Swallowed Star: The Zerg Overlord

Chapter 112: The Ganwu Dojo

The slaves Qin Mu purchased from the slave market wouldn't all be taken back to Earth. Some would remain on Qiu Long Star to work for Earth's trade company, while others skilled in manufacturing, medicine, and other technical fields would be brought back to Earth to contribute to its development.

Li Xingtao and his team had already purchased a fleet of B-grade interstellar cargo ships, each over ten kilometers long. A single ship could transport all the slaves back to Earth.

"Understood. Please rest assured, we are professionals," the manager said with a beaming smile.

Large transactions like this, involving over ten thousand slaves, were typically handled at the spaceport.

After drafting the contract and paying the deposit, Qin Mu casually asked, "Do you have any universe-level slaves?"

"Yes, we do! Are you interested in universe-level slaves?" The manager's eyes lit up.

Universe-level slaves were a huge deal. Even the lowest-tier universe-level slave started at 10 trillion Black Dragon coins.

"Not right now. I was just asking. I can't afford them yet," Qin Mu replied with a smile, showing no embarrassment.

The manager, however, grew even more respectful. The fact that Qin Mu even asked such a question indicated that he had the potential to make such a purchase in the future. In the manager's eyes, Qin Mu was undoubtedly a core disciple of some superpower.

"This is our guild's VIP card. Please keep it. You can contact us anytime for your needs. If you don't have time to visit the slave market, you can place orders in the Virtual Universe, and we'll deliver them promptly," the manager said, handing over a card.

"Alright, that's it for now. We'll be going. There are other places we need to visit," Qin Mu said, accepting the card and leading his group out of the slave market under the manager's respectful gaze.

After leaving the slave market, the group fell into a somber silence. The experience had been a profound shock. Planetary-level nine spirit masters, who would be invincible on Earth, were being given away as freebies—ten thousand of them!

Seeing the group's subdued mood, Qin Mu didn't offer any comfort. This was a necessary part of their journey into the cosmos. If they couldn't handle this, how could they hope to establish themselves and rise in the universe?

If visiting the Treasure Store had been about showing them the wonders of the universe, then the slave market was about exposing them to its darkest realities.

Compared to other primitive planets, Earth's entry into the universe had been remarkably fortunate. With an Undying's inheritance, a hidden location, a unified government, and leaders who genuinely cared for their people, Earth had been given a head start.

The group consisted of Earth's most talented individuals. Given time, they would adapt.

"Let's go. Our next destination is the Ganwu Dojo," Qin Mu said.

The group followed silently, lost in their thoughts.

The Ganwu Dojo was a martial arts and spirit training institution under the Ganwu Universe Country. It was a crucial channel for recruiting and training warriors and spirit masters. The Ganwu Universe Country strictly prohibited any other martial arts schools or dojos from operating within its vast territory, which spanned over a hundred million galaxies. The Ganwu Dojo was the only one allowed.

Qin Mu had some theories about why this was the case. The ruler of the Ganwu Universe Country had died three times and had borrowed many treasures from friends each time. As a result, he owed the human race a massive amount of contribution points. Training geniuses was one way to repay this debt. It wasn't until Luo Feng lent him some treasure points that he was able to clear his debts.

Before the Genius Battle began and they could join the Virtual Universe Company, the Ganwu Dojo was an excellent place for them to learn and train. Here, as long as you had money, you could hire experts for one-on-one instruction. There were also free public classes available. The dojo imposed almost no restrictions on its students, and many people within the Ganwu Universe country joined.

Although Earth's warriors had the Yun Mo inheritance, having someone to guide them was different from self-study. As newcomers to the universe, Earth's fighters had many gaps in their knowledge. Guidance from experts would help them avoid unnecessary detours.

***

Following the navigation system, the group arrived at a massive city. Yes, the Ganwu Dojo was essentially a city within a city. The Qiu Long Star branch was the largest and most advanced in nearly a hundred surrounding galaxies, covering a diameter of 280 kilometers.

"Before coming here, I looked up information about this Ganwu Dojo. It's guarded by three universe-level experts. If you're willing to pay, you can even get one-on-one tutoring from them," Qin Mu explained as they entered the dojo.

At the main entrance, they saw three statues of human warriors, each wearing deep purple robes with a golden leaf embroidered on their sleeves.

"In the Ganwu Dojo, planetary-level students are ordinary members. Star-level students are elite members. Universe-level experts are Masters, marked by one golden leaf. Domain lords have two golden leaves, and Sector lords have three. These three statues indicate that this dojo has three universe-level experts," Qin Mu explained, seeing the group's spirits lift.

This information was something Qin Mu had researched in the Virtual Universe over the past two days, so he was well-informed.

At the entrance, countless students were coming and going. There were no guards, so Qin Mu's group simply followed the crowd inside.

Once inside, they saw a vast square where tens of thousands of students were engaged in one-on-one training. The atmosphere was electric and inspiring. The weakest students were at the planetary level, and there were many star-level students as well.

"All of them are warriors!" Lei Shen's eyes lit up.

As a martial arts enthusiast, Lei Shen found the Ganwu Dojo's vibrant and energetic environment far more appealing than the dark and oppressive slave market. On Earth, he and Hong had founded the Limit Dojo and Thunder Dojo, which were similar in concept to the Ganwu Dojo. The difference was that on Earth, they had been the teachers. Here, they were the students.

"Will we be training here in the future?" Lei Shen asked.

The group's mood had noticeably improved since arriving at the dojo.

"That's up to you. If you want to come, you can," Qin Mu replied. He wouldn't dictate their paths. People like Hong and Lei Shen didn't need to be told what to do.

"This place looks promising," Hong said with a smile, observing the surroundings.

"Let's go register," Qin Mu said.

Following the signs, they arrived at an administrative building and paid 6,000 Black Dragon coins to register everyone. The tuition fees for the Ganwu Dojo weren't expensive—800 Black Dragon coins for registration and 10 Black Dragon coins per year afterward. The real costs came from hiring experts for one-on-one training, which could be astronomical.

"Alright, let's head back. You can come here whenever you want. It's about time we returned to Earth," Qin Mu said.

They had accomplished everything they needed to do. The next step was to purchase a planet near Earth to serve as a transit hub for receiving the metals, industrial machinery, and raw materials they had bought. Transit planets, often with harsh environments, were cheap to buy or rent.

This trip had exceeded their expectations, and it was time to return to Earth for some rest and reorganization. The orders Earth had secured needed to be fulfilled, and the entire planet would be busy in the coming days. Breaching the contracts would have severe consequences.

"Are you coming back with me, or are you staying here?" Qin Mu asked Hong and Lei Shen after they left the dojo.

"Later, we'll go to the spaceport to receive the slaves. Each of you can pick a star-level nine and a star-level eight warrior for protection during your universe adventures."

After some consideration, Qin Mu decided to assign the star-level nine slaves to Hong and Lei Shen first. The others on Earth were still far from reaching the star level, so having star-level eight or nine warriors to guide them wouldn't make much difference. With a star-level nine and a star-level eight warrior each, Hong and Lei Shen's safety would be significantly enhanced.

"We'll go back too. We haven't had the inheritance for long, and there's a lot we need to digest," Hong said after exchanging a glance with Lei Shen.

"Right. There's no rush for adventures. Let's improve our strength and gain some experience first. With the Virtual Universe, being here or on Earth doesn't make much difference," Lei Shen added.

"Alright, let's head back then," Qin Mu said.