Lin Yuan silently appeared in the Red Kun Star Domain, on Canglan Star.
“Canglan Star.” Lin Yuan gazed at the inconspicuous planet not far away, feeling a touch of nostalgia.
Canglan Star was merely a mid-grade life-bearing planet, and even though it had been transformed into a high-grade planet due to his influence, in Lin Yuan’s eyes it was still like a speck of dust.
But after all, this was where he had grown up, and his parents still lived here even now.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been back,” Lin Yuan thought.
Ever since leaving Canglan Star for the Red Kun main planet, Lin Yuan had not returned. His few meetings with his parents happened only in the virtual world.
On Canglan Star, in the Central Continent, inside Manor Number One.
Lin Shoucheng and Lin Qiong, a husband-and-wife pair, were busy with gardening. With the technology of human civilization, any rare flower can be grown in no time, yet Lin Qiong enjoyed the slow process of nurturing them by hand.
“Old Lin, a lot of people are saying that Little Yuan has become a Strongest one, right?” Lin Qiong asked, having just finished tending to a flower bed. She sounded a bit surprised.
“Little Yuan is a Strongest one now?” Lin Shoucheng was taken aback. Not long ago, he had still been marveling that his son had managed to overpower a Strongest one. Now he’d become a Strongest one himself?
“That can’t be true, right?” he blurted without thinking.
“It’s real. There’s already an official announcement from the Central Star Region,” Lin Qiong said at once, and floating screens of light began to flicker before her.
At that moment.
A figure appeared not far away, smiling at Lin Shoucheng and Lin Qiong.
“Little Yuan.”
Lin Shoucheng saw him and called out in astonishment.
Compared to when he left Canglan Star, Lin Yuan looked almost exactly the same—even wearing similar clothes—except that his eyes and presence had grown deeper.
“Little Yuan, what brings you back?” Lin Qiong looked absolutely delighted. Although she frequently met Lin Yuan in the virtual world, it could never match the real world.
“Mom, Dad.” Lin Yuan walked over with a smile.
“Little Yuan, the net’s saying you’ve become a Strongest one...” Lin Qiong quickly turned the conversation to that topic after a couple of words.
When she said this...
Lin Shoucheng immediately glanced toward Lin Yuan.
“I guess so,” Lin Yuan nodded with a smile.
“You really became a Strongest one?” Lin Qiong and Lin Shoucheng exchanged a glance.
Their son had become a Strongest one?
“Little Yuan, I’ve heard the life essence of a Strongest one transcends the River of Time. Do we look like ants to you now?” Lin Qiong could not help asking.
Lin Yuan laughed.
“Not at all. You’re different.”
As long as one is alive, one feels emotions, and Lin Yuan was no exception. Weak as his parents might be in terms of power, they were still his parents.
Just then.
Buzz buzz buzz— A small craft descended, quickly landing.
Two people walked out—Lin Yi and Xia Keren.
“Mom, Dad, something huge just happened,” Lin Yi called out as she strode into the manor, brimming with excitement. Xia Keren, right beside her, looked equally energized.
They had just stepped into the manor when they noticed Lin Yuan standing off to the side, and both froze momentarily.
“Big Brother,” Lin Yi blurted.
Standing behind Lin Yi, Xia Keren stared blankly for a second before snapping to attention. He immediately bowed deeply and said, “Xia Keren greets the Strongest one.”
Because his Xia family was a prominent family of evolvers in human civilization, they had learned at once that the Milky Way Star Lord had entered the 12th rank. They even had confirmation from reliable sources.
Lin Yi and Xia Keren had hurried to Canglan Star to deliver the good news to Lin Yuan’s parents. Even if the parents might already have found out by virtual means, coming here in person was a sign of respect.
Now that Lin Yuan’s parents were recognized as the mother and father of a Strongest one, they naturally had high status.
But Xia Keren had never expected to find Lin Yuan himself here.
“Rise,” Lin Yuan said with a casual smile.
“Yes,” Xia Keren replied, still stiff with nervousness. He recalled the Xia family’s 11th-rank elder’s warnings: never do anything inappropriate in front of the Milky Way Star Lord.
He wholeheartedly agreed with that caution. The Milky Way Star Lord was now a Strongest one, humanity’s tenth such figure. He occupied a lofty, incomparable position.
“Big Brother, why’d you come over here?” Lin Yi’s tone grew more cautious as well. The title “Strongest one” was simply too imposing.
She had just received word that her brother stood at the summit of human civilization, above everything else, and the thought alone made her tremble a bit.
“I had some free time, so I decided to drop by,” Lin Yuan said offhandedly.
Before his attempt to break through to the ultimate realm, Lin Yuan had poured virtually all his effort into cultivation. After all, without reaching the 12th rank, he remained a lifeform caught in the River of Time, destined to perish with its collapse.
Under such pressure, Lin Yuan devoted himself completely.
But now that he was a Strongest one, life had eased considerably.
A Strongest one has no limit to their lifespan. The only threat is the Great Destruction of the universe, which Lin Yuan can handle effortlessly with his current power.
Inside the manor.
Lin Yuan sat chatting with his parents, along with Lin Yi and Xia Keren. Outside, many evolver guards patrolled with meticulous vigilance.
After all, Lin Yuan’s parents received professional protection, ensuring they stayed safe from any danger.
“Miss Lin Yi and Mr. Xia have returned,” the guard captain said with a glance at the newly arrived craft, signaling the checkpoint to let them in.
Lin Yuan’s parents held significant status, so no outsiders could approach without clearance. Lin Yi, as the Milky Way Star Lord’s younger sister, was allowed through.
Watching Lin Yi and Xia Keren head into the manor, the guard captain overheard some of their conversation.
“Huh?”
He took another look, freezing in place.
Inside the manor, besides Lin Yuan’s parents and Lin Yi, Xia Keren, there stood another man, calmly present.
There was no record of this man entering, and the guard captain had no memory of him arriving recently.
“This is bad—some unknown figure got in. There could be a threat,” the guard captain thought, his heart pounding. He couldn’t even imagine the consequences if Lin Yuan’s parents were harmed on his watch.
“High alert! Switch to maximum security!” he immediately ordered the entire guard force.
In no time, a large number of evolver guards converged just outside the manor, watching every movement within.
“Captain...” The guard captain heard someone at his side.
“What is it?” he asked the subordinate.
“That man... looks like the Milky Way Star Lord,” the guard stammered.
Everyone stationed here was well-trained, but the mere presence of the Milky Way Star Lord was overwhelming enough to throw them off.
“The Milky Way Star Lord?”
The guard captain fell silent.
Gazing back toward the manor, he realized that the man indeed looked just like the Milky Way Star Lord.
And judging by the casual conversation between that man and Lin Yuan’s parents, plus Lin Yi and Xia Keren, the guard captain quickly understood that this was likely a misunderstanding.
“The Milky Way Star Lord... so that’s really him?”
“The Milky Way Star Lord actually showed up here?”
An immediate stir swept through the security forces. None of these guards had ever laid eyes on a Strongest one in their entire lives. Now, unexpectedly, the Milky Way Star Lord himself had appeared.
Throughout the cosmos, countless upheavals were unfolding in response to Lin Yuan’s entry to the 12th rank.
Within the Prison Race’s territory.
On a seemingly ordinary planet, large numbers of Prison Race civilians were evacuating.
To avoid the Milky Way Star Lord’s imminent cleansing and wrath, most of the top species in the universe—eleven peak-level civilizations—had no choice but to abandon most of their domains.
“Mom, Dad, do we really have to leave?” a young Prison Race child asked wistfully. Although powerful members of the Prison Race had explained that life in the core territory would be better, this place was still the home the child had known since birth.
Their lifestyle was much like humanity’s; they were attached to their homeland.
“We must,” said an older Prison Race member.
“The Milky Way Star Lord has reached the 12th rank. If we stay here, once he arrives, we won’t have a chance to leave.”
“Is the Milky Way Star Lord that scary? Scarier than our Emperor?” the child asked.
The older Prison Race member didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure which one was stronger—the Milky Way Star Lord or his own race’s Emperor. But from the looks of this full-scale retreat, it must be the Milky Way Star Lord.
It wasn’t just the Prison Race; the Tianyu Race, the Universe Race, the Zhou Race, and many others were also undertaking massive retreats.
Lin Yuan had done no more than step into the 12th rank. Without making any further move, he had already frightened these peak powers into this level of action—showing just how formidable his deterrence was.
On Canglan Star.
After chatting casually with his parents for a while, Lin Yuan glanced out from the manor.
With his perception, everything happening outside—indeed, throughout the Red Kun Star Domain and across human civilization—lay clearly before him.
The guards, thrilled at his presence, did not trouble Lin Yuan, and he let them be.
Ever since he entered the 12th rank, unless Lin Yuan reached out on his own, not even the Three Goddesses or the virtual network could connect with him. Hence, the security detail here had no way of knowing in advance that he was coming.
“I’ll head back now,” Lin Yuan said as he disappeared from where he stood.
Beneath the starry sky.
Lin Yuan reappeared.
“The Gate of Myriad Realms...” He sensed something within himself.
After his Ultimate Leap, when he succeeded in advancing, not only did his mysterious gourd begin its metamorphosis, but the Gate of Myriad Realms also started changing.
Unlike the mysterious gourd, whose changes were clear and evident, the Gate of Myriad Realms was shrouded in fog, so to speak.
Lin Yuan could clearly feel a towering source of power connecting with the Gate of Myriad Realms’ projection in his mind.
Lin Yuan sensed that the Gate of Myriad Realms had completed its metamorphosis.
Gathering himself, he quickly focused on his mind’s depths.
Looking at the transformed Gate of Myriad Realms—
“What’s that?”
Lin Yuan’s pupils contracted slightly.
...
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