Chapter 536: 537: The Empire’s Reward

This was the first time Lin Zhen had met someone with the same bloodline as he.

After seeing Tian Haoyu, Lin Zhen suddenly understood something.

In order to serve as the emperor in the Fire Kirin Empire, you must first possess the bloodline of the Super Star River Beast, the Fire Kirin, which was a prerequisite to becoming an Emperor.

Obtaining the genes of a Super Star River Beast was very difficult, and up to this point, Lin Zhen had only encountered three others who had them.

One was Ye Hua with his Golden Dragon bloodline, another was Feng Qingluan with his Phoenix bloodline, and the third was the present Imperial Emperor before him, Tian Haoyu.

Upon seeing Lin Zhen, Tian Haoyu was noticeably taken aback. He couldn’t help but rise from his seat, walk over to Lin Zhen, and scrutinize him closely.

After looking him over for a good while, Tian Haoyu couldn’t help but say, “It’s not a Fire Kirin, but it’s better than one. Your bloodline is truly unique, it’s actually a mutated Fire Kirin gene.”

His words reached Lin Zhen’s ears, but others couldn’t hear them. They also didn’t have Tian Haoyu’s sharp eyes, capable of discerning that Lin Zhen’s bloodline was that of a Mutated Galaxy Beast.

Lin Zhen gave his respects to Tian Haoyu, “Your Majesty, It’s a pleasure to meet you. You make me feel very at ease.”

“Ha ha~! I feel the same way. You’re Lin Zhen, aren’t you? A true young hero. Go ahead, take a seat.”

Someone brought a chair for Lin Zhen and he sat down.

Although advanced civilizations of Universe Countries are known as super empires, they did not have numerous old-fashioned customs like mortals. There weren’t many formalities between the monarch and his subjects.

“Lin Zhen, you have made significant contributions to our Empire this time, securing the first place in the Killing Rankings. The reward for the first place has been kept for you all this time. Now that you’re back, it’s time for you to claim it.”

As he spoke, Tian Haoyu gestured with his hand, and someone brought some things over.

Lin Zhen’s heart stirred. His total assets at the moment amounted to 350 billion Cosmic Crystals. If he could earn another 100 billion here, he would only fall short by 50 billion to achieve his promotion to Supreme Five Stars at the First Interstellar Bank.

Acquiring 50 billion wasn’t particularly difficult for Lin Zhen. Selling off some of the things at hand should quickly get him there.

Then, he could obtain information about the Phoenix’s rebirth. This had been something Lin Zhen had been looking forward to for a long time.

The attendant came over and opened a tray. Inside was a golden badge and a bank card.

“Lin Zhen, this is the Duke’s badge of our Fire Kirin Empire. Because you have slain over billions of the Insect Clan in the Chaotic Star River, I hereby award you the title ‘Duke of Hundred Victories’. I wish for you to advance in your cultivation and triumph in every battle.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Lin Zhen received the golden badge. A status of Duke was certainly no ordinary feat. Even Emperors of Intermediate Cosmic Nations would need to address him with respect. This status was regarded as equal to an Emperor from an Intermediate Universe Country.

Moreover, as an elite aristocrat of an Advanced Cosmic Nation, Lin Zhen had a great deal of judicial immunity. At least within the Intermediate Cosmic Nations, no one had the power to sanction him. Only the Emperor of the Fire Kirin Empire had that authority.

If Lin Zhen wished, he could even obtain a territory equivalent to an Intermediate Universe Country. However, Lin Zhen did not have such intentions for the time being.

This status, coupled with his identity as a Supreme Bank customer, allowed Alice to gather more information. This was what Lin Zhen needed.

Due to insufficient permissions, many secrets were beyond Lin Zhen’s reach. With this status, he could use his memory to find out many secret matters.

After being awarded the badge, Lin Zhen’s identity within the Dimensional Universe changed.

The title he used to hold was that of an Earl in the Tianhe Empire, but now it had been automatically replaced with the Duke of Hundred Victories in the Fire Kirin Empire.

“Take good care of this bank card. You can find the password in the smart system. It contains 100 billion Cosmic Crystals. This is your reward.”

Accepting the card, Lin Zhen now had 450 billion. He was only 50 billion short.

Tian Haoyu continued, “Apart from these two items, we have prepared a High Grade Heavenly Weapon for you. You should know, only World King Powerhouses can craft such Heavenly Weapons and they are extremely rare. You ought to seize this chance well.”

“Oh? How come it’s not given directly to me?” Lin Zhen asked.

“Initially, I planned to randomly gift the first place a Heavenly Weapon. However, given the great merit of your achievement, an ordinary Heavenly Weapon simply can’t represent your contribution. Later, someone will take you to our Fire Kirin treasury. You can freely choose an item from there. There are quite a few Heavenly Weapons inside. I hope you can make a good gain.”

Lin Zhen nodded his head, said goodbye to Tian Haoyu, and followed the attendant towards the treasury.

After several turns within the Imperial Palace, he could faintly feel a surge of spirited Qi in the distance that made him feel incredibly comfortable.

“What’s that place?”

“That’s the Kylin Transformation Pool, only the imperial kin can use.”

“Kylin Transformation Pool? What’s that?”

The attendant patiently explained to Lin Zhen, “The Kylin Transformation Pool is not simple. It is our Fire Kirin Empire’s Holy Land. Even the imperial kin cannot use it unless they have truly activated the Fire Kirin bloodline. You can only use this pool once you have activated your bloodline power and reached the peak of the Infant Stage.”

“The peak of the Infant Stage?”

“That’s right. The so-called peak of the Infant Stage refers to when you more or less have the appearance of a Kirin, just not as powerful. After soaking in the Kylin Transformation Pool, you will break through the Infant Stage and advance to the Growth Stage. At that time, your combat power in the Star River Beast form will be equivalent to a Realm King.”

Lin Zhen was taken aback, “You mean that the Galaxy Beast, in its form, has the combat power of a World King?”

“Yes, a grown Galaxy Beast is equivalent to World King strength, you should know that.”

Lin Zhen of course understood this, but he had never thought that the Kylin Transformation Pool could potentially allow one to reach the realm of World King. By that logic, once his own avatar reaches the peak of its infancy, he could come here for a breakthrough.

“So if one isn’t of royal descent, they can’t utilize it?”

“Principally, yes, but there have been exceptions in our Empire’s history. For example, if you’ve made significant achievements, and can convince the Imperial Emperor, you may be given a chance to use the Kylin Transformation Pool.”

Having heard this, Lin Zhen stopped heading towards the national treasury.

While in the Dimensional Universe, he chose to add the Emperor Tian Haoyu as a friend.

Ordinarily, nobody can simply add the Emperor as their friend, but Lin Zhen was now the Duke of Hundred Victories of the Empire, so he was naturally entitled.

Tian Haoyu quickly approved Lin Zhen’s request and asked, “What is it? Does our newly appointed Duke of Hundred Victories have an issue? Are you overwhelmed by the array of Heavenly Tools, needing my guidance?”

“Actually, Your Majesty, I no longer wish to select a Heavenly Tool. Instead, could I use my latest achievement to exchange for one chance to soak in the Kylin Transformation Pool?”

“Soak in the Kylin Transformation Pool?” Tian Haoyu was momentarily stunned, with no response for quite a while.

After a long pause, he finally said, “That seems fair enough. Since you have indeed made a significant contribution this time, I will make an exception. However, you won’t receive the Heavenly Tool reward.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I understand this, and moreover, I’m not coming right now. It might still be some time.”

Tian Haoyu didn’t say anything more and closed the Dimensional Universe interface. After a while, a servant handed Lin Zhen a badge.

“Mr. Lin Zhen, this is from His Majesty. When you feel it’s the right time to bring this badge, you can come over to the Kylin Transformation Pool and no one will obstruct you.”

Lin Zhen accepted the badge, a pass to the Kylin Transformation Pool issued by Tian Haoyu.

He carefully stored it away. In his view, the realm was the best reward. The use of the Kylin Transformation Pool was absolutely invaluable.

Unable to select a Heavenly Tool now, Lin Zhen turned around and left the Imperial Palace.

Upon leaving the palace, Lin Zhen couldn’t wait to go to some pawn shops and auction houses.

He wanted to sell off some of the things he had on hand to raise fifty billion cosmic crystals to upgrade his bank card level and get information about Phoenix Nirvana.

For a long time, Lin Zhen had killed many people, but the actual money he acquired was not much since most martial artists prefer to store money in their bank cards. This way, even if they encounter a misfortune one day, they wouldn’t be making the killers rich.

Helpless, Lin Zhen had to sell his assets.

The minerals, artefacts, spaceships, and all sorts of strange things he had obtained from killing people, everything that was of no use, he sold off without a second thought.

But fifty billion Cosmic Crystals was an astronomical figure. Lin Zhen had almost sold off all his possessions, and he was still short of ten billion!

In the end, Lin Zhen exchanged all the different currencies of civilizations he had accumulated and barely managed to gather a total of fifty billion Cosmic Crystals!

“To the Universe First Bank!”

Inside the Dimensional Universe, Lin Zhen appeared in the Fire Kirin branch of the Universe’s First Bank.

Looking at the towering bank gate, Lin Zhen couldn’t help but wonder who established the Universe’s First Bank and where its headquarters was located. He had been to the bank countless times in his past life, but he had never heard where the bank’s headquarters was in which Universe Country.

Also, the Dimensional Universe Company, Dimensional Arena, these giant industries, he had no idea where their headquarters were located.

“Advanced Cosmic Nations, they certainly aren’t the peak of the universe, there must be higher existences, I just don’t know it yet.”

Lin Zhen stepped into the bank to start making a deposit.

Fifty billion Cosmic Crystals is certainly a big client. Lin Zhen was once again flattered by the bank staff. Moreover, now he was the Duke of Hundred Victories of the Empire, the bank manager almost kneeled to massage his feet.

Waiting coldly for the deposit to finish, Lin Zhen’s chilling demeanor was quite frightening. After all, his star power value of 5000 wasn’t just for show, it definitely gave people a strong sense of oppression and they dared not easily offend him.

“Honorable Duke, congratulations on your bank card promotion. Now you are our supreme five-star customer.”

Lin Zhen took the bank card, looked at the customer manager and casually asked, “Do you know where the headquarters of the First Bank is?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t know. Perhaps our CEO knows something. As long as you can upgrade to the status of a nine-star supreme customer, you can discuss it with him.”

“Forget it!”

Lin Zhen was just curious and asked perfunctorily. He then got up and left the bank.

“Chris, what is your current level of authority? Can you access the information on Phoenix Nirvana yet?”

After about a minute, Chris’s voice replied, “Master, I have finished upgrading, and I have retrieved it!”