On October 1, 3044, Yuan Planet time—roughly a little over nine years after Lu Yan'an had been trapped in the assessment chamber—
The chamber's once-smooth metal walls were now covered in fist marks. Strangely, some force had suppressed the metal's ability to repair itself. By now, this metal cage had held Lu Yan'an for more than nine years!
Boom!
With a deafening crash, a burst of punch-driven wind tore through the metal wall. The pressure it unleashed stretched more than two hundred meters down the passage, only fading at the bend at its far end. A disheveled figure strode out excitedly.
"I'm finally out."
"I'm finally free!"
After nearly nine years of arduous cultivation, Lu Yan'an had finally broken through the cage and regained his freedom.
The assessment chamber, now with a gaping hole in its wall, suddenly began to emit a soft whooshing sound. As he stepped away, the force field that had blocked the metal's self-repair function was gone. In the blink of an eye, the wall was restored to its original, unblemished state.
"Congratulations. You have successfully passed the Named Disciple Inheritance Assessment." The familiar voice echoed through the passage, speaking in Yuan Planet Common Language as always.
"Please proceed along the passage ahead to claim your assessment reward." As soon as the voice fell silent, the two metal walls in front of Lu Yan'an slowly rose, opening the way forward. The passage was long and deep, and a mesmerizing Flowing Light shone at its far end.
"Finally done. Time to claim my inheritance reward?" Lu Yan'an curled his lip, then strode into the passage ahead.
He passed through the dark passage and soon reached the place shrouded in Flowing Light. Looking closely, he found a small hall! The palace itself was fifty or sixty meters long and wide, about the size of a miniature gymnasium.
"Where's the reward?" Lu Yan'an looked around the hall.
Suddenly—
A great stream of Flowing Light converged from all directions, gathering into a small, black virtual figure. The shadow quickly took solid form, becoming a half-meter-tall, chibi-style child. A pair of tiny wings sprouted from its back, and it wore a plain robe. Its features were almost indistinguishable from those of an ordinary human, except that its eyes shone like bright moons, making it look like an angel from myth.
"Lu Yan'an, at last, I've lived to see you arrive." The little angel gazed at Lu Yan'an, its bright eyes filled with an indescribable mix of weariness and joy.
"Who are you?" Lu Yan'an asked, puzzled as he looked at the little angel.
It had said it was waiting for him, and from the looks of it, it had been waiting a very long time!
It even knew his name! He hadn't introduced himself to anyone.
"It's been more than three thousand years since the previous inheritor passed the assessment." The little angel sighed. "The talent of you Yuan Planet people is truly bizarre. Those with great talent are absurdly gifted, while those with poor talent are hopelessly bad!"
"Three thousand years?" Lu Yan'an was taken aback. Wasn't that around the time Feng Kingdom was founded? "Are you saying the Heritage Tower has been in the Lu Family for three thousand years? Did the Heritage Tower appear before Feng Kingdom was even established?"
"That's right. The Heritage Tower was established thanks to Feng Kingdom—or, more precisely, thanks to its founder, the Human Emperor, Feng Yunruo!"
At this, Lu Yan'an scratched his head. Everything seemed to be growing more and more bewildering. The Heritage Tower was connected to the Human Emperor from three thousand years ago. And from the looks of it, that Human Emperor had plenty of secrets and entanglements of his own.
Perhaps noticing his confusion, the little angel flew up in front of Lu Yan'an and spoke in a slightly reassuring tone. "Don't worry. I'll tell you everything today. Come with me!" Then it flapped its little wings and flew deeper into the palace.
Lu Yan'an followed close behind. It wasn't long—perhaps two or three minutes—before the little angel led him to a throne. "You must have a lot of questions right now, don't you?" After a few minutes of silence, the little angel asked.
"Definitely." Lu Yan'an didn't deny it.
"First, let me introduce myself. You can call me 'Lord Shen'—yes, those exact three characters you're thinking of!" The little angel spoke in the calmest tone while saying the most arrogant thing imaginable. Without waiting for Lu Yan'an to respond, it continued, "Here on Yuan Planet, you can indeed regard me as a god!"
The little angel—or, rather, Lord Shen—settled onto the throne. "In essence, I'm an Intelligent Life, one fused with an Evolution Heart!"
Perhaps worried that Lu Yan'an wouldn't understand, Lord Shen even explained what an Evolution Heart did. "In the universe, it's extremely difficult for Intelligent Life to cultivate and evolve. Only by obtaining an Evolution Heart, fusing it with a metal body, and then inhabiting that body can an Intelligent Life achieve a complete fusion with it, just as a soul is joined to a body."
"Once completely fused with its body, its ability to sense the laws of the universe becomes far sharper, reaching at least the level of an ordinary human expert. As cultivation progresses, the bodies of Machine Race experts grow stronger, and their flexibility, toughness, and other qualities become highly developed, just like those of a real body."
Lord Shen paused, as if giving Lu Yan'an time to take it all in.
"Only the Machine Race possesses Evolution Hearts. They're the Machine Race's most precious and essential treasure, so the race strictly controls them. Machine Race members are forbidden from selling Evolution Hearts privately. This rule is ingrained in the very core of every Machine Race member. The Machine Race can produce large numbers of Evolution Hearts and use them to cultivate their people, but they absolutely won't sell any—not for any price."
This meant that among all the Alien Races that weren't part of the Machine Race, buying an Evolution Heart was extraordinarily difficult! And Lord Shen could already be considered a powerful Intelligent Life.
"In terms of strength, I'm already an Immortal being!" Lord Shen said with perfect composure, though it couldn't hide the pride on its face. "Oh, I almost forgot—you don't know much about the universe yet." It scratched its head, seeming a little helpless.
"Then let me tell you about the universe."
Lu Yan'an was speechless. Do you really need to? There might not be anyone in this universe who knows more than I do. But he didn't show the slightest impatience. He waited calmly for Lord Shen to explain.
Apparently pleased with Lu Yan'an's attitude, Lord Shen fell silent for a moment, then said, "The Milky Way Galaxy, where your Yuan Planet is located, and eight neighboring galaxies, including the Beta Galaxy, form the Silver Blue Empire, a low-level cosmic civilization."
At that, Lu Yan'an's thoughts began to race. The Milky Way Galaxy, the Silver Blue Empire—aren't those Earth's location in the original story? So Yuan Planet really is what Earth was called in the past. Looks like my earlier theory was right. This really is several thousand years before the original story's timeline.
After hearing Lord Shen's explanation, Lu Yan'an confirmed that his earlier reasoning had been correct. Earth had been called different things at different times, so there was nothing wrong with it being called Yuan Planet now.
"According to the cosmic map, your Milky Way Galaxy is part of the Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector, which contains more than eight thousand galaxies! The Black Dragon Mountain Empire, a mid-level cosmic civilization, rules over the Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector."
"This is where your Yuan Planet is located. Remember it!" Lord Shen waved a hand, seeming a little bored. "Next, some general knowledge: the ranks of warriors and Spirit Readers." It paused, then continued, "There are five main levels: Planetary Level, Star Level, Universe Level, Domain Lord, and World Lord. Above the World Lord is the Immortal level."
"Planetary Level beings can wander the universe and work as thugs, servants, or cannon fodder. Star Level beings are somewhat noteworthy in the universe, but they're better off keeping a low profile. Universe Level beings are, well, strong—genuinely strong! After all, an entire galaxy might produce only one Universe Level being. A Domain Lord is an Overlord in their own territory and can establish their own forces. World Lords can basically roam the universe freely!"
Lord Shen explained the levels below Immortal with an air of disdain. From its tone, it was obvious that it didn't think much of any rank below Immortal.
"Lastly, there's Immortal. Before reaching Immortal, whether you're Planetary Level, Star Level, Universe Level, a Domain Lord, or a World Lord, your lifespan is still limited. A Star Level expert can live for at most one era, a Universe Level expert up to ten eras, a Domain Lord up to a hundred eras, and a World Lord up to a thousand eras! Only those who surpass the World Lord level are Immortal! And once you become an Immortal Expert, you gain an unlimited lifespan!"
"And I, Lord Shen, am an Immortal being." Lord Shen rattled off all the basic information in one go, as if making up for all the chances it had missed to show off.
"Now that you've passed my master's Named Disciple Inheritance Assessment, you're officially his named disciple. As long as you follow the path my master laid out for you, you'll surely become stronger than I am—just like Feng Yunruo before you." Lord Shen spoke with an air of pride.
Before you continue