The three Galaxy Group observers who had been involved in Xu Jingming's selection for the mysterious land sat nervously as the Group's management council looked on.
What's 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.
"We have called you here to review the recruitment process of Lord Wu Ming," a council member explained. "We have already obtained a video of the entire process from the virtual world."
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.
"Hence, there is no need for you to lie. Norquien, you were the one constantly advocating for Lord Wu Ming's recruitment, but the two of you didn't seem to like him and stopped considering him. Why is that!?"
"We didn't stop," the lanky observer said, panicked. "Lord Wu Ming only had a comprehension level of 8% when he studied our group's legendary opportunity."
"And Lord Wu Ming had only been cultivating for two years when he entered the mysterious land. He should've gotten a bonus for that!" the executive pointed out.
"You don't have to argue anymore!"
"We've seen the entire video. Tell us your true thoughts."
"We summoned you here to get an idea of your true thoughts and change our Galaxy Group's recruitment rules to avoid making the same mistake again."
The higher-ups looked at the three of them.
The three observers were terrified.
"I admit it. I've 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?"
"I was just following my companion's lead," Observer Cangyu said.
"And I think they don't like those who climb up from the bottom," the fat observer added. "They prefer the scions of large families."
"Discrimination against the lower class? Preferring the scions of large families?" The upper echelons of the council glanced at each other, shocked.
"Yes, I think the rules should be biased toward weak civilizations in the future."
"Even 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."
"Agreed!"
"And the recruitment of peripheral members shouldn't be about quality over quantity. It should be 'the more, the better.' We should greatly increase our scale of recruitment for weak civilizations and evolvers at the bottom."
The big shots of the council discussed this among themselves, knowing that they couldn't afford to miss out on any more geniuses like Xu Jingming if they wanted to avoid decline.
…
In the virtual world.
"Sister, I heard Wu Ming has become a cosmic legend?" Jade Feather looked at Primordial One.
"Yeah," replied Primordial One with a nod, her eyes filled with surprise. "Wu Ming's talent is unimaginable. He's one of the best in the entire history of the human race."
Jade Feather was stunned. "One of the best in human history?"
"Right." Primordial One was very impressed and praised, "I cultivated for tens of thousands of years before becoming a cosmic legend, but he became a cosmic legend in 1,800 years. He's already much stronger than me. Moreover, he grasped the Heart Realm Force, and he did it under high-dimensional corruption. It's unimaginable!"
"I originally thought it would take him tens of thousands of years to grasp Heart Realm Force," said Primordial One, shaking her head. "I underestimated him."
"Can he become a high-dimensional lifeform?" asked Jade Feather.
"He became a cosmic legend in 1,800 years, so it's almost certain he will become a high-dimensional lifeform," replied Primordial One.
"100% certainty?" murmured Jade Feather.
"There's something off about you today," Primordial One commented, eyeing her sister.
Jade Feather smiled bitterly. "You know that my youngest son is still young. He's only 200 this year."
Primordial One nodded. "Thirteen is very talented. He still has a chance of becoming an Origin lifeform."
"He was close with Xu Biyun from the Xu family and wanted to get married," Jade Feather said, frustration in her voice. "But 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 didn't want my son to be caught up in it all, so I stopped the marriage."
"What's the big deal? Even if your son dies, I can still put him on the resurrection list," Primordial One said, shaking her head. "Plus, why would the Void Celestials go after your son?"
"The Void Celestials made a huge fuss about Wu Ming going crazy and being imprisoned," Jade Feather explained. "They 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. That's why I had my son distance himself from the situation."
"You're overthinking it. The Void Celestials wouldn't dare enter human territory," Primordial One reassured her. "As for the marriage… Since you've made a decision, there's no use regretting it."
"But I am regretting it now," Jade Feather said, feeling vexed. "Xu 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."
"Yes." Primordial One agreed. "Paramounts also care about their loved ones. In the past, Paramounts have found ways to extend their loved ones' lifespans to 30,000 or even 100,000 years. However, they don't really care about their distant family members. Xu Fangjin and Xu Biyun are Wu Ming's grandchildren. Wu Ming will definitely value them."
After millions of years or more, the family's population could potentially multiply by hundreds of millions.
After so many generations, the Paramounts wouldn't be as close to their younger relatives. When that happened, they would care more about the continuation of the family.
"I can't believe it," Jade Feather muttered in frustration. "I missed my chance to become a relative of a Paramount."
"It's okay. We can still make our Yun family stronger on our own," Primordial One reassured her sister.
"I've heard that Wu Ming is just as powerful as the three Paramounts," Jade Feather nodded and asked.
"Yes." Primordial One nodded. "Our generation has produced two exceptional geniuses—Redmond and Wu Ming—but there's still a huge difference between the two. Redmond might be one of many Paramounts in history, but he'll probably stay a high-dimensional Firstborn lifeform forever."
Only three Paramounts in human history had reached the second realm—the Eternal realm.
"Wu Ming is different," Primordial One said. "As 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 won't be hard for him to reach the Eternal Realm. There's a good chance he'll be the human race's fourth high-dimensional Eternal lifeform."
"A high-dimensional Eternal lifeform?" Jade Feather said, envious. "Will the Void Celestials just sit back and watch?"
"All the species in the universe have an agreement," Primordial One explained. "Paramounts won't interfere in the battles of low-dimensional lifeforms. The three Paramounts couldn't do anything when Wu Ming was corrupted, and the high-dimensional lifeforms of the Void Celestials won't target Wu Ming either."
"After all, humans can be revived if they're targeted."
"Unless the various species in the universe are confident they can destroy their opponent, they have to follow certain rules," Primordial One said. "Only then can the various species have a relatively stable living and reproduction environment."
"Besides, even if a new high-dimensional Eternal lifeform is born, it's not a big deal to the Void Celestials' Gumo." Primordial One shook her head. "The Eternal realm means nothing to him."
Jade Feather nodded in understanding.
Talking to her sister always helped expand her horizons.
"Gumo is an existence that's almost at the third realm," Primordial One pointed out. "We humans just don't have enough strength yet."
******
Gumo perhaps saw it differently. For him, Xu Jingming's breakthrough meant the human race had gone from 'three bugs' to 'four bugs.' It still wasn't worth his attention, but the impact of Xu Jingming's 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.
"Jingming." Li Miaomiao walked out of the living room and approached Xu Jingming in the courtyard of the old residence.
"What's the matter?" Xu Jingming answered, putting down his drink and looking up at his wife with a smile.
"Didn't some factions come to Earth to assassinate our Xu family in the past few years?"
"Yeah." Xu Jingming nodded.
"Today, five lurking factions took the initiative to apologize with gifts," Li Miaomiao told him. "They once took orders and sent assassins to Earth, but they were actually intermediaries paid to ensure their customers' confidentiality."
"Apologize with gifts?" Xu Jingming frowned slightly.
"They've revealed their client's information to us and have even captured the client alive. They're willing to hand them over to us at any time," Li Miaomiao told him.
"Captured the client alive?" Xu Jingming nodded slightly. "Do as you see fit. All I care about is that those who dare attack my Xu family have to pay a sufficient price."
"A sufficient price?" Li Miaomiao nodded. "Don't worry. I understand."
Xu Jingming nodded, knowing that if he didn't punish them severely, they might think they could bully him.
"Jingming," Li Miaomiao asked, sitting beside him with a smile, "why have you been in a daze every day since you came back?"
"I'm still studying how to become a high-dimensional lifeform. How am I in a daze?" Xu Jingming replied, feeling helpless.
For the past two days, he had been studying the legacy—Red Lotus Fire—left behind by Master of the Abyssal Void's 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 Jingming's eyes shot up as he sensed Secretary General Blacksky approach, dressed in a bright floral shirt.
"Secretary General Blacksky." Xu Jingming greeted him as he stood up, and Li Miaomiao quickly rose to her feet as well.
"Wu Ming." Blacksky landed and offered a smile. "I've come to bring you some news."
Xu Jingming smiled in surprise. "What news? Why not through the virtual world? Why did you make a trip yourself?"
"The three Paramounts are already aware of your breakthrough, and the dean has even sent word back from high-dimensional space. He's planning to return with his true body, which should take about three years."
"Return with his true body?" 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.
"The dean instructed you not to try constructing a high-dimensional body. Wait for his return," Blacksky said.
Xu Jingming nodded gravely. "Understood."
It was anyone's guess as to how many years had passed since the dean's actual body had returned to his home universe. But now, he was back for a specific reason—Xu Jingming.
"Three years, you say?" Xu Jingming eagerly awaited the opportunity to finally meet the dean in person.
