First steps

Kabu Village.

Dongguan spent his first night after making contact with the other humans of the Light and Dark Continent.

Or rather, there was no night. The clouds overhead merely dimmed a little, and it remained bright.

"This world..." Dongguan rubbed his chin, considering his next steps. "The initial contact went fairly well. I'll spend a few days adjusting, then head to Cave City."

More than two months had passed since his crash landing on this continent. During those two months, without making direct contact, he had casually hypnotized a few people and made them forget the encounter, allowing Qiong to analyze the local language.

During those same two months, Dongguan had continued advancing in the Nutrient Pod until he reached the peak of Star Level ninth stage. With his enhanced processing power, he had also learned the local language and cultivated Body Transformation to its second level.

The Body Transformation manual contained ten levels in total, each harder than the last. Every level represented a tenfold increase in force output.

His earlier cultivation of Heavenly Blade had already brought his force multiplier above twenty, making the first two levels of Body Transformation much easier to master.

As his mastery of Body Transformation improved, he could control his flesh more deeply.

After mastering the second level, he could make his skin look just like that of the native humans on the Light and Dark Continent.

His first task upon entering the Light and Dark Continent had been to find out what its natives were. Fortunately, they were still human, though somewhat unusual.

These humans resembled Earthlings in most respects, with differences largely limited to hair and eye color. They had all the colors Earthlings possessed, as well as others, such as red eyes and purple hair. Only two features were particularly unusual: their skin, which was uniformly a faint, luminous white, and their eyes.

Dongguan named this race the Many-Eyed People. In their own language, the word they used for "human" also carried the meaning of having many eyes.

They ranked bloodlines by the number of eyes, unlike either Earthlings or the Qiong Luo People.

The ordinary bloodline had two eyes, with the highest-quality two-eyed bloodline distinguished by symmetrical, well-proportioned eyes. Those with two eyes were born at Planetary Level, or what they called "Blood Level."

Even after growing naturally to adulthood, they remained at Planetary Level, reaching Planetary Level Peak toward the end of their lives. Through cultivation, they had only a chance of breaking through to Star Level, which they called "Spirit Level." For the vast majority of those with two eyes, Star Level remained a major barrier.

Dake, for instance, had very well-proportioned eyes. Still in his prime, he had already reached Planetary Level Peak.

The next bloodline up had three eyes. The best arrangement was a well-positioned vertical eye between the brows paired with two well-proportioned eyes. That was why the village chief looked at Dongguan with envy: those with three eyes naturally reached Star Level upon adulthood.

This bloodline was still fairly common. Kabu Village had fewer of them, but there were still a dozen or so, all children. Among them, the little girl Yana had the most properly positioned third eye.

Those with the four-eyed bloodline reached Universe Level upon adulthood, or "Profound Level." They already counted as "geniuses" in a Cave City.

The five-eyed bloodline was legendary. Years could pass without a single one appearing. Even a Cave City could not accommodate them; they had to be sent to a Void City or even the Light Capital for training.

The bloodlines of the Many-Eyed People also involved an element of randomness. A child of someone with five eyes could still have a two-eyed bloodline, and a child of someone with two eyes could conceivably have five. It was simply more likely for children to have a similar number of eyes to their parents.

Of course, there were also those with a single eye. Although they, too, were born at Planetary Level, they were invariably regarded as "cripples" or "mentally disabled." Everyone shunned them, fearing they might taint the bloodlines of their descendants.

Thus, once Dongguan reached the second level of Body Transformation and imitated their skin color, no one could detect anything unusual when he revealed his three eyes, unless they examined his genes in detail.

Next came the continent's environment.

No creatures below Planetary Level existed on this continent.

With gravity ten thousand times that of Earth, and flight difficult for anyone below Universe Level, this continent simply offered no room for anything below Planetary Level to survive.

Apart from the wilderness, the Void Battlefield beyond the continent, and the Underground Cavern, the continent had a four-tier structure.

Ordinary villages such as Kabu Village, and somewhat larger settlements such as towns, actually belonged to the same tier: settlements for ordinary people who lacked the qualifications to live in a Cave City. Their inhabitants were mainly Blood Level (Planetary Level), with very few at Spirit Level (Star Level) and virtually none at Profound Level (Universe Level).

In a Cave City, the city lord was necessarily at Domain Lord Level, known here as "Domain Level" or "Sacred Domain." Beyond that, generally only the leaders of various factions possessed Domain Lord Level strength, and some factions even had Universe Level leaders.

Above Cave Cities were Void Cities, whose lords were necessarily "World Level" or "Demigods." These cities were also connected to the legendary Void Battlefield.

The Dark Beasts he had encountered earlier were the main enemies of this world's humans. They emerged through the Underground Cavern.

Underground Caverns sometimes appeared in the wilderness as well, but they could admit only Dark Beasts up to Spirit Level (Star Level).

Large Underground Caverns appeared only within Cave Cities and could admit Profound Level (Universe Level) Dark Beasts.

Or rather, Cave Cities were built because large Underground Caverns had appeared. Their Domain Level city lords were there to prevent Profound Level (Universe Level) Dark Beasts from emerging.

There was only one nation on this continent: the Light Kingdom.

Its capital was called the Light Capital.

The nation resembled a theocracy, and its people generally worshipped an existence called the Light Lord.

According to its teachings, the Light Lord protected humanity and resisted the Dark Beasts.

The Light Lord seemed to be not an individual but a race. Light Lords existed in both the legendary Light City and the Void Battlefield.

Dongguan had obtained all this information from the minds of the people he had hypnotized. One of them, a scholar of sorts, had contributed the most knowledge.

Dongguan intended to stay in this village only for a transitional period. Once he had adjusted, he would head to Cave City.

There were more powerful people there, more avenues available to him, and opportunities to enter a large Underground Cavern to hone himself.

In fact, since Dongguan was still at Star Level, he could also find a small Underground Cavern in the wilderness and enter through it. After all, aside from their exits, the caverns were interconnected.

However, doing so could easily leave him able to enter but unable to get out.

That was not because he was about to break through to Universe Level, but because small Underground Caverns were less stable than large ones. They could disappear at any time.

Large Underground Caverns were not actually very stable either. But once a Cave City had been built, would all that construction not be wasted if its cavern suddenly vanished? Thus, certain methods were used to forcibly stabilize them.

Moreover, no other large Underground Cavern would appear within a certain distance of an existing one. Over time, virtually no large Underground Caverns remained outside Cave Cities.

Dongguan mainly wanted to enter the Underground Cavern to gain practical experience.

Although he could cultivate Secret Art and test moves in Virtual Space, there were no real opponents there.

As for breaking through to Universe Level, Qiong said he could no longer rely on his bloodline. Although his subsequent advancement would still be easier than for those with inferior bloodlines, breakthroughs between major realms would not come so easily.

In any case, the Genius Battle was only seven years away. Dongguan had already decided to avoid breaking through during those seven years if possible, but Qiong said he would be doing well to break through within that time at all. There was no need to consider suppressing his level.

His earlier progress had been the rapid advancement afforded by his bloodline, much like how a Psychic could improve quickly in the early stages as long as their physical fitness was sufficient. Before reaching the limits of his bloodline, he could advance very quickly given enough energy. Even if he stalled at a major realm, the delay would not last long. After that, however, things were different.

Of course, Dongguan was a genius who had comprehended a sliver of the time law. Qiong considered his breakthrough to Universe Level inevitable; only the timing remained uncertain.

Knock! Knock, knock!

Several knocks sounded at the door. Dongguan frowned slightly, but remembering that it was technically already the next day, he opened it.

"My lord, the village chief has prepared a banquet today and wishes to invite you. Please come with me." Dake bowed low, looking exceedingly humble.

Dongguan immediately wanted to refuse, but considering that he would be staying in the village for some time, he decided to go.

"Lead the way."

Dake promptly led Dongguan away, with his daughter accompanying them.

An open space lay in the center of the village.

It had not been an open space yesterday. The rubble left by the Dark Beasts' destruction had simply been cleared away, leaving the area empty.

Although everyone here was an "ordinary person," the innate abilities of Planetary Level beings were instinctive to many of them. Building houses and clearing things away were far more efficient tasks here than on Earth.

Tables filled the clearing, and everyone in the village had gathered there.

Dongguan made a quick count. There were only a little over a hundred people.

Before the Dark Beast attack, there had actually been more than two hundred. A little under half of them were now corpses.

At one table, the village chief invited Dongguan to sit, then took a seat himself.

Dake was also seated at this table.

Although Dake appeared humble before Dongguan, he was actually a prominent figure in the village. His strength at Planetary Level Peak was second only to the village chief's.

Working as a woodcutter might seem unremarkable, but it was actually a rather dangerous job.

Dark Beasts frequently roamed the wilderness. Star Level ones were comparatively rare, but Planetary Level ones were extremely numerous. Going out to cut wood was a dangerous undertaking.

Yesterday, if the Dark Beasts had not appeared in a pack containing more than one Star Level beast, the villagers would never have suffered such heavy losses.

"Thank you, my lord, for helping us fight off the monsters yesterday," the village chief said, raising his cup to Dongguan. "By the way, my lord, might we have the honor of knowing your name?"

Only then did the others realize that they still did not know the name of the lord who had saved their lives.

Looking around at everyone, Dongguan slowly said, "You may call me 'Guan.'"

Then, following the local custom, he drank the fruit wine in his cup.

Brewed from fruit, it was part of the village chief's treasured collection, and only this table had any.

He had reluctantly brought it out to thank Dongguan. Fortunately, the wine had been stored in the cellar during the attack and had escaped destruction by the Dark Beasts.

Afterward, Dongguan began eating the dishes along with everyone else.

The food here was anything but ordinary. Although it was unremarkable on the Light and Dark Continent, on Earth, even a random green vegetable could have been considered a spirit of plants and trees.

As he ate, a hint of nostalgia flashed through Dongguan's eyes.

Back then, he had gone all the way to Australia and ridden on Luo Feng's opportunity to enter Mist Island, delighted to obtain so many spirits of plants and trees.

Here, any random food was no worse than a millennium willow heart, yet to him it merely replenished his energy.

The meal ended with hosts and guests alike satisfied.

Dongguan maintained the image of an ascetic Wanderer, but he was not entirely aloof and conversed with the others.

As for describing his travels, he had to rely on information from the unlucky people he had captured earlier.

Although he had released most of them, the scholar and one Wanderer were exceptions, because Dongguan had already decided to treat some of their experiences that no one else knew about as his own past.

He had erased portions of all their memories, with the scholar and the Wanderer losing the most.

Their minds remained intact, but afterward, they might spend some time feeling lost.