Chapter 1539

"This time back, my strength will see a massive boost."

Xu Jingming's heart burned with excitement.

5.63 billion source points—absolutely an astronomical number!

It would allow him to spend points on nearly every option in his system panel.

As for why he didn't just spend the points as soon as he had enough halfway through...

That was because he didn't want to use the system while others were watching.

"Everyone, you've worked hard this past half-year."

At that moment, Duke's voice interrupted Xu Jingming's thoughts.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the group, face lit with a bright smile:

"Over the past half-year, we completed twenty-seven B-class missions.

Including encounters during transit, we engaged in fifty-three battles total.

All mission rewards and battle loot have been tallied: one million two hundred thousand military merits.

As per tradition, I take three shares, You Yue two, Lai Er two, Shi Shan two, Xu Jingming one.

Any objections?"

Lai Er and Shi Shan shook their heads.

You Yue remained expressionless—implicit consent.

In truth, had it not been for Xu Jingming, she and Duke would each deserve three shares as well.

But over this past half-year, Xu Jingming's performance had earned her initial approval, so she said nothing.

"Captain, I don't want my share."

Xu Jingming, however, shook his head and smiled at the group:

"Over this half-year, all military merits from my kills of low-rank alien foes were directly credited to my personal account.

And you all have repeatedly watched my back in battle—taking a share of the loot would make me feel unworthy."

He spoke the truth.

For the sake of source points, all low-rank enemies in the universe were slain by him.

Yet for Duke and the others—cosmic pinnacle and cosmic ninth-rank—they could easily have claimed those merits themselves.

In other words, these merits were effectively given to him by them.

Duke first froze, then burst into laughter: "Good lad! You've got vision!"

He stepped forward and clapped Xu Jingming's shoulder hard, his admiration plain in his eyes:

"But you must take these merits.

Wildfire Team's rule: if you put in effort, you get paid.

You're one of us—what's yours, not a single point will be withheld."

Xu Jingming was about to refuse again, but Duke waved him off: "Enough talk. It's settled."

Seeing the captain's firm stance, Xu Jingming finally relented and nodded: "Alright, thank you, Captain."

"Now that's more like it!"

Duke's smile widened.

After a while longer, the Shadow Stalker slowly docked at Spaceport 102 of Planet Fortress 102.

"Ha! We're back!"

"Made it through another mission cycle!"

Only when their boots touched the alloy ground of the planet fortress did the Wildfire Team fully relax.

Xu Jingming too let out a quiet breath.

Indeed, returning to base always felt safer.

"Jingming, Shi Shan and I are heading to Xiaoyao Heaven to unwind—want to come?"

Captain Duke invited warmly.

Every time they returned alive from a mission, it was worth celebrating.

"Heh, Captain, don't go corrupting him."

Lai Er chuckled beside him, arms crossed.

Her eyes sparkled with teasing amusement—clearly, she now fully approved of Xu Jingming's performance over the past half-year.

You Yue remained silent, standing to the side.

"Heh, Captain, don't go corrupting him."

Lai Er chuckled again.

"You all go ahead—I'll stay behind."

Xu Jingming shook his head in refusal.

Joke's on you.

Forty-seven billion source points were still sitting idle on his system panel, waiting for him!

At this moment, even if Moon Shadow stripped naked and waited for him, he'd have to wait until he'd spent the points.

"Tsk tsk, seems the young still don't know how to enjoy life."

Duke shook his head, not pressing further, and waved his hand: "Everyone dismissed! Regroup in two months!"

Having finished speaking, he could hardly wait any longer and left together with Shishan.

Lai Er walked over to Xu Jingming and stopped beside him.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze shifting, lips parting softly:

"Jingming, little brother, then I'll go first."

"If you get bored with cultivation, or need anything else, remember to come find your sister anytime."

She lightly lifted the corner of her eyes, leaving behind a ripple of enchanting charm.

Only then did she sway away, her voluptuous figure standing a full one meter eighty tall.

"This guy..."

Xu Jingming felt a touch of helplessness.

When they first met, Lai Er had still been fairly serious.

Now, after more than half a year of interaction, her true nature had fully surfaced.

She always called herself 'sister,' and constantly liked to tease him.

If not for his extensive experience, he would surely have been swept away by her advances long ago.

In complete contrast to her was You Yue, who remained cold and distant as ever.

But Xu Jingming had never paid much attention to any of this, so he naturally didn't care.

"Focus on leveling up—that's what matters most."

Xu Jingming quickly returned to his room on the seventeenth floor of the battle camp base.

He immediately sat cross-legged and opened his system panel.

"Level is the key to everything. First, raise my level!"

He locked his mind on the '+' beside the level bar and tapped it repeatedly!

Source Points -10 billion!

Cosmic Stage One → Cosmic Stage Two!

Boom—

Vast primordial energy poured in from nothingness, causing his cells, meridians, and life core to tremble simultaneously!

Xu Jingming's aura surged upward in stages; the Annihilating Divine Thunder leaked uncontrollably, flickering and darting through the room.

He forcibly suppressed the commotion of his breakthrough and continued to allocate points.

Source Points -15 billion!

Cosmic Stage Two → Cosmic Stage Three!

A second, even more violent wave of energy surged in!

His life core spun faster, expanded in volume, and its surface revealed more intricate primordial patterns!

The ocean of his mental force churned violently and solidified once more!

It took several full minutes before the energy tide finally subsided.

Xu Jingming opened his eyes, faint Lei Guang flickering within his pupils.

He clenched his fist—a powerful sense of strength flooded his entire body.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Level】: Cosmic Stage Three (+)

【Physique】: 0.7 billion blood qi (+)

【Mental Force】: 0.3 billion He (+)

"Cosmic Stage Three—physique and mental force both reached over forty trillion. That's enough."

He murmured to himself.

Jumping directly from Stage One to Stage Three in one go was an astonishing leap.

If he kept allocating more points, he might draw suspicion.

Steady, gradual progress is the path to longevity.

After leveling up, his system panel showed 2.73 billion Source Points remaining.

"Next, the Source Core Secret Scripture."

This T0-level gene secret art could comprehensively alter gene layers and elevate the soul's essence.

It was absolutely vital, but previously, due to insufficient Source Points, it had remained stuck at the first level.

Now, finally, he could continue allocating points.

Source Points -10 billion!

Source Core Secret Scripture Level One → Level Two!

Hum—

In an instant, a strange transformation erupted within Xu Jingming's body!

Simultaneously, a familiar sense of repulsion descended abruptly.

"The cosmos is rejecting me—stronger than last time!"

Xu Jingming growled inwardly.

Though this was not his first encounter with repulsion, the feeling still sent shivers through him.

Fortunately, as before, it came quickly and vanished just as fast.

When the point allocation ended, his physique and mental force values showed no change whatsoever—as if nothing had happened.

Yet, an unprecedented clarity spread quietly from deep within his soul.

He subtly shifted his intent and attempted to activate the Ninefold Spirit Tempering Art.

The pale golden ocean of his consciousness rippled slightly.

Its flow felt smoother; his precision in controlling mental force rose another tier.

He turned his gaze inward—the deep blue lightning life core hung silently in place.

The patterns on it seemed deeper, closer to some primordial rule.

"No increase in stats, but I've definitely grown stronger."

Xu Jingming's eyes gleamed with sharp light.

The higher the level, the harder it is to fight across tiers.

Yet Ye Li and Lin Qianxue are both prodigies capable of fighting across tiers.

Although he hasn't met that senior brother yet, he must be the same.

This is the power of the Source Core Secret Scripture.

"Come to think of it, life tier might be detectable by some method."

After finishing the stat allocation, ask No. 1 if this planetary fortress has such a place.

Perhaps once life tier is detected, I'll know exactly what the Source Core Secret Scripture has changed in me."

Xu Jingming silently thought to himself.

Immediately, his spirit sank into the system interface to continue allocating stats.

Meanwhile, Duke, who had originally planned to take Shi Shan to wander freely in Xiao Yao Tian,

was called over by Lin Qianxue...