High mountains and flowing water, a deep pool beneath a waterfall. Four or five Standard-tier Geniuses stood on the surface of the pool, flames swirling around them, instantly evaporating large amounts of mist.
Amidst the rising mist, one of the beautiful young women stepped forward, teasing in a leisurely manner.
"Your name is Qian, right?"
"We met last time."
"Look at you today, dressed in such a tacky local life-planet style. You must be just a young girl. Let me put it this way: it doesn’t matter who your brother is—he has no authority in the Spark-Heritage Zone, and even less in the Standard Gate."
As she spoke, she shook her head. The beautiful woman’s tone made Lucy Han purse her lips.
She acted as if she was worldly and understood everything, but in reality, she was nothing special.
"Hmph."
Lucy Han lifted her snow-white chin: "People who don’t know better might mistake you for a Taichu. Is a Standard-tier Genius really so proud?"
This is the Spark-Heritage Zone, where the four great Star-Gates coexist. Standard-tier Geniuses are just the basic hall-grade standard. Above Standard is Primordial, and even higher is the esteemed Taichu.
In Lucy Han’s eyes, there was nothing for a Standard-tier Genius to be proud of.
"Hmph."
The beautiful woman only snorted coldly, leisurely folding her fair arms, pressing her ample chest, almost bursting out.
She walked step by step to the shore, studying Lucy Han’s face and expression: "What’s your name?"
"Lucy Han."
Lucy Han folded her arms as well, but the gesture had little effect—at least outwardly, nothing much changed.
"I’m Christine." The beautiful woman, Christine, feigned kindness as she advised: "Listen carefully. Last time we left you alone, not because we were afraid, but simply didn’t want to make things too difficult for you. Besides, you know this is the Spark-Heritage Zone, and the Standard Gate is one of its four great Star-Gates."
"You’d better think it over."
"Who can interfere with the Standard Gate of the Spark-Heritage Zone? Even a Cosmic Eternal Realm powerhouse doesn’t have the qualifications."
Christine’s voice was gentle, but her tone was forceful. All cultivation resources had to be handed over.
They came here specifically for the resource quota allocated to Lucy Han. If you don’t fight for cultivation resources, you’ll never have enough. The competition system in the Standard Gate is ruthless—resources matter. Many Standard-tier Geniuses worry about this, so they resort to all sorts of methods to get more. The simplest way is to seize the fixed quotas of those with special physiques.
Lucy Han glanced at Christine’s chest and said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll report this to the Spark-Heritage Zone authorities?”
“Go ahead,” Christine laughed. “Complain, report, make a fuss if you want. For something this minor, the Spark-Heritage Zone won’t bother to intervene.”
“Oh.”
Lucy Han understood. It seemed the Spark-Heritage Zone tacitly allowed all kinds of resource struggles, as long as nothing serious happened.
Christine, a Standard-tier Genius, gave a light laugh. “So just hand over your cultivation resources, Lucy Han.”
Meanwhile, at the deep pool nearby, the other four watched coldly, not bothering to speak. Only a trace of indifferent pity flickered in their eyes. Honestly, none of them wanted to deliberately target or suppress Lucy Han. But seizing resources through threats and coercion would eventually cause trouble.
Although this unspoken rule had persisted for thousands of eras...
Still—
If you walk by the river long enough, your shoes will get wet. What if, one day, you offend someone you really can’t afford to cross?
“Relax. Kang Yi and the others have already checked everything.”
“Lucy Han has no background—she’s not from any big clan, not from an ancient royal house. She’s just a lucky Starlight-tier from the Yarlowe Sector of the Cosmic Ancient Kingdom, nothing special at all.”
“There’s no such thing as luck in this world.”
“You should always be cautious about this sort of thing. Don’t go looking for trouble.”
The four exchanged telepathic messages, quietly discussing. They were a small clique within the Standard Gate, led by Kang Yi, a peak Void Rift-tier cultivator. Only by sticking together could they survive the harshness of the Standard Gate.
Those Standard-tier Geniuses who trained alone were almost primitive, naturally claiming most of the resources.
So resource-grabbing was common. First, you’d check your target’s background. If they had powerful backing, you’d give up right away. They always picked Standard-tier Geniuses without support, especially those with special physiques—usually weaker, from ordinary backgrounds, and unlikely to have much future potential.
"Lucy Han is the perfect target. There won’t be any serious consequences, and we don’t have to worry about her rising up later or anything unexpected."
“Exactly. If we take it, we take it. Lucy Han doesn’t even have the right to refuse.”
The four kept up their casual telepathic chatter, just waiting to collect Lucy Han’s cultivation resources before heading off to the next spot to do it all over again.