The Star Alliance actually still has many areas that aren’t perfect; let’s not even mention the establishment of the camp. Just the intended equipment for the new members was already difficult for Zhang Xiaoman to satisfy.
Now, they could only distribute a single Starry Stone for teleporting back to the city to each person.
In Zhang Xiaoman’s original plan, he intended to equip each new member with three items.
A Starry Stone, a set of Daring Clothes, and a Star Network Terminal.
However, now due to the scarcity of Star Dust, he could only postpone this plan and had to get the models from Brother Hero and Ye Cang, and he told them that the production of the Daring Clothes would take some time, asking them to wait.
After sending them back with the anti-gravity car, Zhang Xiaoman and Lin Sisi discussed some matters about Dark Energy in the cave.
He taught her some experience and techniques, and then was surprised to discover that this girl had very high talent in this area. Whether in control or communication, her learning and adaptation abilities were astonishing, truly befitting of a top student.
The first technique Lin Sisi needed to learn was the Spirit Detection Technique, so she needed to first communicate with sequences 216, 213, 207.
To Zhang Xiaoman’s surprise, in less than a day, she had already activated sequence 216, which was much faster than he had anticipated.
From his observations, sequence 216 seemed to be required in many Dark Energy Techniques, and it also had the highest demand in terms of quantity. If there was any pattern, then sequence 216 should be considered a fundamental sequence.
Therefore, Zhang Xiaoman decided to observe Brother Hero and Ye Cang more carefully to see how long it took for them to communicate and activate sequence 216, to estimate an average time.
Meanwhile, after the anti-gravity car had taken Brother Hero back to Qionghua City, it was parked in his bedroom, as Zhang Xiaoman would need it again to bring someone else to awaken—his mother, Pei Lingsu.
When Zhang Xiaoman used Unlimited Teleportation to return home, his mother was by the sink, dressing up and wearing a piece of clothing she usually hesitated to wear, which puzzled him.
However, Zhang Xiaoman’s question didn’t last long.
"Xiao Man, the girl named Lin Sisi you mentioned will be here too, right? How do I look in this outfit? Isn’t it too serious and potentially scaring her?"
So, it turned out his mother wasn’t going for an Awakening, but was planning to check out her potential daughter-in-law.
Zhang Xiaoman, a bit exasperated, said, "Mom, what are you fussing about here for? So that was your plan... I’ve already told you, I haven’t established any relationship with her yet, so please don’t say anything weird..."
He paused, then added, "Moreover, Lin Sisi can’t see, so this dressing up is completely pointless..."
His mother stopped, startled by the comment, and then glared at Zhang Xiaoman. He quickly changed the subject and took her to the car, driving straight to Rebirth Island.
Zhang Xiaoman didn’t activate the holographic mode because he knew his mother was a bit afraid of heights, so he just switched to the regular autopilot mode, which was also why his mother had never ridden in the anti-gravity car before.
The system-assigned high-tech vehicle flew very steadily, and combined with its speed, the trip encountered no issues, arriving at Rebirth Island shortly.
His mother was just as stunned as Ye Cang and the others when she first saw the island.
However, Zhang Xiaoman didn’t spend much time talking up the place. After all, it was his own mother; there was no need to waste time, and he just called Lin Sisi over to help with the Awakening.
On the other hand, his mother, playing the role of the prospective mother-in-law, took quite some time to warmly converse with Lin Sisi after meeting her, the caring and pitying expression on her face making Zhang Xiaoman feel a bit queasy and making the young girl feel overwhelmed, her face flushed to the roots of her ears.
Fortunately, Lin Sisi’s artistic skills were still performed normally, not wasting the last of the materials on hand, and she soon completed the Enlightenment Array.
After Zhang Xiaoman had repeatedly reminded her of the precautions several times, his mother finally began her Enlightenment Ceremony.
The awakening went very smoothly. Pei Lingsu, his mother, hadn’t furrowed her brow from beginning to end. After entering the illusion, it took just a few breaths before all the surrounding white light had disappeared.
This scene, which initially worried Zhang Xiaoman, made him widen his eyes in disbelief at how smoothly things had progressed.
"What... Mom, what exactly did you see just now? How did it end so quickly?"
He couldn’t help but ask curiously.
His mother looked completely baffled.
"I didn’t see anything. Just a surge of white light enveloped me, and then there was nothing."
Zhang Xiaoman was also somewhat surprised after hearing this.
However, when his gaze flicked to the Spirit Star Ring on her hand, a speculation suddenly formed in his mind.
"The Spirit Star Ring can immunize against spiritual attacks. This kind of illusion should also be counted as a type of spiritual attack, especially since it involves a Dragon Sleep Stone, which indeed also produces illusions that are ineffective against me."
With this thought, he vaguely had an answer and even ventured another guess.
In fact, his mother already possessed the Eye of the Starry Sky and was an official member of the gang. Perhaps her quicker completion of the awakening was related to this fact.
Regardless of the reason, his mother’s awakening had been successfully completed, marking the end of the first batch of awakenings. Next, it was time to handle other accumulated matters, prepare materials, and plan the list for the second batch of awakenings.
Regarding his mother’s identity, Zhang Xiaoman had also instructed Lin Sisi not to discuss it with others. He didn’t want to reveal it yet, and this was also his mother’s wish.
In her words, considering the development of the Star Alliance and the prestige of the Star Lord, it was best she didn’t get involved in these affairs for now.
Moreover, enjoying life at home was more to her liking.
By the time he got back home, it was already late afternoon. Zhang Xiaoman pulled out his phone to check three messages about unusual intelligence that Li Xiang had sent him, planning to investigate the locations mentioned that night to see if he could score some points.
But before that, he planned to use the points he had earned from battling Little Refining Demon to boost his strength.
He opened the system interface and first took part in today’s draw, winning a white item, Star Dust.
Not bad, considering it was a somewhat scarce item for now.
Zhang Xiaoman then looked at his remaining points, which had turned into 53 points. After awakening Lin Sisi and the other two, he had spent 15 points by giving each a Starry Stone.
"53 points, then I’ll upgrade four times, leaving 13 points as a reserve..."
He mentioned this and frowned slightly.
"Right now, the purpose of keeping these points is mainly to buy recovery items for emergencies. But if the Star Alliance’s membership increases and Contribution Points become common, I can’t just keep so few points. I’ll need to prepare more to prevent anyone wanting to buy items..."
He shook his head and shifted his gaze back to the upgrade function on the system interface, ready to start this session’s upgrade.