At that moment, in an unknown palace on Dongyuan Planet, Yanguang Marquis—who knew nothing of what lay beyond the stars—halted his cultivation and stretched out his hundreds-of-meters-long serpentine body.
His enormous emerald-green eyes seemed to see through layer upon layer of buildings, settling on a vast canyon.
Tens of thousands of young Light-Deriving Snake Race members at Earth Rank gathered there. Each was seven or eight meters long and as thick as a barrel. They writhed and played together, nearly filling the entire canyon floor.
The sight would have made an ordinary human's skin crawl, but Yanguang Marquis gazed at them with kindness and hope. "You little ones at Earth Rank (Planet Rank) are the future of our race..."
Yanguang Marquis suddenly looked terrified. Before he could react, he lost all awareness and vanished from the palace, unnoticed by any of his kind...
In the starry reaches of the universe, Mountain Sitting Guest looked at the unconscious Yanguang Marquis, whose body stretched hundreds of meters before him. He spoke coolly to the Lizard-Man Immortal Servant left behind by Winged Snake Venerable. "Use the secret technique to enslave it!"
Although Winged Snake Venerable called himself Mountain Sitting Guest's servant, he wasn't actually his Soul Slave.
Using a Soul Secret Technique to control another life turned it into the most loyal of servants, loyal down to the very essence of its soul. It also affected the master's soul.
Yanguang Marquis was a powerful Marquis Immortal who could command the winds and rains on Dongyuan Planet, yet Mountain Sitting Guest didn't even consider it worth sending out his own Soul Slave to enslave him...
Under the Lizard-Man's unconditional obedience to Winged Snake Venerable and the pressure of Mountain Sitting Guest's terrifying aura, the Lizard-Man did as ordered.
Yanguang Marquis awoke. Through the connection between the core of his soul and the Lizard-Man, he instantly understood his fate.
"His aura is only at King Rank strength, yet he knocked me unconscious in an instant and brought me here. Even Venerable Kuangque couldn't do that!"
"This terrifying, powerful being must be the reason I was able to join my master's ranks. I should be grateful to him!"
Yanguang Marquis respectfully lowered his huge head. "I greet you, Master, and I greet this great being. Thank you for allowing me to enter my master's service."
Of course, if Yanguang Marquis had known that Venerable Kuangque had stopped him from wiping out the humans on Dongyuan Planet because of Mountain Sitting Guest...
And that this had ultimately brought Mountain Sitting Guest here, he would have thanked Venerable Kuangque as well...
Mountain Sitting Guest tossed the Lizard-Man a World Ring.
"My name is Mountain Sitting Guest. From today onward, you will stay on Dongyuan Planet to cultivate. This ring contains the resources you'll need."
"Secretly protect the humans on this planet. You may act only if they face the threat of extinction. Otherwise, leave everything alone."
"If anything proves too much for you, call Winged Snake Venerable. Remember, you must not reveal my name without my permission!"
After parting from Yanguang Marquis and the others, Mountain Sitting Guest shrank his body, concealed himself, and walked through the streets of a human city on Dongyuan Planet.
Looking at the people passing by, so similar to Earthlings, Mountain Sitting Guest sank into deep memories.
As if crossing endless time and space, he saw the graceful figure who had patiently taught him in the Artifact Refining Sect, her smile bright and beautiful.
"Senior Sister..."
Mountain Sitting Guest had never wanted to interfere too much in humanity's development in the Primitive Universe.
He only wanted to find and train powerful allies who could help him, not to claim human kin in this era of the Primitive Universe.
He had controlled Yanguang Marquis on a whim this time because these humans, so like the race his senior sister belonged to, had stirred memories buried deep in his soul...
Dongyuan Planet—Yisi Kingdom—Buer County—
No. 3 Main Mine—Tuka Tribe Subdivision
Though it was called a tribe, countless skyscrapers rose from the ground, and flying vehicles streamed through its streets. The place looked more like a high-tech city of the future.
Perhaps because they didn't know that many human-like races had already begun to spread across the Primitive Universe, they had no concept of a Human Race. Instead, they called themselves the Isis Race.
Yisi had once been the most powerful human on Dongyuan Planet in the early days—a mighty Immortal God Lord who had once dominated all the other races there.
He had established the powerful human nation of Yisi Kingdom, but suddenly died during an expedition into a Cosmic Secret Realm.
This had eventually left Dongyuan Planet divided among three great powers: the humans, the Light-Deriving Snake Race, and the Northern Rock Race. They had been in conflict for many years...
When the Immortals of the three races couldn't overcome one another, they tended to hold back, letting their younger warriors below the Immortal level clash and hone their skills.
The simple-minded Northern Rock Race was almost entirely made up of soldiers. The humans and the Light-Deriving Snake Race, by contrast, kept their young in the dark. Only once they reached Flying Star Rank (Star Rank) did they gradually learn the truth about the conflict among the three races.
Only those at Sky Rank (Universe Rank) and above, powerful enough to fly freely, served as the main force in the struggle between the races.
As for the weaker ones at Earth Rank (Planet Rank) and Apprentice Rank, those in power deliberately kept them uninformed, allowing them to live relatively peaceful lives.
Over the long history of Dongyuan Planet, even the Immortal Gods had lost sight of its beginnings, and its technology had already reached its peak.
Take the humans, for example. So long as they didn't cultivate, even those as weak as Apprentice Rank could live comfortably.
But without cultivation, they had no strength to counter Dongyuan Planet's terrifying gravity and had to rely on an accelerated metabolism to endure it.
This meant that any lifeform who stayed at Apprentice Rank wouldn't live long. An Apprentice Level 9 could survive for only about thirty Dongyuan Planet years there, equivalent to around forty-five Earth years.
Humans on Dongyuan Planet were roughly at Apprentice First Order soon after birth. On Earth, they would easily have a strength of 900 kilograms and a speed of 25 meters per second.
On Dongyuan Planet, however, an Apprentice First Order might be far weaker than humans had been before the RR Virus caused mutations: a strength of 50 kilograms and a speed of 8 meters per second.
With a little effort, one could reach Planet Rank and live for over a thousand years. It was only natural that cultivation flourished on Dongyuan Planet, without anyone needing to promote it.
Longevity, or even immortality, was the ultimate wish of almost every intelligent lifeform—provided it was actually possible.
Tuka Tribe Subdivision—Life District 015—
Building 072—Floor 124—Residence 045
A young man who looked to be in his twenties and wore high-tech glasses walked down the long, winding metal corridor on Floor 124.
As he walked, he spoke with a virtual figure projected by his glasses.
"I'm almost home. Let's call it here. We can discuss the equipment repairs in detail tomorrow."
"Sure. And congratulations on your new baby boy, Engineer Autumn!"
"If you really want to congratulate me, bring a generous gift when the little guy has his first rank assessment!"
"Of course!"
The young man named Autumn stopped outside Residence 045. The biometric system automatically opened the door.
After greeting a neighbor he happened to run into, Autumn entered his cozy four-bedroom home.
In the living room, he saw the baby's grandparents on both sides crowding around the cradle, laughing and teasing the baby.
They had pushed the baby's mother off to the side. She watched him with loving eyes and an amused, helpless smile.
A tiny camera drone hovered above the cradle, probably sent over by some relatives with time on their hands.
The baby's paternal grandfather, who faced the entrance, was the first to notice his son coming home. "You finally decided to come back! The baby's been here for three days, and you still haven't given him a name."
Everyone turned their attention from the newborn to the new father, all talking at once and offering suggestions.
According to Tuka Tribe custom, the father had the final say on the name. So, in the end, they all looked to Autumn, waiting for him to make his decision.
Autumn considered for a long while, then looked at the baby's mother. "Let's call him Dongyuan. Dongyuan Stone."
What kind of name was that? Everyone began talking over one another, urging their son or son-in-law to reconsider.
It was like naming a child born on Earth "Earth"—how strange! It would be better to name him Jianguo or Yuhang!
Those names might be common, but at least they had good meanings!
Autumn stood firm. "I hope he'll be like the Dongyuan Stone you find everywhere—ordinary, but with value of his own."
"May he smoothly reach Earth Rank and live a peaceful life. That's all I want."
The others fell silent, somewhat moved. Autumn's mother was especially relieved.
Back when Autumn had been assessed, his talent had been rated highly enough to get him into a so-called pre-Flying Star Rank training program.
He had tried to break through to Earth Rank using his own talent instead of relying on outside help like ordinary people, which would have ended his chances of reaching Flying Star Rank.
But after an accident, he had nearly failed to break through to Earth Rank before his body began rapidly declining at twenty.
If he hadn't succeeded in time, he would have quickly grown old at Apprentice Level 9 and died before reaching thirty Dongyuan Planet years...
A human at Earth Rank could live for over six hundred Dongyuan Planet years, or roughly a thousand Earth years.
Leaving Dongyuan Planet, with its abundant cultivation energy, was even less of an option.
With their genetic potential, humans wouldn't even be able to reach Apprentice Level 7 as adults after a few generations, let alone Earth Rank.
Apart from restrictions on childbirth imposed by the human government, people without enough money generally avoided having children, lest they suffer the tragedy of burying their own children.
His wife knew all about Autumn's past. She gently took his arm, and his lover's embrace brought a smile to his face.
He turned and saw her looking at him reproachfully. Finally giving in to the pressure, he changed his mind. "Then let's drop a few letters and call him Yuan. Yuan Stone..."
At last, everyone was satisfied. They began enthusiastically discussing the child's future, and then moved on to parenting advice.
The four grandparents held forth, sharing their experience and dispensing advice. The new parents pretended to nod along while secretly laughing...
The conversation soon turned to current events. The baby's maternal grandmother spoke with envy about some news she'd just heard.
"I heard a miner in Life District 027 dug up a piece of Dongyuan Stone Mother about the size of a finger!"
An F-class ore that was a whole finger long! It wasn't as precious as it would become in the middle era of the Primitive Universe.
Even so, it was a rare ore that even an Immortal God Lord would pay a high price to buy.
It was enough to buy the resources needed to cultivate dozens of generations to Earth Rank. It might even be enough to raise someone all the way to Universe Rank!
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