[Beep! Congratulations on raising one of your stats to 2!

You are the first world deity to raise a stat to 2.0

Reward: Information of the three strongest players]

[Number 1: The Emperor, Strength: 1.6, Spirit: 1.6, Domain: Power]

[Number 2: The Builder, Strength: 1.8, Spirit: 1.3, Domain: Creation]

[Number 3: The Devourer, Strength: 1.7, Spirit: 1.3, Domain: Devouring]

[Occupation: World deity

Strength: 0.3

Spirit: 2.3

Domains: Space, Time]

My stats look remarkably unbalanced. If my physical strength was average, I would tie for first place with The Emperor. On the other hand, having weak physical strength is good too. If my strength was any higher, I would rank on the leaderboard, and others would notice me.

The domains of creation and devouring are quite self-explanatory, as the domain of creation creates things and the domain of devouring devours things. However, the domain of power seems a bit strange. It likely refers to the power to rule over others, but could also refer to physical or spiritual power.

My spirit should have reached 2.3 because of all the clones I created, as spiritual power is shared among all clones. Absorbing the souls of the dead should also have played a part in it.

5 million years. That’s how much time has passed. This time was dangerous. Too dangerous. If a void beast attacked my universe, I would have no way to defend myself. Luckily, no void beast attacked. In the future, I need to be more careful when creating clones.

Looking at myself I realized that my clones and true body both have the form of a child. I guess the body is shaped by the soul. Though I’ve lived for millions of years, the time I’ve spent awake is quite short, and my mind is still rather immature.

Another issue to deal with is gender. After thinking for a while, I decided that I don’t need one. After all, the difference between gender is only noticeable during reproduction, and I’ll never reproduce with any of my creations.

There’s also the issue of a name. The other world deities called themselves The Emperor, The Builder, and The Devourer, which all correspond with their domains. But I can’t call myself Spacetime, right?

After thinking for a while, I decide on Skyler. That shall be my name. The sky is eternal and endless, boundless in both time and space.

I turn my attention to the mortal planes, but no one has ascended yet. Quite disappointing. Right now, humans have only 4 cultivation realms: Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul. The strongest humans are currently stuck at the peak of Nascent Soul, unable to progress further.

Meanwhile, the elves have evolved into 5 species. High elves, who cultivate like humans, dark elves, who cultivate naturally when living in darkness, wood elves, who gain their powers by manipulating nature, infernal elves, who temper their bodies in scorching environments, and star elves, who cultivate by absorbing stellar energy into their bodies. Right now, the strongest elves are also stuck at the peak of Nascent Soul, unable to progress further.

The magic beasts have evolved into many species as well, but the strongest are still stuck at the peak of Nascent Soul.

I briefly consider creating the next realm for them, but decide against it. Each race should rely on themselves.

Looking around, one particular human catches my eye. A child named Alexander, who has great talent, reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment at 16 years old. Unfortunately for him, a prince was envious of his talent, so he was framed as a traitor, and hunted down by the imperial family.

Alexander is currently surrounded by four Golden Core experts. If he fought hard, he would be able to fight evenly with one Golden Core expert, he would need to flee if there were two. Being surrounded by four, he couldn’t even escape.

It looks like he needs some help. As the Golden Core experts charge at him, I make one trip over his feet, another one trips over a rock, and the next one falls on his spear. Seizing this opportunity, Alexander pushes the last one out of the way, and runs for his life.

This is a problem I never considered. Not all geniuses will have access to resources, and some may be hunted down when they draw the envy of others.

To allow geniuses cultivation resources, I’ll create a trading center. It’ll be a place where people can trade for lifespan, resources, or anything else.

I’ll have my human clone work on it.

In the Azure River Plane, there are three main clans. The Falcon clan, the Bear clan, and the River clan. Each clan has a Nascent Soul ancestor watching over it.

However, the River clan has suffered some problems lately. Their ancestor was already six thousand years old, and his lifespan was running out. The lifespan of an average Nascent Soul cultivator was only five thousand years, but using countless herbs, the River clan’s ancestor managed to extend his life by a thousand years. Unfortunately, the clan ran out of herbs, so the ancestor’s demise seemed inevitable.

The Falcon and Bear clans already gathered their forces, greedily eyeing the River clan’s territory. In the past, since the River ancestor was much stronger than the other two, they wouldn’t dare, but now that he’s on the brink of death, creating an opportunity to seize the River clan’s wealth.

As the River ancestor lay on his deathbed, he opened his eyes and saw a bronze mirror. Through the mirror, he saw a mysterious place where anything could be traded. With the last of his strength, he reached out and touched the mirror.

A moment later, an old, shriveled man appeared in front of my human clone. He was so frail that a child could knock him over.

“State what you seek.” I told the old man.

“I need to live! I can’t die!” The old man begged.

I nodded, “I can give you that, but what can you give me?”

The old man exclaimed, “I’ll give you anything I have!”

I told him, “Okay, after I give you a thousand years of life, you will give me the greediest, most unscrupulous merchants you can find. I expect at least a hundred of them.”

Waving my hand, I made his body go back a thousand years in time. This was the simplest way to increase his lifespan, and he was so weak that the temporal energy spent was almost nonexistent.

“Alright, make sure to uphold your end of the trade,” I said, before sending him back.

Back at the River clan, the ancestor jumped out of bed, and rushed to confront the Falcon and Bear clans.

As the two clans approached the River capital, they sensed a powerful presence approaching them. Startled, they look upward, to see an old man flying towards them.

“Nascent Soul cultivator!”

Only Nascent Soul cultivators can fly by manipulating the elements, and judging by the speed of the old man, he was at the peak stage of Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul ancestors of the Falcon and Bear families are only a thousand years old, so they are still at the early stage of Nascent Soul.

“Run!” The ancestors of the two families exclaimed, as they turned and fled.

Unfortunately, the difference between each stage of cultivation is massive, and the River ancestor quickly caught up to the ancestors of the two families, beheading them in one strike.

It looks like the experiment is a success. Indeed, only people who have felt the terror of death appreciate life. Perhaps this experience would help the River achieve the realm after Nascent Soul.

At this moment, the River ancestor appeared with a hundred merchants he retrieved from a prison.

After sending him back, I looked at these merchants and said, “You have two choices. The first choice is to go back to prison and forget everything that happened, and the second choice is to work for me.”

Seeing that I piqued their interest, I continued, “If you choose the second option, you will serve me for eternity, making trades with all the customers of the universe. If you do well enough, I’ll let you have a vacation, where you can reincarnate into the mortal realm. Of course, after you die, you need to return.”

The merchants all exchanged glances at each other, and agreed. After all, my terms were quite generous.

I said, “If you agree to my terms, then walk up and put your soul into this stone.”

One by one, the merchants put their souls into the rock. This rock was something I designed, and as long as the rock remains intact, their souls cannot be destroyed. Furthermore, the rock is connected to my human clone, meaning that they can use the powers of my clone to accomplish trades. Of course, the amount used is so small that it's negligible.

I smile after seeing these merchants put their souls into the rock. After all, they’re just free labor.

Now that my minions are in place, the trading center can start operating. Grabbing a handful of bronze mirrors, I scatter them across the mortal planes.

I almost forgot, the trading center needs a name. I’ll name it the Bank of the Universe. Why is it called a bank? Because everything we trade away, will eventually return to us.