Blue Star, the branch office of the Chimeng Group.

Inside a towering building that pierced the clouds, two red-skinned men were drinking wine and watching the comings and goings of cosmic spacecraft outside the window.

"We're also a star region-level branch of the Chimeng Group, yet they chose such a backward planet for our location," one of the younger men said, shaking his head slightly. "Such a small planet, inhabited by tens of billions of people, and we have so few places to enjoy ourselves. Other branches, even if they don't occupy a scenic life-sustaining planet, at least get half a planet, right? We're confined to within a hundred square kilometers?"

"This is Lord Tiano's arrangement. Do you have any objections?" the other, more robust, red-skinned man said with a smile, holding his wine glass.

"The group's defense systems are very protective of privacy; no one knows if we grumble in private," the younger man said, pouting. "Anyway, I think Lord Tiano's arrangements are a bit capricious."

The robust red-skinned man smiled, neither refuting nor agreeing.

"The Yellow-robed Envoy—that's a civilization-level intelligent robot taking an interest," the robust man said, laughing. "What can you do, no matter how unhappy you are?"

"Yeah, what can I do?" the younger man muttered. "I'm just wondering, how long will I have to stay here? A hundred years, a thousand years? Half of my best years might be spent on this weak planet. Doesn't that upset you?!"

"What good does it do to be upset? It's already lucky to get this position," the robust man said. "We have to do things well; maybe there will be opportunities for promotion."

"Mm," the younger man said, dispirited.

"Actually, the reason our branch is located here is because there's a Yellow-robed Envoy stationed here," the robust man said, looking outside and speaking softly. "Lord Tiano is just starting his business, and he doesn't have many Yellow-robed Envoys to spare. As time goes on, he'll feel the shortage of manpower. It's impossible... to keep using a civilization-level intelligent robot for a long time just to protect his friend."

The younger man's eyes lit up. "What do you mean?"

"Helping a friend has its limits, after all," the robust man said. "Either the relationship fades, or he's helped enough to deter all forces. In short, the Yellow-robed Envoy will eventually be transferred away."

"Once he's transferred away, the branch office will also be撤掉 (chèdiào; withdrawn/removed). Actually, the location of the Blue Star system isn't suitable for establishing a branch," the robust man said. "A branch needs to be either conveniently located with short distances to various places, or the civilization itself must be exceptionally powerful, making it meaningful to establish a station. But Blue Star civilization... obviously doesn't qualify. Right now, it's purely Lord Tiano's personal will."

"I hope we can move as soon as possible; I really don't want to spend half my life in this small place," the younger man said expectantly. "And most of the time when we're working, we can't even enter the virtual world."

"This is work," the robust man said calmly. "If you don't want to do it, there are plenty of people eager to take your place."

At home, in the courtyard.

Xu Jingming, through the intelligent monitoring of his Primal Battle Suit, understood the situation within the Chimeng Group branch office and clearly saw the conversation between the two red-skinned men.

"Tiano is helping me so much that even within the Chimeng Group, there's opposition," Xu Jingming thought. "I can't repay this favor for the time being; I'll just remember it and deal with it in the future."

Since the Yellow-robed Envoy had been stationed on Blue Star, too many people and too many forces had wanted to use him to get to know Tiano.

But Xu Jingming refused them all! He didn't give anyone any face!

He even told his family that even if it was a matter of life and death... they shouldn't bother Tiano.

Because the other party had helped too much! He didn't want to put him in a difficult position anymore.

"My current strength should be enough to get into the top ten in the universe. But it's not enough to take first place," Xu Jingming thought, reading the information on the light screen. He was accumulating deeper knowledge every day.

The Guhe Civilization, one of the three advanced civilizations of the human race in the universe.

On a life-sustaining planet.

"Master, this indigenous planet currently has about 1.5 billion people. Due to disease and war, their average lifespan is 33 years. The current weather cycle of this indigenous planet... is making the entire planet colder and colder. If we don't transform the planet, many people will freeze to death during the winter season. And every year, it will get worse and worse," a tall, thin man said respectfully, following beside him.

The young Qu Fang, also dressed like the indigenous people, wore thick robes.

Looking at this world, he sighed, "We, the Guhe Civilization, as an advanced civilization of the universe, still have a large number of indigenous planets."

"After all, the entire universe is too vast," the tall, thin man said. "And the universe is constantly evolving and giving birth, giving birth to new planets one after another. Some planets will have life born on them. Over endless long periods, the bloodline of humans has long been scattered throughout the universe. Outside of the 34 cosmic sectors, there are small groups of humans."

"Ama, Ama." A cry of weeping rang out.

Beside a frozen, hard road, a girl knelt beside her mother. Her mother was already frozen silent. The girl was terrified and desperate, only knowing how to shout.

Qu Fang walked over, as if descending from an illusion.

The girl saw him, saw the handsome young man in thick robes. She had never seen such a good-looking person.

"Save Ama, save Ama," the girl immediately kowtowed. Qu Fang walked closer, his hand gently touching the woman who was already silent. The woman's nearly imperceptible vital signs were rapidly changing, quickly becoming stronger. Her originally pale face also became rosy, and her skin had a glow. The mother opened her eyes. "I'm not dead?" The mother couldn't believe it. She felt her body was healthier than ever before.

"Ama," the girl cried, throwing herself into her mother's arms. Then she wanted to kowtow to Qu Fang, but she discovered... that handsome young man had already disappeared.

Qu Fang and his servant had already left.

"Let's transform this life-sustaining planet according to the third plan. I hope the average lifespan of the people on this planet will first be raised to over 100 years," Qu Fang instructed.

"Yes, Master," the tall, thin man said respectfully.

"It's a pity I'm still poor. If I had enough wealth, I could give everyone on the planet access to the virtual world and evolutionary methods."

Qu Fang looked at this life-sustaining planet. His gaze seemed to see the billions of people on the planet.

The tall, thin man said in a low voice, "Master, you really don't need to help so many planets, so many lives. With fewer things, Master, you could be much more relaxed."

"Is that so?"

Qu Fang looked at him and smiled. "I could completely live in the safest place, the most scenic place, and enjoy myself to the fullest. No one would dare to provoke the son of a封王 (fēngwáng; enffeoffed king)."

"But is that what my mother left me her wealth for, to be a parasite?" Qu Fang looked at the starry sky. "When I was little, my mother took me to help many weak people. Seeing their surprise, their heartfelt excitement... I admired my mother very much."

"After my mother died, my father immediately remarried into another major clan of the Guhe Civilization. My father's wealth is also part of the family's, and he's unwilling to give me any," Qu Fang said softly. "If it weren't for my mother's will, I probably wouldn't have been able to inherit my mother's wealth."

"My mother's family is sparsely populated. I will protect them well, but I want to do more," Qu Fang said. "To do those things, I need to have a powerful supporter."

Virtual World Network, cross-cosmic sector battle.

Qu Fang was in the stands, watching Xu Jingming win again, officially reaching first place in the Hunter Cosmic Sector and eighth place in the overall universe rankings.

"Big Brother Wu Ming, you're number one in the Hunter Cosmic Sector! Is number one in the universe far away?" x100.

Qu Fang's support was unstinting.

Among the support of countless cosmic citizen viewers, Qu Fang was one of the most dazzling.

"Wu Ming is eighth in the universe. With his strength, he can become a Source Life at any time," Qu Fang looked at Xu Jingming. "With his support, my事业 (shìyè; career/cause) can truly begin."

He knew very well that without enough power to support him, he could only buy a small number of life-sustaining planets and become an ordinary planet lord.

When he left the family, in order to obtain his mother's inheritance, the entire family of his father's line was very angry! Logically speaking, such a large amount of wealth... should have been swallowed by the entire family.

Qu Fang, a seventh-order Starry Sky lifeform without talent, wasn't qualified to enjoy so much. He should have dedicated his mother's wealth to the family.

But he would rather break ties! According to the law, Qu Fang inherited the wealth. Although it was less than one percent of the wealth of his father's line of the family—a vast family that had produced many 'enffeoffed kings' in history and still had one 'enffeoffed king' in the current era—the accumulation over endless long years was still terrifyingly huge, even at close to one percent. "Such a huge fortune, giving it to you greedy people, is a waste."

"Helping those who need help is more meaningful," Qu Fang's belief was firm. Protected by the laws of the empire, sufficient defensive power, and the fact that he was, after all, the biological son of a 'fēngwáng (enffeoffed king)', the entire family of the 'fēngwáng (enffeoffed king)' could only endure it.

"After Wu Ming entered the top ten in the universe, his upward momentum has slowed down. In the recent five battles, he's won three and lost two, and now he's ranked fifth in the universe! Every match he has now is very close, and it's not easy to win," a winged man said, looking at the information on the light screen. "He's been cultivating the evolutionary method for about 31 years. Based on our judgment, he can become a Source Life at any time. His potential is too terrifying. He's definitely a universe-legend-level threat to the human race. If we can eliminate him in advance, we still have to eliminate him in advance."

"Mo!"

Another gray-winged man laughed. "The human race of the universe is very strict about protecting the information of its cosmic citizens. Much of the information we obtain is old versions. The latest information from the last hundred years? It's too difficult."

"It can be confirmed that Wu Ming is from the Wu Hook Star Alliance. We can infiltrate the high levels of the Wu Hook Star Alliance and try to obtain the information. There's still hope."

"Is it that easy to infiltrate the high levels of the Wu Hook Star Alliance? What's more, such a large amount of citizen information is also confidential content on the Virtual World Network."

The gray-winged man shook his head. "Don't investigate; the cost of investigating is too high, and the hope is slim. At the same time, even if we find it, what can we do? Wu Hook has such dazzling talent; I just don't believe that humans wouldn't arrange a strong enough protection force.

"If we go, we're just courting death."

"Are we just going to do nothing when this level of genius appears?" his companion asked, puzzled.

"We did, we did a lot, spent a lot of wealth to track down the information, but unfortunately... we couldn't find it. I guess his personal information has been concealed and protected by the human race of the universe," the gray-winged man sighed. "You quickly prepare the documents, report in detail how much we've paid. When the time comes, these 'costs' can be diverted into our own pockets."

His companion was stunned.

"What are you spacing out for?" the gray-winged man pouted. "We've worked hard, lurking in the human race, risking our lives. What's wrong with us taking a little for ourselves?"

"Oh," his companion nodded blankly. "Uncle, is this how you've been doing things for the past eight thousand years while working hard in the human race?"

"That's right, that's why I can lurk in enemy territory for eight thousand years," the gray-winged man glared at his fellow clansman and nephew. "Quickly go write the documents. Let me review them first when you're done."

"We didn't do anything; what am I supposed to write?" his companion asked.

"Make it up."

The gray-winged man looked at him. "Learn to fabricate intelligence, and you'll have learned half of my infiltration experience!"

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since Xu Jingming had become the number one in the Hunter Cosmic Sector. Xu Jingming's personal space.

"So many people want to see me again?" Sitting on the sofa, Xu Jingming looked at the large number of private messages. "Many big forces in the entire human race of the universe, as well as some people of unknown origin, are all actively helping with full-platform advertising... They've actively sent so much money that I have to give them face, approve their applications, and add them as friends."

"But so many people want to meet? First, I don't have that much time and energy to deal with all kinds of people."

"Second, there might be alien spies among them."

"To be on the safe side, I'll ignore them all."

Although Xu Jingming had added them as friends, he didn't respond at all.

Of course, Xu Jingming still gave face to people like Qu Fang, who had spent too much! After all, meeting a small number of people wouldn't have much impact on him.

"If I ignore them, I believe they can understand. I'm just guarding against alien spies," Xu Jingming closed all the private message information. "After I become a Source Life, I'll let Miao Miao, let my daughter, handle these things."

Even if he became a Source Life, he wouldn't be willing to be distracted to deal with so many forces.

He'd still use this opportunity to train his wife and daughter. Let them worry more.

"After becoming number one in the Hunter Cosmic Sector for a full half year, winning and losing, I've finally reached number two in the universe," Xu Jingming clicked on the Universe Peak Battle. He hadn't won easily, because everyone's strength was similar. Xu Jingming had also climbed to second place after repeated challenges and a slight improvement.

"Challenge the number one in the universe." Xu Jingming clicked lightly and sent a challenge to the other party.

He had actively challenged him before, but the other party had refused and only responded with one sentence: "Brother Wu Ming, come challenge me when you become number two in the universe."