Chapter One is finally finished; the next chapter is coming at nine. (Dizzy from exhaustion, I mistyped the chapter number as 107, must correct that immediately.)

“I have just received official notification from headquarters.” Yang Siqing’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears, “In three days, the Military Department will dispatch the one hundred most outstanding martial artists under the age of twenty to the Shata Empire to participate in the Youth Martial Arts Competition.”

Yang Siqing paused, allowing them time to digest his words, then continued, “Our base has been allocated exactly one spot.”

Most eyes involuntarily drifted towards Zhong Yun, who stood at the very front of the crowd.

Zhong Yun’s scalp prickled. He certainly didn’t want to go to any Shata Empire. Heaven knew how far this blasted Shata Empire was, and how much time the round trip would consume. Just reaching the nearest Intermediate Civilization from Dawa took over a thousand light-years; even with spacecraft subsidized by a Higher Civilization capable of spatial jumps, a journey of a thousand light-years could easily take a year or two.

Speaking of which, that spacecraft Xiao Ling acquired was highly suspicious. It reached a location thirty light-years away in just a few days—a speed almost unnervingly fast, because without a spatial jump point, a spacecraft couldn't perform a jump (at least, not according to Dawa’s understanding). Without spatial jumps, the maximum speed of a ship was the speed of light, meaning thirty light-years should take at least thirty years.

Unless…

A thought flashed through Zhong Yun’s mind: Unless there was an unknown spatial jump point within Dawa’s territory.

In the Great Universe Era, travel relied primarily on spatial jumps; otherwise, relying solely on a ship's speed, reaching other nations, which were often hundreds or thousands of light-years away, within one's lifetime was simply a pipe dream.

The level of a nation's development often depended on how many temporal jump points were near it.

Dawa’s only jump point had been established with the help of the leader of the Omi star system after Dawa was elevated to an Intermediate Civilization; otherwise, given Dawa’s strength, they couldn't have built one even if they sold everything they owned.

This spatial jump point was guarded by Dawa as if it were their most precious treasure. The nation’s most elite legions were stationed right there. It would be impossible for Xiao Ling’s spacecraft to pass through that jump point without anyone noticing.

While Zhong Yun was lost in these conjectures, he heard Yang Siqing loudly call his name. He responded reflexively.

“Zhong Yun.” Yang Siqing announced before the hundreds of people present, “The representative for our base will be you.”

This was anticipated by most. The first day Zhong Yun arrived, he made a stunning impact, severely injuring the formidable bald instructor. Although he himself was injured and bedridden for over ten days, his strength had earned universal acknowledgment. How high-level that bald instructor was, the veteran trainees knew all too well.

More importantly, Zhong Yun was so young, possessing boundless potential. Everyone knew his future was limitless.

Therefore, despite some lingering dissatisfaction, no one raised any objection.

Zhong Yun grimaced, “Is it possible for me not to go?”

Yang Siqing’s expression hardened. “It is possible.” Before Zhong Yun could feel joy, he heard the next sentence, “As long as you can defeat me.”

Zhong Yun deflated like a punctured balloon. No matter how fantastical his ideas, he couldn't imagine being able to defeat Yang Siqing right now. They were simply not on the same level.

Xiao Ling had once mentioned that there was a Level Two human in the base. In other words, Yang Siqing was a super-expert whose martial arts had reached Level Ten or higher.

Zhong Yun was now filled with deep regret. Had he known he would be sent here for some damned training, he wouldn’t have scored so high on the Mingzhu School entrance exam even if death were the alternative.

Training? Did he even need training? With ZER, such inefficient training was simply a waste of time.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down; keeping a low profile, the ancients were not wrong.

But what was done was done; regret served no purpose now. Unless he risked exposing his trump cards and fleeing this place, he had no choice but to obey.

Three days later, under Yang Siqing’s personal “escort,” Zhong Yun was secretly taken to an extremely heavily guarded military base and boarded that massive spacecraft.

Zhong Yun truly hated Yang Siqing for this—returning kindness with malice.

Since electronic devices were strictly forbidden aboard the ship, Zhong Yun dared not bring ZER for fear of exposure. On the way to the military base, when Yang Siqing wasn't looking, he had 'Bug Bee Number Two' take ZER to his own ship.

Fortunately, this journey was unlikely to pose any real danger, which offered him a small measure of peace.

This spacecraft’s shape was similar to Zhong Yun’s own—fusiform, narrow at both ends and wide in the middle—only much larger. Upon entering the vast main cabin, he saw a group of peers, both male and female, of roughly the same age. However, Zhong Yun had no interest in them, walking to a corner to drift in thought.

What terrible luck. Was this the result of being too smooth lately? He recalled that his recent days had indeed been a bit too complacent. His strength was still insufficient; a Yang Siqing, already expelled from the Yang family, could corner him so easily. If someone like Yang Yunrong wanted to deal with him, he would have no recourse without playing his ultimate card.

Low profile, low profile—easy to say, but how hard to do.

Once most people had arrived, a man in his forties, who introduced himself as the leader, gave them a pre-departure address. Zhong Yun’s mind wandered; he couldn't grasp anything the man was saying.

Yet, the others were clearly stirred, their fighting spirit soaring.

Next, the leader instructed the ship’s personnel to escort them to their respective rooms to familiarize themselves with the situation, with departure set for early the next morning.

Among these one hundred youths, those from other planets had arrived by spacecraft, but their vessels were not as massive as this one, nor were their facilities as advanced.

The entire spacecraft was like a labyrinth; without an escort, one could easily get lost.

Upon entering his room, a member of the ship's crew explained the necessary precautions in detail; traveling by spaceship was far more complicated than by airplane.

The next day, the spacecraft departed exactly on schedule. Simultaneously, major media outlets were saturated with news about this expedition. This was the first time in thirty-seven years that Dawa had been invited to participate in this competition, proving Dawa's expanding influence.

Due to the Great Federation’s laws prohibiting unpermitted interaction between Intermediate Empires, free trade and exchange were only permitted on the Free Stars. Interstellar activities were extremely rare, and obtaining a chance to visit another nation was incredibly precious.

Yang Siqing’s specific request for Zhong Yun to go was entirely for his own good. Dawa only had a mere one hundred slots in total. This opportunity was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance; he didn't want Zhong Yun to be stuck in Dawa forever.

Going out and experiencing the customs of other nations was the only way to broaden one’s horizons.

Intermediate Civilizations were also stratified. Dawa had only entered the world of Intermediate Civilizations for a little over thirty years and couldn't compare at all to those Intermediate Civilizations that had existed for millennia.

The spacecraft pierced the atmosphere, soaring into the vastness of space.

P: I checked the weekly recommendation chart—we’re actually ranked seventeenth. This is too much… Please give recommendations! Especially since I ran to an internet cafe to type this while on a business trip.