In the first month after the Federation Academy was completed, enrollment rates across the continent soared. Even in the most remote villages, parents began taking their children on hundred-mile journeys to the nearest town to have their Martial Souls tested.
But Lin Chen's attention had already shifted away from Douluo Star.
One evening, he stood on the Starwatch Platform at the Divine Realm Core, gazing at the stars filling the sky. At some point, Gu Yuena came to stand beside him and followed his gaze. "What are you looking at?"
"What's out there." Lin Chen raised a hand and pointed to a flickering speck of light in the sky. "That star is about thirty light-years away from us. Is there life on it? A civilization? Is someone there looking up at us, too?"
Gu Yuena fell silent for a moment. "You want to go and see."
"It's not about what I want. The Federation needs to start thinking about it," Lin Chen said. "Creation God Star is only so big. We've established the new Soul Beast regulations and rolled out the Foundation Establishment Method, but humanity's future shouldn't be confined to one planet. When these children grow up, their stage should be the Sea of Stars, not just a single continent."
He turned to look at the lights of countless homes below the Starwatch Platform, stretching all the way to the horizon.
"Besides, deep in space, there are still plenty of powers left over from the old Divine Realm era. If I don't go looking for them, sooner or later, they'll come looking for us. Rather than wait to get hit, we might as well throw the first punch."
Gu Yuena glanced at him, her silver-gold eyes narrowing slightly. "And how do you plan to do that?"
"Build a fleet."