The two of them lingered a while longer before finally parting for the moment.
"Besides not being able to directly absorb life-force energy right now, does your Devouring Ability have any other limits?"
"Yes. My stats are too low at the moment, so the amount of energy I can devour each day is limited."
Bei Bei Nan Gua answered, "My talent ability is only level 1. Right now I can gain a maximum of 100 million Combat Power per day through devouring."
"According to the ability description, I'll be able to devour life energy only after my talent level rises above 100."
"Then how does your talent ability level up?"
Lin Bei asked curiously.
"Dual Cultivation."
Bei Bei Nan Gua blushed. "You're my Soul-Bound Starry Sky Partner. Dual cultivating with you grants Talent Experience and raises my talent level."
"Huh? Your… your talent ability is kind of hard to get past the censors."
"What?"
"Ahem, nothing. It's just that the ability's a bit over-the-top; I was momentarily stunned. But… don't worry, I'll… do my best."
"…Okay."
Bei Bei Nan Gua answered softly, lowered her head, and said no more.
"So, you're currently the only person in the Starry Sky Camp. What do you plan to do from now on? Or… has the Starry Sky Camp given you any special hints?"
"No."
"All right, then. Since there're no hints, stick with me from now on. Consider yourself a Special External Member of the Lucky Faction."
Lin Bei thought for a moment and stopped worrying about her faction.
Once Aleria finished her business, he could ask her about the Starry Sky Camp; as a Cleric, she ought to have plenty of intel.
Lin Bei glanced at the girl lying in his arms and directly sent her ten thousand star stones.
The next second, both the Rebate System and the Critical Hit System triggered; he instantly obtained ten thousand boundless star stones.
"These are all for me?"
"Mm. Absorb them and see how much stronger you get."
"All right!"
Bei Bei Nan Gua sat up, placed her hands on the small mountain of star stones.
A devouring force appeared inside her; in barely a breath, the hill of star stones turned ashen, their energy completely gone.
At the same time, her Vitality and Spiritual Power surged; in under half a minute her aura had roughly doubled.
"Done! I've devoured and Refine-ed every last bit of energy!"
"My Combat Power has risen by another million!"
Bei Bei Nan Gua beamed; she was clearly delighted with the boost.
Lin Bei did the math and felt slightly relieved.
It now looked like one star stone raised her Combat Power by 100. In other words, she needed only a million star stones to gain 100 million Combat Power and step straight into Epic Level!
That meant, given her current daily devouring cap, a mere million star stones per day would suffice.
That amount was nothing to him now.
So he simply took out a Storage Bag and placed it in her hand.
"There's a hundred million star stones inside—your 'food' for improving your strength. Tell me when you run out; I've got more."
"A… a hundred million star stones?! So many?"
Bei Bei Nan Gua was stunned; ever since she'd changed class to Starry Sky Awakened One, she'd known star stones were a specialty of High-Level Survival Worlds.
She'd already been deeply moved when Lin Bei produced a million for her to devour.
But now… there was actually a hundred million more?
The shock left her frozen, her eyes full of bewilderment.
"All right, don't stand there gaping. This is just the appetizer. Focus on getting stronger; later I'll let you train with boundless star stones."
Lin Bei laughed, rubbed her head, and pulled her into his arms.
Beep-beep-beep-beep—!!!
Just then, Lin Bei's Survival Bracelet chimed, shattering the tender mood.
"Blood Spirit? What does she want?"
Lin Bei frowned and tapped to accept the call.
A screen projected from the wristband, showing Blood Spirit's pretty face as she looked anxiously at him.
"Boss, my Combat Power's too high—I can't enter the Underworld to trade with you. I've tried everything these past few days, but the cost is huge and I'm flat broke. Could… could you think of something?"
"Oh, who's this beauty… the lady boss? Wow, she's gorgeous!"
"Enough. I'll handle it. How much Rule Power did you bring for the trade this time?"
"He-he, when the Clan Elders heard someone wanted to trade Ownerless Blood-Type Rule Power for Death Rule Power, they were over the moon!"
Blood Spirit giggled. "After some haggling, they're willing to swap ten Death Rule Power for one Blood-Type Rule Power. Impressive, right?"
"Ten to one? Nice work. I'll boost your Combat Power later."
"Thanks, boss!"
"All right, I'm removing the extra Combat Power I gave you. Without it, you'll only need a small fee to enter the Underworld."
"Ah? Boss, can't you just pay the fee for me? Losing power all of a sudden scares me! I've offended a bunch of Order Faction people lately—what if something happens?"
Hearing that, Blood Spirit's face paled and she poured out her woes.
"Hmph, consider this a little punishment! Next time, send a message first—don't call out of the blue!"
Lin Bei snorted, the corner of his mouth curling. "All right, kidding aside, relax and enter the Underworld. The entire King-Level Dungeon World is now mine; all of the Order Faction's lackeys have been cleaned out."
"So just be a bit careful before you enter. Once inside the Underworld… no one will dare trouble you."
"Boss! Are you serious?"
Blood Spirit stared blankly. Only a few days had passed—how could the whole King-Level Dungeon World belong to her boss now?
That sounded… a bit too outrageous?
"Enough. Get ready. You'll see for yourself whether it's true or not."
Lin Bei couldn't be bothered to explain. He hung up, turned to Bei Bei Nan Gua and said, "Right, time in the King-Level Dungeon World flows ten times faster than in the outside Survival World. If nothing special comes up, live inside the dungeon from now on; you'll improve faster that way."
"Okay, I'll follow whatever you arrange."