Her sweet, naive manner made Li Yilin smile faintly.
Gui Su explained from the side, "Cloud Sea Planet is different from ordinary planets. Its greatest peculiarity lies in the clouds overhead."
He pointed to the vast, heavy clouds stretching almost beyond sight in the sky and continued, "The clouds on Cloud Sea Planet are actually an unusual phenomenon created by Universe Origin Energy combining with this place's unique environment. The closer you get to the clouds—"
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Legend had it that when the Human Race first discovered Cloud Sea Planet, the Universe Origin Energy deep within the clouds was hundreds, even thousands of times denser than it was now. Tiny particles condensed from Universe Origin Energy could even be seen there. It was truly a paradise for cultivation.
Unfortunately, countless eras had passed, and much of the Universe Origin Energy had been consumed. Its concentration was nowhere near what it had once been, though it was still several times denser than on ordinary planets.
"—ten thousand meters is the height we've found most suitable for building a Floating City. Any higher, and the hurricanes and ice within the clouds will make the energy in the sky unusually violent, unsuitable for cultivation or sensing the fluctuations of Universe Origin Energy.
"Any lower, and it'll encroach on the living space of our people in the cities on the ground." Gui Jiao finished.
"No wonder Brother Gui Jiao is so formidable, with such a treasure trove at the Cloud Sea Family's disposal!" Li Yilin said with a smile. With a place that was practically a cultivation paradise, even someone without much talent could grind their way to Universe Level.
After all, at Universe Level and below, there were no particularly strict requirements for comprehending domains and laws. It was simply a matter of accumulating energy.
Even the weakest Universe Level fighter was stronger than someone at Star Level. Of course, that was only true for ordinary people. Talented fighters were another matter entirely.
Gui Jiao smiled without replying.
As one of the Sixteen Families of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, the Cloud Sea Family naturally had its own trump cards.
The family's planet was so special that it had to be kept out in the open. In secret, they had plenty of other trump cards.
That was an unspoken survival skill shared by all the great families.
Gui Jiao's banquet lasted a full month. Throughout that time, Li Yilin stayed in Gui Jiao's Floating City castle, discussing the laws with him. He never once set foot outside.
Strength didn't come from shutting oneself away. Discussing Law Comprehension with someone at the same level could be valuable even if their paths weren't identical. After all, the laws ultimately led to the same destination. And since Gui Jiao and Li Yilin were both comprehending a Lower Law of the Time Law, they naturally had plenty to talk about.
Though Li Yilin hadn't cultivated even once that month, the aura around him had grown increasingly profound. His comprehension of the Lightning Law had advanced by leaps and bounds.
If his comprehension of the Lightning Law had been only 10% before, it had improved by a full 1% after this exchange.
One percent might not seem like much, but laws were inherently obscure and difficult to understand, and comprehending them was an uphill battle. Nothing about it was easy. Even someone with exceptional talent needed to put in a great deal of time to make the slightest progress.
While Gui Jiao and Li Yilin sat in the castle discussing the laws, Si Yao, left to her own devices, was like a kite set free, wandering all over Cloud Sea Planet.
For the past five years, Li Yilin had indulged and spoiled her, giving her whatever she wanted and never criticizing her. Without realizing it, he'd encouraged her to become a little stubborn, arrogant, and conceited about her talents.
She was young—only twenty, all told. For races with higher bloodline ranks, she wasn't even an adult yet; she could still be called a child. And yet, at such a tender age, she was already at Planetary Level and had even comprehended a domain. She was exceptionally talented, worthy of being called a genius.
With so many quirks combined, how could Si Yao know anything about humility, patience, or restraint? And so, she caught the eye of a certain someone—
World Lord Xunzhen!
World Lord Xunzhen was the founder of the Cloud Sea Family. He had lived for an unknown number of eras and was the family's bedrock. One could say that the vast majority of the Cloud Sea Family's members were his descendants.
Such a remarkable figure had been stuck at World Lord for hundreds of eras, with no hope of a breakthrough in sight.
Fortunately, World Lords lived for a thousand eras. World Lord Xunzhen had lived for less than six hundred, with nearly half his lifespan still ahead of him. He wasn't in a hurry despite his inability to break through. Instead, he'd turned to raising his descendants and expanding the family, hoping to strengthen its standing in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire—or even take it one step further.
Gui Jiao was the descendant in whom the family placed the greatest hopes. Naturally, when Gui Jiao first displayed his talent, Xunzhen had taken him under his wing and carefully nurtured him as a disciple.
As the descendant and disciple he had the highest hopes for, Gui Jiao's acquaintances were bound to reach Xunzhen's ears, even without him deliberately looking into them.
Li Yilin, a Domain Lord Level Giant Axe Warrior. Xunzhen was deeply pleased that he had become his disciple's friend.
After all, a Domain Lord Level Giant Axe Warrior had almost a one-hundred-percent chance of breaking through to World Lord, so long as he didn't die. Even Immortal wasn't out of the question.
The benefits of befriending someone with limitless potential—someone who'd even accepted Gui Jiao as a friend—were immeasurable.
At first, Xunzhen couldn't help keeping an eye on Li Yilin. After all, as a crafty old fox who'd lived for hundreds of eras, he thought far more deeply than most people. Almost without a second thought, he began wondering how to make Li Yilin feel warmly toward Gui Jiao and even the Cloud Sea Family, or how to bring him closer to the family—
All those thoughts came to a halt when he discovered Si Yao.
Good heavens, what kind of impossibly adorable little sweetheart was this?
On a bustling street in Cloud Sea City, Si Yao floated three meters above the ground. Beneath her, two raggedly dressed youths clung to each other, staring in terror at something in the distance.
Facing Si Yao was a man with two antennae on his head, each topped with a flashy bow. He wore a purple robe, its skirt covered in great clusters of pink flowers. As he moved, the layered floral skirt fanned out again and again, like a great moth desperately trying to show off its handsomeness to everyone around him!
"Little brat, I was teaching a couple of ungrateful fools a lesson. What are you butting in for?" Jialu stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at Si Yao, who was watching him warily.
"You can teach someone a lesson if you want, but why drag the shopkeeper into it?" Si Yao lifted her chin, looking haughty.
"There was something I wanted on the stall you knocked over. I'd just paid for it, and then you kicked it away and smashed it on the ground." She snorted, folding her arms and glancing at him. "Pay me back."
"Hah." Jialu seemed amused by her words. He looked her up and down. "Kid, do you even know who I am?"
"Whoever you are, it doesn't matter. Pay up." Si Yao rolled her eyes.
It had cost a hundred Black Dragon Coins.
Her attitude enraged Jialu, and the smile vanished from his face. "That's some worthless junk. It isn't worth anything. I wouldn't even bother picking it up off the ground. Only a clueless little thing like you, fresh off some backwater planet and new to Cloud Sea Planet, would mistake it for a treasure."
Si Yao had never been treated like this before, and she was furious. "You don't want to pay, fine. But now you're insulting me too?"
"Think I won't whip you?" She pulled out a two-meter-long soft whip and cracked it hard, her gaze icy as she stared at him.
"Apologize. Pay me back!"
She still remembered what her teacher had told her: don't go picking fights on Cloud Sea Planet. If not for his warning, her whip would have lashed across this foul-mouthed jerk's face the moment he uttered his first word.
Spewing filth from your mouth. You're asking to die!
Jialu narrowed his eyes, not taking her threat seriously at all. "You're only at Planetary Level. What makes you think you can talk to me like that?"
"Exactly," chimed in one of the people behind him, clearly a bodyguard. "My young master is a Stellar Level Three fighter—and he reached Stellar Level One before he was a thousand! Who could match that talent?"
"Wow!"
After the guard finished speaking, the crowd responded with suitably astonished cries, and a chorus of gasps rose around them.
But in truth, no one was shocked by Jialu's talent or strength.
As the home of the Cloud Sea Family, Cloud Sea Planet was full of people who were anything but ordinary. Stellar Level and Planetary Level fighters were as commonplace as rain across the planet.
So why did everyone praise Jialu so much, and why did no one dare offend him?
Because he was a direct descendant of the Cloud Sea Family—not a collateral branch, but a true member of the main line.
The current head of the Cloud Sea Family was Jialu's great-great-great-great-grandfather. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and even his great-great-grandfather had all been direct descendants. Not one of them had come from a collateral branch.
His lineage was even more direct than Gui Jiao's, who was currently riding high in the Cloud Sea Family. Of course, that wasn't the main point. What mattered was that Jialu's father was a Universe Level fighter, highly valued by the family head.
For a family that had carved out its own territory in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire thanks to its World Lord, Universe Level fighters were already pillars of strength. No one would cast one aside or casually offend one.
And Jialu was an only child—the only son of a Universe Level fighter.
One special, dazzling identity after another made the people of Cloud Sea Planet reluctant to provoke him.
"Before you were a thousand?" Hearing that, Si Yao frowned and couldn't help looking him over. Her eyes held—
Disdain?
Disdain?
Jialu could hardly believe his eyes.
He'd reached Stellar Level at such a young age—and Stellar Level, not Planetary Level!
What right did someone a whole level below him have to look down on him?
He couldn't accept that what he was most proud of meant nothing to someone else.
Jialu's nostrils flared. He let out a sharp breath, but before he could make a cutting remark, Si Yao's disdainful voice reached him.
"You're already that old and only at Stellar Level. Is that really something to be proud of?" Si Yao's words were like they'd been dipped in poison. They stabbed straight into Jialu's pride, deflating him like a balloon.
"I was already at Planetary Level at twenty, and even I'm not proud of it.
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