Chapter 1 A Grain of Star Sand

Xu Jingming sat at his desk, a grain of spacetime star sand suspended before him, waiting for his mental strength to penetrate it.

"This is..."

A single grain of star sand contained a world.

But this world was a broken one!

Xu Jingming's consciousness observed this fragmented world: "An absolute spherical world with a diameter of 3212.3817 kilometers."

The spherical space contained land and void. The fact that it had been cut into an 'absolute sphere' meant it was already damaged. From the first moment Xu Jingming's consciousness observed it, this broken world broke free from its frozen, sealed state and continued to collapse.

The land was collapsing! Rocks, soil, metal, and all kinds of matter were utterly annihilated into cosmic source power during the collapse, and spacetime turbulence raged wildly...

"Spacetime fluctuations can actually be so chaotic," Xu Jingming's consciousness observed, marveling. "In all my years of cultivation and experimentation in the cosmic starry sky, experimenting with moves time and time again, I've never felt such chaotic spacetime."

In the past, the spacetime fluctuations he had seen were like rivers stirring up waves, or the sea creating tides.

But at this moment!

It was as if the entire ocean had been completely turned over, a complete collapse of chaos! The chaos was many times stronger.

"Is this the true power of spacetime?" Xu Jingming experienced it, awestruck.

Having been a Source Lifeform for so many years, and because his No. 9 Primordial Battle Armor was best at spacetime manipulation, Xu Jingming had put a lot of effort into this area.

He had been studying the 'Spacetime Wormhole Model,' 'Cosmic Rift Model,' and 'Subsidiary Space Model' of the six primordial source power structure models of evolution, and he wasn't far from fully mastering them. He had also cultivated some other source power models.

Such as the 'Spacetime Well Model,' 'Cosmic Prison Model,' 'Origin Point Disintegration Model'...

Although he had only grasped some simple aspects of the models he cultivated in addition to his primary focus, and only understood parts of the more difficult ones, Xu Jingming's accumulation in spacetime, for the sake of exerting the power of the Primordial Battle Armor, was no less than that of the Light lineage.

The more he understood, the more shocked he became as he observed this collapsing, fragmented world.

"All matter has completely collapsed, and spacetime has become a chaotic turbulence," Xu Jingming observed as the collapse of the land continued for over an hour.

"Hmm?"

"Spacetime itself has begun to collapse."

Xu Jingming watched in disbelief.

In a normal universe, no matter how chaotic the spacetime turbulence, spacetime itself would still be intact. It was like a planet; even if there was constant fighting on the surface, a chaotic mess, the planet itself was stable.

But now, the fragment of a ruined world within the 'spacetime star sand' meant that spacetime itself could no longer be maintained.

"Whish, whish, whish~~~"

Similar to the sound of waves, the surface of the turbulent spacetime became unstable and began to split, disintegrate, and be destroyed.

"So, this is the shallow layer of spacetime." Xu Jingming greedily observed every scene of the collapse of the shallow layer of spacetime. These scenes contained endless changes, resolving many of Xu Jingming's past confusions.

"The Subsidiary Space Model—how exactly is a subsidiary space 'subsidiary'? I understand now; it's the connection of the shallow layers of spacetime." Xu Jingming understood one of the difficulties of the 'Subsidiary Space Model.'

Sometimes, it was difficult to understand through study, but seeing it with one's own eyes led to sudden enlightenment.

"There are so many spacetime interlayers?" Xu Jingming watched. "Why is spacetime stable? Why can't even a 'Spacetime Well' completely tear spacetime apart? It turns out there are so many spacetime layers, intertwined with each other, with a stability that's unbelievably high."

Although Xu Jingming had studied spacetime knowledge, he only understood about twelve layers of the spacetime interlayer. But now, hundreds of layers intertwined before his eyes, and as the collapse continued, even more spacetime layers appeared.

"The Prison race is good at void escape, but unstable spacetime fluctuations will reveal them. The spacetime layer obviously has a big impact as well."

"This is the 'Shadow Layer' in the spacetime layer..."

"This is the 'Mirror Layer' in the spacetime layer..."

Xu Jingming watched.

This kind of spacetime collapse was rare. The virtual world network couldn't simulate it! Even among the three supreme realms of humanity in the universe, only the master of Spacetime Islet had the means to extract a collapsing spacetime world with spacetime star sand.

After extraction, it would be in a frozen, sealed state.

Only when external forces penetrated the 'spacetime star sand' for observation would the frozen, sealed state be affected and disappear, allowing this fragment of a ruined spacetime world to continue collapsing.

"Our universe is stable and intact, so we can't see such a scene. I heard that spacetime star sand was brought back from a higher-dimensional space by the master of Spacetime Islet," Xu Jingming said excitedly.

Over the years, he had studied so many source power models of the spacetime lineage.

But this time, witnessing the fundamental collapse of all spacetime allowed him to see spacetime clearly from the inside out, from the shallowest to the deepest layer.

"Mr. Jian's 'Mirror Domain' is the control and utilization of the spacetime mirror layer. If Mr. Jian can perfectly master it, the 'Mirror Domain' can be elevated to the highest 'Mirror Universe' level, which is a universe legend," Xu Jingming watched.

"This is the flow layer of the spacetime layer... Spacetime fluctuations can be so intense, and spacetime wormholes can cross such vast distances; it's the key factor."

"I understand!"

"The Origin Point Disintegration Model! No wonder it needs to construct a 291-layer superposition structure; isn't that targeting the spacetime layers one by one?" The source power structure model of 'Origin Point Disintegration' appeared in Xu Jingming's mind, and many of his confusions were resolved when compared to the spacetime layers.

"The human race's predecessors who created the 'Origin Point Disintegration' model must have thoroughly examined every layer of the spacetime layer, understood the detailed structure, and then created this move in a targeted manner."

"I'm confident that if I study it for a few more months, I will definitely be able to completely master the 'Origin Point Disintegration Model.'"

Xu Jingming was extremely excited.

He continued to watch.

This fragment of the ruined spacetime world was still collapsing, and the further it went, the more thorough the collapse became.

...

Wu Hook Star Alliance, Cloudsea Star System, Rockspring Star.

Meng Tian, ​​carrying a backpack, walked down the street, where countless people were coming and going.

"They took back the villa they gave me, the virtual chamber they gave me; everything gifted has been taken back. Is this a warning to me?"

"Fortunately, the Human Alliance of the Universe has laws to guarantee the rights of Star Lifeforms. Even if my father tries everything to squeeze me dry, signing contracts under various names, he still has to give me the most basic share of the income."

"So I still have some money and can buy what I want through interstellar logistics."

"If there were no laws, I would probably be a slave."

"In fact, I'm not much different from a slave now." Meng Tian walked to a villa, which he had bought with his own money. He bought it with cosmic currency, and his father was very happy to sell it, even if he was putting pressure on him.

Because of the laws of the Human Alliance of the Universe, children who become Star Lifeforms must receive a share of the income. Therefore, fathers try to make money from their children's pockets through various means, such as buying and selling goods.

"Virtual chamber."

Meng Tian glanced at the virtual chamber, but did not enter. Instead, he turned and went to a bedroom next door, threw down his backpack, and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

"Three days."

"My Senior Sister asked me about the situation in reality. I've been avoiding her for three days. What should I do? What should I say?"

"My only relationship after all these years. I'm not willing. I'm not willing."

"But how can I resist the large number of contracts my father signed with me? And the power of the Qingyuan family, how can I resist?" Meng Tian felt powerless. His father was only a member of the Qingyuan family, yet he possessed a power that Meng Tian could not resist. The Qingyuan family was an even more massive behemoth.

"Living this kind of life, being squeezed dry, a life with no hope. What's the point of living?" Meng Tian lay there.

Although the sun was shining brightly outside, Meng Tian only felt an extremely heavy sense of oppression, so oppressive that he couldn't breathe.

Looking to the future, he saw no hope.

He once thought that if he spent his life earning money for his father, he could exchange it for the freedom to love. But in the end, even his marriage was predetermined.

"Hahaha..." Meng Tian laughed softly, mocking himself for living like a pathetic wretch.

******

Virtual World Network, Pearwood World.

Pearwood World was the 'official world' established by the Pearwood Group. In a magnificent office,

Xu Lixing sat at her desk, overlooking the beautiful Pearwood World through the glass window next to her. Because the two highest executives of the Pearwood Group were both women, the entire Pearwood World was also in a magnificent style.

"Miss, this is the contract with the Crimson Mongol Group, which requires your signature." A subordinate handed a document to Xu Lixing.

Xu Lixing took it and scanned it with her eyes as a Star Lifeform, quickly reading the entire contract. She smiled and nodded, "The Crimson Mongol Group is our primary partner, so the payment terms can be relaxed a bit. There's no need to be so harsh."

"This..." the subordinate said helplessly, "This is what the Crimson Mongol Group requested themselves."

"Alright then."

Xu Lixing nodded and immediately signed her name. With the Virtual World Network's notarization, it naturally had legal effect.

"Send the contract to the other party," Xu Lixing said.

"Yes." The subordinate took the document and left.

At this time, another female subordinate also entered the office and respectfully handed three documents to Xu Lixing. "Miss, these three documents all require your signature for confirmation."

According to the rules of the Pearwood Group, any transaction that reaches the level of '10 billion cosmic currency' must be signed by Xu Lixing or Li Miaomiao. If it exceeds '100 billion cosmic currency', it requires both of them to sign for it to take effect.

Xu Lixing looked at them, frowned slightly, signed two of the documents, and said to the other one, "You can study this document again."

The female subordinate's expression changed slightly, and she nodded slightly, "Yes."

It was rejected.

Although her team of subordinates was excellent, and she would sign off on most of their submissions, she would reject anything she wasn't satisfied with.

Li Miaomiao might have been trying to train her daughter, or perhaps she was just being lazy, so she left the group affairs that her daughter could handle to her. She would only review the things that she also had to review.

Therefore, Xu Lixing was the actual manager of the group.

After so many years, Xu Jingming had added investments again and again. Xu Jingming alone had invested a massive 3 trillion cosmic currency into the 'Pearwood Group'. This made the Pearwood Group a leading one in the Wu Hook Star Alliance.

Of course, looking at the Hunter Cosmos Domain, it was still very ordinary. After all, that little money could only buy a few star system territories.

Xu Jingming's spoils of war over the years were naturally far more than that, but he gradually increased his investment according to the group's expansion speed, so that the group could expand steadily.

"Three days."

After finishing her work, Xu Lixing sat alone in her chair, looking at the scenery of Pearwood World through the glass window. "My Junior Brother hasn't been online for three days! He hasn't even responded to the messages I sent him."

Xu Lixing frowned.

"I asked him about the situation in reality, and he said he was going back to ask his elders? And then he went missing? Even if we break up, there's no need to be like this," Xu Lixing lightly tapped on the light screen. "Director Liu, come to my office."

"Yes."

Soon, Liu Yige, the director of the Pearwood Group's Intelligence Department, arrived at the office. As an outstanding talent from the Blue Star Civilization, Liu Yige felt pressure being able to serve as the director of the Pearwood Group, and he worked even harder, trying to satisfy the two highest executives.

"Miss." Liu Yige arrived and respectfully saluted.

"Director Liu." Xu Lixing looked at him. "I want you to investigate a person. His name is Meng Tian Qingyuan. He is 35 years old, a seventh-order Star Lifeform, from the Hunter Cosmos Domain."

"Do you know which Star Alliance he's from?" Liu Yige asked.

Xu Lixing shook her head. "How long will it take to find out?"

"The Hunter Cosmos Domain is too big, but a seventh-order Star Lifeform at the age of 35 with an accurate name is relatively easy to find," Liu Yige said. "However, the official Human Alliance of the Universe restricts citizen information. We can investigate the Wu Hook Star Alliance in more detail. For other Star Alliances... it will take some effort. If it's within the Wu Hook Star Alliance, we can find it out within three days. If it's another Star Alliance, it may take about a month."

"That long?" Xu Lixing frowned.

"Fortunately, there are very few seventh-order Star Lifeforms at the age of 35. Talents like this will have their information collected by various parties. Plus, with an accurate name, I think I can manage it. Otherwise, under the citizen information confidentiality system, it would be impossible to investigate ordinary cosmic citizens," Liu Yige explained.

"Then investigate as soon as possible, the sooner the better," Xu Lixing ordered.

"Yes, Miss." Liu Yige immediately complied and went down.

Xu Lixing sat alone in her chair and smiled softly. "Hiding and not going online, do you think I can't find you?"