldn't enter the Primal Secret Region, but it's still good that we entered the Absolute Beginning Secret Region; the benefits are also numerous. You'll understand later."

"Oh?" Luo Feng smiled and nodded.

"An announcement for everyone," Mana smiled from the stage, "The prize money for the top thousand in the genius battle is currently being distributed. You can check your accounts when you return later."

"As for now, you are dismissed and may return home. Later, our Virtual Universe Company will send out special letters notifying you of the exact pickup time. Please be prepared at the locations you've written down, so we don't fail to find you." Mana then smiled, "Now, everyone, spend some time with your family and friends. Soon, you'll be leaving your hometown for a long time."

The lively conference room suddenly fell silent.

Indeed.

They would be leaving their hometown for a very, very long time. The journey to the Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters alone would take three years, and that was with the Virtual Universe Company dispatching precious F-grade cosmic spaceships specifically for pickup. It had to be said, facing the vast universe… the time consumed by travel alone was astonishing.

Figures disappeared from the conference room, everyone leaving one by one.

...

The moment he left, Luo Feng's consciousness re-entered the Virtual Universe, appearing directly at his binding point, the Heilong Mountain Island's Nine Star Bay Community.

Whoosh!

Luo Feng appeared out of thin air on the lawn, but his own lawn was empty.

"No one's here?" Luo Feng shook his head, then smiled, "Right, I didn't tell them the genius battle ended today." The peak duels of the genius battle were not broadcast live to the public. Instead, they would be edited afterward into exquisite promotional videos and battle footage for re-broadcast. After all, many battles happened simultaneously and concluded quickly.

"My wife should be at her company now." Luo Feng sat on a chair beside the lawn. "Her company's headquarters seems to have moved to the Ganwu Continent now, that's quite something."

Xu Xin was always very career-driven. Perhaps she didn't find much sense of accomplishment in building a career on Earth, so she ventured into the Virtual Universe. This Virtual Universe… was the largest market for all humanity, gathering nearly 100% of the elites from 1,008 universe nations. Thus, many companies were established in the Virtual Universe. With Luo Feng's financial support, Xu Xin had substantial capital, so her start was very quick.

"Xiaohai and Pingping are probably at the Ganwu Dojo, or playing virtual games," Luo Feng muttered. "Mom and Dad are likely in virtual games. I don't know why, but Mom and Dad really love those Huaxia xianxia-style virtual games."

In the Virtual Universe, there were tens of thousands of virtual games.

Huaxia xianxia-style games, though their names might differ slightly, were very similar, making Mom and Dad very fond of playing them. Dad even exclaimed, "I always dreamed of this day when I was little. It's truly exhilarating to experience all sorts of virtual games in this life."

With Mom and Dad happy, Luo Feng naturally didn't interfere much.

"I'm leaving, leaving my hometown for a very, very long time." Luo Feng's mood was complex; he somewhat understood Hong's thoughts from back then.

"Brother! You're back?" Suddenly, a voice rang out. From the third-floor balcony of a villa in the distance, Luo Hua was looking out and calling.