“By the way, don’t you plan on raising your guiding fees a bit?”
Crane pondered for a moment before replying with some resignation:
“We can’t really help it. Our world is dominated by a few superpowers, and they control most of the mana crystals.”
These superpowers were truly formidable; Crane even suspected that they had already surpassed the limits of the world itself.
However, for some unknown reason, they had yet to ascend to the God Realm.
Moreover, mana stones and mana crystals were all hoarded.
This led to one consequence:
Most people here were stuck at Tier-God levels from other worlds.
But in their own world, those who ascended to the God Realm always seemed terribly poor.
Forget about ten thousand mana crystals.
Most people barely had any superior mana stones on hand.
“Where did all the mana crystals go?”
The answer was simple: they were used up ensuring successful ascension to the God Realm.
The ones who spent most of them were the ones dealing with Dragonscale Bank.
But now…
Crane sighed, knowing there was nothing more he could do.
Just then, the guiding portal in front of them began to flicker.
A man and a woman stepped out from the portal.
“Huh? Crane, these two seem to be from the same world as you!”
One of the others remarked.
Crane looked up in excitement at the two figures emerging from the portal.
He felt the same aura from them, just like his own.
This could only mean one thing: they were from the same world.
At that moment, Daniel was finally able to remove the Ring of Origin from his hand.
He took a deep breath, feeling a wave of relaxation wash over him, as though an outer garment had been removed.
It was a delightful sense of freedom.
Daniel then noticed that Big White was hiding inside his clothing, trembling.
“What’s wrong?” Daniel asked, looking down.
“Dad, there’s a big one outside. I’m scared…”
Upon hearing Big White’s words, Daniel quickly understood.
The only thing that could make his Will of World feel fear was the Will of World from the God Realm.
Because Will of Worlds could consume each other, Big White must have sensed that overwhelming presence.
It was a primal fear of death.
Daniel thought for a moment, then took out the Ring of Origin again.
He applied some concealment rules on it and slipped it onto Big White’s neck.
“With this, it won’t be able to detect you.”
Big White nodded, burrowing deeper into Daniel’s arms, clearly refusing to come out.
“Headmaster, someone’s approaching,” Elise reminded.
Daniel looked toward the figure walking toward them, who seemed to be at the peak of human god level.
“Greetings, I’m Crane, and I come from the same world as you,” Crane said enthusiastically, visibly excited.
It wasn’t easy meeting someone who had ascended to the God Realm from the same world.
The woman seemed to be at mid-human god level, just a step away from reaching the peak.
She must have been a genius back in Mortal Realm.
As for the man… Crane couldn’t quite make out his power.
Perhaps he was using some artifact to conceal his aura?
Crane then turned to Daniel and said,
“I ascended to God Realm two hundred years ago, back when Element Temple was the ruler of Middle Earth. I wonder what the situation is now?”
This was something only people from their world would understand.
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Crane said this to try to gain their trust—especially Daniel’s, since he could tell that Elise was subordinated to him.
“Well, things are more or less the same.”
Element Temple is now under Crossbridge Academy, which governs the entire continent.
In other words, Element Temple still dominates Middle Earth, but it doesn’t matter much now.
Daniel didn’t feel like explaining too much.
“Allow me to introduce my friend. He’s from Westwind Realm, also collaborating with us from the Void Realm.”
“In the God Realm, we all need to stick together…”
Crane then explained the current situation of the God Realm.
Daniel nodded, acknowledging that he understood.
He then asked,
“Void Realm? Who came up with that name?”
Daniel found the name a bit unpleasant.
It had a deathly vibe, almost like it was predicting the world’s demise.
After all, he had just brought the world back to life…
“Well, it was named by the administrators of Ascension Island for our world,” Crane replied with some reluctance.
“Ah, so if I wanted to change it, I just need to talk to them?”
“Uh, no… We can’t just change the name,” Crane whispered. “It was decided by the God Kings, so it’s not something we can alter on a whim.”
“Alright, so what should we do next?”
Daniel didn’t want to linger on this topic and planned to speak directly with the Lord of 5 Elements later to get a better name.
“Next, we need to head to Ascension City. All the ascended individuals from our world gather there. But… first, you need to pay a guiding fee.”
“Only then can I take you inside. Of course, if you prefer not to pay, you can go on your own.”
Elise looked at Daniel.
If Daniel agreed, she would immediately pay the required fee.
Daniel thought for a moment, then asked,
“How much is it?”
“One hundred thousand mana crystals per person. For both of you, that would be two hundred thousand mana crystals.”
Daniel furrowed his brow.
Two hundred thousand mana crystals?
That’s all?
He had learned from the Lord of 5 Elements that divine stones were the standard currency in the God Realm.
How could they still be using mana crystals here?
He knew that the exchange rate between mana crystals and divine stones was disproportionate.
One divine stone was worth about one million mana crystals.
Even for two people, that was still less than a single divine stone.
Could it be…
Daniel then glanced at the two guides.
Were they really that poor?
Crane noticed Daniel frown at the price and hurriedly explained,
“Please, it’s not a scam. The guiding fee has always been this low. In fact, our Void Realm charges much less than other worlds. I can’t give you all the details, but if you stay in Ascension City for a few days, you’ll see that what I’m saying is true. Our world’s fees are the fairest.”
Upon hearing this, Daniel nodded and asked,
“By the way, it seems like you know a lot about Ascension Island. Is that right?”
“Of course. I’ve been here for over a century. There’s nothing I don’t know about this place.”
“Then, if I were to hire you to gather some information about the God Realm, how much would that cost?”
Since Crane was so familiar with the God Realm, and was from the same world, it seemed perfect to hire him for the task.
“That’s easy,” Crane said, raising a finger.
“It would only take one divine stone—about one million mana crystals.”
“I mean, I’d like to hire you for ten years. You wouldn’t need to guide anyone anymore. Just stay with me for ten years, and you can calculate the cost.”
At this, both Crane and his friend were stunned.
What was this?
Was this some new black market jargon from Crane’s world?
“Uh… Don’t joke around, my friend. Are you still planning to go to Ascension City?”
“I’m not joking. Give me a price. If you’re not willing, we can find someone else. Elise, please pay the guiding fee.”
Daniel turned to Elise.
She immediately handed over two hundred thousand mana crystals to Crane.
At this point, Crane was still dazed.
He muttered in disbelief,
“Ten years? That would be… two hundred divine stones, right?”