The Legend of the Heavenly Emperor

【After spending several decades in the Realms, you had at least gained a decent understanding of its rules for survival.】

【In three words, they could be summed up as: bloodline supremacy.】

【On Fortune Star, the Winged God Cult ruled everything. Its dominant race was the winged race, so winged people were the most noble and enjoyed every privilege and benefit.】

【As for the other races, the closer a race’s relationship with the winged race, the higher its status.】

【On Blazelight Star, things depended on the region, because no one ruled the entire planet.】

【In the territory of the Skyfiend Sect, which was dominated by the dragonkin, the dragonkin were naturally the most noble. Likewise, races with close ties to the dragonkin enjoyed relatively higher status.】

【It was worth mentioning that, regardless of the planet, the human race had the lowest status everywhere.】

【Still, compared with Fortune Star, the situation for humans on Blazelight Star was practically a legendary improvement.】

【That was because there were sects led by humans here, along with a small amount of territory. They were merely extremely weak, surviving in the cracks between the great sects of the other races and serving as a buffer zone in the struggles between those major powers.】

【You also discovered that humans were the most populous race on both planets.】

【That was because humans faced the fewest restrictions on reproduction.】

【In theory, if a woman gave birth this year, she could have a second child the following year.】

【But most other intelligent races had something akin to a “reproductive cooldown.” If they had one child this year, they would have to wait many years before having another. Some could even have only one child in their entire lifetime.】

【Today, you had transformed into a member of the dragonkin and stood before the Skyfiend Sect. The treatment you received was only to be expected.】

【While members of the other races had to queue up to climb the mountain and seek admission, you were immediately ushered in enthusiastically and personally received by an elder in the Hall of Elders.】

【Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as you had expected.】

【“Where do you live?”】

【You gave them the exact name of a place—a town near where you had previously undergone arduous cultivation.】

【On this planet, people did not refer to places as “such-and-such country” or “such-and-such city.” Instead, they said “such-and-such sect, such-and-such city, such-and-such town.”】

【“Do you have any parents?”】

【“No. I’m an orphan.”】

【“Any brothers or sisters?”】

【“No. I’m an only child.”】

【“Then you must have some relatives. An uncle? An aunt?”】

【“No. My parents were both only children too.”】

【“You must at least have some friends, right?”】

【“Uh…”】

【You had come to seek admission, yet instead of checking your aptitude, they started by investigating your household registration.】

【There was only one reason: you could not produce a residence permit for Blazelight Star.】

【You had once considered forging one, but you could not find anyone who offered that service.】

【You had also considered stealing someone else’s residence permit and using “Tribulation of the Myriad Races” plus “Asian Sorcery” to disguise yourself as its owner.】

【But that method had failed.】

【The inspection teams patrolling the local areas had ways to see through such simple physical disguises.】

【They directly tested people’s blood. The information in the blood had to match the information on the residence permit.】

【That was why you had not used that method when visiting the Skyfiend Sect today.】

【If even the inspection teams could verify someone’s identity, the three great sects of Blazelight Star could certainly do the same.】

【You were currently wearing the appearance of a dragonkin. The other party would not punish you for that, but you could sense that the elder of the Skyfiend Sect had grown suspicious.】

【Seeing that you could no longer keep up the lie, you came up with an excuse and slipped away.】

【Once you reached a place where no one was watching, you restored your human appearance, leaving the people following you completely baffled and allowing you to escape.】

【“Why do they have to be so strict? When accepting disciples, they should just look at their aptitude and character. Why do they need to check someone’s household registration? What are they guarding against, anyway…?”】

【You grumbled about the Skyfiend Sect as you walked.】

【In fact, the Skyfiend Sect was hardly unique. Every major sect on Blazelight Star was just as particular.】

【It was understandable when you thought about it.】

【You could alter your appearance through the effects of a Trait. Naturally, there were others who could change their appearances through cultivation techniques or treasures.】

【In a world where bloodline supremacy reigned above all else, a person’s race was simply too important to permit the slightest carelessness.】

【Of course, the major sects preferred to allocate their finest resources to members of their own race.】

【However, if they accepted only their own kind, their sects would have too few people and appear desolate. Thus, they also took in members of other races as outer disciples, menial disciples, and the like.】

【“I originally planned to seek admission to a major sect of another race, but that looks impossible now. I can only try one of the smaller human sects. I wonder whether a human sect would accept me without a residence permit…”】

【Cultivation resources and knowledge were monopolized in every world.】

【If you did not join an opposing faction, it was extremely difficult to obtain systematic instruction from the outside world.】

【Trying to practice by exchanging knowledge with rogue cultivators was hardly a sound strategy. One careless mistake and you could suffer cultivation deviation.】

【Year thirty-eight. Age sixty-two.】

【While traveling toward the territory of a human sect, you heard a bombshell of a piece of news.】

【The tomb containing the garments and crown of the ancient Heavenly Emperor, the Heavenfire Mystic Maiden, had been discovered—and it was right here on Blazelight Star!】

【For the moment, forces from every side were rushing toward the Heavenly Emperor’s tomb, competing for the legacy the emperor had left behind.】

【“The Heavenly Emperor… What level of power does that represent?”】

【This time, you had not transformed into another race. You were simply yourself.】

【The several alien rogue cultivators drinking tea with you all looked at you with contempt when they heard the question.】

【“You don’t even know what a Heavenly Emperor is? What backwater village did some ignorant human like you crawl out of?”】

【They had nothing better to do, so although they mocked you a few times, they still went on to discuss the subject.】

【The vast and boundless universe of the Realms was so enormous that no one could say how large it truly was.】

【Powerhouses gathered here, and colossal forces spanning countless stellar systems shone as brightly as the stars themselves.】

【A star together with its planets, comets, asteroids, and other celestial bodies formed a stellar system.】

【For example, you were currently in the Sacred Sun System, whose sun—the one you saw overhead—was called “Sacred Sun.”】

【A great number of stellar systems formed a star realm.】

【For example, you were currently in the Southern Star Realm.】

【The five great star realms—the East, South, West, North, and Central—formed a native galaxy.】

【For example, the native galaxy you were currently in was known as the Milky Way Galaxy.】

【At present, even the most powerful Immortal Emperor-level giants could rule only a single galaxy. None of them were capable of ruling across galaxies.】

【In other words, in this era, every native galaxy had an Immortal Emperor stationed within it. Each one was the supreme powerhouse and ultimate authority of their galaxy.】

【However, in ancient times, multiple Heavenly Emperors had unified the entire Realms, standing above countless native galaxies and suppressing the cosmos.】

【Every Heavenly Emperor had been the absolute protagonist of their era. The myriad races bowed their heads before them, and none dared to disobey.】

【The might of a Heavenly Emperor was powerful enough to shake the most fundamental laws of the Realms, allowing them to rewrite space, time, and causality with ease.】

【Those Heavenly Emperors never appeared together in the same era. They succeeded one another, each taking the stage after the previous one had left it and each dominating their own age.】

【The successors did not need to inherit the glory of those who came before. Relying solely on their own overwhelming strength, they could once again unify the universe and claim the throne of Heavenly Emperor!】