Cosmic Trainee Mercenary

The B6 Transport Ship's speed was quite pleasing; it would take over half a month to reach Qiu Long Star. Chen Qing locked himself in the rest cabin.

In recent years, he had already finished cultivating the second and third layers of Creation. Since his gene multiplier had already reached the required level, combined with the effect of the Origin Core, cultivation was relatively simple.

For the fourth layer, he needed to grasp the essence of the ten laws. Success would grant a thousand-fold gene multiplier.

The fifth layer required at least acknowledgment from all the laws, at which point he could reach the perfect level of the Primal Universe!

The sixth layer demanded full comprehension of the eight lower laws, and the seventh layer required understanding of time and space. He would leave these for when he reached the World Lord level.

For now, his striking power was about eighty times the baseline, enough to last until the World Lord stage. What remained was resources.

The first pot of gold was the hardest to come by. He would have to thoroughly explore Qiu Long Star later, and could prioritize tutoring jobs or the like.

Having mapped out his path, Chen Qing began to sit cross-legged and cultivate. However, aboard this transport ship, he dared not open his senses to comprehend the laws, only quietly attuning himself to the primal fluctuations.

At the headquarters of the Limit Dojo in Hongning City, passing warriors carefully softened their footsteps, looking with respect and a hint of curiosity at the beautiful woman by the entrance.

Yao Rao, as Hong's former personal guard, had been guarding this legacy ever since Hong left. It was rare to see her in person here.

"What kind of person is coming, to make her wait here?"

"Who knows!"

Ignoring the surrounding murmurs, after so many years, the number of people she could truly converse with could be counted on one hand. It was rare for a good friend to visit today.

Before long, she spotted a graceful figure walking in from outside. Yao Rao stood up, smiled, and went forward to embrace the woman.

"Oh, you've filled out a bit. Looks like life with your little lover is treating you well. But what brings you out today?"

Once inside the rest cabin, Yao Rao couldn't help teasing. The things this close friend did were quite bold.

Still, she was happy for her. At least if she ever didn't feel like cultivating, there was someone to hold onto.

"I'm giving you something. From now on, train hard!"

"Did you get hit by something?" Yao Rao's eyes widened.

"Are you looking for the wrong person? What about Chen Qing? No... did Chen Qing beat you down?"

"Just look at it first," Jiang Fang said, ignoring the stunned Yao Rao. She set down the hard drive and sat casually on the sofa.

Yao Rao's gaze flickered between her face and the hard drive. "Fine, I'll look! As if I'm afraid of you two!"

At a hotel on Qiu Long Star, Chen Qing sat alone at a desk.

After registering his identity and Virtual Universe account, Di Fan had already left, but he had left behind one hundred thousand Black Dragon Coins.

It seemed Sister Fang had considerable influence. Chen Qing tapped his fingers lightly on the desk. Now that he had startup capital, his plans would have to change.

Recalling the information from the original story, Chen Qing focused on the Apprentice Mercenary Assessment. As far as he remembered, cheating was prohibited, but killing wasn't!

In terms of strength, he wasn't afraid. He could completely dominate the field. However, he had to watch out for high-tech products and possible revenge. Being careful never hurt, and he could also use the opportunity to practice.

Moreover, anyone who could enter would at least have second-tier equipment. Using the world inside his Origin Core as storage space, one trip should net him tens of billions of Black Dragon Coins, right? A decent piece of second-tier equipment alone cost several billion.

Thinking of this, Chen Qing excitedly put on his helmet. What was faster than the Virtual Universe for planning?

Connecting to the Virtual Universe...

A vast voice echoed in his mind. Chen Qing's consciousness appeared on a street. Ignoring the curious stares around him, he found a quiet spot and sat down.

He quickly directed the dazed gray-clad spirit on his right shoulder, occasionally operating the screen in front of him himself, and finally got a clear picture.

Right now, the Black Dragon Universe Apprentice Mercenary Assessment wasn't on Green Spirit Planet. Perhaps the matter of the Realm Within Realms hadn't been arranged yet.

The assessment location had been changed to Green Spirit Planet, one of the top-ranked planets in the Black Dragon Mountain Universe Kingdom.

Besides the registration fee of ten thousand Black Dragon Coins just to sign up as an adventurer, the travel expenses were thirty thousand! And the journey itself would take two months.

"Damn, there's no one more broke than me! If I didn't have cheats, who would dare come out without fleecing Earth's three big shots!"

Chen Qing felt a pang of heartache. If he didn't have so many things to do, he would have asked Thor to guide him. Maybe he could even score a set of second-tier gear.

The first registration had to be done in reality. Chen Qing didn't waste time. He booked a ticket in the Virtual Universe and headed straight for the Mercenary Alliance headquarters.

Green Spirit Planet was located deep within the Black Dragon Mountain territory, famous for its manufacturing. However, the assessment site was in the Forest Swamp Realm, which was mainly composed of forests and swamps.

The mission required three pairs of Diamond Flag Fish eyes and a pair of adult Green Crystal Python venom fangs.

Both were fast-moving creatures that traveled in groups. Even a team would find it hard to obtain them.

Chen Qing stood awkwardly in line. Who could blame him for wearing first-tier armor—the Earth-produced "Black God"—and being alone at that? Although everyone thought such people were not to be trifled with, it was still a rare sight.

"Stellar level nine, verification passed. Enter through this door," the guard said. Chen Qing braced himself and charged through the gate amid the World Lord guard's laughter.

After a dizzying spin, everything settled into a dark curtain. Chen Qing appeared in a forest.

He jumped twice on the spot to adjust to the new gravity, then floated directly to the treetops.

"Looking at the terrain in the distance, it should be the Spirit Rhinoceros Forest. There's a big river to the south, and beyond it is a large swamp—the mission target is there."

After scouting the terrain, Chen Qing flew directly southwest. Dark clouds were rising in the sky there, clearly from a massive plume of smoke. A few hundred li away—he'd go check it out first.

But the smoke had already risen high, and the ground below was completely empty. Chen Qing skimmed low, but aside from a few mangled corpses and broken armor, there wasn't even a hair left.

Seeing nothing of interest, he turned and flew straight south.

The Green Python Plains were a vast swamp spanning thousands of kilometers, famous for the Green Crystal Pythons. To the east and south, it connected to a cluster of lakes teeming with countless Diamond Flag Fish.

Green Crystal Pythons were a nasty bunch—highly venomous, hard to spot hiding in the swamp. He'd heard that quite a few people had been caught and used as bait since arriving.

Chen Qing hovered over the swamp, spacing out. He'd flown quite a distance just now, and sure enough, he'd spotted a few teams of people, but they all silently changed direction.

He'd still underestimated things. Nobody out here in the wild was stupid. With his getup, everyone else took him for a fisherman baiting the waters—not even a spicy snack wanted to bother him.

On top of that, without a detector, how was he supposed to find anyone in such a vast world? Was he really supposed to turn bandit? Or jump into the water and search himself?

This was a swamp, after all—the smell was already pleasant enough. Might as well fish in the lake.

But Diamond Flag Fish swam in schools, weren't slow either, and the underwater environment was nothing like above. If he got screwed over by a bunch of beasts, he'd never be able to show his face again.

Actually, Chen Qing was still underestimating Creation. He and the Green Lotus shared the same origin, and his rank was far from low.

Not to mention the Primal Universe's will favored him—the instincts of these small animals wouldn't let them court death. Those with ideas, though, might make a move.

And so he drifted on for dozens of days. Just as he was getting bored, Chen Qing's eyes suddenly lit up. Hadn't there been a flash of light in the distance just now?

No! It was a laser! Chen Qing started getting excited. You guys are already duking it out—there's no way I'm missing out on a hot meal, right?