The room that greeted him was extremely shabby, with rusty patches resembling lichen visible on the walls. At first, Lu Sheng thought the previous tenant had a peculiar taste, deliberately styling the room this way. After lingering for a moment, he realized this was simply the room's original state.
"How did it get this wrecked..."
Even the air conditioner in this damn room was broken. The water from the sink tasted like rust, clearly indicating the water purification system was also faulty. Running his fingers along the worn edge of the old bed, and recalling the appearance of the spaceship's hull he'd seen before entering, Sheng couldn't help but wonder if this was some scrap ship salvaged from a junkyard. He began to doubt whether he'd boarded the wrong ship.
Those confident enough—or rather, qualified enough—to venture into the interdimensional battlefield were at least level 11 martial artists like him. A level 11 martial artist was considered a formidable force in any Star Region.
They were typically star-nobility, people of distinguished status. If not surrounded by attendants wherever they went, at least they certainly wouldn't stay in such shabby places. It felt like forcing a group of pampered bigwigs to live in a shack.
But Sheng had never cared much for material comfort. The pleasure of satisfying his appetite paled in comparison to the thrill of strengthening his power. He only needed to confirm he hadn't boarded the wrong ship and that this vessel could take off smoothly. Everything else... didn't matter.
Sheng casually sat cross-legged on the bedding in the small room, pulling out a portion of energy crystals from his storage bracelet and silently beginning his cultivation.
In truth, relying solely on the Mystic Spirit Treasure Record for cultivation yielded higher efficiency now, but activating it generated too much disturbance. He still didn't know how the powerful beings of this universe viewed the Immortal Dao civilization, so he had no intention of revealing his secret of cultivating both Immortal Dao and Martial Dao just yet.
Externally, he maintained basic cultivation while diverting most of his spiritual energy into the Dream Space. Within this space, Sheng had long begun attempting to challenge a level 13 zombie powerhouse. He hadn't managed to defeat it yet, but having just mastered the Crystal Visualization Technique's ability to control emotions with the Four-Colored Crystals, he was now eager to test it out.
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Inside the dilapidated spaceship lay an equally decrepit cockpit. Yet compared to most areas aboard this vessel, this cockpit could almost be considered "luxurious".
A man of balanced build but round features sat in a chair within the cockpit. Before him lay at least a thousand plates of varying sizes, each laden with delicacies of different flavors. Various drinks and fine wines were also present. He sat in his chair, feasting heartily on the delicacies before him.
"Click-clack—"
The old cockpit door creaked open as a cold and stern middle-aged woman stepped inside.
"The last one's aboard. Everyone's here. We're ready for takeoff."
She sat down in front of the round-faced man, casually picking up a bottle of unidentified liquor and gulping it down.
"Good!"
With his mouth stuffed full, he mumbled a response before pulling out a virtual lightpad from somewhere. He tapped it carelessly with greasy fingers. Soon, the sound of instruments activating filled the air around them. It sounded like an ancient beast, weighed down by its own bulk, struggling to rise from the ground with labored gasps.
"Phew..."
Only after the ship lifted off and began accelerating did the woman relax slightly, muttering, "I almost thought it wouldn't get airborne."
"How could that be?" he replied without looking up. "Even though it's the oldest, most obsolete model, aside from worn parts and outdated design, it could easily fly another few thousand light-years."
"But seriously, even if it's disposable, couldn't we have procured a slightly better ship?" She asked while glancing at the faded, peeling leather on the armrest of his seat and couldn't help but frown.
"You said it yourself—disposable. Since it's meant to be discarded after one use, why bother with something fancy? As long as it works, it's fine. Perfect..."
The round-faced man looked up, grinning widely. "It'll give these rookies an early taste of the wasteland style of the battlefield."
As he spoke, he seemed to think of something and continued, "Speaking of which, any standouts among this batch of recruits?"
The stern-faced woman replied coolly, "You have all the files, don't you? One named Sarl, not quite a thousand years old, already at Level 12, and possessing a Sun-tierextraordinary physique. This guy is a genuine prodigy, wouldn't you say..."
"Hmm. Even on the battlefield, such aptitude would be considered outstanding." He nodded.
"There's another one..."
She paused, her tone growing slightly more serious. "He's a veteran now, entering the battlefield for the third time. I reckon his strength might not be inferior to ours."
"Huang Ji. I know him."
The man stopped eating and spoke earnestly: I once fought alongside him. His strength is undeniable. "But as for his character..."
He seemed at a loss for words, finally settling on a vague description: "He's rather pragmatic. Every time he enters the battlefield, he has ulterior motives."
"What do you mean?" She frowned slightly. "Should we keep an eye on him?"
"That won't be necessary."
The round-faced man shook his head. "He wouldn't dare cause trouble on the way. Once we're on the battlefield, it's none of our concern. Having him along is actually beneficial, we'll suffer fewer unnecessary losses on the way back."
Hearing this, the woman asked no further questions, though she silently committed Huang Ji's name to memory.
"Oh, by the way, who's that guy who hitched a ride at the last minute?" he suddenly asked curiously.
"Nothing special. Just some kid who missed the flight. His talent, though—ridiculously good. Not even a hundred years old, and already at level 11."
"Tsk tsk. Such a fresh young talent. Why didn't they wait a bit longer before letting him go already?" The man stuffed a meat patty into his mouth and added with a hint of regret, "I wonder if he'll even survive."
"As long as he doesn't die on the way there, that's all we care about. Once inside... well, that's his own luck to deal with. Young fools who don't know their place deserve a harsh wake-up call."
The round-faced man nodded.
The two kept chatting idly, exchanging half-hearted remarks, when suddenly a screen in the cockpit lit up, revealing a face wearing an expression of resignation.
"Sir, Sarl in Room 485 is requesting a room change. He complains the current accommodations are substandard and wants a better place."
The stern-faced woman snorted coldly. "Tell him the finest accommodations on this ship are mine. If he wants to switch, he can come fight me."
"Understood!"
The screen went dark. The man chuckled. "Careful what you say—he might actually come looking for you. We're all level 12, he might not fear us anymore."
"Then that's perfect." she said expressionlessly, "It's been over half a month since I last saw battle. My hands are itching. He'll be just the right warm-up."
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Translation notes by dhoo
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I will list below the keywords introduced in that chapter. Check my Glossary (published before chapter #530) for more information about them (including an occurrence list indicating in which chapter they appear). You can also check my Glossary to look up the other keywords introduced in previous chapters.
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Dream Space
梦境空间 (trad. 夢境空間), mèngjìng kōngjiān: 梦境 dream 空间 space
The space where Lu Sheng trains when he sleeps. He is immersed in a reconstructed universe from 10,000 in the future, as indicated in this novel's title. That universe has long been destroyed and Sheng fights remaining zombies, corpses of martial artists who still have memories of their old techniques, which Sheng can absorb after defeating them. Lu Sheng often accesses the dream space to train.
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zombie
丧尸 (trad. 喪屍), sàngshī: zombie
This novel start with Lu Sheng accessing the so-called Dream Space, fighting zombies from a distant future (10,000 years later) and inheriting their memories, knowledge and techniques.
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Crystal Visualization Technique
A part of Duan Yifeng's Divine Crystal Dao. See chapter #532.
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Sarl
萨尔 (trad. 薩爾), sà ěr - I'll stick with the pronunciation
Sarl is a level 12 martial artist; one of the strongest in this batch of new recruits traveling towards the Battlefield. See my Glossary for more information, including more about his Chinese name.
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Huang Ji
黄极 (trad. 黃極), huáng jí - I'll stick with the pronunciation.
Huang Ji is also a level 12 martial artist and one of the strongest in this batch of new recruits traveling towards the Battlefield. See my Glossary for more information, including more about his Chinese name.
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daren, Sir, Lord
大人 (trad. idem), dàrén: 大人 adult (compound word, 大 dà big + 人 rén person)
Daren is an "archaic" way to address a person of high rank (such as a ruler or noble) which could be translated as Sir or Lord.
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Immortal Dao civilization and Mystic Spirit Treasure Record
Qian Yushu was one of Lu Sheng's opponents in the Tournament of the previous story arc. He was reincarnated: he had previously lived in another universe, within the Immortal Dao civilization. Their rich cultivation methods, which Lu Sheng absorbed recently, were explained in the Mystic Spirit Treasure Record.
仙道文明 (trad. 仙道文明), xiān dào wénmíng: 仙 Immortal 道 Dao 文明 civilization
玄灵宝录 (trad. 玄靈寶錄), xuán líng bǎo lù: 玄 Mystic 灵 Spirit 宝 Treasure 录 Record
仙道 and 玄靈寶錄 will appear again later, Lu Sheng is not done learning from that Dao. See my Glossary for more information.
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About the two guides
Between the original webnovel and the manhua, there are some character changes. Both guides are men in the novel, one of them is a woman in the manhua and in my version. It's not the first time it happens. You can read more about this in my chapter titled "Character Changes" and more about the guides in my Glossary.
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About repetitions when decribing characters
The webnovel's author used a lot of repetitions in this story (I say "used" not "uses" since this story has been on hiatus for several months). Some repetitions feel like fillers to inflate the word count and help publish chapters twice a week.
In this case, repeating "cold stern middle age" every time that guide is mentioned—ten times in this chapter—feels peculiar in English. But in Chinese, it's a different story and it's quite interesting to look more into it. Here is what I wrote in the translation notes for chapter #530:
// Example: 冷厲中年 (lěng lì zhōng nián) is used 46 times. It means "cold stern middle age". In English, it would sound peculiar to do the same, but in Chinese it kinda feels like a name, Lengli Zhongnian. Based on its length, it could be a Chinese name while it couldn't be one in English... or could it? Coldstern Middleage. What do you think? //
Well, English in Chinese are indeed different and the chapters already have a good length even without repeating words and phrases, so most often I'll avoid repetitions.