"Please, sir, let my sister in!"
"Hmph! A ninth-rank Apprentice isn't even qualified to apply for Imperial citizenship! Keep pestering us, and we'll make you regret it!"
Bai Yuan had just walked out of the Affairs Building when he saw two young people pleading desperately with a pair of guards.
The young man was at the Planet First Rank, while the girl was only a ninth-rank Apprentice.
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Both had blond hair and blue eyes, and striking looks.
At a slave market, they would fetch a high price.
After all, there were plenty of wealthy and powerful people in the universe who had no interest in cultivation and liked to seek their pleasures elsewhere.
As Bai Yuan studied the pair, his brow suddenly furrowed. He sensed something unusual.
"If begging worked, what would be the point of cultivation?"
He stepped forward and casually took out a gleaming white crystal—a Wood Bud Crystal—and tossed it to the girl.
"Here's your chance. Whether you break through is up to you."
The two guards stared, dumbfounded.
A Wood Bud Crystal was worth a fortune, yet he'd given it away so casually!
The girl caught the crystal instinctively, then hurriedly shook her head. "Th-this is far too valuable. I can't accept it..."
The young man beside her grew anxious. "Sis! Do you know what time it is? Those people could catch up any moment. If you hesitate any longer, it'll be too late!"
Bai Yuan nodded. "It's only one Wood Bud Crystal. It's nothing to me. And the people chasing you... seem to be close already."
At that, the girl didn't hesitate any longer. She sat cross-legged at once and began absorbing the Wood Bud Crystal's energy to break through to the Planet Realm.
The two guards immediately put on ingratiating smiles. "You're truly generous, sir, to give them a chance."
Bai Yuan shook his head indifferently. "I'm in a good mood today. I just lent a hand."
In truth, he wasn't being that kindhearted.
He had offered the Wood Bud Crystal because he'd sensed something unusual about the girl.
"Her bloodline doesn't seem as simple as it looks. Is she mixed-blood, or does she carry some kind of diluted bloodline?"
Bai Yuan's Genetic Origin Energy was metal-aligned, making him especially sensitive to bloodlines with an affinity for metal.
The girl's bloodline was far purer than her brother's. There was even a trace of formidable power to it.
As he studied her, four figures came rushing toward them.
The one in the lead had two horns on his head and dark skin. He was only at the Planet Third Rank, but three Star First Rank guards followed behind him.
"Well, well! We finally found you!"
"Take them back! Tonight, both of you are going to warm my bed!"
The dark-skinned man grinned broadly, his greedy gaze roaming over the siblings.
Bai Yuan's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected the man to have such varied tastes.
Bai Yuan stepped forward and said sternly, "Stop! Look where you are. This is right in front of the Black Dragon Mountain Affairs Building. You think you can run wild here?"
At his words, the two guards stepped forward together, their gazes turning cold.
They were only at the Planet Ninth Rank, but at that moment, they represented the dignity of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.
A few Star Realm fighters were nothing. Even someone from the Universe Realm wouldn't dare act recklessly here.
Suddenly, one of the three Star Realm guards caught sight of Bai Yuan and turned deathly pale.
"The Blade Clan! Young master, run! We can't afford to provoke him!"
At the words "Blade Clan," the dark-skinned man turned pale with fright. He didn't dare act arrogantly any longer and fled in a panic with his guards, not even looking back.
The two guards exchanged a glance, envy flickering in their eyes.
In the end, the man had backed down so quickly because he feared the Blade Clan's influence.
Seeing this, the young man was so moved that he was about to kneel and thank Bai Yuan, but Bai Yuan caught him and held him up.
"No need to kneel. Once your sister breaks through, we'll go somewhere else and talk."
Half an hour later, Origin Force surged around the girl. Her aura climbed sharply, and she successfully broke through to the Planet Realm.
As her life level advanced, a thread of Golden Flowing Light began to turn slowly in her already-bright eyes, making them even more dazzling than before.
After breaking through to the Planet Realm, the girl could hardly hide her excitement. This meant she was finally qualified to apply for Imperial citizenship.
Once she had completed the paperwork, Bai Yuan took the siblings straight to a castle he'd rented.
An ordinary courtyard would have worked, but a castle came with far more complete facilities: a secluded chamber for cultivation, a martial arena for practicing combat techniques, and all sorts of systems to make daily life easier.
Mo Gu and Mo Jin followed Bai Yuan into the castle hall, their eyes dazed.
Not long ago, they'd only hoped to find a place to stay. They'd never dared dream of living somewhere like this.
Bai Yuan sat down in a wide chair and looked at the two of them.
"My name is Yuan. What are yours?"
"My name is Mo Gu, and this is my younger sister, Mo Jin," the young man replied respectfully.
As soon as he'd finished speaking, Mo Jin lifted her head and looked Bai Yuan straight in the eye. She seemed to have steeled herself, and spoke with quiet determination.
"Brother Yuan, you gave me a Wood Bud Crystal to help me break through. You must have had another reason besides kindness, right? What do you want from us?"
Bai Yuan nodded. Since she'd already called him out, he wouldn't beat around the bush.
"I want to know where you come from. Especially you—you have a very unusual bloodline."
Mo Gu and Mo Jin looked at each other. After a moment of silence, Mo Gu gave a bitter smile and began to speak.
"Since you've asked, Brother Yuan, we won't hide anything. We come from an ordinary clan. The strongest person in it is only at the Star Realm. The only unusual thing is... a long time ago, one of the women in our clan was exceptionally beautiful, and a powerful figure from the Universe Realm took her as a concubine against her will."
"They say that powerful figure came from some mighty race and had a Second-Rank Bloodline, which meant he was born at the Universe Realm."
"Ever since then, a very small number of people in our clan have inherited that person's bloodline. But whenever it manifests, they're taken away immediately, and no one ever hears from them again."
"Then, three years ago, a band of space pirates suddenly attacked. They killed that Universe Realm powerhouse with overwhelming force and looted and pillaged across the starfield. My sister and I escaped by slipping aboard a cargo ship in the chaos."
At this point, Mo Gu let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately, the ship had limited fuel, so it could only land on the nearest planet. After that, those people tracked us down. If we hadn't met you, Brother Yuan, I'm afraid..."
He didn't finish, but the fear and gratitude in his eyes were plain to see.
Bai Yuan understood. These siblings really were lucky to be alive.
They'd first been slaves, treated like useful resources by that Universe Realm lord. Normally, they would have spent their whole lives under his control.
But then the space pirates had attacked, giving them a chance to escape in the chaos—and somehow, they'd actually managed to get away!
Next, they'd drifted through the vast universe without encountering any danger. Instead, they'd somehow found a planet suitable for life.
After landing, they'd been targeted by others and nearly fallen back into the wrong hands.
And just then, they'd happened to meet him.
In any other fantasy novel, a string of coincidences like that would make them at least a low-tier "child of fortune," if not a protagonist blessed with overwhelming luck.
"I see," Bai Yuan said, understanding.
"Your sister must have inherited that bloodline almost perfectly. It just hadn't truly awakened until now."
He then looked at Mo Gu. "As for you, you probably inherited only a trace of it. It's not enough to amount to anything."
After hearing Bai Yuan's words, Mo Gu didn't look disappointed. Instead, his eyes blazed with excitement.
"Really? My sister will become a Universe Realm powerhouse one day!"
Bai Yuan's tone was calm.
"Bloodline is only a starting point. If you don't cultivate diligently, you'll end up with nothing but an impressive shell—nothing worth mentioning."
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