Master, it seems we've broken the law.

Over the past five days and five nights, the tier-seven energy crystals had been completely depleted after completing roughly seventy percent of the journey.

Lan Tian had searched through Qipeng’s storage bracelet once again, but all of them combined amounted to only a few hundred tier-five and tier-six energy crystals. After contributing another six percent or so to the journey, these lower-grade energy crystals were also entirely exhausted, finally leaving them with nothing left.

Following that, the two of them plunged into a grueling trek of recovery, consumption, renewed recovery, and renewed consumption without a single moment to catch their breath. It was not until this very moment, upon arriving at Huidu Star and swiftly putting away the Blazing Gold Divine Armor just before the spatial fluctuations vanished, that Lan Tian finally relaxed his tense nerves.

Five days—neither long nor short. Yet for Earth at present, accidents could happen on any given day. With his heart constantly tethered to Earth’s safety, the very first thing Lan Tian did after putting away the Blazing Gold Divine Armor was to log into the Virtual Universe Network and teleport back to Earth.

Earth was, of course, safe and sound.

After conducting a thorough investigation to ensure no traces of the Yuanlan Empire were anywhere to be found on Earth, he reluctantly bid farewell to his parents and Wang Ling before returning to reality.

"Whose... small garden is this?" Only after finishing the flurry of tasks did Lan Tian have the leisure to examine his surroundings.

He and Qipeng found themselves standing in a courtyard resembling a small garden. Because of the spatial jump executed by the Blazing Gold Divine Armor, the spatial fluctuations had not only blasted a massive crater into the ground, but potted flowers and plants that Lan Tian had never seen before were also caught in the aftermath, leaving the scene in absolute ruin.

"Master, it seems... we've broken the law..." Qipeng surveyed his surroundings as well, rubbed his nose, and said with a troubled expression.

"Broken the law? What law?" Lan Tian asked, perplexed.

"Trespassing into private property without the owner's permission. According to Huidu Star's laws, that's punishable by up to a month of detention..." Then, noticing the devastatingly crushed flowers and plants, Qipeng’s expression turned somewhat peculiar as he continued: "That yellow flower with a broken neck—yes, right there under your foot—that is a Golden Sage Begonia. Its market price is around fifteen hundred Yuanlan coins, equivalent to one and a half tier-five energy crystals..."

"And that silver six-leaf sword orchid whose roots have been ground to dust... based on Huidu Star's market prices, a gray three-leaf sword orchid costs over five thousand Yuanlan coins, and the price doubles for every additional leaf. This silver six-leaf sword orchid alone is probably worth a staggering forty to fifty thousand Yuanlan coins, equivalent to four or five tier-seven energy crystals..."

"Other flowers of varying prices that I can't quite identify won't even be mentioned... In short, our current offenses of trespassing into a private residence and destroying a massive amount of someone else's valuables are probably enough to get us locked up for three years..."

"So... you're telling me I'm going to prison the moment I arrive on Huidu Star?! It's just some pocket change in Yuanlan coins, I'll pay for the damages." Lan Tian was left speechless, never expecting his luck to be this terrible. However, recalling that his Virtual Universe Network account currently held over ten million universe coins and five hundred million Yuanlan coins just sitting there, he felt quite confident.

"Master... I don't think this is a matter of whether we can pay for the damages or not," Qipeng said with a bitter face. "If the owner of this place is unwilling to accept your compensation, things are going to get genuinely difficult..."

"You should know that Huidu Star is the capital planet of the Huidu Dynasty. You could say it is a gathering place of elites, Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons. Because everyone flocks here, the vast Huidu Star actually feels rather small compared to its population. There is no such thing as an urban center or a suburb on Huidu Star; every single inch of land is worth its weight in gold..."

"With my strength at the lower stellar domain level, I am the deputy commander of the city defense forces for the First District among the one hundred and twenty living districts of Huidu Star, yet on Huidu Star, I merely own an ordinary residence of just over a hundred square meters."

"And that's located way back in the one hundred and third district, on the five hundred and sixtieth-something floor of some ordinary apartment building..."

"Therefore... a standalone luxury mansion with a private courtyard like this is definitely astronomical in price. As for the owner of this mansion—though I don't know who they are—one thing I can be certain of is that they are definitely not lacking in money..."

"So, this matter can probably never be resolved with money alone..."

"Should we make a run for it before we get caught?" Hearing this, Lan Tian clicked his tongue in dismay, truly depressed. He wasn't afraid of paying compensation at all, but if he really got detained, it would spell huge trouble. He simply didn't have time to waste here, so he directly suggested fleeing immediately.

However, upon seeing Qipeng persistently gesturing with his mouth toward a certain direction, he looked up, his expression instantly collapsing as he said powerlessly, "Uh... never mind, pretend I didn't say anything..."

In the direction Qipeng was pointing, a fist-sized, exquisitely crafted metallic eyeball was suspended in mid-air, staring intently at the two of them. Red light flickered constantly from deep within the eyeball—clearly, this was a surveillance camera...

It seemed high-tech planets had their disadvantages too. Along with the convenience of daily life came a web of restrictions. Surveillance was everywhere, and escaping after committing a crime was completely out of the question. Unless one possessed strength formidable enough to utterly disregard the rules of the entire Huidu Star, they had to play by its rules.

For instance, right now, Lan Tian and Qipeng had no choice but to obediently stay put and wait for the owner of the luxury mansion to return.

...

In the one hundred and sixteenth living district of Huidu Star, at a youth cultivation assistance center, a young woman with delicate features, wearing a simple training outfit, was helping children practice the eighty-first tier of human race energy-gathering.

One could tell that the children were working extremely hard. Although merely living on Huidu Star was already an extraordinary feat in itself, wherever there were people, there was a martial world. Living past the one hundredth living district, they still needed to strive constantly to lay a crucial foundation for applying to enter better living districts in the future.

Because among the one hundred and twenty living districts of Huidu Star, the gap between every ten districts moving forward was astronomical. Whether it was social welfare, cultivation resources, or even price levels, there would be a leapfrog improvement.

Unlike the standardized cultivation methods the children learned at school, the woman always incorporated some personal insights while assisting them with their practice, and the value of these insights actually far exceeded the registration fee for the training center.

Yet the woman cared not a whit; she was passionate about cultivation, and therefore hoped that more people could gain access to better cultivation techniques and environments.

Suddenly, the woman’s pretty brows furrowing slightly, a distressed expression surfaced on her face. She instructed the children to continue practicing on their own, walked off to the side, and muttered with puffed-up lips, "After hiding for so long, I've finally been found out, huh? Hmph, I'd like to see who it is!"

The woman was named Weilin. No one would ever have guessed that she, an ordinary cultivation assistance coach in a mere one-hundred-and-sixteenth living district, was actually a thoroughbred wealthy heiress.

Or, to describe her with an even more cliché term, she could undoubtedly be called a scion of a powerhouse family.