At the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, in an unknown void.
Cold starlight flowed past the viewport. The Maple Leaf spaceship hung motionless at a set of coordinates in a stretch of space that looked utterly ordinary.
Ahead, where that azure planet ought to have been, there was now only a deep emptiness.
The Solar System was gone.
Lu Qingshan stood before the observation window, inscrutable emotions churning deep in his eyes, until at last they resolved into a flicker of burning eagerness.
"So it is true..."
As a Giant Axe Martial Arts Practitioner born and raised in the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield, how could the name "Earth" be unfamiliar to him?
In those years when his Foundation had been damaged and his road ahead hopeless, he had even pinned his faint hopes on it.
He had thought that if he could only latch onto Luo Feng, the biggest backer in the entire Primordial Universe, what would a little damage to his Foundation even amount to?
Reality, however, had sorely disappointed him.
The first time he set foot on Earth was eighty thousand years ago, just after he became a Giant Axe Martial Arts Practitioner. The first stop in his wanderings through the stars had been here.
Earth then was still a savage wilderness. Not a trace of civilization—only apes that drank blood and ate raw flesh, struggling to survive across the vast land.
That was the ancient age before Earth had awakened. Lu Qingshan did not stay at all, and slipped away in disappointment.
The second time was thirty thousand years ago, when he traveled with his wife, Catherine.
By then the Homo sapiens of Earth had begun to use crude stone tools; the first sparks of civilization had kindled. That time, using cultivation as an excuse to remain awhile, he and Catherine stayed on Earth for ten years.
In those years they conceived and gave birth to their only child, Lu Lingxiao—now the reigning emperor of the Maple Leaf Empire, an expert of the Cosmic Level Seventh Stage.
Lu Lingxiao's talent was outstanding, especially in mind and will. In a thousand years he had risen to Cosmic Level, not much beneath Lu Qingshan himself.
But he knew nothing of what made him special, and still less of where he had been born.
Catherine, to the end of her life, never revealed this secret.
Arranged so, even if the Giant Axe Founder were one day to look back through time, he would conclude only that Lu Qingshan was a cosmic wanderer who had happened to pass by Earth.
After all, before Earth's civilization came into being, cosmic adventurers had already left their footprints on Mars. A traveler pausing briefly was only natural.
This was the third time. The coordinates were correct, but the target had vanished without a trace.
A hundred years ago, the Maple Leaf Empire's intelligence network had marked the region around the Solar System as a high-risk zone. Rumor had it that an Undying Deity from beyond had opened a dojo here.
Lu Qingshan had meant to come investigate in person, but his breakthrough had delayed him.
"The Solar System is gone... so Hu Yanbo has indeed arrived and entrenched himself here, gravely wounded..." A sharp light flashed in Lu Qingshan's eyes, then sank into deep calm.
He made no attempt to probe ahead.
An Undying Deity gravely wounded and near death, starting at every shadow, was extremely dangerous. The slightest disturbance could bring down a devastating blow.
Do not imagine that because he was the protagonist Luo Feng's first teacher, one should feel any fondness for him. An old monster who had lived tens of millions of years—which of them had not walked here over mountains of corpses and seas of blood?
Whether Hu Yanbo was alive or dead at this moment, Lu Qingshan had no intention of taking the risk.
"Endure. I'll just outlast the old bastard first." So he decided inwardly.
This trip had not been without gain. At least he had precisely anchored the timeline.
At this moment there were still about fifty thousand years until Luo Feng's birth!
That was far clearer than the vague reference points he had relied on before—the emperor of the Azure Blue Empire, the genius World Master "Luo," and the like.
Lu Qingshan stayed no longer. The spaceship turned about and soundlessly merged into the Dark Universe.
He never noticed that the instant he vanished, a million kilometers away in the void, space rippled faintly like water. A towering figure with a dark golden greatsword slung across his back quietly emerged. His cold eyes swept the direction in which the ship had disappeared, as though piercing straight through space, and then the figure dissolved like a phantom, leaving only the dead-silent starry sky.
...
Half a year later, deep in the Cultivation Cavern beneath the Maple Leaf Star Imperial Palace.
The shattered gems had been replaced with new rare ores, and the relaid floor refracted a hazy glow under the soft light.
Lei Ming held his breath and gathered his focus, gazing with reverence at the figure seated cross-legged not far away.
Only when the other's eyes opened did Lei Ming respectfully bow. "Greetings, Master."
"Mm." Lu Qingshan's voice was gentle yet carried the power of one who saw through all things. "You have been on Maple Leaf Star for a year now. Has your cultivation progressed?"
Lei Ming's spirits lifted; he knew this was his master testing him. He drew a deep breath, and a sharp light burst from his eyes. "Please instruct me, Master!"
Before the words had faded, a long blade of deep blue, cold and chilling, was already in his hand. Forged from B2-grade metal, the Thunderclap Blade weighed more than ten thousand jun, yet in Lei Ming's hand it seemed weightless.
He lowered his stance slightly and slashed out with a sudden stroke!
"Chh!!"
Surging purple origin force erupted in an instant. The blade edge tore through the air and, beyond the glow of the edge itself, faintly traced a transparent ring of warped-space fluctuation!
As the blade light faded, the cavern's sturdy D5 metal ore wall gave only a faint muffled thud, utterly unscathed.
A flicker of barely perceptible approval crossed Lu Qingshan's eyes.
"Not bad." He spoke mildly. "That strike has touched the threshold of the Lightning Domain. It seems you have not been idle this past year. If you polish it with single-minded care for a few hundred years, you may have hope of pushing your domain to the first tier while still at Planet Level."
To comprehend a domain at Planet Level was enough, across the whole Qianwu Universe Kingdom, to be called a genius.
Lei Ming also had the System's training, and the guidance of Lu Qingshan, who was comparable to a Domain Master expert.
Which left him marveling at what heaven-defying beings Hong and Luo Feng on Earth truly were.
"Your disciple is dull-witted." Shame showed on Lei Ming's face. "A year ago, Master already unfolded the complete prototype of a domain before me, yet to this day I have learned only the barest surface of it. I have truly failed your teaching."
"Do not belittle yourself." Lu Qingshan raised a hand to cut him off. "Compared with the other four, your comprehension is already first-rate. Planet Level lifespan is limited; there is no need to obsess over spending centuries forcing a domain. I took you as a disciple a year ago and have not yet given you a greeting gift..."
He turned his wrist, and a warm, translucent white jade box appeared out of thin air, hovering before Lei Ming.
The jade box was nearly transparent, and the strange plant inside was clearly visible.
An indescribable craving, as though rising from the very source of life, instantly swept through Lei Ming's whole body and made him tremble despite himself.
"Master, this is..." He forced down the agitation in his body, his voice carrying a thread of excitement.
"There is no need to inquire deeply into what it is." Lu Qingshan's tone was calm. "Its use is simple enough: swallow it directly. If you were on your own, you would have to refine it cautiously, but with me here to guard you, you need not worry. Break through to Star Level right here. A disciple of Lu Qingshan who is merely Planet Level Ninth Stage would be a little too shabby."
He did not tell Lei Ming the value of this Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng.
If the other knew that this treasure's worth was comparable to a galaxy, he would probably be badly frightened.
Lei Ming dared not ask more. He respectfully accepted the jade box with both hands, sat down cross-legged, and focused on regulating his breathing.
A moment later, he carefully plucked off a small piece of an emerald leaf and put it in his mouth. Pure, immense life energy instantly exploded within his body.
Lu Qingshan glanced at his disciple, who had begun to assault the bottleneck, saw that he had not greedily taken too much, and stopped paying attention.
He reached out and seized at the void, and a fruit that seemed to appear out of nowhere, radiating surging, torrential life force, appeared in his hand.
Chapter 4