On Venus, Luo Zhiyuan sat cross-legged, floating in the spaceship's control room. His right hand clutched the World Ring Light Beast God had left him, while his eyes stared fixedly toward Earth in the virtual view outside. He kept thinking about the path ahead of him, his gaze shifting between uncertainty and longing until it gradually grew resolute. At last, all trace of confusion vanished from his eyes.
He gripped the ring tightly and whispered, so softly that only he could hear, "A tree that takes two arms to encircle grows from a tiny sprout; a nine-story tower rises from a pile of earth.
"Though this world is dazzling and diverse, danger lurks everywhere. I want to give Earth a free sky to live beneath, and I want to roam the universe freely myself. To do that, I must become one of the top powerhouses of humanity.
"Otherwise, even a Universe Master as powerful as Light Beast God could end up being hunted by countless people. Without sufficient strength of my own and a force to protect me, I'll never achieve what I want.
"I have to improve my strength as quickly as possible, then enter the core of humanity's universe. I'll grow step by step until no one can stand in my way!
"Earth isn't just where my life began in this lifetime. It's also where my roots lie. Once I'm strong enough, maybe I can try to see if I can return... Hmph, I can't even say it out loud again!
"Never mind. I shouldn't think so far ahead. I'd better see what treasures Senior Chenxi left me first. Hopefully, they aren't all too advanced. It'd be a real tragedy if there's nothing I can use right now."
Luo Zhiyuan covered the World Ring with his Spiritual Force and used the special code Light Beast God had given him to undo its seal. Since Light Beast God's Spiritual Imprint had already dissipated, the ring was unclaimed, and Luo Zhiyuan completed the binding in moments.
Suddenly, an extraordinarily furious voice erupted in his mind. "Old Mystic! You've gone too far! You sealed me away for so long all at once! I don't even know how many eras it's been since I last woke up! Were you trying to drive me mad?! Aaaaah!"
At the sound of that furious roaring, Luo Zhiyuan froze for a moment. Then he remembered Light Beast God mentioning an Intelligent Life. This must be it. Hopefully we can get along from now on.
Luo Zhiyuan answered in his mind, "Senior, hello. I'm Luo Zhiyuan. Senior Chenxi just passed away. He gave me the World Ring you reside in, along with his belongings. We'll be together from now on, so I hope you'll look after me."
The voice in his mind abruptly fell silent. There was no response for a long time. Unsure what was going on, Luo Zhiyuan cautiously asked again, "Senior, are you all right?"
"Oh, oh, I'm fine. Perfectly fine! It's wonderful to be out of that seal. Hmm, I really can't sense that Old Mystic's Spiritual Imprint anymore. Looks like he really is dead. So that means you're the mysterious life he was always thinking about?
"Not bad. You're polite. I like you! But don't be so stiff. I don't like people talking in such a stuffy way. And don't call me Senior. I don't want people making me sound old. Just call me Bulieni.
"Oh, and, kid, I couldn't stand the Auxiliary Optical Computer and auxiliary programs in that piece of junk space bracer of yours, so I destroyed them. Now that you have me, you don't need that garbage."
Luo Zhiyuan's mouth twitched a few times. He felt utterly helpless. Looks like he'd have to find a way to explain this to Luo Feng and Babata later. What a headache.
"By the way, kid, what exactly did Old Mystic tell you? He could foresee certain things, but it seems you got the better of him. He couldn't see through your origins. So where did you come from?
"I asked him about you back then, but he couldn't figure it out either. Can you tell me a bit about it? I've no idea how many eras that Old Mystic kept me sealed away. You should fill me in on what's going on now, too."
Though Bulieni's voice sounded much the same as before, Luo Zhiyuan could still sense the deep bond between him and Senior Chenxi. Calling Light Beast God "Old Mystic" made that plain enough.
Luo Zhiyuan knew Bulieni must still be grieving. He would never see again the companion who had been with him for so many years, or trade jokes with him again. Even if he'd known this day would eventually come, he couldn't simply accept it all at once.
After all, Bulieni was an Intelligent Life, not an ordinary auxiliary program. He had emotions of his own. Apart from having a different form of life, he was no different from a human in that regard. By asking Luo Zhiyuan to tell him about things, Bulieni was probably just trying to distract himself.
Luo Zhiyuan told Bulieni everything he could, without hiding anything. As for his precise origins, the laws governing the universe suppressed him, making it impossible for him to speak of them.
When Bulieni learned that Luo Zhiyuan had a foreseeing ability similar to Light Beast God's, he said excitedly, "Well, look at that! Old Mystic was always bragging about his foresight, claiming he was the only one in the universe who could do it. And now here you are, able to do it too!
"Too bad I can't tease him about it now. Otherwise, I'd have laughed at him for sure. Let's see if he'd still keep acting like he was the only one of his kind, from heaven to earth! Hahaha!"
Luo Zhiyuan rubbed his face and said awkwardly, "I'm nowhere near as capable as Senior Chenxi. I only know about some special events that will happen in the future, and most of them are in human territory. Senior Chenxi could freely see the future of any place. I'm far behind him."
"All right, no need to flatter Old Mystic. That old fool has already vanished into nothing, and I can't compete with him anymore.
"By the way, you said you've already crossed the threshold of the laws of light and time, right? Old Mystic fused those two laws seamlessly, then combined them with his own unique secret technique to achieve his foresight.
"I know exactly what his secret technique is. Once you reach the Universe Master level, you can try cultivating it. Who knows? You might be able to reach his level.
"Come on, let me take a look at your current condition. Old Mystic left behind a lot of good stuff. I'll find what suits you best and help your strength soar!"
As soon as Bulieni finished speaking, a wave of energy scanned Luo Zhiyuan from head to toe. Then Bulieni began shouting excitedly in Luo Zhiyuan's mind. "Whoa! No way, kid! You're only a Planetary Level Six Spirit Reader?
"You... your cultivation is way too low!
"This is going to be tricky. Your talent is excellent, and—oh? Your body's pretty good too. It has the highest level of bloodline, so you can grow all the way to Peak World Lord without any obstacles.
"But Old Mystic's collection really doesn't have many treasures suitable for anyone below Immortal Level. I'll have to sort through everything and figure out how to improve your strength as efficiently as possible. Give me a moment."
Bulieni had said so much that Luo Zhiyuan was left completely dumbfounded.
The highest level of bloodline? Luo Zhiyuan couldn't make sense of it. How had he ended up with the highest-level bloodline? Wasn't this body just that of an ordinary Earthling? Oh, right. If it really were an ordinary Earthling body, he wouldn't have three Innate Secret Techniques.
Still, he'd never imagined that this body had the highest-level bloodline, on par with the Golden Horned Behemoth's and already surpassing the highest bloodline humans currently had. That meant his growth would be much faster.
The highest human bloodline could reach Peak Domain Lord in adulthood, after which further advancement required diligent cultivation.
As for him, he could reach Peak World Lord even if he did nothing but eat and wait to die! Though who knew how long that would take? His goal couldn't be achieved with the mere World Lord level. He'd better keep training and not waste any time.
P.S. Here's half a chapter to start—half a chapter by my standards, of course. Compared to the 2K crowd, this is more than a whole chapter, hehe.
Also, some brothers said I wasn't updating enough, and I feel wronged! In six days, including this chapter, I've written 75,000 characters. That really isn't a small amount!
Don't rush, everyone. I haven't fully sorted out my ideas yet. I realized I'd dug myself into a hole, and I won't feel right until I've figured it out!
One more thing: I was surprised to see that some friends on QQ Reading had voted for me, but I'm publishing first on Qidian. I hope those few brothers will come over to Qidian, add the book to their collections, and give it a recommendation to help build some readership.
And everyone, please show a little more enthusiasm! We've brought out the Universe Master's legacy, and you're still not going to give me a hand?
More follows and recommendation votes, please! Let's see if we can get a contract with the site. Give your brother a push, everyone. Thanks!
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