Yang Ying entered the starlight doorway and floated into the starry expanse. Before his eyes, a faint, pale blue halo formed a wide channel, and his own body was flying forward within this tunnel, completely weightless, giving him a feeling of utter freedom, like a bird in flight.

Yang Ying nodded inwardly. Just as he was observing his surroundings, a wave of biting cold suddenly washed over him, so frigid it felt capable of instantly freezing a person solid.

A thought stirred in Yang Ying’s mind, and a warm current immediately surged within his body, flowing to his limbs within a single breath, enveloping him in protection.

He recalled what Landon had mentioned about this phenomenon. This was an artificial protective measure. The reason for this was that while travel through the Starlight Gate was fast enough, it didn't happen instantaneously. Sometimes, journeys were so long that staying within the gate for ten days or half a month was common.

Ordinary people lacked the mental fortitude for this. Although the environment within the channel was beautiful, extended exposure led to aesthetic fatigue, becoming monotonous and boring. Furthermore, with no one else around, the solitude and emptiness would become oppressive, feeling more confining than actual imprisonment. If this sensation persisted for ten days or half a month, it would be no different from torture.

Without this safeguard, a long journey might very well drive a traveler to a mental breakdown.

Therefore, instantaneous freezing technology was employed within the tunnel.

Travelers were frozen upon entering the channel and thawed just before exiting. This allowed the traveler to sleep through ten days or half a month, making it feel in their mind as if only an instant had passed. This technique could even give the impression that the journey was completed faster.

, Thousand However, for Yang Ying, none of this was an issue.

His spirit was resilient enough to endure prolonged solitude without being driven mad. Traveling from the Orion Arm’s Poham Star to the Sagittarius Arm’s Red Cloud Star via the Starlight Gate took about three weeks. A mere three weeks of confinement could easily be tolerated by even an average Level Three master; a single deep meditation session could easily see the time through.

For Yang Ying, it was even easier, as he still had his Soul Transfer and Floating Continent techniques.

After taking in enough of the tunnel's environment, Yang Ying closed his eyes and entered the Floating Continent.

His spiritual power had been stalled. Ever since reaching the peak of Level Three, he had been stuck at this bottleneck—the advancement from Level Three to Level Four. This was the last and greatest hurdle Yang Ying knew of; passing it meant ascending to the galaxy’s pinnacle: Level Four.

Level Four was the highest known tier of spiritual power in the galaxy, the apex of carbon-based life evolution, representing infinite possibilities of supernatural ability. Beings at Level Four possessed various powers unimaginable to mortals and could rightfully be called gods.

Yang Ying had been intensely focused on how to break through this bottleneck and reach Level Four, and perhaps the answer lay within the True Human Empire.

Yang Ying deeply understood that no one else’s experience could aid his ascension. To become a Level Four entity required his own immense perseverance, iron will, and profound wisdom to shatter that final layer.

Nevertheless, being exposed to an environment with an extremely high level of spiritual power development would undoubtedly benefit his cultivation.

Currently, his spiritual power was stuck just over 2.98 million, very close to the three-million mark, yet this final gap represented a chasm of difference.

In the center of the Floating Continent, the nine-story, nine-cornered pagoda’s eighty-one lamps were still only lit up to the second lamp of the fifth floor. The two million square kilometers of land on the Floating Continent were no longer sufficient for the development of the three races.

Fortunately, he had the Sun System, Aier Star, and Yiluos Star as anchors in the real world to support the three races’ growth. But the Floating Continent, as a world Yang Ying could carry with him, was naturally far more vital than those real-world strongholds.

Once he could advance to Level Four, the land of the Floating Continent would multiply in size.

As early as two months ago, upon entering Flynn territory, Yang Ying could deploy fifteen clones at the Level Three limit. Thirteen of these carved out a domain before the Flynn people, while one remained behind in the Sun System to guard the surrounding foundations; however, this clone had appeared once during Yang Ying's rescue of the King and Queen, killing the rebel Secretary of State, Vati.

Another clone was Kas, the Luminary Governor of Aier Star, who, as the Speaker of the Supreme Council, managed the daily affairs of the God Race and required substantial spiritual power to maintain.

Two months later, the number of Level Three limit clones Yang Ying possessed had risen to nineteen. In the eyes of the outside world, there were still thirteen active externally, making a total of twenty when including the original body. This growth rate was inseparable from the God Race's intensive development of Aier Star.

Twenty Level Three limit entities represented sixty million units of spiritual power. If he could break through to Level Four, the convergence of sixty million spiritual power units would result in a might beyond imagining, certainly far surpassing the Level Three limit.

Yang Ying spent three weeks on the Floating Continent. During this time, Katerina stayed with him. The two explored the scenery across the two million square kilometers of the Floating Continent, climbing peak after peak.

Concurrently, Yang Ying used this period to deeply plan his journey into the Empire.

On this trip, besides gathering the information Landon required and exchanging the formula for Landon’s gene activation agent, he also needed to collect the materials necessary for that formula. If circumstances permitted, he also intended to learn something from the Empire to broaden his horizons.

The legendary Atlantean Empire, the origin of humanity, the galaxy’s most powerful nation—it surely held many valuable lessons.

Of course, the specifics would depend on how successfully he managed his dealings within the Empire.

After three weeks, Yang Ying sensed that the journey through the Starlight Gate tunnel was nearing its end. He bid farewell to Katerina and returned to the channel.

He opened his eyes and once again saw the exquisite scenery of the tunnel. Not long after, a flash of light appeared ahead, and a large gate materialized before him.

Yang Ying prepared himself and surged through the gate. The surroundings immediately dimmed. Upon exiting, Yang Ying looked around and found himself in a large plaza.

This plaza was vast, comparable in size to the great platform in the Dimensional Space. The Starlight Gate served the same function as train stations, airports, and ports on Earth; many travelers used the gate daily, so building a large plaza was logical.

, Can However, the structure of the Starlight Gate here was entirely different from the colossal gate in the Dimensional Space.

The gates here were much shorter, barely three meters high. Yet, nearly a hundred gates were scattered across the plaza. While they lacked the imposing grandeur, their practicality was greatly enhanced, perfectly suited for public transport portals.

The plaza resembled a bustling transit hub. People moved back and forth in droves—at least five or six thousand individuals—yet they paid no attention to Yang Ying’s sudden appearance.

“Hey, don’t stop there, you’re blocking the doorway!”

A voice called out from behind Yang Ying. He turned to see an elderly gentleman with thinning white hair frowning at him. Yang Ying smiled and replied in the common Imperial tongue, “My apologies, elder, I’ll move along immediately.”

With that, he stepped away.

To avoid trouble, Yang Ying had prepared as much as possible for his arrival. The clothes he wore now were made from a common material prevalent in the Empire, easily found in the Orion Arm, and the style was designed according to Imperial fashion, ensuring he wouldn't attract notice by looking out of place.

There were no security checks around the plaza. To use a Starlight Gate, people simply needed to swipe an identity card on the control panel beside the gate, as convenient as boarding a public bus.

Yang Ying knew his biggest hurdle was the lack of an identity card. Fortunately, leaving the plaza did not require a swipe. Yang Ying’s expression remained neutral as he strolled out of the square.

Outside the plaza, Yang Ying surveyed his surroundings, imprinting the environment firmly in his mind. This was the territory of the greatest empire in the galaxy, the Atlantean Empire, which had ruled the Milky Way for tens of thousands of years.

A wave of emotion washed over Yang Ying. After all, the legend of the sunken continent of Atlantis had long circulated on Earth: a highly advanced civilization whose people possessed supernatural powers, living in palaces built of gold and jewels, having reached the zenith of both material and spiritual civilization.

Now, Yang Ying saw that the legends were clearly somewhat inaccurate. Judging by the architectural style in this Red Cloud Star, it was markedly different from the mythical Atlantis. He saw no palaces of gold, nor did the passersby all appear to possess supernatural abilities.

Yang Ying circled the plaza and only noticed two awakened individuals entering or leaving. Their attire was clearly distinct from the others; they wore badges indicating they possessed Level Two spiritual power.

Using the knowledge imparted by Professor Landon, Yang Ying recognized them as Awakened among the Sub-Humans. The ordinary people moving through the plaza were clearly also Sub-Humans.

This was quite normal. According to Landon's intelligence, Red Cloud Star was far from the Empire's core region, and the total number of True Humans on the planet did not exceed ten thousand, with fewer than five hundred holding noble status.

Among the Sub-Humans, the ratio of Awakened was very low, averaging only one per ten thousand. However, this ratio was still significantly higher than in Earth or any race in the Orion Arm.

This was, to some extent, thanks to the gene activation agent. Even the most basic version of the agent had reached the level of industrialized production and could be purchased at any pharmacy for a price acceptable to ordinary people.

Although the success rate was low—only one in tens of thousands—and activation failure meant the permanent loss of any future chance to try again—those using the agent were as numerous as migrating fish.

This was because the cost of other types of agents increased exponentially with higher levels, making them unaffordable for ordinary citizens.