81: Civility assessment
"What's going on? I actually spaced out."
Zhang Sheng found that he had suddenly decelerated in space.
Looking at the blue planet ahead, it grew larger in his field of vision; the distance was no longer far.
"Finally, I'm almost there!"
Perhaps all the secrets of Earth's upheaval lay upon the blue planet before him.
Five thousand kilometers!
Four thousand kilometers!
...One thousand kilometers!
One hundred kilometers.
The gravity of this blue planet was only about one-third that of Earth.
Zhang Sheng approached cautiously, feeling no discomfort, nor did his Divine Sense detect any life or danger within its range.
However, the moment Zhang Sheng landed on the planet's surface,
the planet named Apocalypse by Earth burst forth with brilliant blue light.
Countless people far away on Earth could sense the blue light radiating from the Apocalypse Star.
"Oh no! What's happening?"
The Parasitic God Insect Emperor said anxiously, "Swift Dragon, did any of you head toward the myriad worlds pearl?"
"It wasn't us. We five brothers cannot sustain space flight for long yet; we can't reach the myriad worlds pearl at all!"
"This is bad. I suspect a local Earth native has reached the myriad worlds pearl!"
"Lord Insect Emperor, how is that possible? Even for our Swift Dragon Clan, one must reach the Peak Divine Breath Realm to manage that. How could these Earth natives?"
"Swift Dragon, you've just awakened. You don't know that there's a country on Earth called Huaxia that has produced two people with extraordinary Talent. We must act quickly!"
"Understood!"
The Parasitic God Insect Emperor did not tell the Swift Dragon about its former master, Rodi. Otherwise, if its kin knew it had once submitted to a human...
where would its dignity be?
Was it the Cultivator who killed Rodi?
Back then, before its Divine Soul had awakened within the Secret Realm, it had been made a contract beast by Rodi using his Spirit-Control Talent.
It was inconceivable that Rodi, who possessed the Devour Talent, would be killed by someone. Fortunately, that fool Rodi had left it outside the Secret Realm.
Otherwise, it too would have been unable to escape death.
"Hei Sha, gather all the ocean Yao Beasts and launch a full-scale offensive!"
The Parasitic Insect Emperor spread orders through parasites, mobilizing most of the Yao Beasts currently on Earth for a coordinated strike.
The primary targets were those countries and regions with large populations and low Cultivator combat strength.
Bengal, the Philippines, and so on.
The Yao Beasts of Mochong Star, having experienced the extinction of a civilization once before, knew clearly what it meant when the blue planet in the sky suddenly burst with light.
This myriad worlds pearl had once appeared around their planet as well... On the Apocalypse Star,
Zhang Sheng stared blankly at the underground passage slowly forming before him.
Steps extended into the depths, forming a passage leading to the planet's interior.
At the same time, devices resembling lights gradually illuminated within the passage!
What was going on?
Zhang Sheng stepped onto the stairs. Under the reflection of his Divine Sense, he found that it could not penetrate the walls even slightly.
The downward passage before him gave off a scent of technology.
Zhang Sheng had no choice but to brace himself and walk deeper into the passage.
Just as Zhang Sheng stepped onto the first stair,
the steps suddenly descended rapidly, as if Zhang Sheng were on an elevator.
Surrounded by four walls, even his Moon Slash Spell at the Perfected State could not damage the walls in the slightest.
A moment later,
Zhang Sheng looked at the bright hall.
"Where on earth has this taken me?"
The hall was hundreds of meters in diameter, with a blue orb about one meter in diameter at its center, looking like a miniature version of the Apocalypse Star.
"Greetings, human of Earth!"
"Who's there?"
"Who is speaking?"
Zhang Sheng stared at the orb; if someone was speaking, it had to be the orb in front of him.
Under Zhang Sheng's gaze, a pair of long legs stepped out of the blue orb, with light blue gauze lightly draped over the body.
Curvaceous and alluring, she was the image of a peerless beauty.
Zhang Sheng had never seen anyone so stunning and couldn't help but swallow.
"Do I look good?" The voice was ethereal and pleasant, cleansing the Soul.
"This is an appearance I meticulously designed based on Earthlings' aesthetics. I hope you like it!"
What did that mean? Fake?
Before Zhang Sheng could react, the beauty before him tapped her jade-like finger, and a wave of Divine Sense containing a vast amount of information flooded into his mind.
The feeling was just like comprehending a blue Jade Slip.
Zhang Sheng closed his eyes tightly. As he received the massive amount of information, he finally understood exactly why everything was happening on Earth.
His furrowed brows shifted constantly, finally settling into an expression of relief.
Zhang Sheng opened his eyes again,
his gaze calm and his expression resolute.
"So, are you willing to become the Planet Lord of Earth?"
"You can just call me Xiao Ling."
"Xiao Ling, do I have a choice? Our Earth Human Race will surely pass the Civilization Assessment and emerge victorious!"
In the vast Universe, new life-bearing planets and new civilizations are born every moment.
They are miracles created by heaven and earth.
The myriad worlds pearl projects billions of projections to patrol the Universe and seek out nascent civilizations.
Earth was one of the discovered civilizations.
The projection of the myriad worlds pearl was this blue planet.
It was the one that brought the Secret Realms, the cultivation civilization, and a trace of the Origin Law from this Universe's Lord of the Universe, granting humans their Talent.
All of this played out like a pre-designed program, constantly unfolding in various parts of the Universe.
The arrival of the Secret Realms was both a disaster and an opportunity; only civilizations that passed the assessment earned the right to continue surviving.
The monsters within the Secret Realms were projections of a civilization that had vanished in history.
If they defeated the nascent civilization, the once-vanished civilization could use this to achieve Rebirth and return to the present world.
It was the Rebirth of a civilization, not the Rebirth of its deceased inhabitants.
The dead are gone.
Even if an identical body were recreated and given the same abilities and memories, it would still not be the original being.
But such an opportunity was only granted to powerful civilizations, and it was a one-time chance.
Thus, for a nascent civilization, the Civilization Assessment was like Hell, with a very, very low probability of passing.
Even in the vast Universe, resources are limited; only strong civilizations have the right to survive.
The most precious thing the myriad worlds pearl projection granted Earth's humans was not Spiritual Qi or cultivation civilization, but Talent.
Talent was a gift from the Origin Law of this Universe's Lord.
Though it was only a tiny, insignificant trace, it was an embodiment of the Origin Law and one of the Universe's supreme treasures.
With their frail physical bodies, humans could not retain this trace of Origin Law for long.
This Origin Law would continuously leak away over time, returning to the Universe, which caused the phenomenon of human Talents disappearing.
There was only one way to retain this Origin Law, and that was to increase one's cultivation.
At the Divine Breath Realm, one could integrate this trace of Origin Law into their Soul, greatly slowing the rate of its loss.
But to completely master this trace of Origin Law, one's cultivation must be raised to the God Realm!
"Please input your Divine Sense information to complete identity registration," Xiao Ling said softly.
The Xiao Ling before him was essentially one of the myriad worlds pearl's artifact spirit Clones.
The blue orb flew in front of Zhang Sheng.
Zhang Sheng infused a strand of Divine Sense into it.
The blue orb instantly became transparent, and a line of information popped up on it.
"Civilization Serial Number: 0252465824617
Planet Lord: Zhang Sheng;
Being Type: Primitive Human Race;
Status: Undergoing Civilization Assessment;
Registration Stage: Third Stage of Secret Realm Assessment;
Civilization Potential Judgment Rank: Grade C;
Estimated probability of passing the assessment: 66.83%"
Then, the transparent orb continuously shrank and condensed into the shape of a ring, merging into Zhang Sheng's finger.