Chapter 126: I've Grown Stronger
"An invitation to the Martial Edict's Second Phase Project Compilation Conference?" Bai Mo took the gilded VIP invitation from Chen Xi's hand. "A bunch of old geezers—no, can't call them old geezers anymore—a bunch of middle-aged men are still obsessed with becoming patriarchs and founders."
"Chen Xi, here's what you tell them: if they're going to do it, do it big. Let's throw in a national martial arts tournament. I'll put up a million Contribution Points to sponsor it; it's not like these things are much use just sitting around."
"If it's no use, you can give it to me! Ever since you shut down all methods of directly exchanging cash for Contribution Points from the system, they've become quite hard to come by."
"Pick a number between one and nine."
"What do you mean?"
"Just pick."
"Then... I'll pick three. What are you going to do?"
"I'll try hitting zeros with my eyes closed." Bai Mo pressed a three, then poked a few more times with his eyes shut.
"See, it's all a lie. There's no difference between closing your eyes and keeping them open. In the end, it's still the number you intended to press." He transferred thirty thousand Contribution Points to Chen Xi, then continued, "And help me bring over two hundred grams of Puluo Gǎn."
"You ask too many questions. People with heavy curiosity, if they don't possess a commensurate strength, usually don't live long."
"One gram of Puluo Gǎn is enough to deal with me; two hundred grams... I hope the research institute has enough in stock. I really don't know what he needs so much specialized anesthetic for." Chen Xi calculated as she turned to leave. "If you have the dangerous drug exchange qualification, one gram of Puluo Gǎn is fifty Contribution Points. He's really generous to give out that amount."
"Total prize money: a staggering one million Contribution Points!" Huaxia never lacked for major headlines. A few days after the commotion surrounding the Xuanhuang Fruit incident subsided, an even more explosive piece of news appeared in the public eye: before the Martial Edict's Second Phase Compilation Conference commenced, a martial arts tournament, sponsored by an anonymous grand patron, would be held.
"This competition will not distinguish by nationality or style. The only caveat: fists and feet have no eyes, and participants are responsible for their own lives and deaths! Rewards will be distributed starting from the top 32, with five thousand points, up to two hundred thousand Contribution Points for the first-place winner."
As soon as the news broke, countless hidden experts, both within Huaxia and abroad, began to eagerly prepare.
According to its nominal value, two hundred thousand Contribution Points were originally worth about twenty million; however, ever since the Xuanhuang Fruit exchange incident, all major families and organizations had begun to value Contribution Points even more. Yet, with only ten points gifted per person monthly, the supply of Contribution Points remained severely insufficient.
As part of the arrangement, all sources of issuance were firmly in Bai Mo's hands, and he was simultaneously tied to the entire Huaxia leadership.
The various leaders also tacitly consented to Bai Mo's exclusive right to this immense profit, for they currently could not find another individual as powerful as him, yet utterly devoid of desire for power, to provide such a potent backing.
Possessing most of the system's core authority, he issued a large number of missions to collect specimens of wild mutated flora and fauna, aiming to offset the currently enormous trade surplus of Contribution Points.
"What are you scheming now?" After receiving the news, Liu Zhen called Bai Mo.
"Nothing much. Just dropping a depth charge to see how many hidden dragons surface, that's all. Don't you also want to know more about the current situation of ability users both at home and abroad? The 'silver bullet' tactic works quite well."
Liu Zhen was speechless.
Ten days later.
"This is the sixth transplant surgery. It should complete the entire Dongtian Kongxuan. The success rate of a single transplant still can't compare to that incredibly lucky brat's. A Spirit Picture composed of twelve Spirit Hubs, five surgeries done, and just one more to go."
After administering the anesthetic, Bai Mo skillfully performed the transplant surgery on himself, controlling the scalpel with his psionic power. Just as he was about to complete the final step, a premonition suddenly arose in his mind: after a Spirit Picture was completed, an additional, special ability ought to manifest.
The instant the final Spirit Hub integrated into his body, it was like the last piece of a puzzle snapping into place, a sense of absolute completion. It was also like both ends of a long tunnel suddenly being bored through; the Spirit Energy, which had previously flowed sluggishly through his body, abruptly began to surge within him.
The surrounding Spirit Qi began to desperately rush towards him. Upon detecting the anomaly on the second basement level, the central computer-controlled ventilation system cranked its power to maximum, yet it still couldn't satisfy his demand for Spirit Qi and energy.
The ambient temperature also continuously dropped, but the meager heat energy absorbed was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket. Feeling every cell in his body screaming "hunger," Bai Mo teleported directly to the Spirit Stone storage warehouse at the testing ground. With extravagant abandon, he used his rampant psionic power to crush tons of Spirit Stones, greedily absorbing the Spirit Qi within.
Simultaneously, everyone in the base—whether it was Chen Xi reading in the lounge, the vampires training on the first basement level, or even the soldiers guarding the base's perimeter—felt a moment of spiritual etherealness. They instinctively looked towards the warehouse, towards the man floating in mid-air, gazing down at them like a deity.
Regardless of any obstructions before them, that figure seemed to appear directly in everyone's eyes. That profound sense of detached solitude lingered in the hearts of all who witnessed it.
With such a massive event unfolding, the testing ground's alarms had long been blaring incessantly. However, because everyone within the facility was utterly awestruck by the man who radiated endless Spirit Energy light like a sun, no matter how anxiously people shouted into their walkie-talkies, those who had lost their composure simply couldn't react.
After completely reining in his light and aura, Bai Mo descended back to the ground. Only then did the people inside the testing ground begin to regain their senses. Not a single word was spoken as they quietly savored the insights gained from their brief immersion in that ethereal state.
It wasn't until ten minutes later, when large numbers of rapid response troops, urgently mobilized from the surrounding areas, surrounded the entire base, that everyone began to fully recover.
"Mr. Bai, what happened here?" The military commander, whose troops surrounded the base, recognized Bai Mo, the de facto head of this testing ground.
"I became stronger."
"You mean, the alarms earlier were all caused by your breakthrough?" The commander showed ample respect to this powerhouse whose actual influence in Huaxia was currently soaring like the midday sun.
"Yes, my apologies." Since the other party treated him with courtesy, Bai Mo reciprocated, giving a slight nod.
"False alarm, stand down!" he shouted to the hundreds of temporarily assembled subordinates behind him.
"Thank you." After Bai Mo turned and teleported away, his afterimage slowly faded into the air...
In front of his many subordinates, the commander feigned nonchalance as he re-entered the jeep. It wasn't until he was inside that he finally relaxed, gently wiping the sweat from his forehead. The pressure of meeting those eyes, even for just ten brief seconds, had been overwhelming.
"Dongtian Kongxuan... It wasn't in vain that I painstakingly selected from hundreds of Spirit Hubs and spent vast amounts of time combining them into this Spirit Picture. To think that an additional ability like this would emerge..." Bai Mo's body suddenly radiated an endless white light.
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