Huaxia Time, October 29th, 8:30 a.m.
The autumn sky was clear and the weather was excellent.
Today, West Lake Villas had become the centre of the entire Earth.
The military had long since placed the estate under heavy guard, and the surrounding streets had already been sealed off.
Fighter aircraft from nations and base cities across the globe landed one after another on the lawns of West Lake Villas.
The leaders of the five major powers had all gathered here.
Because today, one of Earth’s three greatest experts, Luo Feng, was holding an important conference.
Luo Feng’s strongest guard force remained in the western wing of the castle and did not come out to interfere.
The large number of reception staff were personnel specially assigned by Huaxia Nation.
Inside the main castle building, on the first floor conference hall.
The lights shone brightly.
Around the enormous round table stood numerous national leaders and base city leaders, enthusiastically chatting with one another.
Earth had five major powers and twenty three independent base cities.
These independent base cities mainly came from Asia, South America, and Africa.
Black and white leaders conversed with one another.
As the host, Luo Feng stood at the entrance of the hall with his two brothers, Hong and Thunder God, personally welcoming every attendee.
At 9:00 a.m., the meeting officially began.
Boom!
An explosion suddenly appeared in the air above the centre of the huge round table, startling everyone present.
As the disturbance gradually settled, a three dimensional virtual projection appeared.
It was a projection of the vast starry universe.
“Everyone.”
Luo Feng stood up.
Hong and Thunder God sat beside him.
After sweeping his gaze across all the leaders present, he spoke solemnly.
“The importance of today’s conference is no less than the Great Nirvana Period, and no less than the battle against the Devouring Beast.”
A wave of commotion immediately swept through the hall.
“Please look.”
Luo Feng pointed towards the starfield projection above the table.
“This is the universe, the vast universe. I believe everyone knows that intelligent life and humanity exist beyond Earth. I suspect many of you here know quite a lot about it already.”
“Our Earth is only one of more than two hundred thousand life bearing planets within the Milky Way.”
As he spoke, countless planets appeared in the projection, including glimpses of Bilan Planet.
The planets then shrank away as the enormous image of the entire Milky Way emerged.
“The Milky Way, the Beta Galaxy, and six other star systems together form the Silverblue Empire.”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone present was shocked.
An empire ruling eight star systems?
How powerful was that?
It was an incomprehensibly vast entity compared with Earth.
Listening to the murmurs spreading through the crowd, Luo Feng continued in a serious voice.
“However… the Silverblue Empire is extremely weak. It belongs to the lowest tier of cosmic nations, exceedingly weak.”
“How is that possible?”
“The lowest tier?”
“That empire controls eight star systems. One star system alone contains over two hundred thousand life bearing planets.”
Many leaders, especially those from the base cities, knew very little about the universe.
At this moment, they were completely stunned.
Luo Feng continued coldly describing the universe.
Half an hour later.
The conference hall had become utterly silent.
“Now I will introduce a race.”
Luo Feng pointed upwards.
The projection changed.
A gigantic planet appeared, with figures flying across its skies.
“This is one of the planets inhabited by a human race known as the Black Mong Race. The number of Planetary Stage individuals among them is extraordinarily high, numbering in the millions.”
“They also possess Stellar Stage experts.”
“The number of Stellar Stage warriors and spirit readers among them is astonishing. There are many Fifth and Sixth Level Stellar Stage experts. Do you know what that means? Every one of them is comparable to the Devouring Beast that once attacked Earth.”
“And among the Black Mong Race, there are countless individuals even stronger than the Devouring Beast.”
The leaders listened with fascination.
Now that they understood the vastness of the universe, this was the first race Luo Feng had introduced.
In their minds, it must be one of the stronger races in the cosmos.
“They’re incredibly powerful. There are so many people as strong as the Devouring Beast.”
“Millions above the level of a War God? That’s insane.”
“This is unbelievable.”
“Is reaching Planetary Stage really that easy? Earth doesn’t even have one hundred people at that level combined.”
The leaders gazed at the projection with envy.
When would Earth ever be able to reach such heights?
At present, Earth did not even possess a single Stellar Stage expert.
A First Level Planetary Stage expert on Earth was considered a War God Palace councillor, someone with status comparable to a national leader.
Yet among the Black Mong Race, they were as common as grains of sand.
The projection showed countless Planetary Stage individuals flying through the skies.
“The Black Mong Race is a race that has been enslaved.”
Luo Feng’s voice became low and heavy.
The leaders froze.
A race thousands or tens of thousands of times stronger than Earth was enslaved?
“Their entire race, countless citizens, are slaves. They are slaves, and their descendants remain slaves. They are controlled through implanted biological chips. They are bought and sold like merchandise. Generation after generation, endlessly, without any possibility of escape.”
Luo Feng’s voice was icy cold, like something emerging from the deepest abyss.
Everyone present felt their hearts tremble.
Many had cold sweat forming on their foreheads.
Generation after generation.
Forever.
Slaves.
Merchandise to be bought and sold.
“Mr Luo, may I ask a question?”
The female Prime Minister of the European Union stood up.
“How do you know all this?”
“Because I have travelled into the universe.”
Luo Feng answered quietly.
“But I was frightened by the cruelty of the universe and returned.”
The hall erupted.
He had travelled into the universe?
Luo Feng had actually gone there?
“Everyone.”
Luo Feng looked around the room.
“I believe you all already understand why I invited you here. As for whether you choose to believe me, that’s simple.”
He turned towards the entrance.
“Bring it in.”
A staff member immediately carried over a black helmet.
“A consciousness induction helmet?”
Some leaders recognised it.
“This is not the imitation version manufactured on Earth.”
Hong spoke up.
“It is an original helmet from the universe. If experts from your nations examine it, they will immediately recognise that many of its materials simply cannot be produced or found on Earth.”
“I brought this from another planet.”
Luo Feng looked around the room.
“Using this consciousness induction helmet, your nations can send representatives into the Virtual Universe Network.”
“I have already explained the concept of the Virtual Universe Network.”
The leaders immediately became excited.
The Virtual Universe Network!
For the first time in history, Earth would truly connect with the wider universe.
They would finally gain access to real information about cosmic civilisation.
“Luo Feng, how many helmets do you have?”
The leader of Huaxia Nation could barely contain his excitement.
“I can provide six consciousness induction helmets.”
Luo Feng looked around the room.
“The five major powers will each receive one. The twenty three base cities will share the remaining one, with each city receiving one day of exclusive usage per month. You can work out the details yourselves.”
He had purchased these helmets specifically for this purpose.
If humanity was to advance rapidly, it needed exposure to the outside universe.
The Virtual Universe was the perfect method.
These anonymous accounts could be used by anyone.
However…
None of Earth’s nations possessed universal currency.
Therefore, even after entering the Virtual Universe, they would only be able to access basic public information and could not purchase services or goods.
“Mr Luo.”
The dark skinned President of the United States stood up excitedly.
“You are absolutely right. This is as significant as the Great Nirvana Period. Entering the Virtual Universe is humanity’s first true step into the wider cosmos, and perhaps the most important step.”
“I still have something even more important to discuss.”
Luo Feng’s words immediately silenced the room.
Everyone stared at him.
What could be more important than connecting with the universe?
“I possess a special liquid called Purple Light Dew. Consuming ten grams of Purple Light Dew can allow an advanced martial arts trainee to evolve into a warrior.”
“Hm?”
“That’s all it does?”
“Can that really be considered a treasure?”
Some leaders quietly exchanged comments.
Others simply watched Luo Feng.
Earth possessed things with even stronger effects, such as the Spirits of Plants and Trees.
Luo Feng had once used one such treasure to elevate his family directly to the Second and Third Apprentice Levels.
The effects were far superior.
However, such treasures were incredibly rare.
Even War Gods rarely possessed them.
A treasure with limited quantity held little significance.
“I have it in large quantities.”
Luo Feng added.
The leaders paused.
“How large a quantity? How many people can it be used on?”
A leader from an African base city could not help asking.
“The entire world.”
Luo Feng’s voice was firm.
“I can provide enough for every advanced martial arts trainee on Earth. As long as someone becomes an advanced trainee, I can use Purple Light Dew to turn them into a warrior.”
“The entire world?”
“Everyone?”
“My God.”
“This…”
Everyone understood one thing.
The more precious a treasure was, the scarcer it tended to be.
Luo Feng had spent 800 million Black Dragon Coins acquiring this enormous quantity of Purple Light Dew.
Even the richest individuals on ordinary planets such as Bilan Planet possessed far less wealth than that.
Obtaining such a quantity was no simple matter.
“The ratio of total population to advanced trainees is roughly one hundred to one. Doesn’t that mean Earth could produce nearly seventy million warriors?”
“Seventy million?”
“Probably even more. Many people currently give up because they think becoming a warrior is impossible. If everyone knows that reaching advanced trainee level guarantees becoming a warrior, they will work much harder. The ratio may improve to fifty to one. In that case, Earth could have over one hundred million warriors. Human genetic evolution would accelerate at a speed millions of times greater than our previous projections.”
The leaders became completely ecstatic.
No amount of money or material wealth could compare to this.
“Ten grams serves one person. One kilogram serves one hundred people. One tonne of Purple Light Dew can support one hundred thousand people.”
Luo Feng continued.
“Soon, I will distribute approximately seven thousand tonnes of Purple Light Dew according to one tenth of each nation’s population ratio.”
“Seven thousand tonnes?”
The leaders could almost see the future evolution of humanity unfolding before them.
That very day, Luo Feng distributed allocations of Purple Light Dew based on the populations of each nation and base city.
Earth’s great evolutionary era officially began.
Every nation saw a glimmer of hope for humanity’s rise.
Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God looked forward to what lay ahead.
…
As trials of Purple Light Dew began across Earth and its astonishing effects became evident, another event was already approaching.
Huaxia Time.
November 23rd, 9:30 a.m.
Within the vast starry sky of the Solar System, a silver grey saucer shaped spacecraft was approaching Earth.
“What a beautiful planet. That blue colour is truly captivating.”
Inside the spacecraft’s control room.
The tall, handsome captain in a silver combat uniform gazed at the blue planet displayed on the external projection.
His expression was one of pure enjoyment.
“It is intoxicating. I love it. Yes, I love it.”
“Because it will bring me status.”
“Because it will bring me wealth.”
The other crew members beside him were already shouting excitedly and celebrating.
None of them were as poetic as their captain.
Because they all knew the truth.
This was an ownerless planet.
And to cosmic adventurers like them, there was nothing more wonderful than that.