Provisional Citizen

The vast, boundless universe, Jialan Empire.

Within the Floating Cloud Universe Kingdom—one of the 1,008 high-level civilization universe kingdoms of humanity—it is but an inconspicuous one among many subordinate medium-level civilization nations.

Moon River Planet, numbered X371728 among the more than ten thousand star systems directly controlled by the Jialan Empire.

"Child, you have grown up. You should learn to cultivate on your own."

A man and a woman, whose appearance differed little from normal humans save for their wine-red eyes, spoke earnestly to their son before them.

"If you become stronger, you won't be bullied so easily in the future, and it will be easier to find a job," the tall, beautiful woman said, patting his head.

Dressed in black, with a slightly lean build, white hair, red eyes, and a face that could be called exquisite, the youth lowered his head, appearing obedient on the surface while his mind raced.

He, Su Ke, is 16 years old this year and a transmigrator.

Having been reincarnated for 16 years, he only awakened the memories of his previous life yesterday.

That was because he had been knocked unconscious just yesterday.

He could still clearly recall the scene in his mind: it was an Apprentice Rank duel held in an open-air plaza. Both sides were of similar age and both were at the ninth stage of the Apprentice Rank; in a one-on-one scenario, it could be considered fair.

His two best friends had lost first, and then he had braced himself to step up, only to suffer the most miserable defeat, being struck directly in the head by the opponent's Telepathic Weapon and knocked cold.

Had the opponent not held back at the last moment out of concern for planetary law, his skull might have been shattered by the impact of over a million kilograms, regardless of how hard it was.

After all, both were "provisional citizens," and killing someone would result in punishment under planetary law.

Generally, ordinary people on a planet cannot obtain citizenship until they reach the "Planetary Rank." The prerequisite for obtaining citizenship is—one must reach the "Planetary Rank."

Non-citizens are not protected by the empire when entering certain planets.

Su Ke's parents are citizens and residents of this planet; they are both at the Planetary Rank. Although their child has not yet reached the Planetary Rank, he is protected by his status as a "provisional citizen."

As long as he reaches the Planetary Rank, he can immediately become a full citizen!

Moon River Planet, while incredibly inconspicuous among the tens of thousands of star systems and hundreds of millions of planets in the Jialan Empire—likely not even ranking in the top million and possessing no significant value, just an ordinary life-bearing planet—still has a permanent population of nearly ten billion, the vast majority of whom are at the Planetary Rank.

As long as there are no complications, the descendants of the planet's people can generally cultivate to the Planetary Rank.

The fast ones take a few years or a dozen years, while the slow ones take a few decades, and that is about it.

The cultivation civilization here is very prosperous, and resources are abundant. Low-level cultivation resources like "Purple Light Dew" are mostly consumed by ordinary citizens as beverages.

Therefore, despite Su Ke's mediocre aptitude, he has still cultivated to the ninth stage of the Apprentice Rank at 16!

This is considered a normal standard among his peers on the planet.

However, crossing from the Apprentice Rank to the Planetary Rank is a leap of life; it is somewhat troublesome and requires a longer period of accumulation, or even the practice of specific breakthrough techniques. If that fails, those with money can spend a price to purchase resources to assist in the breakthrough.

Take Muya Crystal, for example; if an Apprentice Rank ninth-stage cultivator chews on one, no matter how much of a waste they are, they will break through 100%.

However, Muya Crystal is a luxury item, and its price is far too exorbitant for a family like Su Ke's; they couldn't afford one even if they went bankrupt.

The price of a single Muya Crystal could buy who knows how many Planetary Rank slaves!

Su Ke's family conditions can only be described as subsistence-level at the bottom of society here; a Muya Crystal is something his parents couldn't afford even if they worked hard for a thousand years until they died of old age.

In short, breaking through to the Planetary Rank is not difficult for most people.

"From now on, stop provoking An Tai and his group. And you, tell your two best friends to behave themselves as well. Don't go around picking fights with others at every turn. You are still children; the most important thing right now is to cultivate hard," Su Ke's father, a tall, burly white-haired man named Su Kai who wore the black uniform of a certain starship company, said, looking down at his young child with a low voice.

He was also extremely furious that his only son had been beaten into such a state.

Knowing what had happened, he even felt heart palpitations; if anything had gone slightly wrong, his son would have been gone.

Yet, he had no way to seek justice for his child. The other party merely paid a small amount of money and didn't even offer an apology.

From the perspective of planetary law, this was not a major issue; both sides had dueled voluntarily, so no responsibility could be pursued against the other party, and the matter was left unsettled.

He was angry but helpless; he could not afford to provoke the other party's background either. This planet also suffered from a rigid hierarchy.

The only thing to be thankful for was that his child was unharmed.

"I understand," Su Ke, who had just regained his memories as a transmigrator, lowered his head, appearing perfectly obedient.

"Your father and I are going on a long trip tomorrow. Cultivate well while you're home alone," his mother urged with concern.

His father, Su Kai, and mother, Eris, were both of a race common to the planet—white hair and red eyes, the same race. They were both over two hundred years old, which is considered very young for the Planetary Rank. They both worked for a long-range trade starship company on Moon River Planet, and their job involved accompanying the starships to transport goods to other planets; it was normal for them not to return for a year or half a year.

In the past, most of the time, the young Su Ke was raised by an intelligent robot.

Moon River Planet has a total of nine cities, each of which is unimaginably huge, concentrating over 99% of the planet's residents. However, the truly wealthy live in massive manors or even castles built outside the cities.

Those without money can only squeeze into the seemingly prosperous but actually crowded cities.

In a skyscraper nearly 800 stories high, almost piercing the clouds, Su Ke's family lived on the 578th floor.

"Mom and Dad have both left," Su Ke sat at the dining table in the living room, which was filled with delicacies. In truth, his home was not small, covering nearly a hundred square meters.

"I have to go back to eating alone again," Su Ke sighed.

In reality, his parents had reached the Planetary Rank and no longer needed to eat; it was merely a pleasure of life.

But Su Ke himself still needed to eat.

As a ninth-stage Apprentice Rank, his body appeared lean, but in reality, his movement speed could break the sound barrier at will, and a single punch could blow up a tank from Earth.

The blonde beauty, who looked exactly like a human, the intelligent robot "Lala," stood by his side in a maid outfit, serving him with meticulous care.

"Little Master, both Masters have instructed me to supervise your cultivation." The blonde beauty smiled, her sapphire-blue eyes glowing as they projected a small screen of light. "The specific schedule is as follows."

"I understand." Su Ke felt no resistance toward this.

The original Su Ke was never lazy; he simply possessed mediocre aptitude. His parents were working hard now precisely because they wanted to provide their child with a better environment to grow up in.

Even though he had gained the memories of his past life, his feelings for the parents of this life remained strong and profound.

"Living a second life, I must make it even more brilliant." Su Ke clenched his fists, his heart stirred with excitement. Filled with dreams, he walked toward the designated room accompanied by the robot.

As day turned to night, the planet soon entered the evening.

"Ah~~ so tired."

Having cultivated under the robot's strict supervision for the entire day, Su Ke wearily finished his shower and changed into his pajamas. He collapsed onto the bed, which felt as soft as air. The surrounding area automatically generated a three-dimensional environment; the room's layout vanished, replaced by a vast blue ocean and white sandy beaches. There were fluffy white clouds in the distance, and the system even simulated the sea breeze and the scent of the ocean blowing toward him.

Warm sunlight also shone down from above.

It was so comfortable that Su Ke relaxed his entire body, feeling as if his soul were drifting away.

"Ding."

"You have one new email."