Time passed day by day.
Ninety days amounted to roughly three months. For a Planetary Level fighter with a lifespan of a thousand years, it was no exaggeration to call that the blink of an eye.
In space about 1.9 million kilometers from the star, the dark red Chilian Star hovered in the depths of space.
The ship had now become Yu Duan's personal vessel. As for Master Zhen Li and the others, they had bought a C9 Rank alloy spaceship to travel through the universe.
Inside one of the ship's observation rooms, the viewport was open. Yu Duan floated cross-legged in midair, facing the blazing light of the star.
Beside him, the liquid-metal robot held a metal case.
Inside the case were vials of Lingxi Liquid, a cultivation agent commonly used by fighters with awakened light-based genetic talents. It could greatly increase the upper limit and efficiency of their cells' absorption of Cosmic Force, accelerating the growth of their genetic Origin Energy.
The results were clear. In just ninety days, Yu Duan had advanced from the peak of the first Planetary Level rank to the late second rank.
Thanks to his improvement, Yu Duan could move his cultivation position from 2.4 million kilometers away from the star to 1.9 million kilometers away, increasing his cultivation efficiency to forty-three times the normal rate.
The closer he got to the star, the more the radiation increased with every bit of distance he shaved off.
Judging by the strength of the star in the Light Source Star System, even after reaching Planetary Level Peak, Yu Duan would be able to stay no closer than one million kilometers from it.
He would have to reach Universe Level before he could get close to the star's surface.
"Master, we've received an email. A Beiming Sacred Land ship is about to enter the Light Source Star System."
Tianran, the intelligent assistant, appeared. She resembled the tiny fairy figures Yu Duan had seen in various works in his previous life, and was only about the size of his palm.
Now that he had money, he had upgraded every aspect of his life. His intelligent assistant had gone from the most basic model to a high-grade emotional intelligence, second only to an Intelligent Life.
Intelligent assistants generally came in four grades: logical processing programs; basic intelligence with logic comparable to a real human; high-grade emotional intelligence; and Intelligent Life.
Intelligent Life evolved from the third grade, emotional intelligence, and could not be created directly.
Each Intelligent Life came into being over a long period of time, growing close to its master through years of companionship. Their bonds ran so deep that practically no one would sell their Intelligent Life—and even if you wanted to buy one, you couldn't.
Yu Duan opened his eyes, returning from the Virtual Universe. "Tianran, send them my coordinates directly. I won't say goodbye to Master Zhen Li and the others. It'd only make things sad."
There wasn't much to be sad about, really. They could still meet in the Virtual Universe.
"Of course, Master!" Tianran flapped her transparent wings and bobbed up and down, as if nodding.
About fifteen minutes later, a round, deep-blue spaceship emerged from the depths of space.
It was a shuttle-shaped ship, about 1.2 kilometers long and roughly 200 meters in diameter. Its entire surface looked as if it had been carved from some kind of blue gemstone.
As the ship's hatch opened, a group of powerful figures flew out.
At their head was a Winged Race being with a pair of wings and four arms. Behind him stood ten guards, all at the peak of the ninth Universe Level rank.
"Greetings, sir."
Yu Duan inclined his head slightly and saluted the Winged Race powerhouse. According to Tianran, the intelligent assistant, he was a powerhouse at the peak of Domain Lord Level.
The Winged Race powerhouse hurriedly stopped him, a warm smile appearing on his face. "There's no need for formalities, Your Highness. With your talent, you're certain to become a Core Layer member of the Sacred Land. Just call me Palentine."
Yu Duan had also looked into the Beiming Sacred Land.
Even ordinary students of the Beiming Sacred Land had to have mastered a domain by Star Level. They were all certain to become Domain Lords, and could aspire to reach World Lord Level in the future. Their status was therefore on par with that of a Domain Lord.
Core Layer members, on the other hand, held status equivalent to World Masters. Core members at World Lord Level could even interact as equals with Immortal Gods.
One more thing: Yan Lun, whom Yu Duan had met earlier, was merely a World Lord Level member of the Sacred Land, not a Core Layer member. Only the top ten World Lord Level members belonged to the Core Layer.
Yu Duan wasn't a Core Layer member yet, but Palentine had already reviewed his profile and knew what a Triple Domain at the age of seventeen represented. That was why he had addressed Yu Duan as "Your Highness" in advance.
Yu Duan nodded, but still asked politely, "Mr. Palentine, when will we set off?"
Palentine had said Yu Duan could call him by name, but there was no need to put on airs. It was enough to be courteous.
"We can leave at any time. As long as it doesn't delay our journey, we'll go whenever it suits Your Highness."
Hearing that, Yu Duan let out a long breath and turned to take one last look at the planet where he had lived for more than a decade. Then he looked at Palentine. "Let's leave now. I'm ready."
Yu Duan used his Space Ring to put away his small spaceship, then entered the Beiming Sacred Land ship, surrounded by the others.
As soon as the ship powered up, it entered the Dark Universe in a matter of moments.
The long, deep-blue shuttle, glowing faintly, raced through the Dark Universe at about ten times the speed of light, heading straight for the starfield under the jurisdiction of the Beiming Universe Kingdom.
In the ship's lounge, it took about two minutes to collect Yu Duan's Origin Force signature and genetic information and upload them. Only then did he officially become a Planetary Level member of the Beiming Sacred Land.
"Mr. Palentine, how far are we from the Sacred Land?"
Sitting on the sofa, Yu Duan took in the luxury of the E-class ship and looked at Palentine, who stood before him.
Palentine smiled. "The Sacred Land is about thirty million light-years from Your Highness's home. At this ship's speed, we'll arrive in about 108 days."
Thirty million light-years was an absolutely staggering distance.
But in the context of the entire territory of a Universe Country, the Chilian Divine Empire was actually quite close to the core territory of the Beiming Universe Kingdom.
"Now that Your Highness is officially a member of the Beiming Sacred Land, you have access to our Beiming Universe Kingdom's private space in the Virtual Universe—the Beiming Sea."
Palentine asked, "If Your Highness is willing, I can show you around the Beiming Sea first."
"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Palentine."
Virtual Universe, Beiming Sea.
Unlike Beiming Continent, this independent space was a vast, boundless sea of stars, not a real ocean.
At the center of the sea of stars stood a colossal, magnificent Divine Palace, radiating brilliant light. It resembled a quasar at the center of a real star system, serving as the system's absolute core.
Orbiting the vast Divine Palace were countless celestial bodies resembling inverted mountains. Each one was covered in buildings and palaces, all linked together to form estates.
"So this is... the Beiming Sea?"
On a fast-moving metal platform, Yu Duan gazed at the vast star system and turned to Palentine beside him.
"Yes, Your Highness. At the center of this sea of stars is the Divine Palace of our great Lord of the Kingdom!"
Palentine gazed reverently toward the center of the starry sea and bowed. Then he added, "The more than twenty thousand estates orbiting the Lord of the Kingdom's Divine Palace belong to the over twenty thousand Immortal Gods under the Universe Kingdom."
"Billions of people live throughout the Beiming Sea. Only 2,110 of them are true Core Layer talents. Everyone else is either an ordinary member or a staff member like me."
"Among those two thousand or so Core Layer talents, there are a thousand Star Level and a thousand Universe Level members. They're seeds being cultivated for the selection contests held by the two great pinnacle forces."
"Above them, there are only a hundred Domain Lord Level Core Layer members and ten World Lord Level Core Layer members."
Palentine gave Yu Duan a brief tour of the various regions of the Beiming Sea.
Planetary Level members lived on a floating island with a maximum diameter of about one hundred thousand kilometers. Including Yu Duan, there were only five of them.
The Star Level and Universe Level members above them numbered over a hundred million in total, and lived on vast continent-sized celestial bodies.
Core Layer members at every level could each have an independent living planet as their residence.
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