Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The temperature on the planet of Stargate was relatively stable due to the protective shield above the atmosphere and the air flow throughout the planet. As a result, the distinct seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter were not that evident here.
The plants, be it the wild grass, reeds or trees, were growing freely.
This was a new civilization emerging from the ruins of the distant ancient civilization, but it didn’t have enough time to form its own distinctive order yet.
The variety of the animals and plants in this world was limited and seemingly monotonous, probably for this very reason.
The fact that the leaves of the gingko trees turned yellow had nothing to do with the change of the season; it was because rainfall occurred more often during this season.
This planet had made sufficient use of their water resource. The water on the surface was inadequate for evaporation into the air, which meant the rainfall didn’t occur very often. It wasn’t until July and August that the only remaining sea would bring over some steam to the three canyons by following the current of the sea to cause constant rainfall till the end of October.
This was the origin of the “October Water Festival”. Later on, it developed into a ritual for praying to a god.
This year’s October Water Festival was very special because the female priest would select her heir.
The female priest had a superior status in the Human Federation of the Milky Way.
It wasn’t until now that more than a few people knew what kind of knowledge the female priests had inherited from the distant ancient civilization, but no on dared to disrespect the ancient tradition. Even the Administrative Committee and the military of the Federation of the Milky Way had shown it absolute respect for a long time.
The selection of the new female priest was naturally the most important event for the planet of Stargate this year.
The primary selection for each level had taken place a while ago. Jiang Yuxia was the winner for the selection Jing Jiu and Zong Lizi watched on TV. As the drizzle fell down from the sky, the selection was to take place on the second level that was the closest to the surface of the planet at last. Shou’er City would choose a primary candidate; similarly, other seven large cities would do the same. Later, all the primary candidates from various regions would compete in the final contest.
The principal aspects for selecting the female priest were knowledge, integrity, the Cultivation of martial arts, and willpower.
The knowledge was mostly focused on history and humanities, the rest on “serenity”.
As for why “serenity” was tested, the anthropologists and historians in the Federation of the Milky Way had published a great many papers on it, but no one could offer a definite answer.
On the other hand, the female priests had no intention of answering any questions related to them.
…
…
A gray building on the campus of the University of Stargate was crowded with a great many people.
Today was the day to register participants in the primary selection of the female priest. However, most of them were there to watch the participants, who were all popular girls with tremendous talents; few of them had the courage to register themselves.
The crowd became quiet all of a sudden. Countless gazes were trained at the road by the lawn.
The fallen leaves of the gingko trees on the road had already been cleaned by the auto-cleaning devices. The surface of the road made of black stone slabs looked spotless, as if one could see their reflected faces on it.
A girl with black hair and a girl with silvery hair were walking over. Though both of them were equally beautiful, they had different personalities.
The people were somewhat perplexed, wondering why Jiang Yuxia came here since she had already been the winner of the primary selection on the third level when she was at the College of Divinity. She was very knowledgeable, had a serene personality and reached the Golden State in the Cultivation of martial arts, not to mention she was the most popular candidate for this year’s female priest. Did she intend to check and see who would be her rival?
As they arrived before the building, Jiang Yuxia halted her steps and asked Zong Lizi, “Are you sure you want to participate in the selection of female priest?”
Zong Lizi uttered “hmm”.
Jing Jiu didn’t like to talk; but he had an enormous influence on those around him. Zong Lizi in this world and Zhao Layue and Zhuo Rusui in Chaotian had imitated his demeanor imperceptibly.
Jiang Yuxia said while holding Zong Lizi’s hand, “You must try your best. I won’t let you win so easily, though.”
“Me neither,” returned Zong Lizi after nodding her head.
Jiang Yuxia released her hand and said, “May you succeed.”
Zong Lizi turned around and headed to the inside of the building.
It wasn’t until now that the people realized that she was to participate in the selection of female priest, feeling startled. The eyes gazing at her back displayed a peculiar look.
The gray building was the B building of the University of Stargate in which many offices of the university were located, the Registration Office being one of them.
The registration for the participants in the primary selection of female priest was conducted in the Registration Office.
The dean of the Registration Office was a white-haired and amiable teacher official. After he read the information on the monitor extracted from the bracelet on Zong Lizi’s wrist, he remained silent for a moment. “This is not the first time a child from the underground has tried to do this; but none of them has succeeded. Worst of all…some of them suffered a loss of their self-confidence and have suffered nervous breakdowns ever since.”
“I’m mentally prepared for this, and I have the courage to deal with the fallout,” returned Zong Lizi.
The dean advised earnestly while looking at her, “Sometimes courage is not enough where amiracle is needed. There is no miracle in this world.”
“Teacher Cui, miracles exist in this world.”
Zong Lizi said to him earnestly, “I’m quite sure of this.”
…
…
A few days later, the sky on the other side of the canyon reddened, but the rainfall didn’t occur, nor could the morning sun be seen. It was because the sun was still on the other side of the mountain range.
Hundreds of students gathered at the front gate of the University of Stargate, readying to go to the surface to visit the main campus.
Most of them were the exchange students from various colleges. For some reason, the female students who had registered for participating in the primary selection of female priest were also among them.
These female students all had a good-looking appearance and their respective appealing qualities, their auras as tranquil as water. It was truly a great treat for eyes when they were all seen together.
A few male students couldn’t help but steal a glimpse of them even though they didn’t dare do so more obviously.
Jiang Yuxia didn’t stand with those female students. It was not because she was a candidate for the female priest already but because she was waiting for Zong Lizi.
Unexpectedly, she saw the youth in blue tracksuits come with Zong Lizi. “Are you really a student of the University of Stargate?” she asked curiously.
Jing Jiu ignored her. As long as he was willing to, he could become a member on the Administrative Committee of the Federation, let alone a student at the University of Stargate.
Zong Lizi explained, “Never mind. He doesn’t like talking to anyone.”
Thinking of the encounter with him on the lawn the other day, Jiang Yuxia smiled wryly to herself, paying no more attention to Jing Jiu. Then, she began to talk to Zong Lizi in a low voice about the tips in the primary selection of female priest.
It was then that the dean of the Registration Office surnamed Cui and two other teachers came over.
He had a very high official status at the university; but he would lead the visiting group in person. It must have something to do with the girls who would participate in the primary selection of female priest.
The group didn’t ride on the flying device but the floating train to Chunyuan; it was unclear if it was due to the excessive number of people or other reasons.
After they came out form the train station and saw the cliff resembling a huge wall in front of them and the high-speed elevators traveling on the cliff, the exchange students who came from the low-level worlds couldn’t help but utter a barrage of surprised cries. Two of the girls participating in the primary selection of female priest furrowed their eyebrows slightly, indicating that they were displeased with the arrangement of the school.
Seeing this cliff and those electric elevators, the first thing Jing Jiu recalled was the assassin in overall. He followed behind Zong Lizi entering the elevator unnoticeably, thinking that he hadn’t heard anything from the hidden network, and wondering what the Wild Rabbit who had an unordinary family background was doing.
The high-speed elevator traveled really fast. They could hear the whistling wind outside even through the thick glass.
It didn’t take long before the elevator reached the top of the cliff, which was the true ground.
The visiting students came out from the passageway. They couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded when they saw the scenery looming in front of them. They scarcely had the opportunity to make a comment.
A prairie lay up ahead with a few desolate large trees; a red morning sun hung above the horizon quietly.
Though they saw this scenery on TV, they had never witnessed it in person.
The horizon turned out to be a line.
The morning sun truly leapt up from behind that line.
The sun could be so close to the horizon.
It was then that many visiting students understood why the school arranged a ride on the floating train rather than on a flying device for them.
It was because it would be easier for them to remember the rising sun after they had traveled upwards for a while in the darkness.
…
…
The ground transport for the visiting students was the floating train as well. However, the floating trains here were much more advanced than those in Shou’er City; they had neither tracks nor connections. The expensive antigravity system must be employed for the trains.
On the floating train, the visiting students looked at the prairie and galloping herds of animals outside the windows in excitement, discussing incessantly among themselves.
The monotonous scenery outside failed to draw their attention for long since they were a bunch of young people. Soon, they pulled back their gazes and focused on discussing the itinerary of their visit that day.
Some of them fixed their gazes at a spot at the back of the carriage occasionally. The girls participating in the primary selection of female priest paid even more attention to the place.
Jing Jiu, Zong Lizi and Jiang Yuxia were sitting at the back of the carriage.
The colors of blue, silver and black were so eye-catching, but also harmonious.
These people paid attention to them mainly because they were curious and cautious about Jiang Yuxia and were puzzled about Zong Lizi. Their attention also had something to do with Jing Jiu.
Who at the University of Stargate didn’t know the weird youth in blue tracksuits?
The floating train had finally reached the destination after it passed through the vast prairie, a patch of forest and a group of more than ten lakes connecting each other like a pearl necklace.
Some buildings could be seen at the horizon up ahead. The exterior of the buildings was constructed with large stones. The buildings looked rather quaint; but some parts of the buildings appeared dilapidated, vaguely showing the alloy structure inside. It was believed that these scars were caused by the invasion of the monsters of the Sea of Dark Matter decades ago; but it was unclear why it was not repaired yet. There was an exceedingly thin black line in the sky farther away, leading from the ground all the way to the high elevation. It was hard to see the end of the line except for a glistering object vaguely visible.
“That is the famous number seven space elevator. The rotating space station is connected to the end of it. More than three cargo spaceships are docked there daily.”
A teacher instructed the students, “This space elevator is specifically for the factory of our university. About fourteen percent of the foods on the planet are provided by it.”
Ever since the humans were reborn from the distant ancient civilization, they had been expanding toward the universe at an unimaginably fast pace. The Federation of Milky Way possessed many planets for their resources. A great many cargo spaceships were traveling in the universe to bring the resources from those planets to the Main Palnet and other colonized planets. The provision of food had been resolved a long time ago; the taste of the manufactured foods was a problem though…
When the visiting students got off the floating train, the teachers and students from the same campus were waiting for them on the platform. Then they were led by them visiting the campus.
The main campus of the University of Stargate had merely a few faculties remaining on the ground, with a small number of students. The campus appeared a bit desolate, an ancient and historical aura emerging from the buildings, which rendered a more tangible feel to it. The visiting students were brought to another site after they had toured the ancient buildings and listened to a brief lecture in the history exhibition hall of the school.
There was a common looking and square-shaped building on the site, looking like a factory. Some students wondered if they came to tour a meat manufacture plant.
“This is the number three laboratory of the Mecha Faculty.”
A student from their campus said expressionlessly, “Don’t touch anything when you’re inside, and don’t interfere with the work carried out in there. Understood?”
The visiting students couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous when they heard this.
Looking at the building, Jing Jiu sensed the energy he disliked and knew there must be many devices for the gravitational field.
A railing encircled the floor that was made from alloy, which seemed to be even bigger in size than the lawn at the University of Stargate.
The visiting students had thought that the railing was the path for the visitors. Unexpectedly, the alloy floor was opening up slowly when the student from their campus pressed a button.
The world in the underground presented itself before them along with buzzing electric flow and a heavy thud.
There was a huge Mecha in the underground.
This huge Mecha was dozens of stories high, about the size of the hotel where Zong Lizi stayed. Even though the visiting students looked down from a higher place, the Mecha still looked exceedingly big and tall, making the onlookers feel rather tiny.
Dozens of smaller Mechas and flying devices were moving around the huge Mecha; and many people, probably the engineers, were doing something with the monitors and equipment in their hands.
“This is the Thunder God, who killed three monsters of the Sea of Dark Matter in the Battle of Imperial Gate two years ago.”
The student from their campus introduced, “It was badly damaged in the battle, and has been completely repaired after two years of work. It’s going through the final test right now. The people involved in the repairment are the students from our campus in addition to the engineers from the military. If you have the opportunity to join the Military Faculty in the future, you’ll be able to get involved in the project too.”
The visiting students had all watched the news on TV two years ago, and knew how brutal the Battle of Imperial Gate was. They were quite familiar with this famous huge Mecha, and felt excited when they heard this.
Jing Jiu looked at the huge Mecha quietly, the ring on his finger emitting a faint glow.
All of a sudden, many surprised screams broke out in the laboratory; it was because the huge Mecha started moving.
The faint green lights shot out from inside of the armor on the huge Mecha. Thousands of components gave off the rolling noise of a heavy but agile object. Its large left mechanical arm raised up slowly toward the sky, as if it had just come back to life.
