Too little time

Hongning Base City, inside the spaceship-shaped Headquarters building.

The matter of the wood bud crystals on Mist Island had already drawn the attention of the entire world. Yet just one day after it ended, the Limit Martial Hall announced the appointment of its seventh Inspector.

Inspector Yang Zheng!

Every major power around the world was shaken. If the sixth Inspector, Luo Feng, was a legend, then the soon-to-be seventh Inspector, Yang Zheng, was a mystery, seemingly shrouded in a thin veil of mist.

After all, Luo Feng's rise could still be traced, but Yang Zheng seemed to have simply spent some time in secluded cultivation and then broken through to the Planetary Level.

Although Yang Zheng rarely fought in public, the authority of Hong's endorsement, as the world's strongest expert, was unassailable.

Of course, there were also those who maliciously speculated that Yang Zheng had only broken through by consuming a wood bud crystal.

Regardless of what others speculated, the inauguration ceremony proceeded as planned, concluding successfully that afternoon.

The Inspector's inauguration ceremony ended, and Babata finished constructing Yang Zheng's exclusive personal space.

Virtual Space.

Yang Zheng, dressed in white robes, abruptly appeared atop a mountain that towered into the clouds. Below lay a bottomless abyss, while an enormous planet overhead occupied almost a third of the sky.

"That's Yunmo Star..."

Babata appeared with two pointed horns on his head. Floating in midair, he gazed at the planet with a trace of nostalgia in his eyes.

"Luo Feng is spending time with his family. I'll get you started first and have you receive Master's legacy." Babata waved his little hand, and a blood-red castle appeared before them.

For the first time in over forty years, Luo Feng's father, Luo Hongguo, had met his youngest paternal aunt. Their family was therefore staying temporarily in a quiet villa in the capital arranged by the Military.

Luo Feng had also specifically set aside some time to be with his family.

"Follow me."

Babata flew into the castle, and Yang Zheng followed. Along the way, he saw a great many stunning beauties of different races before they soon reached a huge room on the castle's second floor.

"This is your cultivation room!"

Babata pointed at the four walls of the cultivation room. Rows of bookshelves immediately appeared along them, and books simultaneously materialized on every shelf.

"I've prepared all the books you'll need to study at each stage, from the Planetary Level to the World Lord Level, right here."

"You're at the Planetary Level now!"

"The manuals suitable for the Planetary Level are on these two shelves. These are the ones you must practice."

Babata pointed to the top two shelves of one bookcase in the distance. "The upper shelf covers warrior cultivation. Your talent as a warrior is no weaker than your talent as a Spirit Reader. A powerful Spirit Reader does indeed need a powerful body."

After accepting Yang Zheng into Yunmo Star, Babata had performed a comprehensive examination on him. To his surprise, Yang Zheng's demonstrated talent as a warrior was no weaker than his talent with spiritual force.

In Babata's view, Earth's methods of exerting force were deeply flawed. After all, he could see that clearly from Luo Feng.

Yet Yang Zheng had corrected that flawed method of exerting force, straightening out the detour and even opening up the possibility of progressing further.

However...

"These shelves contain complete books on exerting force with the body, aimed directly at unlocking one hundred percent of its potential." Babata pulled a copy of On the Development of the Body's Potential from the shelf and tossed it straight to Yang Zheng.

"Stop practicing that Nine-Layered Thunder Blade or whatever it's called. It's a complete waste of your time."

"Although Master was a Spirit Reader, his collection of warrior secret techniques was also very comprehensive. Some were practiced by his Immortal Servants. You can practice those too if you're interested."

"But..." Babata suddenly cautioned him, "mastery matters more than quantity when it comes to secret techniques. Your main priority right now is still to increase your strength."

Once his foundation was solid, advancing his cultivation level should take priority. The absolute "power" of a higher level could sweep aside the vast majority of those at lower levels.

"The lower shelf is for Spirit Readers. This is Yunmo Star's most important legacy. It's mainly divided into the Control Chapter, the Illusion Chapter, and the Miscellaneous Chapter. Each is vast and profound."

Babata introduced them with some pride, and Yang Zheng could understand why. An unaffiliated Immortal who had barely attained the rank of Marquis had used his self-created Soul Secret Technique to control nine Immortal Servants, one of whom was also an Immortal Marquis.

That was indeed something worth taking pride in.

Granted, when those nine Immortals were first brought under his control, one had been at the Universe Level, six had been Domain Lords, and two had been World Lords. Still, raising his servants into Immortals was itself a demonstration of his ability.

"Yang Zheng, getting started with Master's legacy is very difficult. You don't have an Inheritance Soul Seal, so it'll be even harder for you than for Luo Feng."

Babata looked at Yang Zheng. When Luo Feng had accepted his master, Babata had already fused the Inheritance Soul Seal into his soul. That fusion was irreversible, so Babata had never had the option of regretting his choice.

Likewise.

According to the path Hu Yanbo had laid out before his death, only someone who had fused with the Inheritance Soul Seal was a personal disciple and qualified to inherit his estate.

The enormous estate and the Inheritance Soul Seal were the difference between Yunmo Star's personal disciples and Named Disciples.

"As for warrior cultivation, take your time studying it later. Ask me if there's anything you don't understand." Babata waved his hand, and an ornate glass table and a row of chairs appeared in the cultivation room.

Babata simply reclined in one of the chairs and rocked back and forth. "Master laid out a path for Luo Feng. As for you... I can only offer suggestions. The final decision is yours."

After all, Yang Zheng was an unexpected find: an independently developed Spirit Reader genius with a brain domain width of 45. Such a person was rare even in the universe.

Naturally, a genius like that had to be scooped up and brought into Yunmo Star as soon as possible, in preparation for rebuilding it in the future.

Inside the cultivation room in Virtual Space.

Babata had already left, presumably to construct Luo Feng's personal Cultivation Space.

Yang Zheng sat at the ornate, elongated glass table. On it lay several books he had selected that were suitable for his current cultivation, including books for both Spirit Readers and warriors.

He began with the books on warrior cultivation. After all, ordinary Spirit Readers could not use the Yunmo Lineage's secret techniques. They first had to transform their spiritual force, completing that crucial step before proceeding with the next stage of cultivation.

I also need to find time to salvage the Black Dragon Mountain Ship from the seabed as soon as possible. The Golden Horned Beast will be a disaster, after all.

As Yang Zheng read, he also thought things over. It was already January 2059, leaving less than a year before the Golden Horned Beast disaster.

Even once the Black Dragon Mountain Ship was salvaged, repairing it would take time before it could travel through space again.

Aside from putting their lives on the line as they had in the original story, the only way to stop the Golden Horned Beast disaster was to take a spaceship into the universe and purchase higher-level slaves to bring back.

But as for the time available...

There was far too little.