"It's happening again! Again!"
At the sight, Xiong Ba couldn't help roaring, "This planet's environment is far too harsh. Every so often, all kinds of natural disasters erupt and wipe out civilization."
"I waited up there for 700 million years. Every time I saw humanity develop and a little hope finally appeared, it vanished in the blink of an eye."
Chu Yuan shook his head. "They can only blame being born on the wrong planet."
Against natural disasters of this magnitude, Proxima Centauri's technology alone simply couldn't hold out.
Still, to survive in such a harsh environment and even develop their technology to the interstellar age, this race was truly remarkable.
"Hopefully, the seeds of civilization can sprout again in the next era."
Chu Yuan took one last look at Proxima Centauri and left aboard the Dragon Abyss.
"Feiluan, head to White Sand Planet."
Chu Yuan gave the order.
White Sand Planet was a planet 96,000 light-years from Water Dragon Planet. Chu Yuan had bought a large tract of land there and built an estate to use as a way station.
Water Dragon Planet was his home base, and outsiders couldn't be allowed to know about it. Whenever a transaction involved the real world, Chu Yuan chose to conduct it on White Sand Planet.
"Got it."
The spaceship entered the Dark Universe. Chu Yuan sat on the sofa, put on his consciousness-sensing helmet, and entered the Virtual Universe.
This time, he returned to his home in the Virtual Universe. Thinking about it, he hadn't been home for two months.
In the Virtual Universe, all full members of the Leinuo Family lived in a city named after their ancestor-Reynolds City.
A tall mountain stood at the very center of Reynolds City. Ancestor Reynolds and the family's fourteen other Universe Level experts all lived at its summit.
Direct descendants of the family like Chu Yuan, along with some elders who managed family affairs, lived halfway up the mountain.
The foot of the mountain and the surrounding areas were where the Leinuo Family's collateral branches, Planetary Level members, and people from outside the clan lived.
"Fourth Brother, what have you been doing these past two months? I hadn't seen you, so I thought you were dead!"
When Chu Yuan stepped out of his home, his eldest brother, Yunya Reynolds, called out.
"Nothing much. I've just been in seclusion, breaking through to Star Level."
Chu Yuan answered with a smile.
"Oh? You broke through to Star Level?"
Yunya's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful! You're only thirty this year, and you've already broken through to Star Level. You're much better than your eldest brother. You might have a chance to break through to Universe Level someday. Dad will definitely be delighted when he hears."
Yunya was very excited and patted Chu Yuan's shoulder repeatedly.
Chu Yuan smiled. "You have a chance to break through to Universe Level too, Eldest Brother."
Yunya shook his head with a bitter smile. "Forget about me. My chances of breaking through are minuscule."
Chu Yuan reassured him, "Don't worry. You're only two thousand this year, Eldest Brother. You still have a full eight thousand years left to live. You'll break through sooner or later."
"Let's hope so."
Yunya was in low spirits.
Eight thousand years certainly sounded like a long time, but the people trapped at the Universe Level bottleneck for eight thousand years were as numerous as the stars.
Yunya knew his own talent. Without a great fortuitous opportunity, his chances of breaking through to Universe Level in this lifetime were minuscule.
The brothers chatted for a while before Yunya left to attend to something.
He now managed a portion of the family's affairs and didn't have as much free time as Chu Yuan.
"Master, as long as you lend a hand, you could easily help him break through to Universe Level."
Having transformed into a little sprite, Feiluan sat on Chu Yuan's shoulder and spoke softly.
"I know, but those treasures can't see the light of day. I have to wait until I'm strong enough before taking them out."
Leaving everything else aside, the grade E Nutrient Pod Chu Yuan had just obtained alone could help his eldest brother break through to Universe Level.
But Chu Yuan couldn't take it out.
A treasure like that was far too precious. Absolutely no word of it could leak.
Otherwise, the entire Leinuo Family would suffer a calamity that drowned them all.
In any case, his eldest brother still had over eight thousand years left to live. There was time.
Once his eldest brother had gone far away, Chu Yuan waved at the sky. A winged heavenly horse descended from above and landed before him.
The driver was a red-skinned old man. He asked with a smile, "Where would you like to go, sir?"
Chu Yuan climbed into the carriage and said, "Universe Galaxy Bank."
"Please sit tight, sir."
The driver tugged on the reins, and the heavenly horse soared into the air, flying toward the Universe Galaxy Bank at tremendous speed.
In the Virtual Universe, everyone's physical attributes were only at Apprentice Level Four. They couldn't fly and had to use transportation to get around.
Soon, the heavenly horse landed at the entrance to the Universe Galaxy Bank.
Chu Yuan got straight out without paying. The fare had already been automatically deducted from his account.
After entering the Universe Galaxy Bank, Chu Yuan went into a "self-service banking" room.
The system's intelligent voice sounded. "Please enter your account number and password."
Chu Yuan did as instructed, entering "4396--9527--lyjz--8848--4869--527."
This was his teacher World Lord Huoyao's account. Even after 700 million years, the account wouldn't have been closed.
"Account number and password correct."
"User confirmed."
Rumble!
The instant the system confirmed his identity, the surrounding walls immediately underwent a virtual transformation, changing the ordinary room into a VIP room.
At the same time, a tall, fair-skinned, beautiful female AI with long legs appeared before Chu Yuan.
"Greetings, esteemed three-star client. I am AI number, dedicated to serving you. What can I help you with?"
Chu Yuan said, "I'd like to consign a batch of items for sale."
"Certainly, sir. Items consigned for sale incur a handling fee of one-thousandth."
"That's fine."
Chu Yuan nodded and had Feiluan transmit the information on the items to be consigned to the female AI.
Of the 196 treasures he had obtained from his teacher World Lord Huoyao, Chu Yuan kept only the few that were useful to him and consigned all the rest for sale.
"Please confirm the transaction time and location, sir."
"Black Dragon Mountain Starfield, Purple Radiance Empire, Nine Spiral Galaxy, White Sand Planet."
"Time and location confirmed. Please sign the consignment contract, sir."
An electronic contract appeared out of thin air. Chu Yuan signed his name, while his pupil, iris, and Spiritual Force were recorded.
Spiritual Force was the aura of the soul. Even if a human possessed another life-form, their own soul aura wouldn't change.
This characteristic could be used to verify the identity of the person conducting the transaction.
After completing his business, Chu Yuan left the Universe Galaxy Bank and returned home to Reynolds City, then exited the Virtual Universe and returned to reality.
"Master, a transfer has been received for 100 billion Black Dragon Coins. The sender is your father, Sake Reynolds."
"There's also a message: Well done. Keep it up, and don't slack off."
Feiluan displayed the transfer information.
"Looks like Dad already knows I broke through to Star Level. Eldest Brother really passes on news quickly."
Chu Yuan shook his head with a laugh. "Reply with an email for me. Thank Dad for his generous investment. His son will repay him double in the future."
"Understood. The reply has been sent successfully."
Looking at the extra 100 billion Black Dragon Coins in his account, Chu Yuan felt somewhat touched, even though this sum was already insignificant to him.
His father was stern, but beneath his cold exterior was a warm heart. He treated the brothers very well and had never shown favoritism.
The brothers with better talent received more additional resources.
But the brothers with poor talent had never had their guaranteed resources withheld either.
For instance, Chu Yuan's third brother hadn't broken through to Stellar Level One until he was eight hundred, yet his father had never shortchanged him on any of the guaranteed resources he was supposed to receive.
Someone else might have given up long ago upon seeing a son make so little progress.
After all, to a Universe Level expert, keeping a useless son around wasn't much use.
Having gone this far, he could just about be said to have kept the bowl of water level.