Chapter One: Gazing at the Starry Sky

Blue Star, the world of cultivation.

Spirit-powered vehicles moved in orderly lines along the streets. At the very heart of the world stood the Supreme Artifact, the Heaven and Earth Exquisite Pagoda, which connected with Blue Star’s spiritual energy particles to construct an impenetrable defensive array.

Towering buildings stretched skyward as dense spiritual energy particles wove through the air, vibrant and alive.

Three young men lay atop a rooftop, gazing up at the ink-black night. Occasionally, a flash of starlight would sweep across the sky. The chubby youth to the left pointed at one such glimmer. “That must have been the ‘Great Yu’ battleship, patrolling the galaxy.”

“Nonsense. Lately, foreign cultivators have been lurking near our star sector’s borders. That was the ‘Qitian’ battleship chasing them down,” the skinny youth in the middle asserted with certainty.

Jiang Taichu, lying to the far right, sifted through related information in his mind and replied, “Or maybe someone parked their battleship where they shouldn’t, and the ‘Qingyuan True Sovereign’ has gone to issue a citation.”

The ‘Great Yu’ battleship was the pride of Blue Star’s human race, leading the Galactic Fleet to patrol and safeguard the galaxy, clearing away asteroids to prevent collisions with Blue Star.

The ‘Qitian’ mecha, at the helm of the Star Mecha Corps, kept the borderlands secure, pushing back incursive cultivators from other realms.

As for the ‘Qingyuan True Sovereign’ mecha, it guarded the interstellar routes, enforcing order and preventing unauthorized docking of starships.

“That brightest star up there is the ‘Suiren’ Fortress. The entire celestial body is an eternal flame, carrying the legacy of the Blue Star Life Community and all our heritage,” the chubby youth continued, pointing at a dazzlingly bright star above.

The ‘Suiren’ Fortress—Blue Star’s repository of heritage and knowledge!

Today, Blue Star was home not only to humans but also to the demonfolk, together forming the Blue Star Life Community. Under Blue Star’s aegis, countless life-bearing stars were numbered in sequence—Blue Star One, Blue Star Two, and so on—each inhabited by Blue Star’s descendants.

The world they called Blue Star was the original one, revered as the Ancestral Star.

“When I’ve saved enough, I have to see the ‘Suiren’ Fortress with my own eyes, glimpse the ‘Ancestral Dragon,’ and if I could just pilot a ‘Qitian’ mecha... No, even riding in the starship mode of the ‘Qitian’ would be enough,” the youth in the middle said, eyes shining as he gazed at the sky.

The ‘Qitian’ mecha—indeed, all of Blue Star’s mechas and starships—came in two modes:

Manned Starship: for overwhelming firepower.

Single-Pilot Mecha: to shatter stars with a fist.

“I want to see it too, but as for piloting the ‘Qitian’ mecha, forget it. That’s a fully autonomous model—without high enough cultivation, you’d only hurt yourself,” the middle youth added, turning his head to Jiang Taichu. “What about you, Taichu?”

Blue Star was a high-level cultivation world, its mechas classified as magical artifacts. Only those with strong enough cultivation could command the fully autonomous mechas, which could fight on their own. With their current abilities, they could only operate basic semi-automatic mechas, unable to unleash their full power.

“Me? I just want to do my job. I start work tomorrow—at Earth Star Ten, right?” Jiang Taichu replied.

“How disappointing. There’s nothing left to mine on Earth Star Ten. Who knows what the Yang family is thinking, sending us there to dig for resources,” the others grumbled.

“Doesn’t matter what they think. We’re just workers. If there’s nothing left, at least it’ll be an easy trip,” Jiang Taichu said with a relaxed smile.

“Let’s just hope we don’t run into a ground beast. Those things are a real pain to deal with,” muttered the chubby youth.

“Fatty Tang, don’t jinx us. If we do run into one, I’ll stuff you down its backside,” the middle youth said, disgruntled.

Ground beasts—native creatures of mining stars, lacking intelligence but possessing terrifying defenses from absorbing the planet’s energies. They were prized as raw materials for forging magical artifacts. Blue Star not only allowed their existence but often raised them deliberately, harvesting them once they matured.

Fatty Tang—his full name Tang Yu—was so named because his parents had hoped he’d grow up tall and handsome, but fate had other plans.

The middle youth was Zhang Jing.

All three had just graduated from university and were now working for the Yang family’s Earth Corporation, tasked with collecting resources on the Earth Stars.

“When I’ve saved enough, I’ll buy my own mecha and become a professional gold hunter,” Tang Yu declared with a broad grin. “Just five thousand left to save.”

Professional gold hunters made their living by collecting resources. The three were just wage earners—the resources they mined on company-owned stars all went to the corporation. Rumor had it gold hunters could apply for missions on frontier stars, rich in untapped resources. Many had struck it rich there, though more had perished.

“Even a basic mecha costs hundreds of thousands. How are you going to afford that?” Zhang Jing asked in astonishment.

“My dad said he’d cover the rest if I save five thousand. With my five thousand salary a month, I’ll have enough in a year.”

“Curse you, you rich brat!”

Jiang Taichu envied him too. He only used the company’s basic ‘Mountain Roamer’ mecha during resource collection. If he had one of his own, he would choose to be a gold hunter as well, risking it all for a chance.

Rumor had it you could even clash with cultivators from other worlds—the spoils of victory were yours to keep!

The three lay there late into the night, finally parting ways for home when fatigue set in.

Jiang Taichu’s parents had been professional gold hunters themselves. Three months ago, they were killed in action while collecting resources, leaving him and his younger brother, Jiang Taixuan, to fend for themselves.

His brother was in his final year of high school, preparing for university. Gifted and hardworking, Taixuan was sure to get into a top-tier university.

Jiang Taichu wasn’t doing badly either—he’d gotten into Blue Star Geological University, a first-rate institution.

Back in their two-bedroom apartment, his brother was already asleep. Jiang Taichu took out a recording pen from the bedside table. A faint, intermittent voice played: “Southern Star... 10977 Star... three thousand meters underground... Earth Corporation mothership...”

This message had arrived after his parents’ accident, sent directly to him—a clue that had prompted him to join the Earth Corporation.

He suspected something was amiss in their deaths and wanted to investigate. But 10977 Star was unclaimed territory, a battleground between Blue Star and its cosmic foes. A recent graduate like him had no right to go there—unless sponsored by a company or team. Thus, he had first joined the Earth Corporation.

As he pondered, a disc blossomed with azure light in his mind, information flooding in:

Creation Jade Disc: As proficiency in methods and artifacts grows, gain bonuses and awaken corresponding abilities.

Jiang Taichu’s Creation Jade Disc

Cultivation Technique: Taiji Guidance Art

Skill: Taiji Sword Formula

Level: Internal Training: 15.7%

[Mountain Roamer]: Lv1: 5%, Defense, True Qi +5%.

Firearms: Lv1: 50%, Firearm proficiency.

[Taiji Diagram]: 0.1%, Yin-Yang Intent, Supreme Purity Method +200%, Defense +200%.

Across the boundless universe, spiritual energy particles abound.

The path of cultivation tempers skin, muscles, and bones outwardly, and nourishes the organs within, cultivating one’s vital essence. When internal training is complete, and essence is abundant, it merges with spiritual energy particles; one’s essence then transforms into true qi, marking entry into the Qi Refinement stage.

The Taiji Guidance Art was created by Blue Star’s Supreme Array Spirit, the Heavenly Dao, based on the Array Spirit of Doushuai Palace and the Supreme Artifact, the Taiji Diagram, of the Pure One. It was considered the ideal foundational technique for all Blue Star lifeforms.

By cultivating this technique, he had gained insight into the Yin-Yang principle of the Taiji Diagram and accumulated a measure of proficiency. Though only 0.1, it doubled his defense and doubled his speed of cultivating Supreme Purity techniques.

His mecha was only the basic semi-automatic ‘Mountain Roamer’, equivalent to the first layer of Qi Refinement, operated via a soul-sense interface. His predecessor could only harness 5% of its power; how much he himself could now unleash was uncertain.

Firearms were standard magical weapons here, also categorized as semi-automatic or fully automatic. He had mastered semi-automatic rifles, sniper rifles, and individual spirit cannons.

He had only just crossed over during vacation—all of this was new to him, and he had yet to test how he compared to his predecessor.

Still, his predecessor had never had the Creation Jade Disc—this was a boon he’d brought with him from his past life!

Jiang Taichu counted himself lucky to have inherited a character with internal training, sparing him the need to start from scratch. Though still near the bottom of society, it was better than nothing.

“You yearned for the stars. I do too. So let me take your place and see the universe for you.”

His gaze pierced through the window, landing on the dazzling ‘Suiren’ star outside.

The myth of his previous life remained a myth in this one. Now that he had arrived, he would see it for himself.