From star gatherer to leader of humanity

Xu Bai carefully operated the mechanical arm himself, placing the two fire spirit bird chicks into the life support box unique to each hummingbird-class spaceship.

"The life pod can only last for three days at most. To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, let's go back to the space city and sell it first."

Twenty intermediate-level mining engineering robots returned to the mining spacecraft one after another. After the hatches on both sides were closed, Xu Bai started the spacecraft and returned to the space city.

Two days later, as soon as Xu Bai left the Shattered Star Sea, he reported to the Shattered Star Sea Spaceport that he had captured a star beast cub.

Inside the public spaceport, after Xu Bai docked his spaceship, a specially made small life spaceship was parked to the side.

A powerful figure dressed in a Taoist robe, without any protective equipment, carefully took the life box from Xu Bai's spaceship and opened it.

"The young fire spirit bird is in good spirits. It is less than ten days old and is the best time to recognize its master."

"Kid, you've found a good one."

"Both of these fire spirit bird chicks have inherited bloodlines, each containing 600,000 strands of spiritual energy. I'll transfer the money to you now."

Without further ado, the powerful figure conjured a light screen in the void and, after some manipulation, Xu Bai received 120 million strands of spiritual energy.

"Thank you so much, senior~"

"If you want to thank me, go to the Shattered Star Sea and get some more Starry Sky Beast cubs."

The powerful figure closed the life box, placed it into the life spaceship, waved, and left.

Only Xu Bai and 120 million strands of spiritual energy remained.

"It's like a windfall; we've hit the jackpot."

Xu Bai glanced at this year's loan. The loan of 10 strands of spiritual energy, plus the loan for modifying the spaceship, meant that he would need to repay 10 strands of spiritual energy in a year.

Xu Bai casually swiped out 10 yuan to pay off this year's loan, then hailed a service vehicle and headed to the food street in Space City.

He spent over a thousand strands of spiritual energy to order a personal deluxe set meal and sat quietly in a corner of the restaurant to eat.

At this moment, there weren't many people in the hotel lobby. As Xu Bai was engrossed in eating, he suddenly sensed a presence approaching him, followed by a delicate orchid fragrance.

Xu Bai looked up and saw a tall woman in a white dress with delicate features. She was holding a gift box and had a gentle smile on her face.

"What brings you here, fellow Daoist?"

The woman in front of him was very beautiful. In his previous life, he would have been willing to spend a month's salary to have a relationship with her.

"My name is Yue Lanyou, and I own several shops in Space City."

"The reason we've met with you today is to celebrate your becoming a prospective full-time employee."

Yue Lanyou put down the gift box in her hand.

"I intended to visit you in person, but I had just prepared the gifts when you went to the Shattered Star Sea."

"I learned today that a friend has returned and is dining at a hotel under my name. I can only deliver the gift here; please forgive me for not being able to visit in person."

A gentle voice, spoken at the right time, can easily win people's favor.

This is true for ordinary people, but Xu Bai felt a sense of vigilance, because there is no such thing as a free lunch.

"Fellow Daoist Yue is well-informed." Xu Bai's face showed a polite smile.

Yue Lanyou gracefully pulled over the chair opposite Xu Bai and sat down, slowly opening the gift box and presenting it to Xu Bai.

"Two bottles of Spirit Qi Pills and two bottles of Mid-Grade Spirit Vein Pills to aid your cultivation."

Xu Bai's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the mark engraved on the medicine bottle. Several of the largest magic weapon shops and spirit medicine shops on the commercial street, the largest magic hall on the immortal path street, and several major restaurants on the food street all had the same mark engraved on them.

"Fellow Daoist Yue, I am truly humbled that such an important person as you has come to see me in person." Xu Bai looked overwhelmed with gratitude and flattery as if he were receiving a warm welcome from a great figure.

"I am merely a merchant in this space city, unworthy of being addressed as a great figure, fellow Daoist."

"Someone like you, who has become a prospective full-time employee after only half a year here, has unlimited potential for the future. So I would like to get to know you before you make your mark."

"From now on, fellow Daoists will receive a 10% discount when purchasing items from my shop."

As Yue Lanyou spoke, she extended her hand, which contained a personal terminal, to Xu Bai.

Xu Bai hesitated for a moment, then reached out and tapped Yue Lanyou's hand with his personal terminal to add her as a friend.

"Fellow Daoist Yue, I am a straightforward person. If you have anything to say or need in the future, please feel free to speak up. My only wish is to mine and cultivate so that I can return home in glory in the future." Xu Bai showed a sincere expression on his face.

"With Fellow Daoist Xu's abilities, he will achieve that very quickly."

"I have other matters to attend to. I will visit Fellow Daoist Xu when I have time in the future."

Yue Lanyou stood up and politely took her leave.

Xu Bai also stood up to see them off.

Back at the hotel, Xu Bai finished the rest of his personal meal and then went to United Bank to exchange 1000 spirit stones.

The mining spacecraft took off again.

Upon entering the Shattered Star Sea, Xu Bai attached the green attribute spiritual light within his body to the spaceship.

Hummingbird-class Mining Ship - Attributes: Agile [Easy to control, speed +20%], Repair [Slowly recovers non-fatal damage to the ship], Spirit Points! [Inside the ship, amplifies spirit power by 5 times], Small Luck [A little bit of good fortune], Golden Spirit Shield [Absorbs spirit ore, transforming it into an automatically defending spirit shield; survive as long as you don't court death], Three Shots Guaranteed [For a single target, one out of three shots will hit].

Xu Bai was piloting the spaceship, looking at the last green attribute on the attribute panel in front of him.

"From now on, I'll be good at both offense and defense. With the new armor-piercing bullets, I won't be afraid of Golden Core stage demonic beasts or alien beasts from the starry sky."

The alien beasts that grow up in the Shattered Star Sea travel at extremely high speeds through the universe. Even if the spaceship has intelligent aiming assistance, it would take a lot of ammunition to attack them. For the faster alien beasts, ordinary star-gathering team members simply cannot hit them.

"It's a pity that we can't add attributes anymore."

After adding this green attribute, Xu Bai realized that he could no longer add any more attributes to this mining spaceship.

"It's enough for now."

The mining spaceship, like a streak of light, darted through the gaps between the shattered celestial bodies, all the way to the place where the Fire Crystal Bird chick was discovered deep in the Shattered Star Sea, where half of the Crimson Flame Iron had not yet been mined.

The mining robot continues its work, docked on a broken celestial body that has been partially mined.

In the spaceship's main control room, Xu Bai reclined his chair and sat cross-legged to begin his cultivation.

Having received guidance from a renowned master, Xu Bai practiced the "Spiritual Qi Technique" again, as if he had attained enlightenment.

Although it takes a lot of effort to extract pure spiritual energy from the chaotic spiritual energy, once the spiritual energy enters his body, Xu Bai follows the insights he gained from his master's teachings and allows the spiritual energy to flow through his meridians, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, controlling the rhythm of the spiritual energy himself.

The spiritual energy absorbed finally returned to Xu Bai's dantian, giving him a feeling of exhilaration.

As Xu Bai became more and more familiar with the rhythm of controlling his spiritual energy, he discovered that his cultivation speed was more than twice as fast as before.

In just four hours, his dantian had expanded by a trace of spiritual energy, and Xu Bai felt that he could continue cultivating.

But by this time the spirit mine had been exhausted, and continuing to cultivate would be a waste of time.