Swallowed star world.
Ganwu Universe, Black Dragon Mountain Star field, Maple Leaf Empire, Maple Leaf Star.
The huge interstellar airport is like a tireless giant beast, swallowing and spitting out spaceships that come and go. Thousands of transport ships take off and land here every day.
In this busy flow of ships, a Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft No. X31 is steadily sliding towards the designated berth.
Inside the cabin, an old man in a gray robe looked out through the porthole at the orderly port, a look of nostalgia on his face.
Behind him, five young people, three men and two women, were also leaning against the porthole, their eyes full of curiosity.
"Sir, is this Maple Leaf Star?" A young man with a single horn on his head couldn't help but speak, with uncontrollable excitement in his voice.
"That's right." The gray-robed old man nodded, his eyes sweeping across the bustling port outside the cabin. "This is Maple Leaf Star, the ancestral home of the Lu family and the foundation of our Maple Leaf Empire."
He turned his gaze to several other equally outstanding young people, and said in a more serious tone, "You five are the most gifted geniuses in the empire in the past hundred years. After arriving at Maple Leaf Star, you will have the opportunity to meet the ancestor."
The old man's voice was deep and powerful.
"If any of you can gain the favor of the ancestor and be accepted as a disciple... then not only will your cultivation path be rapidly promoted, but your family and even the planet you were born on will also receive unimaginable benefits."
Hearing this, the excitement and curiosity on the faces of the young people gradually faded, replaced by heartfelt respect.
Obviously, they had already heard a lot about this legendary ancestor of the Maple Leaf Empire.
He was a Universe-level peak powerhouse who had lived for over 90,000 years!
He was the true pillar of the Maple Leaf Empire!
His great reputation has long spread throughout the entire Maple Leaf Galaxy. Even in the neighboring Silver-Blue Empire and the independent Qiulong Star, there are legends about this ancestor Lu.
If they could become a disciple of such a peerless powerhouse, their status and position would soar to the sky, and they would even have a glimmer of hope... of breaking through to the Universe level.
The hatch of the X31 Black Dragon Mountain spacecraft slid open silently, and a group of people set foot on the land of Maple Leaf Star.
…
Deep within the Maple Leaf Empire's palace, there is a cultivation cave constructed of precious D5-grade metal ore, with the ground paved with dazzling gems.
Without any warning.
A terrifying force with the power to destroy the world suddenly erupted, and a violent energy turbulence swept through the entire underground palace. Wherever it passed, all visible objects were instantly crushed into powder.
The D5 ore wall, which was strong enough to easily withstand the attacks of a Universe -level being, began to tremble violently.
Fortunately, this devastating explosion lasted only a moment before dissipating, otherwise, this sturdy cave would have been in danger of collapse.
"call..."
In the dense smoke and dust, Lu Qingshan slowly opened his eyes, unable to hide the deep fatigue and dejection in his eyes.
"Failure..." A low sigh echoed in the cave.
"This is the third attempt to reach the Domain Lord level in ten thousand years... This time, the preparations were the most thorough, almost mobilizing most of the empire's resources. Unexpectedly... we still failed at the last moment."
He spread out his palms, as if he could still feel the pain of failing to condense the life core.
"Although the Heavenly Purifying Water... has healed 99% of the hidden injuries in my body, the flaws in my early foundation are ultimately fatal, preventing me from truly condensing the Domain Lord's Life Core..."
After ninety thousand years, Lu Qingshan thought that his state of mind had been honed to a calm state, but the failure of this breakthrough again still stirred up waves in his heart that were difficult to calm down.
He couldn't help but panic.
Because your life span is about to end.
Theoretically, the lifespan for a Universe-level powerhouse is up to ten Era.
However, the severe injuries he suffered in his early years, coupled with the backlash from several failed breakthroughs, had already overdrawn his life source in advance.
He could clearly feel that the life span bestowed by the irresistible primordial universe was slowly coming to an end.
"Probably... only 120 years left."
Lu Qingshan knew what this meant.
If he cannot break through to the domain lord within these one hundred and twenty years and gain a longer lifespan, he will completely turn into a speck of dust in this vast galaxy and return to eternal extinction.
But how could he achieve a breakthrough in just one hundred and twenty years?
To achieve this breakthrough, he had almost drained ninety percent of the Maple Leaf Empire's reserves, and even shamelessly borrowed a huge amount of cosmic currency from the senior from Qiulong Star.
The extremely precious Pure Water that could repair hidden injuries was bought at an auction at the cost of an astronomical amount of Universe Coins.
Without a miraculous adventure within a hundred years, he would never be able to gather the resources needed for the next attack.
not to mention...
Even if he had the resources, would he definitely succeed?
A faint sense of unwillingness surged in his chest.
Ninety thousand years ago, he was born into an ordinary family on Maple Leaf Star. At that time, Maple Leaf Star had not yet been exposed to cosmic civilization, and the planet's martial arts were flourishing.
He even thought at one point that he had come to some fantasy world.
With his outstanding martial arts talent, he reached the top of the planet in just a hundred years and achieved the title of Martial God. With a wave of his hand, mountains and rivers collapsed, and he easily unified the entire planet and established the Maple Leaf Empire.
However, disaster soon struck! .
A spaceship loaded with slave-hunting troops descended upon Maple Leaf Star shortly after the Empire's founding. Its overwhelming power plunged the planet's powerful beings into despair.
Even as strong as Lu Qingshan was, after desperately killing two stellar-level slave-hunting team members, he was ultimately ruthlessly suppressed.
On Maple Leaf Star, all masters above the Martial Saint level were captured, controlled by slave chips, and reduced to commodities to be sold at a price.
The slave-hunting team left behind some basic cosmic cultivation methods and established a cruel "cultivation base" on Maple Leaf Star to train warriors and spiritual masters on the planet.
The tens of billions of people on Maple Leaf Star are like leeks waiting to be harvested, being cultivated and sold endlessly.
Lu Qingshan was not treated as an ordinary slave because he showed good potential by fighting desperately and killing the slave-hunting team members of the fourth and fifth levels of the stellar when he was at the first level of the star.
The slave owner trained him in order to extract greater value.
With the help of resources far beyond the level of Maple Leaf Star, Lu Qingshan's strength improved by leaps and bounds. In just a hundred years, he cultivated to the ninth level of Stellar, and successfully broke through to the universe level, comprehending the field of light.
After that, under the control of the slave chip, he became the organization's thug, fighting with other slave organizations and space pirates during the long and bloody years.
Relying on the meager resources accumulated from one mission after another, he struggled to advance to the eighth level of the universe, and also broke through to the third level of the light field.
At this point, problems arise.
Once Lu Qingshan breaks through to the domain lord, he will be able to break free from the control of the chip and attack the master.
The domain lord-level leader of the slave organization gave him two choices.
Either he would remain at the eighth level of the universe for his entire life and not be allowed to break through, or he would participate in the Huge axe life-and-death battle where the mortality rate was almost 99.9%.
Lu Qingshan chose the latter.
Participate in the Huge Axe Life and Death Battle. As long as you win a thousand games in a row, you can get the title of Huge Axe Warrior and regain your freedom under the witness of the Huge Axe Fighting Arena.
Although with his strength at the third level of his domain, he would almost certainly die in an arena of that level, but for him, a life of slavery without dignity was more tormenting than death.
And the slave owners were happy to accept this option.
If Lu Qingshan died in battle, the organization would receive a considerable amount of compensation. If he could win a few battles, the compensation would be even greater.
As for Lu Qingshan's success?
No one was optimistic about him.
Lu Qingshan no longer wanted to recall those thousand brutal fights of life and death. In the end, he miraculously won the title of Huge Axe Warrior by luck and gained the freedom he had always dreamed of.
However, the price is extremely high!
His body was severely damaged in the series of life-and-death battles, and the secret techniques he used damaged his cultivation foundation, almost cutting off his hope of breaking through to become a domain lord in the future.
Because of this reason, he lost the opportunity to be accepted into the Huge Axe Fighting Arena.
In the end, he chose to be a space mercenary, wandering in the vast universe. After going through untold hardships and accumulating enough wealth, he redeemed Maple Leaf Star from the slave owner and saved his second hometown.
Ninety thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. The slave organization that had once enslaved him had long since been wiped out, having offended a powerful figure in the Black Dragon Mountain Star field. He hadn't even had the chance to seek revenge.
Ten thousand years later, Lu Qingshan, relying on his reputation as a Huge axe warrior and the help of friends he made during his career as a cosmic mercenary, established the Maple Leaf Empire, a country with a primary cosmic civilization.
This is a cosmic kingdom with only one galaxy in its territory, and it cannot be compared with other elementary cosmic kingdoms in the surrounding area.
The past flashed through his mind like smoke. Lu Qingshan slowly stood up from the pile of broken gems, temporarily suppressing those heavy memories.
"One hundred and twenty years..."
Feeling the clear sense of life slipping away in his body, after a long period of recollection, the sadness in Lu Qingshan's heart actually faded a lot.
A faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"After living for ninety thousand years, what else is there to be dissatisfied with?"
"If I were to travel to a world like zhatian, where only great emperors live for ten thousand years, with my puny strength, I'm afraid my bones would have turned to ashes long ago…"
The moment this thought came to mind, Lu Qingshan felt that an invisible shackle deep in his heart seemed to loosen a little, and an indescribable enlightenment quietly grew.
Before he could fully appreciate this realization, the light and shadow in front of him distorted, and a black dog-headed figure made of energy emerged respectfully.
This is Lu Qingshan's intelligent life form Nasus.
"Master," the shadowy figure said in a low but clear voice, "The third child of Young Eagle Star has returned. He has brought with him the five most outstanding talents in the empire over the past hundred years, and requests an audience with the master."
Little Sanzi?
Lu Qingshan immediately thought of that guy who always liked to wear a gray robe and pretend to be deep.
"Another hundred years have passed..." Lu Qingshan sighed softly, his tone returning to his usual calmness, "Let him bring people in."