Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 86 Thunder Origin Star

When Qi Yuan left the Eternal Starfield, he was on a Class C spaceship, and the journey took nearly two years.

On his return journey, however, he had already switched to a newly purchased E9-class alloy spaceship, increasing his travel speed by nearly tenfold.

In less than three months, the ancient, dark blue sword-shaped spaceship had entered the Eternal Starfield and continued to travel towards an extremely remote area of space within the Eternal Starfield.

Leiyuan Star is a beautiful planet where oceans cover almost 80% of its surface.

However, the interior of this beautiful planet is a scene of devastation and ruin.

The once bustling cities have now been reduced to ruins.

Even not long ago, these ruins were filled with ferocious and monstrous creatures that roamed around.

The surviving natives of this planet became prey for these ferocious monsters.

Almost every day, tens of thousands of indigenous people lose their lives to these ferocious monsters.

In just a few years, the number of native humans on this planet has plummeted from nearly 10 billion to less than 1 billion!

Moreover, even the remaining billion people still live a precarious existence, constantly fearing the ever-present threat of a monster crisis.

However, this situation was completely reversed two months ago.

A large number of powerful stellar-level warriors descended from the sky and, in almost a single day, killed off all the ferocious monsters that had ravaged the planet for years.

Even some of the people behind this 'monster crisis' were arrested and imprisoned.

As for the surviving humans, they were properly resettled in newly built survival fortresses.

After years of living in darkness and suffering, the surviving indigenous people, who had been huddled in cramped 'shelters', finally had the opportunity to see the light again!
However, when they emerged from the shelters, all they saw was endless ruin and desolation.

Their former homes, civilization, and even their loved ones and comrades-in-arms were all completely buried in that horrific disaster.
In front of a massive survival fortress covering an area of tens of kilometers.

A large group of people, led by a young man in a white robe, were waiting quietly.

In an instant, a deep blue, ancient sword-shaped spaceship pierced through the planet's atmosphere and landed rapidly in front of the survival fortress.

Wow~
The spaceship's hatch opened, and a black-haired youth wearing a golden armor with intricate patterns, accompanied by a blue-skinned boy, flew directly down through the open hatch.

However, at this moment, a faint trace of gloom and coldness was vaguely gathered between the black-haired youth's brows.

The person who came was naturally Qi Yuan, who had returned from the Blue Bay Starfield.

Three months ago, when accepting the invitation from the burly man in the golden robe and the branch manager of Soya, Qi Yuan took the opportunity to briefly mention the matter of Lei Yuanxing and his clansmen, including Cang Fan, that had been troubling him.

Qi Yuan's troubles were nothing to the two powerful immortal gods.

With just a few words from the branch manager of Soya, who held a transcendent position in the Eternal Starfield, a large number of his subordinates immediately sprang into action.

Not only did they acquire Leiyuan Star from a slave organization under the name of the Eternal Branch of the Virtual Universe Company, but they also rescued Cang Fan and others who were far away on Leibao Star.

However, although Qi Yuan's two worries were resolved, the final result seemed somewhat unsatisfactory.
……

"Brother Qi Yuan, no, shouldn't I call him Director Qi Yuan..."

The young man in white robes standing at the front of the crowd was the first to step forward to greet them.

The moment Qi Yuan saw the young man in white robes, the gloom between his brows dissipated slightly.

"Brother Bu Chen."

Qi Yuan smiled and nodded to the white-robed youth, Bu Chen, "Thank you for your help during this time, Brother Bu Chen."

The young man in white robes was none other than Bu Chen, who had invited him to join the Virtual Universe Company. He was also the person in charge who was assigned by that Lord Soya to specifically assist Qi Yuan in resolving the troubles on Lei Yuan Star.

"Haha, Director Qi, you're too kind. This is nothing at all."

Bu Chen is now treating Qi Yuan with great politeness.

After all, this person's strength has now reached the Domain Lord level, and he is also highly regarded by Lord Soya.

Moreover, according to information that Lord Soya inadvertently revealed, the other party seems to be currently serving as the Director of the Martial Arts Department in a star region branch of the Lanting Universe Kingdom.

Although he was only one level lower than the other party in terms of rank, his power and status were completely incomparable.

“Brother Bu Chen, let’s catch up later. I’d like to meet my clansmen first.”

Qi Yuan smiled and nodded to the white-robed youth Bu Chen. After seeing the other nod, Qi Yuan took a few steps forward and looked at the group of Lei Yuan clan members who had been standing behind Bu Chen.

And it was at this moment—

"teacher!"

An elderly man with gray hair and a sorrowful face darted out from the crowd, then knelt heavily before Qi Yuan, and then—

"Ancestor!"

"leader!"

"teacher!"

The crowd in front of them bowed down in droves.

A large number of Lei Yuan clan members shouted different names as they collapsed heavily to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a series of low, suppressed sobs and cries came from the crowd.

Upon seeing Qi Yuan, countless emotions—grievance, sadness, and excitement—surged and erupted in the hearts of the Lei Yuan clan members, causing everyone to weep. Surrounded by these low sobs, Qi Yuan also felt an unprecedented anger and hatred rapidly spreading through his mind.

Even in his eyes, blinding lightning began to gather and flash.

Before arriving at Leiyuan Star, he had already learned about the situation of Leiyuan Star in recent years through the Eternal Branch of the Virtual Universe Company.

In less than ten years, he, the ancestor of Leiyuan Star, and a large number of high-ranking members of their clans were arrested and sold into slavery.

Subsequently, the entire Leiyuan Star was reduced to a 'breeding ground' for a certain slave organization.

In order to catalyze a large number of planetary-level and even stellar-level slaves more quickly and in greater numbers, the slave organization that controls Leiyuan Star has released a large number of ferocious beasts onto Leiyuan Star.

The hope is that under the survival pressure brought by these numerous ferocious beasts, the potential of the surviving Thunder Origin Star people can be stimulated, thereby enabling them to advance to higher ranks more quickly.

This is also a very popular way of training slaves in the universe.

Under the constant pressure of life-threatening crises, the instinct for survival will erupt, and the probability of advancing in cultivation will greatly increase!

Although many slaves will die in the process, those who survive will be the best of the best.

Moreover, the weak die while the strong survive, and this process of selection and reproduction continues, which will continuously improve the potential of the entire race and increase the probability of producing outstanding offspring.

However, this training method comes at a heavy price—

In less than 10 years, the population of the entire Leiyuan Star has plummeted from tens of billions to less than one billion.

The death rate exceeded 90%!

This is no longer simply exploitation and oppression, but a brutal massacre! It is hatred that borders on genocide!
Moreover, this wasn't the only thing that annoyed and angered Qi Yuan—

The planetary-level clansmen, including the eldest disciple Cang Fan, who had originally thought their situation would be slightly better, were now in a situation that was also contrary to their expectations!
There were several hundred planetary-level people who went to Thunderstorm Star with him back then.

However, Bu Chen brought back fewer than a hundred people from Thunderstorm Star this time.

Moreover, almost all of these fewer than one hundred people were severely eroded by lightning energy, and even their cultivation foundations had suffered varying degrees of damage.

Reclaiming Leiyuan Star and rescuing Cang Fan and his clansmen... Qi Yuan's two main objectives for returning to the Eternal Starfield seem to have been achieved, yet the outcome of each one fails to truly satisfy him...

Qi Yuan stood silently for a long time, and finally only a slightly heavy sigh came from his throat.

"You...you have suffered..."

At the forefront of the crowd, the eldest disciple, Cang Fan, with his gray hair, felt even more grief, indignation, and shame upon hearing the sound.

"Teacher, disciple, disciple..."

With the restoration of our ancestral star, our escape from the dark and gloomy mines, and now our teacher's safe return, this should be a cause for great joy and celebration.

However, when Cang Fan thought of his teacher's last words and the clansmen who lay buried in the dark mine, he was filled with immense guilt and self-reproach, to the point that he couldn't even speak.

"Get up, everyone..."

Qi Yuan sighed, then raised his hand and gently waved it, a soft force lifting all the kneeling clansmen to their feet.

Then, with a slightly stern look, he turned to Cang Fan in front of him:
"Tell me what happened after I left Thunderstorm Star. How did you end up like this?"

"And... what about Hugo? Didn't he go back to Thunderstorm Star back then?"

"teacher……"

Upon hearing Qi Yuan's question, Cang Fan, with his graying hair, could only suppress his guilt and grief, and after a moment's thought, replied to Qi Yuan.

“Teacher, after you left, everything went on as usual at first. The castle even provided us with some basic cultivation supplies.”

"Until one day, I saw a terrifying battle erupting outside Thunderstorm Star. It was a powerful being fighting against hordes of enemies, and even spaceships were involved!"

"That battle was terrifying. Even the endless thunderclouds surrounding Thunderstorm Star were shaken apart in large sections. In the end, the powerful figure managed to escape after destroying two warships."

"Shortly after that, I felt the control of the slave chip disappear, but before we could find a chance to escape, another group of people captured us and took control of us again."

"These people are far more ruthless than the previous ones. Not only have the tribesmen received no supplies, but their rest time has also been squeezed to an extremely short duration. Many tribesmen..."

"Many of our people died because they stayed in the lightning crystal mines for too long and were unable to neutralize the lightning energy that had entered their bodies..."

Cang Fan didn't continue, but based on the physical condition of the returning disciples, Qi Yuan could naturally guess their fate.

"Alas, you have suffered..."

Qi Yuan repeated this sentence again.

At that time, I abandoned my clansmen, Cangfan, and left alone without hesitation. Although it wasn't wrong, I still felt a little sad and guilty.

His gaze swept over Cang Fan, then looked at the Lei Yuan clan members behind him, whose faces showed neither joy nor sorrow, before stepping past them to look at the desolate land further away.

It's like certain emotions from your past life are revived within you, or like a natural reaction when you put yourself in someone else's shoes.

Qi Yuan felt an overwhelming surge of anger rising within him.

But beneath this rising anger, one thought quickly became firm—

"The consequences of today must be investigated to their root!"

Sorry, everyone.

My wife went to class this weekend, so I had to cook and take care of the kids at home. The update is a little late, please bear with me!

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(End of this chapter)