Three Divisions?

Leaping down from the Mecha, Li Qingshan met Ren Han's dazed eyes and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Commander Ren, what's wrong?"

"I..."

Ren Han hesitated, took a deep breath, and turned a thousand words into a single question.

"You've already reached the ninth layer of completion?"

"Of course."

Li Qingshan nodded, thought for a moment, and added, "I said before, it would be a bit faster."

"A bit?!"

Ren Han's face quickly turned red, and he didn't know where to start complaining.

He spent sixteen months on the eighth layer, and only three months to "practice" the ninth layer?

A bit?

More like a whole lot!

Moreover, the Cultivation Method clearly emphasized time and again that the difficulty of the ninth layer skyrockets, requiring patience and years of arduous cultivation!

Is this reasonable?

However, looking at Li Qingshan's matter-of-fact appearance, Ren Han could only swallow back his complaints.

His gaze fell on Xi Na, who had already stowed away her Mecha and was flying over, and he couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "She actually let you ride?"

"Ahem!"

Li Qingshan quickly interrupted, earnestly correcting, "It's 'hitch a ride'!"

Originally, he had planned to fly himself, but Xi Na repeatedly invited him, and he couldn't refuse her kindness.

"Ren, if you talk nonsense again, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

Xi Na snapped, her gaze landing on Li Qingshan, and instantly her face blossomed into a smile.

"How was it? My skills aren't just bragging, right?"

"It's modification skills."

Li Qingshan felt his hair stand on end and shook his head helplessly.

"Commander Xina, just say what you want!"

Not only did she volunteer to lead the way to Fortress 13, but she even took the initiative to let him "hitch a ride" in her Mecha. How could she not want something?

"Straightforward!"

Xi Na's eyes lit up, and she said quickly, "You still have 50 million merit points on your account. According to the military's rules, you can exchange them for Azure Dragon Coins when you leave the fortress, at a ratio of 1 to 100, which is a full 5 billion..."

"Xi Na!"

Ren Han's eyes widened, interrupting, "I was wondering why you changed your personality. So you were waiting here!"

"Don't make it sound so bad!"

Xi Na smiled sheepishly, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I don't want it all... No, I don't want it!"

"The Logistics Department is urging me, I just want to borrow a few billion to tide me over."

"A few billion?" Ren Han's eyes widened even more.

"A Star Fragment's starting bid is exactly 5 billion..."

"Wait!"

Li Qingshan interrupted, looking at the 5 billion Azure Dragon Coins that had already been exchanged on the wrist screen, with a strange expression.

"Commander Ren, is the starting bid for Star Fragments really 5 billion?"

"That's right, most common Star Fragments are priced at that!"

Ren Han nodded, reminding him, "Xi Na is being chased by the Logistics Department every day. If you lend it to her, it's not exactly like throwing meat buns to a dog, but you definitely won't be getting it back anytime soon."

"Ren, you're going too far!"

Xi Na's face flushed red, both ashamed and anxious.

"Commander Xina, are you really short on money?"

The voice of inquiry suddenly rang out, and Xi Na's eyes lit up as she nodded vigorously.

"Not lending!"

The light in her eyes abruptly died out, and the smile froze on her face.

Just then, Swish!

A notification sound, like coins dropping,

Arrival +5,000,000,000

"One, ten, hundred, thousand... five billion!"

Xi Na instantly jumped up, excitedly saying:

"You're lending me five billion?"

Li Qingshan gently shook his head, seriously saying:

"It's not a loan, it's a transaction."

"Huh?!!!"

Xi Na's face flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and she said with extreme coyness:

"It's not like it can't be done..."

"It's a transaction about a starship!!!"

Li Qingshan's expression darkened, and he quickly said:

"Five billion to you, no matter how much you earn, help me modify a starship that's reliable enough and fast enough!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a stream of light, shooting towards the Ninth Grade Thunder Pool hundreds of millions of miles away.

Xi Na's face turned from red to white, and she awkwardly curled her toes.

However, when her gaze swept over the long string of numbers on the light screen, she instantly glowed with happiness.

"Hahaha, I've always said, technology is priceless!"

She gave a smug smile and hurriedly flew towards the fortress.

On the spot, Ren Han was dumbfounded, unable to recover for a long time...

Rumble rumble rumble!

Firelight, storms, electromagnetism, gravity...

Various high-energy plasmas intertwined, transforming into a surging ocean, constantly stirring up violent waves.

The Star Giant sat on the surface of the sea, and waves were forcibly pulled up, swallowed into its body.

"True Tribulation... Body Tempering!"

Solar storms, strong magnetic pulses, high-energy radiation, remnants of accretion disks...

Streams of high-energy plasma impacted the giant's body along their respective paths.

Under the scouring of real-world energy, the Dharma Form's structure gradually began to change.

Plasma lattice recombination, nanotube array growth, topological phase transitions, vortex pinning effects...

Hair, skin, flesh, bones...

As time passed, the Star Giant gradually materialized.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

[Realm: Dharma Form 0/3]
→
[Realm: Dharma Form 1/3]

"Dharma Form, Materialization!"

Li Qingshan slowly opened his eyes, looked at the rolling waves still surging towards him, and clenched his fist.

Boom!

The waves shattered, and countless high-energy torrents scattered in all directions.

"This is materialization?"

Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows, feeling the pure sense of power coming from the Dharma Form, and for a moment, he couldn't determine how much his combat power had increased.

After all, he had only truly "fought" two seventh-order entities.

The Grand Elder and that weak chicken Divine Appearance.

"Judging by strength alone, it shouldn't be weaker than the Grand Elder's terrifying tentacles that 'shatter stars with a single blow,' but the real outcome will only be known after a fight."

"As for that weakling Dharma Form..."

Li Qingshan shook his head, collecting his thoughts.

Since he was a weakling, there was no need to mention him again.

His figure transformed into a streak of light, instantly bursting out of the Thunder Pool's range, flying towards the three figures hundreds of millions of miles away.

"Director Li!"

Kong Yang snapped his folding fan shut, his face serious.

"You've adapted quickly!"

Li Qingshan shook his head and chuckled, flipping his hand to take out a wristwatch and put it on.

Buzz!

A message suddenly popped up on the screen.

"Employment Notice?"

Li Qingshan glanced over it, raising his eyebrows.

Unlike the previous invitation, this notice was more formal and briefly described the current situation of the Investigation Office.

The Investigation Office had a total of four divisions, each with one hundred and eight sections, monitoring the movements of Evil God Cultists throughout the Horn Sector.

Director Gu Feng commanded the overall situation, with four deputy directors each responsible for one division, monitoring a specific area.

And he, the newly appointed deputy director, was in charge of the Third Division.

His gaze swept over the names of the one hundred and eight section chiefs under his command.

Unsurprisingly, Bao Hetong and Ni Mocuan were among them.

"The Director is thoughtful."

Li Qingshan smiled faintly, casually dialing Bao Hetong's number.

Beep~~

After a sound, a projection screen popped up.

However, there was more than just Bao Hetong in the picture; there was also a rather enchanting woman.

Li Qingshan frowned slightly, recognizing the woman's identity at a glance.

Deputy Director Ye Lei, in charge of the Second Division.

Ye Lei didn't recognize Li Qingshan, and didn't even acknowledge the popped-up screen, staring directly at Bao Hetong and angrily scolding:

"Bao Hetong, are you a dog? Why are you so fixated on the Coiling Dragon Auction House?"

Bao Hetong frowned, looking disgusted.

"Deputy Director Ye, the Coiling Dragon Auction House is in the territory of my Third Division. What you're doing isn't appropriate, is it?"

Ye Lei laughed in anger.

"I'm a deputy director, can't I even manage you?"

"Deputy Director Ye, is it?"

A voice suddenly rang out, finally attracting Ye Lei's attention. She turned her head to look at the screen, her face full of impatience.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere in the internal affairs of my Demon Subjugation Division?"

"Who I am is not important."

Li Qingshan smiled faintly, leaning forward, his eyes directly facing the camera.

"Now, I'll give you two choices."

"Either get out of my sight, get out of the Third Division's office!"

"Or, bear the consequences!"

"You only have three seconds!"