Chapter 2930: The Fifth Universe
Bi Lan was startled by the ugly expression that had appeared on Bi Teng's face.
She had never imagined that Lu Yin would reach such a shocking status, nor that a single sentence from the young man could forcefully change the Merchant Exchange's position. He had risen so high that the Merchant Exchange felt forced to maintain a smile and never risk offending Lu Yin. At their first meeting, Bi Lan had not even once considered that he would eventually achieve a status where he could completely suppress the Merchant Exchange. She would no longer even consider sitting down with him as an equal.
"The fact that we do not participate in any other forms of business is precisely why so many people trust us. We may have learned a few tightly held secrets, but such things cannot be shared with anyone, as doing so will cause us to lose all credibility." Bi Teng stared at Bi Lan. "As a company, if we lose our credibility, we will lose everything.”
Bi Lan’s voice was bitter. "Of course I understand that, Lord Bi Teng. What do you think we should do?"
Bi Teng's expression grew more and more ugly. He really wanted to refuse Lu Yin's request for information on who had access to parallel universes with different flows of time. If Lu Yin could find such things for himself, then why bother the Merchant Exchange?
However, Bi Teng did not dare to voice such thoughts. While it seemed simple enough to refuse the request, the price that the Merchant Exchange would be forced to pay would be truly steep.
"If Lord Bi Rong emerges from seclusion, no one in the entire Sixverse Association would dare to offend us. We would still have the right to maintain our distance from everyone," Bi Lan muttered to herself. She spoke very softly, but Bi Teng clearly heard every word.
He sighed heavily. "True, it would indeed be wonderful if Lord Bi Rong came out of seclusion."
"By the way, Sir, we can also ask for help from Whitecloud City. The Lord of Lightning is a close friend of Lord Bi Rong’s. They have experienced life and death together, and he can definitely help us." Bi Lan's eyes lit up as she hopefully suggested an option.
Bi Teng shook his head. "There’s no point in considering that option. Even if we could get in touch with the Lord of Lightning, it might not help. His daughter, Jiang Qingyue, has an unknown relationship with Lu Yin."
Bi Lan was startled. "Really? That happened?"
Bi Teng’s voice grew increasingly bitter. "Jiang Chen, the Lord of Lightning’s son, is a close friend of Lu Yin’s, and the two have even risked their lives together. This is something that many people in the Sixverse Association know about."
Bi Lan was rendered speechless. Just how many friends had Lu Yin made?
Bi Teng felt incredibly frustrated. How could he take the better road?
"Bi Lan, tell Lord Lu about the fifth and seventh universes." After thinking for a long time, Bi Teng softly gave Bi Lan an order.
The woman was not surprised. Aside from this option, they really had no other possibilities to choose from. They could not betray any of the Sixverse Association’s peak powerhouses’ confidence, as doing so would cause the Merchant Exchange to lose all of their clients’ trust.
As for Luo Shan, a homeless dog would not be any problem.
The Monarch and Lord Lu were already enemies, and the Merchant Exchange would not feel any guilt over betraying Luo Shan. On top of that, no one would condemn them for such an action.
Bi Lan did not stay in the Merchant Exchange’s headquarters for very long before returning to the Heavens Sect.
"The fifth universe?" Lu Yin was confused.
Madam Nalan was also present, and she was equally confused. She had never heard of this parallel universe, as she had not been with the Merchant Exchange long enough.
Bi Lan patiently explained, "My Merchant Exchange does not conduct any form of business or trade other than currency exchange. This is not because we do not wish to, but rather because such activities are unnecessary. We can acquire whatever we need on our own, such as finding parallel universes with different rates of time flow.
"The existence of the Space Diablos means that every member of the Merchant Exchange can be regarded as an explorer. Each of us are constantly searching for civilizations throughout the megaverse, and there are times when one is discovered.
"The fifth universe is a parallel universe that we stumbled upon where time flows five times faster than other parallel universes. If you need this, Lord Lu, you can go there whenever you wish for training. No one from the Merchant Exchange will disturb you."
Lu Yin and Madam Nalan glanced at each other.
Madam Nalan smiled. "The fifth universe? Does our Merchant Exchange control that many parallel universes?"
Bi Lan glanced at Madam Nalan, but she understood that this question was really from Lu Yin. "The fifth universe was not given that designation because it was the fifth one found or anything like that, but rather because time flows five times faster there. It’s nothing more than a convenient name that is easy to remember."
If this possibility was compared to the idea of humans spreading across infinite parallel universes, the idea that humans were a standard life form for many universes seemed to be far more likely.
Who could cause humans to spread across so many parallel universes? Who would visit so many universes to ensure that humans were born there?
It was not exactly an impossibility, but it defied imagination.
Still, this was not what Lu Yin needed to focus on at the moment. He watched Bi Lan leave and then descended onto the planet that they had been observing. In front of Lu Yin were the poles. While the creatures had no eyes, they still seemed capable of sensing Lu Yin’s presence. They all stopped moving and turned to face him. Well, they seemed to be facing him, as they moved to block his path.
Before long, he was surrounded.
Lu Yin had a feeling that these poles were regarding him as prey. Just what did these creatures eat?
Just as the thought occurred to Lu Yin, all of the poles surrounding him leaped for him, as though they were going to crush him to death.
Lu Yin's body flickered and vanished.
All of the poles slammed into each other in a confused tangle. What had happened to the creature that they had been chasing?
Noises could be heard as the poles communicated among themselves, but Lu Yin could not be found anywhere.
Lu Yin appeared in outer space and slowly raised a hand. Ripples spread out as he touched the power of space.
This particular universe experienced time five times faster than other parallel universes. How was such a thing possible? The power of time was truly miraculous.
As time passed, Lu Yin's expression slowly changed. What was going on? He was unable to warp space with the same amount of force as normal. The space in this parallel universe was far more robust than in the Origin Universe or any of the Sixverse Association’s universes.
Lu Yin did not believe that he could not succeed, so he continued, using more and more strength as he tested the fabric of the universe.
He peered into the void and looked at the spatial lines, and once he did so, his expression changed yet again.
In this universe, the spatial lines were actually both denser and thicker than what in the Origin Universe. This actually explained why space seemed so much tougher in this parallel universe.
Ever since Lu Yin had first started cultivating, he had experienced various places where space had differing levels of stability. For example, in the Fifth Mainland, the space in the Neoverse and Outerverse were completely different. In one place, one needed to be an Enlighter to tear through the void, while in the other, only the strength of an Explorer was needed.
Even so, the difference in the stability of space in the two different places was not very significant, and for someone with Lu Yin’s strength, such a difference was completely negligible.
Similarly, throughout the Sixverse Association, there were various parallel universes where the stability of space varied, but such fluctuations meant nothing to those at Lu Yin’s level.
However, the parallel universe that Lu Yin was in was completely different, as space was significantly more durable, to the point where even Lu Yin needed to take notice of it.
Lu Yin considered the matter for a bit, his expression growing serious. Five times, almost five times different.
This universe is five times tougher than the Origin Universe.
Again, it’s five times different, just like the flow of time. Could there be a connection?
This can’t be a random coincidence. There must be a reason.
Lu Yin had used the power of space to trigger the formation of his inner world, Lightstream, which granted him the ability to chase time. Thus, he clearly knew that there was an intrinsic connection between space and time.
Lu Yin slowly sat down. He wanted to carefully mull over the implications of what he had discovered, as he felt that he had touched upon a major concept.
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