Chapter 398 – Ancestral Land, The Truth of the Trial, A Major Event

“Starry Sky Advanced Civilization can’t do it themselves and they need our help instead?”

Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised.

Yuwen Tong explained, “The planet we are on is very special; it is one of the ancestral stars of a galaxy. Only those born on an ancestral star can unlock or enter certain ancient areas, and it’s in these places where the advanced civilization folks need things.”

“I see.”

Lu Yuan pondered thoughtfully.

If what Yuwen Tong said was true, then it wasn’t really about support, but rather a trade.

The natives living on the ancestral star retrieve certain important items from places the advanced civilization cannot enter.

In exchange, the advanced civilization grants them more advanced and powerful technology and cultivation techniques from the cosmic starry sky.

Perhaps, the stronger the natives of the ancestral star, the more valuable the items they could retrieve for the advanced civilization.

This also reasonably explained why Xia State’s “New World” and “Old City Circle” were formed.

As Lu Yuan had once speculated, the “quantum leap” in technology and combat power over the past twenty years indeed came with the help of “aliens.”

“An ancestral star of a galaxy… a place that requires the bloodline of its people to enter…”

Lu Yuan muttered to himself, unable to resist asking, “Where is this place? What is it that the Starry Sky Advanced Civilization also covets?”

“It’s where we are heading next for our trial… It also has another name-Ancestral Land Secret Realm. As for what the advanced civilization wants…”

Yuwen Tong casually flicked her hair, “Nothing more than some rare materials, minerals, and…

Well, if the level of technology and Strength system are not up to par, even if you know these items are precious outside, they are utterly useless to us at this stage.”

Lu Yuan nodded, understanding Yuwen Tong’s point.

Just like oil, which is abundantly reserved within many small nations on various planets. The richer the oil resources, the poorer those places tend to be.

In those areas, where not even bicycles with two wheels are common, let alone shuttles, a ton of oil might not be as valuable as a bottle of drinkable mineral water.

This is the difference brought about by the disparity in civilization levels.

“So, what you’re saying is that this so-called extraterrestrial trial is actually about entering the ancestral land secret realm on behalf of an advanced civilization to gather the resources they need.

Then, using these collected rare resources, we exchange them for more advanced technology and cultivation techniques from them?”

Lu Yuan clarified his thoughts and spoke.

Yuwen Tong gently acknowledged with a “Mm,” and then added, “There is also an element of trial involved.”

Those who perform exceptionally during the mission also have the chance to be appreciated by the advanced civilization, being absorbed into their ranks, and thus leaving the planet to head for the cosmic starry sky…

“Lord Tong has been selected, hasn’t she? And they are urging you to leave soon and join them…”

Lu Yuan sighed softly, a bit helplessly, “I have absolutely no chance.”

Yuwen Tong’s natal star diagram contains over five hundred natal stars, which is more than ten times the best Talent and the most natal stars any opponent Lu Yuan has ever encountered in his cultivation of cosmic martial arts.

It was simply ludicrous.

Indeed, if he were part of the advanced civilization and came across a raw gem like Yuwen Tong, he would be overjoyed and eager to take her under his wing.

But he was different. His talent in cosmic martial arts was terribly poor, and he couldn’t even get started.

The path of gaining the recognition of the advanced civilization through the extraterrestrial trial, which might have allowed him to leave the planet and head to the cosmic starry sky, was clearly not an option for him.

He would have to figure out another way in the future.

Lu Yuan sighed, stealing glances at Yuwen Tong’s reaction.

Yuwen Tong glanced at him and said indifferently, “Alright, stop putting on an act. It’s not like I won’t come back after I leave. Once I’m settled in the extraterrestrial lands, I’ll naturally come back to guide a group of people out…”

“Thank you, my lord.” Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan immediately nodded earnestly.

Having this assurance from Yuwen Tong was comforting; at least it gave him something to look forward to.

Lord Tong was a strong and reliable figure to cling to; even if she went to the starry sky, he wanted to hold on tight.

“This little guy really clings to you tightly…”

Yuwen Tong glanced at the cuckoo bird running around everywhere and suddenly shifted the conversation to it.

Lu Yuan, who had been preparing for a while, hurriedly responded when Yuwen Tong mentioned it, “It’s really not my fault, it insisted on following me… It was definitely still in its egg before.”

“Do you know where it came from?”

Yuwen Tong asked Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan noticed a radiant glow in Yuwen Tong’s eyes as she stared at the cuckoo bird, her already beautiful pupils deepening into something even more profound and mysterious.

He guessed she was using some method to probe the cuckoo bird and responded truthfully, “I’m not sure. I encountered it in Embers Mountain. But one thing I am certain of-this creature is definitely not a Phoenix… at least not entirely.”

Lu Yuan actually hoped Yuwen Tong could uncover the true nature of the cuckoo bird, as he was curious about this mysterious creature himself.

However, the strange visions in Yuwen Tong’s eyes flickered for a moment then disappeared.

“It resembles a few legendary creatures I know of, but doesn’t exactly match any of them,” Yuwen Tong shook her head. “Since it’s willing to follow you, you might as well keep it with you for now. But be careful not to let others see it.”

Hearing this, Lu Yuan looked slightly concerned and asked, “Don’t I need to return it?”

Theoretically, the cuckoo bird had already been “submitted” to the state, and he had received his reward.

Now, it seemed improper to keep it with him.

“Return what? It was yours to begin with,” Yuwen Tong said indifferently. “You mentioned trading the Phoenix Egg for items from the merit shop. I was planning to bring all those secret realm items to you. But those people were so stingy; they just palmed off a couple of trinkets on you behind my back. It’s good that this little bastard came back. The junk they gave you only matches the remaining egg shell.”

Lu Yuan nodded and said no more.

The shuttle carried the two of them, soaring through the clouds.

About an hour later, Lu Yuan, using a locator reset by Yuwen Tong on his communicator, found they had now arrived somewhere in the western part of Xia State.

Just as he was about to ask Yuwen Tong how much longer, he noticed the shuttle began a continuous ascent.

After breaking through several more layers of clouds, a giant spaceship, dark blue and resembling a colossal airborne fortress, suddenly appeared before Lu Yuan.

“This is…”

Lu Yuan stared at the spaceship in awe. Compared to this spaceship, the shuttle they were on seemed like a honeybee returning to its nest.

The shuttle headed straight for the spaceship.

As they got closer, Lu Yuan noticed a large ring-shaped hole at the bottom of the spaceship, emitting magnetic field lights, and the shuttle flew towards that hole.

“Setting sail.”

Yuwen Tong glanced at the spaceship and suddenly smiled, reaching over to pat Lu Yuan’s shoulder with a teasing tone, “Are you ready, Lu Yuan?

This is your first extraterrestrial journey… Ahead lies the vast ocean of stars.”

“Uh…”

Struck by a sudden surge of emotions, Lu Yuan found himself at a loss for words.

He stared at the increasingly close entrance of the spaceship, his emotions tumultuous.

“Board the ship, Lord.”

At some launch base of the Distant Star Federation.

A tall man with purple hair tied in a short ponytail at the back of his head hummed softly, his expression indifferent as he boarded the spaceship, followed by a male and a female guard.

The purple-haired man walked along the corridor of the spaceship, and everyone he passed respectfully greeted him.

“Lord Torr is seen.”

The purple-haired man occasionally nodded slightly in response, maintaining a posture of composure and detachment.

Compared to two months ago, the appearance and stature of the purple-haired man had not changed.

However, his demeanor seemed much more somber and restrained.

Reaching a private room deep within the spaceship, the purple-haired man stood by the window, his gaze coldly overlooking the increasingly distant ground below, expressionless.

Behind him, the voices of the two guards could be heard.

“This spaceship doesn’t even have the capability of spatial jumps; it’s cumbersome and slow like an antique, probably only capable of very short-distance cosmic flights, not even free movement within a galaxy…

It’s hard to imagine that this is the most advanced transportation on this planet.”

While venting their frustrations, one person took a relieved breath and said, “Thankfully, one of our aircraft is nearly repaired. Once we completely leave this planet, it should be ready for Lord’s use.”

The Purple-haired man listened silently to their conversation, his face expressionless throughout.

If one looked closely, they would notice a large pool of black viscous liquid at his feet, which had mysteriously appeared and was seeping into the almost impervious cracks of the floor.

The spaceship ascended quickly, gaining speed as it rose.

“Beep beep beep-“

Suddenly, a communicator alert sounded from one of the two behind him.

One of them looked down at the message, his expression slightly odd, then smiled and said to the Purple-haired man, “These primitives have just realized there’s something wrong with their Mecha and are frantically searching for the cause.

They would never guess that the missing components were actually ‘devoured’ by the Lord.”

As “Extraterrestrial visitors,” they found this message amusing.

It was like modern civilization playing tricks on zoo monkeys; the vast gap in civilization levels gave them an unparalleled sense of superiority.

The instigator, the Purple-haired man, didn’t even lift his eyelids upon hearing this.

He continued to silently “infiltrate” the spaceship beneath his feet, ensuring it would safely reach its destination while doing his utmost to “scavenge” anything that could be advantageous to him.

The strength of their kind was beyond what most universal creatures could fathom.

Almost all materials in the Starry Sky universe could become their nourishment for growth.

Just a bit of soil could rapidly grow into a towering tree unmatched under the celestial dome.

“Ancestral land trial… higher-level civilization creatures…”

The Purple-haired man watched the increasingly dark scenery outside the window with a calm expression, the darkness also reflected in his pupils where a mysterious vortex seemed to be subtly swirling.

“A very promising start…”

“I can hardly wait to see what comes next…”

Universe.

Starry Sky.

A dazzling galaxy, a magnificent spectacle.

All of Lu Yuan’s beautiful fantasies about the Starry Sky shattered when Xiabang’s spaceship “Sky Bear” officially entered the Starry Sky.

“It’s too different from what I imagined…”

Lu Yuan stood by a porthole of the spaceship, looking out at the pitch-black expanse with only the occasional glint of light – the real Starry Sky, and he couldn’t help but sigh in resignation.

Where is the majestic galaxy?

All there is, is coldness, barrenness, silence, and an involuntary, deep-seated loneliness that wells up from within.

Once a person suddenly loses the ground they rely on for survival, it’s natural to feel tense and panicked.

This is a psychological “sense of weightlessness”.

No matter how strong you are.

Unless you’ve reached the level where you can physically traverse the Starry Sky, you’ll feel it.

It’s like suddenly throwing an ordinary person onto a small raft drifting in the vast ocean, the feeling of losing support is truly gripping.

However, to commemorate his first extraterrestrial journey, Lu Yuan still took out his mobile phone and snapped a few photos through the window.

“I’ll take these back home to show my parents and Lu Jing…”

Lu Yuan thought to himself, carefully saving the souvenir photos.

Just then, clear and rhythmic footsteps approached.

Lu Yuan turned his head and saw Yuwen Tong casually walking towards him with two cups of cola.

The corners of her eyes slightly downturned.

She seemed to be in a good mood.

“Got an interesting piece of news, want to hear it?”

Yuwen Tong handed one of the colas to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan took it and took a big gulp, trying to fill the “emptiness” inside him with the familiar taste of the carbonated drink.

After swallowing a large sip of cola, Lu Yuan let out a sigh and then replied, “What’s the news?”

Yuwen Tong smiled and said, “For every extraterrestrial trial, the Distant Star Federation sends two super divine level mechas, and this year is no exception.

I just received reliable information that one of the Distant Star Federation’s top three super divine mechas, the ‘Albis Boro’, failed to launch, and it’s reported that the damage exceeds seventy percent…”

“Uh…”

Lu Yuan’s hand holding the cola cup paused, and he stood frozen in place.

“The super divine level mecha failed to launch and got damaged?”

He wondered if he had heard wrong.

“When I first heard about it, my expression was pretty much the same as yours.”

Yuwen Tong sipped her drink through a straw, gazing lazily and contentedly at the pitch-black Starry Sky outside the window, and said, “It’s said that there’s been some corruption within the Distant Star Federation, with many critical components of the mecha being stolen.

Now, the people in the Distant Star Congress are almost going insane, frantically scrutinizing everything while also guarding against further inspections…

The super divine level mecha has been damaged…

Tsk tsk, with such a big incident, I wonder how many people are going to lose their hats and their heads…”

Lu Yuan listened to Yuwen Tong as if hearing a fantastical tale.

It still seemed unbelievable.

Come on, that’s a super divine level mecha, the most sophisticated weapon of war on the planet!

How audacious those people must be, to extend their corruption to this.

After pondering for a while, Lu Yuan could only silently exclaim to himself- “Awesome!”

“Your stress must be much lighter now.”

Yuwen Tong said to him with a smile, then raised her Coke glass to gently clink it against his.

“Cheers.”

The two stood next to each other by the spaceship’s window, sipping their Cokes and enjoying the view outside.

Their mood was joyful, and utterly comfortable.