novelTele Chapter 109 Leaving Earth
Chapter 109 Leaving Earth
2062, summer.
A year has passed since Luo Feng returned from the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
Lin Yun's life was peaceful and fulfilling throughout the year. He spent most of his time in seclusion within the miniature plane, consolidating the laws of lightning, fire, and light, while simultaneously advancing the laws of earth, water, wind, and darkness. Cultivating with four bodies at the same time was four times more efficient than before. His cultivation level steadily improved, with both his martial arts cultivation and mental power reaching the fifth level of the Hengxing stage.
Luo Feng's golden-horned beast clone, lacking sufficient metal to absorb, progressed slowly and remained at the second level of the Hengxing realm. However, his Earthling clone progressed rapidly, reaching the ninth level of the Planetary realm.
"Lin Yun, great news!" One evening, Luo Feng excitedly ran into Lin Yun's training room, "Babata has repaired a spaceship!"
Lin Yun opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing within them.
"spacecraft?"
"Yes!" Luo Feng said excitedly, "Although it's only a Class C spaceship, it's enough for us to fly out of Earth. Babata said we can go to nearby civilized planets and buy some cultivation resources."
Lin Yun stood up and walked to the window. Moonlight shone on his face, and a hint of anticipation flashed in his eyes.
He had finally waited for the day to leave Earth and enter the universe.
"When are we leaving?" Lin Yun asked.
"June 1st," Luo Feng said. "Babata said that day is the best time to set off."
"it is good."
January 1, 2062, early morning.
On the helipad of Mingyue Residential Area, a huge flying saucer-shaped spaceship sat silently. The spaceship was entirely black, with dark gold patterns on its surface, radiating a faint metallic sheen. It wasn't large, only a little over a hundred meters in diameter, but its sleek design resembled a hawk poised for flight.
The Black Dragon Mountain spaceship, a Class C spaceship, is only considered mid-to-low-end in the universe, but for Earth, it is already a product of its time.
Lin Yun and Luo Feng stood beside the spaceship, saying goodbye to their families.
Lin Guodong stood in front of Lin Yun. The old man's hair was completely white, but he was still very energetic. He patted Lin Yun on the shoulder, his eyes slightly red.
"Xiaoyun, be careful once you're outside."
"Grandpa, don't worry." Lin Yun hugged her grandfather. "I'll take good care of myself."
He Lingruo stood not far away, dressed in a long white dress, her long hair flowing over her shoulders, looking as ethereal as a fairy. She didn't speak, but simply watched Lin Yun quietly. Lin Yun walked over and took her hand.
"Wait for me to come back," Lin Yun said.
"Mm." He Lingruo nodded, a slight smile playing on her lips.
On the other side, Luo Feng was also saying goodbye to Xu Xin. Xu Xin was holding a pair of twins in her arms, her eyes red-rimmed. Luo Feng kissed the two children's cheeks and then hugged Xu Xin.
"Wait for me to come back," Luo Feng said.
"it is good."
The two turned and stepped into the spaceship.
The hatch closed, and the Black Dragon spaceship slowly rose, transforming into a black streak of light and disappearing into the horizon.
In space, it was pitch black.
The Black Dragon spaceship's panoramic simulation system was activated, and the four walls of the cabin became transparent, revealing the vast starry sky to Lin Yun and Luo Feng.
Countless stars twinkled in the darkness, some as bright as the sun, others as dim as fireflies. Distant nebulae drifted slowly through the void like colorful ribbons. Occasionally, a shooting star streaked across the sky, leaving a long trail before disappearing into the darkness.
The Earth grew smaller and smaller behind us, from a large blue sphere to a blue disk, from a disk to a bright spot, and finally disappeared into the stars.
"Compared to the entire universe, Earth isn't even a speck of dust," Lin Yun remarked.
"Yes," Luo Feng said, equally shocked. "Only after stepping out of here do we realize how insignificant humanity is."
The two gazed silently at the starry sky outside the window, remaining silent for a long time.
After the initial curiosity and tension, the two soon lost interest and began to sit cross-legged and meditate.
Space travel is a long process. The journey from Earth to the nearest civilized planet—Qiulong Star—takes nine days. During those nine days, aside from eating and sleeping, the two spent most of their time cultivating.
Lin Yun switched his consciousness to the Panlong World, cultivating simultaneously in all four bodies. The lightning-elemental divine avatar focused on the lightning law, the fire-elemental divine avatar on the fire law, and the light-elemental divine avatar on the light law, while his main body cultivated the earth, water, wind, and darkness elements. With four souls comprehending simultaneously, the efficiency was four times that of before.
Luo Feng then immersed his consciousness into the virtual universe, learning various kinds of knowledge about the universe under Babata's guidance.
Nine days passed in the blink of an eye.
"We've arrived," Babata's voice rang out in the cabin.
Lin Yun and Luo Feng opened their eyes and looked ahead through the panoramic simulation.
A massive planet came into view. Pale blue with white clouds swirling around its surface, it resembled Earth somewhat, but was several times larger. Around the planet, countless man-made objects were orbiting—space stations, satellites, spacecraft… densely packed, like a honeycomb.
Qiulong Star. A prosperous planet in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, and also the commercial center of the surrounding star system.
The Black Dragon spaceship slowly entered the orbit of the Qilong Star and landed at an airport as guided.
The airport was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. Countless spaceships were docked there, some large, some small, some round, some square, all with unique shapes. Some spaceships were dozens of times larger than the Black Dragon's, while others were small and exquisite. The owners of these spaceships were also incredibly diverse—some resembled humans, except their skin was blue; some had two heads; some were covered in scales; and some were simply a mass of liquid.
Lin Yun and Luo Feng exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.
"This is the universe," Luo Feng murmured.
"Let's go." Lin Yun took a deep breath. "It's time to go down."
After the spaceship docked, Luo Feng released the two Silver Guardians.
The Silver Guardians are Class C robots, entirely silver-white, two meters tall, and with a fierce appearance. They stand behind Luo Feng like two loyal bodyguards.
"Babata said that on a planet like this, people with status and position are generally not someone anyone dares to mess with," Luo Feng explained. "The Silver Guardians are a symbol of status."
Lin Yun nodded. He didn't have any Silver Guardians, but his strength itself was the best deterrent. His cultivation at the eighth level of the Hengxing realm was already considered above average on a planet like Qiulong Star.
The two stepped out of the spaceship and onto the land of Qiulong Star.
The airport's ground was a silvery-white metallic surface, smooth as a mirror, reflecting images perfectly. A faint metallic smell permeated the air, mixed with various strange odors. In the distance, a colossal city rose on the horizon, its walls towering high and its buildings densely packed.
Qiulong City. It stretches nearly 6,000 kilometers in length and width, and has a history of over three million years. The black city walls are about 120 meters high, and if you include the height of the giant glazed dragons carved on top of the walls, the total height is several hundred meters.
"It's huge!" Luo Feng exclaimed.
"Let's go," Lin Yun said. "Let's find a place to stay first."
As soon as the two stepped out of the airport, Luo Feng's communication watch vibrated.
He looked down and saw a message—his communication number. On Qiulong Star, everyone has a unique communication number, equivalent to an ID card number. Because Luo Feng possessed an auxiliary computer, he automatically received this message.
Lin Yun did not receive it. His auxiliary optical computer was the most basic model and its communication function had not yet been activated.
"Go get citizenship first," Luo Feng said. "Babata said that without citizenship, you can't move an inch in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire."
Following Babata's directions, the two arrived at the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's headquarters on Qiulong Star.
The towering building, constructed entirely of silvery-white metal, shimmered in the sunlight. The plaza in front of the main entrance was bustling with people. People of all races came and went; some were queuing, some were talking, and some were waiting.
The two entered the building and went to the window for processing citizenship.
A middle-aged man with blue skin sat behind the window. He glanced at the two of them and asked in standard universal language, "May I ask if you two had any nationalities before?"
Luo Feng replied in a universal language, "I don't have a nationality yet."
The blue-skinned man paused for a moment, then nodded: "Stateless individuals, applying for citizenship of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. Those at the Planetary level and above can apply for free; those below the Planetary level require a fee of one million Black Dragon Coins."
"We are planetary level," Luo Feng said.
The blue-skinned man took out a device and scanned the two men. The device displayed their cultivation levels—Luo Feng was at the ninth level of the Planetary Realm, and Lin Yun was at the fifth level of the Heng Realm.
The blue-skinned man's eyes widened. A fifth-tier Hengxing level expert was already considered a master on a planet like Qiulong Star.
"Please wait a moment." His attitude was noticeably more respectful.
A dozen minutes later, the two received their identification documents. The documents were thin crystal cards with their photos, names, nationalities, and other information on them.
"From today onwards, you are citizens of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire," the blue-skinned man said with a smile.
With their identification documents, the two went to the virtual universe company branch on Qiulong Star to open an account.
The Virtual Universe Corporation's branch was a massive, transparent spherical building, its internal structure clearly visible. Upon entering the lobby, they found a long queue already formed. After waiting a while, it was their turn.
"For account opening, the one-time payment for the virtual universe network fee is divided into three tiers: 00 years, 1000 years, and 10000 years. The annual network fee is 10 Black Dragon Coins or 0.008 Dry Witch Coins," the staff member said. "This is the cost of the basic auxiliary optical computer and the cost of the virtual universe network for one hundred years."
Twenty Qianwu coins are equivalent to twenty thousand Black Dragon coins. Luo Feng took the money from Babata's storage space and paid. This was equivalent to recharging for 1000 years.
The staff took out two palm-sized metal boxes and handed them to the two people.
"This is an auxiliary optical computer; it can be activated by wearing it on your wrist."
Lin Yun took the box and opened it. Inside was a silver-white bracelet, simple in design and with a smooth, mirror-like surface. He put it on his wrist, and the bracelet automatically retracted to fit his skin.
"drop--"
An electronic voice sounded in his mind: "Assistive computer activated. Connecting to the virtual universe network... Connection successful. Welcome to the virtual universe."
In Lin Yun's consciousness, a virtual interface appeared. The interface had various functions—communication, trading, information query, virtual universe entrance... He tried to open the virtual universe entrance, and his consciousness was instantly pulled into a strange space.
"Virtual universe connection in progress..."
A deep, resounding voice echoed in Lin Yun's mind. His consciousness was a void of darkness.
……
This is an ancient city. The streets are paved with large, well-cut stones. Although the people on the streets have strange appearances, heights, and races, most of them wear simple gray clothes, and each of them has a small elf on their shoulder.
"brush--"
Two people suddenly appeared in the crowd on the street: Lin Yun and Luo Feng. Both were dressed in simple gray clothes, and a tiny "elf" no bigger than a fist sat on their shoulders.
Babata was perched on Luo Feng's shoulder. Babata, dressed in matching green clothes, was incredibly cute, like a little elf.
Lin Yun also had a small sprite on his shoulder, but its eyes were noticeably duller. After all, it was only a very basic auxiliary computer, not even an intelligent computer, let alone an intelligent life form like Babata.
"This, this is the Virtual Universe Network!" Luo Feng stood on the street, looking at the crowds, somewhat astonished.
"Of course!" Babata's voice rang in their ears. "We are now on Black Dragon Mountain Island, on the edge of the 'Qianwu Continent' in the virtual universe."
"Island?" Luo Feng blinked.
"Everyone who connects to the virtual universe network within the territory of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire will appear directly on 'Black Dragon Mountain Island'," Babata said. "Although it's called an island, the Black Dragon Mountain star system has over eight thousand star systems and countless planets with a large number of people using the internet. Therefore, the area of this island is larger than any planet in the real universe."
Luo Feng was amazed.
"Everyone who enters the virtual universe has a 'virtual assistant,'" Babata said. "It's like a little sprite on everyone's shoulder. The level of intelligence of the virtual assistant is related to whether the person using the internet is using a 'sensor helmet,' 'auxiliary computer,' 'intelligent computer,' or 'intelligent life form.' The little sprite formed by the sensor helmet doesn't think at all; it can only give simple answers. You have to command it to do it."
Luo Feng nodded slightly.
"Babata, check the metal combinations needed by the Golden Horned Beast, and also the metal combinations needed for cultivating the 'True Body and Heaven' technique," Luo Feng asked telepathically. Communicating with Babata telepathically in the virtual universe was quite safe. The Virtual Universe Company claimed to absolutely not monitor anyone's information, nor would it leak anyone's data. These two absolutes were the fundamental cornerstone of the Virtual Universe Company's existence.
"Luo Feng, the best metal combination for a star-level Golden Horned Beast is a combination of 325 kinds of B-grade pure metals, which can increase the growth speed of your inner world by 89 times... In other words, using this combination, your Golden Horned Beast will only need a little over a year to reach the first level of the cosmic level. Hmm, I have already collected information on these 325 kinds of metals, and they are all available for sale in the universe!" Babata quickly collected all the information.
"So, how much will it cost?" Luo Feng asked quickly.
"The annual output will require more than 600 billion Black Dragon Coins," Babata said.
"How can there be so much?" Luo Feng couldn't help but ask. One ton of Grade B metal Xuan Iron Essence is only worth nine Black Dragon Coins? Although it's a metal combination and tastes even more potent, it's still only a few hundred thousand tons a year at most! How could it be over 60 billion?
"Luo Feng, you're mistaken!" Babata said. "While it's generally true that Grade A metals are cheaper than Grade B, Grade B is cheaper than Grade C, and Grade C is cheaper than Grade D... there are still some very special metals. For example, the Grade C metal 'Flowing Silver' is the Flowing Silver used to make Flowing Silver Guardians!"
"A ton of Grade C yttrium only costs a little over three thousand Black Dragon Coins. But do you know how much a Silver Guardian costs?"
"A single Silver Guardian is priced at 280 million Black Dragon Coins!" Babata said. "A ton of Silver metal costs 160 million Black Dragon Coins, which is far, far more expensive than Yttrium, which is also a C-grade metal. It's because Silver metal is special and rare that it's so incredibly expensive! More expensive than many D-grade metals."
"Of the 325 types of B-grade metals required for the growth of your 'inner world,' three are metals with 'spatial properties,' which are the main materials for making spatial artifacts, so they are more expensive. In addition, your quantity is too large."
Luo Feng smiled bitterly, feeling helpless. Those were the main materials for crafting spatial rings and other artifacts; how could they be cheap? And he was consuming hundreds of tons every day, totaling over 60 billion Black Dragon Coins a year—it wasn't expensive! But he had no money!
Nine hundred thousand Qianwu coins is equivalent to over nine hundred thousand Black Dragon coins. That's still far from the enormous number of over six hundred billion... it's just too far off.
"Of course, there are other metal combinations, much cheaper, but still beyond your reach," Babata said. "For example, there's a metal combination that costs a little over 10 billion a year and increases cultivation speed by 39 times. There's another that costs over 3 billion Black Dragon Coins a year and increases cultivation speed by 20 times. And there's yet another that costs over 100 million a year and increases cultivation speed by 5 times."
Finding metal is troublesome for the Golden Horned Beast, but for humans, it's much easier. In the virtual universe, what can't you buy? But—it costs money!
"The Golden Horned Beast eats so much, it consumes tons every day." Luo Feng felt extremely distressed.
"As for the metal combination required for 'The True World,' it's far more expensive... You'd better not even think about it for now," Babata said directly.
Luo Feng put all of that aside and asked the second important question: "Babata, if I want to make Earth my own and become its ruler, what conditions must I meet?"
The best way to prevent people from other planets from selling Earth into slavery is to become the lords of Earth themselves! Recognized by imperial law, of course no one can seize a planet that already has an owner!
"Become the ruler of Earth? Let me look..." Babata blinked.
After a while, Babata's voice rang out: "Found it. To become the lord of a life-bearing planet, you need to pay a fee to the Empire. Earth's life level is..."
Babata remained silent for a moment.
"Earth's life level, after testing, is 'unrated'," Babata said. "However, based on the types of life on Earth and the energy concentration, the Empire may classify Earth as a 'primary life planet.' Becoming the lord of a primary life planet requires paying... one trillion Black Dragon Coins."
Luo Feng gasped.
One trillion.
He doesn't even have 100 million, let alone 1 trillion.
"Are there any other options?" Luo Feng asked.
"Yes," Babata said. "If you are strong enough and are granted the title of 'Noble' by the Empire, the Empire may grant you a habitable planet. But the prerequisite is that you must have at least the strength of a Domain Lord."
Domain Lord level...
Luo Feng fell silent. He was only at the eighth level of the Planetary Realm, still two major realms away from the Domain Lord Realm: the Eternal Realm and the Universe Realm. Each of these major realms required decades of arduous cultivation.
"Let's make money first," Lin Yun patted Luo Feng on the shoulder. "Don't think that far ahead."
Luo Feng nodded.