Blue Star Ninth

Chen Lie glanced at the woman behind the counter and noticed her sneaking peeks in their direction.

Seeing his reaction, Wei Changshan immediately understood. He swept his gaze over the staff behind the counter.

"Which of you just took twenty thousand Star Dollars from this young man? Step forward!"

At Wei Changshan's words, the woman behind the counter and a young staff member shakily stepped out.

"Good. You abused your position at the Divine Sense Master Association to extort money from someone who came here for an assessment.

You've both seriously damaged the Association's reputation. Go turn yourselves in to the authorities."

Wei Changshan waved them away.

The young staff member and the woman looked terrified at his words, but they could only turn and leave dejectedly.

"Wait!"

Chen Lie called out to them. Their faces lit up, and they assumed that, being young, he wanted to persuade the chairman to let them off lightly.

"Give me back my deposit before you go."

The two had been smiling, but their faces immediately fell.

The young staff member stepped forward and transferred the twenty thousand Star Dollars to Chen Lie. Then the two of them left the Divine Sense Master Association hall together.

After leaving the Association, the young staff member asked, "Sister Hua, what should we do? Do we really have to turn ourselves in?"

The woman looked dejected. "Chairman Wei gave the order. If you dare not go, you might not even know how you'll die tomorrow.

"Damn it. How could this kid pass the Divine Sense Master assessment when he's so young?

"We're done for. We picked a fight with someone we shouldn't have."

Inside the Divine Sense Master Association's service hall, Wei Changshan said, "Don't take it to heart, Chen Lie. Any organization will have all kinds of people. It's inevitable that a few unscrupulous ones will turn up."

"I understand." Chen Lie nodded.

"Now that I have my Divine Sense Master Certificate, I should be going. Farewell, Chairman Wei."

With that, Chen Lie said goodbye to Wei Changshan and left the Divine Sense Master Association.

Wei Changshan watched him go but did not walk him out.

"Grandpa Wei."

Just then, Shen Miaowei and Shen Feixue came downstairs.

Wei Changshan glanced at them and said, "Miaowei, remember: if you run into any difficulties cultivating your Mental Power, ask Chen Lie. Don't be embarrassed.

"His Mental Power cultivation method came from the Outer Stars. Otherwise, he couldn't have turned his Consciousness Sea World into a Fixed Star."

"But... would he answer my questions?" Shen Miaowei asked.

"He should. Just make sure you don't hesitate to ask.

"And don't be discouraged. Your aptitude isn't all that different from his. The gap is so large because your cultivation environments are different.

"Building a Consciousness Sea World depends heavily on the Mental Power cultivation method. Chen Lie has a great advantage in that regard, since he has a cultivation method from the Outer Stars. Even many Divine Sense prodigies from Blue Star's top ten provinces can't compare to him."

"Mm, I understand!" Shen Miaowei nodded.

"Also, that Star Soul Tempering Vine would be a great help to you. If you can, ask your family to help you find the ten Martial Dao Rare Treasures Chen Lie requested as soon as you get home."

Shen Feixue said, "He came from a backwater place like East River Province. Has he even seen a Martial Dao Rare Treasure? And he asked for three right off the bat. What a greedy demand!"

Shen Miaowei rolled her eyes at Shen Feixue. "Feixue, a Mental Power Treasure would be more than enough to trade for ten Martial Dao Rare Treasures. Stop talking nonsense."

"The Divine Sense Master Association's central network system assessed Chen Lie as having the potential to become a Divine Sense Grandmaster," Wei Changshan said. "That wasn't an idle claim.

"If possible, your Shen Family should be generous and give him four or five Martial Dao Rare Treasures. Think of it as building a connection with someone who may be influential in the future."

Shen Feixue looked thoroughly unwilling to go along with Wei Changshan's suggestion, while Shen Miaowei fell into thought.

Even setting aside whether Chen Lie would become a Divine Sense Grandmaster, it would be well worth trading a few Martial Dao Rare Treasures for occasional guidance from someone who cultivated using a method from the Outer Stars.

"Big Sister Wei, I'll ask my dad to help. Chen Lie only gave us ten days, and some of the rarer Martial Dao Rare Treasures will be hard to find on short notice."

"All right!"

Shen Miaowei nodded to Shen Feixue.

Meanwhile, Chen Lie left the Divine Sense Master Association and headed to the airship parking area. The airship's hatch was shut, and neither Wang Hui nor Meng Jing was there.

Chen Lie took out his Communicator and called Wang Hui. The call connected right away.

"Hey, where did you go?"

"My cousin and I took a walk nearby. Did you pass the Divine Sense Master assessment?"

"I passed. I've got the certificate."

"Great. Wait for us by the airship. We're coming back now."

With that, Wang Hui ended the call.

Chen Lie put away his Communicator and waited beside the airship.

Before long, Wang Hui and Meng Jing arrived.

"Chen Lie, you passed the Divine Sense Master assessment? How come it was so fast? Was it that easy?"

As soon as Wang Hui got there, he couldn't help asking.

"It was all right. Exams are hard for those who can't do them, but easy for those who can," Chen Lie said.

"Fair point. Where's your certificate? Let me see what it looks like."

Chen Lie handed him the Divine Sense Master Certificate.

Wang Hui took a look and couldn't help asking, "What's this special note about a Consciousness Sea Score of 2.76 million?

"And you're ranked ninth on the Blue Star Apprentice Divine Sense Master Ranking List. Is that impressive?"

"Blue Star Ninth?"

Meng Jing heard him from behind and hurried over to look at the certificate.

"It really is Blue Star Ninth. No wonder General Manager Zhao valued him so much!"

Wang Hui couldn't help asking, "Cousin, do you know anything about this ranking list?"

Meng Jing shook his head. "I don't know anything about the list, but I do know that Blue Star has over ten billion people. Being ninth among all of them would be extraordinary in any field, let alone in such a rare, high-level group as Divine Sense Masters."

"That's impressive," Wang Hui said, nodding.

"Chen Lie, you're really about to take off. This is only Blue Star Ninth. Even ninth place in East River Province's martial arts rankings would be good enough to qualify for the Provincial Youth Genius Group."

As he spoke, Wang Hui handed the certificate back to Chen Lie. He had never dealt with a Divine Sense Master before, so he didn't understand much about them. He simply believed that martial arts were the foundation of everything, and that ranking ninth in East River Province's Provincial Youth Genius Group was worth far more than ranking ninth on a Blue Star apprentice Divine Sense Master list.

"It's just a ranking. It doesn't mean anything."

Chen Lie took the certificate and put it in his pocket. Then he asked, "Cousin Meng, you lived in Yunchuan Province before. Do you know where I can buy supplements, medicine, or other resources that help raise Blood Qi?"

"What stage are you at?"

"After your Blood Qi Value breaks a hundred."

Wang Hui couldn't help blurting out, "Wait, Chen Lie, your Blood Qi has broken a hundred? Are you sure? I remember that when we tested you at the Martial Arts Hall a month ago, you were only at 0.93 ka."