Shen looked at the notifications he had received while the drow taught him how to fight using his Ruptured Concepts. He had left them around as a reminder that he had to make a decision.

| Report verdict on Yinhu Lanfen (G):

| Feng Shen (D) was considered directly responsible for the traitor revealing herself

| Favor received

| Favors remaining: 1

The Drown Maiden had told him to use the favor to get the B-rank teleportation privilege, but he had wanted to think about it first. After meditating on the subject and buying a primer, he saw how good her suggestion was.

In a single word, it made him safer.

System teleportation had some rules. D-ranks and below could only teleport from one official circle to another. At C-rank, you could teleport from anywhere as long as there was a circle on the same planet or astral body as you. Your destination still had to be another circle, either the one on that planet or somewhere else. It cost extra AP to start teleporting away from a circle, but it was very convenient.

At B-rank, there was no extra cost if your point of origin wasn't a circle. Moreover, teleportation was free if both origin and destination were in the same astral body. If not, you only had to pay the cost to go from the closest teleportation circle to your destination's circle. B-ranks also had priority access to system teleportation and rarely, if ever, had to wait during peak usage periods.

Even more convenient, B-ranks teleporting from and to territory under their race control could also set any target. They weren't limited to going only to other teleportation circles.

Free-targeting was incredibly convenient and would be a fantastic assassination tool if not for the three kinds of places it couldn't reach.

First, land officially recognized by the Alliance as belonging to a private party. In most cases, that meant being recognized by the rulers of a world or their organizations. On Earth, that meant Marzia and whatever government she had established. Property owners could still teleport into their land, of course, and also set up key tokens or allowlists to let others in.

Second, magic boundaries. Any place that was surrounded by a spell or technique was off-limits. It had to be wholly covered, though; all three dimensions, as in a bubble or cube. Just walling your place wouldn't do.

Third, officially restricted areas. The owners of any non-private astral body, usually a race's rulers, could decide whether free-targeting was available there. They could also set up specific areas where free-targeting was allowed or prohibited.

When the target location was in any of those places, the teleportation still happened, but only to the closest point available in the same astral body.

So, a B-rank teleportation privilege would let Shen escape any ambush as long as he had the AP to pay for it and the system wasn't cut off on his surroundings. Considering he had B-tier monitoring priority, whoever could cut him off was so powerful that trying to escape would be impossible anyway.

Besides making Shen safer, it would also make those around him safer. He could bring extra people with him for no additional cost than what he was paying, up to three people of his rank—also a B-rank privilege. Each of those three could also be replaced by ten of a lower rank, who could each be replaced by ten of an even lower rank, and so on. So, 3 D-ranks, 30 E-ranks, 300 F-ranks, 3,000 G-ranks, or a combination of those.

Last but not least, one of the most eye-catching privileges B-ranks had when teleporting was the sub-function that allowed them to locate people for free under certain circumstances. While free-targeting, you could state the name of someone you had talked to in the past Standard year. If they were in a place you could reach for free—considering all previous variables—the system teleported you there, no need to set any coordinates or anything.

Whoever didn't have those things was always at a disadvantage in any engagement. It was really a privilege meant for B-ranks, the ones who were genuinely valued in the Alliance. So, naturally, getting it before B-rank was costly. Favors were rare.

It was still totally worth it.

Shen would've bought it anyway before leaving the world. He had just left the favor there in case things changed. And, well, they had changed, but in the opposite direction: he had to buy it now.

To be fair, the Drow Maiden had also given him the favor for free instead of hiding it from him, so he didn't resent her.

"Use a favor to buy B-rank teleportation privileges," he said while willing most of the notifications in his field of view to disappear.

He only left one.

| Beware! Yinhu Lanfen (G) could not be located! A Bounty has been issued! She'll know someone reported her!

It was even red to show she was considered to have betrayed Reality to the Void. He would make sure never to forget the woman. Who knows what secrets or allies she might have?

That notification was soon joined by new ones.

| Favor used

| Favors remaining: 0

| Purchased: B-rank Teleportation Privileges

Shen dismissed the most recent notifications, stored the recorder and the pingback analyzer in his spatial ring, and said, "Teleport me to the Drow Maiden."

He could bring the antidron with him if he wanted. Not as an object because it was sentient, but as an extra. He didn't because he wanted to test if it could locate him when he teleported away. In a way, he would cease to exist for an instant to reappear elsewhere.

| Instant Teleportation — Same Planet

| No teleportation relays found near your or the target location. Costs increased.

| Teleportation started.

| B-rank privilege engaged. No AP deducted.

Shen's vision flashed, then he found himself in a forest in the middle of nowhere. There was no Drow Maiden around, but the teleportation had engaged. Obviously, she had set a magic perimeter around her, and he was right outside it. He didn't even breathe in case her enchantment or spell was set to kill on touch.

His antidron moved, though.

Apparently, its C+ enchantments could easily feel him anywhere in the world now that it was bound to him. It was also as fast as a C+ enchantment had the right to be.

It didn't take a single second for it to suddenly appear beside Shen, decelerating instantly. It was so fast that he only barely felt it approach with his aura, and maybe only because he was expecting it. It wasn't as fast as the drow, but still way beyond him. Probably any other D-rank looking at him might think the hexahedron had just taken an extra moment to appear by teleportation.

Fortunately, it didn't set any trap the Maiden might've set up, and Shen sighed. That had been an oversight. If he died just because he was testing one of the thing's enchantments...

"I'm here," he said.

"I see that" the Drow Maiden said.

Shen didn't have to turn to see her. She was right in front of him as if she had been all the time. The technique she used was so good that he couldn't even pinpoint the exact moment he started seeing her.

If that wasn't a show of power, Shen didn't know what was.

She was making it clear who had the high ground in the incoming negotiations. As if there had ever been any questions.

"What do you want?" the drow asked.

"I bring a gift and a request," he said with a smile. "Do you remember when you said the drow don't know much about qi? Well, what if I could completely change that?"

Feng Shen— Or rather, only Shen now, according to the system, gave Liya access to the antidron. She listened to the Grand Senator's words, received the list of the knowledge in the sphere, and heard the boy's plans.

Liya had expected the boy's honor to force him to repay her sooner or later. Not this fast, though. More importantly, not this stupidly and impressively.

She could only frame it as an exciting way of committing suicide.

The more he talked, the more she considered cutting him from the system, but it would only make things more suspicious. It was best for the B-rank monitoring him to know precisely how valuable the boy's treasure trove was. Leaving it to imagination would be much worse because he was still suspected of being Void Spawn.

And a treasure it was, much more precious than Shen realized—enough that she couldn't repay the boy for it.

Unfortunately, she also couldn't rip him off. He was her charge, thus, drow. All Liya could do was make sure he understood what was going on.

She had avoided economic topics before because they were unrelated to his training. Now, she would have to give him a crash course, speaking as fast as the system could translate her words. She had to hope it would be fast enough.

As dangerous as any delay was, she still thought it necessary to give him a choice. He was one step away from C-rank. He had the right to decide his Path forward.

"You need context," she started. "Humanity currently evaluates AP as less valuable than SC due to scarcity, but things are the opposite in the multiverse. The last time I checked, 1 AP was worth around 112 SC for items you can buy in the Guardian Store. AP isn't as easy and safe to acquire as humanity got used to, and only idiots or very protected individuals dare accumulate AP for AP-SC transactions.

"However, there's plenty of SC going around. The Alliance is old, pays wages to all Guardians, and unlike AP, SC doesn't usually disappear when a Guardian dies. They can transfer it to friends, family, or banks before risking their lives. In fact, AP would be worth more if the system didn't force prices down with its fixed purchase and sale rates.

"That is important because many things that cannot be bought on the Guardian Store cost much more than you might expect, as you're about to find so.

"Let me enumerate everything I did for you that I can put a price tag on.

"B- items usually cost between 200 to 400 billion SC. However, the B- Pure Yin-Yang Water I gave you is quite special among them. It would go for around 700 billion SC.

"The drow race doesn't train others for money, but you could get elite D-rank training like yours from races with similar power for 50 billion SC. The price is high because it includes sharing good techniques and dedicated time from someone whose time could be better spent elsewhere. What I did for you should cost even more, but let's leave it at that.

"The spear I gave you could theoretically be bought from the system. A C+ weapon with your Rising Star discount costs 450 million AP. Converting it, it becomes 50 billion SC. You didn't unlock the function to buy items with core Laws yet, but it doubles their cost. 100 billion.

"Lastly, a favor can be exchanged for 500 million SC with the system, but as I told you, only idiots or warriors on the front lines do so. The actual value of the first favor, which can be traded, is 25 billion.

"In total, you owe me at least 875 billion SC.

"I didn't quote some of the knowledge I shared with you because I can't quantify how much you benefited from it or whether you would've gained similar power without that knowledge.

"However, I know how much the knowledge in this antidron is worth.

"The qi techniques inside are so rare and diversified that I would evaluate them at around 350 billion SC. It could be more if they weren't D-rank. While they would allow anyone to research qi, it would only be up to a point.

"Of course, I might not owe you that, not if you share this information online on Earth. I don't think you want to do that, but we'll come back to that later.

"What's important is that even if I don't need to pay you for the knowledge inside the antidron, I have no way to pay for the antidron itself."