Chapter 1175: Refusing the Recruitment! Returning to the Trial Zone!

To be fair, the Sprout Association does offer quite a few benefits to commoner students.

But Xu Jingming is a disciple of an Eternal Divine Spirit, with universe-level senior brothers and Eternal-level teachers guiding his cultivation.

He simply has no need for any exchange meetings.

As for running into trouble and the Sprout Association stepping in—that's even more preposterous.

He has a teacher at the Eternal Divine Spirit level; if even his teacher can't resolve a problem, seeking help from the Sprout Association would be useless.

In other words, if he were to join the Sprout Association,

it would not only offer Xu Jingming not the slightest benefit, it would even waste his time.

This point, true for him, is equally true for Ye Lan, who is likewise a disciple of an Eternal Divine Spirit.

In his view, Ye Lan has absolutely no need to join this so-called Sprout Association either.

But seeing Ye Lan's eager, excited demeanor, she was clearly enjoying herself and hadn't realized the problems involved.

"Forgive the bold question, Senior—what was the environment of your home planet like?"

Xu Jingming couldn't help but ask.

"My planet's environment?"

Though puzzled why Xu Jingming was asking, Ye Lan still answered:

"My planet is located in the Laker star system; the elemental energy concentration is roughly half that of the Empire.

Although we hadn't entered the interstellar age, my father was the planet's strongest.

His level had reached Star-tier first rank, and my mother was at Stellar Radiance peak.

When the Empire discovered us, I was already at Stellar Radiance seventh rank, and I went straight into the Holy Land for cultivation, all the way until today."

"Are there external threats on your planet, like dire beasts or insect swarms?" Xu Jingming asked again.

"No."

Ye Lan shook her head. "My father was very strong; under his rule, no problems ever arose in the entire nation."

"No wonder." Xu Jingming suddenly understood.

Back on Blue Star, even with the system's boost, he still had to fight dire beasts to the death to earn ability points.

The scheming and backstabbing along the way were countless, and his mind had long been tempered into unyielding steel.

But Ye Lan's parents were the planet's strongest, and there were no external threats.

Sheltered by her parents, she had sailed smoothly all the way.

With a pure heart, she naturally failed to see the problems with the Sprout Association.

This reminded him of his former Blue Star class president Lin Qingyuan, who was equally pure and kind.

'Who would have thought this Ye Lan looks like a cool, aloof older sister on the surface, yet her nature isn't complicated at all.'

Xu Jingming sighed inwardly.

Of course,

although Ye Lan's heart was pure, her strength was genuinely nothing to scoff at.

For her, the Sprout Association might also be a fine choice—after all, she truly did enjoy it.

But an organization like this wasn't suited for him.

"What? Is there a problem?"

Ye Lan tilted her head slightly in confusion.

Her long purple hair cascaded like a waterfall, shimmering with a captivating sheen in the sunlight.

"Nothing."

Xu Jingming smiled faintly. "I feel the Sprout Association probably isn't suited for me."

Seeing Ye Lan's red lips part as if about to speak again, he quickly said:

"I still need to head to the Dire Beast Trial Zone—I'm off now, we'll chat next time."

With that, he unfurled his Thunder Dragon Wings and flew straight toward the Dire Beast Trial Zone.

"He actually refused."

After Xu Jingming left, a trace of puzzlement still lingered on Ye Lan's fair, lovely face.

The president of the Sprout Association is the fourth-ranked powerhouse on the Prodigy List; the Association ranks among the top organizations in the entire Holy Land.

Clearly, other members had been overjoyed when invited by the Sprout Association.

"Maybe I didn't express myself clearly. I'll find another chance next time and invite him again."

Muttering to herself, Ye Lan's graceful figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

She genuinely felt the Sprout Association was truly a fine place to be......

"Getting something for nothing—this Sprout Association is rather interesting."

On the way to the Dire Beast Trial Zone, Xu Jingming was still mulling over his conversation with Ye Lan.

"I just looked it up, and this Sprout Association really isn't getting something for nothing."

At that moment, Eva's holographic projection appeared on his shoulder, giggling as she said:

"There are many organizations within Noah's Holy Land; the vast majority require membership dues to join.

There are even some Eternal Divine Spirit disciples who join them—although they are Eternal Divine Spirit disciples,

joining an organization costs them no effort, and if something happens and the organization can truly help, that's a huge gain.

The Sprout Association offering you a vice-president position does show some sincerity."

"True enough, but I don't want to waste my time on these organizations."

Xu Jingming shook his head slightly.

Wouldn't it be better to spend that time killing a few more dire beasts?

"Eva, if any other factions try to contact me, just refuse on my behalf," Xu Jingming said.

"Understood."

Eva giggled, "But I think some organizations within the Sacred Ground are more suited to you."

"Unlike the Sprout Association, most of these are hunter teams, tasked with eliminating alien races appearing within the Empire's territory."

"Hunter teams that eliminate alien races?"

Xu Jingming's interest stirred. "Tell me more."

"Hunter teams impose no mandatory requirements on members— they simply post hunting missions."

"If a member is interested in a mission, they simply board a ship and head to the destination."

"Curvature ships are public property of the hunter teams and can be used for free."

"Unlike the Sacred Ground's curvature ships, which require credit points to rent."

Eva explained in detail.

"I see," Xu Jingming's eyes glinted slightly.

Curvature ships were too expensive; he didn't own one, and even if he did, he couldn't afford to maintain it.

Renting a curvature ship from the Sacred Ground consumed credit points—he'd just entered the Sacred Ground and had accumulated very few.

If the hunter teams were truly as Eva described, they were indeed a good option.

"Among all the hunter teams in the Sacred Ground, the Celestial Punishment Hunter Team is the strongest."

"Unfortunately, to join this team, you must single-handedly kill a Common Blood Star Radiance peak beast."

Eva shook her head.

"Common Blood Star Radiance peak beast..."

Common Blood, Spirit Blood, Royal Blood, Imperial Blood.

These are the different bloodline tiers of beasts; at the same level, the higher the bloodline tier, the stronger the combat power.

According to Xu Jingming's estimate, after forming his Law Manifestation, he could ultimately slay a Common Blood Star Radiance seventh-rank beast.

He was still far from killing a Star Radiance peak beast.

"But there's no rush—there are still many beasts in the Sacred Ground's beast trial zones."

"Once you've cleared most of the beasts in the trial zones, then consider joining a hunter team and heading into the stars to hunt beasts..."

Xu Jingming mused silently to himself.

An easier solution would be to buy a curvature ship; then he could go wherever he pleased.

But he had already checked the Shangcheng— even the cheapest 1x lightspeed curvature ship cost thirty billion credit points.

At present, he couldn't afford it at all, let alone the exorbitant operating costs afterward.