Xeno-Beast

Someone a few rows to Li Yi's right also shouted loudly:

"Instructor, I haven't regressed. All my stats are still holding up well. Why do I have to leave the intensive training too?"

Chen Qiong Zhi said coolly:

"Lin Dongwang, we peacefully accept the support of all humanity's resources while enjoying exclusive access to Divine Mechs. No improvement is regression. How many times have I reiterated that? Why do you keep defying it?"

Lin Dongwang immediately fell silent.

Elsewhere, a rather attractive woman also pleaded:

"Instructor, I had assignments to carry out over the past two months and very little personal free time. That's why I didn't improve. Could you make an exception?"

Chen Qiong Zhi glanced at the woman and shook her head.

"I took the time to check your mission records just now. They were basically all affiliated assignments arranged internally by the He family, meant to farm merit points. In reality, you had plenty of time for personal training, didn't you?"

At those words, the woman fell silent.

Chen Qiong Zhi clenched her fist and narrowed her eyes.

"You can still leave with some dignity now. If you haven't disappeared within thirty seconds, don't blame me for taking action personally."

The three gave up struggling and left with heavy steps.

"Everyone else, straighten your formation and reenter the gravity chambers!"

"Each person must complete at least three rounds of physical training every day before beginning Mech training!"

The crowd groaned, but they could only grit their teeth and persevere.

In the blink of an eye, the morning's intensive training had passed.

Li Yi arrived at the cafeteria.

"Let me tell you, from what I've learned, most of the food here is mass-produced prepackaged meals. Only one meat dish is freshly slaughtered and cooked. You'd better be mentally prepared to fight for it."

The person speaking beside Li Yi was named Cai Xiaodong. His position had been to Li Yi's right.

After the morning's gravity training, the two had basically gotten acquainted.

From what Li Yi had learned, Cai Xiaodong had been among Saitan Star's top ten newcomers last year. He had ranked fourth then, narrowly missing a place in last year's Special Selection Class.

He had endured until this year before entering this intake.

At present, Cai Xiaodong could continuously activate his divinity for around one minute. He was only one step away from becoming an Evolver.

"By the way, do you know why everyone got so excited when the instructor mentioned the exploration plan for ancient civilization ruins earlier?"

Li Yi had no interest in which cafeteria dishes were prepackaged and which were freshly made, so he simply changed the subject.

"You actually don't know?"

"I really don't. I'd like to ask you to enlighten me."

Cai Xiaodong gave Li Yi a surprised look.

"I saw people saying on the intranet that you came from The Humble Clan. I didn't believe it at first. With fighting skills as strong as yours, how could you have developed them without receiving systematic training since childhood? But since you're asking this question, I have no choice but to believe it."

"Have you considered the possibility that it's precisely because I'm from The Humble Clan that I can develop something the Power Clan cannot?"

"Hahaha, I still don't think that's very likely... Of course, you're from Mars's Humble Clan, while I've only seen Saitan Star's Humble Clan. Differences are probably normal."

Cai Xiaodong thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

"Let's set that question aside for now. Tell me what benefits ancient civilization ruins have."

Li Yi could not be bothered to argue.

"It's simple. Most of our Divine Mechs were excavated from ancient civilization ruins. You know that, right?"

Li Yi nodded.

Cai Xiaodong continued, "Then do you know that Divine Mechs can absorb surplus divinity in ancient civilization ruins and advance in rank?"

Li Yi was somewhat surprised.

"Divine Mechs can advance in rank?"

"That's right. This isn't a secret among the Power Clans. Nearly all the ancient civilization ruins discovered within the Star Imperium Federation have yielded Divine Mechs. Their manufacturing techniques and internal principles are all more or less the same. Therefore, scholars unanimously concluded that these ancient civilization ruins all originated from the same great civilization."

"So any Divine Mech of ours can go to any undeveloped ancient civilization ruin and absorb the surplus divinity there."

"Some Divine Mechs were even originally S-rank or A-rank. They only gradually degraded into lower-ranked Divine Mechs because they lacked divinity for too long."

"For example, the Pluto Mech you pilot. Many people say it was very likely originally an A-rank Divine Mech."

Li Yi was greatly intrigued. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you're from the Celestial God Series, right? Most of the Celestial God Series currently remaining in the Star Imperium Federation are A-rank or B-rank. D-rank ones are rare instead."

Li Yi listened with deep emotion.

It seemed Chen Qiong Zhi had been right. Besides being able to fight, he needed to learn more professional knowledge.

Otherwise, during his future growth, he would not even know what counted as a fortunate opportunity.

As they spoke, the two had already collected their food from the automated serving machines and found an empty seat to eat.

Cai Xiaodong had originally wanted to fight for some fresh meat.

But when he saw the tightly packed queue, he gave up on the idea.

Not long after the two sat down.

A tray suddenly landed on the table with a smack.

Someone sat down diagonally across from Li Yi.

Looking up, Li Yi saw that it was Zhang Xuqiang, who had caused trouble at the entrance earlier.

"Oh? Why aren't you getting some fresh meat? This is top-grade high-energy xeno-beast meat. One bite can effectively boost your mental and physical strength. It's a huge help for the afternoon's training."

As Zhang Xuqiang spoke, he showily poked at the translucent, smooth meat chunk on his tray, which resembled pudding.

Thinking the man was Li Yi's friend, Cai Xiaodong smiled and shook his head.

"I wanted to fight for some too, but unfortunately, the only ones who can get it are Evolvers."

Looking at Li Yi, Zhang Xuqiang said with a grin:

"If you ask, Li Yi, I can give you this piece of top-grade high-energy xeno-beast meat."

Cai Xiaodong was immediately envious.

Was this the kind of treatment only the newcomer king with the highest historical score received?

Li Yi smiled. "You still want to bet with me?"

"Of course. I've wanted the Pluto Mech's Divinity Radiation for a long time. I had already applied for an exchange and was waiting for approval, but then you suddenly showed up."

Zhang Xuqiang's gaze burned as he made no effort to conceal his objective.

Only then did Cai Xiaodong realize something was off between them. He kept signaling Li Yi with his eyes, telling him not to act rashly.

Yet Li Yi seemed not to notice and asked:

"Is exchanging Divinity Radiation Rights like this common within the Special Selection Class?"

"Of course, of course. Everyone does it, because it's mutually beneficial. If you don't want to bet with me, we can exchange instead. One minute for one minute. That's reasonable, isn't it?"

Seeing Li Yi's stance soften, Zhang Xuqiang was immediately overjoyed.

Though he had originally wanted to get it for free, Chen Qiong Zhi had noticed what he was up to, so he had been considering a safer approach.

"No, I don't think it's reasonable."

Li Yi shook his head.

"The Pluto Mech is your superior Mech. Why should the Divinity Radiation from your inferior Mech be exchanged with mine at a one-to-one rate? Besides, I'm not sure what drawbacks there might be from receiving too much radiation from inferior Divine Mechs."

Zhang Xuqiang's expression immediately turned cold.