Arguing against the binding condition, the powerhouses firmly stated they would not compromise.
Understanding the rule was indeed too restrictive, Maximus compromised.
"How about an epoch? After advancing to the Absolute Realm, you cannot harm me or my family in any form for an epoch."
An epoch was practically nothing to beings who had lived for billions or even trillions of epochs.
Once they advanced to the Absolute Realm, they might not even emerge for thousands of epochs.
Still, with the looming Dark Disaster, nothing was truly certain.
However, what was certain was that an epoch was more than enough time for Maximus to surpass any level of strength they could reach, even after advancing to the Absolute Realm.
After agreeing to the terms, they hurriedly signed the plane contract.
No one dared to delay.
Who knew if Maximus might suddenly change the conditions, increase the price, or add new clauses?
As they were about to seal the contract—putting their organizations on the line—three Absolute powerhouses abruptly appeared in the room.
"You three again!" Malgron furrowed his brows in displeasure.
The three were Luck, Regulus, and Pandora—the enforcers of the three Overlord organizations.
"You're negotiating in the Virtual Realm; how could we not show up?" Luck rolled his eyes.
Although a private domain offered high-level privacy, it was no barrier to the arbiters of the Virtual Realm.
As long as it occurred within the Virtual Realm, Luck could monitor it.
"Can we proceed with the contract?" Regulus asked directly, uninterested in small talk.
"You're welcome to join. After all, we're all part of the Dimensional Alliance. If it's within my power, I won't be stingy," Maximus replied with a welcoming smile.
He had expected this intrusion.
Conducting transactions in the Virtual Realm inevitably would attracted such attention.
Maximus was even relieved by their straightforwardness—not bothering to question the price or haggle over terms.
Without hesitation, the three signed the contract on behalf of their organizations, showing no signs of concern.
As the final signatures were added, the contract began to disintegrate, its essence integrating into the Aeon Plane.
This was no ordinary contract. Forged from Tier 12 materials, it directly connected with the Aeon Plane, ensuring its enforcement.
Unless one was an Overlord, there was no escaping the binding terms of such an agreement.
With the meeting concluded, everyone returned to their bases to gather their ultimate treasures as payment for Maximus.
The Overlord organizations, holding half of the Aeon Plane's wealth, quickly paid over a hundred ultimate treasures for all their Ocean-Level powerhouses.
Looking at the dazzling treasures, Maximus's hands trembled slightly.
Although he possessed wealth enough to buy almost anything, ultimate treasures were an exception.
Even after the life-and-death battles in the Virtual Trials, Maximus and his family had only managed to win a few dozen ultimate treasures.
Yet here, the Overlords' payment alone was a treasure trove that would excite anyone for an eternity.
"Pity… most of them are materials,"
Beyond attack, defense, and auxiliary ultimate treasures, there were material-type ultimate treasures as well.
The system he possessed was crafted from one such material.
With properties of enlightenment and evolution, it was a perfect foundation for creating a system.
"However, this is also good. Maybe I can further improve my system!" Maximus thought in excitement.
Combining other ultimate treasures with the system could only grant it additional functions.
To fundamentally enhance it, Maximus required Tier 12 ultimate materials and the corresponding professional knowledge.
With these materials in hand, he only lacked various tier-12 professional knowledge and mastery.
Unfortunately, the River of Knowledge didn't have much collection of Tier 12 professional knowledge.
Aside from accidental discoveries and accumulated insights from Ocean-Level Masters, its collection was limited.
Knowledge mastered by Absolutes and Overlords remained beyond the River of Knowledge's current ability.
As long as the River of Knowledge advanced to the Ocean level, the scope of knowledge it could access would expand massively.
Having paid Maximus the ultimate treasures, the Ocean-Level powerhouses of the three Overlord organizations hurried to the Tower of Knowledge.
Feeling the constant pressure of a master of ocean of law, the people visiting the library couldn't help but tremble.
Given the Shadowcrest family's recent war, rumors of another conflict began spreading.
Fortunately, the tension subsided quickly.
Upon entering the library, the powerhouses from the three Overlord organizations swiftly claimed floors for themselves.
The Tower of Knowledge had 700 floors reserved for them, with 103 floors for Maximus and emergencies.
With only a hundred or so Ocean-Level powerhouses present, plenty of floors remained unoccupied.
Each powerhouse selected a floor and immediately summoned their Ocean of Law.
With Zero—the manager of the Virtual Realm—granting permission, they isolated their chosen floors, turning them into private virtual domains.
They would stay here for an indefinite time.
Turning a floor to their private virtual domain, unless forcibly broken, no one could peep through them, not even Maximus.
This privacy was why Maximus had reserved each floor for individual powerhouses.
As for squeezing multiple private virtual domains on a single floor, it was impossible.
Although it is virtual, creating a multiple nested domain was not easy.
Being able to nest another 803 domains already made the Tower of Knowledge one of the top Virtual Architecture.
How much more could it be if it could nest an unlimited number of virtual domains?
After the Overlords settled in, the powerhouses from the Ashura Sect, Immortal Palace Sect, Eternal Sect, and Mechanical Alliance arrived next.
Thanks to the discount Maximus offered, they faced minimal difficulty gathering ultimate treasures.
Instead of paying an exorbitant price, they only needed to contribute half, sharing the cost among themselves.
Next came the Sterling Family; as one of the richest families, they had little trouble sparing a few ultimate treasures.
Furthermore, including Otto's parents and grandfather, the family only had two additional Masters of the Ocean of Law, making the total cost minimal.
They even reserved a floor for Otto, despite being only in the tier 10 realm.
Meanwhile, the Farnyr and Elfalhn families were having difficulties.
Not having an Ultimate treasure to spare, the three Supreme Witches could only take on the gambling slave contract.
The Franz family's situation was not much worse.
With only one ultimate treasure to spare, it wasn't enough to cover their three Masters of the Ocean of Law.
Taking this into consideration, Maximus offered them a credit option.