"My lord, I've received news from the disciples guarding the branch models that our branch in one of the abandoned planets is showing signs of activity."

An elderly man bowed toward the huge, closed door of a palace. In his hands he held a piece of jade, its exterior full of complex engravings.

The palace door immediately opened as if the person inside had been waiting there all along. A graceful middle aged man came out from there, his expression showing curiosity.

"Which planet?" He enquired.

"Neutral Territory, North-East, Sector 7, Solar System 11, Planet 5. It's right at the edge of the territory," the elderly man answered.

"If I remember correctly, it was the branch where their prime disciple accidentally got in touch with one of the forbidden law techniques and converted over to the Galaxy Nocturna?"

The bowing old man straightened his back and nodded.

"Yes sir. He had tried to convert his whole sect and failed spectacularly. You know how superstitious they are in the lower worlds, lack of proper education and all. The moment the authorities of his sect heard certain catchphrases like 'Darklings', 'Abyss Monarchies', and 'Nightmare Knights', they decided to kill off the representatives of the other party. It ended...poorly." The old man laughed in a hollow manner.

"All of the information regarding the incident is here," he added while handing the piece of jade to the middle aged man respectfully.

The middle aged man took the jade from him and concentrated on it for a moment before suddenly raising his eyebrows.

"Oh...I see. Is the 'Abomination' about to break out? Impressive! If only that boy hadn't veered off into that path...Truly a waste of potential!"

The old man nodded in agreement. Indeed, it was a pity.

"Old Lu, go make a visit to that world and observe the entire process. If the 'Abomination' successfully manages to redeem itself, you know what to do."

As if already expecting such orders, the old man bowed once more and faded away from his spot immediately.

The middle aged man stared at the jade in his hand for a long time afterwards.

"Looks like the Galaxy Nocturna wasn't messing around when they came up with their little schemes. Don't tell me they want to experiment with another extinguished star again..."

....... ......... ..........

Han Xuhan wanted to laugh out loud. What was this metal mannequin saying?

Fated to their faction? Joyous coincidence?

Ahahahhahahahah....yeah, no.

He had seen too much of this world of cultivation to believe that crap.

But he was a bit hesitant to say that out loud upon noticing the gargantuan fists of the metal giant. Who knew if his ridicules would anger the big guy and prompt him to flatten little Xuhan with one punch?

"Wow! I can't believe that I'm a son of destiny like those epic stories! So cool! I can already imagine the entire world within my grasp, hahaha!"

With exclamations copied from shounen villains, Han Xuhan eagerly sat down to start attempting to create a law fragment according to the instructions provided by the giant figurine on the throne.

The giant nodded in an understanding manner, as if expecting such enthusiasm from this lucky, youthful cultivator who has just experienced his first fortuitous encounter.

But as soon as it decided to speak some words of encouragement...

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"Wah! What is this? I totally forgot about this, heavens dammit!"

Han Xuhan's frustrated shout interrupted the metal giant halfway.

"What is it ? What did you forget?" It asked him curiously.

"You see, the thing is, I have a rare physique!"

Han Xuhan answered in a gloomy tone.

The metal giant was even more confused. Rare physique?

Wasn't that supposed to be a good thing ?

"The speciality of my physique is... most of my meridians are innately damaged or have experienced unnaturally growth. So, normally, I cannot absorb qi from my surroundings without a lot of preparations and treasures," Han Xuhan continued his woeful tale, stunning the statue on the throne.

"What kind of shitty physique is that? How can you even consider that to be a physique? Impossible!"

The giant shouted with such indignation that Han Xuhan almost felt touched. It sounded even more dumbfounded than he himself had been back during the revelation from elder Cai.

"Senior, you can check it out yourself if you think I'm lying!" Han Xuhan said in an aggrieved tone.

The giant waved its hand and a minimized version of Han Xuhan appeared in front of it. It resembled the avatars of the cultivators who had gotten their names on the leaderboard outside. Han Xuhan's eyes widened at the sight.

This entire inheritance test seemed way too advanced compared to the rest of the world of cultivation...

After a moment of observation, the giant went still.

"Damn! I can't believe such an irregular physique actually exists...you poor lad, my condolences."

"Aye, it looks like I'll not be able to absorb the qi from this orb. What a pity! Why do I have such bad luck?"

Han Xuhan whined like an entitled brat and put up a very good act. It would have been difficult to fool the intimidating giant had he been lying, but most of what he said were partially true.

The frustration and whinings came very naturally.

The lesson he had learned a while ago was still fresh in Han Xuhan's mind. His dao base had been invaded by just one careless move!

Let alone absorb qi from random sources, he wouldn't even replenish his qi without taking safety precautions in this place.

The giant looked lost for words, stuck in the middle of its movement again with a hand stretched toward the glassy ceiling.

Han Xuhan couldn't help but wonder if the giant was really just a magical statue or a real creature. But with the seamless, full body armour on, there was no way to tell.

"This is unexpected. I have never met anyone with such physique that they cannot absorb the special qi...Hey boy, can you just replenish a bit of your qi? If you have a power source from the second stage, you can use your own qi to connect it to the law fragment."

Han Xuhan shook his head and sighed, each of his movements exuding depression...

"Of course not. My entire reserve was emptied in order to get me in here. If I could, would I have wasted so much time lamenting my bad luck?"

The giant leaned back on its throne and waved its hand dismissively, speaking in a low spirited voice.

"If I were a real cultivator, I'd find a way to solve this issue. But I'm merely an automaton serving the platform of the magistrates. I can't help you. Looks like this is where the test for inheritance ends for you, little cultivator. If there is a next time, prepare beforehand when you enter the third stage. Goodbye."

As soon as it finished speaking, the familiar violet light appeared out of nowhere and wrapped Han Xuhan up.

After a brief moment of disorientation, Han Xuhan found himself back on the area where Yuen Zhou's undead legion stood guard.

"Did some of them wander off when I was inside?" Han Xuhan noticed the lessened number of zombies suddenly and couldn't help but shiver.

Taking a deep breath, he wiped off the sweat that had formed on his forehead and looked up at the leaderboard.

"Oh no..."

Ranked twenty-first, an eye catching name had filled up the final slot on the leaderboard.

Name- Han Xuhan

Cultivation Base- second layer of physique transformation realm

Qi quality- 1.5 / 10

Dao Base quality- 6 / 10

Law proficiency- 3 / 10 ( limited to the physique transformation realm)

Chosen Inheritance- Sentient Contracts ( failed )

Judgment- Due to very poor quality and quantity of qi, coupled with his low cultivation base, this disciple has ranked last. He has also failed the assessment test inside the platforms because of the his rare physique.

"How the hell did they know my real name ?"

Han Xuhan wondered aloud. The platform had even completed his judgement while the rest of the ranks still showed the 'pending' status.

Looking around, it seemed that Zhanxian had gone off to do what he told him to. The night was slowly deepening. The fog behind him was getting thicker.

"Should I give it another try?" Han Xuhan muttered as he observed the leaderboard. He still had some suspicions he wanted to confirm.

Han Xuhan walked toward the platforms again. It would take way too long to recover his qi again. But he wanted to try and see if the platform could be activated with a smaller amount of qi. After all, it had never been specified whether one needed to pour a certain amount of qi or whatever they possibly could.

There was a small chance that the qi out here might not be safe either. But Han Xuhan felt that it was unlikely. Many of their 'slaves' had done so already.

So he meditated without misgivings for a few minutes and recovered a trickle of his qi from the surroundings. Then he poured it down toward the platform, this time into the Cause and Effect Type.

The violet light appeared again!