Tuya, Kato, and Yuan could chat with them just like any ordinary intelligent lifeform. They seemed to have their own joys and sorrows, likes and dislikes.
But in reality, they could only be considered intelligent programs. All their intelligent-life-like behavior was merely a logical imitation; they could not truly be called intelligent life.
Only after acquiring sufficient computing power, spending a long time among true intelligent life, and experiencing enough stories—
could they eventually cross that line, gain a truly independent consciousness of their own, and be acknowledged by the universe as intelligent life capable of cultivating and growing!
Yuan had claimed the remaining four optical-computer bracers as his own. He found some information about the ring on them, and had Tuya translate it into the Isis language before he read it.
These were trade documents exchanged between the Northern Rock Race's survivor settlements after the Great Extinction. For security, the information had been written in rather obscure terms.
Based on Yuan's understanding of the message, one settlement had perhaps gathered some treasures to purchase the Special Lifeform "Yinluo."
The treasures were an advance deposit for a clone to be used in possession by a peerless genius recognized by the various settlements.
The whole document was filled with "creative" praise for the settlement's genius: the hope of the race, the savior, and so on...
They hoped that the settlement offering "Yinluo" would lower the "fee" a little more...
"Possession, clone... I can understand those from the words themselves. It's like having an extra life!" Yuan felt a little envious of this so-called "genius."
"As for this Special Lifeform, 'Yinluo'—what is it?" Tuya searched through the latest updated data but found no relevant records.
"No wonder it's expensive, if it can be used as someone else's clone. This entire ring full of treasures is only the deposit!"
That meant that if the deal went through, the buyer would have to provide at least four times as many treasures as those in the ring.
Yuan also found the complete list of the "deposit," which Tuya translated into the names and values of various treasures.
Unfortunately, none of these high-grade treasures were ones Yuan already knew, so he couldn't work out their exchange rate against Isis currency.
Aside from their names and values, there were no further details. Yuan felt a little helpless. "Not a single useful bit of information. These Northern Rock Race survivors are really cautious."
As for the intelligent programs in the four optical-computer bracers, unlike Kato, the one he'd found earlier, their emotional expressions were much livelier than those of ordinary intelligent programs. But there was still something vaguely strange about them.
Although all information related to the settlements had been deleted, one of the intelligences let slip that the survivor settlement was called "Lava Heart." The other three immediately mocked it as a traitor!
Yuan shook his head, speechless. You really are dramatic. I'm your master now! Maybe this "liveliness" was why they'd been added to the trade list as a bonus.
Yuan did the same as before. He found several devices, uploaded them one by one, and "sealed" them away, in case they might prove useful in the future...
Even with Tuya's improved computing power, she still couldn't do anything with the idle D9-class Spaceship parked nearby. Yuan had no choice but to give up on this shortcut again...
Time flew by. Although Yuan's group encountered Flying Star Rank beast hordes many times, they managed to evade them without incident, thanks to the Starship Humans' extensive wilderness-survival skills.
Their days of hiding around Xingduo Lake soon came to an end.
Shenghui and Sijian's group found Yuan and the others, their feelings a complicated mix of joy and sorrow. They'd left with fourteen people, but only twelve returned!
With a complicated expression, Shenghui said, "We gained a great deal from this hunt. The resources we brought back will be enough for our village to live in peace for a hundred years!"
"Duoyu and Shangyu sacrificed themselves to protect their teammates... Let us pay our respects..."
Everyone gathered to hold a simple memorial service belonging to the Starship Humans, expressing their respect for the two of them.
It was Yuan's first time experiencing the death of someone close to him in the wilderness. But the others showed little grief in their eyes and kept striving to get on with their lives. He felt strangely moved.
When they heard Yuan had mastered a domain, both Shenghui and Sijian wore rare smiles. What did it mean for someone at Planet Rank to comprehend a domain?
In the later Genius Battle, among the countless geniuses from the various Universe Countries, only a small fraction comprehended a domain at Star Rank.
Shenghui grew more and more pleased with Yuan. He almost wished he could find a girl to marry him off, so Yuan could become a Starship Humans son-in-law first. Unfortunately, they were different races, and not everyone had the interest or courage to be a "Romeo"...
Sijian sent Yuan some insights into cultivating and using domains, then explained, "A domain can be understood simply as a small gift from the universe to geniuses with a certain level of talent."
"You don't need to understand the deep principles behind how a domain works. You can use it just by relying on your own comprehension."
"It's like driving a land vehicle. You don't need to understand how its engine works. You only need to know a few basic functions, like starting, turning, and stopping!"
Yuan nodded to show he understood. "So a domain is like driving. I only need to know how to activate, expand, contract, and shut it off, right?"
Sijian smiled. "That's right. Well put. You already know how to activate it."
"The rest is to use the weapon in your hand as a medium and set up 'valves' along the route your Genetic Origin Energy takes through your body. The specific method is as follows..."
Yuan stepped back several dozen meters and followed Sijian's instructions, simulating a "valve" inside his body to control the flow of energy. Before long, he could control his domain with ease.
Shenghui praised him from the side. "You're very perceptive. When I first comprehended the Water Domain, it took me a long time to truly master it."
Yuan instinctively tried to be modest, but everyone—especially the group of young men at Earth Rank Nine—immediately called him out. Being too modest made him seem like he was showing off.
Yuan could only laugh helplessly. What he didn't know was that, throughout the known history of the Starship Humans, the geniuses who had comprehended a domain at Planet Rank could be counted on one hand.
Sijian added, "You're only at the first stage of domain mastery right now, and your Earth Rank Three strength doesn't give you much stamina. Once you've become proficient at using your domain, you'll be able to control it freely without an imaginary 'valve.'"
Yuan nodded and cupped his fists in thanks for everyone's guidance.
Shenghui waved it off, then said with a sigh, "You don't have to be so polite. To be honest, it's our honor to meet a peerless genius of the Isis Race in this era!"
Yuan was genuinely surprised. He hadn't realized how serious the "problem" was. How many times had he heard people sing his praises since he was a child?
He knew he was a genius, but "the peerless genius of this era"?! Had they gotten it wrong?
When Shenghui gave the order to return, Yuan stopped dwelling on it. He packed up his few belongings and left in the middle of the group.
On the way back, he'd gone from being little more than a bystander, with only Earth Rank Three strength, to becoming a mainstay of an Earth Rank team.
With his domain under control, few Earth Rank Nine Desolate Beasts could withstand even one of Yuan's attacks!
After a long period of lopsided training, Yuan's martial prowess had far surpassed his Spirit Reader abilities.
After all, Spirit Readers were the ones who could often fight across several ranks, even taking on a whole group of martial artists by themselves...
They made good time on the return journey. In just a few days, the great canyon where the Starship Humans' village lay came into view in the distance.
Nobody noticed the flying Desolate Beast, only a few centimeters long, watching them from nearby and seeing them all the way to the canyon. Then it beat its wings and flew off at high speed...
When they returned to the Starship Humans' village, the villagers held a memorial service too, though most of them were celebrating Shenghui's group's great haul.
Yuan only vaguely sensed that the villagers were somehow training even harder than before...
And so Yuan, after his first taste of the wilderness, put down roots here.
Yuan felt as if he'd returned to the time before he turned eighteen, when his daily life consisted of going back and forth between home and the Martial Arts Hall to train.
But what left Yuan and everyone else speechless was that, as his comprehension of the Light Domain deepened, he soon reached the third stage of domain mastery, and his Spirit Reader abilities broke through to the fourth stage.
As his domain grew stronger and further boosted his movement speed and attacks, his overall strength had reached the point where he could spar with experts whose power was suppressed to Flying Star Rank Four!
But Yuan still couldn't cultivate the first level of the Die Feng Sword Art's Dark Force!
Although the Die Feng Sword Art was a wind-attribute manual, that only meant that those with a wind attribute would find it easier to comprehend the Conception and cultivate its laws. Anyone could cultivate and improve the martial technique itself.
Shenghui: "This is ridiculous!"
Yuan: "This is damn ridiculous!"
Yuan decided to stop worrying about it. Back in the cave where he lived, he took a high-grade energy stone from his Space Ring and guided its energy into his Consciousness Sea. To his surprise, the Purple Crystal began absorbing it on its own!
Yuan couldn't help feeling overjoyed. If he'd still been with the Isis Race, he might have hesitated to awaken the Purple Crystal, or even tried to remove it from his Consciousness Sea.
But in his current situation, where he could lose his life at any moment, he had no better choice.
As the Purple Crystal continued absorbing the high-grade energy, Yuan felt its rotation gradually speeding up! There was hope that the Purple Crystal would awaken!
Though Yuan was still a newcomer who had only just entered the world of the strong, he'd always understood one thing: staying alive came first. If he was dead, nothing else mattered.
"Have you still not found the one who took the ring?"
"No. We analyzed signs of life within a twenty-thousand-kilometer radius on the day the Iron-Backed Hyena Rat horde was wiped out. We identified thirty-four groups of possible suspects."
"Did you find anything?"
"N-not yet. These suspects basically encompass most of the intelligent species on Dongyuan Planet."
"We haven't seen anything unusual so far... The search is difficult... One of the intelligent species may have found it and kept it hidden..."
"Useless! Leave some forces behind and keep searching. We have all the time in the world..."
"Yes!"
Before you continue