Gathering at the Holy Land

This planet is vast, and most of the Gold Soul Clan members are scattered across various regions, managing other tribes. Following the instructions of Qi Tian, they guide the people of those tribes to establish city-states and spread civilization and faith.

After decades of development, aside from the clansmen in their infancy, all adult members of the Gold Soul Clan have essentially condensed a "Six-sided Golden Crystal," gaining the ability to fly.

Even so, it still takes a considerable amount of time to fly back to the Gold Soul Clan Sacred Land from all corners of the planet.

During this period, Qi Tian has also been thinking about giving the three of them proper names or titles; after all, they are his "lead horses" under his command, and the names they currently use are far too casual.

"Jin Shi, Tie Shou, Sang Ye," Qi Tian said.

"Buddha Lord." Upon hearing Qi Tian speak, the three felt a sudden tightening in their hearts and hurriedly answered in unison.

"As the continuation of a race's bloodline, a surname must be established," Qi Tian continued. "I have named myself Qi Tian, and since you are all of my Gold Soul Clan bloodline, you shall bear the surname 'Qi'."

The three looked at each other in confusion. They did not understand the term "surname," so Jin Shi asked on their behalf.

"Buddha Lord, may I ask what this 'surname' means? Is it a name?"

Qi Tian shook his head. "A surname is a mark and symbol that indicates a person's familial blood relationship. For our Gold Soul Clan, while names can be chosen by the individual, there must be a unified character as a mark—that is the surname."

"The character I have chosen is 'Qi.' Therefore, our Gold Soul Clan shall use 'Qi' as our mark, our surname. You shall henceforth be addressed as Qi Jin Shi, Qi Tie Shou, and Qi Sang Ye."

Upon hearing this, the three understood. It was just like a tribal totem—a symbol of their collective group.

"We shall strictly follow the will of the Buddha Lord and henceforth take 'Qi' as our surname."

Jin Shi spoke first, and Tie Shou and Sang Ye quickly followed, expressing their agreement.

Seeing that all three agreed, Qi Tian nodded and continued, "The names you three were given originally were far too casual. How about I rename you?"

He had originally worried that the three might have objections, as they had used those names for decades, and they were, after all, the names their fathers had given them.

To his surprise, the moment his words fell, the three, who had been standing respectfully, knelt down once more, their expressions filled with extreme excitement and overwhelming joy.

"Jin Shi (Tie Shou) (Sang Ye) thanks the Buddha Lord for bestowing these names."

Now it was Qi Tian's turn to be bewildered. Why such a huge reaction over a name change?

"Get up, all of you. I haven't even thought of the names yet."

Hearing Qi Tian speak, the three hurriedly stood up, their faces beaming with joy.

To have the Buddha Lord bestow a name was, for them, the second time in decades they had received such favor, the first being the blessing of the Gold Peach.

Within the tribal groups, naming was the duty of the elders. Now that the Buddha Lord was willing to rename them and bestow a surname, it meant that the Buddha Lord viewed them as an elder would—at least, that was how they perceived it.

Qi Tian pondered for a moment before deciding on their new names. "First, Jin Shi, how about you change it to Jingshi? Qi Jingshi, meaning to purify the world."

"Jingshi, Qi Jingshi..."

Jin Shi repeated the name twice, his eyes filled with delight, and he hurriedly thanked Qi Tian. "Many thanks to the Buddha Lord for bestowing this name."

Under Qi Tian's guidance, this planet had only just begun to develop the sparks of civilization and had not yet created a written language, so this was Jin Shi's first time understanding the meaning behind a name.

Qi Tian had considered bringing Chinese characters to this world, but after some thought, he abandoned the idea.

The development of a civilization requires its own wise men. He could guide them, but he could not replace them.

Regardless of whether the process was difficult, Qi Tian firmly believed that the people of this planet could achieve greatness on their own.

Next was Tie Shou; Qi Tian did not take long to rename him "Tian Shou." Finally, Sang Ye was changed to "Shang Xie."

With their new names, the three felt their attitude toward Qi Tian shift slightly.

Initially, they believed Qi Tian was a god! A Buddha Lord!

He was the beacon who saved them from suffering and led their race forward.

But after decades of contact, they learned that Qi Tian also had emotions and would occasionally chat with them about family life just like an ordinary person.

Now, with Qi Tian bestowing new names upon them, they felt that he was an elder protecting their growth.

While Qi Tian waited for the Gold Soul Clan members to assemble, in the starry sky far from Gold Soul Planet, in the very space where Zuoshanke had first appeared, an anomaly occurred.

The once-silent space began to ripple like water waves, and simultaneously, a disc-shaped, bright black spaceship appeared out of thin air.

Then, the water-like spatial ripples vanished, and the ship hovered in the starry sky, with only a few indicator lights blinking incessantly.

In the ship's main control room, seated in the captain's chair was a human with green skin exposed on his face and two soft antennae growing from his head, dressed in a black combat uniform.

Beside the control console beneath him were four crew members; all five of them looked very similar, as if they belonged to the same race.

"Captain, the ship has arrived near the destination. Please issue new orders."

The captain nodded slightly and took an object resembling a stone disc from the space ring on his finger. Its back was uneven like rock, while its front was as smooth as a mirror.

After the captain channeled a large amount of origin power into the stone disc, the smooth surface displayed a star map, marking the ship's current location and another red dot.

"Set course for coordinates XXX.XXX.XXX and continue forward. The space here is locked; we must proceed with normal flight for the remainder of the journey. We must arrive within 121 days."

"Understood."

Following the crew's response to the captain's new orders, the engines of the spaceship hovering in the cosmos ignited once more, accelerating toward the designated direction at sub-light speed.

And that direction happened to pass right by Gold Soul Planet.

Inside the Gold Soul Clan Sacred Hall.

After several hours of waiting, all ten thousand members of the Gold Soul Clan across the entire planet had arrived at the Sacred Hall, including many infants held in their parents' arms.

At this moment, they all stood below the altar, led by the current patriarch of the Gold Soul Clan, Stone, as everyone awaited the appearance of Buddha Lord Qi Tianshou.

On the altar, Qi Tianshou stepped forward, standing at the edge to look down at the Gold Soul clansmen he had created, who could be considered the inheritors of his own bloodline, a smile appearing on his face.

Seeing figures emerge on the altar, everyone gazed up at the four silhouettes with excitement, though their eyes were primarily focused on the leader, Qi Tianshou.

Following this, Qi Jingshi, Qi Tianshou, and Qi Shangye flew down from the altar, hovering in the air before landing in front of all the Gold Soul clansmen, leading the ten thousand members to kneel and prostrate themselves before Qi Tianshou in unison.

"Greetings, Buddha Lord."

"Greetings, Buddha Lord."

The heartfelt worship of over ten thousand Gold Soul clansmen echoed throughout the entire Gold Soul Clan Sacred Land, their faith reaching its peak at this very moment.