About two hours later,Xia Li dressed himself with deep satisfaction, then, feeling more than a little guilty, stepped outside the break room, leaned against the wall, lit a spirit cigarette, and began contemplating life.At that mont, Xia Li fully understood that when a man got worked up, he really did stop caring about much else.He considered himself soone with excellent self-control.It was just that the other party had been asking for it far too hard.How had he actually gone through with it?Only after another half hour passed did Yagyu Chihaya finally erge from the break room, one hand on her stomach and the other braced against the wall.She had clearly showered already, but there still lingered a hard-to-describe scent around her."You're really not human. You actually went through with it on . Weren't you the one who said before that you absolutely couldn't accept it?"Yagyu Chihaya had never expected Xia Li to truly dare make a move today.The look of disgust he had shown toward her body before had been completely genuine.So why had he suddenly stopped minding now?"Before was before. Now is now. Don't use before to talk about now. Back then I was too weak. Now I've decided to get more practice."In truth, after adapting to it, Xia Li found it was not nearly as hard to accept as he had once thought.Modern aesthetics had already gone in every possible direction. Yagyu Chihaya was at least still human and still made of flesh and blood.By current standards, she practically counted as conservative."Tch... it hurts like hell. I need to go get a painkiller shot right now. Don't you forget this."Yagyu Chihaya staggered away.All Xia Li could do was offer an awkward but polite smile, then head back into the break room and slump onto the sofa, idly browsing the news.Only after the worldwide blackout ended had most people realized it had not been a localized outage affecting just one city, but a simultaneous large-scale power loss across the globe.That led to intense discussion everywhere.All kinds of guesses were flying around, and conspiracy theories were multiplying without end.As for what the truth actually was...did people really care?What they actually enjoyed was the atmosphere of discussion that followed a sudden incident.It added a bit of interest to an otherwise ordinary day.After that...Xia Li began searching up information on Astarte Technologies.As one of the Corporate Alliance's five great ga-corporations, Astarte had originally risen through external-body augntation technology. Its exoskeleton devices and battle armor remained popular to this day.Aside from infantry weapons, all kinds of large-scale war machines were Astarte's main business.It already possessed its own independent spaceport, and the developnt rights to Mars had been monopolized outright by Astarte. It had moved all kinds of weapons factories and production lines to Mars, leaving behind only offices and branch production lines on Earth.Astarte had already completed its industrial transfer.At this point, it was practically the ruler of Mars.Though it was still technically one part of humanity, it could probably declare itself an independent Martian state if it wished.And Astarte was not alone.The other four ga-corporations were doing the sa thing, slowly shifting their own strongholds away from Earth.That was not a good sign.Fortunately, the other major factions were not fools either.Each controlled developnt rights on different worlds of the solar system, and the Moon and Venus had already been fully taken over by the Democratic Governnt.About two hours later, Xia Li had started getting impatient.He only had a day and a half in total, and by now less than a day remained.Fortunately, Yagyu Chihaya finally finished up and ca over to hand him a configuration list."These are the optional setups Sister Ke and I discussed. You can customize the modifications according to your own preferences and needs.""Mm... by the way, didn't Sister Ke have anything she wanted you to pass on?"Xia Li really did miss Ke Xiao now.It had been quite a while since they had seen each other."She did. She said you're really not human if you could even lay hands on .""Ah...""Hmph. That's the price for making a move on . Your reputation's ruined now.""In that case, I'll just co looking for you from now on.""Don't! I was wrong, okay?"Yagyu Chihaya surrendered instantly.Xia Li smiled and did not keep bickering with her. Instead, he used the Heaven Chip to open the configuration list and study it carefully.As far as Spirit Cores went, he had two options.The first was a fire-affinity Spirit Core designed specifically to pair with an imitation-star golden core.Its model na was Dyson Sphere A2.The second option was an adaptive Spirit Core made directly from Imperial Seed Steel.Its model na was Perfect Match.It could slowly improve its compatibility according to the user's spiritual-energy traits, but all of its initial values were rather low, and even after full adaptation, its numbers only looked a tiny bit better than the Dyson Sphere A2.The Dyson Sphere A2, on the other hand, was built specifically for imitation-star golden cores and ca with dedicated functions aid at them.It could prevent heat from escaping the body, collect that thermal energy, and convert it into spiritual energy.In practical terms, it directly enabled self-generation of spiritual energy.The amount was small enough to be almost negligible,but it was steady and long-lasting.In extre environnts, it ant he could operate without depending on external replenishnt of spiritual energy.If this had been the Dharma Ending Age with no spiritual energy in the world, then he would practically be a walking spirit-fusion reactor."The Dyson Sphere A2 is designed for imitation-star golden cores. Can it handle my stellar golden core?"Xia Li looked at Yagyu Chihaya."Not a big problem. Most of the components would just need to be replaced with materials that have stronger heat resistance. Imperial Seed Steel can solve that. The only issue is the price..."
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"Just say it. How much?""Nine hundred thousand spirit stones.""How much?!"Xia Li shot to his feet on the spot.At that price, he could already buy a top-tier Nascent Soul Spirit Core."I know you're in a hurry, but slow down for a second. Yours needs to be custom-made, and your realm strength is already comparable to Nascent Soul. So the standard for your Spirit Core is a Nascent Soul one. At that level, this price really isn't expensive.""This... does my loan limit cover it?""After assessnt, Yagyu Military Industries believes your maximum loan limit can reach two million. So yes, your limit fully covers it.""Fine. Then that's the Spirit Core."Xia Li grit his teeth and took the loan.If he didn't have money, then what cultivation was he even talking about?So people wanted to borrow and weren't even qualified.With his connection to Yoren, if he truly could not repay it later, he could always go cry poverty to him.That man was number one on the rich list. Getting him to bail him out with a bit of small change should not be too hard."Correct choice. You know Yoren, and he appreciates you. If you really end up destitute, he'll definitely help.""I just hope it doesn't co to that. I can't bring myself to ask."Xia Li might have had a fallback, but he truly did not want to walk that road.Then he moved on to the Heaven Chip section.For an Earth cultivator, the Heaven Chip and Spirit Core were always the most important things. Everything else in a prosthetic loadout ca after those.But the mont Xia Li saw the chip model, he could not help blurting out in shock."A sixth-generation Heaven Chip!"He had two options, both sixth-generation models.Their paraters were nearly identical. The only real difference lay in their cognitive arts.Thirty art slots.Eighty storage slots.In every other parater, they almost doubled the chip he currently used.And in addition to the Smart Bridge Technology already present in fifth-generation Heaven Chips, they also possessed an entirely new technology called Cognitive Intervention.It was a function that allowed cognition itself to interfere directly with material phenona, similar to a technique the people of the Profound World pursued called Intent.Intent...that was the stepping stone geniuses used to seek the path,the ladder under the feet of the truly strong as they climbed to heaven.Take sword cultivators, for example.An attack carrying sword intent and one without it was the difference between artillery shells and bullets.The gun was still the sa gun.But the force behind them was worlds apart.The two chip models were nad Amaterasu and Zhurong, both possessing affinity with fire-aspect Intent.Apparently, sixth-generation Heaven Chips had already started being nad after mythological figures.Xia Li naturally preferred the civilization system of his own side."I want the Zhurong chip.""Then you'd need to send your golden core data over to Hidden Wing. Sister Ke can help arrange it on that end. The chip I'm offering you doesn't require you to hand over your golden core data. Thanks to that engagent ring you gave from Yagyu Munero, I've managed to climb into the lower upper ranks of Yagyu Military Industries. Getting you a sixth-generation Heaven Chip isn't hard."Hearing that, Xia Li felt a peculiar sort of helplessness.He had a bit of cultural obsessiveness. The sentints of the old era still lingered in his heart.But at present, he still did not want to expose himself to the Democratic Governnt."Then forget it. It's not ti to expose myself yet. I'll take Amaterasu.""Look how wronged you sound. The stuff is basically the sa.""Drop it. I'll make do."Xia Li was not satisfied, but only with the na.The chip itself was undeniably excellent, and he had no intention of refusing it."Listen to you, wanting to have it both ways. If you've got the nerve, go back to a fifth-generation chip. Go ask Sister Ke to apply to the Democratic Governnt for a Zhurong chip for you. What are you pretending for?""I'm pretending, all right. And don't forget how you got where you are now!""Tch..."Yagyu Chihaya was clearly displeased, but once she rembered that Xia Li was an ancient person, she quickly made peace with it.It was normal for him to carry so of those old-fashioned views.She personally did not have much cultural attachnt one way or the other. As long as Xia Li was happy, that was enough."Co to think of it, now I'm suddenly curious. If the seventh-generation Heaven Chip that's still under developnt gets finished, what will it be nad?"Xia Li thought to himself that once all the divine nas had already been taken, naming the next generations would beco a real test of the researchers' creativity."Probably after chief gods from mythology or certain major historical figures. On the Democratic Governnt side, if nothing unexpected happens, the seventh-generation fire-aspect Heaven Chip will be nad Yan Emperor.""Yan Emperor..."Just hearing the prospective na was enough to make Xia Li a little excited.If it beca necessary, he could always reveal to the Democratic Governnt that he was the owner of the stellar golden core."And what about future eighth- and ninth-generation models?""How would I know? Though honestly, it's not hard to guess. Based on past naming patterns, after mythology cos the cosmos. Eighth generation will be Sun. Ninth generation will be Galaxy.""I hope I live long enough to see the day eighth- and ninth-generation Heaven Chips are born."The Heaven Chip was humanity's second brain.That was why its naming carried humanity's ambitions.By the sixth generation, they had already crowned them with divine nas.That was, without question, deification ahead of schedule.
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