Changes

Were you still not satisfied with this?

Blair was surprised, and couldn't help feeling ashamed. No wonder the lord was so powerful; he must have always been so strict with himself.

How could she have gotten carried away just because she'd achieved a little success?

"How many of these seven Universe Level warriors were trained by the Academy?" Li Yilin asked. When the Academy had first been established, many people in the clan had objected to the two requirements he'd set: students had to be under five hundred years old and not yet have reached Star Level.

Many people had either just exceeded the age limit or had just broken through to Star Level, making them ineligible for the Academy—and thus unable to learn from its five hundred Universe Level teachers.

Blair had sent him a message about it back then. After giving it some thought, he'd assigned a hundred of those teachers to instruct the other clan members.

The Academy had plenty of teachers, but the students were still young. Surely, few of them could break through to Universe Level in just over a decade.

Just as he'd expected.

"Only two. One of them comprehended a domain as soon as he broke through to Universe Level," Blair said softly, her earlier excitement long gone from her voice.

Only two of the seven Universe Level warriors had come from Tuoxing Academy. The other five were clan members well over five hundred years old, most of them at the eighth or ninth stage of Star Level. They'd managed to break through with the help of cultivation resources and their teachers' guidance.

Still, the one who had comprehended a domain at Universe Level was a student of Tuoxing Academy. That was good news for Blair.

Being an Academy student meant he was young. To comprehend a domain ahead of so many others at such a young age showed exceptional potential. With no shortage of cultivation resources, he'd have an even better chance of thriving.

The more talented individuals a race produced, the better its bloodline could be passed down.

The more powerful warriors a race had, the better its prospects for development in the universe.

Otherwise, with the Wutuo Clan's original strength of just two Domain Lords and fewer than ten Universe Level warriors, it would have been difficult for the clan to grow and prosper.

No matter how many Universe Level warriors there were, they were nowhere near as useful as a single Domain Lord. But a race with only one Domain Lord and few Universe Level warriors would be even less able to withstand a crisis—

They complemented and strengthened one another. It was as simple as that.

"Oh?" Hearing that the one who'd comprehended a domain was an Academy student, Li Yilin grew interested. "Bring him here so I can see him."

"Yes, my lord."

Blair nodded and tapped a few times on the Smart Optical Computer on her wrist.

A short while later, the palace doors opened, and a blue figure slowly walked in.

He had light blue hair and eyes of the same color, and delicate features. His overall appearance was clearly that of a man, but just looking at his face, anyone could have mistaken him for a girl.

Evan stopped below the dais and respectfully knelt before Li Yilin, who sat upon the throne. "This junior, Evan, pays his respects to the clan patriarch."

Clan patriarch?

Li Yilin's eyes widened as he looked at Blair.

Blair covered her mouth with a quiet laugh and explained, "As it happens, Evan is a descendant of Duose, about a hundred generations removed. He calls Duose his great-grandmother, so naturally he calls you his clan patriarch." There were only two clan patriarchs in the clan: Li Yilin and Hilda. Everyone else, no matter how senior their generation, could only be called an ancestor.

At the mention of Duose, Li Yilin immediately thought of the petite woman with a cute face and a temperament like Guan Yu's.

"Duose entered seclusion to cultivate after receiving her cultivation resources fifteen years ago. There's still been no word of her coming out," Blair said, without much worry in her expression.

The stronger one became, the longer one's seclusion lasted; at Universe Level, a single retreat could easily last hundreds or even thousands of years.

If she weren't the clan leader, she'd go into seclusion for that long herself.

Ever since the lord had brought back a wealth of cultivation resources from the Aoduo Universe Kingdom, the Wutuo Clan had been developing at a rapid pace. As clan leader, Blair couldn't even guarantee she'd have time for her daily cultivation, let alone enter seclusion.

Li Yilin understood how much she had devoted to the clan. After a moment's thought, he took out two units' worth—two hundred Lanke Fruits—and handed them to her.

"I remember you have a plant life-form. These two hundred Lanke Fruits should help it quite a bit," Li Yilin said.

To nurture his Clone, his ring was stocked with precious resources worth nearly a million Hunyuan Units. The expensive ones included Life Fruits, Luo Ke Divine Water, and Thunder Road; the cheaper ones included Wood Crystal and Lanke Fruits.

Looking at the two large chests on the floor, Blair hesitated before opening one. Inside were rows of neatly stacked crystal-clear boxes.

She opened one of them. Inside lay a tender fruit, glistening with dewdrops—an Lanke Fruit, exactly like the ones she'd seen in the Virtual Universe.

Overjoyed and astonished, she exclaimed, "Lanke Fruits? These are far too precious."

Though Lanke Fruits weren't as valuable as the legendary life planets, each one was worth a thousand life planets.

Two hundred of them could buy a decent star system. Even the Leimai Galaxy, where the Wutuo Clan now lived, was worth far less than these two hundred Lanke Fruits.

"This is a reward for serving as clan leader and handling the clan's affairs for so many years without a single mistake," Li Yilin said with a faint smile. "The stronger you are, the easier it'll be to manage the clan's affairs. That's good for both you and everyone else."

Over the years, he seemed to have spent a great deal of money—even the cost of training his disciples was measured in Hunyuan Units. And yet his account still held nearly a million Hunyuan Units.

To him, money was just a number. Until he became Immortal, he wouldn't have to worry about cultivation resources. And once he reached Immortal, his strength would ensure that he wouldn't have to worry about running short of them either.

As long as he had a surplus, there was no problem with giving those around him a little help when they needed it.

"My lord." Blair's eyes reddened. "I don't deserve such generosity. A hundred years ago, if I hadn't neglected my duties and failed to keep a close enough watch on Wunuo Star, the clan wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses."

A hundred years had passed, and the Wutuo Clan's population had only just managed to surpass eight million. If not for that catastrophe, they would have had at least ten million by now.

The Wutuo Clan differed from other Cosmic Humans. They took loyalty very seriously. Whether male or female, each would choose only one partner in their lifetime. If their partner died, they would never start a new family. Even if they did, they were unlikely to have children.

And because of the Wutuo Clan's unique biology, bearing children wasn't as simple for them as it was for ordinary Cosmic Humans.

A Planetary Level Wutuo couple having one child in a hundred years was already considered remarkably fertile. If they managed to have more than three children during their thousand-year lifespan, the clan would give them a generous reward.

If they could have children and also had good cultivation potential, the clan might even grant them an opportunity to break through to Star Level and extend their lifespans, allowing them to contribute more to the clan.

For the Wutuo Clan, producing twins who both carried their bloodline was practically on the level of a goddess of childbirth granting a blessing.

Among the Wutuo Clan's more than eight million members, fewer than five pairs of twins had ever been born. It was easy to imagine how difficult it was for them to have children.

There was a reason Blair rarely let unmarried young women in the clan spend time with Li Yilin. Apart from knowing he wouldn't accept a woman chosen for him by the clan, she also knew that once a Wutuo fell for someone, they would almost never change their mind—unless they met someone better, someone more exceptional, someone they liked more, before committing to a partner.

There was no one in the Wutuo Clan better than Li Yilin, and there were few among other races outside the clan who could surpass him either.

Given that, it was best for them to keep their distance.