Chapter 18 Choices

January 6, 2082, 8:00 AM, Brightmoon City, Xu Jingming's residence. A large, almost triangular aircraft hovered above the courtyard, surrounded by a shimmering light. Its hatch opened, and a metal staircase extended down, landing in the courtyard.

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao were already waiting in the courtyard.

"Hello, Xu Jingming," said a uniformed man, the leader of the three who emerged from the aircraft. "Please come with us to Binhai. Director Zhou is waiting for you there."

"Alright," Xu Jingming nodded. He recognized these three men; they were the same ones who had accompanied Director Zhou when he came to pick him up last time.

"Miaomiao, I'll be going to Binhai. I might be back in a day or two," Xu Jingming said, embracing his wife in farewell.

Li Miaomiao whispered in Xu Jingming's ear, "Don't worry about home. Just focus on your trip to Binhai."

Although she didn't know the specifics of his trip to Binhai, she knew it was related to the resources he had exchanged with his contribution points. Her husband was going to receive those resources.

After the couple separated, Xu Jingming ascended the staircase and boarded the aircraft, accompanied by the three uniformed men. Soon, the aircraft retracted the staircase, the light dissipated, and the aircraft rapidly ascended, flying south.

...

Binhai, inside a base of the Life Evolution Bureau.

The aircraft slowly landed on a vast lawn. Xu Jingming stepped out of the cabin and immediately saw Director Zhou waiting in the distance.

"Jingming," Director Zhou said with a smile, waving.

Xu Jingming immediately walked over. "Director Zhou."

"Come with me." Director Zhou led Xu Jingming inside, taking the same route as last time, which Xu Jingming was already quite familiar with.

"You've really done us proud this time," Director Zhou said with a smile. "To be able to get first place in the global total score and receive 100 contribution points. The resources you exchanged for will also be provided by the Earth Alliance. The last time, your resources were provided by our Xia Country itself, which was a relatively large burden. This time, it's much easier."

Xu Jingming understood.

Every country possessed enormous wealth and resources, and the Earth Alliance was also capable of mobilizing significant wealth and resources. And now… whether it was the Earth Alliance as a whole, or individual countries, they all had a common goal – to cultivate higher-level evolutionaries.

"I carefully considered my choices when selecting the resources," Xu Jingming asked. "Is there anything inappropriate about them? Director Zhou, could you offer some guidance?"

"Your choices are quite good," Director Zhou said with a relaxed smile. "Besides, you're still in your growth phase. Even if you experience some setbacks during this phase, it's a good thing."

Xu Jingming nodded knowingly.

He could sense that the authorities preferred a hands-off approach, allowing them to strive on their own. Whether they made rapid progress or suffered setbacks, Xu Jingming and the others were left to explore and advance on their own.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the authorities, this method was more suitable for nurturing experts?

"You exchanged for three things," Director Zhou said. "The Grade A Mind-Refining Crystal is already prepared here. You can take it with you when you return to Brightmoon City. As for the eighth-order spearmanship inheritance, the upper volume of *Hua Guang* (Transformation of Light) will be distributed to your personal space in the virtual world later. At that time, you can carefully study it in your personal space. But there's one thing… absolutely do not spread it to others!"

Xu Jingming looked at Director Zhou.

Director Zhou smiled slightly. "After all, our Earth Alliance only purchased one copy of the upper volume of *Hua Guang*, so you're the only one who can learn it."

"Spreading it to others is a violation?" Xu Jingming asked.

"Just don't spread it to others," Director Zhou said, not elaborating further. Although he wasn't completely secretive in front of Xu Jingming, because it wouldn't be long before Xu Jingming and the others would fully grasp the true situation. But now, it wasn't the right time to go into detail.

Director Zhou led Xu Jingming to that familiar secret space.

Inside the secret space, a huge floating sphere opened a door and lowered a staircase.

"Of the three resources, only possessing a tenth-order expert requires you to connect to the virtual world network," Director Zhou said. "Hurry up and go in."

Xu Jingming nodded and walked along the staircase into the floating sphere.

After entering the interior of the sphere, the staircase retracted and the door closed.

Inside the sealed sphere, the interior was smooth and light illuminated the center where Xu Jingming stood. Xu Jingming was very calm. Familiarity breeds contempt, he already had experience.

"Do you want to connect to the virtual world?" A voice sounded in Xu Jingming's mind.

"Connect," Xu Jingming said.

Immediately, Xu Jingming's consciousness rapidly sank, and soon, he entered a virtual world.

"Hello, Xu Jingming," a beautiful woman appeared, smiling. "You have chosen to possess a tenth-order expert, 'Ambro,' please carefully experience it and seize this precious opportunity."

Xu Jingming nodded calmly.

"Blue Star Civilization, requesting to connect to the virtual world network."

"Requesting to learn."

"Requesting to possess 'Ambro.'"

"Purchase price…"

"Payment successful."

Sounds rang in Xu Jingming's ears, making Xu Jingming more solemn. With the last sound – "Commencing possession!"

Boom!

Xu Jingming's consciousness crashed into a vast world.

...

"This is?" Xu Jingming's consciousness saw a prosperous planet. Spaceships crisscrossed the sky, and magnificent cities were perfectly integrated with nature, as if they were works of art.

Inside an exquisite building in one of the cities, many people sat in small groups, reading and drinking.

They had different appearances, various skin colors, and ears that were pointed, round, and long. Some were bald with purple skin, while others had fur growing on their faces. The tallest were over five meters tall, while the shortest were less than half a meter.

But overall, they all looked like humans, and everyone lived together peacefully.

"Hmm?" Xu Jingming couldn't help but look at one of them.

The man wore loose robes and sat relaxed in a chair, leisurely reading the scrolls in front of him, with a drink by his side. This man's appearance was quite similar to that of humans from Blue Star, except that his hair and eyebrows were crimson. He had a gentle look in his eyes, and by Blue Star standards, he could be considered quite handsome.

Whoosh.

Xu Jingming's consciousness rapidly fell, merging into this person's body.

The moment he merged, Xu Jingming felt the man's power.

"What a terrifying body," Xu Jingming exclaimed inwardly. "Although it's a bit inferior to Xuan's, it's still extremely terrifying. If I wanted to, I could completely shatter the planet beneath my feet with one punch."

At this moment, Ambro was reading the scrolls, immersed in them, occasionally turning a page.

Xu Jingming also looked at the scrolls. The dense text and symbols were like heavenly script! He couldn't understand it, meaning Ambro didn't intend for the 'possessor' to understand them.

"To think that the leader of the Blackwing Society would stay on a tourist planet for thousands of years," a lean old man appeared from the void, walking over step by step. The people around him couldn't see him.

Ambro frowned slightly and looked up at the lean old man. "What are you doing here?"