The energy in my cultivation chamber slowly dissipated as I opened my eyes. Desbera had gone far further than I expected when it came to reorganizing this place. She broke down the walls and built new ones that effectively cut the penthouse's total space by a fourth which wasn't that bad. The bedroom portion felt much less fancy but the improved cultivation chamber made up for it in droves. It now felt like the room back in the tutorial, like I breathed fresh air when I pulled the energy inside. The old array I used was still lacking but it was the best I could get right now.

The lotus was amazing. I still wasn't sure what strengthening my soul meant but after using it for a few days it made me feel better. My mind was clearer, it was hard to be sure but it seemed like my random thoughts decreased. My mind had become more tuned to what I needed to do. Unfortunately strengthening your soul was an agonizingly slow process. Which made it not super popular for non-psychic cultivators. Not that I minded. I already had a commanding lead so I should have the time to spend to develop my foundations. I got to my feet and stretched my muscles. Something I do mostly out of habit nowadays. My body didn't get stiff anymore at least it hasn't. I opened the door and stopped to look at the massive window. The moon was high in the sky. It was easy to see just how beautiful the night sky was especially now that the streetlights, signs, planes, and everything else that polluted the sky were gone. I only wished I could soar through the sky but that wasn't possible. At least not yet.

I took a seat on my bed and pulled up the settlement interface for the hundredth time. A familiar and annoying sea of red was the only thing to see. I paged through shops of all kinds from black smithies and armories to other general stores. I was just about to close the shop when I saw something new. There was a shop available for purchase. Its requirements were much lower than the others and only slightly higher than the system shop. It asked for space which I had in abundance and a formal governor. I was about to purchase it but decided to check in with Saanite first. I called Saanite to the boardroom and then did the same for Christopher and Desbera. Once the group was together I showed them the screen and waited to see what they would say.

"It is a fortunate opportunity. I do not know anything about this Dawn Emporium but it might be an opportunity." Saanite was the first to speak.

"What if it's a trick? What if they are just waiting for someone to make the purchase and then they pour out to attack? We could bring an enemy to our doorstep." Christopher added and I had to admit he made a good point. I was confident in dealing with any enemy that was at my level but there was no guarantee that it would be someone like that.

"There is no need to fear that. The commercial system is severely limited by the System. As long as the purchase is done through it they will have several restrictions placed on them. From everything to level limits and material restrictions to karmic punishments. Anyone with the power to ignore those things wouldn't need to rely on the System to take the planet. Not to mention that outside of the young Governor, nothing on this planet is important enough to take." Desbera added.

I decided to ignore the comment about some incredibly dangerous person wanting to take me away for now. "Alright so if we proceed with the assumption that the offer is legitimate I am probably the only person here that could buy it right? Is there any reason not to wait for more information on them?"

Saanite pulsed slightly before speaking. "You are thinking too shallowly. Your planet is not the only one going through the assimilation. There may be another world that will purchase before you can if you wait too long."

I sucked on my teeth and nodded. I hadn't considered that. "Alright, unless someone argues about why I shouldn't I am going to make the purchase." I let my gaze pass over each of them and when no one made a move to speak I stood up. Before I could confirm my purchase I received a message letting me know that I would lose access to the System's store. I confirmed that I understood and purchased the Emporium. I stepped off the elevator a few minutes later and made my way down the hall until I came to my new purchase. It was bare bones. The front of it had a large "Dawn Emporium" sign over the top of two glass sliding doors. The inside was good looking but it had that new car feel. It was made out of dark black and blue stone that I hadn't seen before with a foggy glass counter. The display beneath the counter was empty as was everything I could see behind it. Two doorways led further into the store which I guessed led to storage places.

"Excuse me would you be the Governor?" A quiet and cheery voice called out as a woman stepped into the room. I stared at her in confusion and curiosity. She had dark bronze skin and what I originally thought was sapphire hair was dragon scales. Her eyes were deep sapphire and she had a thick tail that trailed nearly a foot behind her. "Um excuse me? I believe my translation skills should be working."

I shook my head and smiled. "Ah sorry about that. I am the Governor. Though you can just call me Amari."

"Hello, Governor Amari. My name is Azariah and as you have no doubt realized this is my shop. I look forward to working with you."

"If you don't mind my asking why did you select a baby planet for your store?"

Azariah gave an awkward smile. "I was looking for an opportunity to prove myself and newly assimilated planets are incredibly unique. They tend to have treasures that are hard to get elsewhere which means more money for me."

I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. I decided not to push the issue anymore. From the look of it, this place was brand new so there was likely no threat from her. I was just about to ask her something else when another person stepped up behind her. This person was around six and a half feet tall with no hair, dark blue and black metallic skin, and a sword on one hip. It took me a second to realize that the person was a golem. The golem caused my danger sense to bother me but it was muted. Like it was trying to notify me at a great distance.

"Greetings young Governor. Ms. Vanaan I have finished arranging the storerooms. We will be able to store goods as soon as we procure them."

I nodded to the golem and then turned back to the merchant. "So is there anything you need for me to do? Currently, we are in the city of Amara which is the building we are in though I intend to expand as soon as possible."

"Of course, It will take me a bit of time to start reaching out and building up trade connections. If you would be willing to invest a bit of credits I would be able to speed it up." She flashed me a flash and suddenly her enthusiasm felt much more predatory. I stared back at her and pulled my status screen. I wasn't exactly struggling for money, especially with so little to buy.

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"How much do you need?"

"Hmm, ten million would be plenty."

I squinted at her and wondered if this was some scheme to bankrupt a planet so they would be able to run the new world through economic influences. "I will invest it in your business as long as you agree to offer a substantial discount and you agree to offer your services in any economic issues I may need. Before you decide you should be aware that I am this world's first Governor and probably will be the only one for quite a bit. I am also the world's strongest."

"I can do that as long as your requests don't demand too much of my time and that I can end our agreement by paying you back what you paid me." She replied.

I shook my head. "You buy out the agreement plus 20% and the deal ends."

She looked at her companion for a moment and then back at me. "15% and you have a deal."

I nodded and transferred the credits to her. My finances taking a pretty massive hit as the change wiped out the money I set aside for Saanite but I should be able to get most of it back through slaughtering monsters. "Alright now are you able to transfer credits into spirit stones?"

She blinked in what seemed to be genuine confusion and nodded. "Uh if you mean can I buy some for you. I can't turn them into the other though. It would be better if you were to find a natural source of the stones. There should be a few quarries on this planet by now."

"How would I find them?"

"Well, you would find them like just about every other natural treasure. Areas of high spiritual energy concentrations. Especially in undisturbed places."

I nodded slowly as I started piecing things together. Assuming that the treasure I got earlier wasn't some weird one off I should feel it. My body should just react to a quarry which was a bit weird to think about. "Is there a reason some people wouldn't react to a treasure? Like for example I found one earlier that made my soul feel like it was desperate for me to have it."

She nodded. "Ah yes. The treasure would need to have some relation to you. Either it would need to provide a bonus to your specific tao or it would need to provide a general bonus to you such as a body refinement treasure or one for the soul."

I nodded. "Alright, well for now if possible any arrays you can get your hands on that would help a growing settlement, I would appreciate it. Same thing for attribute fruits or mental tao."

"You should be aware that getting anything related to mental tao isn't easy. Any treasures related to the Tao are difficult as everyone wants them. Those specific tao are very rare though."

"That's fine. Armor and weapons are the biggest priority though. My people need things that are stronger than what we have. You can discuss that with Christopher when I am not around. I don't plan on micromanaging you so I trust that you can take care of your business?"

She nodded and we went over a few more things. Mainly details about how taxes would work. Thankfully the System automated that part. I only had to tell it how much to take. Unfortunately, I was at a disadvantage for that. Since she was the only source of imports it wasn't like I could raise taxes too high. We would all sit here with nothing if she just stopped. Now that I had invested in her I would just cost myself even more money. Once we finished I left her to take care of her arrangements. I made my way back to the apartment and prepared to get some rest. There wasn't much for me to do tonight and I wasn't in the mood for any late-night hunting. I took an extra hour to meditate on my tao and turned in for the evening.

We fell into a rhythm over the next few days. One day was devoted to personal hunting where I went out and cleared out a group of monsters on my own and earned some credits. One day was devoted to guarding Aaliyah. She was making progress but it was clear that this method wouldn't be good enough. Monsters started to avoid us when I was with her which led to her dealing with the stragglers. Which led us to our current situation. I sat in the academy as Aaliyah and Trey pushed themselves in a gravity array. The whole thing reminded me of something you would see in a video game. There were two rooms with independent settings. Where your goal was to run through an obstacle course quickly. It was honestly a bit like the army test where you had to crawl and climb up walls and things like that. The array worked wonders on everyone but me. Trey got the most benefits but also the least understood. He didn't have access to the status screen so we could only see the changes it made to his body and his performance.

Aaliyah had already gained fifteen attribute points. Unfortunately for her, there was nothing that could be done for the percentage and potency boosts. Which meant she was still nowhere near as strong and fast as I was. I let them continue for two hours before I called them over along with Desbera. "I am going to head out tomorrow. It's up to you if you decide to join me but my goal will be to find some stronger enemies. I need to get back to pushing myself which means it will be dangerous. If you don't want to go then you can stick it out here. I need someone to lead some teams in the surrounding areas. Trey I want you to keep up what you are doing. Your primary concern needs to be energy manipulation though." I looked to Desbera. "If you can get him squared away with what works for him I would appreciate it."

"Of course, if you would like I can help arrange your forces into hunter groups. I have some small knowledge on troop formations." Desbera asked.

I nodded. "I am going to go back into the city and try to find some old-world books. Do you think you could transform information from them into something useful under the System?"

She looked slightly apprehensive before slowly nodding. "That could be much more difficult but I will look into it. Your world didn't have spiritual energy before this but from what I have heard you made advancements in technology?"

"Yes, though some of it was taken by the System."

"That is to be expected. Technology drifts into the taboo paths though not all of it. I will do what I can."

I raised an eyebrow at "Taboo paths" but decided to leave it for later. "Great work with Azariah to get any additional materials. I plan on taking two people with me when the auction begins. Can you make me a list of people? Officially they would be my bodyguards so bring people with some combat ability."

"I do not think anyone will be strong enough by then. Not to protect you from a genuine threat. I can compile a list of people who have taken some of the scout skills."

"For now let's stick with martial warriors. I have the spellcaster role down. If you have anyone that's more defensively minded that could be good as well. Could you also send a message to Azariah? If she is interested in the auction I will bring her as well."

"I am going to join you," Aaliyah stated. "I am not going to sit here while you keep climbing. I want you to help me get my class as soon as you can."

I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "That won't be fast even if you follow me. From now on if you are serious then you are at my side."

I gave her a chance to think about it and then turned to Desbera. "She will be the first guard. I will have Christopher use the same system as last time. If anything happens you all are to close up the building and hide inside."

We went over a few more things before I let everyone else turn in for the night. I made my way back into my cultivation chamber. I wasn't anywhere close to a new level but every little bit helped. The arrays came to life in a few minutes and I focused on the Ethereal Codex. Energy surged through my channels and into my dantian. I took a deep breath and relaxed. I turned my attention to my tao and tried to improve my connection to the strand of lucidity. I still hadn't figured out just what I was supposed to do. I was so close to the next stage that I could practically taste it. Yet that last step felt like it was a mile long. I focused on my meditation for an hour before I moved on. I devoted a bit of time to each of my sigils and trying to understand how my spells worked a bit more but there wasn't much there. Psychic Aegis and Psychic Blast were at the max proficiency and I couldn't upgrade them. I wasn't sure how I was going to improve Intellect Fortress. I wasn't sure where I would find an opponent that could use mental attacks. Especially one strong enough to push the spell to the next level. I gave it another few hours before I ended my session. The arrays ended and I headed to bed.