There was only one gift Ling Jiu could give to his sister, and that was arcanas.
When Ling Jiu told her he had a Bestowment Arcana, and let her choose an arcana, she was shocked. But soon, she made her choice.
“I want the arcana that you just used to swallow the Insectoids.”
“Devourer?” Ling Jiu cocked an eyebrow.
“Yes, yes! It is Devourer!”
She nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining. “This arcana is so powerful. It looks so badass to swallow so many Insectoids in one go.”
“Devourer is indeed powerful, but this arcana and the Inner World come in a package. Only if you have Inner World first and Devourer can work the best,” Ling Jiu said.
“Inner World?” Yang Linger was stunned.
“I will give you Inner World, and you will understand what this arcana is.”
Ling Jiu smiled and then performed his Bestowment Arcana. “Installing the arcana may hurt a little. So bear with it.”
“Okay.”
Yang Ling’er successfully installed Inner World half an hour later. She understood what her brother meant all of a sudden when she looked at the vast world that appeared in her body.
She also understood that her brother had devoured the giant bugs and stored them in that place just now.
“You are right, Ling Jiu. Devourer will not perform the best without Inner World.”
“Absolutely.”
Ling Jiu let out a slight smile. “Inner world is a very magical space. It can convert all the things you swallow into the purest energy. I just swallowed a large number of Insectoids, and they all were converted into vitality and a small amount of dark bio-energy. It can not only strengthen my physical body but also improve my cultivation base—killing two birds with one stone. The only thing when you swallow too much vitality…”
He first explained to her the function of Inner World. At last, he said, “My Bestowment Arcana also has a cooldown period, which is two months each time. When I can use it next time, I will give my Devourer to you.”
“Okay.” Yang Ling’er nodded.
“And these.”
Ling Jiu took out a Seven-colored Rainbow Flame and the Long River. “These are the two Treasures of Heaven and Earth that I obtained while I was in the matriculation camp. You may use them.”
“I can’t take them, Ling Jiu,” Yang Ling’er quickly declined.
“Take them. You should take it. Your brother, I, is a stellar big boss, who is above Level-Ten Arcanist. Such Treasures of Heaven and Earth are no longer useful to me.” Ling Jiu said.
“You are amazing, Ling Jiu.” Yang Linger had an admiring look on her face.
“I am.”
Ling Jiu touched his nose. “After solving the direbeast crisis, you may follow me to practice. I promise you will also become a stellar boss in a few days.”
“Really?” Yang Ling’er’s eyes lit up.
“When have I ever lied to you?” Ling Jiu let out a cocky smile.
“Thank you, Ling Jiu.”
“Brother Ling Jiu.” While the siblings were talking, Yuan Hua, Wei Zhang, and Bai Guixiang came over. “We just reported the situation here to the higher-ups. They decided to hold a meeting immediately. Chairman Emperor Might invites you to attend. So…”
“The high-level meeting? Now?” Ling Jiu was stunned. “Where is the meeting held?”
“Please come with us, Brother Ling.”
…
Yuan Hua and the others brought Ling Jiu into the air, then kept ascending until they reached a few hundred meters above Bao’an Base City.
Ling Jiu looked around with confusion. Was this the place where the high-level meeting was held?
Yuan Hua and the other two took out a Mind Helmet at this time. Wei Zhang and Bai Guixiang each wore a Mid Helmet, while Yuan Hua handed his to Ling Jiu.
“This is a Mind Helmet, Brother Ling. Wearing this and you will enter the high-level meeting in a virtual conference hall. Every arcanist above Level-Ten will get such a set of gear by right, showing that one is qualified to be among the high-ups,” Yuan Hua explained. “But because you hid your combat strength, you didn’t manage to get your own set. So you use mine.”
“No wonder.”
Ling Jiu did not decline. After putting on the helmet, he fell into a trance and his consciousness was drawn into a conference hall.
A solemn and majestic atmosphere greeted him in an instant. Despite being a stellar being, Ling Jiu still felt nervous.
After a closer look, he saw familiar and unfamiliar faces sitting in the conference hall. Almost all eyes were on him.
“Welcome here, Brother Ling.”
An enthusiastic voice spoke. Ling Jiu turned his head and looked over and saw a brawny bald man grinning at him.
Ling Jiu knew this person. His name was Vulcan, the chairman of the Vulcan Arcana Combine.
“Hello, Brother Vulcan.” Ling Jiu hurriedly said hello.
“I had expected that you would sit here one day, Brother Ling, but I didn’t expect that it would be so fast.”
Vulcan was very enthusiastic, but there was a look of mixed feeling on his face.
“It has not been long since we last met, and now you have become a stellar being and so powerful. You make old guys like us look as if our life has been a waste.”
“Exactly.”
“Brother Ling’s self-cultivation speed is so fast, nothing short of amazing. You are the first person in the history of Earth to have achieved such a feat.”
“Absolutely.”
The other people in the conference hall echoed with emotion.
“All right. Calm down, people.”
Emperor Might let out a smile. “This is Ling Jiu’s first time attending a high-level meeting. So please control yourselves, lest all of you scare him with your overenthusiasm.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
“Let me first introduce, Ling Jiu,” Emperor Might said. “There are one hundred and nine people present at the meeting today. Thirty-nine of them are stellar beings, and the other seventy are the heads of the world’s major powers.”
It did not take Emperor Might long before he finished introducing them one by one. Ling Jiu now understood the composition of the higher-ups.
To put it simply, the key members of the higher-ups are the head of the major powers. After all, they represent their respective country and are naturally considered the head of humans.
Thirty years ago, there were over two hundred countries on Earth. But many smaller and weaker countries no longer existed since the rise of the direbeasts.
There were currently 100 countries on Earth that could be considered as a country. Of these 100 countries, over 20 of them were too weak to be recognized.
So there were only 70 countries counted as the higher-ups of humanity.
Also, as long as a person became a stellar being, he or she would be one of the higher-ups of humanity and qualified to take part in the high-level meeting.
This was understandable. Every stellar being was a nuclear weapon in human form. It was entirely reasonable to say that such a person was the patron of humanity.
So a stellar being was also eligible to be among the higher-ups of humanity.
“All right, the introduction is over. The meeting shall officially begin.” Emperor Might’s smile faded. “We have discussed the Insectoid army many times, and I am not going to repeat the same thing. Today, we will only have one agenda on the table, that is to counterattack.”
Everyone nodded.
“Previously, this Insectoid army dived into the deep sea and disappeared without a trace. We have to guard this here and there, our forces are too dispersed and exhausted, which has led to a series of tragedies in Vancouver, Sydney, and other base cities,” Emperor Might said solemnly. “It turns out that this approach is wrong. We couldn’t even protect a base city with our forces dispersed. Bao’an Base City would have fallen if it weren’t for Ling Jiu.”
Everyone remained silent.
Emperor Might was telling the truth. All stellar beings and arcanists had been dispersed to protect the major coaster base cities.
And the result was,
A large base city had one to two stellar beings, and a mega base city had three to four stellar beings. Top combat forces were widely distributed, which eventually led to the fall of dozens of mega and large base cities such as Sydney Base City and Los Angeles Base City.
“What can we do even though we know it is a mistake?”
Vulcan said helplessly. “Should we let it ride, or stick together in one base city to expect another round of Insectoid attack?”
“In that case, who can guarantee that the Insectoid army will attack the base city we guard? What if we make a wrong bet and the Insectoids attack other coastal base cities?”
“Exactly.”
“We can do nothing about it.”
“This is the most hateful thing about the Insectoid army. They hide deep in the Pacific Ocean, coming and going without a trace. Their attacks are highly random with no pattern to follow. We can only scatter our forces. Sticking together will only make things worse.”
“Damn those bugs!”
Others gritted their teeth.
“Indeed, we could do nothing about them before this. But now…” Li Huang looked at Ling Jiu all of a sudden. “When the Insectoid army invaded, I consulted you, Brother Ling. It turned out that it was a duplicate of you, and it only had eighty to ninety percent of your strength. So it couldn’t help much. Now that you are back, I want to ask you again.”
The others also looked at Ling Jiu.
“I am all ears.” Ling Jiu straightened his body.
“I know you have Dimensional Arcana and can open wormholes.” There was a light in Emperor Might’s eyes. “Do you have a way to bring us into the dimensional fissure at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean?”
“You mean the dimensional fissure from where the Insectoid army emerged?” Ling Jiu asked.
“That’s correct.” Emperor Might nodded slightly. “That dimensional fissure differs from an ordinary one. It is also different from ordinary wormholes. It seems to have biometric identification functions.”
“Biometric identification functions?” Ling Jiu was startled. “I didn’t know there was such a dimensional fissure.”
“Yes, there is.” Emperor Might nodded slightly. “As we all know, all Insectoid army come out from that dimensional fissure at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. If we want to destroy the Insectoid army, the best way is, of course, to destroy its lair, or the dimensional fissure. This is the only way to burn the bridges of the Insectoid army.”
Ling Jiu nodded slightly.
“So we have checked out the dimensional fissure. But what frustrates us is, the dimensional fissure only allows the Insectoid army to pass through while other objects cannot complete the crossing. It is like a barcode in a supermarket, where you must scan the barcode to pass.” Emperor Might looked helpless. “There is nothing we can do if we can’t pass through that dimensional fissure. We can’t even destroy that dimensional fissure, let alone wipe out the Insectoid lair.”
“I can’t believe that there is still such a dimensional fissure.” Ling Jiu was in disbelief. “I have never entered that dimensional fissure before, so I can’t promise that I can take all of you in. I need to check it out first before making any conclusion.”
“Since this is the case, let’s waste no time and do it.” Emperor Might said. “Are you in Bao’an Base City now? If so, give me a moment while I will head over there to meet you, and then we will go to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean together.”
“I will go with you, for safety’s sake.”
Vulcan said. “There are a few huge and nasty bugs guarding that dimensional fissure. They are vicious. There is safety in numbers.”
“Very well.”
