Chapter 64: Origin of Transcendents

Watching the man's sudden shift from arrogance to servility, Yang Dongqing was practically fuming.

"Let's go. Don't cause any extra trouble," Su Mu said calmly, then led Yang Dongqing away.

The two hailed a cab and followed the address Murong Mengli had given them, arriving in front of an office building.

The building was relatively short and situated in a somewhat remote location. A sign for Bronze Coffin Co., Ltd. hung at the entrance.

The two stepped inside and were quickly greeted by a receptionist.

"Who are you here to see?"

"We're looking for your chairman," Su Mu said with a faint smile.

Hearing this, the receptionist's attitude grew even more respectful. "Are you Mr. Su and Mr. Yang?"

"That's right."

"The chairman is on the top floor. Please follow me."

After taking the elevator up, the two soon met Murong Mengli in the top-floor chairman's office. This time, however, Han Yu was not by her side.

"Mr. Su, Mr. Yang. I've been expecting you," Murong Mengli said, rising from her office chair to welcome them.

"We meet again, Miss Murong," Su Mu greeted politely.

Yang Dongqing muttered from the side, "H-hello." He looked rather uncomfortable. It was his first time visiting the Upper District, let alone meeting the chairman of a large company. He had never experienced a situation like this before.

Especially since this chairman was exceptionally stunning.

Today, Murong Mengli wore a white women's suit with a delicate silk scarf tied at her collar, exuding elegance through its simplicity. Her exquisite face wore light makeup, a faint blush showing through her fair skin. Her flaxen hair cascaded casually over her shoulders, adding a touch of mature charm and allure.

While Yang Dongqing only saw her beauty, Su Mu noticed something different. Murong Mengli was quite young, only in her early twenties. She was clearly using her attire to make herself appear more mature and steady, trying to enhance her authority. Logically, she shouldn't need to do this; her status as a noble alone should be enough to command respect.

Coupled with Han Yu's earlier attitude, he guessed that despite being a noble, Murong Mengli probably held a rather low status within her family.

After a few pleasantries, Murong Mengli got straight to the point. She took out a document and handed it to Su Mu.

"Mr. Su, this is the shareholding agreement. Please take a look."

Su Mu flipped through it. Having taught himself Empire law in his dreams, he didn't need a lawyer to review a contract.

After confirming there were no issues, he signed his name without hesitation.

"Mr. Su, you're a smart man. I imagine that from Han Yu's attitude yesterday, you've already guessed that my status in the family isn't very high," Murong Mengli said calmly. Facing her new partner, she didn't try to hide behind her noble title for leverage, choosing instead to be entirely upfront.

Su Mu nodded. "Your candor is admirable, Miss Murong."

"I believe honesty is the foundation of any partnership." Murong Mengli's gaze was firm and confident. "Besides, I don't believe that success can only be achieved by relying on one's family."

"Indeed."

Su Mu had to admit that this woman was very smart. Han Yu's behavior had already exposed her lack of status. Instead of trying to hide it, she chose to bring it up herself. While this naturally cost her some noble authority, it at least conveyed a sense of sincerity.

"Thank you for understanding. Now, I'll briefly go over the Bronze Coffin Company's primary objective at the moment: finding the Eye of Gold."

"Eye of Gold?" Yang Dongqing was unfamiliar with the term.

"The Eye of Gold is the primary material used to craft a Gold Grade Transcendent Tier Potion. To tell you the truth, finding the Eye of Gold was the original reason Bronze Coffin was founded.

"Actually, this is no longer a secret within Star City's transcendent circles. Since the two of you come from the Lower District, you might not know this yet, but my father—the head of the Murong Family—has been searching for the Eye of Gold for many years. Not only did he post massive bounties, but he also encouraged his own children to establish companies and recruit nightmare apostles to search for it."

Yang Dongqing paused in surprise. "Does the Eye of Gold only exist in the Nightmare World?"

Murong Mengli nodded. "Exactly. In fact, it isn't just the Eye of Gold—many transcendent materials only exist in the Nightmare World. This was the original purpose behind establishing Transcendent Tier Companies: to collect transcendent materials through nightmare apostles."

"What's the use of collecting transcendent materials?"

"To craft Transcendent Potions," Murong Mengli said softly. "Mr. Yang, do you know how those transcendents who aren't nightmare apostles come to be?"

Yang Dongqing wasn't stupid. Given such an obvious hint, he immediately realized the truth. "Is it through Transcendent Potions?"

"Correct. In the beginning, there were no transcendents in the Real World, only nightmare apostles. Those nightmare apostles with transcendent talent were able to connect to the Bronze Law and awaken transcendent power. Such people are called Chosen Ones!"

Yang Dongqing raised his eyebrows slightly; perhaps the term 'Chosen One' struck a chord with him.

"Later on, as the Chosen Ones continued to explore the Nightmare World, they discovered transcendent materials. Through special refinement and preparation, these materials could be distilled into Transcendent Potions. Once ordinary people in the Real World drank these Transcendent Potions, they could become transcendents. That is the origin of the Real World's transcendents."

"So nightmare apostles were the ones who created the transcendents in reality," Yang Dongqing said in sudden realization.

"Correct." Murong Mengli nodded. "People cannot independently connect to the Bronze Law in the Real World. According to some high-tier transcendents, there seems to be some kind of barrier in the Real World blocking humanity. To connect to it, one can only rely on an external force like a Transcendent Potion to shatter that barrier.

"And obtaining the materials required for Transcendent Potions relies solely on nightmare apostles. Of course, nightmare monsters occasionally invade reality, providing a chance to harvest transcendent materials from them, but that method's efficiency definitely can't compare to using nightmare apostles.

"To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the nobles, nightmare apostles are precious resources that can help them obtain transcendent materials."

Yang Dongqing's expression darkened. No wonder that Upper District nightmare apostle from back then had said those things. Nightmare apostles truly faced danger no matter which world they were in.

He could almost picture it: unscrupulous nobles kidnapping a nightmare apostle's family for profit, then threatening the apostle into constantly gathering transcendent materials for them until they died in the Nightmare World.

"Although the earliest transcendents were nightmare apostles, their unique nature makes it very difficult for them to live long lives. As far as I know, not a single nightmare apostle has ever managed to completely break free from the Nightmare World.

"Transcendent beings in the Real World do not face this threat. Thus, in the end, the transcendents of reality grew stronger and stronger, while the nightmare apostles simply continued to rise and fall."