Intelligent Lifeform "Lord Shen"

October 1, 3044 of the Yuan Planet Calendar, which was just past the ninth anniversary of Lu Yan'an being trapped in the assessment chamber.

Inside the chamber, the originally smooth and flat metal walls were now covered in fist marks. Strangely, the metal, which should have been self-repairing, had its properties suppressed by some kind of power, and to this day, this metal cage had held Lu Yan'an captive for over nine years!

"BOOM!"

With a roar, a gust of wind from a punch shattered the metal wall. The resulting air pressure surged until it dissipated at the turn at the end of a 200-meter-long corridor. A disheveled and unkempt figure stepped out, striding forward with excitement.

"Finally out."

"I'm finally out!"

After nearly nine years of bitter cultivation, Lu Yan'an had finally managed to break through this cage and regain his freedom.

The assessment chamber, now with a large hole in its wall, suddenly emitted a "whooshing" sound. As he stepped away, the metal wall lost the suppression of the domain power, and its self-repair function kicked in, restoring it to an unscathed state in the blink of an eye.

"Congratulations, you have successfully passed the Named Disciple Inheritance Assessment," a familiar voice echoed in the corridor, still in the same Yuan Planet Common Language as always.

"Please follow the path in front of you and proceed to claim your assessment reward." As soon as the voice fell, the two metal walls in front of Lu Yan'an slowly rose, opening a path forward. The road was deep and narrow, with psychedelic light radiating from its end.

"Finally done, time to claim the inheritance reward?" Lu Yan'an curled his lips and strode toward the corridor ahead.

Passing through the deep passage, he soon arrived at the place shrouded in flowing light. Taking a closer look, he discovered it was a small palace! The palace itself was fifty or sixty meters in length and width, appearing about the size of a miniature stadium.

"Where is the reward?" Lu Yan'an scanned the surroundings of the palace.

Suddenly--

A large amount of flowing light converged from all directions, condensing into a small, black virtual figure. This shadow quickly solidified, turning into a Q-version child about half a meter tall. A pair of tiny wings grew from its back, and it wore a plain robe. Its facial features were remarkably like those of a normal human, but its eyes were as bright as the full moon, resembling an angel from mythology.

"Lu Yan'an, I have finally waited for you." The little angel gazed at Lu Yan'an, its bright eyes filled with an indescribable sense of vicissitudes and joy.

"Who are you?" Lu Yan'an looked at the little angel in front of him, quite puzzled.

The other party actually said they had been waiting for him, and it looked like they had been waiting for a very long time!

Moreover, it even knew his name! He had to remember that he had never introduced himself to anyone else.

"It has been over three thousand years since the last inheritor passed the assessment," the little angel sighed. "The aptitude of you Yuan Planet people is truly bizarre; those with high talent are ridiculously high, while those who are poor are far too poor!"

"Three thousand years?" Lu Yan'an was stunned. Wasn't that exactly when the Feng Kingdom was founded? "Are you saying this Heritage Tower has been in the Lu Family for three thousand years? Could it be that the Heritage Tower existed even before the Feng Kingdom was established?"

"Yes, the establishment of the Heritage Tower relied on the Feng Kingdom—or to be precise, it relied on the founder of the Feng Kingdom, the Human Emperor—Feng Yunruo!"

Hearing this, Lu Yan'an scratched his hair. He felt that the matter was becoming increasingly mysterious; the Heritage Tower was actually linked to that Human Emperor from three thousand years ago. And it seemed that the secrets and entanglements surrounding that Human Emperor were definitely not small.

Seeming to notice his confusion, the little angel flew in front of Lu Yan'an and said in a slightly comforting tone, "Don't worry, I will tell you everything today. Follow me!" After saying this, it flapped its small wings and flew toward the deeper parts of the palace.

Lu Yan'an followed closely behind. It didn't take long—about two or three minutes—before the little angel led Lu Yan'an to a throne. "You must be very confused right now, aren't you?" After a few minutes of silence, the little angel asked.

"Indeed!" Lu Yan'an did not deny it.

"Let me introduce myself first. You can call me 'Lord Shen'. Of course, it's those three characters you have in mind!" The little angel spoke the most arrogant words in the most indifferent tone, then, without waiting for Lu Yan'an to respond, continued, "On your Yuan Planet, you can indeed treat me as a god!"

The little angel, or rather Lord Shen, began to sit on the throne. "In essence, I am an intelligent life form, an intelligent life form that has integrated an 'Evolution Heart'!"

Perhaps fearing that Lu Yan'an wouldn't understand, Lord Shen even explained the function of the Evolution Heart. "In the universe, it is extremely difficult for intelligent life forms to cultivate and evolve. Unless they obtain an Evolution Heart to integrate into a metal body and then have the intelligent life form inhabit it, the intelligent life form will fuse one hundred percent with the metal body, just as a soul corresponds to a physical body."

"After one hundred percent fusion with the body, the clarity of sensing the laws of the universe will soar, at least reaching a level comparable to that of ordinary human powerhouses. Furthermore, as cultivation progresses, the bodies of Machine Race powerhouses will continuously strengthen, and their flexibility, toughness, and other aspects will be perfected, just like a real physical body."

Lord Shen paused, as if to give Lu Yan'an time to digest the information.

"The Evolution Heart is something only the Machine Race possesses. This is the most core and precious wealth of the Machine Race, so the Machine Race controls the Evolution Heart very strictly. They forbid any member of the Machine Race from selling an Evolution Heart privately. This point is already ingrained in the core of every Machine Race member. The Machine Race can produce a large number of Evolution Hearts to cultivate individual Machine Race members, but they absolutely never sell any Evolution Hearts; even if the price offered is high, it is useless."

"This leads to the fact that among all non-Machine Race alien races, it is extremely difficult to purchase an Evolution Heart! And I, Lord Shen, can already be considered a powerful intelligent life form."

"In terms of strength, I am already an Immortal being!" Lord Shen said with a calm expression, but the pride on its face could not be hidden no matter what. "Oh, I almost forgot, you don't understand the knowledge of the universe yet." It seemed a bit helpless as it scratched its head.

"Then let me introduce you to the knowledge of the universe now."

Lu Yan'an was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself that he didn't need an introduction; there was probably no one in this universe who knew more than he did. But on the surface, he didn't show the slightest impatience and waited quietly for Lord Shen's explanation.

Seeming satisfied with Lu Yan'an's current attitude, Lord Shen was silent for a moment before saying, "The Milky Way Galaxy where your Yuan Planet is located, along with the Beta Galaxy and six other neighboring galaxies, form the Yinlan Empire, a primary cosmic civilization."

Hearing this, Lu Yan'an's mind raced. "The Milky Way, the Yinlan Empire... isn't this the location of Earth in the original story? So, Yuan Planet really is the past name for Earth. It seems my previous speculation was correct. This is indeed several thousand years before the original timeline."

Understanding Lord Shen's popular science, Lu Yan'an confirmed that his previous deduction was correct. Earth had different names at different times, and there was no problem with it being called Yuan Planet now.

"According to the description on the cosmic map, your Milky Way belongs to a part of the 'Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector'. The Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector contains over 8,000 galaxies! And the one that rules the 'Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector' is a mid-level cosmic civilization—the Black Dragon Mountain Empire."

"This is the geographical location of your Yuan Planet, remember it!" Lord Shen waved its hand, appearing somewhat bored. "Next is some common knowledge regarding the levels of fighters and Spirit Readers." It paused and continued, "They are mainly divided into five major levels: Planetary Level, Star Level, Universe Level, Domain Lord, and World Lord. Above World Lord is Immortal."

"Planetary Level is considered capable of wandering in the universe, acting as a thug, servant, or cannon fodder; Star Level is considered a minor figure in the universe, though it's better to keep a low profile; Universe Level, well, a powerhouse—it's considered a powerhouse! After all, a galaxy only produces one such Universe Level; Domain Lord is equivalent to an overlord of a region! They can build their own forces; World Lords can basically roam the universe freely!"

Lord Shen introduced the realms below Immortal with a look of disdain, and one could clearly feel from its tone that it looked down upon the realms below Immortal entirely.

"Finally, there is Immortal. Before becoming Immortal, whether it is Planetary Level, Star Level, Universe Level, Domain Lord, or World Lord, there is still a limit to one's lifespan. A Star Level powerhouse can live at most 1 era, Universe Level at most 10 eras, Domain Lord can live 100 eras, and World Lord can live up to 1,000 eras! Only by surpassing the World Lord can one become Immortal! And once you become an Immortal powerhouse, you can possess infinite lifespan!"

"And I, Lord Shen, am an Immortal existence," Lord Shen said, stating all the common knowledge in one breath, as if to make up for all the showing off it hadn't been able to do just a moment ago.

"This time, you have passed the 'Named Disciple Inheritance Assessment' set by my master, so you are already my master's named disciple. As long as you can follow the path planned by my master, you will definitely become a powerhouse far beyond me, just like Feng Yunruo before you," Lord Shen said with a proud look.