Chapter Five: Redemption and the Main City

Bathed in a shaft of light, Sun Meng felt his body suddenly lighten, his vision went black, and in the next instant, he found himself in a different place. Even his clothes had changed, now replaced by a set of modern attire—long sleeves, the kind one would wear indoors during autumn. Although the first disaster had passed, its aftereffects lingered, causing a significant drop in the global average temperature—a development that, ironically, resolved the major issue of global warming.

Glancing around, he found himself in what appeared to be a spherical, enclosed space. He stood at the only illuminated spot within, with a glowing screen overhead.

“Earth Civilization Contestant, third overall round completed. Comprehensive evaluation: A+. Points awarded: 3,000. Personal reward: pending selection. Planetary reward: pending selection. Exchange Mall is now open. Please note: once you complete your exchanges, you will be transferred out of this intermediary space into the Main City, and you will not be able to return until the end of the next mission. There is no time limit for your stay in this space, but time does flow here.”

After the scrolling subtitles finished, the interface switched to a new screen. Five main options appeared: Personal Information, Personal Space, Civilization Mall, Mission Rewards, Exchange Mall. Sun Meng first opened Personal Information, mainly to check his physical stats. He quickly realized this was different from the data-centric main god spaces he’d read about; since he represented the entire Earth, his baseline physical attributes were directly set to the current human peak on Earth.

According to the system’s evaluation, this was classified as late Stage One, with a total of nine stages, each divided into four phases.

In his Personal Space, besides the Compendium of Talismans, there was now an exquisitely crafted longsword—the very one he’d acquired from the Lin ancestral home. It was rated as mid Stage One. Item grades matched those of personal strength, so it was serviceable, but nothing more.

The Civilization Mall contained all things originating from Earth, and although everything required points to purchase, prices were much cheaper here than for equivalent items in the Exchange Mall.

He then opened Mission Rewards and chose Planetary Reward first. Task clear evaluations had five major ranks: S, A, B, C, D, each with three sub-levels, for a total of fifteen tiers. Major rank determined the reward ceiling, sub-level the guaranteed minimum. Each time, five reward options were offered—choose one.

The reward multiplier increased with the task world’s grade: each major rank added one corresponding sub-level. An A rank, with four added sub-levels, raised the cap from peak Stage One to peak Stage Two!

This news thrilled people across Earth who witnessed the result. Once the system finished its notification, they could resume watching, but only citizens of the contestant’s country could send live comments and communicate with the contestant.

He opened the five options in turn: a peak-innate spiritual spring, 1,000 spiritual rice seeds, 100 cubic meters of spiritual soil, 1,000 people with innate constitutions, a global early-innate spiritual energy rain.

The excitement was palpable; these rewards signaled the dawn of the cultivation era on Earth! According to the system, Earth retained a faint spiritual energy environment, barely reaching mid Stage One after two disasters. In such an environment, unless supporting only a few hundred people, it was impossible to produce innate-level beings, let alone elevate civilization’s grade. Had Sun Meng’s mission world been technology-based, it wouldn't matter, but since it was cultivation-based, Earth’s civilization would have to shift direction.

Sun Meng himself favored a cultivation civilization, and felt this was for the best—after all, an Eastern-style cultivation system might give his homeland some advantage.

As he pondered his choice, comments appeared on the screen.

"Contestant, please choose either Spiritual Energy Rain or Innate Body."

Sun Meng glanced at the comment. "Why?"

He didn’t think these were the best suggestions. The former, being global, would merely raise Earth’s spiritual energy to late Stage One—enough for ordinary postnatal cultivation. However, after the last mutation, Earth’s animals had developed some spiritual awareness; globally increasing spiritual energy might restrict human activity zones.

Did they plan a missile barrage to clear the way first?

As for the Innate Body, he wasn’t sure if he could allocate the quotas himself, but suspected it might result in these individuals awakening nascent innate abilities.

If it were up to him, he’d prefer the first option. The appearance of a spiritual spring would automatically nourish the surrounding land and plants, improving the environment and raising spiritual energy concentration. As long as the spring wasn’t drained too quickly, it would be an inexhaustible resource.

"Contestant, you must consider the national situation. We can't put ourselves at odds with other countries."

Another comment appeared. Sun Meng thought it had merit; after all, Earth was not unified, and China could not dominate the globe.

He could grant the benefits solely to China, but what kind of outside pressure would that bring? Some countries and forces hardly played by the rules, and he had no way to punish them.

The system did not intervene in internal civilization struggles; otherwise, China wouldn’t need to make such choices.

In the end, Sun Meng chose the Innate Body, and as he expected, a distribution chart appeared, dividing Earth into four major regions by latitude and longitude.

He ultimately chose: 55% to the northeast, 25% to the northwest, and the remaining two regions got 10% each.

Next was his personal reward: an A-rank meant four draws out of ten options.

He received: Mastery of Basic Swordsmanship, ten years of refined inner energy, a three-hundred-year-old ginseng, one Insight into Innate Cultivation (card), and Mastery of Hidden Weapons Techniques.

The ginseng and cultivation insight were stored directly in his inventory; the others merged seamlessly into his body, fully integrated with system assistance, with no negative side effects.

He then noticed that on his personal attribute panel, Basic Swordsmanship, Hidden Weapons Techniques, and Basic Inner Energy Cultivation could be exchanged for points to benefit Earth.

Of the three, the Inner Energy Cultivation method was most valuable, worth 500 points; the other two only 100 each.

Sun Meng opened the Exchange Mall, which included items from any world Earth’s contestants had experienced.

He immediately found the Maoshan Daoist cultivation method. After reading the description, he realized there was no incompatibility for him; all systems were, essentially, manifestations of energy transformation.

However, for Earth’s people, there would be some differences. Fortunately, what he’d obtained was an inner energy cultivation method, not an internal force method.

The former included breathing exercises, integrating inner and outer. The latter relied mainly on converting nutrients absorbed by the body into energy, so internal force cultivators needed to eat vast amounts, their robust blood energy impossible to conceal.

Only upon reaching the innate realm could one connect with the world’s spiritual energy and convert internal force into true qi. For inner energy cultivation, no active conversion was required; upon clearing the Ren and Du meridians, it would gradually purify into true qi.

Maoshan Daoist cultivation basics also included spiritual cultivation methods, something basic martial arts training could not touch. Coupled with the legacy from the high-ranking contestant in his inventory, Sun Meng unhesitatingly spent 1,000 points to purchase the basic Maoshan Daoist method, then another 500 for talisman paper and ritual implement blanks.

He next redeemed medical skills—from the Laughing Proudly world, a top-level art—for 200 points. Earth’s own medical knowledge cost only 100 points, so combining the two, in any world below Stage Three, he could claim to be a top doctor.

He also exchanged swordsmanship, hidden weapons, and inner energy methods. After some thought, he redeemed the complete national martial body training method from the first world—a fundamental physique refinement technique by system standards.

He kept the remaining 500 points.

Leaving the space, in the next moment he appeared in a room.

The system indicated he was now in his own room within the Main City. No fighting was allowed in the Main City, and in one’s personal room, unless permitted by the owner, no person, item, or method could enter or detect what happened within.

"Contestant, you have one month until your next assigned mission. During this period, food and drink in your room are free."

Sun Meng breathed a sigh of relief. The screen once again filled with comments from Earth’s viewers. He smiled, and said, "Well then, let me take you all outside to see what the Main City looks like!"