Inside the dimly lit grand hall, more than ten alien Rank Twelve avatars were gathered.
The aura of the Strongest One pervaded the space. Even if these were only avatars of Rank Twelve beings, they could still unleash extremely terrifying power, far beyond the displays Lin Yuan had shown on the super-large battlefield in the past.
This was Rank Twelve Strongest One, the pinnacle of cosmic life.
“After uploading its Rank Eleven chapter, Humanity’s Martial Arts Evolutionary Path actually surpassed five Rank Twelve evolutionary paths and became the fifth path?”
The founder of the Tianyu Race spoke in a slightly grave tone. Generally, it took a matter of enormous significance regarding the cosmic apex races for so many Rank Twelve Strongest Ones to gather.
Yet the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path had clearly touched the bottom line of every major apex race. Merely the Rank Eleven Martial Arts Evolutionary Path could rank fifth among all Humanity’s evolutionary paths.
What did that imply?
“This is utterly ridiculous. What are Humanity’s nine Rank Twelve beings trying to do by placing a mere Rank Eleven evolutionary path above Rank Twelve evolutionary paths?”
A certain Insect Race queen frowned, simply not believing this ranking for the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path.
Weren’t those so-called lists and rankings entirely decided by Humanity’s handful of Rank Twelve beings? If they wanted, they could raise even a Rank One evolutionary path above Rank Twelve evolutionary paths.
But was that realistic?
The gap between Rank Eleven and Rank Twelve dwarfed even the gap between Rank One and Rank Eleven. It was the difference between life within the River of Time and life standing on its shore.
Rank Twelve Strongest Ones stood on the riverbank, theoretically possessing infinite lifespans. Rank Eleven beings were merely trapped ants in the River of Time from a Rank Twelve Strongest One’s point of view.
“I know Xuanyuan, Xia Qin and the rest quite well. They wouldn’t resort to such empty theatrics. If the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path can overtake five Rank Twelve evolutionary paths, there must be a reason.”
The Strongest One of the Universe Race spoke calmly. Back when Humanity’s first Rank Twelve being, the Xuanyuan Strongest One, was preparing to break through to the Strongest One, he had sought shelter from the Universe Race.
Over two million years had passed. Although the Xuanyuan Strongest One long since repaid that favor, he maintained good relations with some of the Universe Race’s Strongest Ones.
There was also the fact that Humanity and the Universe Race had fewer clashes overall.
Of course, whenever it involved the interests of their races, they would still kill if needed. On the super-large battlefield, Lin Yuan had slain quite a few Universe Race Rank Eleven evolvers, and the Xuanyuan Strongest One had not specifically intervened.
“I agree.”
“There’s no need for Humanity’s Rank Twelve beings to ‘fake’ anything; it would be meaningless,” said the Strongest One of the Starry Sky Alliance. Pushing the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path to the fifth position in Humanity’s evolutionary rankings—what would they achieve by forcing that?
Show it off to the other races?
If no new Rank Twelve Strongest One emerged over time, it would just be a laughingstock.
“Actually, verifying this is simple—just take a look at the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter,” said the Strongest One of the Prison Race.
At those words, the other Rank Twelve Strongest Ones glanced around without speaking immediately.
Every one of the eleven cosmic apex races had arranged “spies” and “assassins” within Humanity, disguised with human identities to stay hidden.
If a remarkable genius emerged in Humanity, these “assassins” would be dispatched to kill them.
Or if they wanted certain other information, they could send “spies” to investigate.
However, placing these “spies” in Humanity came at a huge cost for each apex race. Evading the selection scans of the Three Goddesses was no small feat.
By suggesting everyone send a spy to buy the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter, the Prison Race Strongest One was implying each apex race should deploy those infiltrators.
Then they could see firsthand whether this Martial Arts Evolutionary Path truly lived up to its new ranking.
But that carried serious risks. To purchase the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter, someone had to be at least Rank Ten with sufficiently high clearance.
Inserting a Rank Ten alien into Humanity likely cost more resources than training an entire Rank Eleven powerhouse would.
Such a high-level spy was best left unactivated. Any contact risked exposure.
“Well then...”
“I’ll do it.”
After a moment’s silence, the founder of the Tianyu Race closed his eyes, beginning to make contact.
Hatred between Humanity and the Tianyu Race was deep, and he also wanted to know what was really going on with the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path.
Moments later, the Tianyu Race founder opened his eyes, a trace of utter disbelief flickering across his face.
“What happened?”
The other Rank Twelve Strongest Ones asked at once.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly his expression changed, then darkened. Right at that moment, the Rank Ten agent the Tianyu Race had planted in Humanity died abruptly, the kind of death that came with “memory corruption,” making revival through time-reversal impossible.
“They’re keeping a close watch on anyone who purchases the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter,” the founder of the Tianyu Race surmised.
Otherwise, the spy wouldn’t have been killed so quickly. Even if something suspicious turned up, they would normally capture the individual first. Yet here, they went straight to killing, using memory corruption to ensure no revival.
However, compared to the demise of that “spy” right after passing on the message, the Tianyu Race founder had no time to be angry. He looked around at the other Rank Twelve Strongest Ones and spoke directly:
“The Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter is no joke. It contains thousands of fusion-rule models, plus a complete set of Space-time rule models for Stages One to Five.”
His face was solemn.
“Thousands of fusion-rule models?”
“The complete Space-time rule model from Stage One to Five?”
The other Rank Twelve Strongest Ones were shocked. They knew all too well how such rule models could affect an entire race.
“Where are those rule models?”
“Were they copied over?”
The Insect Race queen asked quickly.
“It’s impossible to copy them. The agent I sent was killed after leaving that piece of information.”
He kept it simple.
“I’m sending someone as well.”
One by one, the Insect Race queen and other Rank Twelve Strongest Ones started making their own contacts. If the Tianyu Race founder’s words were true, sacrificing even a Rank Ten spy would be worth confirming it.
Not long after, the Rank Twelve Strongest Ones reopened their eyes, discovering that each spy who tried buying the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter had also been permanently killed.
But they didn’t care much about the losses, as the news these spies managed to convey matched exactly what the Tianyu Race founder had reported.
“So many rule models, and even a Space-time fusion rule model? Who could have founded this Martial Arts Evolutionary Path?”
“Is there something suspicious about the contents? After all, we haven’t personally seen the rule models.”
“Chances that they’re flawed are low. If Humanity dares to circulate the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter widely, it means it’s broadly reliable, suitable for most lifeforms to study.”
The Rank Twelve Strongest Ones had a rapid exchange.
A rule model wasn’t just textual information. Simply glancing at it a few times wouldn’t allow one to reiterate or record it, let alone transmit it.
Still, every single apex race’s spy that managed to purchase the chapter gave the same account, and that very chapter was spreading widely inside Humanity.
From that alone, the Strongest Ones deduced those rule models were real.
“But who is it? Who created the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path?”
“Was it the Xuanyuan Strongest One? Impossible. He doesn’t have that kind of capability. The Space-time rule models from Stage One to Five couldn’t be refined even by someone at the peak of the Path-Clearing stage.”
The many Rank Twelve Strongest Ones were filled with both fury and shock. With such rule models, Humanity’s evolvers would have a much smoother training path than these alien races. The more Rank Eleven beings they had, the better their chances of birthing new Strongest Ones.
And the key question was: who was the creator of the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path?
“Find out, no matter the cost.”
“Agreed. We must identify this path’s founder.”
The dozen or so Rank Twelve Strongest Ones exchanged looks and quickly vanished. They were already returning to their own races, mobilizing all intelligence resources to investigate the creator of the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path.
Within the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, Lin Yuan observed changes in his internal world.
In just a few days, his internal world had expanded yet again, growing from a two-light-year diameter to about 2.1 light-years.
Don’t underestimate that additional 0.1, because we’re talking about light-years here.
“Chaos rule...”
Lin Yuan focused carefully. Having comprehended the Chaos rule changed his perspective on the laws of heaven and earth, allowing him to see them at a more fundamental level.
“That World Tree...”
Lin Yuan’s gaze fell on the colossal tree at the center of his inner world.
At that moment, the branches and leaves of the World Tree were heavy with fruit, each fruit containing a miniature world. This carried numerous wonders for Rank Seven evolvers, enabling them to open their inner worlds ahead of schedule.
“According to the records of the Mysterious Emperor Lineage, a Chaos Realm expert can command enormous chaos power to nurture the World Tree and evolve it into a Chaos Tree?”
If the World Tree was an Eleven-Star top-tier treasure, then a Chaos Tree would be a Twelve-Star top-tier treasure. Even a Chaos Realm expert would have to spend vast time and effort to nurture it.
“Let’s give it a try.”
Lin Yuan immediately began using the Chaos rule to gather chaos power, channeling it into the World Tree.
A Chaos Tree would be immensely valuable, capable of anchoring an internal universe and even enabling that internal universe to expand outward.
On the Milky Way main star, Lin Yuan glanced at the remaining merit points in his balance.
Ten trillion and one thousand five hundred billion plus.
He’d received a ten trillion from uploading the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter, plus the previous balance of one thousand five hundred billion or so.
“I’ll just advance to Level Eleven Citizen.”
That was Lin Yuan’s plan.
Upgrading from Level Nine Citizen to Level Ten Citizen required spending fifty billion merit points.
But leveling up from Ten to Eleven required five trillion merit points.
So far, Level Eleven Citizens were the highest level of citizenship in Human Civilization, enjoyed only by the nine Strongest Ones.
Never mind Level Eleven; even becoming a Level Ten Citizen was no simple feat in the age after the Star Sea Calendar. Lin Yuan was the only one who had accumulated enough merit points to advance to Ten in recent times.
Those who already held Level Ten status had obtained it before the Star Sea Calendar began, when citizenship advancement followed different rules and was far simpler.
Lin Yuan now had more than enough—over a ten trillion—to meet the five-trillion requirement for Level Eleven.
As for the other requirements, such as approval from the nine Strongest Ones, that was a non-issue.
Very soon, with five trillion merit points used, Lin Yuan’s citizenship level changed from Ten to Eleven.
“Huh?”
“No messages?”
Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. Previously, every time he advanced, he would receive an influx of messages from Central Star Region with all sorts of perks and benefits.
When he’d gone from Level Nine Citizen to Level Ten, the President had personally contacted him to congratulate him.
Yet now that he was Level Eleven?
Just then, a video call request arrived.
Glancing at it, Lin Yuan’s expression grew serious.
“It’s the Xuanyuan Strongest One.”
He accepted. The caller was Humanity’s first—and most powerful—Strongest One. Without him, even if Humanity had come out as the strongest winner across countless eras originating from beyond the cosmos, they might have been devoured by the many Rank Twelve Strongest Ones.
“Lin Yuan,”
The Xuanyuan Strongest One wore a faint smile. He appeared as a rugged middle-aged man whose gaze was gentle upon Lin Yuan.
“Wondering why there’s no notification after you became a Level Eleven Citizen?”
Lin Yuan listened respectfully.
Even though his combat strength now was no weaker than a standard Path-Clearing stage being, he still held the first Strongest One of Humanity in high regard.
“Haha...” The Xuanyuan Strongest One laughed.
“The truth is, neither the Three Goddesses nor we ever expected a new Level Eleven Citizen to appear this quickly.”
“So we didn’t prepare anything.”
Not every Strongest One held Level Eleven citizenship.
If Humanity ever produced a tenth Strongest One, that individual would still need to accumulate enough merits to become a Level Eleven Citizen. Of course, it wouldn’t take long for a Strongest One to gather merit points, but five trillion was no trivial sum. They would have to put in ample time, likely clashing with Rank Twelve aliens repeatedly.
Based on how quickly Xia Qin the Strongest One and others had achieved Level Eleven, a newly ascended Strongest One would need five hundred thousand to a million years to become a Level Eleven Citizen.
“I never imagined the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter would be worth so many points,” Lin Yuan said.
“Ten trillion is still too little for the far-reaching effect it’ll have on Humanity,” replied the Xia Qin Strongest One, shaking his head.
“Besides, thanks to your Martial Arts Rank Eleven chapter, we uncovered more than a dozen deeply buried ‘spies,’” he added with a smile.
“Spies?” Lin Yuan immediately understood.
Likely they used the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter as bait, luring alien spies into the open.
“Anyway, that’s an aside.” The Xuanyuan Strongest One looked at Lin Yuan and continued, “I reached out because I wanted to personally explain the rights granted to Level Eleven Citizens of Humanity.”
“Level Eleven Citizens have an unprecedented impact on Humanity. Therefore, if you have any needs, you can take whatever you want from Humanity’s treasury.”
...
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