Star Soul Tempering Vine

A string of system alerts left everyone present rooted to the spot.

"An Consciousness Sea Score of over 2.7 million? Is that even humanly possible?"

Shen Feixue was utterly stunned.

Shen Miaowei's expression was even more complicated. Was the gap really this huge between her and the talented Divine Sense Masters from Blue Star's top ten provinces?

A Consciousness Sea Score close to three million—that was a tenfold difference.

Everyone present was shocked. Only Chen Lie thought to himself that he probably hadn't controlled his strength well enough.

"You actually have the strength to rank among the top ten on the Consciousness Sea Score rankings."

After his initial shock, Wei Changshan looked at Chen Lie and scolded him, "You brat, if you're that strong, why come all the way to a little place like Chuanzhong just to show off?

"Look at what you've done to the talents of Cloud River!

"Do you know how hard it is for the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong to produce a Divine Sense prodigy?

"If your actions make our province's Divine Sense prodigy lose heart and never recover, can you take responsibility?"

Shen Miaowei knew Wei Changshan was saying this on her behalf. She wanted to tell him she wouldn't be so easily discouraged, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Wasn't a tenfold difference enough to make the point?

All she could manage was a bitter smile.

Chen Lie said, "Sorry about that. But can I have the reward for breaking the record now?"

"Your reward..."

Wei Changshan had just started to answer when Shen Feixue cut him off.

"No! We can't give him the reward!"

Shen Feixue glared at Chen Lie with her pretty eyes and continued, "You're an outsider. What gives you the right to take the reward the Divine Sense Master Association headquarters set aside for Divine Sense Masters from the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong?"

"Chairman Wei, you've always said that the reward for breaking the Consciousness Sea Score record was set aside by the Divine Sense Master Association headquarters specifically for Divine Sense Masters from the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong. In principle, only people from Three Rivers are eligible to claim it.

"But what about him?"

Shen Feixue said indignantly, "He's from another province, and one of Blue Star's top ten, no less. He's already got access to rare treasures that people from Chuanzhong wouldn't even dare dream of. Now he wants to fight us for the little resources we have left. How is that fair?

"If he hadn't shown up, Sister Wei would have broken the record in another month. But now he's raised the score so high that no one else can break it. Who else will ever get that reward?"

"That does make sense," Wei Changshan said, nodding. As someone from Cloud River, he naturally had to stand up for Cloud River.

Shen Feixue continued, "No matter what, he's not entitled to this reward. He's an outsider who came all the way to Cloud River to take our resources.

"If all the geniuses from Blue Star's top ten provinces acted like him, wouldn't all the resources in the world end up concentrated in their hands? Given enough time, the whole planet would become their backyard!

"The less developed provinces would keep being drained by them, stripped of their resources. Forget making progress—we might even fall behind.

"Wouldn't the Blue Star Divine Sense Master Association headquarters' directive to 'comprehensively support Divine Sense Masters from local and less developed provinces' become nothing but a scrap of paper?

"Even if we brought this matter to the Divine Sense Master Association headquarters, the reasoning would be on our side."

Wei Changshan nodded repeatedly, then said to Chen Lie, "Young man, you're from another province. Coming to the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong to claim the reward for breaking the Consciousness Sea record really isn't reasonable, so you can't take it for now.

"Of course, you can file an appeal with the Blue Star Divine Sense Master Association headquarters. With your exceptional talent, I'm sure they'll take your appeal seriously.

"If the headquarters rules that the reward should go to you, I won't have a thing to say. I'll hand it over without hesitation. If they rule otherwise, I hope you'll accept that too, without taking your anger out on anyone."

The system had assessed Chen Lie as having the potential to become a Divine Sense Grandmaster, so Wei Changshan was naturally choosing his words carefully, hoping not to offend him too badly.

Never mind how terrifying the powerful factions in Blue Star's top ten provinces were; even the potential of this young man to become a Divine Sense Grandmaster was reason enough that they couldn't afford to offend him.

A Divine Sense Grandmaster was no Martial Arts Grandmaster. If Cloud River earned the enmity of a Divine Sense Grandmaster, it could be suppressed for decades. Its martial arts might even fall behind East River and West River.

"We should also apply to the Divine Sense Master Association headquarters to void his record score. Otherwise, he's raised it so high that who can possibly break it?"

Shen Feixue interjected.

Chen Lie glanced around and saw that Shen Feixue and Wei Changshan weren't the only ones glaring at him as if he were their common enemy. Even Shen Miaowei was looking at him that way.

Had everyone from Cloud River banded together to shut him out?

Chen Lie couldn't help wondering.

"I think you've misunderstood," Chen Lie said. "I'm actually from the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong, not one of Blue Star's top ten provinces. I was born and raised in East River Province.

"Here's my Blue Star citizen ID. You can take a look."

As he spoke, Chen Lie took out his citizen ID and handed it to Wei Changshan.

Chen Lie's words left Wei Changshan bewildered. He took the citizen ID and looked over Chen Lie's information.

"Hm? You're really from East River Province."

Wei Changshan looked from Chen Lie to the citizen ID in his hand, at a loss for words.

"How is that possible? What's his citizen ID number? I'll ask someone over in East River Province to check."

Shen Feixue walked over, glanced at the ID, and silently memorized the number before going off to make a call.

It wasn't long before she got the answer.

"He really is from East River Province? But how could a place as impoverished as East River produce someone like him?"

Chen Lie asked Wei Changshan, "Well? Now that I'm also from the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong, can I claim the reward for breaking the record?"

"Well... of course you can. But I have to ask, how did you construct a Stellar Consciousness Sea in a place like East River?"

"My master taught me."

"That makes sense. Without a teacher's guidance, how could anyone achieve so much in the path of Divine Sense in a place as impoverished as East River? But how come I've never heard of a Divine Sense Master like that in East River?"

Chen Lie said, "I'm from East River Province, but I never said my teacher was."

"Quite right, quite right. May I ask your master's name?"

"Don't bother trying to find out. My master is a Divine Sense Master from the Outer Stars. Even if I told you, you wouldn't know who he was."

"So your master is from the Outer Stars. No wonder."

After saying that, Wei Changshan turned to Shen Feixue. "Young lady from the Shen Family, you can see for yourself that this friend of ours is also from the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong. Since he broke the score record, he's entitled to the reward."

Shen Feixue had nothing more to say. She could only turn her face away.

"Chen Lie, come along. I'll take you to claim your reward for breaking the Consciousness Sea Score record."

As he spoke, Wei Changshan led Chen Lie to a storage room for precious items behind the screen.

Using his authority, he opened an automated treasure chest.

Wei Changshan placed the chest in front of Chen Lie and said, "The highest reward for breaking a record at the Three Rivers Divine Sense Master Association is this: the Star Soul Tempering Vine.

"It's a rare treasure that helps cultivate Mental Power, brought from the Outer Stars. Even with more than a billion Star Dollars, you couldn't buy one on Blue Star."

"Oh? What does it do?" Chen Lie asked.

Wei Changshan said, "It can raise a person's Mental Power by one level, improving both its purity and strength and greatly increasing a Divine Sense Master's potential."

"Oh, I see."

Chen Lie nodded and opened the chest. Inside lay a vine barely longer than his thumb, glimmering with a faint red light.

He closed the chest without showing what he was thinking, then drew it into his arms. "Thank you. I'll take the Star Soul Tempering Vine, then."

"I've already asked the association staff to prepare your Apprentice Divine Sense Master Certificate. It'll be ready in half an hour at most."

"All right." Chen Lie nodded.

"Chen Lie, since you're also a Divine Sense Master from the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong, it doesn't matter where you studied. You're still one of us.

"You must know that martial arts in the Three Provinces of Chuanzhong are underdeveloped, and the path of Divine Sense is even worse off.

"Cloud River may be a little better than your East River, but not by much. After all, we're all part of the same Three Rivers.

"Since you've achieved so much in your cultivation of Divine Sense, you should at least help guide the Divine Sense prodigies our Three Rivers have worked so hard to produce, as long as it doesn't interfere with your own cultivation. Think of it as helping out your fellow townspeople."

As Wei Changshan spoke, he suddenly changed tack. "The young woman beside you is Shen Miaowei. Her talent in Divine Sense may not match yours, but it certainly isn't far behind.

"She's the most outstanding Divine Sense prodigy our Three Rivers has produced in over twenty years.

"If possible, I'd like you to exchange contact information. You could help each other correct mistakes and offer guidance in your Mental Power cultivation. It would benefit her—and should do you some good too."

Shen Miaowei's expression shifted slightly. She could tell that Wei Changshan had been exhausting every effort to secure her future in the path of Divine Sense.