Horned Dragon

"Phew, the gravity on this planet is about three times that of Yuan Planet." Lu Yan'an jumped out of the hatch, instantly feeling the strange sensation of gravity shifting between different worlds. Before he could even sigh in wonder, he suddenly noticed some movement behind him.

"Hmm?"

Following the sound, a bald, muscular giant about three meters tall, dressed in a grey-black uniform, flew over rapidly. Most surprising of all was his skin color—red. He landed slowly in front of Lu Yan'an and, with great politeness, said in fluent Universal Common, "Respected sir, welcome to Qiu Long Planet. The docking fee for your Tianfeng X96 starship is 2,000 Black Dragon Coins per year! Anything less than a year is charged at the full 2,000 Black Dragon Coin rate. This is your docking card." As he spoke, he used both hands to present a pale gold, translucent card to Lu Yan'an, which bore the mark for docking bay D in sector D.

Lu Yan'an smiled as he took the card and flipped his hand to store it away. Then, with a wave of his large hand, a handful of coins appeared out of thin air. Too lazy to count them, he tossed them casually toward the bald man.

The bald man scrambled to catch them, and his eyes lit up immediately when he realized that these dozen or so coins were all Ganwu Coins!

According to the official exchange rate of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, 1 Ganwu Coin could be exchanged for 1,000 Black Dragon Coins, but 1,000 Black Dragon Coins could not be exchanged back into a Ganwu Coin! If one went through the black market... it was possible, but generally, it took nearly two thousand Black Dragon Coins to exchange for a single Ganwu Coin. Most ordinary citizens didn't even know where the black market was.

"Park it for five years. If there's extra, consider it a tip!" Lu Yan'an waved his hand and said casually.

He's traveling in a luxury Tianfeng series starship and using Ganwu Coins; he must be from a major family. The bald giant felt immense envy.

He was a Star Level 1 martial artist.

On Qiu Long Planet, he was considered a citizen of some status. Relying on his Star Level strength, he served as a supervisor at this docking port and had seen his fair share of big shots. Yet, even a Star Level powerhouse like him felt a natural sense of awe when encountering someone who traveled in a ship made entirely of Grade D metal and threw around Ganwu Coins like pocket change. Even if, on the surface, this person's strength was far inferior to his own!

No need to ask!

This was the style of someone from a major family out for training!

"Thank you, sir." The bald giant was extremely respectful. For a scion of such a major family, finding a Star Level subordinate would be a matter of minutes. Even if he didn't grovel, he certainly couldn't afford to offend him.

Lu Yan'an waved his hand, and two Mithril Guards dressed in mysterious black clothing suddenly appeared beside him.

Two Mithril Guards—one to protect, one to entangle the enemy—could coordinate to protect each other and pin down foes. Their safety rating was far higher than the Flowing Silver Guards, which were one grade lower in the same series! Of course, their cost was also incomparably higher than that of the Flowing Silver Guards.

Therefore, in terms of overall cost-effectiveness, the Flowing Silver Guards were more popular throughout the universe!

As for why Lu Yan'an didn't use the relatively low-profile Flowing Silver Guards? That was purely because, in the collection of Lord Shen, the Mithril Guards were basically the bare minimum! In the words of Lord Shen himself: "This lord never collects trash!"

When Lu Yan'an heard Lord Shen's statement, he felt a bit depressed. According to Lord Shen, as an ordinary Planetary Level martial artist, his own value in the universe was not even worth the production cost of a single Flowing Silver Guard!

Pulling himself together, Lu Yan'an took to the air, followed by the two Mithril Guards, while Lord Shen perched on his shoulder as usual. From a distance, Lord Shen looked like a pet Lu Yan'an was keeping, but who could have guessed that hidden beneath that cute exterior was the strength to roam the universe at will?

The three of them and one pet flew through the air. Of course, that was from the perspective of outsiders. In reality, among this group, the pet that looked the most harmless was the leader of the party.

"Truly beautiful."

Lu Yan'an looked up at the sky. The sky of Qiu Long Planet was like a layer of purple gauze. In the distant horizon, it turned blue! The progression of colors was distinct, possessing a unique beauty and allure.

"The color of the sky on Qiu Long Planet is indeed a marvel. The atmospheric regions have diverse, distinct layers of color that often shift! Especially when sunlight passes through the atmosphere and shines upon the ocean—that is a sight of unparalleled beauty! It is precisely because of this unique scenery that Qiu Long Planet attracts many powerhouses to settle here, and gradually, it has become a calling card for the Black Dragon Mountain Empire!"

Lord Shen explained slowly to Lu Yan'an.

During their conversation, they quickly flew over several hundred kilometers.

It wasn't until two hours later that Lu Yan'an finally saw a massive city in the distance. The city walls were ancient and pitch-black, stretching to the edge of his vision. The "battlements" on top of the walls were carved from transparent crystal, like a dragon standing proudly atop the city!

As he drew closer, he discovered that the ink-black walls were covered in complex patterns. From afar, they looked like carvings of single-horned dragons, but up close, one could see they were secret techniques composed of law-based inscriptions. The energy contained within them was terrifying; once activated, the secret techniques on the walls were enough to instantly annihilate anyone below the Domain Lord level.

"Qiu Long Main City is over ten thousand kilometers in length and width, and this city has a history of over ten million years," Lord Shen introduced to Lu Yan'an.

Only then did Lu Yan'an truly grasp how vast the time scale of the universe was. The civilization of Yuan Planet had only existed for a mere ten thousand years from its inception to the present. In the context of the universe, where time is measured in hundreds of millions of years, the development time of Yuan Planet didn't even amount to a fraction of a rounding error!

The city gate was enormous, nearly five kilometers wide and ten kilometers high.

The flow of people was like a weave, mixed with all sorts of strange life forms. According to Lord Shen, these bizarre-looking life forms were all cosmic humans, just from different races. Clearly, the definition of the human race in the universe was much broader.

Lu Yan'an and his party walked through the gate together.

Immediately after, Lord Shen received a Qiu Long City communication ID.

A communication ID was similar to a phone number on Earth. Because no matter how advanced a communicator was, it couldn't "make a call" across many light-years. Some civilized planets would automatically send an ID to the "auxiliary light brain" of any life form arriving on the planet. Within this planet, one could chat with others through the "communicator," equivalent to an internal network for the planet, though this network did not rely on electromagnetic waves. Of course, if one wanted to communicate across planets, one would need to enter the Virtual Universe Network.

"Lu Yan'an, I have just used the communication ID to inquire with the local service number. The Administrative Building is about a thousand kilometers from the city gate. You need to go there to join the Black Dragon Mountain Empire and obtain your citizenship."

"Fine! Let's go then." As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yan'an lifted off the ground again to continue his journey...

An hour later.

Lu Yan'an saw from afar a massive building carved in the shape of a black dragon coiled around a high mountain!

This was the Administrative Building of Qiu Long Planet.

At the entrance of the Administrative Building, two bronze-skinned giants nearly six meters tall stood guard, looking extremely imposing.

When Lu Yan'an reached the entrance, the guard on the left enthusiastically pushed the door open and said warmly, "Please enter, sir! However, you had better put away your Mithril Guards; this is one of the safest places on Qiu Long Planet!" There was a hint of pride in his tone.

Lu Yan'an glanced at the Mithril Guards behind him, said nothing, and flipped his hand to store them away before walking directly into the Administrative Hall.

As soon as he entered, two Flowing Silver Guards in black uniforms followed behind him.

"Hmm? Are those Flowing Silver Guards?" Lu Yan'an asked with a tone of uncertainty.

"They are indeed Flowing Silver Guards," Lord Shen confirmed.

Thus, Lu Yan'an finally had the fortune to see the Flowing Silver Guards—the so-called "trash" that Lord Shen didn't even bother to collect.

Lu Yan'an smiled and walked into the hall, with the two Flowing Silver Guards behind him.

After casually glancing at the introduction of the functions for each floor in the hall, he quickly found the floor he needed to go to. Lu Yan'an stepped directly onto the circular sofa nearby and sat down. The Flowing Silver Guard stood to the side and said, "72!"

The tray beneath the circular sofa emitted a white glow, and then it shot straight up into the sky without the slightest tremor. When it stopped, it had arrived at the 72nd floor.

"Hello, sir." A woman with a pair of fox ears flew over, bowed slightly, and smiled, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I want to apply for citizenship in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire," Lu Yan'an said.

In the universe, having a citizen identity is essential for handling many affairs. Those without an identity, the undocumented, essentially face the fate of being captured and sold by slave traders.

"Citizenship?" The receptionist was slightly surprised, but she didn't say anything further.

"Please follow me!" She then led Lu Yan'an to a room for processing the application!

Three hours later, when Lu Yan'an walked out of the Administrative Hall, everything had been taken care of. He had a balance of 950 Black Dragon Coins, which was the change received after breaking a Ganwu Coin to pay for the naturalization fees.

"So, is it time to go open an account on the Virtual Universe Network now?" Lu Yan'an asked.

"Correct, this is also the main purpose of your trip to Qiu Long Planet! Once you enter the virtual network, you can begin your formal cultivation," Lord Shen said, sitting on Lu Yan'an's shoulder with a composed air.