"What's up with the Goddess of Wisdom?" Song Wuyang's expression was serious.
As one of the three ultimate intelligent goddesses, the Goddess of Wisdom not only held the highest authority in the nearby star domains but was also among the highest across the entire Universal Human Civilization.
"Why would the Goddess of Wisdom contact me so late?" Song Wuyang wondered.
Every action by the Goddess of Wisdom resulted from countless calculations by the smart brain—there was no action without meaning.
"Could it be those alien races have made their move?" Song Wuyang frowned deeply.
Several months ago, the alliance detected traces of alien races in the nearby star domain.
This discovery prompted the recruitment drive to swiftly address the alien threat.
"Connect the call."
As his thoughts churned, Song Wuyang decided to connect.
In reality, given the permissions the Goddess of Wisdom possessed, even if he chose not to connect, it wouldn't make a difference; the Goddess of Wisdom could force a communication.
The so-called 'connect' privilege was a concession made tens of thousands of years ago when a certain Star Sovereign proposed it to protect citizen privacy at a centennial charter conference.
Although this privilege had no actual effect, it at least provided a semblance of privacy, ensuring that while engaged in personal matters, the voice of the three goddesses wouldn't abruptly intrude.
Once Song Wuyang decided to connect, there was a 'ding' sound.
"The call with the Goddess of Wisdom is connected."
Song Wuyang steadied himself, arranged his posture, and cautiously asked, "What might bring the Goddess to contact me so late?"
The three ultimate intelligent goddesses of the Universal Human Civilization are the Goddess of Liberty, the Goddess of Justice, and the Goddess of Wisdom.
Each has its own domain: the Goddess of Liberty oversees expansion and aggression, the Goddess of Justice is in charge of legal decisions, and the Goddess of Wisdom manages public welfare and logistics.
Together, they uphold the brilliant and thriving Universal Human Civilization.
"According to the sixteenth article of the charter, upon discovering a new evolution path with potential reaching Tier Three or above, the Goddess of Wisdom, along with the highest authority nearby, shall discuss and make a decision."
The solemn and dignified voice of the Goddess of Wisdom came through.
Song Wuyang's eyes slightly narrowed, and he immediately asked, "Do you mean to say a new evolution path has been discovered, and its potential might reach Tier Three?"
As an official, Song Wuyang received countless new evolution paths for review and authorization every day.
Yet, almost all had low potential, with most not even reaching a tier.
Occasionally, finding a Tier One was considered extremely fortunate.
No wonder the Goddess of Wisdom was so cautious, contacting him outside working hours.
If it were just an ordinary evolution path, the Goddess would have already made the judgment by herself and waited for Song Wuyang to authorize it during work hours the next day.
But if the potential reached Tier Three, it wasn’t about the current upper limit of this evolution path but rather the future maximum, as calculated by the Goddess of Wisdom’s immense computational power.
Any evolution path with potential reaching Tier Three or above represents the future and wealth of all human civilization, likely giving rise to Tier Three evolvers.
"Exactly."
The Goddess of Wisdom responded, "Councilor Song Wuyang, please take a look."
Instantly, layers of images flashed before Song Wuyang's eyes, showcasing the 'Martial Doctrine' documents submitted by Lin Yuan, from the Innate Stage to the Grandmaster Stage.
"This?" Song Wuyang knitted his brows.
As a powerful evolver, he immediately grasped the profound nature of the martial doctrine evolution path.
It required minimal external resources and hardly depended on 'aptitude.' Even if one did not become an evolver through this path, it served as an excellent way to condition the body.
Highly accessible, with no real limitations or weaknesses, unlike some extreme evolution paths that are too specialized and easily countered.
"The Grandmaster Stage of this evolution path should meet the standards of an entry-level evolver," Song Wuyang assessed.
For any evolver, regardless of the path, there are distinctions: non-entry and entry evolvers.
While non-entry evolvers possess power beyond an ordinary human's limits, their strength pales in comparison to entry-level evolvers.
"Could this evolution path make it onto the Azure Wave Star evolution ranking?" Song Wuyang tentatively asked.
The Azure Wave Evolution Ranking includes all evolution paths discovered on the Azure Wave Star over the past 820,000 years, since it became a habitable life-bearing planet.
"Based on projections by the highest intelligence, the Martial Doctrine evolution path can secure the ninety-third position on the Azure Wave Evolution Ranking," the Goddess of Wisdom's voice informed.
"It actually made the list?" Song Wuyang's expression grew complex.
The Azure Wave Evolution Ranking catalogs the hundred strongest evolution paths in Azure Wave Star's history.
These paths have withstood the test of time and change extremely rarely.
Throughout Song Wuyang's tenure, the ranking hadn't budged.
"According to the eighty-sixth article of the charter regarding new evolution path development support policies, this evolution path will award the developer two thousand meritorious points."
"Does Councilor Song Wuyang concur?" The Goddess of Wisdom's voice was solemn and serious.
"Two thousand meritorious points?" Song Wuyang began to ponder.
Meritorious points are the highest-value 'currency' within the Universal Human Alliance, issued directly by the three goddesses.
In human civilization, meritorious points can achieve almost anything, such as elevating one's citizen rank.
With enough points, you can even command the three goddesses.
Of course, the issuance of points relies entirely on contributions to human civilization.
The more points you have, the greater your contribution, thus enjoying corresponding privileges.
Recognizing this evolution path’s exceptional worth with a two-thousand-meritorious-point reward indicated to Song Wuyang that he had underestimated it.
Normally, an evolution path reaching Tier Three potential earns between 800 to 1000 points.
It’s rare for any path to exceed 1000, let alone hit 2000 directly.
"I agree," Song Wuyang nodded.
The Goddess of Wisdom wouldn’t be biased; if she assigned it a value of 2000 points, it surely deserved such a valuation.
In his room, Lin Yuan was still sitting cross-legged on the bed.
"I'm still a bit hungry."
Finishing off some snacks in the room, Lin Yuan slightly frowned.
Just then, a stern and solemn voice reached him.
"Esteemed Citizen Lin Yuan, your submitted Martial Doctrine evolution path has been evaluated."
"Oh?" Lin Yuan perked up immediately.
The Martial Doctrine evolution path represented his twenty years of study and mastery in the martial world—Lin Yuan’s ultimate 'fruit of the Dao' in that realm.
He was eager to discover its valuation in the Universal Human Alliance.
"Citizen Lin Yuan, according to assessments, the Martial Doctrine evolution path theoretically has a Tier Three potential, with broad applicability, valued at two thousand meritorious points. Do you wish to receive them now?"
"Two thousand meritorious points?" Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.
Understanding the value of meritorious points, he recognized them as the highest honor, personally awarded by the three goddesses of human civilization, and a tool to elevate one's citizen status.
The two-thousand-point reward greatly exceeded Lin Yuan’s expectations.
In secret markets, points could procure scarce resources, with a single meritorious point fetching exorbitant sums in the millions.
Selling two thousand points would yield billions even on a fire-sale.
"Meritorious points have been awarded," followed the Goddess of Wisdom's voice.
In his account, Lin Yuan noticed '2000' newly appeared in the previously empty meritorious points section.
"Upgrade citizen rank."
Lin Yuan began the process.
Although meritorious points are valuable, their main function remains to upgrade one’s citizen rank.
Trading points for goods or currency through the black market was a strategy akin to ‘killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.’
With a higher citizen rank, why worry about money? Lin Yuan knew at least that second-class citizens and above could secure interest-free loans of millions from the Central Bank annually.
High-ranking citizens often earned tens or hundreds of millions merely by associating their name with various ventures.
As Lin Yuan initiated the citizen rank upgrade, the Goddess of Wisdom's voice returned.
"Universe First-Class Citizen Lin Yuan, using one thousand meritorious points, advances to Second-Class Citizen."
Upon hearing this, a smile emerged on Lin Yuan’s face.
Moving from a first-class to a second-class citizen required a thousand meritorious points.
Advancing from second-class to third-class demanded five thousand.
Even though he hadn't yet become a third-class citizen, Lin Yuan was more than satisfied.
Already, second-class citizens surpass 99.99% of the population.
Typically, out of tens to hundreds of thousands of first-class citizens, only one achieves the second-class status—a rarity among the many, a member of the privileged class.
(End of Chapter)