Chapter 367: The Legend of the Celestial Emperor!
"After spending decades in the Real Realm, you've come to understand its survival rules well enough."
"Three words sum it all up: The Doctrine of Bloodline."
"On Fortune Star, the Winged God Church rules everything, and their dominant race is the Winged Clan. So Winged Clan members are the most noble, enjoying all privileges and benefits."
"As for other races, the closer a race's relationship is to the Winged Clan, the higher their status."
"On Blazing Star, it depends on the region, because no single race rules the entire planet."
"In the Tiansha Sect's territory, dominated by the Dragon-Man tribe, Dragon-Men are the most noble. Likewise, races with good ties to the Dragon-Man tribe enjoy relatively higher status."
"It's worth noting that, regardless of the planet, humans always occupy the lowest rung."
"However, compared to Fortune Star, humans on Blazing Star have received an epic upgrade in their circumstances."
"That's because there are human-led sects here with a bit of territory. They're just extremely weak, surviving in the cracks between alien sects, serving as a buffer zone in their power struggles."
"You've also noticed that humans are the most populous race on both planets."
"That's because humans have the fewest restrictions on reproduction."
"If you have one child this year, theoretically you can have a second next year."
"But other intelligent races generally have a 'reproduction cooldown' issue. That means after having one child this year, they need many years before a second is possible, or even just one child in a lifetime."
"Today, you've transformed into a Dragon-Man, standing before the Tiansha Sect. The treatment you'd receive goes without saying."
"Other races have to line up to climb the mountain and pay respects to become disciples, but you're eagerly pulled straight to the Elders' Hall, personally received by an elder."
"But things don't go as smoothly as you anticipated."
"'Where's your hometown?'"
"You give an accurate place name, a small town near where you once trained hard."
"On this planet, they don't say 'So-and-so Country, Such-and-such City.' They say 'So-and-so Sect, Such-and-such Town, Such-and-such Village.'"
"'Do you have parents at home?'"
"'No, I'm an orphan.'"
"'Siblings?'"
"'No, I'm an only child.'"
"'Surely you have some relatives, then. An uncle? Second uncle? Auntie?'"
"'No, my parents were only children too.'"
"'Then surely you have friends?'"
"'Uh...'"
"You came to become a disciple, but instead of checking your aptitude first, they checked your background."
"The reason was simple: you couldn't produce a residence permit for Blazing Star."
"You once considered forging one, but couldn't find anyone offering that service."
"You also thought about stealing someone else's permit, then using 'Calamity of Ten Thousand Races' plus 'Asian Evil Art' to disguise yourself as them."
"But that approach failed."
"The local inspection patrols have ways to see through such superficial disguises."
"That's because they directly test your blood, and the blood information must match the permit's records."
"So today, when you came to the Tiansha Sect, you didn't use that method."
"If even the inspection patrols can verify identities, then the three major sects on Blazing Star certainly can too."
"Now, wearing a Dragon-Man appearance, they won't punish you. But you can sense that the Tiansha Sect elder has become suspicious."
"Seeing that you can't keep up the lies, you have no choice but to make an excuse and slip away."
"Walking to a place where no one's watching, you revert to your human form, leaving anyone following you completely baffled as you escape."
"'Why be so strict about this? Shouldn't taking disciples depend on aptitude and character? Why meddle with people's backgrounds? What are you even trying to prevent?'"
"You mutter complaints about the Tiansha Sect as you walk."
"Truth be told, it's not just the Tiansha Sect. All the major sects on Blazing Star have this same damn attitude."
"Come to think of it, it's understandable."
"If you can change your appearance with a trait's effect, others can certainly use cultivation techniques or treasures to do the same."
"In this world where bloodline is supreme, what race a person belongs to is far too important to take lightly."
"Every major sect would naturally prefer to give the best resources to their own kin."
"But if they only recruited from their own race, the sects would be far too small, looking rather desolate. So they also accept some non-kin as outer disciples, menial laborers, and the like."
"'I wanted to find a major alien sect to study under, but that doesn't seem to work. I'll have to check out the human sects. I wonder if they'd accept me without a residence permit...'"
"Cultivation resources and knowledge are monopolized in any world."
"If you don't join their faction, it's hard to get systematic training out in the wild."
"Relying on exchanges with rogue cultivators to train is a dangerous path; one wrong move and you'd likely fall into qi deviation. Definitely not a wise choice."
"Year thirty-eight, age sixty-two."
"On the road to the human sect's territory, you hear a blockbuster piece of news."
"The cenotaph of the ancient Celestial Emperor, Tianhuo Xuan Nu, has been discovered, right here on Blazing Star!"
"Now, forces from all sides are rushing to the Celestial Emperor's cenotaph, all vying for the Emperor's legacy unearthed from within the tomb."
"'Celestial Emperor... what level is that?'"
"You haven't transformed into any other race right now. You're just yourself."
"A few alien rogue cultivators sharing tea nearby throw disdainful glances your way when they hear your question."
"'You don't even know about the Celestial Emperor? What backwater shithole did this bumpkin human crawl out from?'"
"These guys had nothing better to do. Despite mocking you a bit, they still indulge the topic."
"This vast, boundless universe called the Real Realm—no one can say just how big she really is."
"The powerful gather here in droves, with massive factions spanning countless stellar systems, scattered like stars."
"A star, along with its orbiting planets, comets, asteroids, and so on, forms a stellar system."
"For example, the Holy Solar System you're in now. The sun you see when you look up is called 'Holy Sun.'"
"Many stellar systems together form a star realm."
"For example, the Southern Star Realm you're in now."
"The five great star realms—East, South, West, North, and Center—make up a local galaxy."
"For example, the local galaxy you're in now is called the Celestial River Galaxy."
"These days, even the most powerful Immortal Emperor-level titans can only rule a single galaxy, not multiple galaxies at once."
"In other words, in this era, each local galaxy has an Immortal Emperor sitting at its head—the supreme powerhouse and authority of that galaxy."
"But in ancient times, there were multiple Celestial Emperors who unified the entire Real Realm, towering over countless galaxies, suppressing the whole universe."
"Each Celestial Emperor was the absolute protagonist of their era. All ten thousand races bowed their heads, none daring to disobey."
"A Celestial Emperor's might was enough to shake the most fundamental rules of the Real Realm, easily rewriting the cause and effect of spacetime."
"These Celestial Emperors never shared the stage. Not once did two Celestial Emperors exist in the same era. They always took turns, one after another, each dominating their time."
"The later Emperor didn't need to inherit the former's legacy. With sheer absolute strength alone, they could once again unify the universe and claim the throne of Celestial Emperor!"