Chen Jin had been explaining things for half an hour.

“I can come up with technology that is a hundred years ahead of what we have now.” Chen Jin stressed this point to the three women.

Su Yun, Chen Xing Yue, and Chen Xiao Yue had their mouths hanging open in disbelief.

They were no ignorant fools.

Let alone a mature, commercialized, large anti-gravity device, even a fictitious “warp engine” that could be created within five years… He was talking about mythical technology. Once it was achieved, the footprints of human civilization would swiftly spread throughout the galaxy. A high-value stellar system, which would originally have required a couple hundred or even thousands of years to reach, would be bridged within a few years. The value contained in this was unimaginable.

Seeing the curiosity on the three women’s faces growing greater and greater, and that countless of questions were about to burst forth, Chen Jin did not bother to explain. He bid them adieu and left the luxurious villa.

…

On Earth, Chen Jin had his own reasons to come up with a ‘warp engine’ and other advanced technology, instead of continuing to squeeze the proverbial toothpaste roll empty. The economic benefit was, in fact, the second one on the list. The main reason, however, was still to prepare more backups routes.

The solar system was about to become less safe.

Nothing was known about those Protoss: the limits to their capabilities, whether their strength as individuals was powerful enough to be undaunted by nuclear weapons, their numbers, and how many of them were powerful. In the event of a conflict, there was no assurance of victory for the humans on Earth.

Chen Jin was thus quite afraid and worried on the inside.

Since this was the case, why did he regarded the Protoss as “enemies” straight out of the gate, and proceeded to develop a response plan?

The warp gate.

The warp gate connecting planet Haierfa was still on Earth. Apparently, there was no way to relocate it as of yet.

Once Earth was seized by the so-called Protoss, they would take away land, houses, and property and redistribute them under their ownership. The warp gate could also be discovered by a Protoss. The universe behind it would thus be exposed.

Even for this reason alone, Chen Jin would never let the Protoss do whatever they pleased.

The owner of this home called Earth could only be its humans, not arrogant and rude outsiders!

However, he had also prepared for the worst. If the power of the Protoss was way beyond imagination, so that even the most powerful technology could not rival them, running away would be inevitable. In that scenario, Chen Jin would retreat to Haierfa’s world while some of his descendants were evacuated to distant galaxies… He strove to reduce the loss of future generations. After all, if they were to flee at speeds faster than the speed of light, the Protoss would not be able to catch up.

…

Things happened quickly.

A few months later.

The changes occurring on Earth were getting more and more intense. The concentration of the “celestial particles” from the Heavenly Realm was getting higher and higher.

The number of “extraordinary people,””awakened,””monks,” and “wielders of power” around the globe was constantly increasing, and was now hovering at over 20 thousand individuals.

Of course, these people’s special abilities were mostly at the level of defeating five or ten ordinary people and had not yet reached an exaggerated or terrifying level. Ordinary guns and ammunition could still inflict damage upon them.

At present, the law could still preserve the peace, calmness, and order of daily life.

…

Wu Tian was a 23-year-old man, He was an ordinary youth ordinary in all aspects, was single (basically, kind of), and loved games and fantasy novels.

It had been almost two years since he had graduated. He had a simple and easy job arranged by the government, which required him to work four times a week, six hours a day, without having to work overtime. He earns about 20 thousand dollars per month, a below-average salary. In this second-tier city of Xiangnan, that was not enough for a lavish lifestyle, but it was sufficient for him to be ordinary.

He had a group of friends on the internet with whom he would meet occasionally. His life was, for him, very fulfilling.

Recently, however, the rhythm of his days had been partly disrupted. He had no idea what was going on. On one occasion, he unintentionally spawned a little ball of flame in his hands. When it happened, he was shocked. Thinking that it was a hallucination from excessive gaming, he rocked his head back and forth really hard. Later on, he tried to create another fireball—and, without expecting it, he succeeded in one go. The ball of flame flickered at the tip of his index finger, emitting a scorching energy. It lasted for two to three seconds until it gradually died out. A mild dizzy feeling flashed through his head, seemingly due to his excessive use of mental energy.

However, he had already grasped the crux of his ability. A wizard with “fire powers” was thus awakened.

Wu Tian was extremely thrilled. He immediately bragged about it in his circle of friends, which attracted a lot of jealousy and envy in turn:

“It’s just a fireball, mate. I can do the same thing with a lighter.”

“There are many kinds of awakenings: those include elemental magic, blood force awakening, chakra cultivation, pure spiritual power, enigmatic witchcraft, and many more… Wu Tian, I think yours falls under elemental magic.”

“Have you awakened in reality because you’ve played so much ‘World of Ode’? I’m also an Archmage over level 300 in the game. Why haven’t I awakened yet?”

“The experts say that it depends on affinity. Wu Tian has a greater affinity for magic, so he’s awakened.”

“Tsk. What’s the use of such a teeny tiny fireball?”

Though there were many voices of disdain, Wu Tian became the center of attention in his circle of friends, bringing him great satisfaction in his mind.

Furthermore, there were also economic benefits.

For example, if he were to open a live stream account, just conjuring several fireballs every day would quickly attract him hundreds of thousands of fans. After all, this was the hottest trend nowadays.

But, in the end, Wu Tian still quit his job and joined the Xing Hai company, something of which countless applicants could only dream.

He had an annual salary of five million. They would provide all the necessary resources to assist him in improving his ability. There were also other benefits and guarantees. Seeing such enticing benefits, Wu Tian couldn’t find a valid reason to turn down the offer.

The manager from Xing Hai Company who roped him in was also very straightforward: “Honestly speaking, with your academic qualifications from a third-tier university, and your ordinary IQ and EQ, you wouldn’t earn five million if you struggled for thirty years straight. You wouldn’t ever live in a luxury apartment, taste the food of the upper-class, and live the life of a successful person… you wouldn’t experience even one percent of the happiness of the rich.

“But now, you’re different. You have just become the one-in-a-million person who has awakened. Even if you’re just conjuring a tiny fireball, your life has reached a turning point…

“Hurry up and make a decision. At present, Xing Hai is the only company that shows this enthusiasm. Other companies are unlikely to slap down a few million dollars annually for just a little fireball. Xing Hai, on the other hand, is willing to train you and invest in you in advance. I believe that… you will make a wise decision.”

Wu Tian nodded continuously. “I’m willing to join Xing Hai.”

…

In order to understand people’s various new abilities, the Xing Hai Group took the lead in entering this market, throwing in a whole bunch of cash and plunging down this path with incredible zeal.

…

Su Hong City.

A small upper-middle-class district.

Around eight in the morning.

“Mom, I’m going to school.”

Chen Xing Qi, who was dressed in a school uniform and holding his bag, carried a piece of bread in his mouth while he strode off to school.

He was 17 and in his third year of high school. He had average grades in class, was rather good at sports, and was an eight out of ten in terms of handsomeness. However, he rarely spoke, giving others an impression of indifference. As he was quite good at basketball, and always had a cool look on his face, he was actually quite popular among the ladies.

But, deep down, Chen Xing Qi had relatively low self-esteem.

He often fretted over his awkward identity, even occasionally grumbling at his birth mother and throwing questions at her. He was very envious of most of his classmates, who had complete families. The thing he detested the most was parent-teacher conferences, because he could only bring in one person.

But although he had experienced stages of anger, protest, rebellion, and so on, he had finally failed to alter anything. He could only choose to accept his fate and the fact that his awkward social status would accompany him for life.

At that time, he made a wish: to become a great interstellar explorer, leave Earth, travel away from the solar system, and go farther and farther away, and so to find value in his inner heart and prove his abilities.

However, recently, he had felt like his body was going through some bizarre changes, especially at night. In his sleep, it always seemed like some silvery starlight was falling into his body like snowflakes, and was then converted into some kind of special energy. He tried to get a feel for the energy and guide it, and gradually formed a cycle within his body. In this way, the chi in his body was slowly building up, and its current was gradually accelerating. The benefits were remarkable. In just two or three months, his strength had spiked up substantially, and his height had leaped up to 180 centimeters. One could say that he was overflowing with vitality.

Subsequently, he figured out what was going on.

“Cultivation!”

A type of cultivation similar to that of achieving divinity. Having felt the mysterious “starlight,” and finding some information on the internet, Chen Xing Qi understood: I have trained myself into an awakening. I can meditate like the monks.

Moreover, his abilities and level of savviness were very high, making him worthy of the description of “self-taught genius.”

One time, when he saw seven or eight delinquents extorting money from a timid student, his daring flared up, and he went to teach them a lesson. Horrible shrieks ensued, and he defeated the delinquents all by himself without being hurt at all.

Little did he know that his outstanding feat had swiftly caught the eye of a legendary figure.

…

Planet Haierfa.

Crater City.

Chen Jin was listening to the artificial intelligence called ‘Yuan,’ who was reporting on his work.

“Master, thanks to the Chen Family Group’s monetary tactic, nearly 6,000 of the 20,000 who have awakened across the globe have joined the Xing Hai company over the past few months… we have seized up almost a third of those with powers.

“After gathering all these research subjects, we have used a variety of advanced scientific equipment and a great amount of computing power to decipher the mysteries of the awakened, and to explore the core principles of how individual strength can be made superior. We are a few months into our research, and have, indeed, discovered a lot of spectacular things.

“Under an ultra-high-definition microscope, we have captured a variety of strange elementary particles. Without a doubt, they are not of this universe.

“For instance, the speed of one mysterious particle is actually 105 times the speed of light. It has broken through this unwavering and unbreakable barrier that easily.

“Also, there are some mysterious particles that release ‘field energy’ and affect the atoms in the air. As an example, flames can be conjured by altering molecular chemical bonds and, finally, releasing light and heat, n a process similar to combustion.

“And there are some mysterious particles which, under the control of mental power, can achieve effects such as moving or knocking objects through space. The principle behind this is probably also that they affect the field energy of other substances, thus driving their molecules and atoms into accomplishing certain feats.

“Lastly, there is ‘mental energy.’ This is omnipresent, but, in the absence of the mysterious particles, even the greatest amount of it would still be unable to affect matter, powerless to break through the restrictions of the material.

“But, rather like quantum entanglement, your mental energy can easily influence the mysterious particles when they’re present, and, through them, the intensity of the field energy, which ultimately affects actual molecules and atoms.

“An idealized era, in which matter can be altered by the mind, has quietly come upon us.

“However, both materialism or idealism can, in essence, be explained and analyzed with science. In the end, the ultimate truth that lies within will be revealed… We should stick to the path of science and technology!”

Chen Jin nodded. Science was about getting to the bottom of something, knowing why it was happening and why it had to go that way, and understanding the working principle of all things.

However, as he watched AI Yuan’s process of deciphering the data, he saw “1.9%”… There were still a lot of properties that were yet unearthed about those inscrutable elementary particles.

Aside from that, Chen Jin received another piece of news: among the ‘awakened’ on Earth, there was one who had great talent and potential who was actually his lineal descendant. Serendipitously, he had become a wielder of magical power.

The person in charge of supervising him said: “Old master, it is unsafe to keep such a good seedling out there. Why don’t you bring him back to the family, or create an environment for him and prioritize his training? This a one-in-a-million occurrence, old master. The potential of your lineage must not be underestimated.”

Bring him back to the family?

Chen Jin sat down for a moment and looked at the kid’s details. But, in the end, he still shook his head.

“There’s no need to make a big splash and risk him into falling into an unnecessary vortex. Continue watching him from afar. If he encounters any difficulties, provide him aid.”

Descendants!

He was over a hundred years old, and, in truth, had a lot of them. Between his four sons, he had 70 to 80 descendants. The sons-in-law whom Chen Xing Yue and Chen Xiao Yue had brought in had also blessed him with 20 to 30 descendants. The total from the two combined was over one hundred. Moreover, Chen Jin never discriminated against any of them, no matter whether they were illegitimate children, or the product of an accidental “jackpot” with some woman. As long as the Chen family genes were present, their welfare was immediately guaranteed for life, and material care would arrive for them swiftly.

At the same time, he advocated for solidarity. Competition could exist among them, but discrimination must not… Every offspring of the Chens was to be assured of their personal standing and dignity. Whoever dared to countermand this rule would be severely punished.

The purpose of his design was to encourage his descendants to produce more offspring, since none would be abandoned.

“People must know that I hold two universes in my hands. What’s wrong with having more heirs?” Chen Jin muttered to himself. Having so many descendants did indeed make him feel a lot more secure.

…

Time flies. Five years had passed in a blink of an eye.

One particular day.

The fifth planet in the solar system—Jupiter, near the disc-like meteorite belt.

A dark vortex slowly unwound like a giant black eye.

As the vortex stretched outwards, and the celestial particles’ escape velocity surged, it abruptly spread to approximately a thousand kilometers across, and its center coagulated. Space shuttles covered in titanium and gold, gleaming with a dazzling radiance, spiraled out like the tip of a drill in a dense formation of more than 10 thousand vessels.

“Is this place our new home?”