Genius Recruitment

"Senior, you mean..." Qin Zhao already understood why Mu Han had come.

Mu Han nodded solemnly, his tone more serious than ever. "Qin Zhao, you're the youngest Planet Level fighter Flame Meteor Planet has seen in a century! Your potential may even surpass Liu Yuan's back in the day! I hope you'll go to that Outer Space Relic and find out whether there's still a way off this planet. Maybe you'll find another hidden spaceship, or perhaps activate some other function of the relic!"

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"Are you really sure I can get into that Outer Space Relic, Senior?" Qin Zhao didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked a question of his own.

"I'm not sure!" Mu Han shook his head. "I just give the same advice to every newly ascended Planet Level fighter. After all, what if someone really can get in again?"

"That Outer Space Relic is Flame Meteor Planet's only hope of rejoining the universe! It's also our only chance to shed our status as natives! You haven't seen any of the information passed down from inside the relic, so you may not understand what the word 'native' means in the universe. It means utter despair!"

As if remembering that Qin Zhao still knew nothing about the situation, Mu Han patted him on the shoulder. There was a hint of helplessness in his voice. "I'm only telling you all this so you'll understand the state of Flame Meteor Planet. Whether or not you decide to go later, the most important thing right now is to consolidate your current realm and familiarize yourself with Planet Level power."

"If you decide to go to the relic, head to the Meteor Mountain Range. Its entrance lies deep within the range, west of the empire!"

Mu Han said no more. Fiery red Origin Force surged around him, and he once again turned into a streak of light, shooting into the sky and disappearing on the distant horizon.

After Mu Han left, the desert fell silent once more, save for the faint sound of hot wind sweeping over the sand. Qin Zhao stood where he was, gazing toward the imperial capital. He had already made up his mind.

"That Outer Space Relic...I have to go!"

He barely hesitated before the thought settled firmly in his mind. Leaving Flame Meteor Planet was the necessary first step. Since the Outer Space Relic was the only hope they had, he'd brave even a dragon's lair or a tiger's den.

Qin Zhao didn't follow Mu Han's advice to consolidate his strength. After all, he had just crossed the threshold of the Law of Earth Origin, and was at his strongest. What was there to consolidate?

At a thought, the Earth God Clone within him stirred faintly. The pure aura of the Law of Earth Origin flowed through his body, creating a wondrous resonance between him and the vast desert beneath his feet.

"According to Mu Han, the relic's entrance is deep in the Meteor Mountain Range, west of the empire."

Qin Zhao became a streak of light and skimmed low over the ground, moving far faster than before his breakthrough. After fusing with his God Clone, his body naturally carried a hint of the weight and swiftness of the Law of Earth Origin, even when he didn't consciously use the Law of Earth. His flight consumed less Origin Force, yet he was faster.

Several hours later, a vast stretch of rugged, jagged, crimson mountains came into view. Few people ever came here, and the air carried an ancient, desolate quality unlike that of the surrounding desert.

Following the general direction Mu Han had mentioned, Qin Zhao spread his Domain and searched carefully. At last, before the cliff face of an unremarkable valley, he sensed a faint energy fluctuation that clashed with its surroundings.

Thick vines and moss covered the cliff. With a wave of Qin Zhao's hand, an invisible surge of Origin Force swept across it, reducing the vines and moss to dust and revealing a deep, pitch-black opening just wide enough for one person. Its smooth edges were clearly not naturally formed, and strange patterns shimmered faintly across them.

"This is it."

Qin Zhao took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The passage was extremely narrow at first, barely wide enough for one person. After walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up. Before him was not the ancient, dust-covered cave he had imagined, but a vast metal hall glowing with soft white light. The hall was utterly empty, and its walls, floor, and ceiling were made of some unknown silvery-white metal, smooth as a mirror and reflecting Qin Zhao's image.

He had barely reached the center of the hall when it gave a gentle shudder.

Buzz—!

A hazy beam of multicolored light descended without warning, enveloping Qin Zhao in an instant. A strange scanning force swept rapidly over his body, pausing briefly at his mindscape and Origin Core.

"Lifeform detected... Planet Level, first order... Genetic Origin Energy... Spiritual Force... analyzing... analysis complete... compatible with recruitment mechanism and requirements!"

A cold, emotionless synthesized voice rang through the hall. It spoke a language Qin Zhao had never heard, yet somehow he understood its meaning directly through his Spiritual Force.

"Hmm? This scan..." Qin Zhao was briefly surprised, but didn't act rashly. The beam didn't seem hostile; it felt more like a detection mechanism.

The scan lasted about ten seconds. Then the cold voice spoke again, though this time there seemed to be an extremely faint... fluctuation in its tone.

"Alert lifted. Law of Earth Origin fluctuation detected... Assessment: target has achieved preliminary comprehension of the Earth Domain."

"Meets 'Genius Recruitment' standard, clause III-77. Recruitment procedure initiated."

As soon as the voice finished, the hazy beam enveloping Qin Zhao abruptly turned pure blue. A gentle yet irresistible force of attraction took hold of him. At the same time, the metal wall diagonally ahead of him rippled like water, revealing a glowing blue passage made of energy. A disquieting spatial fluctuation emanated from its depths.

"Genius recruitment? Is it because I used my Domain while searching?" Qin Zhao realized at once.

Mu Han and the others couldn't get in because they hadn't comprehended a Domain and didn't meet the relic's definition of a "genius." From the looks of it, Liu Yuan had probably entered the core and taken the spaceship by comprehending a Domain as well.

He didn't need to search for the so-called "passage entrance." Drawn by the blue beam, he floated toward the glowing passage, unable to resist, but carried along smoothly.

His vision blurred, and he felt space shift around him.

The next moment, Qin Zhao found himself in an even more magnificent, more central hall. It was circular, with a towering domed ceiling. A huge sphere hovered in the center, its surface constantly shifting with complex streams of data.

Beneath the sphere stood a bald, humanoid lifeform made entirely of transparent crystal. Soft white light shone from where its eyes should have been as it silently "looked" at Qin Zhao.

"Welcome, Planet Level lifeform who has comprehended a Domain." The crystal-headed figure spoke in fluent Flame Meteor Planet speech—with a peculiar rhythm. It was the Universal Language, and its voice rang directly in Qin Zhao's mind. "I am the intelligent optical computer of the Glacier Empire-3721 Exploration Base, serial number K-77. According to the procedures and commands established beforehand, you are authorized to learn the current state of the base."

"This base belongs to the government of the Glacier Empire, a low-level universe civilization under the mid-level universe country Qinglan Empire. It was established 1.28 million years ago to study Flame Meteor Planet, a life-bearing planet, and its resources."

Qin Zhao took in this information, then asked the most important question: "K-77, my goal is to leave Flame Meteor Planet and venture into the universe. According to what I know, a hundred years ago, a pioneer named Liu Yuan entered this place and took a spaceship. Are there any other spaceships in the base, or another way to reach the universe?"