Before meeting Su Ze, Xu Sheng’s career path had been anything but smooth.

He’d struggled at Evolutionary Technology for over a decade, still stuck as a minor shop manager in a small city like Heiyan City.

He used to think it was because of his unfortunate name. His parents had meant well when they named him "Sheng," hoping he would steadily rise through the ranks.

But his surname was Xu!

’Doesn’t "Xu" mean slow? "Xu Sheng" means "slowly rising." How could I ever get promoted quickly?’

Fortunately, he met a benefactor in Su Ze. After that, he was not only transferred to Dongli but also promoted to the position of regional director.

And now, with Su Ze making a name for himself in the Divine Dice, Evolutionary Technology was paying even more attention to him. Because Xu Sheng had always maintained a good business relationship with Su Ze, he had earned the appreciation of the corporation’s upper management.

You could say that as long as he continued his good cooperative relationship with Su Ze, he, Xu Sheng, could enjoy a meteoric rise without even lifting a finger as Su Ze’s power and status grew.

Xu Sheng, of course, understood this. That was why he always offered extremely favorable prices whenever he did business with Su Ze.

Earning a little less now was nothing. As long as Su Ze didn’t die, he was bound to become a major figure on the Lin Hua Continent. When that time came, even the scraps that fell from his fingertips would be more than enough for Xu Sheng to live on lavishly.

Xu Sheng understood a simple principle like that.

So when he took the pile of junk Su Ze handed him, he still offered the highest price he possibly could.

This time, Su Ze cleared out all the useless junk he had on him. Anything that could be sold for points, he sold to Evolutionary Technology.

The most valuable things he sold this time were several storage items. Each was worth millions of points. Su Ze kept two for backup and sold all the rest.

Storage items were actually quite rare. In the Divine Dice, it seemed like one in every two or three people had one, but that was because the trialists who could participate were the prodigies of various factions, all of whom were already rich or noble.

In reality, the vast majority of those in the Butterfly Stage didn’t have storage items. After all, a single storage item was as valuable as a tube of Tier 4, B-rank extract. People without deep pockets simply couldn’t afford one.

Even Mrs. Yun hadn’t owned a storage item before; Liou Wenxin had later used her contribution points to get one for her.

Although he now had a more suitable Storage Ring to wear, Su Ze still kept the original Storage Pendant. He’d gotten used to wearing it for so long, and besides, the pendant’s original owner was clearly someone of great importance.

The few storage items, plus a pile of miscellaneous evolution medicines he’d looted from corpses, sold for a total of over seven million points.

Adding the over one million points he already had, Su Ze’s Evolutionary Technology account now held a full nine million Evolutionary Technology Points!

If you included the value of his official Dongli Contribution Points, he was now a tycoon with liquid assets exceeding one hundred billion.

However, all of that combined still wasn’t enough to buy a single tube of Tier 4, S-rank extract.

Of course, the main issue was that he didn’t have enough money. If he had tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of Evolutionary Technology Points, he could definitely hire one of Evolutionary Technology’s Saint-level Venerable Powerhouses to hunt a Tier 4, S-rank xeno-beast for him.

Mr. Ya had also gained quite a lot in the Divine Dice this time. Between him and Su Ze, they had contributed over a hundred billion to Xu Sheng’s sales revenue.

Having closed another huge deal, Xu Sheng was grinning from ear to ear.

After a satisfying meal and drinks, the three left the restaurant. Su Ze and Mr. Ya then went to "contribute" all their other low-level Evolution Items to the Dongli authorities.

At this point, besides his nine million Evolutionary Technology Points, Su Ze also had over two million Dongli Contribution Points.

When they returned to the school, Liou Wenxin had just finished her conversation with Zhou Wenshan.

"Mr. Zhou is taking this very seriously. He’s already gone to see Mr. Gu personally." Liou Wenxin waved a stack of papers in her hand. "This is a list Mr. Zhou found for me. It records the final winners of the Divine Dice trials for the last hundred-plus years. For any information older than that, we’d have to access the Li Min Association’s archives."

"How does it look?" Su Ze asked.

Liou Wenxin knew what Su Ze was asking. She shook her head. "Not ideal."

With that, she handed the documents over. "See for yourself."

Su Ze took the documents. A quick glance revealed that the file not only contained the names of past Divine Dice trial champions, but some entries also included more detailed information, such as their identity, power level, and so on.

He carefully read through them from top to bottom.

The first name in the first row was "Su Ze." The second row was the winner from five years ago, a genius from a major family in Lin Hua Country.

However, this genius claimed not to have received a Bloodline Crystal as a reward.

Scanning further down, the most recent person to have received a Bloodline Crystal was the Shepherd King, twenty-five years ago.

Su Ze looked through the names after the Shepherd King one by one. For those with detailed information, each was stronger and held a higher status than the last.

By the end of the list, several names that were even familiar to Su Ze had appeared. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Keep in mind, Su Ze wasn’t very familiar with Lin Hua Country. For him to recognize a name, they had to be a renowned major figure in the nation.

Fortunately, on this list of about thirty people, only five claimed to have received a Bloodline Crystal reward, though it was possible others had hidden the fact.

Therefore, all thirty-plus people were suspected of having absorbed a Bloodline Crystal.

"What do the eight names marked in red mean?" Su Ze asked.

He had noticed that eight names on the list were marked in red and had no other information besides the name. One of them was even a recipient of a Bloodline Crystal.

"The ones marked in red are already dead," Liou Wenxin said.

Though it was a bit disrespectful, Su Ze subconsciously thought, ’It’s actually a good thing that a few of them died.’

’If they were all dead, I wouldn’t have to worry about some alien conspiracy... Of course, the handsome guy in the first row of the list should be spared.’

However, Liou Wenxin’s next words poured cold water on his thoughts.

"Dead doesn’t mean the problem is gone. Six of these eight people were still in the Butterfly Stage when they died, which means if they had a Bloodline Crystal, it has already fallen into someone else’s hands. Although the other two were Saint-level when they died, if they had a Bloodline Crystal in their bodies, it would precipitate out after death. It could also have been extracted by the Tainted. In short, a Bloodline Crystal won’t be destroyed; it will just be obtained by someone else.

"The living can still be investigated, but with the dead, we don’t even know who to investigate. It’s only more troublesome."

Su Ze scratched his head. "This is completely beyond our ability to handle. Even Mr. Gu and Mr. Zhou don’t have the power. This list is only from the last hundred years or so, and there are already several figures on it that we in Dongli can’t afford to offend. If we trace it back further, who knows who we’ll end up finding."

Liou Wenxin nodded. Knowing a great secret far beyond one’s own level was not a good thing; it would only bring them unnecessary worry and trouble.

She said, "Right now, the best thing to do would be to find someone who we can confirm has absorbed a Bloodline Crystal and check if their condition is normal. If it is, then things might not be as bad as we think.

"If a problem is really discovered, then our only choice is to report it to the Sovereign Country and let them clean their own house."

Su Ze nodded. "Mr. Ya and I have both absorbed Bloodline Crystals, and we’re fine, aren’t we? So maybe the problem isn’t as serious as we imagine."

Liou Wenxin suddenly said ominously, "And how can you be so sure that you’re fine?"

A jolt went through Su Ze. "Hey, don’t scare me like that."

Liou Wenxin chuckled. "Don’t worry. The Bloodline Crystals you and Mr. Ya absorbed were clearly special, and neither was firsthand. It’s normal for there to be no problem."

Just then, Liou Wenxin’s phone suddenly rang. She answered; it was a call from Zhou Wenshan.

"I’ve sent you a file. Take a look. As for that other matter, just pretend it never happened. Don’t investigate any further."

After saying that, Zhou Wenshan hung up.

Liou Wenxin frowned. She knew there had to be a reason for Zhou Wenshan’s sudden change in attitude, and that reason was likely hidden in the file he had just sent her.

Su Ze took a deep breath and walked over to Liou Wenxin’s side. Zhou Wenshan’s attitude only underscored the gravity of the situation.

Liou Wenxin opened the file she had just received on her phone. It was a list, recording the names of Divine Dice Trialists from the past three hundred years.

She quickly scrolled to the point around one hundred and fifty years ago and stopped, reading downwards from there.

The subsequent names made both of their brows furrow deeper and deeper. These were all major figures of the Lin Hua Continent, and some were even Venerable Powerhouses!

’Is this why Mr. Zhou gave up the investigation?’

However, when the two of them scrolled to the very bottom of the list and saw a certain name, Liou Wenxin’s hand trembled, and her phone slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor.

"Jiang Pingle... and he received a Bloodline Crystal."

Su Ze murmured the name, not reacting at first. It was just an ordinary name, though he had a vague feeling it sounded familiar.

"Jiang Pingle, Jiang Pingle..." Su Ze suddenly remembered something. His eyes widened to their absolute limit, the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably. He stiffly turned his head, looking to Liou Wenxin for confirmation. "Is it... *him*?"

Liou Wenxin numbly nodded.

The most powerful person on the Lin Hua Continent, the Sovereign of Lin Hua Country—Jiang Pingle!

Su Ze’s mind instantly became a tangled mess. He fumbled for the Tier 4 tobacco cigarettes Chen Suifeng had given him, lit one, and took a long, hard drag before he could barely calm himself down.

Before, he had thought Lin Hua Country was the safest place in the world. No matter if it was xeno-beasts or the Tainted, none of them would dare cause trouble in Lin Hua Country.

But now, he felt Dongli was a little safer.

If there really was a problem with the Bloodline Crystals, then the entire upper echelon of Lin Hua Country was probably corroded through like a sieve!

After all, for so many years, over ninety percent of the Divine Dice winners had come from Lin Hua Country.

No wonder... No wonder Mr. Zhou and the others didn’t dare investigate any further!

What was the point of investigating?!

With their meager strength, how could they dare to investigate the Sovereign himself?

They couldn’t even report this matter to the Sovereign Country. They could only take this secret to their graves and pretend nothing had happened.