Chapter 1009

"Dad! Why are you holding me back?"

As soon as Zhou Yuanwu left, Li Changfeng, his eyes bloodshot, spoke up in confusion.

"Changfeng, have you ever seen the Chairman's hand?"

Li Chen took a deep breath and did not answer his question, instead asking:

"No."

After a moment's thought, Li Changfeng shook his head.

Though he was at the peak of the ninth rank, he had actually had little contact with Zhou Yuanwu.

Most of the time, it was only during National Parliament sessions.

The Parliament was always held remotely; he had seen the man in person only rarely, let alone witnessed him in action.

And since the peace agreement with the monstrous beasts, the Supreme Beings had no chance to act at all.

"You're not even sixty yet. Not seeing it is normal."

Li Chen shook his head, fear flickering in his eyes:

"I've seen it before—when the war between humans and monstrous beasts was still ongoing.

He merely released his aura, and it crushed a ninth-rank peak Beast Emperor to death!"

"So strong?" Li Changfeng was stunned.

He knew Supreme Beings were powerful, but never imagined they could be this terrifying!

"Exactly that strong."

Li Chen's expression was Solemn: "And anyone who reaches the level of a Supreme Being hasn't walked this path without blood and storm.

Before he broke through to Supreme Being, he had already killed no fewer than ten ninth-rank Ability Users!

Some from our country, others from foreign nations.

His position was carved out by sheer slaughter! Otherwise, why would anyone submit to him?"

Li Chen's face twisted with unbearable pain:

"Without becoming a Supreme Being, you're nothing but an ant. Before him, we have no voice at all!"

The Li family, one of the top clans in Great Xia, was no different from ants before Zhou Yuanwu.

"So you're just letting Xu Jingming off the hook?" Li Changfeng's voice still brimmed with unextinguished rage.

"Letting him off? Of course not!"

Li Chen's face curled into a cruel sneer: "We can't act—but others can.

Xu Jingming's talent has shown itself to be monstrous. Other nations are surely restless.

Lie low. Be patient. We'll find our chance eventually.

Of course, if you break through to Supreme Being, we won't need to endure this much."

"Supreme Being!"

Li Changfeng's gaze burned with an unprecedented hunger, his face twisted in fury:

"The day I break through—that's when Xu Jingming dies!!"

On the other side, Su Qingli had barely walked a short distance with Leng Yuexi and her aunt.

Xu Jingming received a message from Zhou Yuanwu, inviting him to meet in the virtual world.

Without hesitation, he put on his neural helmet.

The moment he entered the virtual world, he was teleported to another region.

It was a grassland, the sky above ablaze with glittering stars.

Zhou Yuanwu stood with his hands behind his back, slightly tilting his head to gaze at the distant sky.

"Chairman." Xu Jingming bowed respectfully.

"Sit."

Zhou Yuanwu raised his hand slightly, and before him appeared a stone table with two chairs.

Zhou Yuanwu sat down first; Xu Jingming took the seat opposite.

"Breaking through to the ninth rank before age twenty—Xu Jingming, you're impressive."

Zhou Yuanwu looked at Xu Jingming, his words unvarnished:

"And precisely because of that, I intervened to stabilize the Li family. You understand that, don't you?"

"I understand." Xu Jingming gave a slight nod.

Great Xia's laws regarding Ability Users were exceptionally harsh; there had been cases before where ninth-rank parliamentarians were arrested for crimes.

"Good."

Zhou Yuanwu smiled at Xu Jingming: "To prepare for the possible return of the monstrous beasts, not just me—

The United States, the European Union, Heizhou—all their Supreme Beings are training furiously, pushing their strength higher.

Of course, we're also striving to cultivate geniuses, hoping to produce more powerhouses!

Before you appeared, our Great Xia's prodigies couldn't match those of the United States.

But now, since your emergence, our Great Xia's prodigies are unquestionably number one!

And you've grown to the point where you can stand alone."

Even he felt a pang of awe at Xu Jingming's almost cheat-like breakthrough speed.

Too monstrous!

He paused, then added: "Now that you've broken through to the ninth rank, you'll have a seat in the National Parliament.

Tonight, I'll announce your appointment as a parliamentarian. Attend future sessions whenever you can.

Still, cultivation remains your priority—if you truly can't make it, don't force yourself."

Besides, I heard from Blood Sword that you obtained the cultural heritage of the Noah Civilization in the Void-Breaking Tower.

Can you tell me which specific inheritances you acquired?

Zhou Yuanwu's gaze turned toward him.

Xu Jingming, who had long prepared for this, kept his expression calm and said: "I did gain something. The Noah Civilization originated from..."

He repeated the information he had received from Lord Hei Yu.

Including the Star Ranks and the existence of the Noah Empire.

Of course, he did not mention the starship capable of light-speed flight at all.

Although he knew Zhou Yuanwu likely meant no harm.

But it is wise to guard against others—this light-speed starship was simply too astonishing to reveal lightly.

"Starlight, Stellar, Cosmic, Immortality—so indeed, beyond Blue Star lies a vaster cosmos."

Zhou Yuanwu did not seem particularly surprised by this.

"My lord, you already knew this?" Xu Jingming said, surprised.

"Of course."

Zhou Yuanwu smiled. "You should know our technological explosion came from a starship unearthed from beneath the earth by the First Civilization."

"Yes, the Primordial Starship—I saw it in the Xinhuo World," Xu Jingming nodded.

"Correct, the Primordial Starship."

Zhou Yuanwu's expression turned reflective. "That starship contained not only vast amounts of advanced technology."

"But also information regarding extraterrestrial civilizations, including the Star Ranks you just mentioned."

"Yet the strongest we've ever had on Blue Star was merely Starlight Rank, so we never adopted this ranking system."

"Moreover, information related to the cosmos is inaccessible to all except Ninth-Rank High-Level Adepts."

"I see," Xu Jingming exhaled softly.

Indeed, those at the very peak of Blue Star's combat power held vast knowledge unknown to ordinary people.

"The Noah Empire, over four million light-years away—pity, too far..."

Zhou Yuanwu shook his head and asked further: "Besides this information, did you obtain anything else?"

"Yes."

Xu Jingming nodded. "She gave me a secret manual called the Gene Meta-Energy Cultivation Art, which increases meta-energy absorption efficiency tenfold."

After all, this was a cultural inheritance—if he had only offered a little information, it would have been hard to convince others.

Rather than let others speculate and covet it, it was better to hand it over voluntarily.

Moreover, with his System at his side, this manual held little use for him.

If handed over to the state, it could propel the entire nation's strength forward by leaps and bounds!

"A Gene Meta-Energy Cultivation Art that boosts cultivation efficiency tenfold?!"

Zhou Yuanwu's face lit up with delight, laughing heartily: "Xu Jingming, you've done a tremendous service this time!"