Chapter 1159: Goodbye, Hei Yu! Two Choices!

Ye Lan's words fell, and the entire hall fell silent instantly.

Including Morris, a dozen pairs of eyes—shocked, bewildered—turned toward Xu Jingming.

Level-Two Genius?!

When did Qinglan Star produce a Level-Two Genius?

The Xu Jingming under scrutiny flashed Lei Guang beneath his feet and shot straight into the air.

The Noah S-21 starship had already been stored in his space ring—he could simply walk away.

Aside from Ye Lan, the other team members stared curiously at Xu Jingming as he floated up.

Logically, descendants of great families.

Their genes had been refined over countless generations; their bloodlines should be utterly pure.

Yet they seemed to sense from Xu Jingming a mottled, beast-blood aura.

Under the gaze of six Star-Class experts, even Xu Jingming, who commanded the third-tier Destruction Domain, felt a pang of unease.

"Follow me."

Ye Lan's pale, delicate face remained cold; she spoke and turned into the cabin.

The others withdrew their gazes; only then did Xu Jingming exhale and follow inside.

The warship ascended swiftly, pierced the atmosphere, and vanished beyond the horizon.

Leaving behind on Qinglan Star, Morris and the others, utterly bewildered.

Wait, I haven't even boarded yet—why did they leave?

"The warship will arrive at the Sacred Ground in twenty days."

The guide's voice was cold: "This is your quarters. If nothing urgent arises, do not disturb us."

After boarding the warship, Ye Lan said not another word.

Under the guidance of another team member, Xu Jingming entered his assigned room; the man gave a few brief instructions and hurried off.

"Do all humans in the universe lack warmth? Or do they treat newcomers this way?"

After the man left, Xu Jingming frowned slightly inside the room.

From their first meeting until now, whether the icy-cold captain Ye Lan or the other team members, all gave him a sense of coldness.

"This isn't your fault, S-Class."

His smart armband suddenly flickered; the green-haired, twin-tailed little girl Eva popped out playfully:

"I just checked their files—every member of this squad comes from ordinary planets. They've clashed often with aristocratic brats at the Sacred Ground."

They probably assumed you're one of those brats, since Lord Hei Yu issued the order directly."

"The Noah Empire governs billions of life-bearing planets.

The Noah Sacred Ground gathers the top prodigies from these worlds.

Even in such a cultivation sanctuary, there are brats?"

Xu Jingming was surprised.

In his mind, members of the Noah Sacred Ground should all be solely devoted to martial pursuit.

"Of course there are."

Eva sat floating in midair, swinging her little legs: "In our Blue Star's terms, 'where there are people, there's a jianghu.'

The Noah Sacred Ground gathers prodigies from ten star systems—big forest, any bird flies in.

Some are born ordinary; others come from top-tier families.

The gap in status naturally makes those brats look down on others.

And their destructive power far exceeds that of Blue Star brats.

Blue Star brats can only ruin a single region.

Sacred Ground brats have dozens of life-bearing planets at their disposal for amusement."

"That's true." Xu Jingming nodded thoughtfully.

The universe may be vast, but human nature is no different from Blue Star's.

What happens on Blue Star happens in the universe too.

"S-Class! Lord Hei Yu has contacted us directly! He wants us to enter the Virtual Universe!"

At that moment, Eva suddenly spoke.

"The Virtual Universe?"

Xu Jingming's eyes lit up, then narrowed in confusion:

"We've already left Qinglan Star—how can we connect to the Star Spirit Quantum Network?"

"Of course we can! This is a B7-class starship!

The ship itself carries a signal receiver similar to a Star Tower—it can connect to the network.

This room is equipped with a virtual helmet; just put it on."

Eva waved her small hand; the metal cabinet slid open, revealing a sci-fi-styled helmet inside.

"A Virtual Universe similar to a virtual world..."

With a touch of anticipation, Xu Jingming put on the helmet.

Shhh—

His vision went black; when he regained awareness, he was already inside the Virtual Universe.

He stood on a vast square, where figures flickered around him—countless others, like him, newly logged into the Virtual Universe, had been teleported here.

"This is within the Noah Empire's homeworld range; this square is the default login point, like in an online game.

Once you bind a login location in this Virtual Universe, you'll appear directly there whenever you enter."

On Xu Jingming's right shoulder, Yiwa, who looked like a little sprite, spoke up.

"This virtual universe and Blue Star's virtual worlds don't seem to differ much in their mode."

In Blue Star's virtual worlds, Yiwa likewise took the form of a little sprite.

"Blue Star's virtual world servers were originally evolved from the virtual modules split off from my ship, so the two being similar is perfectly normal.

That said, Blue Star's virtual worlds can simulate at most a Rank-9 esper's strength.

But this virtual universe is different — no matter how strong you are, it can simulate it.

Moreover, all the combat techniques you've mastered in reality and the domains you've comprehended can be deployed here in the virtual universe."

Yiwa said, swaying her head.

Back in the starry sky and connected to the Stellar Spirit Quantum Network, she was in her element.

"That powerful?" Xu Jingming was startled.

If someone stayed in the virtual universe for too long, wouldn't they end up mistaking the virtual for reality?

"Of course — otherwise the Eternal Star Alliance, which developed the Stellar Spirit Quantum Network, wouldn't be one of the top factions of the universe's humanity."

Yiwa giggled, then waved her little hand. "Lord Hei Yu is already waiting. Let's head straight over."

Whoosh—

Xu Jingming's figure vanished from the spot in an instant, and when he reappeared, he was already amid a vast starry sky.

And not far ahead stood a tall girl in a black combat suit, with crimson-red pupils.

It was none other than Lord Hei Yu, who had explained starry-sky knowledge to Xu Jingming back at the Void-Breaking Tower!

"Xu Jingming, we meet again."

Lord Hei Yu looked at Xu Jingming, a smile surfacing on her delicate oval face.

"Greetings, my lord." Xu Jingming bowed respectfully.

Despite her girlish appearance, she had in fact existed for who knows how long.

No matter how you looked at it, she was his senior.

"I had originally thought you might need decades, a century, or even forever to enter the universe.

But I didn't expect you to give me a pleasant surprise — in less than two years, you've already entered the universe and gotten in touch with me."

Lord Hei Yu looked at Xu Jingming, the appreciation in her beautiful eyes undisguised, and said:

"You now have two choices. One is to keep your original Rank-2 genius rating and join my Noah Sanctuary.

From then on, your resources and treatment will all be allocated according to the Rank-2 genius standard, and you can only re-certify after fifty years.

The other choice is to recertify once more before joining Noah Sanctuary."

"I'll choose the second," Xu Jingming said without the slightest hesitation.

After all, compared to when he was at the Void-Breaking Tower, his strength and talent had both improved by who knows how many times over.