After finishing all this, the divine avatar's enigmatic silhouette of light returned directly to the spacecraft. As runes flowed around him, he entered a deep state of meditation.
For a marginal planet with such scarce energy and a potential assessment that ranked it as low-level, he was unwilling to spare even the slightest extra attention.
If the Civilization Promotion Assessment hadn't been a task assigned by the Humanity Supreme Council, he wouldn't have set foot in this desolate region at all.
Thus, he casually handed the tedious task of monitoring the entire assessment, collecting data, and making an initial evaluation to the spacecraft's main control Intelligent Life and the Spirit Race's Civilization Guardian.
"Understood, Master. The monitoring data has been synchronized and shared with the Civilization Guardian."
The silver-white Smart Light Orb responded faithfully. Data streams raced faster across its surface as invisible scanning beams spread over Blue Star like a vast net.
Irelia, left standing to one side, watched quietly. She waited until the assessment officially began and confirmed that the deity had returned to his vessel and had no further instructions before bowing deeply to the spacecraft once more.
"Irelia will take her leave. Should Your Majesty have any orders, I will do everything in my power, even at the cost of my life!"
After speaking, she didn't dare disturb him any further and returned to the spacecraft, wrapped in a stream of light.
As the heavy hatch closed soundlessly behind her, shutting out the pressure emanating from a higher order of life, Irelia's taut nerves abruptly relaxed.
She could no longer hold herself up. Her legs gave way, and she slid down the cool, smooth inner wall of the starship, her back thumping against the chilly metal.
Irelia buried her forehead between her knees and curled up in a corner of the passageway. The nobility and grace she had maintained for as long as she could remember vanished completely.
Her slender shoulders trembled uncontrollably. She wasn't crying; it was the instinctive shudder of a soul bearing immense pressure.
Her family's rise and fall, their only hope—all of it rested on this faint chance.
The burden was so heavy she could barely breathe.
A gentle halo of energy bathed her silently, casting her in a light that revealed a vulnerability she had never shown before.
But it didn't last long.
Just a few breaths later, Irelia abruptly lifted her head!
The light of the diamond-shaped crystal on her forehead remained subdued, but it had grown steady and resolute once more.
She drew in a nearly ravenous breath of the spacecraft's air, scented with the Spirit Race's distinctive fragrance of plants and trees, as if to breathe out every last trace of fear and weakness.
The cool air filled her lungs like a shot of medicine, gradually calming her pounding heart.
Bracing both hands against the cold metal wall behind her, Irelia pushed herself steadily to her feet.
The folds of her star-mist gown rippled like water as she moved, falling into their graceful drape once more.
Except for the faintest hint of redness at the corners of her eyes, so subtle it was nearly impossible to notice, it was as if her lapse had never happened.
She set off toward the spacecraft's central control room, her thoughts racing.
Cold, but he hasn't made things difficult for me. And he's left the trivial matters to me. Perhaps he belongs to a neutral faction that cares only about cultivation. People like that tend to care more about results.
The conclusion eased her taut nerves a little, and a faint sense of relief welled up inside her.
As long as he wasn't hostile, there was still a chance!
She didn't dare hope for the deity's favor. She only hoped she could quietly fulfill her duties without making any mistakes.
If the assessment ended smoothly and His Majesty Xu Chen was in a good mood, perhaps... perhaps she could summon the greatest courage of her life and humbly beg for a contact imprint on the Virtual Network with the lowest possible access privileges.
Even if she never dared to use the imprint, simply letting it "accidentally" leak out would be enough to make hostile families think twice.
After all, they wouldn't be able to tell what her relationship with His Majesty Xu Chen really was.
It would take them who knew how long to investigate, and they might not even find out. That would be a tiny chance to catch her breath in the darkness!
Before long, Irelia reached the control console and gave a low, clear instruction.
"Xingyu, receive the full data stream shared by His Majesty Xu Chen's spacecraft intelligence and analyze it in real time. Notify me immediately if anything happens."
"Of course, Master."
A virtual Little Sprite appeared out of nowhere, circled around Irelia once, then dove into the control console.
Only after taking care of the urgent business did Irelia finally let out a quiet breath of relief. She walked slowly to the enormous observation window at the bow of the ship, first turning her gaze toward the deity's vessel outside in a respectful salute before looking down below.
She gazed at the tiny blue planet below, a complicated expression crossing her delicate face.
For five thousand years, the resilience and determination of Blue Star's people had impressed her. But, regrettably, they were even more absorbed in endless internal strife.
Greed, suspicion, ambition. The wars that had reduced a brilliant civilization to scorched earth time and again had been horrifying to witness.
After this assessment ended, she would have no further dealings with Blue Star Civilization, situated in a remote corner of the Human Race's territory and almost certain to receive only a low-level evaluation. Still, she had silently guarded Blue Star for thousands of years. It would be a lie to say she felt nothing for it.
She couldn't help recalling her grandmother's instructions before she left.
If you can't find a deity to shelter you, don't come back. Stay in Human Race territory and strive to break through to Star Domain Rank. At least you can carry on the family line.
A flicker of shared sorrow passed through Irelia's heart. Gazing at the planet she had guarded for five thousand years, she sighed to herself.
I hope... we can both seize that glimmer of light in the darkness of despair.
Meanwhile, on Blue Star, in Helu City, Xia Kingdom.
Lin Yi was utterly absorbed, as though immersed in his "performance." Every now and then, his eyes swept over the clock on the wall: 12:09:01 12:09:02 12:09:06
Hummm—!!!
An immense, terrifying will, formless and intangible yet impossible to describe, swept across all of Blue Star in an instant, like the roar of the universe at its birth.
There was no sound, yet it was as if billions of stars had exploded simultaneously deep within everyone's souls!
There was no light, no shadow, yet in that instant the entire banquet hall seemed to sink into a suffocating "gray-white" haze!
In that moment, even time itself seemed to freeze completely.
Every guest at the banquet froze mid-toast, mid-bite, mid-conversation, or mid-step.
The children were frozen in the midst of chasing and playing. The servers stood motionless with their trays, and even the spinning chandeliers stopped in their tracks.
At that instant, all of Blue Star fell into a stillness that made souls tremble.
Only Lin Yi's thoughts continued to move.
His Star Vortex Rank soul core surged violently in response, but he clamped down on it with sheer willpower. As a result, his body remained "rigid" in place, just like everyone else's.
A tenth of a second later, the pressure vanished, and the world seemed to restart.
Color returned, and sound rushed in.
"Uh... what... what just happened?"
"I... I think my eyes played tricks on me?"
"My head's spinning..."
After a brief, dead silence came even greater confusion and unease. The guests glanced at one another, bewildered and uncertain, while the children, frightened by the eerie sensation, hid in their parents' arms.
His uncle, Zhou Jianjun, sprang to his feet, brow furrowed and eyes sharp as a hawk's as he immediately scanned outside the window.
His veteran's instincts had picked up the scent of extreme danger.
Lin Yi, meanwhile, deliberately waited a few seconds before turning his head as well. Through the street-facing window, he fixed his gaze on the direction of the newsstand across the road.
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