[You're already back! It has only been a decade...Don't tell me you missed me or Lily?]

When Shane received this transmitted thought from Levi, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"I bought the surrounding lands and want to build a nurturing ground for a Faction with Artisans and a Combat force! I hope it won't bother you or Lily too much. We would steer clear of the underground cave and I doubt that there is anyone even remotely strong enough to cause any damage either way!"

The Leviathan, Shane assumed to be over one thousand meters long, stared at him, not saying anything before she averted her attention to Lily, who was using her utmost efforts to approach Shane.

[As long as she is safe, I don't mind anything else!]

Shane had expected this answer and he nodded his head as he said,

"As long as I purchase the surrounding lands and nobody else wants to enter the Neptua Ladra region, you and Lily will be fine!"

After that, he mumbled to himself,

"That is if I earn enough funds…"

Suddenly, he remembered something else that he had wanted to tell Levi and Lily.

"I almost forgot to tell you two this! Igra's mana heart will awaken soon, or to be exact, in 28 days. That means Lily won't have to use her mana to grow anymore.

After some time, she might even be able to accept the mana of a main dimension and you two can leave Igra!"

Shane initially hadn't intended to add the last part of the sentence but had inadvertently done so., and the Leviathan couldn't help but ask.

[Do you want us to leave?]

He couldn't tell if Levi was being sarcastic or not.

However, he decided to answer it in all seriousness and replied.

"To be honest? I don't want you guys to leave because I had the best few days of my childhood with you and Lily, but it's not like Lily can grow into a full-fledged Leviathan on Igra! Even your growth has stagnated, or rather, it must have deteriorated by a visible degree.

You've had to nurture yourself and Lily for the last decade, while you inhabited Igra for much longer, after all!"

Shane's reasoning was logical and the Leviathan nodded her head in agreement. Her eyes fell on Lily who had reached the stone where both the dimension portal and Shane were.

He caressed her a little, but when Shane noticed that Umbra and Cosmo were complaining to him, he halted in his tracks for a moment.

"Lily, I have a playmate for you! Do you want to meet someone else?"

Shane had a plan and when Lily nodded her large head, despite being confused, he released Umbra and Cosmo at the same time.

While Umbra coiled around Shane possessively, pushing Lily away from him, Cosmo found his usual place on Shane's shoulder.

"Umbra! Be nice to her! You like water too, right? Go and play! Injuring each other is not allowed!"

After Shane said so, he used his strength to push Umbra slightly, trying to coax him to do as asked.

This was not enough to force him to jump into the ocean, but it was enough for Umbra to understand that Shane was serious.

Furthermore, Umbra never had anyone to play around with, which slowly caused him to lower his inhibitions and be interested in playing a little.

As such, he hissed at Lily, who was still confused about what she was supposed to do, and he dived into the water.

Shane had turned towards Levi as he asked,

"Can you please pay attention to Umbra? I don't know what kind of beast inhabits the ocean region here and it would be bad if something were to happen to him!"

A moment later, Lily jumped into the water too and Shane was left alone with Cosmo, who laid on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Levi released her mana fluctuations to take care of everything in the surroundings.

Shane chatted with Levi for a little bit before he focused on the notes he had prepared.

There were several things he had to pay more attention to if he were to venture through certain dimensions with a larger group.

That was also the reason why Shane valued Lias, the group's scout, so much!

He was a necessity for all large groups and Shane could only hope that the others would answer him soon!

Unfortunately, he couldn't reveal his impatience because it would bring him more disadvantages than benefits.

If others were to see his impatience, they might demand more than Shane was willing to pay, yet he would readily accept.

That was if he was running short of time, which was fortunately not the case.

One month was not a long time, but it was still feasible and long enough to take care of everything necessary!

During the following hours, Shane researched information and created multiple plans to increase his funds.

It didn't even matter whether he would be able to venture into a different dimension with a team or without.

The gains he could receive would vary a lot, but Shane knew how much stronger he would be with a high mana purity team!

His own strength was at the 10th Expert stage in his cultivation rank, while his physical strength was at the 10th Apprentice stage.

Adding to it the perfect refinement state, his physical state was comparable to that of a 3rd to 4th Expert stage!!

This was not even remotely strong enough to face several peak-Awakened stage beasts with a combat prowess at par with someone at the Expert stage with a mana purity of 70%.

It would drastically reduce his options as well as the possibility to earn a large fortune!

He did not necessarily rely on the large group's decision, but it would definitely ease his pressure and help him in becoming even richer than he planned initially.

Unfortunately, the regions within the dimensions he had found were rather isolated and difficult to reach.

As such, they could at most, clear two caves, or specific areas with the possibility to earn a fortune.

Yet, Shane didn't have an effective strategy to figure out which cave, mountain range, field, forest, and other area had been plundered already and what area had yet to be found!!

It didn't take too long until he received the answer to his invitation from everyone.

They accepted the invitation to the Starlight Guild and joined it not long afterward, however, instead of the specific amount of gold coins he had offered, the new members of the Starlight Guild wanted to receive the same contract Nial, the runemaster, had received!

As such, they wanted 10% to 15% of all profits that they would obtain during the journey with Shane.

This astonished him a little bit, but it was definitely more profitable for the Starlight guild members to earn 10% to 15% from the profits, instead of a set amount of gold coins.

That was, at least if they were to venture out with Shane!

It might be different otherwise, and Shane was still pondering whether or not he should adjust the Astral Artisans contract in order to make it more suitable for everything.

For example, if one were to earn 30% from all the profits, the rest would be used to nurture new talents and repair one's good.

Additionally, he should take care of everyone's health and general well-being, if something were to happen to them.

This was important but not something he could worry about right now.

Instead, he wanted the new, and first batch of members of the Starlight guild to prove themselves and their worth!

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