First Steps into the Universe

November 30, 3035, Yuan Planet Calendar, 12:37 PM.

The time was the eleventh lunar month, the transition of late autumn.

Outside the Heritage Tower, the leaves of the red maple trees began to dance with the seasonal autumn breeze. No one had visited the northwest corner of the Lu Family estate for a long time, save for Lu Zhong, who came here every year during this period.

Carrying three parts regret and seven parts guilt, Lu Zhong would often gaze at the Heritage Tower for a long time, praying for a miracle. The red maple leaves outside the tower had already been dyed crimson by the autumn wind for the ninth time! Filled with a heart full of melancholy, Lu Zhong turned around and walked away slowly.

It was at this very moment that the sound of the heavy doors opening echoed behind him. Perhaps because no one had caused the gates of the Heritage Tower to open for many years, the sound was quite jarring, possessing that sharp, grating quality unique to metal doors whose hinges have rusted from disuse. Hearing the noise behind him, Lu Zhong's departing footsteps faltered. He spun around rapidly, staring fixedly at the gate, his face etched with a glimmer of anticipation.

The outcome did not disappoint him; emerging from the gates of the Heritage Tower was none other than Lu Yan'an, who had been missing for nine years! At this moment, Lu Yan'an was taller than he had been nine years ago, his face covered in a thick beard. His entire appearance looked quite disheveled, but it did not diminish his composed temperament in the slightest, especially those eyes, which shone with an exceptionally bright light.

The moment he saw Lu Zhong, Lu Yan'an's eyes couldn't help but redden. He strode forward and hugged Lu Zhong tightly. Lu Zhong did not speak, merely patting Lu Yan'an's back gently to help him soothe his emotions. After a long while, Lu Yan'an released Lu Zhong and began to tell him the story of what had happened inside the Heritage Tower...

One month later, Lu Yan'an returned to the northwest corner of the Lu Family estate. By this time, he had already arranged all matters within the family, even going so far as to copy the secret techniques he had acquired and hand them over to the Lu Family.

Of course, Lord Shen had been refusing the entire time. After all, as a noble Immortal, it had always looked down upon mediocre talents. After much persuasion, and only after Lu Yan'an signed several "unequal treaties" with it, did it finally loosen its stance and agree to copy a portion of the non-core secret techniques for the Lu Family. But even these scraps were enough to make the members of the Lu Family overjoyed.

At this moment, the Heritage Tower had returned to its original state. In mid-air, a massive black disc-shaped spaceship with a diameter of about 100 meters had replaced the appearance of the quaint little tower, and the hull was even emblazoned with a giant dragon with wings! Seeing his arrival, the cabin door of the spaceship slowly opened. Lu Yan'an leaped up, jumping directly into the interior of the ship.

Once he had fully entered the ship, the cabin door slowly closed. The entire spaceship began to rise slowly, and as it continuously accelerated, it began to depart from Yuan Planet, slowly flying toward outer space...

Heritage Spaceship... inside the control room.

Lu Yan'an, dressed in a simple training suit, stood before the control console screen. Lord Shen emerged silently on his shoulder, grinning at him: "Lu Yan'an, the Heritage Spaceship has already left the sky of Yuan Planet."

"External view, 100% simulation," Lu Yan'an said to the ship's main control system.

"Whoosh!"

Everything in the surrounding control room vanished from sight, though he could still feel the ground beneath his feet. It was invisible to the naked eye.

He looked around...

The vast, boundless starry sky. Turning to look behind him, there was a blue-green life-bearing planet—Yuan Planet!

"Lord Shen, this is my first time leaving Yuan Planet to go to other inhabited planets. I can't help but feel... a bit flustered," Lu Yan'an couldn't help but say.

"That's called nervousness! Tsk tsk, but it's no big deal. As the disciple of the master, you need to get used to this kind of scene!" On his shoulder, Lord Shen flapped its small wings and chuckled, "It's not surprising. In the words of your Yuan Planet, this is a country bumpkin entering the city. Hahaha, you're going from Yuan Planet to a powerful and prosperous planet like Qiu Long Planet; isn't that exactly like a country bumpkin entering the city!"

Lu Yan'an fell silent for a moment. It was the first time he had been called a country bumpkin. Although he understood many things about the universe, he had only seen them in books. Now that he was about to experience adventures firsthand, the impact of his dreams becoming reality was indeed enough to shake his state of mind!

Actually, the main thing was... according to the descriptions in the books, a place like Qiu Long Planet was extremely prosperous. Yet, Lu Yan'an hadn't even been to the secondary Yinlan Empire from the original story, and other than Lord Shen, he had never dealt with extraterrestrial life, so it was inevitable that he would feel this way!

Just as Lu Yan'an was feeling nervous, Lord Shen suddenly said: "10 seconds until light speed, entering the Dark Universe!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

In the vast starry sky, the black spaceship, which had already become a blur, suddenly—

Space rippled slightly.

The spaceship disappeared!

It wasn't a "disappearance" due to reaching light speed and becoming invisible to the naked eye, but a true departure from this universe!

"Boom!"

Lu Yan'an felt the spaceship vibrate slightly. The vibration lasted for about ten seconds while everything around was pitch black, and then it stabilized.

"Universe travel successful, we have entered the 'Dark Universe'," Lord Shen said. "Turn off the external simulation."

"Dark Universe?" Lu Yan'an was very curious. Although he had read the descriptions of the Dark Universe in books, this was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.

Lord Shen didn't wait for Lu Yan'an to ask; it waved its hand and directly simulated the environment of the Dark Universe.

The spaceship's simulation screen displayed some brilliant scenery. This was a vast space, and in this space, there were only points of light that glowed like fireflies. It was an ocean of "light points," and apart from these beautiful points of light, there was nothing else in this vast space.

"The Dark Universe and the 'Original Universe' we live in have corresponding coordinates."

"However, if we fly a certain distance in the Dark Universe, say '1 light-second,' and then travel back to the Original Universe, you will find that the distance you have traveled is '10.081 million times 1 light-second'," Lord Shen explained. "The Dark Universe and the Original Universe correspond at a ratio of 1 to 10.081 million." Lu Yan'an was secretly shocked.

Flying at light speed in the Dark Universe for one year only covers one light-year. But through universe travel, returning to the Original Universe would put you 10.08 million light-years away. This was the way powerhouses traveled; without the Dark Universe, the efficiency would be far too low!

"We are expected to arrive at Qiu Long Planet in nearly 5 days. Lu Yan'an, during this time, you can get some rest or go into seclusion. I will call you when we arrive." Hearing Lord Shen say this, Lu Yan'an didn't say anything else and immediately entered the spaceship's meditation room to practice.

The days of flying in the Dark Universe were very dull and boring.

About five days later.

"Lu Yan'an, 10 minutes until universe travel, arriving at Zhalong Planet," Lord Shen said toward the meditation room.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan'an woke from his meditation and returned to the ship's main control room.

"Universe travel successful, returning to the Original Universe," Lord Shen said.

"External virtual simulation, 100%," Lu Yan'an said.

Lu Yan'an immediately saw the vast starry sky around him. Most notably... he saw a planet in the distance that seemed to glow with colorful light, with two faint satellites orbiting it.

"That planet is Qiu Long Planet," Lord Shen said. "Lu Yan'an, follow our plan when you enter Qiu Long Planet."

"Lord Shen, you said that entering a planet also costs money. But I don't have any currency, and I don't know the language here either," Lu Yan'an said quickly.

Yuan Planet currency? Lu Yan'an certainly had some, but using Yuan Planet currency on Qiu Long Planet would be a joke! Yuan Planet currency was nothing more than waste paper here—well, waste paper with slightly exquisite patterns.

"You don't have any, but I do," Lord Shen shouted. "I am an Immortal, after all, and I have a bit of wealth. Not to mention my bank account, I still have some pocket money on me."

"Pocket money?" Lu Yan'an was stunned.

"Right, I searched my little treasury thoroughly and found a few hundred thousand Ganwu Coin," Lord Shen said.

"A few hundred thousand?" Lu Yan'an blinked twice.

This was going to be a windfall!

"And these are Ganwu Coin, not Black Dragon Coin, and certainly not those cheap Yinlan Coin," Lord Shen exclaimed. "It's enough for you to live quite comfortably on Qiu Long Planet."

"As for the language barrier, that's not a problem at all. Your senior brother already made the language of Yuan Planet a universal language in the universe, though I never told you. Why else would I bring you out so casually and invite trouble for myself?"

During the conversation.

The Heritage Spaceship had already accelerated, flying toward the distant Qiu Long Planet.

Lu Yan'an stood in the control room of the Black Dragon Spaceship, looking at the external virtual display. He could clearly see the ship approaching Qiu Long Planet, already nearing the atmosphere. The atmosphere of Zhalong Planet was very peculiar; one could clearly see it with the naked eye... gas clouds of various colors flowed slowly, making the entire planet look incredibly magnificent from the outside.

"Beep!"

"Traction signal received," Lord Shen said. "Lu Yan'an, the ship will follow the traction signal and arrive at the planet's docking port."

"Signal received, we're heading to the D-Class Zone!" Lord Shen, perched on Lu Yan'an's shoulder, said.

"Whoosh!"

The Heritage Spaceship descended slowly and finally touched down.

"Don't give yourself away. If you run into trouble because of your own mistakes, I won't help you. Just communicate naturally; your persona right now is that of a disciple from a great family!" Upon hearing this, Lu Yan'an nodded, and as the cabin door slowly opened, he walked straight out.