paranoianovel Chapter 1: Tianlan
Chapter 1: Tianlan
Starry Sky United Universe Nation, Tianlan Galaxy, Tianlan Star.
In the distance, the star "Red Sun," a galaxy with an energy level of up to level four, had just torn open the horizon. On the cliff top behind the Tianlan First Academy, a group of Tianlan Chen family disciples, all over ten years old, were already sitting.
Breathing exercises, guiding techniques, breathing, meditation—facing the rising sun, young men and women each displayed their unique abilities, drawing in strands of invisible and intangible primordial energy into themselves.
Once this step was completed, the boys' cheeks flushed red as the primordial energy absorbed into their bodies slowly nourished their flesh and bones.
The power of the nascent sun contains a faint essence of the stars, yet it is the gentlest and most suitable for laying the foundation for the extraordinary beginning stage.
Half an hour later, the morning exercise ended, and the boys and girls dispersed in twos and threes.
……
"Brother Yao, how's it going? Any breakthroughs in your guiding techniques?"
On the winding mountain road, Chen Jingyu quickened his pace and caught up with a boy of similar age who was slightly thinner. As usual, he asked subconsciously.
The gaunt young man was named Chen Yao. He was also a direct descendant of the Tianlan Chen Clan. However, unlike Chen Jingyu, who pursued the path of cultivation, Chen Yao, who was over nineteen years old, insisted on practicing the Fire Guiding Technique.
As is well known, after countless years of development and evolution, humankind in the stars has long since formed three mature extraordinary cultivation systems: the Fire-Burning Warship System, the Interstellar Cultivation System, and the Wizard System.
These three pathways have been perfected over the long course of multiple eras, and their ultimate limit is the legendary starry mythology rank.
The difference may not seem significant, but if we're talking about the origins of human civilization, the Torch Human Civilization, which was one of the strongest transcendent forces in the entire universe at the beginning of a certain era, is something we can't avoid.
Combat beyond one's level, exploration of alien lands, mythical mechs, destroying a planet with a single shot...
With each light step, images floated through Chen Yao's mind. Even if they were just his imagination, they were enough to excite him.
After regaining his senses, Chen Yao gently shook his head.
Although the Flame Ship can easily fight beyond its level and has a huge advantage over the cultivation and wizard systems, awakening the Flame Seed is not easy now—at least much more difficult than the wizard and cultivation systems.
The explanation given by the human race's high command was that, as a branch of the Fire-Burning Civilization that had been scattered abroad, they had long lost contact with their ancestral homeland and severed their connection with the [Original Fire-Burning Source Species]. This directly led to a continuous decline in the Fire-Burning Awakening rate among their branch of Fire-Burning Human bloodline.
If the number of people with spiritual roots or wizarding spiritual power talents is one in a hundred or one in a thousand, then the probability of awakening the Seed of Fire is one in ten thousand, or even more exaggerated.
Seeing him shake his head, Chen Jingyu realized he had said the wrong thing.
Without awakening the Seed of Fire and without transforming into a psionic body, the cultivation speed of the Guiding Technique is notoriously slow, so how could it be so easy to break through?
"Brother Yao, don't worry too much. With the planetary origin crystal that Uncle Hua sent back, plus the added benefit of the clan's body-tempering recipe, I believe your guiding technique will break through again soon. At that time, the probability of awakening the Seed of Fire will definitely increase significantly..."
Chen Yao waved his hand lightly, not caring.
It wasn't that I was pretending to be relaxed; I genuinely didn't care.
As a member of the Chen family, his father was a third-tier Firefly Captain, and his maternal grandfather and paternal grandfather were both Nascent Soul (fourth-tier) cultivators.
In the Starry Sky United Universe Nation, his background is said to surpass that of 90% of his peers.
According to the training program of the direct descendants of the Chen family, the cultivation system they will follow in the future is usually determined when they are six to eight years old. The cultivation path is to learn breathing techniques and breathing methods, while the wizard path is to learn meditation methods, so as to ensure that they can set themselves apart from ordinary citizens of the universe country in advance.
Chen Yao was not without talent for cultivation or witchcraft. In fact, as early as the age of six, he had been identified as having three spiritual roots: earth, wood, and metal. In particular, his metal spiritual root was seven inches long—his talent, while not top-notch, was by no means bad.
If he had directly practiced breathing techniques back then, he would most likely have already passed through the "acquired reversal of innate" process at the level of an ordinary person (level zero), and reached the level of Qi Refining or Level One Wizard, just like Chen Jingyu and most of his peers.
（薪火舰长导引术体系：导引术lv0～lv9为零阶，对应零阶战舰为幽能飞梭；导引术lv10～lv19为一阶，幽能飞艇；导引术lv20～lv29为二阶，护卫舰；以此类推。）
(Cultivation system: Mortals are at level zero in terms of acquired and innate cultivation, level one in terms of Qi cultivation, level two in terms of Foundation Establishment, and so on.)
(Wizard system: Wizard apprentices start at level zero, level one wizards, level two wizards, and so on.)
In fact, it was precisely because of Chen Yao's own persistence that his parents never forced him to switch to the path of cultivation.
Blind confidence?
No, in the eyes of outsiders, he might just be a stubborn young man with a little talent in guiding techniques who barely broke through to level 5 two years ago.
But in reality, what he broke through two years ago was the Guiding Technique level 7.
This seemingly small difference between two levels is fundamentally worlds apart.
In this era of the decline of the Fireline System, the cultivation of Guiding Techniques has become increasingly difficult. Those who choose to follow the Fireline System usually have a Guiding Technique level of lv3 to lv4 at the age of nineteen—and this is already the group of people most suited to Guiding Techniques among thousands of peers.
Only those with exceptional talent have a chance to reach level 5. As for level 7, it can be said that there is an 80% chance of successfully awakening the Seed of Fire.
As for why I didn't rush to try awakening when I broke through two years ago, it was simply because I wanted to lay a better foundation so that I could awaken a higher quality Seed of Fire later.
Chen Yao knew very well that the higher the cultivation level of the Fire Guiding Technique, the higher the success rate of awakening the Fire Seed, and the better the quality of the awakened Fire Seed.
Colorless tinder, white tinder, blue tinder, purple tinder, orange tinder...
While the quality of the Seed of Fire can be improved later, the difficulty becomes increasingly astonishing when the connection with the Source Seed of Fire is severed.
Colorless flames have long lost their value for cultivation, and even white flames, which can reach the second tier, are only barely acceptable.
In interstellar noble families like the Chen family, it is stipulated that only those who awaken a Seed of Fire of blue quality or higher can obtain certain support from the family.
Otherwise, Chen Yao would most likely have tried to awaken at the age of seventeen, so why would he continue to silently persist until now?
It's important to know that after awakening the Seed of Fire and binding to the Fire Warship, with the blessing of the Psionic Body and the assistance of the warship's exclusive Psionic training room, the speed of cultivating guiding techniques can be increased tenfold, or even dozens of times.
Thinking about it, Chen Yao subconsciously reached into his pocket and grabbed the small, crystal-clear jade pendant that he always carried with him.
As he touched it, a data panel that only he could see appeared on his retina.
[Strange Item: The Mother of Miracles]
[Quality: Silver]
[Can be converted into: {Miracle Card Pool}]
[Fixed Cards: Health Card (Common), Health Card (Common), Spa Card (Premium), Refresh Card (Rare) 4/4]
【Effect: {Miracle Quest} {Normal Draw} {Critical Draw} {First Deck}】
[Note: A unique artifact born from the boundless starry sky over countless ages, capable of spontaneously condensing into countless wondrous cards, possessing immeasurable potential.]
Indeed, this is the source of all his confidence—a rare artifact from the starry sea that he acquired by chance in his childhood.