Chapter 779: The Land of White
"Warmest welcome to the 80th class of new students at Land of White Academy."
Dressed in a casual suit and carrying only a single bag of luggage, Lan Chenji looked up at the banner hanging over the gatehouse of the Land of White Academy directly in front of him, feeling as if an eternity had passed.
Ever since he learned of his exceptional cultivation aptitude and discovered that, besides the Land of White, there existed a vastly different power called the Divine Terra Empire, he had sworn to himself that he would one day come to this place.
Thus, he spent ten years accumulating enough Contribution Points to apply for departure from the Land of White, then unhesitatingly left that world, which severely lacked challenge and excitement.
Cultivators and spiritual materials also emerged in the Land of White, but the distribution of these materials was incredibly mechanical. It didn't prioritize anyone based on talent; everyone could equally exchange them for Contribution Points with the system, on a first-come, first-served basis.
As for Contribution Points, Holy Progenitors could generally only acquire them by completing missions, aside from their basic monthly allowance.
...
"The Empire isn't like this, you know. Since I'm an excellent student, why shouldn't I receive more resources?"
Lan Chenji still remembered the prices offered by interviewers from several major organizations within the Terra Empire four years ago, when he submitted his immigration application in the embassy district, all vying to recruit him.
Even the lowest-offering secondary force presented an annual salary that amounted to ten times his current purchasing power.
Naturally, he ultimately chose Yuxiaotian, a superpower noble enough to be one of the seven great Electors, because they were the most extravagantly wealthy, immediately slapping him with a thirty-fold annual salary.
According to the agreement, before Lan Chenji officially became a citizen of the Empire and a member of the Yuxiaotian organization upon his arrival, he needed to study for a year at the Land of White Academy within the Mortal Star System, serving as a transitional period to adapt to his new life.
Bai Yu was the Empire's official designation for the Land of White, and the Land of White Academy was naturally the academy for those who had originally lived in the Land of White but chose to immigrate to the Empire.
On the Mortal Star System, there were over twenty similar institutions, and Land of White Academy was just their collective name.
Both the Empire and the Land of White used a common language, so language was not an issue. The main challenge lay in the vast differences in living habits and social systems; through this year of study, new immigrants would gradually adapt to their new lives.
Lan Chenji still didn't understand why the system didn't hinder the Empire's major forces from interviewing and recruiting in the embassy district, poaching talent. He had even seen corresponding promotional materials on the internal network.
To his knowledge, millions of people with cultivation aptitude were attracted each year, frantically completing missions to accumulate enough Contribution Points to 'redeem themselves,' relinquish their status in the Land of White, and become citizens of the Empire.
Of course, compared to the total number of over five hundred billion Holy Progenitors, this was insignificant.
Equally puzzled were the numerous forces from under the Empire's jurisdiction who came to recruit.
In the Land of White, there was an "embassy district" belonging to the Empire, where thousands of organizations confident in their own strength had stationed recruitment representatives.
Initially, a few individuals had tried to reach favorable agreements with certain cultivation geniuses within the Land of White, persuading them to immigrate.
They had originally thought that their clandestine talent-poaching would be immediately stopped by the system upon discovery. Who knew that not only did the system not interfere, it even offered to assist them by running paid advertisements.
As long as a substantial sum of Contribution Points was paid, the Land of White's internal network could also broadcast their advertisements.
Over time, this "embassy district" transformed into an unimaginably vast super-recruitment plaza, from which millions of Holy Progenitors intending to immigrate departed each year, boarding ultra-high-speed spacecraft bound for the Empire.
After decades of flight, the Divine Terra Empire's main fleet had already traveled over a light-year away from the Sun.
However, the flight speed of a fleet composed of thousands of warships was far slower than that of small teams consisting of a few high-speed spacecraft. Therefore, it wasn't difficult for the immigrants' ships to catch up.
...
Walking into the Land of White Academy alongside Lan Chenji was another rather special individual.
Unlike the other students, who were laden with bags and beaming with anticipation, this person seemed to have "sleeves fluttering in the breeze," an expression of serene indifference on his face, as he leisurely strolled through the Land of White Academy.
"Sir, my master requests your presence." Unfortunately, he hadn't wandered for long before a hovercar pulled up beside him.
From inside the car emerged a woman who looked like a butler.
She wasn't alluring in appearance, her face rather square, but she exuded an air of diligence.
The young man nodded faintly, said nothing more, and followed the direction of the butler's right hand into the vehicle, leaving behind a trail of envious gazes.
Inside the car, it was as if another world existed: a colossal palace stood within, wreathed in mist, resembling a heavenly abode.
"Earth-tier Spirit Treasure?" the young man asked after a quick glance around the interior of the car.
"Replying to sir, yes, it is an Earth-tier Spirit Treasure, the Dutiansuo."
The butler was also somewhat perplexed that her master would command the deployment of the Earth-tier Spirit Treasure, the Dutiansuo—capable of carrying an entire legion and comparable to a Small-Thousand Flagship—just to pick up such an seemingly ordinary young man.
There was no further conversation between the two.
...
The Dutiansuo, appearing as a hovercar from the outside, left the Mortal Star System in less than ten minutes, arriving inside a certain noble flagship.
"Welcome to my domain, Bai Mo." A faceless girl greeted him with a rather joyful tone.
"It's been almost sixty years since we last met." Bai Mo, still in his youthful appearance, floated onto the lawn outside the palace after stepping out of the hovercar.
The palace within the flagship bore a design style very similar to the one inside the Dutiansuo, both typical of the Manghuang Realm's characteristics: rugged and grand.
The faceless girl was none other than Xu Xuanling, a One-Tribulation True Immortal of the Empire, a woman who stood at the apex of the Empire's hierarchy.
"Sixty years have passed since we parted, and you've drawn a few steps closer to becoming a True Sun Star Lord."
Although only a projection avatar of Bai Mo had arrived, Xu Xuanling could still discern that he was continuously growing stronger, yet he was still a slight distance from the True Sun Star Lord realm described years ago.
"Aren't you going to undergo your Second Tribulation?"
"I'm not one of those tribulation-obsessed maniacs who dare to assault the Second Tribulation just twenty or thirty years after ascending to immortality. Unless I spend a few hundred years refining everything to the point where no further progress is possible, I won't gamble."
"One stage of Celestial Immortal, one stage of Human Immortal, still three paths short."
...
"In these sixty years, the Empire has only gained one more Immortal. Currently, there are a total of twenty-five True Immortals: five at Two-Tribulation, and twenty at One-Tribulation. All of them plan to project themselves into the spatial layer where the Zerg Mother resides."
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