All Smiles

He had never thought of himself as particularly lucky. If his luck were truly that good, both of his parents would still be alive and well, living in peace and safety. If his luck were truly that good, he wouldn't have fallen ill back then, nor would he have endured so much agony. The truly lucky ones were those whose every wish came true, for whom everything went smoothly, who reached transcendence without suffering a single disaster or hardship along the way. Yu Xian felt his luck was only slightly better than average. What had truly enabled him to make it this far were his friends, his companions, Qilin, the nation, and the kindness he kept in his heart. "This ocean is ruined. There isn't a single fish left," Zhang Buyao said in distaste at that moment. Yu Xian frowned. "Now that Thales is dead, won't the ocean recover?" "Of course not. All those marine creatures have sunk to the bottom, dead to the last. How could it recover?" Zhang Buyao looked at Yu Xian and explained somewhat helplessly. Yu Xian hadn't noticed the corpses of the sea life on the ocean floor at all. He quickly peered down into the depths. Sure enough, there were countless fish carcasses down below, many already covered by silt. The massive waves Thales had stirred up earlier had disturbed the seabed as well, which was why the dead sea life was blanketed in silt rather than floating on the surface. "Now we're in serious trouble." Yu Xian's Super Brain engaged for merely a second before he muttered to himself. Marine life didn't just mean animals; it included plants as well—and now, both plants and animals were completely wiped out. This wasn't just a catastrophe for the ocean; it would trigger a chain reaction. First, the animals that fed on marine life would go extinct. Furthermore, without photosynthesis from marine plants, oxygen levels would plummet rapidly while carbon dioxide concentrations would continuously rise. Once carbon dioxide accumulated, the result would be that Earth's temperatures would keep climbing. Under a runaway greenhouse effect, the vast majority of life on Earth would go extinct. Perhaps only transcendent creatures could barely scrape by, and even then, life going forward would be exceptionally difficult. "Is it that troublesome? Whatever. I'm heading back to watch TV." Zhang Buyao found it uninteresting; she didn't care in the slightest what happened to Earth. Yu Xian thought for a moment and opened his Star Ring to search for the "All-Races Life Support Apparatus." The Star Towers of Crescent Bay used All-Races Life Support Apparatuses, so naturally, Earth could use one too. However, installing such a thing would probably require professionals. An All-Races Life Support Apparatus was far from cheap, but fortunately, Yu Xian was not short on money now. Margaret, the Guarantee Queen, Spence, and the others were all established locals in Crescent Bay, holding multiple Star Towers in their hands. As the victor, Yu Xian had the right to claim these Star Towers as spoils of war. He was confident the remaining Star-rank powerhouses in Crescent Bay were good, reasonable people and would surely welcome his arrival in Crescent Bay with smiling faces. Yu Xian then used a spatial bubble to teleport to Crescent Bay. He flew straight out of Star Tower 79 and swept his divine sense across all the surrounding Star Towers. After locking onto the Star-rank powerhouses within them, he directly summoned them to a meeting. "My Lord, might we know what instructions you have for us?" a woman's voice asked with utmost deference. The other Star-rank powerhouses were trembling with fear as well, terrified that Yu Xian might turn hostile and kill them on a whim. The punch he had thrown earlier—destroying countless warships and spaceships—had already frightened them out of their wits. Some Star-rank powerhouses had even fled through the night, abandoning all their property in Crescent Bay. "Which ones were the Star Towers belonging to Margaret, Spence, the Guarantee Queen, and the rest? From this moment on, their property belongs to me. Who agrees, and who objects?" Yu Xian addressed everyone via his divine sense. In the next second, all the Star-rank powerhouses were overjoyed. One after another, they readily agreed to Yu Xian joining Crescent Bay, even declaring that Yu Xian gracing Crescent Bay with his presence was an honor for the entire bay. "Alright, tally up their assets then. Also, I need an All-Races Life Support Apparatus and a professional installation crew. The life support apparatus must be capable of sustaining all living beings on Earth, and its energy supply must last for a hundred years." Yu Xian proceeded to lay out his requirements. In a hundred years, Earth's ecosystem would probably have mostly recovered, making the All-Races Life Support Apparatus optional. Of course, if Earth still hadn't recovered by then, he could simply recharge the apparatus; it wouldn't be an issue. As long as he was strong enough, Crescent Bay was his domain. Judging by the attitude of these Star-rank powerhouses, if he declared right now that he was taking over Crescent Bay, this crowd would probably drop to their knees and cling to his thighs on the spot. An hour later, Yu Xian returned to Earth with a human installation crew. The reason he brought humans was that Earth currently had no All-Races Life Support Apparatus. Bringing other races to Earth would be troublesome since they would need all sorts of protective suits, whereas humans had no such problem and could adapt seamlessly to Earth's environment. After using spatial bubbles to deliver them to the seabed, Yu Xian headed straight home. The remaining work could be left to the professionals; he was confident no one would dare cut corners. In the main hall, Zhang Buyao was hugging a pillow while watching television. She only glanced over when Yu Xian entered before returning her attention to the screen. "By the way, do you need a Star Ring?" Yu Xian asked after watching TV with her for a while and finishing a handful of melon seeds. "No need," Zhang Buyao replied. "I have something better. But watching TV feels best when you're actually using a television. Watching it on anything else always feels like it's missing that nostalgic childhood feeling." "You watched TV when you were little?" Yu Xian asked, somewhat surprised. Zhang Buyao replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "Of course I did. When I was young, my dad and mom wouldn't let me have much contact with technological gadgets. A television was one of the few pieces of tech I was allowed to use. And the annoying part was they even controlled which programs I could watch—though back then, I didn't think much of it." "Maybe your parents just wanted you to have a relatively normal childhood," Yu Xian said with a smile. Zhang Buyao nodded in deep agreement. "That really was the case. Back then, our family lived on Earth. Before I turned ten, I didn't even know extraordinary powers existed in the world. Only on my tenth birthday did I find out that my dad and mom could actually fly, and that the uncles and aunties next door were all extraordinarily powerful. Only after that did I gradually start coming into contact with more and more supernatural power, and the seals on my body were unlocked one by one." She possessed power inherited from her parents and was a born Transcendent. She would grow stronger and stronger even without cultivating. It was just that prior to age ten, this power had been sealed away; otherwise, a single careless punch from her might have destroyed Earth. "No wonder you have such a good personality," Yu Xian murmured in realization after hearing this. He knew Zhang Buyao's father was definitely an extraordinary powerhouse, yet for Zhang Buyao's sake, he had lived as an ordinary human on Earth for ten whole years just so she could have a relatively happy and ordinary childhood. That was truly remarkable. In the future, if he had children of his own, perhaps he would follow in this senior's footsteps. When that time came, he and Nora could also live in seclusion on Earth, pretending to be ordinary mortals and watching their child grow up. Ten years old was still too young. It would be best to wait until they were sixteen, or even eighteen, before letting them touch extraordinary powers. Leaning back on the sofa, Yu Xian let his mind drift into the distant future, picturing a life blessed with both a son and a daughter.