From star gatherer to leader of humanity

In a secluded little shop on the food street, which could only fit ten tables, Xu Bai and Qiao Meng were drinking tea.

Xu Bai originally intended to invite Qiao Meng to the best restaurant, but ended up being invited here instead.

"You're the kind of guy who only knows how to mine and doesn't know how to enjoy life."

"A restaurant isn't necessarily better the more luxurious it is."

"Having come from a poor background, I don't want to miss any opportunity to make money." Xu Bai poured tea for Qiao Meng with a humble expression.

"I was just like you back then, but I realized later... never mind, let's not talk about anything discouraging."

At this moment, the shop's waiter began serving the dishes, each one a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate, tempting Xu Bai's taste buds.

After the dishes were served, Xu Bai opened the wine and poured the wine.

"Thanks to Brother Meng's previous guidance, I was able to save my life."

Xu Bai poured the wine to nine-tenths full, then poured himself another glass and raised it to Qiao Meng.

"You little brat, don't think I don't know. That guy's magical spaceship was right behind you when you left."

"You managed to escape, that's your skill. My guidance was just icing on the cake."

"Drink~"

The two glasses clinked together, and they drank the wine in one gulp.

After eating, the two chatted about Shattered Star City.

Through chatting, Xu Bai realized how closed-minded he had been before.

The Shattered Star Sea was divided among three major races: the Human Race, the Ghost Face Race, and the Moon Spirit Race. Among them, the Human Race occupied the largest area.

The Shattered Star Sea region, which was occupied by the human race, was divided among the thirty-six immortal sects. The area under the jurisdiction of the Hundred Refinement Sect belonged to the Heavenly Craft Immortal Sect.

"That doesn't make sense. If we calculate it that way, wouldn't we have to reduce taxes even more?"

The two drank another glass of wine.

Qiao Meng looked around, took out a talisman and stuck it on the table, creating a soundproof barrier that enveloped the two of them.

"I heard that the tax used to be 80%, but later it was found that 80% tax was not enough to support the miners' training, and the loss rate was also high, so they couldn't even recover the money from selling the spaceships."

"Later, after careful calculation, it was discovered that a 50% tax rate was necessary to maximize the value of the miners; as for the remaining income..."

Qiao Meng said with a mocking smile.

"They earn money in the Shattered Star Sea and spend it in the Shattered Star Sea. They don't even think about taking a single penny home. Clothing, food, housing, transportation, spiritual energy, magic treasures, spells, unorthodox methods, and other miscellaneous expenses will all empty their pockets. And this spiritual energy will go around in circles and come back to them."

"They may appear to be members of the Star Gathering Team, earning millions or even tens of millions of strands of spiritual energy a year, but in the end, 99% of it will be taken by the Hundred Refinement Sect."

Do you know how much Chentie (a type of iron ore) costs per ton outside of the market?

"Two hundred strands of spiritual energy make up one ton."

Upon hearing the price, Xu Bai did not show any surprise; he had considered this issue beforehand.

After the two had eaten and drunk their fill, Qiao Meng led Xu Bai into the second round.

On the entertainment street, there's a massage parlor that's neither too big nor too small.

"Find a decent guy to give my little brother a good massage, not those sluts who practice seductive arts, their hands never stay still during massages."

Upon entering the store, a group of brightly dressed, exquisitely beautiful women bowed to welcome them, revealing most of the grain warehouse.

Qiao Meng led Xu Bai to the pimp easily.

"Don't worry, Brother Meng, all the girls in our shop follow the rules."

"This young man is clearly determined to pursue the path of immortality; we won't give him any serious work."

Just as Xu Bai was about to refuse, a woman with a pure and slender figure grabbed his hand.

Half a day later, at the spaceport.

Xu Bai started the spaceship and flew towards the Shattered Star Sea.

"Luckily I managed to hold back in the end; I never thought I could."

"First, cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage. As for enjoying yourself, we'll talk about that later."

After the magical mining spaceship entered the Shattered Star Sea and traveled tens of thousands of miles deep, Xu Bai directly activated the Ten Domains Flowing Light attribute and flew towards the light and shadow deep within the Shattered Star Sea.

Two hours later, the magic weapon mining spaceship arrived at the designated location. Xu Bai found the coordinates of the place where the spirit ore was originally located and began mining.

"Hajime, keep an eye on things for me, I'm going to train~"

Xu Bai returned to the rest room, sat cross-legged on the bed, with several spirit beads that had absorbed spiritual energy placed beside him, and silently practiced the "Spiritual Energy Technique".

Pure spiritual energy circulated through Xu Bai's major meridians and finally returned to his dantian. Xu Bai's cultivation gradually entered a state of focus.

The cultivation speed of the attribute version of "Spiritual Qi Technique" is neither fast nor slow. It can only expand the dantian by a little bit in an hour, but the spiritual energy absorbed into the body is extremely gentle. No matter how much you absorb, it will not damage your meridians.

A day later, Xu Bai stopped cultivating, not because of damage to his meridians, but because his mental energy had reached its limit.

"One thread of spiritual energy per hour, that's 24 threads of spiritual energy per day. The first level of the Spiritual Energy Technique expands the dantian by 3,000 threads of spiritual energy."

"So, including daily mining, it would take about six months to cultivate to the next level. And if we factor in the time it takes to break through the bottleneck, let's say three months."

"In six or seven years, I will be able to cultivate to the peak of the Qi Refining stage."

"This speed is not bad."

Xu Bai arrived at the main control room and looked at the monitoring screen on the data panel.

Thirty earth-dragon-shaped mining robots are mining star core iron in the broken celestial body.

"Being a miner doesn't require much skill; you still need to learn another trade."

As Xu Bai spoke, he couldn't help but recall what Qiao Meng had said yesterday.

"Being a star gatherer is a dead-end job. Even if you are lucky enough to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage and escape the bottom, you are still at the bottom at the Foundation Establishment level. You are just struggling in a different place."

"You have to learn at least one of these: Qi cultivation, alchemy, talismans, or formations."

"With the help of attributes, it shouldn't be too difficult to learn."

"You can't mine for the rest of your life."

Thinking of this, Xu Bai decided to return to Shattered Star City and inquire about it.

"One must learn the unorthodox methods, but one's combat strength cannot be neglected. It is said that the Spirit Science Clan fleet that came to the human race could at most deal with a powerful expert in the Integration Realm."

"The fight had barely begun when he was suppressed by a powerful human who had embarked on the path of immortality."

"Technology is merely an aid; cultivation is the most important thing!"

Looking at the busy mining robots, Xu Bai began to think about improving himself.

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Xu Bai returned to Shattered Star City in his fully loaded mining spaceship.

The spirit ore, with a total value of 600 million, yielded 360 million strands of spiritual energy after tax.

"We've collected another blue attribute, but it would be a waste to give this blue attribute to Bai Mobao and the storage bag. We'll save it for later and use it in a side path."

Back at his residence, Xu Bai made a video call to his family as usual. After chatting for the time it takes to generate 100,000 strands of spiritual energy, he transferred another million strands of spiritual energy to his family. Then he went back to his bedroom to wash up and lay down on the bed, falling into a deep sleep.

Hundred-Refined Star, Cloudstone City.

Xu Lang stared at the balance in his account, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

"What's wrong? You seem distracted."

Zhang Wan came to Xu Lang's side and was shocked when she saw the balance projected on the light screen.

"Xiaobai has always been decisive. Since we've already transferred it, let's use it. Xiaojun has been consuming quite a bit of energy lately, so let's use these spirit stones to replenish it." Zhang Wan was the first to come to her senses.

"These two brats, one is so young yet he can earn so much spiritual energy, and the other has such good aptitude, which makes his father seem like nothing at all." Xu Lang sighed.

"Don't talk about yourself like that, at least your seed is pretty good."

"Then let's have another one?"

"Get lost~"

"Could we switch to Huazhong cigarettes with a hundred strands of spiritual energy?"

You look like someone from Central China!