Trainee Mercenary

After Jianos left, Qi Tian entered the villa, rested for a moment, and then headed toward the public area to look around.

After flying for a short while, Qi Tian arrived at the dormitory area where tall buildings were constructed, with many Star-level elite students walking about nearby.

"Look, it's a Universe-level student. Don't they all have their own private courtyards? Why did he come over to the dormitory buildings?"

"I don't know, maybe he's just passing through to find someone."

Qi Tian, who was passing by, heard their discussion but paid no mind, flying straight past several rows of dormitories and continuing forward.

Before long, he saw a massive lake appearing on a vast grassland, surrounded by many tents that looked just like yurts.

Before Qi Tian even arrived, he could see from afar that elite students of varying strengths were strolling about leisurely.

Once he flew closer, he realized these tents were not small at all; they were likely twenty or thirty meters high, with a width comparable to a football field.

Written on the tents were signs like "XX Restaurant," "XX Beverage Shop," "XX Treasure Recycling and Exchange," "Cargo Shipping and Pickup Area," and so on.

As Qi Tian walked among them, many people were eating delicacies made from precious ingredients inside the tents, while others were drinking fine wine and beverages at open-air tables.

Their strengths varied, but they all wore badges of different colors pinned to their chests.

Here at the Beihua Branch, every elite student wears a corresponding badge based on their rank.

Red is for Third-level elites, silver for Second-level elites, gold for First-level elites, and black for Special-level elites.

Although Qi Tian was considered a Special-level elite, due to his unique circumstances, he did not possess such a rank-representing badge.

After walking for more than ten minutes, he curiously discovered that there were almost no traces of technology here, just like a grassland camp on a primitive planet.

"Universe Mercenary Alliance Service Point?"

As Qi Tian walked, he spotted a tent bearing the logo of the Mercenary Alliance and, out of curiosity, went inside to take a look.

"Welcome."

The beautiful staff member inside the tent saw Qi Tian enter and immediately bowed to welcome him.

Qi Tian nodded with a smile and scanned the surroundings, discovering that the only piece of technology to be seen was a small-to-medium-sized detector sitting on the circular counter.

At that moment, a Star-level 9 elite student was taking a large pile of silver metal out of his space ring, and the staff member beside him was conducting a scan.

After the staff member finished scanning the pile of ore, she listed the results in a table for the Star-level student to inspect, while simultaneously asking him.

"Student, you have submitted a total of 47 pieces of 'Snow Silver' ore this time. The calculated Snow Silver content is 1.67 kilograms, totaling 1,670 points. Would you like to exchange them?"

"Exchange!" the Star-level student nodded and replied.

"Exchange complete. Please check your point balance in the Virtual Universe system," the staff member said with a smile.

"Thank you."

After the Star-level student finished the so-called "exchange," he turned and walked outside.

As he turned, Qi Tian saw a silver badge on the chest of his combat suit, bearing the logo of the Virtual Universe Company, proving he was a Second-level elite.

Here at the Beihua Branch, every elite student wears a corresponding badge based on their rank.

Red is for Third-level elites, silver for Second-level elites, gold for First-level elites, and black for Special-level elites.

This Star-level Second-level elite student also saw Qi Tian standing at the entrance; although he didn't see Qi Tian wearing a badge, he still bowed slightly to him.

Qi Tian was somewhat stunned, but he nodded back at him.

It seems that the hierarchy is just as strict here; lower-ranked students must bow to those of higher rank.

After watching the others exchange points, the staff member who had originally greeted Qi Tian took the opportunity to ask.

"Student... would you like to exchange points?"

Qi Tian didn't know the situation here and had only come in on a whim, so he immediately asked the staff member.

"This is my first time at a Universe Mercenary Alliance service point, and I haven't registered as an adventurer mercenary yet. Could you please explain it to me?"

The staff member was momentarily stunned to hear that Qi Tian had reached the Universe level but was not yet a mercenary.

However, her professional demeanor was excellent, and she immediately wore a professional smile as she spoke.

"If you wish, you can register as an adventurer mercenary here. Furthermore, since your strength has reached the Universe level, you can skip the trainee mercenary assessment and become a trainee mercenary directly."

Qi Tian's eyes brightened slightly upon hearing this; that would save him some trouble, so he nodded in agreement.

"I'll trouble you then, please help me register as a mercenary."

"It's no trouble at all. Please come this way, and please present your identity information."

Qi Tian provided his citizen information, and the staff member quickly processed his registration, handing him a badge imprinted with a blood-colored wave pattern.

"Student Qi Tian, would you like me to explain the function of mercenary points to you?" the staff member asked with a smile as she handed over the badge.

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I'll go back and read the mercenary manual."

After saying this, Qi Tian nodded politely to the staff member and turned to leave the Mercenary Alliance service point.

After he left, another female staff member at the service desk teased the one who had assisted Qi Tian.

"He has such a refined air, and he didn't have any airs at all."

"Don't even think about it. A Universe-level student still training at the branch must be a Special-level elite. His future achievements will at least be that of a powerhouse among Domain Lords; he's not someone we can reach."

After leaving the Mercenary Alliance service point, Qi Tian wandered around the vicinity for a while to satisfy his curiosity before returning to his villa.

Upon logging into the Virtual Universe Network, Qi Tian's figure appeared in the villa within the residential district of Beihua Island, where he sat in his study to review the information regarding mercenary points.

After quickly browsing through the instruction manual, he understood the situation regarding the Star-level Tier 2 elite at the service point who had exchanged ores for points.

It turned out that when mercenaries obtained valuable treasures in mission worlds, they could either sell them in the universe themselves or submit them to the Mercenary Alliance in exchange for points.

Once the accumulated points reached a certain threshold, one could apply for missions to raise their mercenary rank.

At the same time, points could also be used to exchange for treasures that were rare in the universe or difficult to purchase through standard channels.

However, the specific value obtained from exchanging treasures for points would certainly be lower than the actual value of the treasures themselves, effectively discouraging people from attempting to resell goods for profit.

Most adventurers used their points to exchange for secret techniques, as these cost the Mercenary Alliance almost nothing.

Of course, the secret techniques obtained through exchange were forbidden from being disseminated; once the Virtual Universe detected the use of a secret technique with a similarity of over 70% without a record of purchase or gifting, an investigation would be launched.

After finishing the instruction manual, Qi Tian opened the point exchange list to inspect it.

However, because he was only a trainee mercenary and his points stood at zero, the secret techniques or treasures available for exchange were all common goods within the universe.

Qi Tian merely glanced at the list and found nothing worth exchanging for.

It seems that if I want precious secret techniques, I must either raise my mercenary rank or join the Virtual Universe Company and earn points through adventures in secret realms to exchange for them.