And so it was.
For most people, the range of benefits Su Mengyao had laid out for joining the Celestial Pivot Bureau would have sounded genuinely appealing. For Ye Xuan, none of it held any pull.
First, he didn't need money. Although his parents had divorced and each had gone on to build a new family, they had never neglected him financially. His monthly allowance was no less than a million yuan, and if he needed more, it was available.
Second, because he wasn't short of money, things like housing allocation and healthcare coverage were meaningless to him. As for family wellbeing, short of times of extreme crisis, people with resources generally got along fine in most circumstances. There was nothing there for Ye Xuan to worry about.
The part at the end, though, about the National Research Institute studying Spiritual Energy, did stir a small flicker of interest. He did look forward to a future in which Xia Nation had developed complete cultivation systems including alchemy, smithing, and talisman-crafting. But that brought him back to the original principle.
With the system in hand, he wouldn't be short of cross-dimensional treasures going forward. Which meant he could obtain those things himself through fishing, without needing to go through any state channel.
"If you're not willing to join the Bureau directly, you could choose to work with us as a cooperating party." Su Mengyao offered.
"Under a cooperative arrangement, the basic benefits would still be provided, things like housing, healthcare, and support for your family. Funding, however, you would need to manage yourself."
"We release tasks daily. You can take and complete them to earn points, then exchange those points at the Bureau for whatever you want."
"At the moment there isn't much available beyond some current technology products, but more will be added over time."
"Medicinal compounds, divine instruments, cultivation manuals, and even cross-dimensional treasures like Devil Fruits may eventually be included."
On this point, Su Mengyao was fairly confident. The pace at which the state gathered cross-dimensional treasures was naturally different from what an individual could manage. Some of the rarer ones might remain out of reach, but something like a Devil Fruit, where the difficulty was relatively lower, was still obtainable, even if the cost was steep.
Of the twenty-three Devil Fruit users in Xia Nation, ten were members of the Celestial Pivot Bureau. Depending on the ability, prices varied considerably. Excluding the unidentified varieties, the lowest price started at one hundred million, and that was in yuan, not yen.
Even at those prices, they were frequently snatched up by other departments. Those people really had no shame. Did they not understand how important the Celestial Pivot Bureau was?
"Cooperating... that's fine."
"But I won't be handing over the carcasses of any mutant creatures I hunt, and I have no need for points."
"Are those terms acceptable?"
Ye Xuan had no interest in Su Mengyao's promises, but he was genuinely curious about mutant creatures. He had read online that their meat tasted exceptional, and that eating it produced a tangible sense of physical nourishment.
At present, the Spiritual Energy concentration on Blue Star was still low. When it came to cultivation, even though the techniques from the Wangquan Baye template could be practiced, the rate of progress wouldn't be optimal. If the flesh and blood of mutant creatures could accelerate that process, he wasn't going to pass that up.
But Hangzhou was a vast city. There was no telling where mutant creatures might surface. If the Celestial Pivot Bureau could feed him their locations, that would be genuinely useful. The points were irrelevant to him. They served no purpose.
"..."
"Agreed."
What else could Su Mengyao say?
Did Ye Xuan really think so little of everything the Bureau had to offer?
Mutant creature meat did contain a fair amount of Spiritual Energy and could strengthen the body to a limited degree, but before the Spiritual Energy Tide arrived, with concentrations as low as they currently were, the effect was modest. Was it really worth forgoing the points over that?
Once the contract was signed, Su Mengyao felt a quiet sense of relief. At the very least, the young man now had some form of connection with the Celestial Pivot Bureau. Her task was complete.
Something then occurred to her, and she offered a reminder before leaving.
"Regarding school, you're free to attend or not, as you choose."
"We would ideally like those with your level of talent to spend every moment growing stronger, but we also understand the value of knowledge."
"So the decision is entirely yours."
"As for university, you have nothing to worry about. You can enter any institution you want."
"As a cross-world character template holder, you have that privilege."
When exactly the Spiritual Energy Tide would arrive remained unknown. In the meantime, the Celestial Pivot Bureau hoped that talented individuals would grow as strong as possible so that they had the ability to protect themselves. If they could also protect others when disaster came, that was better still, though the Bureau wasn't making it a requirement.
At the same time, they understood that knowledge mattered. Whether it was a personal ability or a cross-dimensional treasure, developing it to a higher level required more than imagination. It required understanding.
Not knowing which path was better, they had decided to leave the choice to each individual.
In Su Mengyao's personal view, unless someone had a truly exceptional aptitude for formal study, there wasn't much to be gained from spending too much time in school. For developing an ability, the Bureau could arrange for leading specialists in the relevant fields to be brought in, designing a dedicated program for that person specifically.
If a person was forced to sit through lessons that didn't register, that was wasted time with no gain in strength. And even if they studied conscientiously, unless they were exceptionally gifted, they couldn't possibly match the level of expertise a specialist brought in by the Bureau could offer.
As for the certificate itself, that was even simpler to arrange. The relevant institutions could be asked to issue one. With the status that came with being an ability user, wherever they went, they would be treated as someone significant. No one would refuse. Especially after the Spiritual Energy Tide arrived.
"Understood."
Ye Xuan nodded. He had anticipated this from the moment he decided to show his strength earlier.
It was a little unfortunate that he couldn't enjoy showing off at school for longer right after getting his system, but if he was required to attend classes every day, complete assignments, and sit through examinations on a fixed schedule, he probably wouldn't be willing to keep that up indefinitely either. If he genuinely wanted to learn, studying at home was just as effective. High school and university materials were widely available online. If he felt too idle to manage it himself, he could always arrange private tutoring at home.
It was simply a matter of what he chose.
Su Mengyao left with the contract. Both she and Ye Xuan understood perfectly well that a paper contract could not bind someone who was truly powerful, but this nation had a "god" who held the keeping of contracts as a supreme principle.
That was a good thing, good for Xia Nation and good for Ye Xuan. Facing the chaos that was coming, maintaining stable order was an extraordinarily difficult task. But thanks to Elder Zhong's presence, Xia Nation had managed it.
That was likely the reason Elder Zhong had been put forward publicly and so much of his information revealed. Xia Nation needed a figure capable of holding back every ability user and cross-dimensional treasure holder in check.