The three Galaxy Group observers who had been involved in Xu Jingmingâs selection for the mysterious land sat nervously as the Groupâs management council looked on.
Whatâs going on? Why have the ten big shots of the council summoned the three of us together?
When have Lv. 9s like us received so much attention?
The three observers were apprehensive.
âWe have called you here to review the recruitment process of Lord Wu Ming,â a council member explained. âWe have already obtained a video of the entire process from the virtual world.â
The three observers were shocked.
The virtual world placed a high value on personal privacy, so it was rare for a video of a recruitment process to be leaked. But as one of the top 17 factions, the Galaxy Group had been granted access to the footage since it was an internal matter.
âHence, there is no need for you to lie. Norquien, you were the one constantly advocating for Lord Wu Mingâs recruitment, but the two of you didnât seem to like him and stopped considering him. Why is that!?â
âWe didnât stop,â the lanky observer said, panicked. âLord Wu Ming only had a comprehension level of 8% when he studied our groupâs legendary opportunity.â
âAnd Lord Wu Ming had only been cultivating for two years when he entered the mysterious land. He shouldâve gotten a bonus for that!â the executive pointed out.
âYou donât have to argue anymore!â
âWeâve seen the entire video. Tell us your true thoughts.â
âWe summoned you here to get an idea of your true thoughts and change our Galaxy Groupâs recruitment rules to avoid making the same mistake again.â
The higher-ups looked at the three of them.
The three observers were terrified.
âI admit it. Iâve gone through a lot to become an Origin lifeform, and I think the requirements for recruiting peripheral members should be higher. Quality over quantity, you know?â
âI was just following my companionâs lead,â Observer Cangyu said.
âAnd I think they donât like those who climb up from the bottom,â the fat observer added. âThey prefer the scions of large families.â
âDiscrimination against the lower class? Preferring the scions of large families?â The upper echelons of the council glanced at each other, shocked.
âYes, I think the rules should be biased toward weak civilizations in the future.â
âEven if their performance is the same, a genius from a weak civilization should be far more talented than a scion of a large family clan.â
âAgreed!â
âAnd the recruitment of peripheral members shouldnât be about quality over quantity. It should be âthe more, the better.â We should greatly increase our scale of recruitment for weak civilizations and evolvers at the bottom.â
âŚ
In the virtual world.
âSister, I heard Wu Ming has become a cosmic legend?â Jade Feather looked at Primordial One.
âYeah,â replied Primordial One with a nod, her eyes filled with surprise. âWu Mingâs talent is unimaginable. Heâs one of the best in the entire history of the human race.â
Jade Feather was stunned. âOne of the best in human history?â
âRight.â Primordial One was very impressed and praised, âI cultivated for tens of thousands of years before becoming a cosmic legend, but he became a cosmic legend in 1,800 years. Heâs already much stronger than me. Moreover, he grasped the Heart Realm Force, and he did it under high-dimensional corruption. Itâs unimaginable!â
âI originally thought it would take him tens of thousands of years to grasp Heart Realm Force,â said Primordial One, shaking her head. âI underestimated him.â
âCan he become a high-dimensional lifeform?â asked Jade Feather.
âHe became a cosmic legend in 1,800 years, so itâs almost certain he will become a high-dimensional lifeform,â replied Primordial One.
â100% certainty?â murmured Jade Feather.
âThereâs something off about you today,â Primordial One commented, eyeing her sister.
Jade Feather smiled bitterly. âYou know that my youngest son is still young. Heâs only 200 this year.â
Primordial One nodded. âThirteen is very talented. He still has a chance of becoming an Origin lifeform.â
âHe was close with Xu Biyun from the Xu family and wanted to get married,â Jade Feather said, frustration in her voice. âBut the emperor of the Primestar civilization, Lunarstar, has a grudge against the Xu family, and the Void Celestials are also targeting the Xu family⌠I didnât want my son to be caught up in it all, so I stopped the marriage.â
âWhatâs the big deal? Even if your son dies, I can still put him on the resurrection list,â Primordial One said, shaking her head. âPlus, why would the Void Celestials go after your son?â
âThe Void Celestials made a huge fuss about Wu Ming going crazy and being imprisoned,â Jade Feather explained. âThey wanted to force him out. I was worried they would use more extreme measures, like killing off the Xu family to get Wu Ming to show himself. Thatâs why I had my son distance himself from the situation.â
âYouâre overthinking it. The Void Celestials wouldnât dare enter human territory,â Primordial One reassured her. âAs for the marriage⌠Since youâve made a decision, thereâs no use regretting it.â
âBut I am regretting it now,â Jade Feather said, feeling vexed. âXu Fangjin and Xu Biyun are the only two in the third generation of the Xu family! If Wu Ming reaches the Paramount realm⌠Just the rewards he could give them would be an unbelievable amount of resources for Xu Fangjin and Xu Biyun.â
âYes.â Primordial One agreed. âParamounts also care about their loved ones. In the past, Paramounts have found ways to extend their loved onesâ lifespans to 30,000 or even 100,000 years. However, they donât really care about their distant family members. Xu Fangjin and Xu Biyun are Wu Mingâs grandchildren. Wu Ming will definitely value them.â
After millions of years or more, the familyâs population could potentially multiply by hundreds of millions.
After so many generations, the Paramounts wouldnât be as close to their younger relatives. When that happened, they would care more about the continuation of the family.
âI canât believe it,â Jade Feather muttered in frustration. âI missed my chance to become a relative of a Paramount.â
âItâs okay. We can still make our Yun family stronger on our own,â Primordial One reassured her sister.
âIâve heard that Wu Ming is just as powerful as the three Paramounts,â Jade Feather nodded and asked.
âYes.â Primordial One nodded. âOur generation has produced two exceptional geniusesâRedmond and Wu Mingâbut thereâs still a huge difference between the two. Redmond might be one of many Paramounts in history, but heâll probably stay a high-dimensional Firstborn lifeform forever.â
Only three Paramounts in human history had reached the second realmâthe Eternal realm.
âWu Ming is different,â Primordial One said. âAs long as he becomes a high-dimensional lifeform, he can enter the Heart Realm. And high-dimensional lifeforms in the Heart Realm are very special. It wonât be hard for him to reach the Eternal Realm. Thereâs a good chance heâll be the human raceâs fourth high-dimensional Eternal lifeform.â
âA high-dimensional Eternal lifeform?â Jade Feather said, envious. âWill the Void Celestials just sit back and watch?â
âAll the species in the universe have an agreement,â Primordial One explained. âParamounts wonât interfere in the battles of low-dimensional lifeforms. The three Paramounts couldnât do anything when Wu Ming was corrupted, and the high-dimensional lifeforms of the Void Celestials wonât target Wu Ming either.â
âAfter all, humans can be revived if theyâre targeted.â
âUnless the various species in the universe are confident they can destroy their opponent, they have to follow certain rules,â Primordial One said. âOnly then can the various species have a relatively stable living and reproduction environment.â
âBesides, even if a new high-dimensional Eternal lifeform is born, itâs not a big deal to the Void Celestialsâ Gumo.â Primordial One shook her head. âThe Eternal realm means nothing to him.â
Jade Feather nodded in understanding.
Talking to her sister always helped expand her horizons.
âGumo is an existence thatâs almost at the third realm,â Primordial One pointed out. âWe humans just donât have enough strength yet.â
******
Gumo perhaps saw it differently. For him, Xu Jingmingâs breakthrough meant the human race had gone from âthree bugsâ to âfour bugs.â It still wasnât worth his attention, but the impact of Xu Jingmingâs breakthrough within the human race was significant.
Some top factions began to change their rules for recruiting peripheral members because of Xu Jingming.
Some large families began to think of ways to repair their relationship with the Xu family.
Some civilizations even started planning to integrate into Earth, seeing it as a potential advanced civilization.
âJingming.â Li Miaomiao walked out of the living room and approached Xu Jingming in the courtyard of the old residence.
âWhatâs the matter?â Xu Jingming answered, putting down his drink and looking up at his wife with a smile.
âDidnât some factions come to Earth to assassinate our Xu family in the past few years?â
âYeah.â Xu Jingming nodded.
âToday, five lurking factions took the initiative to apologize with gifts,â Li Miaomiao told him. âThey once took orders and sent assassins to Earth, but they were actually intermediaries paid to ensure their customersâ confidentiality.â
âApologize with gifts?â Xu Jingming frowned slightly.
âTheyâve revealed their clientâs information to us and have even captured the client alive. Theyâre willing to hand them over to us at any time,â Li Miaomiao told him.
âCaptured the client alive?â Xu Jingming nodded slightly. âDo as you see fit. All I care about is that those who dare attack my Xu family have to pay a sufficient price.â
âA sufficient price?â Li Miaomiao nodded. âDonât worry. I understand.â
Xu Jingming nodded, knowing that if he didnât punish them severely, they might think they could bully him.
âJingming,â Li Miaomiao asked, sitting beside him with a smile, âwhy have you been in a daze every day since you came back?â
âIâm still studying how to become a high-dimensional lifeform. How am I in a daze?â Xu Jingming replied, feeling helpless.
For the past two days, he had been studying the legacyâRed Lotus Fireâleft behind by Master of the Abyssal Voidâs true projection.
Red Lotus Fire was vast and boundless, and if he reached the limit of this path, he would be one step away from the third realm, enough to dominate high-dimensional Eternal lifeforms.
Of course, the most important thing for Xu Jingming right now was to become a high-dimensional lifeform first.
How should I construct a high-dimensional lifeform? Xu Jingming was vexed by this problem.
Whoosh.
Xu Jingmingâs eyes shot up as he sensed Secretary General Blacksky approach, dressed in a bright floral shirt.
âSecretary General Blacksky.â Xu Jingming greeted him as he stood up, and Li Miaomiao quickly rose to her feet as well.
âWu Ming.â Blacksky landed and offered a smile. âIâve come to bring you some news.â
Xu Jingming smiled in surprise. âWhat news? Why not through the virtual world? Why did you make a trip yourself?â
âThe three Paramounts are already aware of your breakthrough, and the dean has even sent word back from high-dimensional space. Heâs planning to return with his true body, which should take about three years.â
âReturn with his true body?â Xu Jingming was stunned.
The three Paramounts usually had their consciousness descend on a carrier.
Their consciousness carriers all had the strength of high-dimensional lifeforms, enough to revive low-dimensional lifeforms.
âThe dean instructed you not to try constructing a high-dimensional body. Wait for his return,â Blacksky said.
Xu Jingming nodded gravely. âUnderstood.â
It was anyoneâs guess as to how many years had passed since the deanâs actual body had returned to his home universe. But now, he was back for a specific reasonâXu Jingming.
âThree years, you say?â Xu Jingming eagerly awaited the opportunity to finally meet the dean in person.