Return (Part Two)

"Welcome back, adorable little Xi Ye—oh, no, you should be called Lord Xi Ye now!"

He had only just been teleported over and had yet to recover from the mental discomfort caused by the jump space when a familiar yet unfamiliar female voice rang out. Xi Ye looked up, a trace of realization flashing in his eyes. He had spent more time with this person than with his parents. Ten thousand years had passed, yet she had not changed in the slightest, as if time itself could not leave a mark on her.

This did not surprise him. The Celestial Race had extremely long lifespans. Once they fused with their genes, they could live for a million years even without evolving. As for those Celestials who possessed vast territories and the faith of billions of subjects, their lifespans could even be measured in eras.

"Teacher Jia Luo De!" Xi Ye respectfully bowed.

The stunningly beautiful woman across from him looked him over with satisfaction. "Mm, the little fellow has grown sturdier, and his eyes look much more mature. It seems this trip provided you with excellent training."

Training?

Xi Ye was speechless at his teacher's high-sounding words. He had only started developing his planet a few months ago, while he had spent the previous ten thousand years cooped up on a spaceship. What kind of training could that count as? Did reaching eight hundred points at the King rank in Alliance Glory count?

The few players behind Xi Ye stared at his teacher with their jaws hanging open. Although two of them were female players, they were still stunned by the beauty of the creature before them.

Xi Ye had always worn a helmet, so the players had never seen his face. Thus, when they saw the appearance of a second Celestial, they were momentarily unable to react.

They exclaimed in astonishment, "Who designed this model? It's fucking gorgeous!"

And the surrounding scenery—the detail! Who the fuck said this game was an unfinished product?

The Reception Department of every school was more or less the most lavishly decorated place on campus, let alone the Reception Department of the Federal First Academy. As natives of Planet D, this was their first time seeing such extravagant, cosmic-level décor. One by one, they felt as if they had entered heaven!

"Finally, I'm back!" Xi Ye gazed at the familiar surroundings, suddenly feeling as if he had been separated from them for a lifetime. Finally... he had returned to the Federal First Academy once more!

The Celestial Group Academy was the only place in the entire universe that possessed Celestial Bloodline genes. Ever since the Four Ancient Celestials founded it, it had stood for a million eras, and its position had never wavered!

Over the course of a million eras, the academy had nurtured countless Celestial God Lords whose territories spread throughout the universe. In terms of resources, technology, population, and the provision of internal positions, it had made enormous contributions to the entire Federation!

By now, it had become the only path for anyone in the Federation who wished to become a lord!

The requirements for entering the Celestial God Academy were extremely harsh. First, you had to have money. The deposit alone was one billion God Coins, while the tuition fees for more than ten thousand years could drag even a fairly large family into bankruptcy.

Furthermore, a family had to obtain recommendations from more than three interstellar lords to receive a slot for sending a junior to the school. The elimination rate was also extremely high. Most importantly, if you were eliminated, that one-billion-coin deposit would not be refunded!

Despite such a ridiculous application process, every admissions period still saw several million applicants. One had to admit that the Federation was full of suckers, allowing the academy to collect deposits until its hands went numb every year!

One billion God Coins was already a considerable asset. But compared to the tuition fees that followed for ten thousand years, that billion was nothing at all. This caused many families to grit their teeth and hang on despite clearly lacking the means. Examples of families whose savings across dozens of generations had been fleeced until they did not even have a pair of underwear left were everywhere. Xi Ye's family was one of those middle-class families that had fallen into the trap!

The Eldia Family, into which Xi Ye had been born, was an established family in the Federation that had existed for more than one era. Its foundations were fairly solid. By his father's generation, its influence had spread across dozens of star systems. Talented individuals appeared one after another within the clan, and it possessed an extremely pure Thunder Clan bloodline. Its family disciples had always been highly sought after by many lords!

Xi Ye in particular had displayed extraordinary aptitude from birth and had been hailed by his elders as the family's future hope. He should have inherited the family genes and become an outstanding Thunder Warrior. Who could have known that his old man would suddenly get it into his head to cultivate a Celestial for the Eldia Family? After several family meetings, they ultimately decided to send him to the Celestial Group Academy!

To be honest, before he found Planet D, this had definitely been the worst investment in the family's history!

Lord Xi Ye recalled those arduous days, and the skin on his face twitched. During his ten thousand years of wandering through the universe, he had repeatedly wondered whether it had been worth spending such a huge price to study among the Celestials!

While he was still pouring vast amounts of money into the school, his brothers and sisters had already achieved something. Some had become Thunder Clan warriors, while others had become elegant night demons. He had heard that they were all doing rather well. In particular, Raine, the eldest son of his eldest uncle, had followed a decent lord and was now serving as a regional commander on a Level 5 Star, bringing considerable benefits to the family. Many juniors who wished to join the military had pledged themselves to him.

By contrast, he had once been hailed as the brightest junior in the Eldia Family. At only twenty, he had passed the Celestial Group's examination and become a legend in his hometown. Yet over the following ten thousand years of study, he had dragged the family to the verge of bankruptcy. Even after graduating, he had wandered for another ten thousand years without bringing the family the slightest benefit. He was even less useful than the nanny's son who had once worked for their family. He had heard that the boy later became a troll and worked as a bodyguard for some goblin bosses, sending more than ten thousand God Coins home every year for his mother...

This was also why most impoverished lords would rather die than return. Their families had sacrificed too much. If they could not bring back any achievements, they might as well die outside and avoid returning to be drowned in the spittle of their juniors!

"Oh?" The female teacher noticed the few players behind Xi Ye and immediately exclaimed in surprise. "Such high-quality Green Titans. Did you cultivate them, Xi Ye?"

"Ah... They're natives from my planet. I picked a few with relatively high aptitude and plan to develop them into my core personnel..." Xi Ye lied without changing expression.

"Core personnel?" The players' eyes lit up as they thought, Really?

Sure enough, all that grinding day and night is paying off!

The teacher immediately frowned. "You child, what did I teach you in your basic courses? During the initial stages of a venture, you must make reasonable use of your resources. Green Titans may be imposing, but under equal resource conditions, the Thunder Clan and Bronze Clan have the highest cost-effectiveness. It's only been ten thousand years, and you've already returned everything I taught you?"

"Teacher is right. I got carried away." Xi Ye hurriedly admitted his mistake!

Ten thousand years... The players were bewildered by the line. Wasn't what you learned in school only supposed to last six months after entering society? And didn't you people treat time a little too casually with this constant talk of ten thousand years?

"You came back this time to take out a loan, didn't you?" Jia Luo De asked warmly, having understood Xi Ye's family situation.

Students who chose interstellar travel usually came back for loans the first time. If their families had money, they would not have taken the travel route in the first place. Among the Celestials, so-called poor travel mostly meant traveling while dead broke.

"Yes..." Xi Ye nodded.

"What are you planning to use as collateral?" Jia Luo De asked with a smile, secretly estimating the potential value of this student.

"An eighth-grade life planet." Xi Ye answered honestly.

F-rank! Jia Luo De secretly assigned it a rating. The warmth faded from her expression, though she did not completely change her attitude. After all, eighth-grade was still better than ninth-grade. If it were a Ninth-Grade Planet, merely cultivating local residents capable of adapting to the environment would probably take a hundred thousand years.

"There are D-grade energy ores on the planet," Xi Ye continued.

Oh? A planet with high-grade ore? Jia Luo De's expression brightened, and she immediately raised her evaluation of Xi Ye to D-rank.

It had jumped two grades at once. After all, planets with ore and planets without ore were worlds apart. For starters, during the loan assessment alone, this one factor could increase the amount by at least tenfold. With a larger loan, development would proceed much faster. Moreover, Energy Ore was in short supply throughout the Federation, and its price had always remained high. For a long time, this fellow probably would not have to worry about insufficient funds.

No wonder he had dared to cultivate Green Titans so extravagantly. So he had a mine...

"How much is the tolerance of these natives?" Jia Luo De asked with a concerned look.

"About three percent..." Xi Ye answered very conservatively.

"That high!" Jia Luo De's expression changed in surprise. She thought, This fellow has incredible luck. Not only does he have Energy Ore, he also has such high-quality natives. What a perfect start!

B-rank!!

After raising her assessment of Xi Ye's potential once more, Jia Luo De's expression grew even friendlier.

"Teacher knows a financial institution that lends very generously. The only issue is that the interest is a little high. Are you interested?"

"Uh..." Xi Ye showed no joy at all upon hearing this. Instead, he secretly grew wary. After all, he knew that this seemingly beautiful teacher had nearly tricked every last pair of underwear off his old man to pay his tuition back then.