Insufficient Permissions, Learning Never Ends!

Xu Kun had no idea about the reply Qian Manlou received when he reported to his superiors after Xu Kun left.

At this moment, following Qian Manlou's instructions, he eagerly made his way to the eighth floor of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion!

"Beep, B-rank permission!"

Following the directions, Xu Kun wandered through the empty Myriad Treasures Pavilion for quite some time before finally arriving at the so-called eighth floor. After inserting his exclusive gold card into the door, the high-tech doors slowly opened!

"Beep, a B-rank permission holder has been detected entering the human race database for the first time. Would you like to bind your identity?"

Xu Kun froze for a moment, but understood the next instant!

The B-rank permission he currently possessed was not due to his own status. Rather, Qian Manlou had directly granted it to the unregistered gold card in his hand through his own higher-level authority!

Anyone holding this gold card could use B-rank permission, but the person using it was not necessarily the B-rank permission holder!

In other words, it was the card that possessed B-rank permission, not Xu Kun himself!

Hao Jian had mentioned before, during one of their casual chats, that when descendants of many great families went out, doting elders would give them high-permission cards to prevent them from encountering unnecessary trouble in daily life due to permission issues!

Xu Kun's card was naturally the same. Anyone who used it could directly wield the authority granted by the card!

However, if someone used the card without the owner's consent through theft, fraud, or other means, once Xu Kun filed a lawsuit, the human race had a complete legal system in place. After the source of the gold card was verified, those Outlaws would be brought to justice, with the maximum sentence being death!

During that chat, Xu Kun had also asked one extra question: "Did Second Dad and Second Mom give you their permission cards?"

He only remembered Hao Jian mumbling, "They only gave me a C-rank supplementary card, and I can only use one million credits from it each year!"

Xu Kun rolled his eyes when he heard that and sternly refused Hao Jian's suggestion that he accompany him to act cute in front of his parents. Hao Jian had said that, given how much his parents adored Xu Kun, they would definitely take out the primary card for the two of them to use!

"Beep, identity binding will help the permission holder exercise the corresponding authority in real life. The database will conceal the permission holder's identity. Only those of a higher rank will have the authority to query the identity of a permission holder!"

The database issued another reminder.

Xu Kun thought about it. Originally, he had not intended to bind this B-rank permission card, because once he did, those with higher permissions than his would be able to notice his information through the card!

If he merely held the card without binding it, others would only assume that he was a favored descendant of some great family who had been granted a B-rank permission card at such a young age!

But now that he thought about it, there seemed to be no need to hide anything!

Qian Manlou had given him gifts, offered him discounts, and finally provided B-rank permission at such an "appropriate" time!

Was it really because of those D- and E-rank Blood Devouring Ant Race materials he had sold?

With the shrewdness of such a great merchant, Xu Kun felt that it would be foolish for Qian Manlou not to have guessed his identity!

The vast China Trading District had been completely deserted today. The very moment Xu Kun arrived, Qian Manlou, the master of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, had suddenly appeared and helped him solve so many problems!

Could he really not have been waiting for him?

Of course, neither of them openly addressed this point that they both understood. Xu Kun naturally understood Qian Manlou's probing intentions, while Qian Manlou also understood that Xu Kun did not want to attract too much attention!

They could not exactly be said to have hidden agendas, but after getting along, they had become like respectful brothers who regretted not meeting sooner!

Xu Kun guessed that the China Trading District's sudden emptiness today, along with the closure of its shops, had likely been ordered by Qian Manlou, the master of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion!

After all, someone who could casually grant him B-rank permission probably possessed authority beyond A-rank. At the very least, Qian Manlou had to be S-rank or above!

Only someone with that level of authority was qualified to control the entire trading district's direction!

Xu Kun had already imagined things as grandly as possible, yet he did not know that Qian Manlou was merely a pawn, and someone else had arranged all of this!

"If I were merely holding this card, then even if someone became curious about its origin, according to the rules stated in the instructions, no one could investigate where it came from unless the highest level exercised its authority!"

"But once I bind my identity information, A-rank permission holders will be qualified to discover that I bound this card!"

"Still, there is a difference between the treatment given to a cardholder and an actual B-rank permission holder. Using B-rank permission will earn one courtesy, while having one's identity directly bound to B-rank permission will make ordinary people feel awe!"

"Moreover, the only person in Jiangnan Base City with A-rank permission is the city's chief commander. Thinking about it that way, even if I bind my identity information, no one in Jiangnan Base City will have the authority to investigate me!"

"As for Brother Qian, he has already gone this far, so there's no need for me to keep hiding things from him. If he truly wanted to investigate, then with his status, requesting the highest level to exercise its authority would not be troublesome!"

After thinking it through, Xu Kun felt much more at ease. Living on Blue Star, possessing higher-level authority could spare one a great deal of trouble and allow one to enjoy more benefits provided by the human race. Correspondingly, one also had to be ready at all times to contribute to the human race and obey the deployment of the higher-ups!

"Then bind it!"

"Next, iris recognition and fingerprint verification will be conducted. Please enter your personal information, permission holder!"

"Name: Xu Kun!"

"Household registration: Tongcheng District, Jiangnan Base City..."

"Identity number: 3304..."

"Information entry complete. Iris and fingerprint verification successful. Identity binding will now proceed!"

"Executing A-rank permission. Entering Xu Kun's identity information into the records!"

"Binding in progress. Please wait..."

A progress bar then appeared before Xu Kun. B-rank permission covered a wide range of areas. In the future, Xu Kun would be entitled to the corresponding rights anywhere within human territory. Those with lower authority than him would even have to unconditionally obey his deployment and arrangements during wartime!

Within the human race, this was already a complete system!

Yet Xu Kun waited for a long time without seeing the progress bar fill up. Just as he was growing puzzled, the database's prompt sounded again.

"Beep, insufficient permissions. Unable to enter records. Please proceed to the relevant department and find a higher-permission holder to perform the operation..."

"What the hell?" Xu Kun's eyes widened.

The database had just used A-grade authorization. He was only binding his identity, so why was it saying his authorization was insufficient?

It's not broken, is it...? Xu Kun muttered inwardly.

"Insufficient authorization. A B-grade Gold Card cannot be bound to identity information. Xu Kun, please proceed to the relevant department window as soon as possible to submit your documents for identity verification!"

"Got it!" Xu Kun waved his hand speechlessly. What era was this? They had turned artificial intelligence into artificial stupidity!

"Fine, let's leave it at that!"

All that mental preparation had been for nothing. Naturally, Xu Kun had never encountered something like this before!

But even if he had never eaten pork, hadn't he at least seen a pig run?

What insufficient authorization? He had not even bound this card yet!

Besides, technically, he had not even graduated high school. Only after safely getting through the seven-day beginner trial period and handing the metal wristband on his hand over to the school would he have completed his graduation assessment and been granted an F-grade authorization identity!

"They can turn even a nobody into someone with insufficient authorization. Anyone who didn't know better would think my own authorization was SSS-tier!" Xu Kun mocked himself.

The database did not respond, and Xu Kun could not be bothered to dwell on it any longer.

Time waited for no one. What stood before him now was a massive database built from the accumulated knowledge of the entire human race over several centuries!

The information accessible with B-grade authorization was already enough for him to learn endlessly from!

The beginner trial was merely a starting point, but humanity had poured more than a decade of effort into foundational education for that very starting point. It took ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person. Xu Kun had studied for eleven years, yet he had only learned the bare surface!

After leaving the tower and handing over his metal wristband, he would truly have completed his graduation assessment. Next, he still had to enter a higher academy for further study. It was said that only there could one learn the core knowledge of humanity!

"Hehe, I don't even need to wait until I enter an academy. I can start learning ahead of everyone else. And even at an academy, aside from having experienced professors to answer questions and clear up doubts, the actual level of knowledge you can learn there still can't compare to the information I can access with my B-grade authorization!"

"Grind. I'll grind you all into the ground. My academic grades had already ranked first in the school before high school. Now that I'm studying ahead of everyone else, I refuse to believe anyone will have learned more than me after entering an academy!"

With that thought, Xu Kun said to the space before him, "Database, are there any supporting materials for people who have graduated high school and are about to enter an academy?"

"Beep. Request received. Relevant supporting materials are now being compiled according to your request!"

This time, the database did not cause any more trouble and quickly delivered what Xu Kun needed.

Several books transformed into streaks of light and appeared before Xu Kun.

"Based on your request, the following study materials have been compiled!"

"Modern History of Humanity: A Hundred Years"

"Haotian Pagoda Floors 2–10 Strategy Guide"

"One Hundred Thousand Whys About Low-Tier Races"

"The Secrets Between Me, the Forging Uncle, the Herb-Picking Grandpa, and the Shop Auntie"

"Myriad Races Battlefield Beginner's Guide"

There were dozens of books in total. As Xu Kun looked at some of the titles filled with mischievous humor, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Beep. Based on your needs, this database can also provide practical combat simulations. It can simulate battles against bosses below Level 100 with talents up to B-grade!"

"That considerate?" Xu Kun said in surprise.

He then opened the practical combat simulation function before him and discovered that the database could generate matching environments and terrain based on the target race, create attribute data for racial monsters, analyze their strengths and weaknesses according to each race's characteristics, and offer the most effective corresponding solutions!

"As expected of a database created from the wisdom humanity had gathered over several centuries. This is really comprehensive!"

The database could not only generate information on targets, but also allow him to adapt in advance to equipment and skills of certain levels...

This greatly reduced the danger involved in climbing the Haotian Pagoda!

"I'll read first. There's no rush for practical training. Besides, this data is all too common. With my B-grade authorization, I still can't generate the attributes of high-talent racial monsters at the same level. And bosses at the same level as Senior Ling Feng are even more impossible to simulate in practical training. This is useful to me personally, but not particularly useful!"

In truth, this was the same for everyone with their own unique traits. After all, everyone's growth potential was different. The attribute panels, skill templates, and equipment templates generated in this way were far too rigid and could only be used as references!

"Modern History of Humanity: A Hundred Years" recounted the century-long history beginning from the end of the Martial Zenith Era, founded by the Douzhan Martial Saint two hundred years ago, through the emergence of the Heavenly Eye and humanity's first entry into the Myriad Races Sequence!

These things had been mentioned in textbooks before high school, but most of them had only been touched on briefly without any in-depth analysis!

For students before high school, whose values had yet to take shape, explaining overly realistic matters would instead breed resistance in them. The material mostly depicted a flourishing age, portrayed the ugly faces of the myriad races, embellished humanity's bitter journey over the past century, and lavishly praised the highest echelons of humanity led by the Heavenly Eye!

Yet in this "Modern History of Humanity: A Hundred Years," the perspective was far more objective, favoring neither side. It particularly emphasized the pressure the myriad races had placed upon humanity—something not mentioned in high school textbooks—which had forced humanity into constant compromise and struggle!

Only by taking one step at a time through a mire of mud had humanity gradually found its footing. The price paid in the process was naturally grievous. Even the era's founders led by the Heavenly Eye had not been viewed favorably by humanity at the time!

As Xu Kun read on, he became engrossed without realizing it. The language was concise, but only after immersing himself in it did he understand what it meant to turn the mundane into the miraculous!

When the Heavenly Eye represented humanity in negotiations with the myriad races and ultimately allowed humanity to enter the Myriad Races Sequence for the first time as an affiliate of the Black Tortoise Race, it had absolutely not been a peaceful process!

During that period, the corruption of humanity's upper ranks at the end of the Martial Zenith Era had been depicted to the bone, while the ugliness of human nature had been rendered with piercing clarity. In such an era, as the first person to open his eyes to the world, how heavy must the burden on the Heavenly Eye's shoulders have been!

War. Cruelty. Facing the gap between humanity and the myriad races, they made up for it step by step, only to be suppressed again step by step...

The lives lost during that time numbered far more than tens of millions!

"In the thirtieth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye, after enduring centuries of war, humanity finally entered the Myriad Races Sequence for the first time, becoming the lowest-ranked existence within it!"

"In the fiftieth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye, under the efforts of generations of humans, humanity's overall strength steadily rose, and it entered the top ten thousand of the Myriad Races Sequence for the first time!"

The Myriad Races Sequence was said to encompass all races, but on Blue Star, whether they had descended from beyond the heavens back then or emerged through the evolution, merger, and birth of native species, the number of races was counted in the millions. Of course, the most numerous were still the low-tier Tier-F and Tier-E races. After several centuries of survival of the fittest, a large portion of these races had become part of the Haotian Pagoda over the course of hundreds of great purges!

But a decrease in the number of races did not mean it was easy to enter the top ten thousand of the Myriad Races Sequence!

In the fiftieth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye, the race ranked ten-thousandth in the Myriad Races Sequence was still a Tier-C Race. Humanity had replaced that race's position, successfully advancing into a Tier-C Race and earning a place on the list!

"The seventieth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye..."

"The eighty-eighth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye..."

Every major event that marked historic progress had been recorded one by one, and the written accounts described humanity's rapid growth over the past century.

"In the ninety-ninth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye, after nearly a century of hard work, humanity raised its sequence number to 1098th! Officially earning the title of a Tier-B Race!"

"So humanity is now qualified to be a Tier-B Race!" Xu Kun exclaimed. The ninety-ninth year of the Era of the Heavenly Eye had been last year!

In order to attain a higher sequence number, humanity had spared no effort in deploying a massive force to the Myriad Races Battlefield, clashing head-on with six Tier-B Race legions!

One of those Tier-B Races had even previously been friendly with humanity. Yet now, because humanity's ever-rising sequence number threatened that race's original Sequence Ranking, a large-scale war had broken out!

Humanity had made its name through that battle. The top thousand of the Sequence Ranking was now within reach!

The top thousand ranks were occupied entirely by established Tier-B Races. Not only did these races possess high individual talent, but their populations were also substantial. Beyond the thousandth rank, however, in the range where humanity stood, Tier-B and Tier-C Races were mixed together!

The Tier-B Races in this range generally lacked deep foundations, though they had the advantage of being stable. For example, the six Tier-B Race legions humanity had confronted head-on all hovered beyond the thousandth rank. Taking another step forward was extremely difficult!

As for the Tier-C Races in this range, though their racial talents were a level weaker, Tier-C Races of this caliber were undoubtedly among the best of their kind. More importantly, they had huge populations!

Xu Kun casually looked through several races and found information on these Tier-C Races in "One Hundred Thousand Whys of Low-Tier Races." The populations of these established Tier-C Races were dozens, even hundreds or thousands of times larger than humanity's!

"It isn't easy. As the saying goes, enough ants can bite an elephant to death. Humanity's population is naturally much greater than that of the Three Saint Races and Seven Royal Races, but compared to races that reproduce so quickly to begin with, it is completely disproportionate. Even if every human had Tier-B talent, one person facing over a hundred opponents of the same level with Tier-C talent would have no chance of winning!"

Humanity was stuck in such an awkward position. In terms of numbers, those races with low-tier talents vastly outnumbered humanity!

In terms of top-level powerhouses, humanity could not compare with powerful races like the Three Saint Races and Seven Royal Races, where S-tier talents were everywhere and A-tier talents were as common as dogs!

It was said that the Three Saint Races produced SSS-tier Talented Individuals every year. After all these years, just how deep were their foundations?

If these races did not find reproduction so difficult and have such small populations, occupying all of Blue Star would have been effortless!

Yet even with their small populations, relying on the overwhelming strength of their upper echelons, they still occupied the regions of Blue Star with the best resources. Other low-tier races survived by attaching themselves to them, becoming their vanguard!

The final page of "A Hundred Years of Modern Human History" left behind a suspenseful question.

"An analysis of humanity's chances of breaking its shackles and entering the top thousand of the Myriad Races Sequence!"

"The first hypothesis: at the millennium mark of the Haotian Pagoda's descent foretold in the Heavenly Eye Oracle, humanity will give birth to a leader far surpassing the Lords of the Era from every previous age. Under this person's leadership, humanity will create new glory!"

"The second hypothesis: humanity, with unyielding conviction, will challenge an established Tier-B Race. Only by pulling down one of the established Tier-B Races ranked within the top thousand can humanity possibly take that race's place!"

"Analysis chart of the strength of several established Tier-B Races at the bottom of the top thousand in the Sequence Ranking..."