From star gatherer to leader of humanity

Just as Xu Bai was planning how to use these spirit stones, his personal terminal suddenly received a message from the Hundred Refinements Sect, marked with an asterisk to indicate its importance.

"What news?"

Xu Bai asked Xiao Ai to open it.

A light screen appeared before him, displaying the message that he had been accepted as a prospective full-time employee by the Hundred Refinements Sect's Star Gathering Team, followed by a list of the benefits available to prospective full-time employees.

"Master, we've received a door access message. It's for the top-floor apartment in Space City. We can move now!" Xiao Ai's voice rang out.

"Understood." Xu Bai looked at the benefits for prospective full-time employees, one of which was a penthouse apartment.

"If the value of spirit ore mined annually exceeds 500 million for three consecutive years, one can become a full-time employee."

"The Star Gathering Team's official employee privileges are equivalent to those of an outer disciple of the Hundred Refinements Sect."

"Open up citizenship upgrade privileges, open up eligibility to purchase space equipment and magical artifacts, open up eligibility to join the military, open up eligibility to purchase higher-level spaceships..."

There are only a few free benefits, mostly involving granting certain permissions.

"Let's tidy up first and then go take a look at the residence on the top floor of Space City."

Xu Bai packed his things, mostly clothes, which filled one box.

When Xu Bai contacted the agency to cancel his lease, the agency was initially reluctant. However, upon hearing that Xu Bai had become a prospective full-time employee of the Caixing team, they immediately refunded Xu Bai the entire month's rent.

"It seems that the status of a prospective full-time employee is not low."

At the top of the space city, on the side facing the star, lies a vast residential area.

After verifying his identity, Xu Bai entered the residential area, instantly feeling as if he had arrived on a life-bearing planet.

The lawn, the garden, the artificial river, and the earthy, floral scent made Xu Bai feel somewhat intoxicated.

Robots on both sides of the road were trimming the green belts. As Xu Bai walked by, the robots stood up straight and bowed to him.

"Welcome home, homeowner!"

Xu Bai followed the residential information to his own apartment building.

"It's actually a villa!" Xu Bai looked at the gate with a somewhat shocked expression.

Just then, the door of the villa next to Xu Bai's opened, and the leader of the Mancang Gang, who had met Xu Bai once before, walked out, looking haggard.

When the gang leader saw Xu Bai, he was taken aback.

"To become a prospective full-time employee in just six months, that's impressive!"

"We've settled our previous grudges. If you're not willing, we'll see who's the real deal in the Shattered Star Sea." The burly man looked at Xu Bai with admiration in his eyes.

"I just want to mine and cultivate in peace, living as a lone wolf. All these grudges and messy affairs are best left alone." Xu Bai nodded to the burly man.

Cutting off his money is tantamount to cutting off his path to immortality. In Xu Bai's eyes, this enmity is irreconcilable, so how could he easily let it go?

However, Xu Bai is currently focused on improving his strength and has no time to worry about that.

"Okay, that's clear. Let's have dinner together sometime." After saying that, the leader of the Mancang Gang hurried off into the distance.

Xu Bai opened the villa door, and a beautifully decorated little garden appeared before him.

The villa has two floors; the first floor has a living room, kitchen, dining room, and entertainment room.

Next to the bedroom on the second floor, there is a separate spiritual energy room. It requires spiritual energy to activate, and cultivating in it is more efficient than cultivating with spirit stones.

"Master, do you need to take control of the smart home system?" Xiao Ai's voice rang out.

"Take over and change the virtual projection in the villa's living room to my liking."

Xu Bai sat on the sofa in the living room, and the surrounding scenery began to blur, eventually turning into a beach, with the sound of waves crashing on the shore echoing in the distance.

"At least I saved some spiritual energy each month."

Xu Bai strolled around the villa and concluded that it was just so-so, except that it was a bit big, and he could only stay there a few days a month anyway.

The next day, Xu Bai walked out of the bank carrying a handbag with the words "Million-dollar gift" written on it.

As soon as Xu Bai came out, he was followed by a member of the Star Gathering Team who had a strong sense of thievery.

"Fellow Daoist, just say what you have to say~" Xu Bai walked to a quiet street and turned around to look at the members of the Star Gathering Team who were following him.

"Brother, are you worried about the handling fee for exchanging spirit stones?" The member of the Star Gathering Team spoke very humbly.

"I can exchange it here, I only charge 2%."

A business card was handed to Xu Bai.

Xu Bai took the business card, glanced at it, and then returned it.

"It's only a 3% saving, and you're taking such a big risk? It's not worth it." Although Xu Bai said this, he was still somewhat tempted. Exchanging for a thousand spirit stones would save him 30 spirit stones in handling fees.

"1.5%, that's the lowest. Starting from 1,000 spirit stones. Fellow Daoist, you can save tens of thousands of strands of spiritual energy with just a few clicks." The man handed over his business card again, a smile on his face.

"Where do you trade?" Xu Bai roughly knew how these kinds of people operated.

"Trading in the Shattered Star Sea allows you to directly convert spiritual energy or exchange it for spirit ore of equal value."

Upon hearing the last sentence, a cold glint flashed in Xu Bai's eyes.

"I'll contact you if I need anything." Xu Bai accepted the business card and turned to leave.

Back in the villa, Xu Bai first took a shower, then washed his hands several times. After absorbing all the spirit stones he had exchanged in his bag, he solemnly took out the jade slip containing the "Spiritual Qi Technique" cultivation method.

"Fellow transmigrators, please bless me!"

Xu Bai closed his eyes, held the cultivation technique jade slip in both hands, and the green attribute spiritual light in his dantian covered the entire jade slip.

After the cultivation technique jade slip had fully absorbed the attribute spiritual light, Xu Bai slowly opened his eyes.

The Spiritual Qi Technique Jade Slip - Attribute: Shadow of a Master Teacher [Return to the Classroom, Learn Step-by-Step from a Master Teacher]

Looking at the green attributes on the attribute panel, Xu Bai couldn't immediately tell whether they were good or bad.

"One million and fifty thousand strands of spiritual energy, and they only hired one teacher?"

"I don't think so!"

By pressing the jade slip containing the "Spiritual Qi Technique" to his brow, Xu Bai instantly felt the image of an elderly man with an air of otherworldly grace appear in his mind.

"The source of spiritual energy: the highest level is the Pure Immortal Spirit, the lowest level is..."

An elderly man with an air of otherworldly wisdom gave Xu Bai a complete lecture on the "Spiritual Qi Technique" for the Qi Refining Stage.

As the old man in his mind began to speak, Xu Bai's understanding of the "Spiritual Qi Technique" gradually deepened. The parts of the Spiritual Qi Technique that he didn't understand before, he not only understood at this moment, but also mastered.

Moreover, as the venerable old man explained things in a progressively deeper way, Xu Bai realized that his previous practice of cultivating the "Spiritual Qi Technique" in the Shattered Star Sea was simply absurd, like a child just starting school stumbling and tracing characters from a calligraphy book. Although they were characters, they weren't written by the child himself.

After the first level of Qi Refining, the "Spiritual Qi Technique," was finished, the old man with the air of an immortal vanished from Xu Bai's mind.

After Xu Bai put down the jade slip, he realized that a day and a night had passed.

"It was worth it!" Xu Bai carefully placed the jade slip into his bosom.

"It's time to add attributes to you." Xu Bai took out the spell jade slip of the Spirit Gathering Technique and directly added a white attribute.

Spirit Gathering Spell Jade Slip - Attributes: Energy Saving [Saves 30% of spiritual energy], Increased Capacity [Gathers 40% more spiritual energy when casting spells], Minor Energy Saving [Saves 20% of spiritual energy], Purification [Removes impurities from spiritual energy], Storage [The gathered spiritual energy can be stored as small spiritual beads], Cleverness [Learns spells faster; new ideas will emerge when viewing the spell jade slip]