745 Rejection

"Of course, the Earth is still the Holy Land's main source of inheritance, so the Holy Land still keeps an eye on it. It's just that the Holy Land has different concerns." Uncle Zhang saw through Wang Zhong and grinned. "For example, if you were a Great Teacher from the Holy City, you could let anyone of your choice hold a significant position in the Federation as long as they had a substantial foundation or at the very least, secure a position for that person. If you were a Sacred Teacher, you could implant someone directly into the 10 Great Families, but that person would need to have considerable power too."

Uncle Zhang explained thoroughly. Once you reached a certain level, you could authorize people to occupy positions of power on Earth. This was why Assassin didn't have any chance of success previously. They did not garner the support of the Holy Land, so the 10 Great Families crushed them easily. If they had supporters from the Holy Land, they wouldn't have been so helpless.

Power and rules have always been essential elements of human governance: either one was indispensable.

Uncle Zhang shook his head. "Let's not talk about this now. You shouldn't be distracted by this stuff."

As soon as Uncle Zhang finished speaking, he realized he couldn't make any more moves in the chess game. This brat was distracting him by chatting with him while 'trapping' him on the chessboard.

"You little punk, so scheming!" Uncle Zhang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't expect Wang Zhong to grasp the game so quickly.

"I finally won a game!" Wang Zhong was ecstatic. "Psychological tricks are the best way to win. Distraction is a technique too, Uncle Zhang!"

"That's despicable of you, tricking me that you were interested, but actually sparking my passion for educating people!" Uncle Zhang gave him a thumbs up and laughed.

"That's exaggerating. You just like to care for juniors, so long as you don't find them annoying."

"When you reach my age, you'll understand that loneliness is scarier than trouble." Uncle Zhang grinned, not hiding his inner thoughts.

It was noon, and the bottle of Samsara wine was already gone. Uncle Zhang packed up and left, and Wang Zhong was about to leave when his Skylink rang.

"Wang Zhong? I've managed to contact Mu Zi. They're almost done with the preparations. They asked you to go to the pyramids three days from now, and that you would know the spatial coordinates."

"Okay." Wang Zhong recalled memories of when he obtained the golden stone slab; he remembered the spatial coordinates vividly. "Oh right, help me to ask Mu Zi to bring some Samsara wine for me."

The whole time he talked to Gong Yi, he didn't mention the influence that the Holy Land had over Earth as Gong Yi wasn't qualified to know. Another reason was that Gong Yi, Ma Dong, and the others didn't possess the power to contend yet.

The thought of meeting Mu Zi and Aiolos three days later made Wang Zhong a little excited, but then he remembered that leaving the Holy City was going to pose a problem and immediately frowned again. Seems like there wasn't enough time for him to slowly collect the 500 Holy Coins.

This was the first time Mu Zi and Aiolos asked him for help, so he couldn't be late no matter what. He would have to think of a way out.

He checked his funds using the Skylink system on his wristband. His assets originally consisted of the 100 Holy Coins he received when he first entered the Holy City, the second-class apprentice reward from the first month, the 100 Holy Coins that Lan Daier gave him the first time, and the random rewards he received from taste-testing. However, he spent a lot of it at the library previously and was only left with around 200 Holy Coins.

Borrowing money wasn't a realistic plan since Wang Zhong only knew Laura, Grai, and a few others. Although they would definitely do everything they could to help him and they would probably be able to put together 500 Holy Coins, they were all newcomers and had other areas to spend on too. Besides, they only had the 100 Holy Coins reward from when they first entered the Holy City and were much poorer than him. It was lucky enough that they didn't borrow money from him; how could he ask them for money instead?

Laura could find Molton for help, but in essence, it would be Molton who lent him the money, and they weren't close enough for that. Especially after what happened at the gathering last time, Wang Zhong knew where to draw the line. Besides, if he borrowed money this time, how could he hold his head high in the future?

Wang Zhong had two ideas currently: one was to join a private Dimensional Exploration team, and the other was to sell himself to Teacher Lan Daier. The latter was the last resort; he really didn't want to sell himself if he had a choice, as he couldn't endure that way of eating even if he was healthy.

Therefore, Wang Zhong wanted to go and find a private Dimensional Exploration team first. It wasn't hard to find as this business was half in the open and half a secret, not completely hidden. It was only when he inquired about it that he realized this wasn't a reliable way.

He heard that a team just left a few days ago, and now there were only three or five people who signed up for the next team. He would have to wait there for at least a few days, and he had to pay a pricey fee to join. It cost 400 Holy Coins to join, and it wasn't negotiable. In their words, these were the rules for newcomers. On your next time, you might be able to receive a certain discount, but for your first time, 400 Holy Coins were the market price. You couldn't join if you couldn't afford it, and there was no room for bargaining.

This was not feasible, making Wang Zhong depressed. After thinking about it for a long time, he could only try his luck at the Dimension Hostel. When the Dimensional Exploration teams accepted missions, there would be a few vacancies in the team occasionally. Firstly, some Dimensional Exploration teams were of a smaller scale and had fewer people. Secondly, it depended on the scale of the mission too. Excluding the cost of the Pioneering Order that was priced at 1000 Holy Coins, 7 or 8 people could earn a considerable amount, but if the profit was split among 20 people, they couldn't earn much.

The latter accepted people who wanted to tag along and wouldn't ask for a pricey fee since there were 20 slots in the Pioneering Order, and they had to pay for the empty slots anyway. No one would reject earning more money. However, it depended on your luck if you were able to find a Dimensional Exploration team like that.

Wang Zhong clearly didn't have such luck. It wasn't that he had bad luck, but these teams were hard to come by from the start. Even if there were such teams, these vacancies would be sold to insiders or those who had connections. Rules were rules; the Holy City still prohibited such dealings on the surface. A newcomer was definitely dreaming if he thought he had the connections to join such a team!

Otherwise, work for these teams? The Dimensional Exploration teams did not specify that their mission team should only consist of their own people. Some teams would often hire outsiders to help too, especially some Dimensional Exploration teams that were slightly weaker. An example would be the Gourmets, who specially work for other teams. Wang Zhong knew his own strength. If necessary, he wouldn't mind showing it in front of a team leader if he met the right person. Although it wasn't very amazing in the Holy City, it was definitely enough for an ordinary worker.

"Work for a team? You have the strength for it?" The chubby team leader narrowed his eyes and sized up Wang Zhong. "Who are you?"

The Victors were a relatively new Dimensional Exploration team; it had only been a decade since it was formed. This team had developed well, and its scale wasn't small. Many aristocratic family members from the Sparta Clan joined this team. The chubby team leader appeared to be pretty capable, but he didn't seem to know of Wang Zhong.

There were many people in the hall, Holy Disciples and newcomers among them. Many people who knew Wang Zhong laughed out loud after hearing their conversation. Maybe they didn't actually recognize Wang Zhong, but he was too famous recently. In the past, there were many newcomers who stepped out of line too, but none of them dared to anger a person of Okuyama Domoto's level like Wang Zhong.

"Victor, this genius in front of you is the second-class apprentice that lashed out at Domoto. To think you would fail to recognize such a formidable person," someone sneered.

The chubby team leader's expression changed instantly. So this was the notorious idiot, no wonder he thought he heard this name somewhere.

"Porter, you looking for a fight, eh?" The chubby team leader Victor didn't cast another glance at Wang Zhong, but rather took offense at what the other person said. "Are you looking down on the Victors? You think we accept every trash that comes along?"

"Ahem, actually, he's not that bad. Anyhow…"

"Anyhow your head!" The chubby leader ignored the other guy and turned to look at Wang Zhong, his eyes full of contempt and disdain. "Scram, trash isn't wanted here."

Wang Zhong had heard similar taunts the past few days, and he didn't care. Staying inconspicuous was his strategy now since his power wasn't enough to challenge the Holy Disciples here, and he wouldn't be physically hurt from a few snide remarks. He looked at another team leader submitting a mission application at the side, but the team leader already spoke before he could. "Shut up. Don't look at me. You think we Oceanic Beasts will want trash that even Victor doesn't?"

"Hale, what did you mean by that? Do you think we Victors are inferior to you Oceanic Beasts?" The chubby team leader wasn't happy about that remark; that was too insulting!

"Why? Are you not? We Oceanic Beasts rank higher than you Victors on the Dimensional Exploration team ranking!"

"F**k! What's the difference between the 77th and 78th ranking? You're asking for a fight," the chubby team leader raged. What kind of arrogant attitude was this? Two could play at this!