Civilization Advancement Assessment

Lin Yi quickly reined in his thoughts.

The temperament he had tempered over so many years prevented him from wallowing in emotion for too long. After a brief moment of reflection, he shifted his focus to the upcoming civilization advancement assessment.

Seven days could be considered long, but in truth, it was incredibly short.

Since he had been granted the rare, heaven-sent opportunity to live once more, he had to plan ahead if he wanted his life to be different.

Therefore, before the assessment began, he needed to complete all his preparations.

Lin Yi paced the room and sat down at his desk. As he tidied up the slightly cluttered surface, he began to carefully recall and organize information regarding the civilization advancement assessment.

The territory of the human race in the universe was vast and boundless. Every day, human civilizations on countless primitive planets reached a critical point, attempting to step into the ranks of interstellar civilizations.

Although the human race had endured great hardships among the billions of races in the sea of stars and could barely be considered a powerful group, there were hundreds of such powerful groups in the universe.

Furthermore, peak races stood even higher above them.

Consequently, within the Pan-Spirit Alliance—where the Spirit Race served as the absolute core—the human race was only slightly stronger than the average member.

To survive and develop amidst the cruel competition of the universe, and to allocate limited resources to identify and cultivate nascent human civilizations with genuine potential to produce powerhouses, the Humanity Supreme Council established the "Civilization Advancement Assessment Mechanism."

Presided over by an Eternal God-level entity specializing in the Laws of Illusion, the mechanism assessed all civilizations that met the criteria for advancement.

After long ages of independent development, the human civilization on Blue Star had finally reached the threshold of interstellar civilization.

Seven days later, an avatar of a god of the Laws of Illusion would descend to the outer space of Blue Star, enveloping the entire planet with a projection of their Divine Kingdom to execute the cruel yet impartial advancement assessment for the nascent civilization.

A high rating meant resource allocation and vigorous cultivation; for planets like Blue Star, which were located in a source-energy-poor zone, it could even mean relocation to a region rich in source energy.

A low rating, however, meant being reduced to a resource planet or a source of cannon fodder, struggling in agony while hoping that the pressure would force a powerhouse capable of defying fate to emerge from within the civilization.

This was a coming-of-age ceremony for a civilization.

Abyss Beasts descend! The apocalypse begins!

Abyss Beasts were terrifying monsters existing between reality and illusion, simulated by the supreme power of an Eternal God.

They possessed real destructive power and killing instincts, yet they originated from the Laws of Illusion and were infinite in number.

Overwhelming swarms of Abyss Beasts would pour out from their nests, tearing apart order and devouring life.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn't help but feel a sense of lament.

In his previous life, when the assessment that lasted a millennium on Blue Star finally ended, the people of Blue Star were filled with indignation upon learning the truth of the apocalypse.

The deaths of countless people, the struggle for survival across dozens of generations, and the fate of an entire civilization had been toyed with at will. Moreover, because they failed to reach the required assessment tier, they only received a Level 2 civilization rating.

The entirety of Blue Star was reduced to a tool for providing resources, and almost all its people struggled in misery.

His group, who had achieved a Level 4 individual rating during the assessment and were able to leave Blue Star as Star Core-level beings with their freedom, had stepped into the universe fueled by such resentment.

Yet, as time passed and their experiences in the sea of stars broadened—especially after their horizons were expanded by the virtual network—the target of their resentment shifted from the Humanity Supreme Council that had formulated the assessment mechanism to themselves.

What did they hate?

They hated that they hadn't been ambitious enough at the time, and they hated that they hadn't worked hard enough.

They hated even more that after reaching the Star Core level, they had slowed their pace of cultivation, allowing petty distractions to hinder their progress and causing them to miss the golden opportunity that was the civilization advancement assessment.

For they later learned that all nascent human civilizations were protected by the Humanity Supreme Council before the advancement assessment.

This protection was intended to ensure that nascent human civilizations could develop normally without being destroyed by external factors.

Why had Blue Star remained safe and sound despite the crises lurking in the sea of stars?

There were no space pirate raids, no stellar extinctions, and no asteroid impacts.

It was because these threats had been handled by the initial civilization guardians dispatched by the Purple Gold Star Alliance, which was under the Supreme Council.

It could be said that without the Supreme Council, ninety-nine percent of primary civilizations would have long since perished in natural disasters or been enslaved by other advanced civilizations or space pirates.

Lin Yi recalled a comrade in his mercenary group who had also joined after a civilization advancement assessment.

That fellow had mentioned during a chat that his civilization, "Canbo," had faced over thirty recorded extinction-level crises, yet all of them had been inexplicably resolved.

In the most absurd instance, an asteroid had nearly touched the atmosphere before suddenly disintegrating into dust.

Perhaps it was this style of the Canbo civilization guardian—only resolving matters when they were at the brink—that made the religious atmosphere of the Canbo civilization so intense; when trouble arose, the gods truly seemed to manifest.

Of course, the only time they didn't manifest was during the civilization advancement assessment.

Therefore, the mindset of Lin Yi and his peers was extremely complex, though they were naturally more resentful of their past selves.

Because, beyond the initial protection, the civilization advancement assessment itself—whether for an individual or the entire civilization—was more of an opportunity than a disaster.

If nothing else, the fact that the assessment was presided over by an avatar of an Eternal God-level entity demonstrated the importance the Humanity Supreme Council placed on it.

What was the concept of an Eternal God-level entity? According to public information on the virtual network, the only Eternal God in the entire Purple Gold Star Alliance was "Ming Luo," the chairman of the Star Alliance Executive Committee.

Generally speaking, a normal civilization would only have contact with an Eternal God-level entity during the period of its civilization advancement assessment from birth to extinction.

Lin Yi thought of the college entrance exam that had just ended and the admission letter from Qingteng University he had received today, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"How similar is this civilization advancement assessment to Blue Star's college entrance exam and university education? Not only is the entrance exam the best shortcut for ordinary people to change their fate, but the principal is also the only member of the social elite an ordinary person has a chance to encounter in their lifetime."

"And the massive supply of resources during the assessment is more like the four years of university study. So, if one didn't take advantage of the unlimited resources to develop properly during the assessment and failed to even obtain the 'Level 3' rating graduation certificate, who could they blame for getting beaten up after entering the society of the stars?"

They could only blame themselves for not being ambitious enough.

When the Abyss Beasts suddenly descended, the Blue Star civilization struggled to survive amidst hasty and chaotic resistance.

Cities turned to ruins, order teetered on the brink of collapse, and humanity eked out a living under the shadow of monsters, establishing fragile shelters within the rubble.

Technology developed slowly through the struggle, and individuals evolved arduously amidst blood and fire.

However, once the Abyss Beast situation was brought under a degree of control and humanity shifted from total passivity to a strategic stalemate, the nations of Blue Star did not launch a full-scale counterattack to thoroughly exterminate the Abyss Beasts. Instead, they transitioned from their initial unified cooperation into mutual obstruction and infighting.

One of the primary focuses was the greed for the resources produced by the Abyss Beasts.

Slaying Abyss Beasts of different ranks would condense a strange energy crystal—the Spirit Radiance Crystal!

Contained within were randomly generated "rewards" of varying value.

This was the cultivation and reward system for the civilization participating in the assessment, and it served as the most critical resource throughout the entire trial.

The grade of the Spirit Radiance Crystal was directly linked to the strength of the Abyss Beast; every kill was like opening a blind box.

It could be rare cosmic metals or biological materials, a fragment or complete inheritance of a source energy cultivation technique, or perhaps highly compressed crystals of pure source energy.

It could even be weapon or equipment blueprints that far exceeded the current technological level of Blue Star.

This critical resource caused a rift in the attitude of the Blue Star civilization's leadership toward the Abyss Beasts.

One faction felt that since the Abyss Beasts were continuously evolving, they should be exterminated with full force.

The other faction, however, believed that they were a sustainable and renewable resource.

As long as they remained within a controlled range, they could instead significantly boost the development of the civilization, and one could even negotiate and achieve win-win cooperation with the intelligent high-level Abyss Beast Kings.