Chapter 404: Ninth-Rank Citizen

Chapter 404: Ninth-Rank Citizen (Seeking Subscription)

"The popularity of the Martial Arts evolution path has now surpassed that of the Nine Great Supreme evolution paths."

Several days later, in the Galaxy Main Star...

Lin Yuan casually observed the changes in the 'updated' Martial Arts evolution path and was amazed.

Since the first year of the Star Sea Calendar, the Supreme evolution paths had always been the most popular among humanity's evolution paths.

They symbolized the pinnacle of their respective evolutionary roads and were revered by countless evolvers.

For the vast majority of evolvers, if they had a choice, they would undoubtedly prioritize cultivating the Supreme evolution paths.

The only drawback of the Supreme evolution paths was that their cap was locked at the eleventh tier, denying them the chance to challenge the ultimate stage.

But what of it? The eleventh tier was already a goal that most evolvers dared not even dream of.

Compared to other evolution paths, each level of the Supreme evolution paths was extremely comprehensive, even perfect.

In a battle between evolvers of the same tier, assuming both sides had equal means, abilities, and foundations, the one cultivating a Supreme evolution path would invariably be stronger.

Thus, there was no doubt about the popularity of the Nine Great Supreme evolution paths within human civilization.

However, at present, Lin Yuan clearly felt that the frequency of discussions about the Martial Arts evolution path in the virtual network exceeded that of the Nine Great Supreme evolution paths.

This didn't mean that the Martial Arts evolution path had surpassed the Supreme evolution paths.

Rather, in the past two million years or so, no other evolution path had come close to reaching a level that was second only to the Supreme evolution paths at just the tenth tier.

If the tenth tier could crush the eleventh, one could only imagine what would happen when the Martial Arts evolution path reached the eleventh tier.

As a result, countless evolvers in human civilization speculated that the Martial Arts evolution path might become the tenth Supreme evolution path of their civilization.

"The tenth Supreme evolution path?"

Lin Yuan shook his head slightly. He didn't have the confidence to reach the ultimate stage, and even with the protection of the Myriad Worlds Gate, he wasn't sure if he could survive if he failed.

"In recent days, the number of cultivators of the Martial Arts evolution path has skyrocketed."

Lin Yuan casually pulled up the specific data for the Martial Arts evolution path and studied it carefully.

"First Tier: 268 billion."

"Second Tier: 832 billion."

"Third Tier: 40,000 billion."

"Fourth Tier: 1,200 billion."

"Fifth Tier: 53 million."

"Sixth Tier: 860,000."

"Seventh Tier: 17,000."

"Eighth Tier: 0."

"It's been over a hundred years, and there's still no Martial Arts evolvers who have reached the eighth tier?" Lin Yuan wondered silently.

Compared to over a hundred years ago, the number of cultivators in the first and fourth tiers of the Martial Arts evolution path had increased by a thousand to ten thousand times.

The fifth to seventh tiers had also seen increases of several hundred to a thousand times in the number of cultivators.

However, at least for now, there were no records of any Martial Arts evolvers having reached the eighth tier.

"Time is still too short," Lin Yuan thought to himself. It hadn't even been five hundred years since the Martial Arts evolution path was uploaded.

No matter how great the potential, it couldn't immediately translate into a large number of high-tier evolvers.

The evolution of life was a lengthy process, even with the guidance of a specific evolution path.

"It looks like I'll have to make more videos analyzing the peak of the seventh tier and the path to the eighth tier of the Martial Arts evolution path in my free time," Lin Yuan contemplated.

While the requirements for the number of high-tier evolvers for the Ultimate Leap weren't explicitly stated, it was clear that the more, the better.

As the founder of the Martial Arts evolution path, Lin Yuan didn't have to worry about future Martial Arts evolvers threatening him. Any Martial Arts evolver, regardless of their realm or bloodline, would naturally be suppressed by Lin Yuan.

"In the past hundred years, the income from the Martial Arts evolution path has exceeded 600 billion universe crystals."

A smile appeared on Lin Yuan's face.

Hundreds of years ago, he had been worried about mere thousands or tens of thousands of universe crystals. Now, in the blink of an eye, his net worth had skyrocketed to be counted in billions of universe crystals.

"The income is high, but the costs of cultivation are also considerable," Lin Yuan thought to himself.

So far, his main expense in cultivation had come from one of the three protective secret arts of the Xuanhuang lineage, the *Xuanhuang Body*.

The *Xuanhuang Body* was a physical cultivation art created using infinite resources, and when combined with Lin Yuan's formidable physical foundation, the amplification effects of the mysterious gourd, the Eternal Spring, the Martial Arts itself, and the infusion of the Chaos Void Origin, the costs of improving his physical body had far exceeded Lin Yuan's expectations.

After all, when Lin Yuan first obtained this secret art, he hadn't expected that the infusion of the Chaos Void Origin would once again greatly enhance his physical foundation.

"I can vaguely sense the life forces of those cultivating the Martial Arts evolution path in the darkness," Lin Yuan said as he closed his eyes and carefully sensed his surroundings.

If Lin Yuan was at the center, and all around him was darkness, then at this moment, faint lights like fireflies appeared. Each one was incredibly weak on its own, but their number was vast, like a wildfire spreading across the land.

"Will all of these become my 'helpers' for the Ultimate Leap?" Lin Yuan wondered. These lights weren't limited to the Main Universe, but also came from distant and obscure places.

Even Lin Yuan, the founder of the Martial Arts, couldn't pinpoint their coordinates, so they were likely the life forces of Martial Arts cultivators from other dimensional worlds that he had traveled to in the past.

"To spread my evolution path, allowing more beings to cultivate it, and then use their collective progress to fuel my Ultimate Leap—such a method is truly unimaginable," Lin Yuan thought. This feedback wasn't like that of faith power but came from the evolution path itself, essentially free of any hidden dangers.

For example, the Xuanhuang Emperor never widely spread his cultivation method because the requirements for the Xuanhuang path were too high, and it was not suitable for dissemination without careful consideration.

"Almost there."

"Time to ascend to Ninth-Rank Citizen status."

Lin Yuan glanced at his remaining merit points—5.2 billion.

Among these, 5 billion merit points were the reward he received after uploading the tenth stage of the Martial Way.

The remaining 200 million merit points were accumulated from his previous endeavors, including the leftover from his previous upload of the ninth stage of the Martial Way.

"Advancing from Eighth-Rank to Ninth-Rank Citizen requires 1 billion merit points, equivalent to the value of ten entry-level twelve-star wonders," Lin Yuan mused.

After a moment of thought, he chose to upgrade his citizen rank.

Every time he had upgraded his citizen rank in the past, the benefits he gained far exceeded the value of the merit points he had spent.

The higher one's citizen rank, the more privileges one enjoyed, but more importantly, it granted the ability to influence some of the decisions made by the human civilization.

For example, Lin Yuan was currently the Speaker of the Northern Cold Star Alliance, the highest authority figure in hundreds to thousands of star domains. A single thought from him could shape the policies of the human civilization towards neighboring alien races.

The ordinary and weaker tribes within the Northern Cold Star Alliance, as well as the neighboring alien tribes, all had to defer to Lin Yuan's decisions.

"Wisdom Goddess."

"I wish to ascend to the Ninth-Rank Citizen status now."

Lin Yuan immediately connected to the Wisdom Goddess and made his request.

In an instant.

Lin Yuan's balance of over 5 billion merit points decreased by 1 billion.

At the same time.

The citizen rank on Lin Yuan's personal information page quietly changed from Eighth-Rank to Ninth-Rank.

Ninth-Rank Citizen.

A Ninth-Rank Citizen of the human civilization.

Such a status was a weight that any star domain or star alliance would find difficult to bear.

Even among the numerous Eleventh-Stage Evolvers in the human civilization, most did not hold Ninth-Rank Citizen status.

Even powerful Eleventh-Stage Evolvers would have to pay a tremendous price to accumulate 1 billion merit points.

Take the ancient Tenth-Stage Evolver, Xuanyuan Fan, from the Xuanyuan family, for example. He had fought on the alien battlefield for one to two million years, and in the end, he had only accumulated 20 million merit points.

In order to gain the opportunity to enter the Black Star and gain insights, he had borrowed 80 million merit points in the name of his family from the human civilization, adding up to 100 million merit points, to complete the transaction with Lin Yuan.

Even ancient Tenth-Stage Evolvers like Xuanyuan Fan had to go to such lengths, so the gap wouldn't be much larger for Eleventh-Stage Evolvers, even if they accumulated slightly more merit points.

Moreover, the vast majority of Evolvers would inevitably spend some of their merit points along the way.

Take Xuanyuan Fan, for instance. He had spent the 20 million merit points he had accumulated in hopes of increasing his chances of breaking through to the Eleventh Stage.

After all, merit points held immense value in the human civilization, allowing one to exchange them for unimaginable resources and legacies.

Very few people, like Lin Yuan, would save up every single merit point to upgrade their citizen rank, as it was the most valuable use of merit points.

While upgrading one's citizen rank with merit points was indeed the most valuable option, it did not guarantee the highest short-term gains.

Whoosh!

Just as Lin Yuan successfully ascended to Ninth-Rank Citizen status.

Numerous 'messages' from the Central Star Domain of the human civilization flooded in.

These 'messages' not only congratulated Lin Yuan but also introduced the various privileges that came with being a Ninth-Rank Citizen.

"Privileges of a Ninth-Rank Citizen"

Lin Yuan browsed through the 'messages' one by one.

First was the standard benefit—he would receive a Ninth-Stage evolution potion.

Starting from Sixth-Rank Citizen status, each advancement in citizen rank would grant one a corresponding evolution potion.

Even the lowest Sixth-Stage evolution potion was a specially supplied resource that couldn't be purchased even with an abundance of universe crystals.

Only merit points could be used to exchange for them, and a Sixth-Stage evolution potion required 10,000 merit points.

A Seventh-Stage evolution potion required 100,000 merit points.

An Eighth-Stage evolution potion required 1 million merit points.

And a Ninth-Stage evolution potion required 10 million merit points.

Furthermore, in order to exchange for an evolution potion, one needed the corresponding permission. Lower-rank citizens wouldn't be able to exchange for them even if they had enough merit points.

"The right to participate in the Central Parliament of the human civilization." Lin Yuan glanced at the second privilege.

The Central Parliament of the human civilization was a crucial assembly that decided the future direction of the entire civilization. During such assemblies, the strongest beings would descend with their consciousness, and the Three Goddesses would pay close attention.

To participate in such high-level assemblies, one needed to be at least a Ninth-Rank Citizen.

"Not interested."

Lin Yuan had no interest in assemblies; such privileges were invaluable to some citizens skilled in political maneuvering, but to Lin Yuan, they held little meaning.

"Hmm? Three chances to soak in the Eternal Spring?"

Lin Yuan's eyes paused on a particular benefit.

The Eternal Spring was one of the twelve-star wonders of the human civilization. Anyone who soaked in it could extend their lifespan by several hundred thousand years without any side effects.

Additionally, while soaking in the Eternal Spring, one's physical body would undergo a slow transformation, and their potential upper limit would be raised.

Once, a powerful alien being had offered an eleven-star supreme wonder in exchange for a single chance to soak in the Eternal Spring for one of their tribe's younger generations.

The human civilization had refused.

An eleven-star supreme wonder was worth 30 million merit points.

Within the human civilization, aside from being able to soak in the Eternal Spring once after reaching the ninth tier, one would have to spend five hundred million merit points for each additional soak.

Now that he had reached the ninth-rank citizen status, the three complimentary soaks in the Eternal Spring were equivalent to fifteen hundred million merit points.

"I'll have the opportunity to let my two primordial spirits take a dip."

Lin Yuan thought to himself, this chance to raise the potential upper limit of his physical body was indeed rare.

"There's also a discount for exchanges using the human civilization's treasury."

"A 40% discount for exchanges using civilization currency and universe crystals."

"A 10% discount for exchanges using merit points."

Lin Yuan was delighted.

The so-called exchanges using civilization currency and universe crystals referred to the ability to obtain conventional and strategic resources from the human civilization's treasury.

As an eighth-rank citizen, Lin Yuan had already enjoyed certain discounts, but at that time, it was only 20%. Now that he had reached the ninth rank, he would directly enjoy a 40% discount, saving him a substantial amount of universe crystals.

As for the 10% discount on exchanges using merit points, the human civilization's treasury exchanges involving merit points were all restricted-level resources or even resources not available to the public.

This included many twelve-star wonders, numerous special inheritance sites, and places similar to the Black Star that were useful for comprehending and merging rules.

While the discount for exchanges using merit points was only 10%, the merit points themselves were extremely valuable, and the wonders exchanged for them were incredibly rare throughout the universe.

"A 10% discount on exchanges. If I exchange for a hundred billion merit points' worth of wonders, I will immediately make back the merit points I spent on this ninth-rank citizen promotion."

A smile appeared on Lin Yuan's face. This was the benefit of raising one's citizen rank; the short-term gains might not be the greatest, but in the long run, the advantages gained would be immense.

There were countless benefits and privileges that came with being a ninth-rank citizen, numbering in the thousands.

Lin Yuan browsed through them, finding that most were enhanced versions of the eighth-rank citizen privileges, while the newly added privileges and treatments would also be beneficial to him.

At the very least, they would save him a lot of trouble.

"How many merit points are needed to become a tenth-rank citizen?"

After perusing the numerous privileges and treatments, Lin Yuan turned his attention to the conditions for becoming a tenth-rank citizen.

"Five billion merit points?"

Lin Yuan's lips twitched slightly. Even if he exchanged all the wonders he had obtained from the two-dimensional world, it still wouldn't be nearly enough to make up such a huge number of merit points.

"Aside from the nine strongest beings, I wonder how many tenth-rank citizens or higher there are in the human civilization?"

Lin Yuan shook his head. Even for an eleventh-stage evolver, amassing five billion merit points was almost an impossible task.

Unless they were to fight their way through a large-scale alien battlefield, it would be out of the question.

But to fight through a large-scale alien battlefield? Even in their prime, the Four Divine Kings would have found that difficult, as the strongest beings would always intervene.

And even if the strongest beings didn't make a move, dealing with the peak races' eleventh-stage peak powerhouses wouldn't be easy. If one of them wasn't enough, then they would send five or ten.

Who could withstand that kind of pressure? The tenth-rank citizens in the human civilization were mostly eleventh-stage evolver grand scholars or those who had made significant contributions during the long hibernation period before the first year of the Star Sea Calendar.

"I should purchase resources and cultivate the Xuanhuang Body."

Lin Yuan opened the human civilization's treasury and began to make his selections.

The Xuanhuang Body was one of the three protective secret arts of the Xuanhuang lineage, and it was divided into four levels: entry, minor achievement, major achievement, and perfection.

Of course, these four levels corresponded to each stage.

At the ninth stage, one would cultivate the Xuanhuang Body to the perfection level, and upon reaching the tenth stage, there would be a significant leap in the life stage, causing the Xuanhuang Body to drop back to the major achievement or even minor achievement level.

In theory, if a twelfth-stage ultimate existence could cultivate the Xuanhuang Body to perfection at their stage, they could easily survive a cosmic great destruction.

It was said that when a universe entered a period of great destruction, everything would collapse, and even the strongest beings could only survive with half their lives or less.

Only those strongest beings who had experienced a cosmic great destruction could be considered truly free.

Currently, Lin Yuan had cultivated the Xuanhuang Body to the major achievement level, just one step away from perfection.

With Lin Yuan's foundational physical strength, the perfection-level Xuanhuang Body at the tenth stage would enhance his body's strength tenfold, making it powerful enough to suppress the rules and rival those in the second tier of the eleventh stage with his physical body alone.

"That should be enough."

After making his selections, Lin Yuan had spent about two hundred billion universe crystals. With the 40% discount that came with being a ninth-rank citizen, he only needed to pay one hundred and twenty billion universe crystals.

This saved him a whopping eight hundred billion universe crystals.

"That's quite an expense."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

It wasn't that the Xuanhuang Body was costly to cultivate.

Indeed, the Xuanhuang Body required a lot of resources, but for just the tenth stage, no matter how high the cost, it would still be limited.

The main reason for the high cost was Lin Yuan's exceptionally strong foundational physical body, which raised the bar from the start. The Xuanhuang Body enhanced one's physical strength by ten times.

If the initial physical strength of a normal tenth-stage life form was ten, then enhancing it by ten times would result in a strength of one hundred.

If the initial physical strength was one hundred, then enhancing it by ten times would result in a strength of one thousand.

Naturally, the amount of resources required would be different in these two scenarios, but Lin Yuan's initial physical strength was far beyond one hundred; it might even be one million, ten million, or a million times that! The amount of resources needed to cultivate the Xuanhuang Body to perfection at his stage would naturally be a million times more than what a normal tenth-stage life form would require.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end