Chapter 1157: The Empire's Arrangement! Ye Lan!

The main star of the Noah Empire.

As a Level 1 intelligent lifeform, Lord Hei Yu is responsible for the intelligent operation of the entire Noah Empire, including hundreds of millions of life-bearing planets.

However, those planets are managed by her sub-bodies; her true body is responsible only for the ten mother stars where the Noah Empire is located.

At this moment, she received a message sent by Eva from 4.47 million light-years away.

"A native planet with only one-twentieth the normal level of Yuan energy somehow produced a Level 2 prodigy?"

The Noah Sacred Ground, though the trial tower Xu Jingming entered had lost contact with the main star.

But as the master control intelligence of the Noah Empire,

Lord Hei Yu instantly received the information left by her sub-bodies on the spacecraft and gained full control over everything that had occurred to Xu Jingming inside the trial tower.

She was also fully aware of how improbable it was for a barren native planet like Blue Star to produce a Level 2 prodigy.

After all,

Even among the hundreds of thousands of life-bearing planets under Noah Empire's rule that have already entered interstellar civilization, the probability of producing a Level 2 prodigy remains low.

"That's somewhat interesting. Let me see where he is right now."

Before even meeting him, Lord Hei Yu showed considerable interest in Xu Jingming and quickly determined his location:

"Qinglan Star? 4.47 million light-years from the empire's capital. Too far to reach from the mother star."

"Hmm, my Sacred Ground has a student squad nearby completing a mission and about to return—perfect, I'll have them pick up this little one and bring him back..."

Lord Hei Yu quickly located a cosmic fleet near Qinglan Star.

She assigned the task of retrieving Xu Jingming to the mother star and replied to Eva.

Normally, an ordinary Level 2 prodigy would not merit such treatment—she wouldn't personally dispatch a ship to fetch him.

But if he could grow into a Level 2 prodigy in a place as desolate as Blue Star,

how far might he advance on the empire's mother star, where resources are far more abundant?

After all, the Yuan energy concentration on the empire's mother stars is over a hundred times greater than that of Blue Star.

This is precisely why all the prodigies across the empire's territory strive to come to the Imperial Sacred Ground to cultivate.

In the deep void approximately 600 light-years from Qinglan Star,

a massive silver-gray warship was traveling at ten times the speed of light.

This 1,000-meter-long "Noah-X20" warship is one of the Noah Empire's main battle vessels.

Classified as a B7-class vessel, equipped with a warp engine, it could return to the Noah Empire's mother star 4.47 million light-years away in less than twenty days.

Even within the Noah Empire, it is a high-specification vessel.

The warship can carry up to a thousand warriors, yet it currently holds only seven passengers.

"I never expected Ker Star was seized by the insect race."

"Yes, thank goodness the captain was here—otherwise we'd have been in serious danger."

"A T5-level Phantasm is truly extraordinary."

"......"

In the warship's command room, the crew continued discussing their recent mission.

As students of the Noah Sacred Ground, the Sacred Ground provides them with some resources,

but most resources must still be earned through completing missions.

They had just finished their mission and were preparing to return to the mother star.

At the frontmost position in the command room stood a young girl.

The girl had a tall, slender figure with near-perfect proportions; her skin was as white as snow, glowing with a luminous sheen under the cold-toned cabin lighting.

She wore a form-fitting silver-white battle suit that accentuated her slender waist and long legs.

Her expression was cold and detached, yet carried an undeniable aura of authority.

Her features were exquisitely sculpted, her eyes like deep, mysterious amethyst crystals.

Her pale purple hair flowed like silk down to the curve of her firm hips.

This was their captain, Ye Lan, a Star Level Two cultivator.

She mastered both Space and Wind Laws, making her a formidable Level 1 prodigy.

"Received notification from the mother star: we are to travel 600 light-years to Qinglan Star to retrieve a new Level 2 prodigy named Xu Jingming."

At that moment, the ship's AI voice suddenly sounded.

"Aren't there dedicated fleets assigned by the mother star? Why are we being sent to pick him up?" someone in the team immediately asked.

"The specifics are unclear—it was Lord Hei Yu herself who issued the order directly to me," replied the AI's electronic voice.

"Lord Hei Yu herself issued the order?"

Many were surprised, yet one remained calm and said:

"Don't you remember Zuo En? He's only a Level 3 prodigy, yet still received special attention from Lord Hei Yu?"

"That's true—looks like this guy's background isn't simple either."

Everyone suddenly understood.

The Noah Sacred Ground publicly claims to recruit only prodigies from within the empire's territory.

But exceptions always exist—like the infamous Zuo En within the Sacred Ground.

This guy is already 224 years old and still only at Star Level One.

He hasn't even comprehended any Law, still stuck in the Domain stage, and even then, only a single-domain Domain.

On an ordinary planet, he wouldn't even qualify as a prodigy, let alone have the qualifications to enter the Sacred Ground.

Yet he is a direct blood relative of an Immortal-level powerhouse; he doesn't need talent—he has privilege to enter the Sacred Ground.

"Captain, should we go pick him up? If not, we can just refuse."

Several people turned to look at the tall girl at the front.

People like Zoen, though rare within the Sacred Ground, were not entirely absent.

Most of them were aristocratic brats; causing trouble and bullying others with power were commonplace.

Aside from sharing the same stench, most people disliked associating with them.

Xu Jingming, specifically instructed by Lord Hei Yu, was naturally grouped by them as a similar aristocratic brat.

Their captain, Ye Lan, came from an ordinary background and had faced no small amount of harassment from these people since entering the Sacred Ground; she harbored particular disdain for such individuals.

"No need. Proceed as usual." Ye Lan's voice rang out, utterly ethereal.

The remaining team members exchanged glances, understanding that their captain intended to endure her revulsion and carry out the mission regardless.

After all, Lord Hei Yu was a sentient lifeform of the Sacred Ground; this was merely a pickup mission—no need to refuse outright.

Swish—

The warship, originally headed toward the Noah Mother Star, immediately changed course and began traveling toward Qinglan Star.

Their warship was equipped with a warp engine; the 600-light-year distance would take only half an hour to cover...

"S-class, contact with Lord Hei Yu established! The Empire's ship will arrive in half an hour."

On the other side, just as Li Sha had begun preparing to tour Qinglan Star, Xu Jingming's mind echoed with Eva's voice.

"So soon? The Noah Empire's mother star is 4.47 million light-years away from us." Xu Jingming was surprised.

He had expected to wait at least one or two months here before the ship arrived.

"I don't know either, but since it's Lord Hei Yu's reply, there should be no issue."

Eva replied, "We need to head to the spaceport first and wait."

"Alright."

Now that contact with the Noah Empire had been established, there was no need to continue wandering; Xu Jingming immediately told Li Sha to take him back to the port.