Chapter 947: Chapter 815: The Discrimination Hierarchy
The Fourth Master had already given Qu Jianlei quite a high appraisal, but when he discovered the difference in the Spirit Gathering Array, he was still a bit shocked.
"So, what you’re saying is, with the technology we currently have, we can mass-convert Alien Energy?"
As someone who had once been high-ranking in the Military, he knew all too well how sensitive Alien Energy was.
For Qu Jianlei, it was already a case of too many debts to worry about, and too many lice to itch, so he straightforwardly said,
"For those above Supreme, Alien Energy is very precious. As for Mountain Fortress, you should focus on Advancement to Supreme first."
"No problem," the Fourth Master nodded crisply. Now that he knew so many secrets, it was impossible for him to walk away.
So he simply put forward a new suggestion, "The Celestial Hook Enigma Mansion here... seems to also hold quite a bit of Alien Energy, under Military guard."
Qu Jianlei nodded. "That place is a bit sensitive. Let’s cultivate first. We’ll lie low for a while before thinking about it."
This bout of Cultivation lasted two months, and at the beginning of the third month, Flower Scorpion began to impact A-level.
The others had no choice but to move their Cultivation site to create a quiet environment for her Breaking Through.
There were three Supremes in the team, so Qu Jianlei simply built seven large stone houses on the surface.
As for whether this would expose them, that didn’t matter anymore. With such a big commotion, they probably couldn’t hide it from others anyway.
After the stone houses were finished, Qu Jianlei set up one Qi Gathering Array and two Spirit Gathering Arrays inside.
Previously, Granny and the Paranoid had been sharing a single Spirit Gathering Array, and resources were already feeling tight. Only now was that pressure eased.
The Fourth Master was already used to this sort of thing. Even if Qu Jianlei took out two more Spirit Gathering Arrays, he wouldn’t be surprised in the least.
After Granny Jia started cultivating seriously, her Spirit indeed showed continuous improvement, and she wished she could stay inside the Spirit Gathering Array all the time.
In the blink of an eye, another half month passed, and that day, Qu Jianlei came to see her.
"Over on Zi Jiu Immortal’s side, they’ve been getting some harassment from the Divine Text Association. Do you want to pay attention to it?"
"No need," Granny truly knew how to both seize and let go. She answered very decisively, "If you want to grow, you must pay a price."
Another ten days or so later, City Guard from the Transfer Star came—because the satellite had discovered several stone houses appearing here.
Qu Jianlei didn’t show himself—Rhodiola rosea’s face was certainly valuable, but there was no need to casually expose his whereabouts.
The Fourth Master took the land deed to negotiate with them, but unexpectedly the other side also wanted to check the identities of the residents.
So Xiang Xue stepped forward. She released an A-level aura and said impatiently,
"The land deed isn’t fake, right? What we’re doing here is none of your damn business. Don’t force us to make a move!"
Two A-level members in a team already counted as having status on a Transfer Star, not to mention that the others hadn’t even shown themselves yet.
The City Guard were a bit embarrassed with their swords half-drawn, so they said: since you’ve built houses, you still need to process house deeds.
At the end of the day, Blue Elf Star carried a transfer function. To regulate reception qualifications, they really did strictly control house construction.
In the end, it was Xiao Qin who stepped up, slipping them a thousand Silver Notes, which somewhat eased the atmosphere.
She’d been inside the system for years; her words and actions were reasonably measured. Once the other side realized there was another B-level, they stopped making trouble over nothing.
Processing the house deeds took another three days—most of the time was wasted on the road.
Two months after Qu Jianlei built the stone houses, Flower Scorpion finally struggled her way to A-level.
Her Breaking Through had actually been a bit forced, and it took another month to stabilize her Realm.
Unwittingly, Qu Jianlei and the others had already been here for nearly half a year, and the anomalies of the Anomalous Management Division at Celestial Hook were gradually starting to subside.
Another ten days or so later, Little Lake finally completed the calculations for an ordinary Qi Gathering Array.
Next, they had to verify the related calculations; this was a very important matter for the team.
So everyone finally ended their Cultivation, cleared all traces of their auras from the rooms, and headed together to the Star Port.
However, just as they entered the Star Port, they were stopped again. The other side hoped Qu Jianlei could get in touch with Sheriff.
—There was no helping it. Rhodiola rosea’s whereabouts were simply too mysterious, so they had no choice but to lie in wait at the Star Port.
The 8384 ship hadn’t been started for half a year, so a full inspection and maintenance were necessary. Qu Jianlei simply went alone to find Sheriff.
The Starship maintenance task was handed over to the Paranoid; after all, he was already very familiar with Little Lake.
When Qu Jianlei found Sheriff, he discovered that this guy was currently accompanying two Supremes.
Old Xie didn’t introduce them in detail, only saying they were two of his schoolmates.
But the word "schoolmates" still made Qu Jianlei raise his guard a bit; he knew Old Xie came from one of the four great Imperial elite academies.
The Imperial elite academies were no joke. Those who got in were either monstrous talents with sky-high aptitude or people with power and influence.
Out of a hundred schoolmates, who knew how many Supremes might appear; but producing a dozen A-levels was no problem at all.
These two Supremes, upon hearing that this person was Rhodiola rosea, had someone named Balrog speak up.
This man had a pale, beardless face and carried a hint of effeminacy. "I’ve long heard of your great name. I wonder where you graduated from?"
"Some small place," Qu Jianlei replied calmly, neither humble nor arrogant. "Can’t compare with you all."
He already knew that graduates of elite academies had their noses in the clouds, but he didn’t care much about this sort of discrimination chain.
Another Supreme called Cartel spoke up at those words, "So what you’re saying is, your identity might be a bit problematic?"
Qu Jianlei gave him a strange look, then glanced at Sheriff. "Looks like I picked a bad time to come?"
Sheriff gave a bitter smile; he knew all too well how hard Rhodiola rosea was to deal with. "Don’t take it the wrong way, they just talk very bluntly."
"Blunt is fine." Qu Jianlei’s expression turned serious at that. "But... do I have that kind of relationship with you?"
The two Supremes’ faces changed slightly. Balrog stared into Qu Jianlei’s eyes and spoke slowly.
"We’re investigating Supremes of unknown origin. We hope you can verify yourself, so as to avoid misunderstandings."
As he said this, halos seemed to rotate in his pupils, giving off a calm, tranquil sense of comfort.
Qu Jianlei’s body flickered as he darted to the rear side, raising his hand to throw Rock Armor over himself.
He looked at Sheriff with a gloomy expression. "Old Xie, you really did give me a surprise... I want a reason!"
Sheriff rolled his eyes at Balrog. "Come on, Senior, do you have to be this rude?"
"Not bad." Balrog nodded instead, speaking with a blank face. "Your Spiritual Power is quite strong."
He was a Spiritual Attribute Supreme; relying on this Hypnosis alone, he walked sideways even among Supremes—no one dared offend him.
The fact that the other party could detect his hypnosis and break free at the very first moment truly lived up to those two words: "not bad."
Qu Jianlei’s brows furrowed slightly as he slowly backed toward the door, a handful of powder already in his grip.
If it were just Balrog, even if the man was a Spiritual Attribute Supreme, he had no fear of fighting him.
But add two more Supremes into the mix, and he figured it was necessary to avoid the edge for now—this was a busy downtown district.
He no longer looked into the other man’s eyes, just lowered his lids and spoke lightly.
"Balrog, I’ve received your kind intentions. I’ll be sure to repay your great favor someday."
Trying to hypnotize him out of nowhere wasn’t just an offense; calling it an insult wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
"Why take it so hard?" Cartel said coolly. "We just wanted to see whether your famed reputation is real."
"And what does whether my reputation is real or not have to do with you?" Qu Jianlei retorted irritably.
If this had happened to him in the past, he would most likely have flipped the table on the spot.
But now his team was all at the Star Port; he couldn’t put his comrades at risk, so for the moment he could only back down a little.
The key thing was, he still didn’t know these people’s background, so he could only sullenly say, "Old Xie, this isn’t over!"
Sheriff gave a dry cough at that. "Old Hong, with Senior’s kind of strength... you think I can stop him?"
"All right, I’m willing to compensate." Balrog said blandly. "One million Silver Notes—how does that sound to you?"
For a Supreme, a million Silver Notes was insulting, but he said it with perfect righteousness.
Because in his eyes, being willing to pay compensation already gave the other party immense face; the exact amount wasn’t important.
Besides, he’d heard this guy cared a fair bit about money, so what he was doing... was perfectly fine!
"You think I’m short that little bit of money?" Qu Jianlei replied with his lids still lowered. "You’d best watch yourself when you go out from now on."
"Is this really worth being so petty about?" Cartel cleared his throat. "If we truly meant harm, we’d at least have thrown on our Armor."
He was a Water Attribute Supreme, capable of casting Ice Armor, yet even now he hadn’t Armored up.
"Then feel free to try." Qu Jianlei also wasn’t in a rush to leave; since the other side hadn’t donned Armor, they probably had no intent to make a move.
He also really wanted to know why they acted and what exactly they planned to do to him.
"We’re running an information sweep," Balrog said blandly. "Right now, I sincerely invite you to join my team."
When he said this, his tone showed no fluctuation, yet it somehow made people feel drowsy.
"Again?" Qu Jianlei let out a cold laugh. "Balrog, this is the second time. I won’t give you a third chance!"
With that, he spun around and shot off like lightning.
Sheriff looked at Balrog and slapped his forehead in distress. "Senior, you’re really putting me through the wringer here."
"What are you talking about?" Cartel gave him an annoyed glance. "Senior was originally trying to give him a chance!"
"Oh, spare me." Sheriff clearly wasn’t as respectful when it came to Cartel.
"You know Rhodiola rosea’s team doesn’t just have that one Supreme!"
"That’s exactly why Senior thought of inviting him," Cartel replied righteously. "Otherwise we’d have resorted to harsher methods already!"
"But there’s really no need for that." Sheriff slapped his forehead again and said mournfully.
"It’s not like you’re going after Ran Bingluan; it’s just an ordinary extermination case, and the Ravall family still has survivors, don’t they?"
Balrog answered calmly, "Whoever slaughtered the Ravall family was definitely a Supreme."
"I can’t leave my student’s death unavenged. And I’m very curious... what was the reason the other side had to wipe out the entire household?"
(Updated to here, calling for Monthly Tickets, follows, and Recommendation Tickets.)
