But he wasn't done yet.
With a thought from Bai Xiaodu, a ghostly, pale arm quickly materialized before him.
Then, Bai Xiaodu simply sat back down in his chair.
The fingers of the Mage Hand danced as a spell rune coalesced in its palm.
Swirls of pale green wind began to rotate. The stool that had been knocked over to the side was set upright again, and the scattered papers were gathered and stacked back in order, sheet by sheet.
He even used the wind to sweep all the dust and tiny bits of trash on the floor into a pile, lifted the lid of the trash can with a gust of air, and dumped the garbage inside with perfect precision.
Having finished all of this, he sat in the neat and tidy office.
Bai Xiaodu snapped his fingers and crossed his legs.
“What do you think of my spell control?”
Xin Hai'an held the drawing made of layered ice crystals, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
“Your control is even stronger than I imagined. A Magic Apprentice could never reach this level. You're more like an official Transcendent.”
This guy really knew his stuff.
Suppressing her surprise, Xin Hai'an shifted to another question.
“Even though your seemingly most basic 【Mage Hand】 hasn't reached the Proficient rank yet, with another week or two of practice, it should be close.”
“Next is ascending to an official Transcendent. Have you decided on which Pathway of that deity you want to take?”
Bai Xiaodu answered without hesitation.
“The 【Spellcasting】 Pathway of the 【Mage Emperor】. If nothing goes wrong, I will ascend to a Warlock Transcendent through this Pathway.”
Xin Hai'an nodded in approval.
“Mages and Warlocks are both powerful spellcasters. One relies on the Intelligence attribute, while the other relies on the Charm attribute.”
“Given your current Intelligence... the choice you've made is very correct.”
Ignoring Bai Xiaodu's reddening face, Xin Hai'an thought for a moment and pressed further.
“Though it does surprise me. Are you part hamster? How did you slowly gather all the materials for the ascension ceremony yourself? These things are extremely expensive, and if I recall correctly, your family's financial situation isn't great.”
Xin Hai'an found him harder and harder to read.
When her friend had first brought her Bai Xiaodu's headshot, she found him quite pleasing to the eye, so she had naturally investigated his background.
He was penniless, just a poor soul struggling at the very bottom of the Federation's society.
She hadn't expected that after knowing him for only a few weeks,
Bai Xiaodu seemed to have undergone a complete transformation, constantly shattering her preconceptions.
Now, he was even fully prepared for the ascension ceremony, about to step into the Federation's official Transcendent class.
If he succeeded, it would be a literal leap over the dragon's gate. He would no longer belong to the mortal realm where anyone could bully him.
Xin Hai'an felt a sudden wave of emotion.
His long-accumulated power, previously hidden in obscurity, was now breaking through the soil like a fresh sprout at the perfect moment.
Whether met with torrential rain or roaring thunder, nothing would be able to withstand his vibrant, almost overflowing vitality.
How wonderful it was to witness the rise of such a person with her own eyes.
Composing herself, Xin Hai'an decided to give him a hand.
She was curious to see just how far Bai Xiaodu could grow in the future.
“Most of your ritual materials were probably bought from the market or the black market, right?”
“If you're missing some rarer items, you can just tell me. I can help you find them free of charge.”
Bai Xiaodu's eyes sparkled.
“Really? That's amazing!”
“I'm just short of a few things. Can you help me find 100 grams each of core materials from wind, ice, and spirit element monsters? They must be from high-grade beasts that truly represent the elements themselves, like pure elemental constructs or something. Then, I need 100 milliliters of fresh, non-Transcendent hero's blood—ideally drawn directly during my ceremony. And finally, just grab me a Rank 0.9 alien captive so I can beat him up once a day for three consecutive days, and then I'll just kill him to finish the ritual.”
Bai Xiaodu quickly bowed.
“I'll thank you in advance, Lady Xin Hai'an—”
“Get out.”
A faint blue vein popped on Xin Hai'an's forehead.
She wasn't a fool, nor was she that easy to trick.
He was basically asking her to cover the entire thing!
“Then what exactly have you prepared yourself? You have absolutely nothing, yet you're so confident that you'll become a Transcendent and get into Tiannan Star Military University!”
“Just acquiring these materials is a massive headache. Blue Star doesn't produce any of them, so shipping alone would cost hundreds of thousands. To get everything, you're looking at three million at the very least.”
“Not to mention a Rank 0.9 alien. Where am I supposed to get one for you? Shipping them fully intact from a combat planet is another fortune, and when they would even arrive depends entirely on your luck!”
Bai Xiaodu scratched his head.
He was only joking...
He hadn't actually expected Xin Hai'an to prepare a complete ritual for him anyway.
Next, he would still have to make his move on Director-General Shen.
That mysterious woman with silver hair, blue eyes, and a penchant for wearing business suits.
She always acted warm and caring toward her juniors, yet she always presented options that she wanted you to choose.
There was never any force; whether you did it or not was entirely up to you.
But did he have a choice?
Not at all!
As his strength slowly grew, Bai Xiaodu suddenly realized: was he currently nothing more than a cog in someone else's grand scheme?
Perhaps this person from the machine civilization was also in need of a Rank 0.9 alien Transcendent?
When the time came, it wouldn't be a matter of him hiding away and refusing to choose.
It would be a life-or-death duel with absolutely no room for negotiation!
Bai Xiaodu shrugged, putting on a casual front.
“Director-General Shen will help me. She's a very kind senior, and I'm willing to trust her judgment.”
Xin Hai'an immediately countered.
“You barely have any connection with her. Why would she help you?”
“If you lined up everyone from the 【Autocracy】 faction against a wire fence and mowed them down with a machine gun, you wouldn't find a single innocent corpse.”
“Bai Xiaodu, don't let yourself be used by her.”
“But I don't have a choice. Besides being used, does someone like me have any other value?”
Xin Hai'an fell silent.
She looked at him with a complex expression. She wanted to say something, but swallowed her words back down. Only after a long while did she speak.
“You really are something else...”
“Forget it, forget it. Do as you please. But if you really need help, you can come to me.”
Bai Xiaodu's expression turned serious. He replied with absolute sincerity.
“Thank you.”
Rate on N.U.
