As his thoughts churned, an idea surfaced in Lin Yi's mind against his will.
"When did that passionate, daring 'Thunderstorm' become so steady and cautious?"
Lin Yi fell into a brief reverie.
In his previous life, after the Civilization Assessment ended and humanity on Blue Star formally entered the universe, he had gradually become the most powerful cultivator on Blue Star and the one with the greatest hope of reaching the Star Vortex Rank. The future of the entire civilization and the hopes of countless people had all come to rest on his shoulders.
The once flamboyant and unrestrained Lin Yi, "Thunderstorm," hailed as Xia Kingdom's strongest Sharp Blade, had slowly disappeared.
In his place was Lin Yi, the interstellar mercenary who advanced cautiously, step by step, in the mercenary corps.
That change had lasted for thousands of years.
Over those millennia, he had grown accustomed to treading carefully, as if walking on thin ice.
After all, apart from his good fortune in joining the Reliate Mercenary Corps during its early days and receiving the occasional guidance of Star Domain Rank experts, even Liu Yuan, who had progressed the fastest, had only reached the sixth tier of the Star Core Level. There had been virtually no chance of breaking through to the Star Vortex Rank within ten thousand years.
Back then, he couldn't afford to die—not even once. If he fell, Blue Star's future would be all but over.
But now... Lin Yi thought, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
Everything was different.
Even if he died in some future battle, given the momentum and potential Blue Star Civilization had shown so far, it could still earn a rating of Level 3 or higher when the assessment ended. That would be enough to become an "administrative planet" protected by