Leaving Maple Leaf Star

On the vast continent at the very heart of Maple Leaf Star stood a magnificent palace complex covering millions of square kilometers—the Imperial Palace of the Maple Leaf Empire. Lu Qingshan had few descendants. After his wife Catherine passed away when her lifespan reached its limit, he had never remarried, and he had only one son: Lu Lingxiao. Yet the imperial bloodline had long since branched out and flourished. Over thirty thousand years, the princes and princesses dwelling within the Imperial Palace had grown to tens of thousands, and counting every direct descendant, their numbers had long since passed a hundred million. Among them, a great many disregarded imperial scions had been scattered to every corner of the Empire's territory. Apart from remote stars, there was scarcely an administrative star where one could not find people carrying Maple Leaf imperial blood. Most of these imperial family members were no different from ordinary imperial citizens, save that they enjoyed a little convenience in business or in politics. Some even squandered their entire fortunes and ended up on the streets, worse off than common folk. For these vast collateral branches of the imperial clan, the greatest hope was that a prodigy of dazzling talent might be born among their descendants. Only then could they regain the clan's favor and recover their privileged standing. "Father, you... you've broken through?" Deep within the Imperial Palace, the reigning emperor, Lu Lingxiao, clad in a python robe embroidered in gold and crowned with the imperial diadem, spoke in a voice filled with disbelief. He knew his father's situation all too well. In his early years his Foundation had been damaged, leaving him little hope of breaking through to Domain Master. All these years, Lu Lingxiao had poured out the Empire's accumulated resources to help him, more out of a son's filial devotion than any real expectation. Yet now his father—a genuine Domain Master expert—was standing right before him! "Lingxiao," Lu Qingshan said evenly, "some time ago I won a vial of Heavenly Pure Water at an auction. With it I repaired most of my Foundation and stumbled my way into the Domain Master realm." Even to his own son, Lu Qingshan did not lay out the whole truth. Fortunately, the purchase of the Heavenly Pure Water left a paper trail, so his breakthrough had a plausible explanation, and no one could question it. Joy surged across Lu Lingxiao's face. "Congratulations, Father! This is wonderful news! Breaking through to Domain Master brings a long lifespan—if Mother knows of it in the world below, she will surely be glad for you." He knew well that his father's lifelong wish had been to break through to Domain Master, and that he had sacrificed much of his time with his wife and son for it. Now, at last, that wish had come true. What was more, his father's breakthrough was an enormous boon to the Maple Leaf Empire. Why had the Maple Leaf Empire's territory amounted to only a single star system before? Precisely because the Empire had no Domain Master expert. Now, even if they expanded their territory, the surrounding nations would have little to say about it. Moreover, even at Cosmic Level his father's strength had rivaled a Domain Master's; now that he had broken through, low-stage Domain Masters were likely no longer fit to be compared with him. Lu Qingshan's gaze rested on his son for a moment, and inwardly he sighed. "Now that I have broken through to Domain Master, I will no longer draw on the Empire's resources. They are all left for you to command." He had come out of seclusion to find his son for two reasons: to share the good news of his breakthrough, and to see how his son's aptitude measured up. Lu Lingxiao was a Cosmic Level Seventh Stage expert, and his talent was not weak. If the System rated him a third-class genius, Lu Qingshan would certainly take him as a disciple—who said a man's own son could not be his disciple? In his heart he naturally favored this only bloodline of his. Unfortunately, Lu Lingxiao's potential fell short of the genius standard the System recognized. Lu Qingshan could not help wondering just how high the threshold for a third-class genius was. Did it require the potential to reach for World Master—or even a trace of immortality? "Father! You have only just entered Domain Master; this is exactly when you need vast resources to consolidate your realm. How could I—" Lu Lingxiao said urgently. "Say no more." Lu Qingshan raised a hand to cut him off, his tone brooking no argument. "From today on, not only the resources—I will no longer concern myself with the Empire's future course either. Which way this great ship, the Maple Leaf Empire, should sail is for you, its helmsman, to decide." "Father, do you mean to leave the Maple Leaf Empire?" There was a hint of disappointment in Lu Lingxiao's eyes. He had intended to use the prestige of his father's breakthrough to expand their territory. He had never expected his father to leave the Maple Leaf Empire right after breaking through, so the plan to open new lands would naturally have to be postponed. Lu Qingshan saw what his son was thinking but said nothing more. He needed to go where geniuses gathered to find a disciple; he would have no time for the trifles of the Maple Leaf Empire. He paused, then added, "After I leave, you should visit your maternal grandfather more often." Lu Qingshan had in his day been a renowned Giant Axe Martial Arts Practitioner—how could his wife have come from an ordinary background? Lu Lingxiao's maternal grandfather was none other than that Domain Master expert on Qionglong Star. Not long ago, when buying the Heavenly Pure Water, Lu Qingshan had even borrowed a hundred billion Cosmic Currency from his father-in-law. With a veteran Domain Master like him watching over things, even after Lu Qingshan left human territory, there would be no trouble on the Maple Leaf Empire's side. Afterward, Lu Qingshan summoned his disciple Lei Ming. During those three years he had not been in total closed-door seclusion; every year he still found time to instruct Lei Ming once and bestow a treasure on him. It would have been a shame to let such a free return opportunity slip by. Over three years he took three treasures from the Royal Treasury and gave them to Lei Ming: a battle saber suited to the Lightning Domain, a protective suit of armor, and a pair of boots. All three were third-grade origin force weapons, exactly suited to Lei Ming at his current realm. Having touched a trace of the domain's mysteries, he would have no trouble wielding third-grade origin force weapons. Lu Qingshan had likewise received three identical weapons, only raised to fourth grade. "Master," Lei Ming said, scratching a little awkwardly at the single horn on his head that flickered with fine arcs of lightning, "your disciple seems to have hit a bottleneck lately. I am a hair's breadth from truly entering the first stage of the Lightning Domain, yet no matter how hard I try, I cannot break through that final step... I have failed to live up to your teaching." He felt ashamed. Over the past three years his curiosity had led him to look into just what the breakthrough spirit medicine his master had once given him was, but he had found nothing—clearly it was far too precious for someone with his clearance to learn of. Though he had not reached the first stage of the domain, his strength had soared to Star Level Fifth Stage, leaving far behind the other four who had come to Maple Leaf Star with him that year. Of those four, only one had broken through to Star Level, and he remained at the first stage. "There is no need to rush." Lu Qingshan reached out and stroked his disciple's head with a touch of affection. "You are barely past thirty. A domain is not something you can train out by sheer desperation, and shutting yourself away to work alone is even worse." If even his own son Lu Lingxiao had failed to be recognized by the System as a genius, that showed how high the standard was—and in Lu Qingshan's mind, Lei Ming's potential rose a notch. To Lu Qingshan, who had lived ninety thousand years, a thirty-year-old Lei Ming was no different from a newborn infant, needing patience and guidance. "Master, what should your disciple do?" Lei Ming, knowing how rare this chance was, hastened to ask. His master was a Giant Axe Martial Arts Practitioner who had lived ninety thousand years—a figure even Domain Master experts had to treat as an equal. "Then go out and walk a while, and see this boundless universe..." Lu Qingshan's tone was calm, yet it carried a note that allowed no doubt. "I will be leaving Maple Leaf Star for a time soon. You will come with me." Rather than objecting to his master's decision, Lei Ming's face lit up with excitement. "Really, Master? I can go traveling through the universe with you?" "It is training, not sightseeing," Lu Qingshan corrected. "If your progress does not satisfy me, I will order you to return to Maple Leaf Star on your own." "Yes, Master! Your disciple will do his utmost!" Lei Ming nodded firmly, not daring to slacken in the least. A year passed in the blink of an eye. During that time Lei Ming made a trip back to his homeworld, Horn Thunder Star; returning as the disciple of the Empire's Old Ancestor, he received the finest treatment of all—a true homecoming in glory. Then Lu Qingshan returned to the Cultivation Cavern and summoned the Star-Eating Grass, which, with the help of eight Life Fruits, had already broken through to Domain Master Ninth Stage. That vast, tenacious plant life flowed and re-formed like liquid metal, finally becoming a close-fitting vine armor that gathered in all its surging aura and quietly settled beneath Lu Qingshan's battle armor. Not long after, a starship bearing the golden maple leaf emblem rose slowly from Maple Leaf Star, became a streak of flowing light, and vanished at last into the depths of the boundless sea of stars.