High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Lal looked at Song Chen and said calmly, "The Disciplinary Department just sent a message saying that you gained several million Qi and Blood in ten days. Tell me, what happened?"

"I know you have a secret. I knew it the last time we met."

"But I didn't press the issue that time. Everyone has their own opportunities, and I respect that."

"But to gain so much qi and blood in ten days, this rate of growth would be considered monstrous even at the Cangxing Alliance headquarters. I need an explanation."

After reviewing the reason he had prepared before coming, Song Chen said, "When I was in seclusion in the void, I encountered a stone."

"Stone?" Ral raised his eyebrows slightly.

Song Chen's expression remained calm as he continued, "After leaving Judgment Star, I found an abandoned star field to cultivate my swordsmanship in seclusion. However, not long after I landed, an energy fluctuation suddenly erupted from the depths of the rubble belt."

"What kind of energy fluctuations?"

"Pure white light with extremely high psionic density, but its waveform is unique, unlike any known psionic frequency band."

Song Chen began to weave according to her pre-designed ideas.

"I thought it was some kind of meteorite impact, so I used the void teleportation technique to jump over and see. When I got to the source of the fluctuation, I saw a stone floating in the void. It was silvery white all over, with natural patterns on its surface. The patterns were slowly flowing, just like it was alive."

Lal didn't speak, but he sat up slightly straighter.

Song Chen continued to fabricate without batting an eye: "When I got close, the rock suddenly glowed, and it resonated with my star core."

"I reached out and touched it, and the stone instantly turned into a ball of silver liquid that entered my body."

"and then?"

"And then it hurts." Song Chen said these words with great control over his facial muscles.

"The pain was very peculiar, as if every inch of bone and muscle was being forcibly reorganized."

"I was in a coma for a while, but I don't know exactly how long. It could have been a few minutes or a day."

"When I woke up, the stone was gone, and my blood and energy more than doubled."

Lal stared at him for a long time.

The psionic lights in the office automatically dimmed, casting dappled shadows on the shattered armor wreckage on the wall in the dim light.

Song Chen could feel Lal's mental energy scanning him back and forth, at least a dozen times.

Then Lars suddenly laughed, stood up, walked around the desk and stood in front of Song Chen.

"Interesting. The kind of stone you're talking about is silvery-white in appearance, with flowing natural patterns on its surface. It can resonate with the star core, and once it comes into contact with the body, it integrates into the body, instantly increasing physical strength and spiritual energy capacity."

"Do you know what this description is called in the official records of the League?"

Song Chen had actually already found this information in the database, but he still calmly replied, "I don't know."

"That's called Star Essence," Ral said, enunciating each word clearly.

"A natural psionic crystal that can only form under extreme conditions in the core region of a supernova explosion."

"Last time, a piece of Star Essence was sold at auction for 120,000 Cosmic Crystals."

Song Chen blinked. 120,000 cosmic crystals, is that expensive?

Seeing his expression, Lars's smile deepened.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you how big the rock is. Opportunity is a personal matter. If you're lucky enough to stumble upon it, that's your skill."

"However, Star Essence can only enhance physical strength, not explain your swordsmanship."

"Tell me, how did you break through in your swordsmanship?"

Song Chen was prepared: "Because of the battle on Jadeite No. 5."

"I killed many people in that battle; real combat is the best way to hone your skills."

"When I was in seclusion in the void after the war, I reviewed my insights from actual combat and found the key to breaking through the third level."

Lal didn't speak. He looked at Song Chen as if he were looking at a work of art that he thought he had figured out, but suddenly realized he hadn't figured out at all.

Then he threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound echoing in the office, the sound waves vibrating so that the minerals in the display case trembled slightly.

He stood up, walked to Song Chen's side, and patted Song Chen's shoulder heavily.

The force of that palm strike was immense. Song Chen felt his Eternal Body automatically activate, but even the self-healing response of the Eternal Body couldn't keep up with the impact of that palm strike.

Lal eased up, but not by much.

Lal looked down at him, his eyes full of joy: "Song Chen, you are even stronger than I imagined."

"You're not just talented, you're lucky too."

As he spoke, Lars held up two fingers.

"Talent and luck, these two things combined are what make a strong person."

"There are many talented people, but if you only have talent and no luck, you can only become an ordinary expert at best."

"There are many more people with good fortune, but without the support of talent, they can't handle the good fortune when it comes. You have both."

"A young man who has just broken through to the seventh rank can master the Star-Splitting Slash to the third level in just a few months and even stumble upon Star Essence in an abandoned star field. Such a thing would be criticized as unreasonable even in a novel, but it actually happened."

"So I decided to increase my investment."

Song Chen's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained calm: "Increase investment?"

Lal waved his hand: "You don't need to pay back the 1.2 million cosmic crystals that your home planet Blue Star owes the Alliance."

Song Chen was stunned, and this time he couldn't control his expression.

One million two hundred thousand cosmic crystals—this number once weighed heavily on everyone's back, making it hard to breathe.

When the mission left Earth, everyone was thinking about one thing: how to repay the money.

Now Lal says it doesn't need to be paid back.

Lal tapped the table with his finger: "I'll pay for this myself. I'll allocate it from my personal assets and transfer it directly to the Alliance's finance department account. I'll remove Blue Star from the list of debts in the subsidiary civilization directory."

"From now on, anyone from any civilization in the Milky Way who checks the records of Earth will no longer see the words 'outstanding debts'."

Song Chen opened his mouth, but Laer raised his hand to stop him.

"Don't thank me yet, I have something else for you."

He stood up and walked to the display case in the corner.

The semi-transparent door of the display case slid open silently, and Ral took out a silver-gray metal briefcase from inside.

Lal placed the box on the desk and pushed it in front of Song Chen.

"Open it and take a look."

Song Chen opened the box, inside was a set of battle armor.

At first glance, it appears as a mass of silver light compressed into a solid state.

The armor's surface shimmered with a luster somewhere between metal and liquid, and each joint was embedded with psionic patterns that were almost invisible to the naked eye, the patterns' direction precise to the nanometer level.

In the very center of the breastplate is a dark black crystal core the size of a fingernail. Inside the crystal core, something is slowly rotating, like a miniature galaxy.