Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 498 - 370: Attribute Selection

Qu Jianlei’s question left the two A-level individuals looking at each other in disbelief—does this guy not even know this?

However, it’s quite normal for ordinary people to be unaware of such relatively obscure information; no one can know everything.

Especially since this Panda is obviously a cultivation genius, he should be more focused on cultivation, and there’s no need to come into contact with much unnecessary knowledge.

But this also shows that his visit to the Old City Library was indeed not with any interest in ancient books; the organization’s judgment was mistaken this time.

As a decision-maker, Hilton could only offer a brief explanation again. The empire had indeed been vigorously recruiting Divine Text talent.

It is important to note that the word he used was "recruiting," not "cultivating."

Divine Text is so crucial that, from an information monopoly standpoint, the empire would never let too many people know about it.

Therefore, the method of large-scale cultivation, selecting outstanding individuals, and then advancing them, would be inappropriate.

If basic related information ever leaked into society, it would bring too much trouble for the empire.

Hence, the attitude toward Divine Text talent is: quietly recruit.

There will always be people with "extraordinary talent," including in linguistics, cryptography, and so on.

These individuals, once they exhibit their talents and attract the empire’s attention, will then enter the next stage of review processes.

The review includes not only one’s values, family history, loyalty to the empire, but also other considerations.

After the review, there are layer upon layer of tests; the details needn’t be elaborated. Only those who remain until the end will have contact with the Divine Text.

Because Divine Text is so important, there are not many Divine Text Documents on each planet.

The book kept in the Rare Books Tower doesn’t even have a copy in the City Library.

Only those who have undergone intensive Divine Text training can access the book’s copies, and whether or not to consult annotations is another matter...

Qu Jianlei nodded upon hearing this, "So this book is a fragment... also intentional by the empire?"

Such things are too easily judged; if Star No. 2 really produced any Divine Text geniuses, half a "Three Character Classic" would be enough.

If they want to delve further, they can only go to more core institutions of the empire.

Hilton hesitated for a moment before answering, "Star No. 2 is not high in the empire’s sequence, fragments... are not unexpected."

"Stingy," Qu Jianlei shook his head, finally dropping the topic.

Then he made another request, hoping the other party could help him procure some array materials.

Though the ancient book is fragmented, the list of array materials remains. Most materials are not difficult to purchase, though some are relatively expensive.

However, four materials are quite rare; they are not produced in this star realm, and Qu Jianlei is also unsure of the purchase channels.

He straightforwardly handed the task over to the Earth Scholar organization.

"There are two controlled materials," Hilton frowned slightly in difficulty, but did not refuse.

He was concerned about one point: "Will it be completed by others, or will you do it yourself?"

Qu Jianlei straightforwardly expressed, "This is our own matter, no need to trouble you any further."

Hilton’s mouth twitched slightly: this is the downside of transactions; if it were cooperation, the other party would be obligated to answer.

The final task was to hand over the new cultivation method to the other party.

Qu Jianlei made a sealed box himself, with a code lock and self-destruct capability, and placed the cultivation booklet inside.

As the saying goes, donning a robe makes a monk; even if it’s a second-hand sale, it’s essential to emphasize the packaging.

These two accepted the box and the code without opening it.

However, the dark-skinned man curiously asked, "What attribute is the cultivation technique you provided?"

Qu Jianlei answered solemnly, "Wind Attribute."

The dark-skinned man seemed slightly disappointed upon hearing that, "People who have awakened the Wind Attribute are few, why not one of the Five Major Attributes?"

Qu Jianlei leisurely responded, "Because I understand the Wind Attribute better; for the Five Major Attributes... your offer was a bit low."

Actually, the low offer was just one aspect; Qu Jianlei held a high level of vigilance against the Earth Scholar organization’s research capabilities.

The Fire Attribute has the "Magma Burst" technique, and the Earth Attribute has even more "Gravity Field;" these are all very rare.

He highly suspects that these techniques were self-developed by the other party.

In his homeland Divine Land, during the years of technological backwardness and blockade, there was a knack for "reverse engineering."

In his mind, an organization strong in R&D would certainly not be weak in cracking things.

Qu Jianlei did not wish to trade away a set of cultivation techniques only for the other party to crack into other attribute versions; that would be a one-time deal.

Therefore, he traded this mutated attribute first; if they wanted to adapt it to the other Five Major Attributes, it would not be easy.

Anyway, according to his plan, the improvement method for the Earth Attribute should be the last transaction.

With this, the transaction came to a close, and the dark-skinned man and Hilton stood up to take their leave.

Qu Jianlei did not lower his guard just because the transaction was completed. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

If the other party intended to lull him into carelessness only to strike back later, there were far too many such examples in Blue Star’s history.

On the fourth night, Hilton, alone, delivered the array materials.

The materials aren’t very expensive, just several thousand silver coins.

Qu Jianlei didn’t bargain and paid directly, but he couldn’t help but think: sitting around and watching the money run out day by day.

Hilton had already said goodbye, but turned back at the door, "Aren’t you going to ask how we rate your Cultivation Technique?"

Qu Jianlei actually wanted to ask, even though he was confident, hearing others praise it could still make him feel good.

However, he knew very well he couldn’t take the initiative to ask; whoever speaks first often becomes passive.

So he casually replied, "No need to ask, don’t I already know the quality of what I brought out?"

"To be honest, it’s hard to find Wind Attribute Warriors quickly; recruiting a few more for testing is quite difficult."

Fair is fair, he didn’t mean to mock them; conducting tests requires a base number of people.

But Hilton caught the hint of belittling in his words and couldn’t help but retort.

"We’re not short of Wind Attribute Warriors in the organization, it’s just that not everyone can participate in tests; we also have people researching Cultivation Techniques..."

Halfway through speaking, he abruptly stopped, feeling a bit frustrated that he had carelessly exposed the organization’s secrets.

I knew it! Qu Jianlei shook his head, "It’s responsible to be somewhat skeptical on your part."

Hilton, seeing Qu Jianlei didn’t mind, actively asked, "So, about the Five Major Attributes, are there new Cultivation Methods?"

Qu Jianlei looked at him indifferently and didn’t answer.

"Alright," Hilton shrugged, knowing what the other was waiting for, "everyone rates the new Cultivation Method quite well."

Saying this practically meant letting the other party set the price, but did he really have a choice?

Qu Jianlei smiled, "Just quite well? If it’s the Five Major ones... you’d better be able to pay the appropriate reward."

By now, Hilton didn’t want to negotiate any rewards, thinking someone else would eventually do it.

What he cared about more was, "So, regarding the Five Major Attributes... there are new Cultivation Methods?"

Qu Jianlei simply smiled without speaking, and after a while he said, "Wait until you have enough bargaining chips to ask about that."

Still looking down on us! Hilton left angrily, with a belly full of resentments.

He didn’t realize he’d placed the organization in a relatively weak position, hence his anger.

In the days that followed, Qu Jianlei gradually relaxed his guard and lazily worked while goofing off.

After work, apart from cultivation, he diligently studied Array knowledge.

Unfortunately, the Array knowledge provided by the Earth Scholar organization was still a bit limited, often requiring him to guess.

The peaceful days passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had gone by.

This day happened to be a holiday, and in the evening was Teng Wenli’s young daughter Teng Pingping’s fifteenth birthday banquet.

Approaching evening, Qu Jianlei tidied up his room and changed into more formal attire.

Neighborhood gatherings usually involved casual attire, but a fifteenth birthday party emphasized ceremony.

At this moment, someone pressed the doorbell, and it was none other than the younger sister, Sofia.

She was carefully dressed, wearing luxurious and meticulous attire suitable for a formal banquet.

With delight in her eyes, she said, "At such formal banquets, you need a female companion... and luckily, you don’t have one!"

Need a female companion? Qu Jianlei truly didn’t know that, spending so much time indoors and being straightforward, he never paid attention to these things.

From the time Rose was rescued, Sofia had been coming over occasionally, evidently with some thoughts in mind.

Qu Jianlei wasn’t very polite to her either, strictly forbidding her to come to the library to find him, so she often came to his place.

He ignored her twice, but it was futile, and eventually he just didn’t bother.

Everyone has the right to pursue a better life, and as long as he believed he hadn’t sent any wrong signals, it was up to her.

Today she insisted on being his companion, so Qu Jianlei didn’t refuse.

Not to be an "indifferent" man, but because some things really do require relying on these local people.

The previous time he went to another black market, it was the two sisters who helped him pave the way.

Just as the two were about to set off for Teng Wenli’s house, unexpected guests arrived.

Hilton came with a young alluring woman, a B-level Water Attribute Warrior.

As soon as Qu Jianlei saw Hilton, he was a little annoyed, "I’ve said several times already, I won’t be providing new Cultivation Methods anytime soon."

Knowing that he could bring out other Cultivation Methods, their harassment never ceased.

They knew Granny Jia was always looking for the thief, so they didn’t dare visit the library.

Seeing he was impatient, Hilton wasn’t bothered — after all this time, he was used to it.

He pointed to the B-level woman and cheerfully said, "This is Ms. Xiang Xue, a rare genius, and she’s looking for you."

Xiang Xue nodded with a smiling face, greeting warmly yet confidently, "Hello, I’ve heard a lot about Panda’s reputation."

"Hello," Qu Jianlei casually nodded, then turned to Hilton, "Is she... a relative of Supreme?"