Turning Point

Autumn walked out of the Talent Assessment Room in a daze and initiated a video call to his wife to inform her of Xiao Yuan's C- grade in his first talent test.

His wife, visible on the screen, was standing beside a mine shaft, operating some kind of instrument in her hands.

She set the instrument down and comforted him, "It's fine. Besides, isn't Xiao Yuan having average talent exactly what you wanted?"

Autumn said, "I seem to recall my great-grandmother also had average martial artist talent before adulthood, and only awakened her Spirit Reader talent later on."

"I've heard that from Grandma before. Regardless, we should just prepare ourselves for the possibility that Xiao Yuan doesn't have Spirit Reader talent."

"Right. Let's work hard from here on out. We'll need to be more frugal in our cultivation and daily life to save up resources to raise Xiao Yuan to the Earth Rank."

"Once you drop Xiao Yuan off at home, hurry over to work."

"Just as you predicted, the Exploration Department detected a new enriched ore deposit in the old mining area. Your Equipment Department is going to have its hands full..."

By the time Autumn rushed back to the Mining Engineering Department, the Tuya Black Hole in the sky had already sunk low into the west.

The radiance emitted by the black hole's accretion disk, which resembled the Greek letter Φ, was no longer as dazzling as it had been at noon.

The scattered light shone upon the people and all things, casting a warm and peaceful feeling over everything.

After passing the routine inspection by the patrol mecha, Autumn stepped into the main mine.

Sure enough, he found the old mining area brightly lit; they were preparing for detailed exploration and planning the mining scheme.

Although he had taken the whole day off to test his son's talent, a worker clearly had to have the mindset of a worker.

He hurried toward the mining equipment room, ready to see if there was anything he could help with.

On the way, he was intercepted by his immediate superior, the supervisor of the Mining Engineering Department.

The supervisor looked at Autumn with the expression of a leader regarding a prized employee and said with a laugh, "Oh, Engineer Autumn, you've already taken the day off, why go back to work so late? You should keep resting!"

"As expected of an excellent veteran employee of our Mining Engineering Department, your dedication to your post is truly commendable!"

Autumn responded with humble modesty while inwardly grumbling: When I finally asked you for a day off yesterday, why didn't you talk about my dedication when you were giving me the cold shoulder?

The supervisor stopped Autumn's modesty and continued, "I've always opposed your proposal to re-explore the old mining area in the past. Don't take it to heart, brother!"

"Supervisor, what are you saying? It's all for the sake of work!" Now it was Autumn's turn to be confused.

Even if he had contributed to it and served as the technical lead for the Equipment Department, he could only be considered half a person in charge, as the position had no official establishment.

But the supervisor was his direct superior, a proper cadre after all; this attitude was clearly over the top. Something was wrong!

Sure enough, the supervisor continued mysteriously, "I ran into Karal from the General Manager's Office at noon, and he whispered to me that the General Manager is already aware of your insistence on re-exploring the old mining area."

"Brother, you're about to get a promotion!" the supervisor revealed in a tone that was both congratulatory and slightly envious.

At this moment, Autumn was so stunned by this explosive news that he couldn't speak. Was this just a rumor?

"That's unlikely, right! It's just what I should have done!" Without seeing an official administrative document, Autumn still wouldn't commit.

"Don't play coy, brother. Don't forget, the administrative documents for the No. 3 Main Mine have always been handled by Karal from the General Manager's Office!"

That's right, how could I have forgotten that! Autumn finally couldn't hold back his joy.

The Engineering Department's office was built when the No. 3 Main Mine was established, very close to the old mining area.

Along the way, well-informed people offered their congratulations to Autumn one after another. He and the supervisor arrived at the Engineering Department, changed into their Action Mecha, and glided away on jets, quickly reaching the old mining area.

Outside the main entrance of the old mining area, there was circle after circle of Mobile Warriors clad in black, precision full-body armor.

They were all emitting the aura of the Flying Star Rank! Compared to their mecha, the mecha Autumn and his supervisor wore looked like beggar's rags.

Autumn and the supervisor exchanged a glance and immediately understood that a big shot had arrived.

In front of the entrance, the General Manager—who was usually aloof and didn't even look at the Council of Elders of the eight surrounding subsidiary tribes—was nodding and bowing to a middle-aged man in brocade robes, saying something.

This middle-aged man in brocade was none other than Ross, a Demigod Rank (World Rank) powerhouse and one of the members of the parliament who reportedly held the power of the Yisi Kingdom.

Compared to the Immortal Gods that many citizens might never see on television in their entire lives, Ross, who was active on the political stage of the Yisi Kingdom, was well-known and worshipped by the public.

The General Manager looked up, saw Autumn and the supervisor, and his eyes lit up. He hurriedly beckoned them forward.

The two jumped off their mecha in a rush, walked up to Ross, who possessed a terrifying aura, and performed the one-knee-down, fist-clenched salute used when facing a powerhouse.

"Rise, there is no need for such formalities," Ross said with a smile.

The two stood up. Even though the World Rank powerhouse had reined in his pressure, the terrifying aura emitted invisibly still made the two, who were only at the Earth Rank, feel a little dizzy.

The General Manager, being a Universe Rank powerhouse, felt nothing. He introduced them: "This is Light, the supervisor in charge of the Engineering Department, and this is Autumn, one of the heads of the Equipment Department who 'distinguished himself' in this exploration."

Ross bypassed Supervisor Light and asked Autumn with curiosity, "The old mining area is usually a low-yield mine that has been abandoned. Even I cannot detect the mineral situation under the thick rock without the aid of instruments."

"How did you think there would be a new enriched ore deposit here?"

Autumn glanced at the General Manager and the supervisor standing to the side, a movement keenly captured by Ross.

"Don't worry about office politics. Your discovery is very important to the entire Yisi Kingdom!"

All three were taken aback. Autumn hurriedly said, "We all know that the massive inward-collapsing gravity of the entire Dongyuan Planet and the outward ore-forming movement of cosmic energy during geological activity maintain a delicate balance."

The distance between Dongyuan Planet and the Tuya Black Hole is far less than the Roche Limit, and its diameter far exceeds its own Chandrasekhar Limit.

Yet, as a primitive cosmic celestial body that has not been refined by powerhouses, Dongyuan Planet remains perfectly intact.

It was not torn apart, nor did it collapse into a black hole; everything was exactly because of these omnipresent and infinitely potential cosmic energies.

Rather than saying cosmic energy altered the laws of the universe, it would be more accurate to say that cosmic energy became a third-party variable outside of ordinary physical laws, creating bizarre and grotesque cosmic wonders in various places.

These were common knowledge to everyone present, so Autumn did not provide any further explanation.

"I analyzed the geological activity data of the old mining area over the last few hundred years, and compared to other mineral-rich sites, it is extremely similar."

"Combined with the fact that there are species on Dongyuan Planet that, even after being repeatedly wiped out, reappear near their origins after a period of time, I arrived at this hypothesis."

Ross nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "A bold yet brilliant analogical deduction!"

Of course, if no new minerals were discovered, that would be a different story.

"I am actually a bit curious, how does a Planet Rank like you possess such insight?"

Autumn remained humble, repeatedly deferring before saying: "My ancestors once produced a Universe Rank warrior, so I have heard a few things..."

So that was it; everyone understood. As the backbone of humanity on Dongyuan Planet, a Universe Rank warrior certainly could, and indeed must, possess such knowledge.

Ross said: "I will notify the Academy of Sciences to conduct big data research on similar phenomena; this is a very good line of thought for improving mineral exploration efficiency."

"Order from a Yisi Kingdom parliamentarian!" Ross suddenly turned serious after speaking.

Everyone present hurriedly knelt on one knee, performing a fist salute to receive the order.

"Autumn Stone of the No. 3 Main Mine Engineering Department, for advocating the exploration of the old mining area, discovering newly formed enriched minerals, and successfully summarizing exploration patterns."

"Hereby promoted to Captain of the Mining Department's Third Team, the former captain is transferred laterally! Other meritorious personnel shall receive increased contribution points according to regulations, this is the order!"

The scene was silent, and the reactions of those present varied.

The top level of the Yisi Kingdom operates a system similar to the city council system on Earth, where the parliament holds both legislative and executive power, serving as the actual center of administrative authority.

A parliamentarian is not only a Demigod Rank (World Rank) powerhouse possessing absolute force capable of shielding the entire nation, but also one of the actual rulers of the country.

For Ross, who stood high above, this was merely casually promoting a small fry like Autumn who had performed a service and was pleasing to the eye.

But the key was that it was a parliamentarian's order; it was equivalent to being noticed by a powerhouse, representing an absolute honor and a smooth path for the future.

This was only because Autumn's own strength was too weak to be promoted to a higher position; otherwise, the prestige of a parliamentarian's order would definitely not be as simple as a mere captaincy.

The General Manager wished he could abandon his current position to take Autumn's place.

The supervisor was already numb; the original administrative document from the General Manager's Office would have only promoted Autumn to deputy supervisor of the Engineering Department.

Now, the visit from the Demigod powerhouse Ross had caused Autumn to soar directly.

Autumn himself was thanking everyone while feeling dizzy, calculating exactly how many ranks he had jumped from a technical lead in the Engineering Department to a mining team captain.

It was as if Autumn had gone from being a powerless clerk in the logistics department to a regimental-level officer; this wasn't just a matter of how many ranks he had jumped, it was like taking a rocket.

Moreover, working in the equipment section of the Engineering Department, repairing tools and debugging mechs every day—doing well was expected, while doing poorly meant taking the blame.

Taking responsibility was natural, but logistics was indeed difficult for accumulating merit; with so many engineers in the equipment section, there were simply too many monks and too little gruel.

As the core department of the No. 3 Main Mine, the Mining Department involved the hardest and most tiring work, but it was easier to accumulate merit, and the benefits were naturally the best.

Ross gave a few instructions to the General Manager, then radiated World Power and disappeared along with all his black mech guards, as if teleporting, without a hint of hesitation.

After exchanging pleasantries with his colleagues, Autumn hurriedly called his family to share the news.

His family, who had been prepared for a life of hard struggle, was overjoyed to hear the news.

The trajectory of Xiao Yuan's fate had undergone two major turning points in this short day alone.