Chapter 429: First Days in the Camp

"To enter a real Abyssal passage, there are still many evaluations you need to pass. Even as a researcher, if your research topic requires direct contact with Abyss creatures, you still need to go through these procedures," Long Yuxue explained.

Entering the passage had rank restrictions.

For most new recruits, the primary restriction for entering the passage was their rank, rather than these procedures.

However, Xu Yuan seemed to already meet the rank requirement but hadn't yet started the procedures.

"By the way, what's your research topic?"

Long Yuxue suddenly became curious. Such a powerful soul master joining as a researcher—what exactly was he here to study?

"My topic?" Xu Yuan looked at Long Yuxue and didn't hesitate to answer directly. "I'm researching technology for truly devouring Abyssal energy."

This wasn't something worth hiding.

Long Yuxue's mouth dropped open, forming an "O" shape.

This project…

It wasn't that it wasn't important—it was too important. So important that, in the past six thousand years, there had been no breakthroughs whatsoever.

Although Long Yuxue knew Xu Yuan was incredibly strong—his performance during the evaluation marked him as the strongest and most extraordinary rookie in the Blood God Legion's records—she still didn't believe Xu Yuan could succeed.

Different fields require specialized expertise.

Could Xu Yuan really be even more talented in research than in combat and cultivation?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

At this moment, Long Yuxue also became aware of Xu Yuan's age.

She eyed him suspiciously.

So young.

Definitely no older than twenty.

Soul power level…

Carefully sensing the fluctuations of Xu Yuan's soul power, Long Yuxue grew even more uncertain.

The fluctuations were strong, but why did they not feel particularly high?

It wasn't that Xu Yuan's soul power level was low—it was just relatively low compared to the overwhelming strength he had displayed.

"What's your soul power level?" Long Yuxue couldn't help but ask.

After all, her perception was only approximate.

"Sixty-five." Xu Yuan replied.

Long Yuxue's face revealed an expression of astonishment.

Sixty-five!

Yet he was able to kill Ba An, a creature comparable to a Soul Douluo-level soul master!

And Xu Yuan didn't seem to have used battle armor!

"It's hard to imagine how strong you'd be if you fused with battle armor."

Long Yuxue didn't doubt whether Xu Yuan was a battle armor master.

If such a genius weren't a battle armor master, her entire worldview would be shattered.

Xu Yuan smiled faintly and didn't respond.

Fusing with battle armor?

If he fused with battle armor, unless the Emperor of the Abyss personally descended, he wouldn't even need the Dreamspace to brutally slaughter a Ba An of that caliber.

After a moment of reflection, Long Yuxue snapped back to reality, remembering her duties. She hurriedly took Xu Yuan to the middle-aged female officer's office before rushing off again.

The middle-aged female officer now wore an expression of astonishment.

"I never expected your results would require a meeting to decide. Young man, you're quite impressive." She no longer thought that Xu Yuan's earlier choice of the alloy spear was due to pride.

"Just luck, just luck," Xu Yuan humbly responded.

"There's no such thing as luck in our evaluations," the middle-aged female officer shook her head.

She was well aware of the evaluation system here.

After all, she was the one normally responsible for conducting them.

Even if someone got lucky, the examiners would intentionally suppress that luck factor—essentially a human-controlled balancing mechanism.

"I'll arrange a dormitory for you first."

The middle-aged female officer didn't dwell on Xu Yuan's evaluation but instead got to work. She quickly typed on her keyboard, entered Xu Yuan's information, and assigned him a dormitory.

A single room.

After receiving the key, Xu Yuan found his dormitory under the female officer's guidance.

After tidying up, it was time for dinner.

"Long Yuxue is really unreliable. It's been an hour, and she still hasn't finished processing my paperwork," Xu Yuan sighed in exasperation and decided to look for her.

"How are you in my office? I've been looking for you for half a day!" Long Yuxue pushed open the door to her office, startled to see Xu Yuan, before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Officer, it's time to eat. I don't have any merit points yet."

"Oh, I was so busy reporting earlier that I forgot to introduce you. Let me take you to eat," Long Yuxue slapped her forehead, apologizing.

"By the way, you don't need to call me 'officer' anymore. Although your rank hasn't been finalized yet, it's almost certain that it won't be lower than mine. My name is Long Yuxue—you can just call me by my name from now on."

"As for merit points, you'll need to wait for your specific evaluation results to come out. Until then, you'll have to follow the camp's rules for eating and living."

"The camp's rules?" Xu Yuan looked at Long Yuxue quizzically.

A smile appeared in Long Yuxue's eyes as she began explaining the camp's rules.

"Our Blood God Legion only values strength and merit points. There's no such thing as getting something for nothing. If you want merit points, you have to earn them by fighting Abyss creatures—the ones you encountered during your evaluation—or by completing various tasks in the camp."

"At the stage when new recruits first join, none of them have merit points. If you want to eat, get weapons, or even exchange for a better cultivation room, you'll need to borrow merit points from others."

Xu Yuan understood.

He had just remembered this detail himself.

"Do you offer lending services here?"

"Of course. How much do you want to borrow?" Long Yuxue smiled.

"What's the interest rate?"

"Not much—ten percent per month."

Xu Yuan's lips twitched.

That high?

And she said "not much"?

"My interest rates are actually quite low. After all, without some pressure in the camp, how can people improve quickly? Besides, veterans all have significant needs for merit points—they're doing everything they can to increase their ranks, focus on cultivation, and arm themselves to avoid dying in battles against Abyss creatures."

In other words, the starting point was that veterans didn't want to die, so they needed to grow stronger. They would squeeze every possible resource from any source, including rookies.

And this kind of exploitation was tacitly allowed in the camp.

Because rookies wouldn't be sent to fight Abyss creatures within their first year.

One year was enough time to adapt to everything here—and under the pressure of needing merit points, rookies often made noticeable progress.

Of course, this kind of exploitation only worked in the early stages. After that, rookies' growth would surpass the point where mere pressure could produce significant results, and their demand for resources would become the top priority—requiring them to frantically earn merit points and arm themselves.

"Does our camp allow free trading?" Xu Yuan asked.

Long Yuxue nodded.

"Yes, but merit point transactions must comply with standards, otherwise, higher-ups will investigate."

"How much is the usual reward for forging tasks?" Xu Yuan asked.

"You're a blacksmith?" Long Yuxue was surprised.

Then she covered her mouth, realizing that was a redundant question.

Hadn't Xu Yuan's display of overwhelming blood essence during the evaluation been perfect for a blacksmith?

"What level blacksmith are you?" she asked further.

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