Causal Book, Add Points for Me!

That night, on the eastern hemisphere of Light Source Planet, three moons hung in the sky.

Deep beneath the Civilization Temple, a giant saucer-shaped structure about four hundred meters in diameter lay hidden.

This was the relic of an extraterrestrial civilization that Zhen Li had accidentally stumbled upon years ago; it was also a genuine spacecraft, preserved in such pristine condition that it was fully capable of interstellar flight.

Inside the ship's control room, Zhen Li followed protocol, having the ship's intelligent system authenticate Yu Duan to grant him secondary control clearance.

During this process, Zhen Li also introduced Yu Duan to some common knowledge about the universe, though Yu Duan likely knew more than Zhen Li did, he did not speak out of turn.

"A B6-class ship... the former owner was likely a Star Level expert, so how could he have suddenly dropped dead?"

Yu Duan was puzzled. Why would a Star Level expert die inexplicably on Light Source Planet? If he had been killed, why was the ship so well-preserved?

If it was an accidental death, why hadn't any relatives or old friends come to claim the inheritance?

Facing Yu Duan's confusion, Zhen Li sighed and said, "I just told you about slavery and the Bio-chip. The former owner of this ship was a commander under the Crimson Empire's slave army."

"The reason for his sudden death was that the Bio-chip activated, directly destroying the ship owner's brain. As for the specifics, let Number One explain it to you in detail."

Number One was the name of the ship's intelligent assistant, a new name given by its new owner, Zhen Li.

"Whoosh!"

Colorful streams of light coalesced into the image of a bald, intelligent humanoid. It bowed slightly to Zhen Li before turning its gaze toward Yu Duan.

"Former owner Collins Barto, a Star Level 9 powerhouse, served as commander of the 7th Battalion, 4th Slave Army of the Crimson Empire..."

Simply put, while the ship's former owner was on a mission, the Bio-chips of every member in the entire battalion activated simultaneously, instantly destroying everyone's brains.

The technology behind the Bio-chip was highly advanced, capable of monitoring brain activity; once a thought of disloyalty occurred, it would retaliate.

As a commander of the slave army, Collins Barto had triggered the "Red Line" warning ten times within a century, exceeding the maximum threshold, which led to his current fate.

A slave army commander was still a slave; once the number of "Red Line" triggers exceeded the threshold, "destruction" was carried out immediately.

The entire process required no manual "destruction" command; it was a pre-set program instruction.

If one were at the Universe Level, things would be slightly better. Even if the warning threshold were exceeded, there would be a manual investigation into the cause. As long as it wasn't a matter of principle, the most one would receive was a reprimand.

After all, for the Crimson Empire, the number of Universe Level powerhouses was small, making them quite valuable.

"Then why wasn't the ship confiscated?"

Yu Duan asked quickly. With the future of his civilization and his own life at stake, he couldn't afford to be careless.

The crystalline bald figure raised its right hand, firing a beam of blue light that formed a translucent screen.

"The Chilian Star spacecraft was Barto's private vessel. Seventeen years before his death, while performing a routine sky-patrol mission, he discovered this life-bearing planet but did not report it, choosing instead to park his private ship here."

"For the following 17 cosmic years, Barto never returned to Light Source Planet until his death."

"According to analysis, there is a 90% probability that the first 'Red Line' signal detected by Barto's Bio-chip was due to his desire to claim Light Source Planet for himself."

"Subsequent triggers of the Red Line warning were highly likely due to him contemplating how to obtain official ownership of the planet and how to sell it."

"Based on probability model analysis, there is a 99.41% chance that the Crimson Empire officials are unaware of the existence of the Chilian Star and Light Source Planet."

"The remaining 0.59% probability is that the Crimson Empire officials simply do not care about the value of Light Source Planet, a probability that is almost zero."

After listening to Number One's account, Yu Duan breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed there wouldn't be any major hidden dangers. Even if Number One's intelligence analysis wasn't perfectly accurate, it shouldn't be far off.

The Crimson Empire definitely did not know about the existence of Light Source Planet or the Chilian Star.

A B6-class ship might not mean much to the Crimson Empire, but a life-bearing planet was a different story.

Since Light Source Planet was still free, it meant that Barto had handled things very carefully and left no traces behind.

It was just a pity that under the monitoring of the Bio-chip in his brain, his final outcome was a blown-out mind!

"Yu Duan."

Kun Zhu walked to Yu Duan's side and patted him on the shoulder. "You are already aware of the predicament our civilization faces; a journey into the universe is imminent."

"According to the plan previously set by Master Zhen Li, myself, and Shen Jian, we will pilot this ship into the universe during next year's First Day Festival to purchase an A1-class planetary-scale energy shield."

"However, Light Source Planet still needs a Planetary Level expert to hold the fort, especially since the remnants of the Sea Clan haven't been cleared... can you shoulder this burden?"

The First Day Festival that Kun Zhu spoke of was, in reality, the New Year.

As for the remnants of the Sea Clan, they were another aquatic, amphibious intelligent species that had once lived on Light Source Planet. They had been completely defeated following the rise of the Light Source Race, but they had not been entirely wiped out; a large portion of the Sea Clan remained hidden in the deep sea.

"No problem. I have only just broken through to the Planetary Level, so guarding the home front is actually easier."

Yu Duan didn't argue; he agreed readily.

He had to go to the universe, but that required a specific method and approach.

There was still half a Light Source year until the First Day Festival—which translated to a little over a year—enough time for him to use his "talent" and "effort" to unlock the "Domain" skill.

By then, he wouldn't need to say much; he would naturally be able to enter the universe.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Yu Duan." After Zhen Li finished speaking, he pointed to Number One and said, "There is a dedicated cultivation area inside the ship. Since you have just broken through, you can use the ship's cultivation environment to familiarize yourself with your changes."

"In addition, there are some combat techniques common among Star Level Fighters. While they may not be much in the universe, they are still very precious to us; you can try practicing them."

Yu Duan nodded. "Understood, thank you, Master Zhen Li."

The small meeting concluded, and whether it was Master Zhen Li, Kun Zhu, or Shen Jian, all had matters to attend to in their respective dojos, so they did not waste any more time.

In fact, according to custom, Yu Duan should also have opened a dojo to teach disciples.

However, Yu Duan couldn't be bothered to do so.

A moment later, inside the spaceship's gravity chamber.

In the silver cabin filled with a sci-fi aesthetic, Yu Duan stood holding his blade, a light screen hovering before him.

"Based on your physical fitness, it is recommended to maintain the intensity at: 500 times the gravitational acceleration of Light Source Planet."

The intelligent assistant Number One finished scanning Yu Duan's physical data and provided a suitable recommendation.

"Fine, let's go with 500 times."

As soon as Yu Duan finished speaking, accompanied by a low hum, the gravity field in the chamber surged five hundredfold!

Yu Duan's figure trembled slightly for an instant before he stabilized himself. He then half-closed his eyes, appearing to be experiencing the surging gravity, while in reality, his consciousness was immersed in his mental space.

"[Leap of Rosy Clouds], self-created martial art, level: Conception Realm, can pre-advance to Unity of Heaven and Man level movement technique insights, repayment cost: travel a distance of 1 million kilometers at full speed using the movement technique."

The typical cruising speed for someone who has just entered the Planetary Level is about 1 kilometer per second.

However, Yu Duan's innate ability awakened at the Planetary Level is light. If running on the ground, combined with the speed amplification of his movement technique, this speed can easily be maintained between 4 to 5 kilometers per second.

"By flying at full speed for 2 hours every day, it will take a little over 30 days to pay off the cost of the pre-advanced Unity of Heaven and Man insights. The efficiency is much faster than directly improving the Conception Realm."

It was a simple calculation, and Yu Duan made his decision almost instantly.

"Pre-advance—movement technique [Leap of Rosy Clouds] to the Unity of Heaven and Man level of insight."

As Yu Duan's thoughts stirred, a wave of unfamiliar insights flooded into his mind.

It was like a fleeting dream; in the dream, Yu Duan practiced his movement technique for several years without rest, in the best possible mental and physical state.

Reaching the peak of movement, the peak of conception, the peak of nature... it was hard to tell if it was Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuang Zhou.

Outside, Yu Duan stood still with his eyes tightly shut for about ten minutes before he slowly opened them.

"So this is the Unity of Heaven and Man—the perfection of conception, returning to the heavens and earth, resonating with nature."

Yu Duan felt as if he had merged into one with nature, and at this moment, his own energy fluctuations were changing as well.

They were oscillating at a specific frequency, resonating with the faint cosmic background radiation of the universe.

[PS: From this chapter onward, all time units are assumed to be Earth time units, which are the cosmic time units used in the original work.]

Seeking follows, comments, and collections—seeking everything!