Chapter 34: Strike It Rich (Part 2)

“No need, President Li,” Feng Xiaobo answered somewhat awkwardly.

“Alright, young friends, what important matter brings you here?” Li Fangxin inquired. If he hadn’t been free at the moment, he might not have personally met with two twelve-year-olds.

Yang Tong took out the Earth Soul Crystal from his ring and said, “It’s because of this item.”

Seeing the object, Li Fangxin stood up in shock, then quickly collected himself. A warm, friendly smile immediately appeared on his face as he greeted them enthusiastically, “You two young friends have truly had an incredible stroke of luck!”

“President Li, the two of us don’t have mercenary status, we were wondering if it’s possible to…” Feng Xiaobo said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“No problem at all. Although your ages are a bit young, it doesn’t matter. I can help you process your identity documentation. Furthermore, from the moment you entered this room, every move here has been recorded by the subsystem sprite of the Central Control System and transmitted in real-time to the main body at headquarters. Our entire conversation and transaction will be monitored by it, ensuring the fairness of your deal. Also, after the transaction is complete, because you are minors, your information will be subject to the highest level of confidentiality. This confidentiality level will only decrease after you come of age.” Li Fangxin, feeling it wasn’t enough, reiterated, “And I will also abide by the confidentiality agreement, not disclosing any details of the transaction to outsiders.” Li Fangxin meant this sincerely; this was a major achievement delivered right to his doorstep. Acquiring this Earth Soul Crystal would surely get him a promotion. Besides, towards two underage boys, unless one was utterly wicked at heart, no one would harbor ill intentions.

After speaking, Li Fangxin personally left the VIP room to process two mercenary identity qualifications.

“So advanced! There’s even a subsystem of the Central Control System?” Feng Xiaobo exclaimed excitedly.

“What, you know about it?” Yang Tong asked, surprised.

“Of course. I heard the Central Control System is a control program operated by a sprite of the Ninth-Grade Spiritual Artifact level. It can split into countless copies, connecting via the spiritual energy network, allowing events happening here to be broadcast simultaneously from the other side of the continent. It has many amazing and unimaginable functions and is one of humanity’s greatest inventions,” Feng Xiaobo replied. “Even in a third-tier city like Falling Star City’s municipal office, there’s a subsystem of the Royal Feather Kingdom’s government central control system.”

Hearing this, Yang Tong was inwardly amazed. It seemed the technological level of humanity in this world was indeed extraordinary—they even had something like a central control system, a “smart computer.” Yang Tong couldn’t help but become more interested in Artifact Technology.

Although the so-called intelligent life forms were called Artifact Spirits, thinking about it carefully, Artifact Spirits themselves were a miraculous, albeit incomplete, form of life. Calling them intelligent life wasn’t far-fetched.

On Earth, legends said only God could create life, yet here humanity had achieved what only God could do. It sounded magical, but actually, it wasn’t difficult here—everyone could cultivate to become a new kind of “God.”

After about fifteen minutes, Li Fangxin returned carrying a briefcase. He placed it on the table, opened it, and took out a set of equipment and two cards.

“After everyone comes of age, the government issues an identity card. This card itself functions as a bank card, shopping card, mercenary certificate, and more. You two haven’t reached the age for card issuance yet. However, there are always exceptions. This is an identity card I processed for you two through the guild’s upper channels. Now, please drip a drop of your heart’s blood onto it for ownership bonding. Don’t underestimate this card; its material is extremely sturdy. It’s a Fourth-grade Spiritual Artifact. Identity cards are uniformly issued by the Central Celestial Dynasty to all countries on the continent free of charge. Most are generally Third-Grade Spiritual Artifacts. If lost, you’d have to pay a fee for a replacement. Rest assured, once a Fourth-grade Spiritual Artifact is bonded to its owner, unless you actively discard it or perish, it generally cannot be lost. Fourth-grade Spiritual Artifacts have variable forms; they can change according to the owner’s will. You can have it turn into a wristband or ring worn on your hand, or a necklace worn around your neck.”

Yang Tong and Feng Xiaobo each pricked their fingertips and let a drop of blood fall.

After the Fourth-grade Spiritual Artifact absorbed the blood, a voice sounded: “Identity confirmed. Connected to the Central Household Registration Management System. Recording complete. Ready for use.”

Simultaneously, Yang Tong and Feng Xiaobo received information transmitted from the Fourth-grade Spiritual Artifact itself, feeling a slight blood-connected sensation with the artifact.

The information recorded their ages, identities, genders, professions, birthplaces, and identity card codes. Following that, sub-information displayed their bank deposits as 100.00 Spirit Coins—this was for opening the account. Mercenary status: Level One Mercenary, with zero points. The cards also displayed their portraits.

“Alright, let’s begin the transaction now. Ten billion Spirit Coins and one hundred million mercenary points. How do you plan to split it?” Li Fangxin asked seriously.

“He gets six, I get four,” Feng Xiaobo replied.

“Good, I understand. Now hand the Earth Soul Crystal to me,” Li Fangxin said.

Yang Tong handed over the Earth Soul Crystal. At this point, there was no need to be petty; if they wanted to rob him, they would have done so already.

Li Fangxin took the item with trembling hands. He took out an unfamiliar set of equipment from the case and began verification. After a while, Li Fangxin smiled and said, “The item is verified and correct. It is indeed the Earth Soul Crystal. Congratulations. Now give me your cards; I’ll transfer the Spirit Coins and points into them.”

Li Fangxin took the cards from the two boys and retrieved a card-reader device from the case.

He inserted the two cards separately into the reader and began inputting information.

Two minutes later, Li Fangxin returned the cards to Feng Xiaobo and Yang Tong. “You can check them. If everything is in order, please sign this transaction contract, and the entire deal will be finalized.” Li Fangxin took out a contract; its contents were simple, just a summary of the transaction.

Receiving their cards, Yang Tong and Feng Xiaobo focused their minds, and the information entered their consciousness. Their bank deposits had indeed changed. Yang Tong now had six billion and ten Spirit Coins. His mercenary status changed to Level Eight Mercenary, with sixty million points.

The algorithm for mercenary levels was actually quite simple. Level One Mercenary was the lowest, starting from zero points. Ten points made one a Level Two Mercenary, one hundred points Level Three. One thousand for Level Four, ten thousand for Level Five, one hundred thousand for Level Six, one million for Level Seven, ten million for Level Eight, and one hundred million for Level Nine.

Feng Xiaobo was so happy he nearly jumped up. Four billion Spirit Coins! How to spend it, how to spend it? Goodness, happiness came too suddenly.

Yang Tong was also very excited deep down. Six billion Spirit Coins—this amount of wealth seemed enormous. With this money, his path to becoming a powerful expert could progress much faster, at least without worrying about resources.

In fact, six billion Spirit Coins could match the wealth of a Sky-Rank Expert. The Earth Soul Crystal was a heaven-sent treasure used by Void Ninth-level experts to break through to the Saint-level. Its value absolutely exceeded ten billion Spirit Coins. Its true worth was easily over a hundred times more than that number.