Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and asked, “Has this been proven?”

“Well, not really.” As he played with his ponytail, Kerlodd explained, “This kind of belief in a greater being and the creation myth behind the origins of the universe is most focused on by the Arcane Church, one of the three major civilizations in space. Their beliefs in the spiritual and the supernatural is the source of their power…”

“Stop. I know what the Arcane Church is.” Han Xiao stopped interrupted him mid-sentence.

“Sure. Right, where were we? Oh. These theories and beliefs of the universe’s mysteries are all different, but through them, different civilizations were able to come up with countless technological inventions and applications. So, from another angle, these theories are only a tool to be used to understand the universe; like tools, they all have their own pros and cons. Each tool is responsible for a specific task, and in the case of these theories, none can be considered the be-all-end-all.

“Our Godorans’ particle theory argues that all the particles in the world carry magic, and as such, our civilization started being dominated by the use of magic. Later on, as we discovered the usefulness of technology, we also started to do research to facilitate technological development. Both of these are only tools that we use to help understand the world.”

Han Xiao frowned. “You know quite a lot.”

“Haha. I’m a trained investigator. I have heard all sorts of things during my rounds in the different space stations that I’ve visited throughout the universe.” Kerlodd smiled. “Basically, all the unsolved mysteries in space are commonly referred to as the wonders of space, or Space Wonders. Inhumans are unlikely to be one such universe-wide mystery.”

Space Wonders huh… Han Xiao made sure to remember this.

Suddenly, the sound of cheering crashed over the chatting duo like a tsunami.

Han Xiao went onto the forums to check out the commotion as there was currently a live broadcast of the tournament. All the fights had come to an end, and a champion had been born.

For the team matches, Dynasty had clinched the top spot after a hard-fought battle against Long Sky, while Temple of God had closely followed behind as the third team. Although the three big guilds had lived up to their names and taken all three top spots, the other teams who managed to reach the top eight had all shown breathtaking performances. For individual matches, King Admiral had secured a victory in the finals and netted Dynasty two championships, causing their fame to skyrocket.

Frenzied Sword had defeated his opponent and secured his spot as third in the individual rankings. Due to his relatively new gaming career, he was dubbed the dark horse of the tournament.

The top three teams as well as the top three players from the individual matches on Planet Aquamarine had all qualified for the internationals. All three teams were from Chinese guilds, and countless players looked forward to seeing them compete on the global stage. The forums were bustling with discussion as if a national celebration was going on, and Dynasty was naturally the talk of the town.

After the end of the regionals, there was still an in-game year before the international games would start, and the matches could be considered to have already ended. However, the players’ excitement did not look like it was going to die down anytime soon.

Countless posts analyzed the winners from each region, and some teams started to make plans to prepare for future competitions. The guilds whose teams performed well also held numerous events to boost their own popularity.

They’re finally done with the matches. Those pro players are finally free. Han Xiao’s eyes gave off a weird glint as he prepared his next stage of action.

…

At the sanctuary’s square, the roads were bustling with players who were living in the excitement of the tournament. They each discussed their own favorites, and the pro players would occasionally show up themselves, exciting the crowd even more.

Of course, there were also the group of bros who believed in their luck, waiting day in and day out at Han Xiao’s usual stall for the next batch of loot crates.

“He’s coming.” The group of people stretched out their necks as they waited.

The truck drove by slowly before it came to a stop. Han Xiao walked off the truck, but it did not seem like he was going to sell loot crates as usual. Instead, he took a look around and said in a loud voice, “I have a perilous mission ahead, and I’m in need of helpers. I will be selecting qualified people to join my team. If you’re confident in passing my test, come.”

Immediately after, Han Xiao sent out the mission that he had previously written up.

_____________

Team Member Selection

Mission Introduction: Han Xiao will soon leave Planet Aquamarine in secret to begin a new adventure. He is looking for powerful people to fight alongside him. Those who pass his test can venture off into the stars with him.

Mission Requirement: LV 60

Mission Period: 5 days

Completion Requirement: Pass Han Xiao’s combat test.

Reward: 1 EXP and the qualification to go with Han Xiao on his journey.

_____________

This instantly caused massive waves among the players.

Everyone had widened eyes as they read through the mission information.

“This is so sudden. Can we now leave the beginner planet‽”

“I can’t believe we need to have max level before we can take the test. This is so frustrating!”

Up till now, the players had all been limited to their respective beginner planets, and none were able to travel into space. News of Han Xiao’s mission exploded within the present players, and they rushed to release this information onto the forums. The whole of Planet Aquamarine was shocked, and even players on the other planets were talking about this.

The forums were thrown into chaos once more!

Every single player’s attention was forcefully wrenched over from the previous competitions to Han Xiao’s shocking new mission.

Space in Galaxy was still a complete unknown to the current players, and many were curious and anticipating it. However, everyone was stuck on their beginner planet. Now that news had gotten out about a chance to venture off into the stars, something that should only have been possible in later versions, the players could not help but get more excited than ever.

This was a chance!

If they could follow Han Xiao, they would be able to travel into space much earlier than their peers, giving them massive advantages over the others.

Han Xiao had nonchalantly thrown out a mission with such huge implications that it was like a bomb had gone off. The players realized that Han Xiao had not actually mentioned going into space—rather, this information was revealed by the mission notice. The players were secretly happy as they thought that they had hit the jackpot and were able to glance into Han Xiao’s true intentions.

Naturally, Han Xiao had done that on purpose as he was aware how the players would react. He knew that the players would feel a sense of accomplishment when they saw this. Standing there, he just smiled as he watched everything unfold on the forums.

He was only planning on bringing the pro players, so he obviously needed a plausible excuse and could not be too obvious about it. The maximum level requirement would be able to filter out most of the casual players, while the combat testing could easily be manipulated by him. As long as they could last thirty seconds against him in a fight, they would have passed the test.

With this, he should be able to acquire all the professional talents.

The news very quickly caught the pros’ attention. These players were done with their matches and had nothing on their hand. There was still another year before they would fight on the global stage; however, as they were all already maxed out in levels, there was not much that they could do aside from personal training and trying to learn some new skills. Most of the winning teams who had qualified for the next stage were in the same position. But now, Han Xiao had given them a chance to adventure in a brand-new map.

New maps meant countless new possibilities!

These pro players could not have been happier. In their eyes, this was the same as a blessing from God, and this chance could not be missed.

..

On the second day, countless pro players gathered in the Sanctuary’s square. It was like a celebrity red carpet event. These star players dazzled the crowd as they walked on the road.

“Oh right. A while ago, wasn’t there a similar scene a while ago when Black Phantom started selling advanced knowledge?”

“There are still recordings of that time, but things are on a much bigger scale this time. Basically, all the pro players on Planet Aquamarine have come here today.”

“Both events have something to do with Black Phantom…”

The matches had just drawn to a close, and most players were still in the Sanctuary. This was one of the reasons that Han Xiao had chose this time to announce the mission.

Soon, a bunch of people had accepted the mission. Han Xiao walked back a bit to make some space and randomly chose a pro player who he did not recognize and said, “Hold for thirty seconds, and you pass.”

About a thousand people had accepted the mission, and they all discussed among themselves as they watched.

“Thirty seconds can’t be that difficult right,” said the Second Prince. “Even if I went one on one against a level sixty Boss in the wild, I could at least survive for a few minutes.”

Li Ge looked at the time and shook his head. “Thirty seconds for everyone is quite long.”

As the players chatted, the players and the pros all used [Detect] on Han Xiao to get some basic information.

_____________

Han Xiao (?)

Level: ?

Type: ?

Danger scale: Extremely Dangerous

_____________

“It’s all question marks‽” Everyone’s faces suddenly changed.

They had all reached Version 1.0’s level cap, and when they used the same ability on the other Boss-level NPCs, they could at least see some of the target’s basic info such as character level and character type. However, they could not see anything when using it on Han Xiao. There was even a question mark on his basic identity. He had to be at least five levels higher than them, right?

Ever since maxing out their levels, they had never encountered something like this!

Just how high was Black Phantom’s level‽