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His younger sister and father were awestruck.
The airship cabin was no less opulent than their mansion. If not for them coming in from the outside, they would have thought this was a mansion’s interior.
“This airship is too luxurious, son. How much did you spend?”
“Not much, just 8.8 billion dollars!”
“8.8 million? That’s not really much… h—hold on a second! Did you say 8.8 billion?”
Ling Tianci was astonished. “So expensive?”
“It’s all right, just small change!”
“S—small change?”
Ling Tianci’s mouth twitched. How he wished he could knock his son’s head; how could Ling Jiu say 8.8 billion dollars was just small change? He was in a stitherum.
“Do you want to go to the wilderness, Xiaotong?”
“The wilderness? Of course!”
“Number Nine, activate the stealth mode and go to the wilderness immediately!”
1
“Yes, sir!”
The maglev airship lifted off and disappeared from above the mansion.
Half an hour later, they came to the Guanshan Ranch a few hundred miles away.
Looking out, it was a vast forest and grassland accompanied by a stream and crystal-clear pond.
Above him was blue sky. Surrounding him were the undulating mountains divided by a valley where a river ran through, and an endless forest stretching into the horizon.
Winding stream and river, white clouds and blue sky.
Even the air was the best here, everything in harmony with nature.
“This place is beautiful!”
His younger sister was in awe.
“I have lost count for how many years I haven’t seen this beautiful scenery!” his father said.
“Let’s get down there!”
They just enjoyed the view as they meandered on the grassland, sat on the meadow to take a rest and had their meal.
The next early morning, the maglev airship returned to the base city just in time to send his father to work and his younger sister to school, after which Ling Jiu returned home to continue this self-cultivation practice.
He started by studying The Shinratensei in the morning, Eightfold Rolling Thunder in the afternoon, and Gene Arcana absorption in the evening.
His schedule was tightly packed.
A week had passed just like that.
This morning, Ling Jiu got a call from Luo Jia, saying that the HQ had sent someone over and wanted him to return to office for a review.
Ling Jiu wasted no time and drove to the company. He saw the reviewer, a somewhat skinny middle-aged man with a crew cut.
The man looked like he could float in the wind, but his aura was intimidating, especially his pair of knifelike eyes.
“Let me introduce, Ling Jiu.”
Luo Jia said enthusiastically. “This is Jing Biao from the HQ. He will conduct a review on you.”
“Hello, Mr. Jing,” Ling Jiu said.
“You look full of beans, kid!”
Jing Biao guffawed. “The purpose I am here in Lantian Base City this time is to see you, besides visiting my hometown. I haven’t come back for quite some time!”
“You are from Lantian, too, Mr. Jing Biao?” Ling Jiu asked.
“Yeah. My mother is a local, and I lived with my grandparents in Lantian when I was small until the Direbeasts invaded.”
Jing Biao let out a smile. “It has been thirty years since then!”
Ling Jiu nodded lightly.
“Let us cut to the chase,” Jing Biao said. “I have read your file, kid. At sixteen, you have gained Earth- and Gravity-type arcana, awakened less than one year, and now a Level-Four arcanist. Am I right?”
“You are right, Sir!” Ling Jiu nodded.
“Sixteen years old, arcana awakening is less than a year, a Level-Four arcanist, and the speed of your self-cultivation is all right. You meet the Super Training Camp requirement.” Jing Biao said.
Just all-right?
As far as he knew, his speed of self-cultivation was unsurpassed in Lantian Base City, yet it was just all-right in Jing Biao’s eyes?
That was disheartening.
“Something you may not know about Ling Jiu, Mr. Jing,” Luo Jia said.
“At the start, Ling Jiu was using beginner Gene Arcana to absorb Gene Arcana. He gained Intermediate Gene Arcana through his own effort.”
It startled Jing Biao to hear that. “Ling Jiu used beginner Gene Arcana, not advanced Gene Arcana when he first got started?”
“That’s right,” Luo Jia said.
“After the awakening, he signed a C-level contract with the company and he used only beginner Gene Arcana.”
Jing Biao was shocked.
“If this is true, then Ling Jiu’s self-cultivation speed is quick indeed!”
He looked at Ling Jiu. “At first, I thought you were just like other major clan disciples, using intermediate and advanced Gene Arcana as a start!”
Ling Jiu forced a smile; how he wished he could be so lucky. The sad thing was, he was not.
“Getting this level of attainment by using only beginner Gene Arcana, the speed of your self-cultivation is nothing short of genius!” Jing Biao said slowly.
“You meet all the requirements of the Super Training Camp, kid. But there is still a problem if you want to get a place in the Super Training Camp.”
“Why is that, Mr. Jing?” Luo Jia frowned.
Jing Biao let out a sigh, then continued. “There is a quota of 200 people for the Super Training Camp each year.”
“That’s not enough to go round!
“You couldn’t imagine how many arcanists are trying to get into the Super Training Camp. The competition is beyond thinking!”
“Just 200 people?”
Ling Jiu poked out his tongue.
Pangu was the world’s top arcana combine. It had branches all over the world, and the Super Training Camp was open to arcanists from around the world.
But it only took in 200 people from among all the arcanists in the world.
The level of competition was mind-boggling.
“The HQ has allocated three places for Chang’an Base City, from which two geniuses have been shortlisted. So there is only one place left,” Jing Biao said.
“The entire Chang’an Base City and the forty-one satellite base cities under its jurisdiction are competing for that one last place. You can imagine how tough the competition is.”
Ling Jiu was silent. The Super Training Camp was open to all arcanists of Pangu. Anyone who met the requirements could apply to take part in the training camp.
An arcanist who had awakened no more than two years.
Must be a Level-4 arcanist.
Not older than 20 years old.
Anyone who met these conditions was qualified to apply.
But there were not enough places to go round.
Fierce was not the word for the competition.
“I have seen the list of applicants of Chang’an Base City. Ling Jiu was no doubt outstanding at his age.”
Jing Biao continued. “He is unrivaled in the forty-one satellite base cities but not Chang’an Base City.
“Chang’an Base City?”