Beneath the light cast by that Starry Giant Tree, Shi Jingyi had no idea how long she had been here.
After entering a meditative state, her spirit and consciousness quickly transcended her physical body, arriving in this wondrous space.
The Starry Giant Tree before her, she had dreamed of it many times before, but never had it felt as awe-inspiring as this encounter.
Countless fruits hung from its branches, stretching endlessly into the distance, like an ocean of fruit.
"...Little Tong guessed that each fruit represents an Authority, and among them, the ones shining brightly represent civilizations that created that Authority and still exist.
As for those that are dim and lusterless, they might mean the civilization that forged them has already perished somewhere in the universe..."
Shi Jingyi thought to herself, discovering that her gaze seemed able to pierce through layers of obstruction, leap across countless branches, and reach a dim fruit located in the crown of the tree.
In her dreams, she had seen this fruit several times before, feeling an invisible bond with it.
Could this be the Authority destined for her, the one she was fated to obtain?
Shi Jingyi fixed her gaze on that fruit, and gradually, a stirring sensation rose from the depths of her heart.
She saw her Mind Power fully substantialize, transforming into countless threads that pierced through the tree's trunk, winding around that fruit.
In an instant, a flood of bizarre images surged into Shi Jingyi's mind.
The beings in those images were not human, but rather... a special kind of intelligent existence.
Shi Jingyi couldn't describe them, because those beings were merely afterimages, afterimages performing various movements.
...It was martial arts!
Within just a few brief moments, she realized those afterimages' movements were related to martial arts.
Even more astonishing, even though those afterimages were clearly not human, some of the movements they made could evoke a certain resonance within her as a human.
Those martial arts afterimages, surpassing human comprehension, vastly expanded her understanding and perception of martial arts. She entered a state of continuous enlightenment almost in sheer ecstasy.
Without even realizing it herself, her body had already begun spontaneously learning those movements, growing closer and closer to the afterimages.
At first, her movements were very slow, but gradually they accelerated, faster and faster.
By the time she was four or five parts similar to those afterimages, that dim fruit in the tree crown, wrapped in her Mind Power threads, silently revealed a tiny point of light emerging from its center.
Like a candle gradually illuminating the darkness, the more proficient Shi Jingyi's movements became, the deeper her comprehension, the brighter the light on the fruit grew.
When she fully mastered those martial arts afterimages, perfectly reproduced them, and even integrated them with her own martial arts in practice, that fruit erupted with a dazzling burst of light!
Pop.
It swayed, detached from the giant tree, fell, and finally hovered before Shi Jingyi, who had stopped moving.
After a moment, Shi Jingyi emerged from her state of enlightenment and slowly opened her eyes.
Looking at the bright fruit floating before her, her gaze firm, she extended her right hand and grasped it.
The moment her palm touched the fruit, an even greater light exploded. The fruit melted within the radiance, transforming into droplets of golden liquid that merged into Shi Jingyi's body.
"Could that be... primal blood?"
Shi Jingyi recalled that Guan Tong had once mentioned to her that he had indirectly obtained his Authority through the Life-Hunting Demon's primal blood.
So then, this melted Authority Fruit, those droplets of golden liquid—wasn't this the most primitive primal blood?
Shi Jingyi had no time to dwell on it. Once those golden droplets fully merged into her body, a brand-new, special power surged forth from within her.
The sensation it brought was like being reborn, completely remade. She couldn't help but let out a mighty shout, the spreading sound waves seeming to shake even space itself.
Just as Shi Jingyi felt her understanding of the world and the universe deepening, the Fire Thief's voice arrived unannounced.
[You have awakened a dormant Authority, and that Authority's primal blood has fused with you.]
[You have obtained the Heavenly Martial Civilization's Authority: Chaos Return to Origin.]
So, that golden liquid really was the primal blood Little Tong mentioned...
Shi Jingyi listened to the Fire Thief's voice and silently opened her Terminal Panel.
A new "Authority" function had been added to the panel.
She opened it to view the details of the Authority she had obtained.
[Authority: Chaos Return to Origin]
[Effect: Can obtain the martial arts inheritance of the Heavenly Martial Civilization, and can convert cosmic chaotic matter into pure energy for self-absorption through Mind Power as a medium, breaking through the limits of the physical body.]
[Cost: The absorbed cosmic energy requires continuous purification and rejection of impurities, otherwise it will pollute the source essence. Polluted source essence will attract the attention of the Demon Race, bringing danger.]
[The Heavenly Martial Civilization viewed the body as a universe, and cultivating the body was cultivating heaven-earth. At the height of that civilization, powerful individuals could traverse the cosmos with their physical bodies alone, cross the chaos, and subdue the stars.]
.....
"We would like to lease a passage and can pay the full amount upfront. However, we hope to build the passage at a designated location and at a fixed time. We wonder if the Administrator would be open to this cooperation?"
Guan Tong looked at the private message sent by Suroma's official account on his tablet, finding it amusing.
Fixed time and designated location—the trap implied by these two conditions together was far too obvious.
He wasn't surprised. Based on his understanding of Bruce, the latter was surely desperate to know how the "Administrator" produced his anchor items.
But even if it was a trap, he still wanted these Ascension Coins.
As for whether the passage would actually be built after taking the coins, that was a different matter.
After all, he wouldn't feel a shred of guilt about swindling the Suroma government under Bruce's control.
Besides Suroma's government, officials from other nations had also sent him private messages, inquiring about cooperation details.
Guan Tong replied to every single one.
He had originally assumed most inquirers would back off after seeing the quote. After all, for now, establishing stable space passages wasn't worth that much.
Its true value wouldn't be realized until humanity ventured into space exploration; at present, the vast majority of humans still lived on Tianshui Star.
Even if they wanted to buy, only a few major nations should be interested.
But it turned out he had completely misjudged.
Beixing and Xisiya, after inquiring, didn't immediately say they'd purchase—they only said they'd study it further before making a decision.
Clearly, these two nations' governments didn't want to waste the opportunity easily. Even if they were to buy a passage, they'd need to finalize the construction location first.
However, the governments of the three smaller nations—Manchidon, Namelica, and Heilanja—immediately expressed their intention to place orders.
This left Guan Tong scratching his head at first, until he saw the construction locations those three governments proposed.
All three smaller nations demanded the same thing: one end of the passage built at their own capital, the other end at Beixing's Pinglu.
...It was only then that Guan Tong understood. These smaller nations were so enthusiastic because their decision-makers wanted to quickly establish a passage for escaping and running for their lives in critical moments.
Guan Tong guessed this was inspired by the lesson of Hanlis Nation, which had been destroyed in the earlier [Green Hell] Rule.
Hanlis Nation had fallen and been annihilated overnight. The speed was so fast that many decision-makers hadn't managed to escape in time. This undoubtedly terrified the decision-makers of the other smaller nations.
They surely figured that when facing natural disaster Rules they couldn't handle, rather than staying in their own country, running to Beixing would be safer.
But if they left early, they'd lose control of their nation—a real dilemma.
However, if there were a passage that could quickly take them from their country, or even ideally from their own homes, to Beixing, then they could have their cake and eat it too.
When there's no danger, stay in your own country and maintain control. When facing a Rule or disaster you can't handle, immediately use the spatial folding passage to jump to Beixing, use official identity to obtain Beixing's officials' protection... perfectly flawless.
It was worth noting that this kind of spatial folding passage was far more useful than teleportation-type items. In critical moments, you could bring your whole family, even many trusted subordinates along, without ending up completely alone in a foreign land.
This made Guan Tong somewhat sympathetic to the citizens of those three smaller nations.
The decision-makers squeezed Ascension Coins from their people, yet instead of benefiting the masses, they unblinkingly handed over eight million to buy a rapid escape passage for themselves.
Guan Tong sighed inwardly, but that was human nature, nothing to say about it. He'd still earn this money.
Because eight million Ascension Coins in his hands were worth far more than in theirs.
To the construction dates those smaller nations' governments asked about, Guan Tong uniformly replied that construction would be completed during the Interval Period after this current Rule ended.
After replying, Guan Tong looked at the private message Zhang Minglu had sent earlier.
The content was asking about Shi Jingyi's condition and inquiring whether she had any intention of taking the position of academy Dean.
Guan Tong's reply was: "Shi Jingyi is still in secluded meditation. She'll answer once she comes out."
Whether to be Dean or not, Shi Jingyi had to choose for herself—he couldn't decide for her.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Guan Tong suddenly turned his head toward the shelter behind him.
Just now, for an instant, he felt an extremely powerful burst of Mind Power erupting from within the shelter!
He shot to his feet.
Could it be...
The next moment, Shi Jingyi appeared on the second-floor balcony, smiling and waving at him.
"I've come out of seclusion, Little Tong."