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582 Inquiring
“Secretary General Blacksky.” Xu Jingming had prepared wine and snacks on the wooden table to welcome this esteemed guest who had suddenly arrived.
Blacksky wore slippers and sat down opposite Xu Jingming. He said leisurely, “Kid, you should’ve guessed that the Primordial Fire Bead and Abyss Fire Lotus Seed were released because of you. You have to choose these two!”
“Have to?” Xu Jingming came to a realization. “Secretary General Blacksky, I understand.”
“You’re ranked first for your contributions! According to the Primordial Research Institute’s rules, the top five will first undergo the first round of selection. Then, the top ten will undergo the second round, and the top 100 will undergo the third round… Therefore, you have the right to choose during the first and sixth rounds, and so on.”
“As for the five Abyss Fire Lotus Seeds, you will definitely be able to choose them,” Blacksky said. “You have to choose these two. The rest is up to you.”
Xu Jingming nodded.
If he chose the Primordial Fire Bead first, even if the other four chose the Abyss Fire Lotus Seeds, he could still choose them in the second round.
“After you obtain the Primordial Fire Bead, fuse it into your body. You can also consume the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed directly after obtaining it! There will be detailed instructions, and they’ll be sent to you after you exchange them.” Blacksky gazed at Xu Jingming. “The Abyss Fire Lotus Seed can last for about a thousand years. According to the dean’s expectations of you, he hopes that you can break through to become a cosmic legend in about a thousand years and reach the Paramount realm in 10,000 years.”
“Lv. 10 Origin lifeforms have a total lifespan of 100,000 years. You have to make the best use of your time and give yourself sufficient buffers. This way, even if there are accidents… you can still reach the Paramount realm.” Blacksky looked at Xu Jingming.
Xu Jingming could sense the dean’s anticipation. To become a cosmic legend in a thousand years and a Paramount realm in 10,000 years—this was the perfect path set by the dean!
For example, Redmond was already extremely dazzling to become a cosmic legend in 10,000 years.
However, it was obvious that the dean had higher expectations of Xu Jingming.
Be it becoming an Origin lifeform or reaching Lv. 10, Xu Jingming was one of the top few in the history of the human race.
When encountering a genius at this level, the dean naturally had to provide him with resources and not let Xu Jingming slow down. After all, one delay could lead to endless delays! The human race was inferior in terms of resources and other aspects compared to the Void Celestials. If he didn’t spend time grooming them, when would he be able to catch up?
“Don’t worry, Secretary General. I’ll definitely choose these two.” Xu Jingming nodded.
“The person ranked second now has more than 830 million credits. You have more than twice as much as him, so there’s no need to worry,” Blacksky said.
Xu Jingming heaved a sigh of relief.
“Thankfully, I earned more than 1.2 billion credits from selling the cosmic fruit. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be ranked first,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. Although he was very efficient at intercepting and killing Hellions, he hadn’t spent that much time intercepting—especially with the Hellions almost stopping their small-scale plundering in the later stages.
“Be prepared.” Blacksky smiled and got up before disappearing.
…
Hunter Cosmic Sector, Oohook Star Alliance, Earth’s home planet.
Hu!
Xu Jingming appeared in outer space and returned home in a step.
“Jingming is back?” Li Miaomiao—who was in the Pearwood headquarters—was delighted when she received the news from her husband and disappeared into thin air. Then, she appeared in the courtyard of her house.
As the Pearwood Group’s first executive officer, Li Miaomiao also had top-notch biological battle armor. With stable spacetime, she could teleport no more than 10,000 kilometers.
“Jingming.” Li Miaomiao walked to her husband’s side. “Why are you suddenly back?”
Xu Jingming sat under a pavilion in the courtyard and smiled at his wife. “Didn’t you ask me about the exchange list? Thus, I decided to return.”
“The Primordial Research Institute’s exchange list has caused an uproar in the entire cosmic human race. Many corporations and families have their eyes on some of the treasures,” Li Miaomiao said. “This list has quickly spread, and our Pearwood Group knows about it.”
“Do you think we need to exchange for anything?” Xu Jingming asked.
“The Pearwood Group is still developing. I don’t care much about anything else, but I think our family needs a copy of the Evolutionary Guide auxiliary system,” Li Miaomiao remarked. “After all, ordinary cosmic lifeforms only have a lifespan of 3,000 years. Lv. 8 cosmic lifeforms have a lifespan of 10,000 years.”
“Our daughter is much more talented than me, and she reached Lv. 7 not long ago,” Li Miaomiao said. “However, she received pointers from many powerhouses and received many resources. It took her more than 200 years to reach Lv. 7! According to my estimates, it might be very difficult for her to reach Lv. 8 in her life.”
“It would be different if there was an Evolutionary Guide,” Li Miaomiao said.
“Yeah.” Xu Jingming nodded. “I want to exchange for it.”
Humans could be upgraded to an Origin lifeform by relying on external forces, but he clearly didn’t have the authority to make it happen.
The conditions for upgrading to an Origin lifeform with external forces were very harsh! Typically, only great scholars with an educational level of Lv. 100 could receive such treatment for free. As for the others? Only the three Paramounts, three advanced civilization emperors, and seven cosmic legends had such authority.
The emperors and cosmic legends had to pay a huge price to use this authority, so they didn’t use it easily. For example, Redmond didn’t do it for Tejano.
My wife, daughter, and father relied on themselves to become cosmic lifeforms. They have the confidence to reach Lv. 8 with the help of an Evolutionary Guide, Xu Jingming thought. But my mother, Miaomiao’s parents, and the others… They became cosmic lifeforms through external forces. Evolutionary Guides are useless.
The Evolutionary Guide was ultimately only an auxiliary system. The users had to be diligent and willing to put in the work. They had to spend a large amount of time every day on evolution before they had a chance of reaching Lv. 8.
If the user didn’t put in the effort? No matter how good the auxiliary system was, it was useless.
“Dad.” Xu Lixing rushed back as well.
“After I returned, I sent you and your mother a message at the same time. Your mother immediately came, but you were five minutes late.” Xu Jingming shook his head and said, “This daughter of mine is always spending time with others.”
“No, I was entertaining a group of people. I can’t just leave without saying a word, right?” Xu Lixing sat beside her father and smiled. “I’ve already tried my best to end it.”
“Does that group of people include your junior brother?” Xu Jingming smiled.
“Dad, my junior brother, Meng Tian, is still very impressive. He reached Lv. 8 after cultivating for 100 years. As for me, I only broke through to Lv. 7 recently.” Xu Lixing sighed with emotion. “I’m really weak compared to the true geniuses in the universe.”
Xu Lixing glanced at her father. “Of course, those geniuses can’t compare to Dad.”
“Your mother and I were discussing something and prepared a gift for you,” Xu Jingming said with a smile.
“What gift?” Xu Lixing was puzzled.
“Evolutionary Guide,” Li Miaomiao answered.
Xu Lixing’s eyes lit up as she immediately pounced over and kissed her father on the cheek before kissing her mother. “Dad, Mom, you’re too good to me.”
******
In the virtual world.
Xu Jingming, Sakar, and Lancel gathered.
“Senior Brothers, you previously helped me exchange for the Heavenly Python Scale and Spirit Cleansing Water,” Xu Jingming said. “It’s only right to return the favor.”
“Sakar’s 35 million credits and my 50 million credits—that totals to 85 million credits. Transfer it to Yang,” Lancel said.
“Mr. Lancel, you convinced Senior Brother Yang?” Xu Jingming was surprised.
Yang’s strength was undoubtedly ranked in the top ten of the Primordial Research Institute’s Lv. 10 Origin lifeforms, and he was now ranked in the top five. Logically speaking, Yang should also want the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed.
“Thankfully, I’ve had many friends over the years,” Lancel said with a smile. “I also have the treasures Yang wants.”
“Impressive,” Xu Jingming said.
There were a total of five Abyss Fire Lotus Seeds, and it was extremely difficult to snatch one. It was impossible for Xu Jingming to give it to others!
Therefore, it wasn’t easy to get Senior Brother Yang to be willing to ‘trade.’ It was a test of connections, ability, treasures, and other aspects.
“Junior Brother Wu Ming.” Sakar hesitated for a moment before saying, “You should be ranked in the top five of the Primordial Research Institute, right?”
Sakar had worked with Xu Jingming to kill the Hellions after all, so he guessed that he had accumulated a lot of credit over the years. A simple deduction… confirmed that he had at least hundreds of millions of credits.
“Senior Brother, feel free to ask me if you need anything,” Xu Jingming said.
“It has nothing to do with me. I’m just the messenger.” Sakar gazed at Xu Jingming. “The Inzel you met last time! Inzel also guessed that… you’ve accumulated a lot of credit, so he asked if you could help him exchange for the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed.”
“Inzel?” Xu Jingming smiled. “Considering his attitude when I requested him to exchange for the Heavenly Python Scale, he actually has the cheek to ask you to pass the message?”
“He also feels ashamed, so he got me to deliver a message first. If you’re interested, any conditions are negotiable,” Sakar remarked.
Lancel also said, “For the sake of the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed, how could he care about his reputation? After he took the initiative to fall into the abyss, his temper has worsened, especially when he gets older… He believes that there’s no hope of becoming a cosmic legend in his life, so he has become even more unscrupulous and has offended many. He wants the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed, but he ran into obstacles everywhere. He felt that there was a chance for you, Wu Ming, so he made an attempt.”
“Impossible. I’ve only cultivated for about 200 years; I want the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed as well,” Xu Jingming said. “Senior Brother Sakar, reject it.”
Sakar smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell him.”
…
Those who tried to obtain the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed were the top figures among Lv. 10 Origin lifeforms in the cosmic human race. The weak and those with weaker foundations didn’t dare to hope for the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed.
The exchange price for the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed was 200 million credits! If members of other factions wanted it, it was normal for the price to be doubled.
“Maxon rejected?”
“Primordial One rejected?”
“Yang rejected?”
“Wu Ming rejected?”
Inzel had an ugly expression in his personal space. He thought of ways to contact or seek information from any Primordial Research Institute member who might be able to exchange for the Abyss Fire Lotus Seeds.
But the initial outcome was him receiving a unanimous rejection! There was no room for negotiation!
Who would’ve thought that the Primordial Research Institute would suddenly release the Abyss Fire Lotus Seeds after 50,000 years? Inzel was indignant. Why didn’t my Eternal Academy release them?
…
They usually cut me some slack, but all of them rejected me when it came to the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed. The Primestar emperor, Lunarstar, also wanted the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed. I haven’t been at Lv. 10 for long, and I haven’t accumulated even 100 million credits. There’s no way to exchange for it.
Seriously, what is the dean thinking? The resources the emperor has are all limited, and not a single Abyss Fire Lotus Seed is included. Lunarstar was helpless.
So what if he was an emperor? The privileges enjoyed by generations of emperors were all decided by the dean.
The Abyss Fire Lotus Seed is usually only released once every tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. Will there be a chance if I miss this opportunity? Lunarstar hadn’t been emperor for long after all, so he hadn’t built up much. He couldn’t get the people ranked in the top few to be willing to resell the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed to him.
Those ranked in the top few weren’t ordinary figures and didn’t care about an emperor.
…
As the exchanging period approached, the important figures who yearned for the Abyss Fire Lotus Seed also used all kinds of means. But as Xu Jingming was first in terms of contributions, he definitely had one of the Abyss Fire Lotus Seeds secured and wouldn’t resell it.