Old Bai Jiao himself was the leader of a cult faction, operating in the Red Silicon Star System for many years.
The damned Red Silicon Star System frequently fought Extraterritorial Species, and in recent years, those conflicts had mostly taken the form of mercenary wars. As a result, it was one of the Star Alliance's rare "Open Authority" governance environments.
Call it freedom or call it chaos, Old Bai Jiao had benefited from it. He had already built up considerable hidden influence here in Tuoyuan City.
But no matter how "Open Authority" it was, the Red Silicon Star System remained under the jurisdiction of the Sky Abyss Spirit Network, subject to comprehensive inspections at regular and irregular intervals. To maintain efficient communication with the Great Existence in such an environment, his Form and Spirit Framework could not undergo any drastic changes.
That was undoubtedly a constraint.
Old Bai Jiao had persisted like this for more than a hundred Standard Years. Including the life he had inherited before taking over, he was now nearing one hundred and thirty Standard Years old. Even though he was a fairly well-known tycoon in the Red Silicon Star System, with both the reputation and the means to stop at nothing to prolong his life, as a Genetic Species below the Celestial rank, such a lifespan was inherently suspicious.
In the Star Alliance to which the Red Silicon Star System belonged, where Genetic Species made up the overwhelming majority, the current average life expectancy—excluding Celestials and stronger figures—was only a little over one hundred Standard Years... Well, by the standards of some distant star system, that was over three hundred and fifty years, enough to make some old hag die of envy.
In any case, having lived to this age, Old Bai Jiao was, in a