Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 999 - 865: Such Nerve

Granny Jia ultimately didn’t get involved in Mu Yu’s affairs.Because the guesthouse is the team’s primary focus at the moment, they have invested a large amount of money and placed a lot of hope here.

Even if it doesn’t make money temporarily, it’s not too big a problem. The key is that this is the team’s bridgehead for formal contact with the Empire.

The old lady believes that if there were any issues here, Panda would at least be angry enough to curse.

So there’s no need for her to meddle in Chaoyang’s matters; taking good care of Paradise’s guesthouse is the biggest responsibility to the team.

Moreover, that Paranoid... he’s a bit unreasonable, if he suspects she’s stirring things up, there’s no place to reason it out.

Granny Jia plans to watch and see, but Paranoid is so anxious, he wishes he could immediately go to the Thorn Star Realm.

However, Qu Jianlei stated, "First go to Homeland, send Celestial Sound out, and clean up the identity."

"This person seems..." Paranoid was somewhat dismissive in his heart.

But considering that this is his junior, the one who pointed out the current situation with Mu Yu, he finally said nothing more.

If Mu Yu truly has a turning point, this person also deserves credit.

Two days later, the Omen Ship took off again, with Qu Jianlei, Paranoid, Flower Scorpion, and Celestial Sound on board.

Letting Celestial Sound leave Paradise through normal channels is indeed challenging, as this planet’s identity verification is extremely strict.

But leaving on an Armed Merchant Ship is different, as long as they can avoid the star port’s surveillance, it’s okay.

And that’s Little Lake’s specialty, so there’s no need to say much.

Upon arriving at the farm on Homeland Star, after getting Celestial Sound a fake identity, Qu Jianlei handed her a booklet.

Escaping Paradise Star, Celestial Sound finally breathed a sigh of relief; she looked strong, but the mental pressure she endured was significant.

She wasn’t too surprised that the team owned its starship – under Lord Kong Se’s name, there was more than one starship.

She had heard of fake identities before, and while it was her first time dealing with one, she could accept it calmly.

Staying at the farm... she felt a bit lost because both seniors wouldn’t be around here.

The Mountain Fortress and Youyou rarely spoke, seeming hard to approach. She had more interactions with Bentley, but this person was even harder to approach.

She knew these were her own people, trustworthy, but she wasn’t good at socializing either.

After receiving the booklet, Celestial Sound glanced through it and was stunned, "An improved Cultivation Technique?"

She skeptically looked at Qu Jianlei: Is this reliable?

She hasn’t had much societal exposure but is deeply knowledgeable in cultivation: Are cultivation techniques something to be changed lightly?

Celestial Sound also knew this so-called Rhodiola rosea Supreme was not only a leader but also had unfathomable power.

However, improving a cultivation technique is not done by one person; it requires long-term and extensive testing.

In just about a month, not only had he improved the cultivation technique, he also directly wanted her to cultivate it... It all seemed quite off.

Paranoid could guess her thoughts and directly expressed, "Just practice at ease, there won’t be any problems."

Celestial Sound hesitated a bit and asked, "Senior, doesn’t an improved cultivation technique need thorough verification?"

The Fourth Master straightforwardly replied, "No need!"

He didn’t have anything against Celestial Sound, but, coming from the military, was used to speaking bluntly.

Paranoid originally didn’t want to say much, but seeing this guy not giving face to his junior, he added another sentence.

"Don’t be ungrateful, Old Man’s improved cultivation technique... isn’t something you can buy on the market even if you have the money."

"Is that so?" Celestial Sound’s eyes widened.

Although she already had a high opinion of the Old Man, their firm answers refreshed her knowledge once again.

Seeing others showing an "I can’t be bothered with you" attitude, after a pause, she spoke again.

"Old Man, can I go to Thorns with you?"

Qu Jianlei hearing this, instinctively shook his head, "You only have Homeland Star’s identity, isn’t it inconvenient?"

Celestial Sound, however, seriously replied, "The Thorn Star Realm doesn’t strictly verify identities, I am very familiar with it there."

Qu Jianlei hesitated for a moment, but Paranoid spoke up, "Why not take her along? I haven’t gone to Thorns in a long time either."

At least two hundred years! Qu Jianlei thought for a bit and nodded.

Both Homeland and Paradise had stabilized, and they could travel back and forth via Passenger Starship, so they simply piloted the Omen Ship away.

The Thorn Star Realm is considered the innermost part of the Inner Circle, already very close to the Core Star Realm.

This was one of the earliest developed star realms in the interstellar great age of exploration, hence named "Thorns," meaning "hewing through thistles and thorns to blaze a trail."

In fact, the four habitable planets in this star realm are each bustling and prosperous, completely unrelated to thorns.

At Celestial Sound’s suggestion, the Omen Ship first docked at Fertile Star.

This planet ranks at the bottom in the Thorn Star Realm, but even so, it is much livelier than Paradise Star.

As the planet with the poorest economy in the star realm, their inspections of outsiders are not too strict.

The four spent five days touring Fertile Star before piloting the Omen Ship to Blessing Star.

Blessing Star ranks second among the four habitable stars, with very good natural conditions and stricter control over its development.

Of course, the most crucial thing is that there are numerous higher educational institutions here.

Besides the Chaoyang Superpower Warrior Academy, there are also two other academies ranked in the top ten of the Imperial rankings.

Additionally, there are several large high-tech enterprises here, as well as numerous research institutions.

After the Omen Ship landed, the four of them indeed underwent a strict examination.

The starships from the Hope Star Realm are generally looked down upon, and the residency permit from Paradise Star isn’t very significant.

The main reason they were treated slightly better was because they had stayed on the Fertile Star for a few days earlier, purchasing a lot of luxury goods.

In other words, Tianyin’s planned route was indeed very logical.

However, Tianyin, who did not have a Paradise residency permit, was still interrogated for a long time.

Unmasked, she was undeniably a great beauty, with an excellent temperament.

Although her figure didn’t quite align with Qu Jianlei’s aesthetic preferences, he had to admit that she scored at least an eight out of ten in the slightly plump category.

If even such beauties had to be thoroughly checked, it felt as if... Homeland was entirely unworthy of comparison with Paradise.

The idea of the Gemini Star was simply an insult to Paradise.

Ultimately, she stated that she had once studied at Chaoyang Academy and revealed some secrets from the academy, which allowed them passage.

After leaving the Star Port, Qu Jianlei intended to wander around for a few days, but the Paranoid dragged him straight to Chaoyang Academy.

The academy was located on the outskirts of Chaoyang City, covering an area of over one hundred square kilometers.

Several research institutes surrounded the academy, including a biotechnology research center.

The major shareholder of this center is Chaoyang Academy, which can be regarded as part of its industry.

After Mu Yu became a Supreme Awakened, she was employed by the academy as an external teacher, akin to a visiting professor.

That’s why she was frozen in the research center, with all related procedures and costs managed by the Paranoid.

The last time he renewed the fees was just before he attempted a breakthrough above the Supreme level, paying for five hundred years in advance.

It wasn’t because of a lack of money; the key is that the maximum renewal limit is five hundred years, and too many things can happen in such a long time.

To put it extremely, by then, Chaoyang Academy might not even exist, which would make it pointless to renew for such a long period.

The four of them arrived at the research center, and the Paranoid presented a set of documentation, indicating he wanted to visit someone frozen there.

The receptionist visibly hesitated for a moment.

There were over a hundred frozen individuals in the research center, all either wealthy or noble—ordinary people couldn’t afford such expenses.

However, there weren’t many people who came to visit the frozen ones, as even a single visit costs a considerable sum.

The most crucial point is that, without the targeted development of technology, these visits are largely unnecessary.

The receptionist reported upwards, and shortly after, a B-level Awakened came out.

He could sense that at least two people opposite were High Tier Awakened, but he didn’t really feel threatened at the gates of Chaoyang Academy.

After checking the proof, he frowned slightly, "Who is the holder of the proof? I need to verify your identity!"

"Are you kidding me?" The Paranoid raised an eyebrow, "When it was processed back then, it was certified by proof, not by people!"

Back then, he wasn’t sure if he would succeed in Breaking Through and had arranged corresponding tasks for Pierre.

—If he were to die, Pierre would have used the proof to renew for Mu Yu when nearing the end of his lifespan, depending on the situation.

Of course, Pierre betrayed him and didn’t get the proof, which was an unforeseen event.

In short, back then, the anonymous proof cost an additional sum.

Now, being asked to verify his identity left the Paranoid genuinely displeased.

However, the B-level Awakened remained unmoved and merely replied calmly, "The regulations have long since changed because there were incidents before."

"This is..." The Paranoid grumbled reluctantly, producing his identification proof.

He did have character flaws, but generally, he wouldn’t intentionally make things difficult for others.

However, the B-level Awakened didn’t take the document to check it; instead, he expressed indifferently, "We need to conduct a gene mapping test."

"Are you out of your mind?" The Paranoid seethed with anger, "Who authorized you to conduct a gene mapping test?"

He would never agree to a gene test, as the previous owner of this body was a wanted criminal in the empire.

Yet the B-level was not intimidated, still expressionless, "This rule was changed at the same time."

"If you wish to visit, you must undergo testing; otherwise, please leave!"

He verbally said "please leave," but the tone of his speech was more akin to outright expulsion.

"Dare expel me?" The Paranoid was infuriated, instantly releasing his Supreme aura, "Are you seeking death?"

The B-level felt the opponent’s pressure, and his expression changed drastically.

However, his mouth twitched twice, and he still braced himself to speak.

"Supreme one, this is not a place where you can act recklessly; please consider carefully!"

"Such audacity!" The Paranoid reached out, grabbing the other’s neck, lifting him directly.

(Updating to summon monthly tickets, subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)