[At 25, you concealed your presence and used Iron Vine Grass to travel tens of millions of kilometers away from Thousand Leaf Planet. Afterward, you took a spaceship to Cui'en Planet.]
[You were very lucky.]
[Although the slave merchants were certain that the uprising had most likely been instigated by someone, they never suspected that it was you—the person who had suddenly disappeared back then.]
"Good."
Han Han was delighted. As long as he didn't take revenge on the slave merchants, he wouldn't arouse any suspicion.
It was a pity that he couldn't control how the simulation unfolded. The Han Han in it didn't have his bird's-eye view or his memories of the plot of Swallowed Star.
[You arrived at Cui'en Planet. Since you were only at Planetary Rank, traveled on an ordinary spaceship, and had no guards with you, three Stellar Level Seven fighters ambushed you on the way to the city.]
[With no other choice, you used Gold Wood Grass to kill them. Iron Vine Grass couldn't be exposed just yet.]
[After entering the city, you easily registered as an imperial citizen at the Administrative Building. You also went to the Universe Galaxy Bank and Virtual Universe Company to take care of some business.]
[Although you hadn't revealed your identity, a Domain Lord was present on Cui'en Planet, and you were worried he might notice something.]
[So you spent 20 million Cuilang Coins on a spaceship made entirely of C2-grade alloy. It came with ten Auxiliary Optical Computers.]
"Having money sure makes a difference."
Han Han immediately felt that choosing Cuilang Coins had been the right decision. A C2-Rank Spaceship might not be all that impressive, but it was still better than an A-grade one.
[You chose to go to the Mugu Star System, which was controlled by the Third Prince of the Cuilang Empire. He himself resided on Mugu Planet, at the heart of the system.]
[You entered Yuanwei Planet, on the outskirts of the Mugu Star System.]
[You began cultivating in seclusion. In your view, you would only be safe once you had raised one of your Plant Lifeforms to Domain Lord level.]
[At 35, after never leaving your residence once in ten years, you successfully broke through to Universe Rank First Order. Meanwhile, Gold Wood Grass had reached Domain Lord level inside the Micro World, but Iron Vine Grass had stalled at Universe Rank Ninth Order.]
[As long as you didn't go looking for trouble, nothing was likely to happen to someone at Universe Rank in the Mugu Star System, so you ventured out with peace of mind.]
[You first entered the Virtual Universe. You had originally planned to gather information about the slave merchants on Thousand Leaf Planet in a public area, but when you started asking around, you discovered that the Virtual Universe Company was holding the Strongest Tournament and accepting registrations.]
(The Genius Tournament hadn't started yet, so the only option was the Strongest Tournament.)
[You decided to give it a try and filled in your information.]
Han Han: "???"
"Was I really that overconfident?"
Han Han couldn't help laughing.
Him? Signing up for the Strongest Tournament? What a joke! It might look like he often sparred with Iron Vine Grass, but he still lacked real combat experience. He was far behind other Universe Rank fighters.
[You entered the preliminaries. From what you learned, only the top ten contestants could advance, but before you could even adjust to the changes in your Universe Rank Ninth Order strength, a flash of golden sword light killed you.]
"Told you so."
Han Han looked as if he'd expected it.
In fact,
he hadn't expected much from either the Genius Tournament or the Strongest Tournament. His talent was rather average, and entering the Doomsday Secret Realm wasn't necessarily better than staying outside.
Of course, it also depended on luck. If he could get feedback from a great deal of Law Comprehension, he'd certainly give it a try.
[You were deeply discouraged.]
[But you didn't lose heart. You knew that in reality, you could easily kill your opponents with the help of Gold Wood Grass and Iron Vine Grass.]
[At 36, you learned that the backer behind Thousand Leaf Planet was Huashan, a Domain Lord from the Heaven Seeking Pavilion.]
[You felt a little troubled.]
[It wasn't because you couldn't kill him. By then, Gold Wood Grass had already reached Domain Lord Second Order, and it would surpass Huashan in a few years. What concerned you was the Heaven Seeking Pavilion behind him—one you couldn't afford to provoke.]
[You considered whether to join a faction. You had recently heard that the Third Prince of the Cuilang Empire was recruiting subordinates.]
[After thinking it over, you dismissed the idea. Your history began and ended with registering as a citizen; everything before that was blank. It would be difficult to earn anyone's true trust, so you might as well enjoy your freedom.]
[At 40, you broke through to Universe Rank Ninth Order.]
[You were troubled now, because breaking through to Domain Lord required comprehending your own Domain, and you had no idea how to do that.]
[You shifted your focus to secret techniques.]
"You finally got it."
Han Han was practically in tears. If he could have, he would've started cultivating them ages ago.
[You entered the Cui'en Region in the Virtual Universe. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was there, so you could buy secret techniques directly through the Virtual Universe.]
[You ran into a problem: you were short on money.]
[You hadn't worried about treasures over the years, so you'd never bothered to earn money. Only now did you realize you could afford nothing but the most basic secret techniques.]
[After thinking it over, you decided to take the Universe Mercenary Assessment.]
[Becoming a Universe Mercenary would not only raise your status in the Cuilang Empire, but also let you take on missions and earn enough money. Besides, you knew there were ways to make purchases within the Universe Mercenary Alliance, and you wanted to use them to obtain secret techniques.]
[You were at Universe Rank Ninth Order, so you were taking the one-star Universe Mercenary Assessment. After completing the formalities, you were escorted with the others to a desolate star system. You then learned the assessment requirements: enter the Thousand Wave Secret Realm, hunt ten Ice Prism Beasts, and bring back the Ice Prisms from their brows.]
[The Thousand Wave Secret Realm was a miniature Universe Secret Realm, filled with an Ice Ocean. An Ordinary Immortal could sweep through the entire realm. After the Universe Mercenary Alliance swept through and renovated it, they used it for one-star and two-star Universe Mercenary assessments.]
[You weren't worried about your safety.]
[According to the records, Ice Prism Beasts lived in the outer reaches of the Thousand Wave Secret Realm and ranged from Universe Rank First Order to Ninth Order. The assessment requirements placed no restrictions on the beasts' strength.]
[You entered the Thousand Wave Secret Realm.]
[There were eighteen other candidates taking the assessment with you. One Universe Rank Ninth Order fighter invited you to join forces. The rules allowed it.]
[You refused without hesitation.]
[You hadn't planned to fight with your own hands at all. Using Plant Lifeforms during the assessment was allowed, and Gold Wood Grass was a genuine Domain Lord.]
[You began hunting Ice Prism Beasts.]
[You were surprised to discover that Ice Prism Beasts could often unleash even more terrifying strength in the Ice Ocean. Even a Universe Rank First Order beast could probably kill a Universe Rank Third Order fighter. You realized the assessment was not going to be simple.]
[You hunted nearly sixty-nine Ice Prism Beasts.]
[The Thousand Wave Secret Realm was still a Universe Secret Realm, after all. You figured that no matter how thoroughly the Universe Mercenary Alliance had swept through it, there must have been things they'd missed. You were tempted to explore, especially since there was still plenty of time before the assessment ended.]
[With Domain Lord-level Gold Wood Grass protecting you, you boldly ventured into the Ice Ocean.]
[As you descended deeper, the cold seemed to freeze your consciousness as well. Even the battle suit formed by Gold Wood Grass had developed a layer of ice crystals.]
[At the same time,]
[You sensed a faint, mysterious aura.]
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