Ten Ten

Page (1/3)

A duel challenge?

Yuan Hanshuang’s first reaction was shock; her second was disbelief at the audacity of this kid.

The Crimson Flame Spotted Tiger was formidable, and Gudze had indeed worked diligently to break through to Tier Two, but real combat involved far more factors. Not to mention, Yuan Hanshuang was a world champion in martial arts in her previous life and had trained extensively in the underworld of this life as well. Her Bajiquan was unbeatable among peers of the same talent level.

During the prior final exam, the field had been left vast and open as a courtesy. Yuan Hanshuang dared to say that if she were serious, Gudze would meet a miserable end.

“Oh my, a challenge to duel.”

Because Gudze had been parading around with his mimicry Crimson Flame Spotted Tiger, many eyes turned to watch and gossip.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want to?” Gudze stared at her intently, chin raised arrogantly. “Although you’ve held the cultivation advantage over me these past two years, I’ve now reached Tier Two and can definitely give you a fight.”

“Afraid of you?” Yuan Hanshuang smiled. “I’m just wondering if you’re not afraid of losing embarrassingly.”

The students watching nearby were stunned: she was just a common mimicry user, yet so arrogant!

Gudze, faced with the provocation, did not lose his temper as usual but calmly glanced at her. “Then I look forward to that day.”

This left Yuan Hanshuang puzzled. She thought it over several times and still couldn’t understand.

Gudze actually looked forward to losing? Could he be a masochist?

The next few days passed normally, with Yuan Hanshuang eating and drinking as usual, leading her followers in training.

Soon, the day of departure arrived.

Early in the morning, she instructed her father to stay home, stocked up ample nutrition fluid, slung her small backpack over her shoulder, and stepped out.

This was Yuan Hanshuang’s first trip away since transmigrating, and also the first time leaving Star 1999, making her naturally excited.

Her good mood lasted until they reached the Starport.

Students from the junior academy disembarked from the hovering bus one after another, passed through automatic ticket gates, and boarded the spaceship. Around two hundred students were participating in the live combat training this year, and once they boarded, the small starship was filled to capacity.

Since the journey was less than an hour, Yuan Hanshuang did not sit quietly but curiously stood on the deck looking around.

She noticed that interstellar ships were much like those from her past life on Earth, except one sailed on the sea and the other through space. Both were uncovered, protected only by a transparent gaseous shield. For example, now, if she looked up or stood at the ship’s rail, she could see the starry sea surrounding the ship, sparkling with countless stars—a breathtaking sight.

Of course, besides the ship, the starport also housed multi-deck luxury star liners. From afar, one could see swimming pools and lively banquet halls.

“Actually, these star liners are for the rich to vacation and enjoy themselves; the coolest are the star cruisers,” said Ke Junda with admiration. “Star cruisers’ warships are made entirely of spirit amplification materials, like the Empire Legion’s ships. They’re super flashy.”

Ten minutes later, the small starship slowly departed the starport.

“So beautiful,” Yuan Hanshuang said, resting her head on her hand, gazing at the boundless universe with emotion.

The ship’s speed was impressive. As it traveled, swirling nebulae could be seen. Stars passed by one after another, dim and deep, evoking a strange loneliness.

She wondered which one of these nebulae was the Earth of her previous life.

Just as a rare wave of homesickness stirred within her, she suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. At first, she ignored it, but her worsening complexion was noticed by the attentive Ke Escorted Dog, who was alarmed. “Boss, what’s wrong?”

His shout brought all the followers rushing over. “Boss, what’s wrong?!”

The commotion soon attracted the accompanying school medic.

After an examination, the medic sighed helplessly: “Besides having a big appetite, you also get seasick.”

Weakly, Yuan Hanshuang thought: unbelievable.

She had heard of carsickness and seasickness but never of spaceship sickness.

This ship was even steadier than the high-speed trains she took in her past life, equipped with a central gravity stone that allowed smooth ascents, descents, rotations—even 360-degree spins felt like walking on flat ground.

Coupled with her years of rigorous training and strong physique, getting seasick was simply inconceivable.

Yet the fact was undeniable; seasickness couldn’t be stopped. Not even the medic had a remedy. “Though the academy has corresponding medication, there’s no seasickness medicine for spaceships. Just endure it; we’ll arrive soon.”

As Ke Junda tried to find some water on the ship for the boss to ease her discomfort, the spaceship suddenly braked sharply, nearly sending Yuan Hanshuang flying.

Page (2/3)

“What’s going on? Why did the ship suddenly stop? You scared me.”

“Could it be a meteorite from outer space?”

Many passengers stood up, eager to investigate.

Soon, they understood the reason.

Above the vast starry sea appeared a beautiful star cruiser of pale gold.

Compared to this massive behemoth darkening the sky, their small ship was like a tiny fish encountering a blue whale in the ocean—so insignificant that a mere breath from the larger craft could send them flying.

Seeing the emblem on the star cruiser, everyone gasped.

“What’s happening? Are we encountering space pirates?” Yuan Hanshuang asked, still feeling unwell.

She had seen wanted posters for space pirates before—a profession much like sea pirates, wild and lawless.

“It’s not pirates,” Ke Junda said with a reverent gaze that gave one goosebumps. “It’s the Star Cruiser of the Bright Sanctuary.”

The name Bright Sanctuary was not unfamiliar to Yuan Hanshuang.

It was mentioned when the black street doctor and her father diagnosed her. To repair damaged memories and brain injuries, one needed either a Black Gold Treatment Chamber or the intervention of a Red Cardinal from the Bright Sanctuary.

The black street fighting arena had a public light brain system, and when she had time, Yuan Hanshuang had checked the name on the star internet. The Bright Sanctuary was one of the top interstellar powers, powerful enough to hold its own territory—the Papal States.

But being a religious power, like the Vatican occupying about sixty-one football fields, the Papal States of the Bright Sanctuary were but a single main planet.

That did not diminish its interstellar status.

The core cardinals of the Bright Sanctuary were all advanced support-type talent holders.

Everyone faces birth, aging, sickness, and death—so support talents must never be provoked.

The Bright Sanctuary had cultivated a very positive public image over the years. Unlike the villainous portrayals in web novels from her past life, they genuinely did good deeds, often going to remote worlds to offer free medical care. They avoided entanglement in politics between federations and empires and held charity fundraisers annually.

Ke Junda’s admiration stemmed from his childhood experience receiving free treatment and aid from sanctuary talent members.

“Why would the Bright Sanctuary’s star cruiser suddenly appear nearby?”

Unlike the students, Hong Nian gazed at the cruiser overhead with concern.

Having visited the capital planet before, he could tell this was no ordinary ship. It bore the sanctuary’s insignia and intricate patterns, appearing to be the exclusive vessel of senior sanctuary personnel.

Xiao Yunmeng asked, “Could it be here for exploration?”

“Impossible,” Hong Nian shook his head. “The barren planets near Star 1999 are just low-grade polluted worlds. They were fully explored decades ago during planetary development. Why wait until now?”

That made sense.

Xiao Yunmeng worried aloud, “Could it be a bug swarm?”

That guess was even less likely. If a bug swarm had appeared, the imperial legion’s warships would have shown up instead.

Fortunately, the incident passed quickly. After the Bright Sanctuary’s star cruiser went by, the ship resumed its course.

Soon, they arrived at the barren planet’s port.

Upon disembarking, the lead teacher spotted the star cruiser docked at the large warship berth.

“The sanctuary actually came to this polluted planet!”

The teachers were unsettled.

For years, this low-grade polluted planet had been the primary training ground for junior academy students, with no better alternatives nearby. Changing location at the last minute would mean losing a large amount of travel costs.

Hong Nian immediately decided, “No, I’ll go ask. If there’s anything wrong, better to know early and prepare.”

After disembarking, Yuan Hanshuang’s stomach turmoil finally eased. After a while, she asked, “The Bright Sanctuary is here, and we’re supposed to relocate? Are they going to impose a blockade and bar outsiders?”

“Not exactly,” Xiao Yunmeng replied. “The Bright Sanctuary isn’t that kind of authoritarian group. Teacher Hong is worried about possible mutations or powerful bugs on this polluted planet.”

Soon, Hong Nian returned with good news.

“Thank heavens, no mutations have appeared.”

He pulled up a map on his light brain and circled the mountainous center: “The sanctuary didn’t say why they came, only told us to avoid this area. We just need to be cautious when leading the students on their trials.”

The teachers breathed a collective sigh of relief.

This polluted planet had only three mountain ranges; the further one went, the stronger the bugs. With the students’ current abilities, they’d only train in mountain ranges one or two, unlikely to venture to the third.

Only Yuan Hanshuang still stared toward the star cruiser.

She had heard of the illustrious Bright Son, second only to the Pope within the Bright Sanctuary. It was said the sanctuary had a unique talent selection process; if no one qualified, the Bright Son position remained vacant.

This generation’s Bright Son was a prodigy who appeared after the position had been vacant for centuries. He awakened the oldest mythic mimicry the sanctuary worshipped, with a level so astonishing that current detection devices couldn’t fully assess it. The Imperial Academy of Sciences, after rigorous deliberation, gave him a special S+ rank with limitless future potential.

The only pity was that this glorious Bright Son was blind, reportedly due to side effects from awakening the top-tier mythic mimicry.

Of course, Yuan Hanshuang’s keen attention was mainly because Ke Junda said the star cruiser was the Bright Son’s personal ship. It was unimaginable that such a huge star cruiser was exclusive. Truly wealthy.

Looking at the dazzling giant, Yuan Hanshuang sighed, “How much do you think this costs?”

Ke Junda responded with a sigh, “Boss, private ships are one thing, but star cruisers can’t be bought with money. Only top powers and independent states own them.”

Glancing at the not far-off Gudze, he lowered his voice: “The Gu family has one too, but that’s the main family.”

Speaking of Gudze, Yuan Hanshuang noticed he was unusually quiet today, flanked by several men in black suits who didn’t look like academy teachers. Their purpose was unknown.

While the two chatted, the Bright Sanctuary’s star cruiser remained motionless. Soon, the teachers announced they would head toward mountain range one.

Unbeknownst to Yuan Hanshuang, as the junior academy group departed, the starport suddenly buzzed with activity.

Usually, only mining ships and mercenary fleet ships docked here on this barren planet. But today, not only had the Bright Sanctuary’s massive star cruiser arrived, another unknown black star cruiser appeared. These two giants blocked the entire starport, hovering in a tense standoff.

Behind the star cruiser’s anti-spy shield, sanctuary knights hurried down the corridor and knocked on the main command room door.

“Enter.”

A knight bowed and saluted the occupant inside: “Captain, Your Eminence.”

Inside the star cruiser’s command room, at the floating control platform, stood Yin Longjing, captain of the Bright Sanctuary Knights, and the Bright Son Lou Jia.

Yin Longjing frowned. “Subordinates confirmed it’s the ‘Black Tower’ people, but have not identified specific individuals.”

“Such useless information need not be reported,” Yin Longjing said. “The Black Tower’s star cruiser swaggered right into the starport. Do you think they care about hiding?”

The Black Tower was a rising organization in recent years, controlling black streets across the Federation and Empire.

Besides that, their business scope was wide, having recently infiltrated the mercenary alliance. Though a newcomer, after years of post-war recovery, they had clawed their way into the interstellar elite, only slightly behind old powers like the Bright Sanctuary.

“No need for further investigation. The appearance of the Black Tower’s star cruiser here means that intelligence has been leaked. There are only two possibilities: either there’s a mole within the sanctuary, or encrypted communications have been cracked and intercepted. Neither is a short-term problem. We shouldn’t focus our main efforts on this.”

This time, Lou Jia spoke from the side.

The boy wore a white robe embroidered with golden thread—the Bright Son’s robe. His long silver-white hair flowed behind him, and although his beautiful face wore a faint smile, his eyes remained closed, with white eyelashes visible.

As he ‘looked’ at the reporting knight, he naturally nodded, signaling no need for worry.

The knight’s tension instantly eased; he felt reverence and complete devotion.

His Eminence always possessed a calming, reassuring presence like a divine anchor, gentle as spring rain.

“So your meaning is...?” Yin Longjing whispered.

When speaking with this Bright Son, it was easy to forget he was only twelve years old.

In fact, within the sanctuary, he was absolutely one of the spiritual leaders. His words, in a sense, carried more weight than that of the Bright Sanctuary Knights’ captain, a Tier Eight expert.

“Have the knights keep watch on the Black Tower personnel and expedite decoding the ancient civilization’s tablets.”

Lou Jia lifted his head, as if gazing at the quietly drifting Black Tower cruiser outside the window. “I have a feeling the Black Prince has also come here.”

Page (3/3)