High-Level Martial Era

Outpost Base Three, Sixth Floor, Appraisal Room.

"Tsk, tsk."

"Bloodthirsty matriarch's larval eggs? Truly a treasure, a treasure," the elderly appraiser said excitedly as he gazed at the several basketball-sized insect eggs in front of him.

The other younger appraisers were also quite surprised; they rarely saw their master this excited.

"Master, we've collected some of these eggs before, haven't we?" a young appraiser couldn't help but ask.

"What do you know?"

"The ones we've collected before were from unranked matriarchs, of very average value, and the larvae they breed aren't worth much," the elderly appraiser shook his head. "But this egg here is of the first rank, with an extraordinarily astonishing value."

"If cultivated with care, it could continuously give birth to incredibly powerful demonic insects."

Li Yuan watched this scene indifferently, yet he was quite astonished in his heart.

He had indeed penetrated into the enemy's nest.

He had killed several matriarchs.

And in the end, he found this yet-to-be-fully-hatched egg, though Li Yuan hadn't harbored much hope for it.

Now it seemed, was this thing exceptionally valuable?

"Warrior Xu An, we have had dealings before." The elderly appraiser looked at Li Yuan. "This egg is very valuable. I am willing to offer three hundred million Blue Star Coins to purchase it, and that's a very generous price."

"Wait a moment," Li Yuan said indifferently, bending his head to check his intelligent wristband and began searching in the database.

After a while, Li Yuan looked up again and showed a smile, "Alright, three hundred million Blue Star Coins it is."

"These four claws from a second rank demonic insect and these small trinkets... let's call it twenty million Blue Star Coins in total," the elderly appraiser continued. "That brings it to a total of three hundred and twenty million Blue Star Coins for you."

"Good," Li Yuan nodded, already quite satisfied in his heart.

Initially, his aim was to accumulate some spiritual nourishment and perhaps earn ten to twenty million. He hadn't expected to strike it big all of a sudden.

In the end,

After deducting sixty-four million in taxes, Li Yuan's bank account received another two hundred and fifty-six million Blue Star Coins.

Of course, Li Yuan understood that such precious first-rank matriarch eggs were hard to come by, as was that second-rank demonic insect.

It seemed he earned a lot this time.

But that was because he had been adventuring within a thousand kilometers around the base. If he had gone beyond a thousand kilometers... it would be very easy to encounter various accidents, such as coming across a level 29 alien?

Or even a Flying Heaven Level alien?

Living on the edge, teetering on the brink of life and death, brought high risks accompanied by high rewards.

...

"Xu An sold a first-rank matriarch egg and some materials from a second-rank demonic insect?" As the person in charge of the base, Han Chong soon heard the news and was somewhat shocked. "A nineteenth level first-rank martial artist actually managed to annihilate the Demonic Insect Lair by himself?"

"How formidable?"

The intelligence on the Demonic Insect Lair was clear. Before this, both Han Chong and Miao Wei had attempted to eliminate it but failed.

"Truly monstrous," Han Chong mutely said, as Li Yuan's image in his heart grew increasingly mysterious.

...

In the break room, Li Yuan had just finished taking a shower, feeling refreshingly pain-free, and was in the middle of a communication.

"Senior Liu," Li Yuan smiled as he looked at the projected image of Liu Jing in the light screen.

Considering the background of the projection.

So many days had passed, and it seemed that the Seven Stars human civilization had already established a small base in Flying Serpent Valley.

"Ready to leave?" Liu Jing asked with a smile.

"Yes," Li Yuan nodded. "I am planning to leave today, so I thought I should drop you a message before departing. It's a shame I cannot say goodbye in person."

Li Yuan had tremendous respect and trust for Liu Jing.

Today they part, and they might not meet again in this life.

"Haha, that doesn't sound like the Li Yuan I know," Liu Jing laughed. "You were so resolute and decisive in your battle with the Flying Serpent and even when fighting the strong members of the Tianliang Clan. How come you've become sentimental now?"

"That was towards alien races," Li Yuan laughed.

"Don't worry, I should be the one thanking you," Liu Jing said earnestly. "Without you, we probably still wouldn't have discovered Flying Serpent Valley. Also, I just heard... you helped eliminate the Demonic Insect Lair too."

"It was a minor matter," Li Yuan said with a smile.

"With your Flying Heaven Level spiritual power, you could resolve it so effortlessly. If it were any other Prime Warrior, even I would have trouble doing it. Don't be modest," Liu Jing laughed. "You've relieved Outpost Base Three of a major headache."

"These actions will certainly count towards your achievements. Once you return, I will make a detailed report of your contributions to the Mingxu Star Realm and submit it to the alliance," Liu Jing said solemnly. "It should help to elevate your rank of merit."

"Thank you, senior," Li Yuan said, quite grateful.

He already had a First Rank Silver Quality Medal of Merit. If he were to be promoted further, that would lead to a Metal Quality Merit... Moving from Silver Quality to Metal Quality is extremely difficult.

Most ordinary Prime Warriors, if not adventuring in life and death situations for years or having made significant contributions to the alliance, wouldn't possess a Metal Quality Medal of Merit.

Thus, one can imagine the magnitude of Li Yuan's accomplishments in the Mingxu Star Realm over this month.

If he were to be upgraded to Metal Quality Merit,

Even if it is just Third Class, that would come with many privileges.

"It's only right to award a medal for service to the entire civilization," Liu Jing said with a smile. "By the way, there's one more thing, I haven't told you yet. We just discovered a small spiritual crystal vein at the bottom of Flying Serpent Valley... and I've listed you as the primary discoverer."

"A small spiritual crystal vein? The primary discoverer?" Li Yuan, with his extensive knowledge, instantly realized the significance. "Senior, you're too..."

"Don't refuse."

"It's what you deserve," Liu Jing said with a firm look in his eyes. "Besides, the report has already gone up and has been approved. You're too late to decline."

"Alright then," Li Yuan said, slightly helpless.

"Yes, but this spiritual crystal vein, the Tianliang Clan probably knows about it too... The war will continue for a while, until we fully occupy it and start mining," Liu Jing said. "At that time, the alliance will conduct a thorough appraisal of the vein's value before administering rewards."

"As the primary discoverer, I estimate the reward won't be small. I conservatively guess it's around one billion Blue Star Coins, but you'll need to be patient for a while."

"Understood," Li Yuan nodded. He wasn't in immediate need of money for the time being.

"That's all for now, you should start your journey early," Liu Jing said with a smile. "I hope one day in the future, I'll hear news of your success in reaching Flying Heaven Level or even surpassing it."

"I'll take your good words, senior," Li Yuan laughed. "If you ever need my help in the Mingxu Star Realm in the future, please let me know, and I'll do my best."

This was a promise from Li Yuan.

In the future, if Li Yuan were to grow into a high-ranking figure within Xia Country or even the entire human civilization, the value of this promise would be immeasurable.

"Okay."

...

After hanging up the communication with Liu Jing.

Neither Li Yuan nor Liu Jing implicitly said 'goodbye.'

'Goodbye' would mean that Mingxu Star Realm had been upgraded to a 'Second Level Star Realm,' and that might not necessarily be a good thing for the whole Xia Country or human civilization.

"Let's go." Li Yuan stood by the window, taking one last look at the mountains outside and the two suns in the sky.

He turned and walked out of the room.

...

"Sister." Li Yuan arrived at the underground train station deep within the base and saw the slim figure of 'Shi Xiao' waiting in the distance.

"It's time to return to school," Shi Xiao said with a smile, her eyes sparkling and a faint killing intent surrounding her.

Her walking brought a faint breeze.

A month of life-and-death experiences might not have helped her as much as Li Yuan, but it was still considerable tempering.

This was the normal path for Martial Path elites; passing through repeated combat assessments before level 15, then starting life-and-death adventures after... by the time they became level 20 Prime Warriors, after many trials, they would be capable of standing on their own.

Clang~

The train started, and Li Yuan and Shi Xiao embarked on the road home.

...

As Li Yuan set out on his return journey, in a civilization area of space-time completely different from the Seven Star Sea,

a lush and huge star shone with beauty.

This was the heart of Tianliang Civilization—Tianliang Star.

The planet was extremely beautiful, with numerous cities and highly advanced technology, inhabited by hundreds of billions.

Today.

Inside 'Administrative City No. 9' on Tianliang Star, within a skyscraper soaring a kilometer high.

On the 89th floor, in a large conference room, three powerful beings emanating an astonishing presence sat at the head of the room, listening to reports from a group below.

"Regarding Mingxu Star Realm, we agree to the outpost base's application to double the existing support," a woman in purple spoke indifferently.

"Additionally, immediately dispatch 15 Martial Artists on the verge of breaking through level 19... send them into Mingxu Star Realm. We must seize this vein of prime crystal."

"Do not fear wasting effort."

"The Ming Mountain in Mingxu Star Realm holds great secrets. However, limited by our power, we can only wait."

"If one of these Prime Warriors manages to become a Flying Heaven Warrior, they can venture into Ming Mountain to uncover its mysteries. If successful, it will bring great benefits to our Tianliang Civilization," the woman in purple continued.

"Agreed."

"Proceed with this plan," the other two powerful beings concurred.

Sending a group of Prime Warriors was but a minor affair.

What were a dozen Prime Warriors to an entire civilization?

"Furthermore,"

"For the SSS-grade talent requesting an Inquiry into Mingxu Star Realm, pass the information through Wanhan Star Realm to the organization lurking within the Seven Stars human civilization, and have them carry out the investigation," the woman in purple spoke lightly. "Once the identity is confirmed, begin organizing the assassination."

"Also, pass this message to the 'Cloud Beast Civilization.'"

"The Cloud Beast Civilization has always been at war with the 'Xia Country' of the Seven Stars human civilization in the Rob Sea Star Realm. If this mysterious talent truly hails from Xia Country... the Cloud Beast Civilization will be interested."

"Let's wait."

"Such Martial Path talents are likely to venture into Rob Sea Star Realm, Wanhan Star Realm, in the future."

...

Li Yuan was unaware of the actions Tianliang Civilization had launched against him.

Even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.

Assassination? How many geniuses in the history of the Seven Stars human civilization had grown up safely?

Time passed.

An hour after departing from Base Three, Li Yuan and Shi Xiao crossed the Star Realm portal and returned to the long-missed Xia Country.

Stepping out of the war base's gateway,

the winter sun's warmth fell on them, comforting Li Yuan.

"Upon leaving, there was a light drizzle," Li Yuan commented with a smile. "But now that we've returned, it's a clear and sunny day."

"Yes," Shi Xiao replied, a smile on her face. "The feeling of coming home is wonderful."

Li Yuan felt an earnest sense of comfort and relaxation as he stepped onto the soil of Xia Country once more—Illusion or not, it was something he could never have in Mingxu Star Realm.

'Li Jing and the others,' Li Yuan thought respectfully, admiring those Prime Warriors who were willing to sacrifice.

Suddenly,

"Li Yuan, Shi Xiao," a deep voice suddenly rose from nearby. Stay connected with m-v l|e'-NovelBin.net

Both turned, surprise flashing in their eyes.

"Teacher?"

"Teacher Li Yang," both Li Yuan and Shi Xiao couldn't help but smile as the one approaching was their shared instructor, 'Li Yang.'

"Surprised to see me?" Li Yang said with a smile. "Shi Xiao, wait here for a moment; I need to speak privately with Li Yuan."

"Yes," Shi Xiao nodded, guessing that Li Yang had come for Li Yuan.

"Li Yuan, come with me." Li Yang headed towards a nearby conference room.

Li Yuan nodded, about to follow when he suddenly paused.

Because,

as his gaze swept over a figure descending from a flying vehicle not far away, he instinctively used his Divine Palace Inquiry.

"[Target individual, Life Level 19.4, elimination yields Spiritual Nature nourishment]"