In the endless star sea, a C-class spaceship suddenly appeared in the starry sky, then flew at sub-light speed towards the emerald green Kuka Planet.
Kuka Planet's spaceship port was not large, capable of accommodating at most a dozen spaceships several hundred meters long simultaneously. At this time, only three spaceships, tens of meters long, were docked.
After the spaceship passed verification, it docked at the port. Several Stellar Rank powerhouses were already waiting outside the spaceship as soon as it cleared verification.
Inside the C-class spaceship, a middle-aged man with a fuzzy face, a long nose, and a dignified appearance sat on a chair, looking at the holographic projection of the starry sky.
Looking at the enormous emerald green planet before him, the middle-aged man softly remarked, "This is Kuka Planet, where I'll be staying for decades to a century. It's quite ordinary."
The middle-aged man stood up and said, "Hmm, I'll go see my Disciple first."
Half an hour later, a small spaceship departing from Kuka Planet's spaceship port arrived at Morning Light City on Kuka Planet's surface.
When the spaceship landed, over twenty Stellar Rank powerhouses were already waiting there.
Except for one person whose reputation was not prominent, all the others were well-known figures in Morning Light City.
The one leading them was the Dean of Morning Light Academy, who appeared to be a middle-aged man. However, standing beside him was not the Morning Light City Lord, but rather Morning Light Academy's mentor—Ian!
Screech—!
The spaceship's hatch opened, and the middle-aged man with the long nose stepped out, followed by two Stellar Rank powerhouses.
Seeing the middle-aged man emerge, the Dean of Morning Light Academy rushed forward to greet him, "Welcome, Governor Lorenzo, to Morning Light City."
"You are the Dean of Morning Light Academy?" Lorenzo asked.
"Yes, Governor, this subordinate is the Dean of Morning Light Academy," the Morning Light City Lord replied very respectfully.
"Hmm." Lorenzo nodded slightly, then said nothing more, but turned to Ian, "Ian, come with me."
"Yes, Teacher," Ian respectfully obeyed and stood behind Lorenzo.
Walking towards the hovercar fleet not far from the spaceship, Lorenzo asked, "Are you accustomed to Kuka Planet?"
"It's alright, it's just that Kuka Planet is too peaceful and lacks the true feeling of the Universe."
Ian had traveled the Universe with his teacher for over a century, and their interactions were very natural.
"The Molten Rock Empire is an intermediate universe country. Its subordinate Cultivation planets, compared to other planets, are safe and enclosed, detached from the real Universe," Lorenzo nodded in agreement.
Ian came to the hovercar, opened the door, and invited his teacher to sit first before entering the hovercar himself.
This very spacious hovercar only seated the two of them, master and Disciple.
After Ian sat opposite him, Lorenzo said, "You've lived on Kuka Planet for nearly two years. What do you think is the biggest problem here?"
Hearing this, Ian didn't think much and replied directly, "Too much ease, lacking external pressure, which leads to internal power struggles on the planet."
"Power struggles?" Lorenzo asked curiously, "Tell me about it."
Ian recounted what happened a few days ago when he served as the chief examiner.
Finally, he added, "If it weren't for that young fellow named Ender, whose abilities were excellent in all aspects, he probably wouldn't have been able to enter Morning Light Academy."
"Is that so? It seems that purging the corrupt mentors was the correct decision."
Lorenzo nodded, then asked again, "When did you Breakthrough to Stellar Rank?"
"Four months ago," Ian replied.
Lorenzo said, "Since you have already Breakthrough to Stellar Rank, then go to the Stellar Training Camp."
"Before I came, I had already discussed it with Domain Master Betkos. You will enter the Stellar Training Camp under his command. Domain Master Betkos is skilled in the Law of Water. I hope that by Cultivating under him, your strength can advance further."
"Thank you, Teacher."
Upon hearing that the chief mentor of the Stellar Training Camp he was about to enter was a Domain Master skilled in the Law of Water, Ian was overjoyed and quickly expressed his gratitude.
Lorenzo raised his hand and said, "Don't be too quick to rejoice."
"While Cultivating in the Stellar Training Camp is good, I hope you can go further, to enter the Molten Rock Secret Realm of the Molten Rock Empire and receive personal guidance from Emperor Molten Rock and other World Masters."
"Yes! This Disciple will not disappoint Teacher," Ian's expression was firm.
"Do you resent me?" Lorenzo suddenly asked.
"Teacher, why would you ask that?" Ian was puzzled.
"If I hadn't made you stay at Planetary Level Ninth Stage for over a hundred years, with your talent, you would have already reached Stellar Ninth Order," Lorenzo said.
"I've never thought that way," Ian shook his head, "If Teacher hadn't taken me away from my hometown, I probably would have only reached Planetary Level Ninth Stage in this lifetime."
"Heh." Lorenzo chuckled and shook his head, "This is still my fault, I was too confident!"
A century ago, Lorenzo had earned the title of "Huge Axe Martial Artist" in the Universe Level Huge Axe Dojo, and his victories had reached over ten thousand.
He had originally thought he could become a core member of the Ganwu Universe Country branch of the Huge Axe Dojo and, incidentally, secure an internal membership slot for his Disciple.
But the Huge Axe Dojo acted domineeringly, throwing him an internal membership slot for the branch without any explanation, and with an attitude of 'take it or leave it'.
So, ten years ago, he angrily accepted the invitation of Domain Master Betkos to join the Molten Rock Empire, on the condition that after serving the Empire for a period, he would receive guidance from the World Master Molten Rock.
To receive guidance from the World Master Molten Rock and then enter the Dry Witch Secret Realm through the Universe Pinnacle Genius Battle—this was Lorenzo's goal!
But no matter what, he had still delayed his Disciple's time. Now, there were only over eighty years left until the Pinnacle Genius Battle.
If that century of time hadn't been delayed, he might have advanced further in his Domain, reaching Domain Ninth Level.
Thinking of this, Lorenzo shook his head again, musing, "It's been nearly five thousand years since I last stumbled due to overconfidence."
The last time his confidence swelled was when he participated in the world qualifiers for the Pinnacle Genius Battle.
At that time, his Domain Ninth Level combat skills were also very powerful; he was an invincible existence in one area, and his world ranking once reached over three hundred.
Being invincible in one area made him lose reverence, and he constantly challenged powerhouses from other areas, eventually being ravaged by a Genius who had comprehended Law.
Ultimately, his world ranking was one thousand and four, just a little short of making it into the top one thousand and one to enter the next stage of the preliminary round.
"This isn't your fault, Teacher. Ultimately, it's because my talent and strength aren't enough. If my talent and strength were strong enough, and with your help, Teacher, I would have already become an internal member of the Huge Axe Dojo branch."
Ian felt that his inability to become an internal member of the Huge Axe Dojo branch was still because he wasn't strong enough.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this."
Seeing Ian start to blame himself, Lorenzo changed the subject, "Do you think the Joint Training Camp still needs to exist?"
"Hmm." Ian thought for a moment and said, "Because of the high-level punishment from the Empire, all the mentors of the Joint Training Camp, except for a few who fought desperately and survived, were sent to mine on other planets."
"The students also suffered heavy losses. Currently, the Joint Training Camp exists in name only, but to Cultivate Geniuses for the Molten Rock Empire, the Joint Training Camp must exist. This is a transition point before entering the Stellar Training Camp."
Lorenzo nodded, "Indeed, as an important node, the Joint Training Camp needs to exist."
"So I'm considering rebuilding the Joint Training Camp, but before that, I plan to select some people to establish a temporary Cultivation Camp."
"Teacher, what are you planning?" Ian asked curiously.
Lorenzo smiled, "Heh, new officials always have to do something."
...
Three days after the entrance test ended, Ender's communicator received the admission notice from Morning Light City.