Michael always felt as if he hadn’t been taking full use of his Nascent Spirit cultivation. He had finally advanced to the next level, but he hadn’t really felt that next level.

He felt the same as he was when he was a Body Formation cultivator, with the exception of being able to summon a small piece of liquid armor.

It honestly felt underwhelming to him. That’s the reason why he hadn’t been hurrying up his ascension in the Nascent Spirit realm. He felt like there was no point, especially if he wasn’t going to be using his Aubility Powers to fight.

But now... he felt like there was a need to advance his cultivation realm.

If he wanted to fight against these giant companies who could change the very reality they were living under with a single snap of their fingers, then he needed all the strength he could muster to fight against them.

If he wanted to achieve the same level that they were in, he needed to become like them.

The problem was... how?

According to Joseph, one’s Nascent Influence was based on their Aubility Powers.

Is it based on talent?

His talent was the [Harbinger of the Future]. When he was a Body Formation cultivator, this meant he was able to use futuristic technologies like a switch, a fast-forward button, and a reverse.

So, what did that mean now that he was a Nascent Spirit cultivator?

He had no idea.

"Right now, the Zentmeister company doesn’t care if they blatantly use their Nascent Influence to change the game in the Feast.

Usually, such use of Nascent Influence would be met with an equal power fighting back against them. Especially since we’re in such a competitive space like New Sparta.

However, as you may have noticed, their Nascent Influence is still ongoing even now. None of the other companies have decided to fight against this blatant manipulation.

This is all for one simple reason: Reborn’s downfall would also be beneficial to them. You’ve been hogging all the customers to yourself, after all. They may fight against each other to take customers, but they won’t stop this Nascent Influence.

For the first time in forever, the Upper Echelons have all decided that you are a threat willing to forgo their grievances. Impressive, truly."

There was a bit of pride in Joseph’s words as he said that. One could see that he expected such a result coming from a Vanderbilt like him.

"I will try to help you," Joseph promised. "But I can’t do it so blatantly. It won’t be good for either of us if everyone sees a Conglomerate coming to help a Lower Echelon company."

The Vanderbilts weren’t without their enemies, after all. In fact, being at the top subjected them to a lot more scrutiny and scheming.

If Joseph started to publicly defend the Reborn company by fighting back against this Nascent Influence, the other companies would smell weakness and they would pounce on both of them.

Michael understood that. In fact, even if Joseph offered to help, he wouldn’t have accepted it.

He worked so hard to disregard the Vanderbilt name for any of his accomplishments. He wouldn’t stop now.

"But what I can do is to introduce you to some people who can help. I assume with all the business you’re getting with the automobiles, the gas, and your restaurant, you aren’t lacking any money.

If so, then you can probably purchase the help of some Nascent Spirit cultivators for hire."

That wasn’t Michael’s first choice. But it may be helpful. "How much?"

"Ten billion Sand Dollars."

Michael drew a sharp breath as he heard that. Such a steep number. But it made sense since Nascent Spirit cultivators were so powerful that they could rewrite reality all on their own. They wouldn’t be strapped for cash.

How much money do we have now?

[15,294,174,726 Sand Dollars]

He had 15.2 billion Sand Dollars. Wow. Automobiles had exploded in such a fashion that Michael now had to count his money using billions.

Fuel was the main cause of this. After all, as more and more people bought automobiles, the more people had to buy gas. Cars they could purchase as a one-time deal. For fuel, they needed to buy that every time they wanted to use their cars.

If he wanted to, he could definitely hire the Nascent Spirit cultivator like Joseph wanted him to.

But he didn’t need to. Also, he needed to remind himself that this money wasn’t just his. It was all of Reborn’s.

Now that they’ve expanded their processes and achieved a level of comfortable success, Michael had begun paying the Rebornians with the appropriate amount they deserved.

They even refused it at first, saying that being able to become a Rebornian was already a gift in and of itself. But he forced them to accept it.

Anyway, that money could be used for better stuff.

What he really needed to do was become powerful enough to not need any help.

"I’m grateful, but I won’t be hiring any outside help," he said to Joseph.

"Oh, don’t worry. I will help you finance this whole situation. I know that you won’t be able to afford this in one go—"

"I can."

Joseph was stunned for a moment, before he quickly shook his head and laughed at his own stupidity.

He forgot who he was talking to. Even without looking at their analytics, he knew that the Reborn company was earning hundreds of millions of Sand Dollars every week through the automobiles alone. That wasn’t even including all their other businesses.

In terms of money, Michael definitely deserved to be in the Upper Echelons.

"Then, why not? This is the only way that you could protect yourself from Zentmeister’s Nascent Influence."

Michael looked at Joseph straight in the eyes.

Then, he raised his hand, connecting to that core in his chest as he summoned a golden liquid out of nowhere.

These nanoparticles swarmed around his hand, forming a tight-fitting glove.

This was his Nascent Armor.