Chapter 1004: Chapter 1004 - Face

“Your Excellency, do you think we should go?” someone asked.

Kasuyi kept silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, “Since Black Star invited everyone, this isn’t a private matter, so it depends on the Arcane Church... I’m guessing we’ll have to accept the invitation.”

“Why should we? The Arcane Church and the Black Star Army are not friends, so why does Black Star think he’s worth this much respect?” Tolaen complained.

Kasuyi shook his head. “I can somewhat guess what method Black Star is going to use. His reason is to maintain the stability of the Shattered Star Ring, and if we don’t go, he’ll target us afterward...”

“And we’re scared of him?” someone said furiously.

“We’re not, but the Black Star Army has an enormous force in the Flickering World, so the church won’t want to mess with him. Furthermore, the church has to think of Psyker. He lives in the Shattered Star Ring and has nowhere to run. If Black Star wants to find someone to settle the issue, he’s going to get it,” Kasuyi said calmly.

Sun Hunter squinted. “But if we all respond to his summon, it will increase his reputation and influence drastically, and he’s not even hiding the fact that this is his goal. There’s no way the upper echelons don’t know about this. Furthermore, will the Beyond Grade As of the other organizations be willing to be used by Black Star?”

“The dynasty is definitely giving their full support to this, and the federation might agree to it too,” Kasuyi said.

“The Federation of Light might agree?” Tolaen doubted.

Kasuyi looked at him. “The Shattered Star Ring is, after all, the Federation’s territory.”

...

At the same time, the Federation of Light has received Han Xiao’ invitation and immediately gathered their various allies to discuss it.

“Black Star wants to host a large Beyond Grade A meeting. His intentions are clear. Do we have to help him build his reputation?”

With his two arms crossed and two other arms placed on the table, Sierron said with a cold and disdainful expression, “Although he’s a peak Beyond Grade A, isn’t he overestimating himself too much? What, he thinks that everyone else has to give him face?”

He was a crucial ally of the Federation of Light, a member of the elderly celebrity group who held a very high position in the circle of Beyond Grade As. His position was equivalent to the dynasty’s Milizaus or the church’s Sun Hunter.

Another Beyond Grade A turned to look at Bader, the President of the Federation, and asked, “What are your thoughts on this?”

“Maintaining the stability of the Shattered Star Ring isn’t a bad thing to us,” Bader said slowly. “Even without the dynasty leading this, I wasn’t planning to cause trouble. The development of the Flickering World is about to start, so there’s no need to cause unnecessary conflict.”

“So, since we never wanted to cause trouble, there’s no need to respond to Black Star, right?” someone asked.

“I’m still considering it,” the Chief Elder said. “From the way things are looking now, there’s indeed no need to give Black Star face and help to increase his influence. This contradicts our strategy to pressure the dynasty for the past few decades.”

“I think that we can help Black Star a little.” This time, someone actually spoke for Han Xiao. “From what I see, the pressure we’ve applied all these years has been quite effective. In addition to some special reasons, the dynasty opening up the purchasing right is just a matter of time...”

Everyone turned to look at this person with different expressions on their faces.

This person’s name was Hades, a relatively new Beyond Grade A. He had joined the Federation rather recently and never had any notable achievements, so his position was plain. No one expected him to suddenly express his opinion. It seemed like he had a source of intelligence unknown to others.

“You said that there are special reasons that are going to cause the dynasty to open up the purchasing rights of the totems? What inside information do you know?” Bader questioned.

“Just some trivial pieces of intelligence.” It was clear that this was a perfunctory response, and Hades did not want to say anything.

Seeing this, Bader was a little unsatisfied. Knowing that continuing to ask would not result in anything, he asked, “Then, why are you saying we should help Black Star?”

“Simple,” Hades said. “The Evolution Cube is the core of the Evolutionary Totem business. If the dynasty opens the totem purchasing rights one day, our demand will be met. In that case, if the dynasty is the side who own the cube, not only will we not have any chances, but the dynasty will also receive the most of the profit made by it. Comparatively, it’s better to continue letting Black Star keep the cube.

“Therefore, we can help Black Star to increase his position and reputation, preventing him from breaking under pressure and giving the dynasty the Evolution Cube.”

“Sounds logical, but since the totem purchasing rights are not open yet, whatever you’re saying won’t make a difference. Helping Black Star now is going against our strategy to pressure the dynasty and will only cause more trouble for us. If you can prove that the dynasty will definitely open the purchasing rights for the totems, tell us the inside information you have. Only then will your proposal be meaningful.” The Chief Elder’s thoughts were very clear.

“I have reliable sources. The information is definitely trustworthy.” Hades shook his head and still did not plan to explain.

This time, Manison, who had been watching from the side and not saying anything, turned his head and calmly said, “Do what you guys want, but I’ll accept Black Star’s invitation.”

The others were shocked. They all looked at him, many confused.

“Don’t you have conflicts with Black Star that are yet to be resolved? Isn’t your relationship with him not good?” Sierron asked.

“That has nothing to do with you.” Manison casually waved. “I think that this is a festival, and I want to make it happen. Usually, the Beyond Grade As are all staying in their own territories. Since this rare opportunity has come up for us to gather in one Star Field, we should all meet.”

Everyone sized Manison’s expression up but could not see through his thoughts. They were all confused and did not understand what Manison’s intentions were.

Logically, Manison and Black Star were competitors, so Manison should want to suppress him as much as possible. Why would he help him? No one knew what he was thinking about.

Looking around at the others, Manison shook his head in his mind.

He was not worried about this matter increasing Han Xiao’s influence, as an increase in regular reputation would not impact their position in the Machinery Faith. The believers only cared about mechanical abilities and the result of battles between mechanics, nothing else. Therefore, he did not care if Black Star became more famous.

However, this was also not because Manison wanted to help Han Xiao. His main goal was to indirectly increase the position of all the Beyond Grade As in the universe through this event.

Beyond Grade As were already at the top of the universe, but he felt that it was not enough. In the eyes of the advanced civilizations, their value was more focused on strategic intimidation and killing each other. It had been like this for many years, and Manison wanted to improve this situation.

If all these Beyond Grade As were gathered because of this opportunity, once the advanced civilizations thought about how much power they had if they came together, the advanced civilizations would be more fearful to them. Thus, they would be more important to the advanced civilizations. This would cause some implicit impacts, but overall, there were both pros and cons. Nonetheless, there were more pros than cons to Manison—he had already looked beyond what he had now and planned to bring more benefits to the standard that the Beyond Grade As represented.

In other words, Manison was consciously increasing the ceiling of the entire industry. Of course, it was mainly for his own benefits.

He also did not mind that Han Xiao was the one leading this festival. Although they were competitors, they also had similarities with both being Mechanics. With Black Star gaining more fame, more people would be attracted to becoming Mechanics, which would be beneficial for the Machinery Faith. This way, as the man at the top of the Mechanics, Manison would also benefit from it.

Of course, if he was the one leading it, he would benefit even more. However, Manison was not a petty man. Since Black Star was the one who suggested it first, he did not bother taking that away. Furthermore, Black Star had the excuse of maintaining the order for the Star Field, while he was in no position to gather all these people.

...

Compared to the church and the federation, the Beyond Grade As of the Crimson Dynasty reacted much more positively.

Milizaus tutted. “Black Star’s ways of obtaining profit are really superb.”

Everyone shook their head and chuckled.

All these Beyond Grade As gathering in the Shattered Star Ring was initially a bad thing that would impact the stability of the Star Field, yet Black Star saw an opportunity and turned it into a good thing.

Everyone knew Han Xiao’s goal in doing this. Not only was it to increase his reputation and influence, but it was also to confirm his position as the head of the Beyond Grade As in the Shattered Star Ring.

Also, it just so happened that the Black Star Army recently revealed a new Beyond Grade A, so Black Star could ride this wave to further solidify the position of the Black Star Army.

Another clearer and more direct influence of this would be that the Bloodshed Land’s competitiveness would be reduced. The Limitless Financial Group would also be heavily affected and would no longer be able to cause any trouble to the Black Star Army in the short term.

“Black Star’s methods really are creative. He must be having fun.” Kant smiled. He had turned into an adorable little black pig the size of a palm. He was sitting right up with his two back legs split like a man sitting with legs closed. His two short front legs were barely crossed.

“The dynasty is publicly expressing their support. I wonder what Heber thinks about this.” Beyoni chuckled.

“It’s not that the dynasty doesn’t care about him; he just isn’t strong enough,” Clotti calmly said.

...

In the Bloodshed Land, Heber and Sorokin’s doppelganger sat opposite each other.

“With the Black Star Army obtaining a new Beyond Grade A, Black Star made his move as expected. He wants to completely solidify his position in the Shattered Star Ring. Sigh, this is an open and direct move. I can’t do anything about it. If he succeeds, more than half of the results we achieved all these years will be lost.”

Sorokin shook his head with resignation.

He knew that Black Star was not one to easily let go of opportunities. As he expected, Black Star used the heat brought by the new Beyond Grade A in his army to make a move. Due to how sudden this was, he did not even have enough time to complete the investigation on Hila, so of course, he could not counter this.

Furthermore, Black Star had invited all the Beyond Grade As this time, so the result was not something he could interfere with. The only thing he could do was watch.

Heber did not reply immediately. He stared down at the invitation envelope in silence.

“Your Excellency Heber, are you planning to reject Black Star’s invitation? I don’t recommend it.”

Heber looked at him before slowly saying, “Reason.”

“The dynasty’s stance is very clear. They’re supporting Black Star. If you refuse, you’d be going against the dynasty, and that’s not a good choice.” Sorokin shook his head. “If everyone else in the dynasty goes and you don’t, you’ll stand out way too much. By then, it won’t matter if you go; not going will be even more embarrassing.”

“I don’t need you to teach me.” Heber snorted. “What about you? Are you going?”

“Of course.” Sorokin smiled. “After all, Black Star and I are just business competitors. We have no hatred for each other. Furthermore, I’m in no place to insult him.”

He did not like to stand out; following the crowd was more beneficial to hiding himself.

Your skin is so damn thick... Heber could not help but complain in his mind.

“Sigh, it’s a shame. If only you and I were the ones to lead this festival.” Sorokin sighed. “Maybe us Beyond Grade As know the reasoning behind this and won’t think it’s a big deal, but to the outside world, it’s like we all basically responded to Black Star’s call. If the Black Star Army was listed, just this one event will make his market capital rocket.”

As for now, me joining this festival should increase the Limitless Financial Group’s market capital a little too, Sorokin thought.

Not caring about Sorokin, Heber looked at the invitation envelope again. He was not willing to watch Black Star solidify his position as the head of the Star Field.

Sadly, after the lesson he learned last time, he knew that he was no match for Han Xiao, so there was nothing he could do.

...

Among the Star Pupil Holy Race...

“He even invited me‽”

Psyker was shocked and confused.

Honestly, he did not want to accept Han Xiao’s invitation at all.

But the problem was, he did not dare reject.

Black Star was too strong now. Psyker’s race was right in the Shattered Star Ring. If he made Black Star lose face, what if he found a reason and charged right over there‽

Even though the hatred between the two of them was immense, Psyker had lived on with the shame and grown low profile without doing anything. He did not dare to mess with Han Xiao.

For a Beyond Grade A, this is way too shameful!

Move! I have to move house!

Psyker roared in his heart. This was the second time he had experienced a break down this month.

...

Han Xiao sending out invitations was not announced to the public, but rumors of it still surfaced.

Usually, things happening between these Beyond Grade As hardly ever got leaked. However, the various media outlets of the Shattered Star Ring somehow got the news from somewhere and sent people to the Black Star Army to ask around, wanting to follow up on the story and make it into a huge deal.

The clearest indication of that was the new scenery at the Black Star Army headquarters—a group of extremely persistent reporters who were chasing after army members to ask questions.

Han Xiao did not stop it. It was clear that the dynasty had secretly leaked this. Since they were hosting a festival, building it up was unavoidable. Only then would the impact of it be maximized.

He initially wanted to do it himself, but the dynasty did it for him and saved him some trouble.

There were still some days till the day of the meeting, and most of the Beyond Grade As had yet to arrive. Han Xiao told Sylvia to prepare for this while he paid attention to the responses of the Beyond Grade As from all organizations.

Originally, he prepared some methods to convince some Beyond Grade As. However, unexpectedly, it went smoother than he thought. Most people agreed, and it seemed like he did not have to use those methods at all.

“It turns out that without me knowing, my face is already this valuable...”

Han Xiao was pleased.

After so many decades in the universe, my face has ascended to a new realm!

Since things were going so well, he had nothing to worry about. Other than the benefits everyone knew he would get from hosting this festival, he had another goal that no one knew about.

Legendary Point!

The sources of Legendary Points were extremely complex, and one was doing all kinds of major things. Han Xiao estimated that this would most likely give him a Universe Legendary Point, and even Political Asset was possible.

Furthermore, he could use this opportunity to find out all about these Beyond Grade As and memorize the Attributes Interface of everyone!

As he thought about the plan, his room door suddenly opened. Hila walked in and immediately cut to the chase.

“It has already been five days. I’ve rested enough. Let’s do it.”

It had been five days since Hila returned. She had been looking forward to the spar, and she had gone to his room again.

“Alright, let’s have a fight but not in the headquarters. Let’s head into space.”

Han Xiao then stood up. He had agreed to this before, and he had no reason to decline today.