Swallowing the Stars: Starting from Late Bloomers

Chapter 002: The World's Strongest Person

Inside the city lord's mansion, in a magnificent hall covering tens of thousands of square meters.

At this moment, the grand hall was about to host the Martial Saint Banquet for the newly promoted Martial Saint Lu Wenyuan. Many powerful figures and important people from Qin, Chu and Wei had already gathered there, including quite a few Martial Saint level experts.

In short, this is an absolutely rare grand event on the entire Xuanhuang Star, far exceeding the scale of other newly promoted Martial Saint banquets.

Those who can attend this banquet are definitely important figures from all sides, such as representatives of special departments of various countries, as well as leaders of multinational chambers of commerce and organizations, etc.

At this moment, pleasant music flowed through every corner of the banquet hall, and many handsome waiters were respectfully serving all kinds of delicious dishes.

Meanwhile, in various areas of the hall, important figures from all sides were gathered together and talking.

A middle-aged man approached another burly man in black armor and asked with a smile, "Old Zhou, what are you doing hiding here all by yourself?"

"I was just looking for some peace and quiet here, Zhao Gang. You, the former dean, hold such a high position now, what brings you here to see me!"

The burly Zhou Ruilong looked at Zhao Gang, who was walking towards him, and also smiled and teased him.

"I'm just helping the professor manage the academy; my status isn't as high as you make it out to be!"

Zhao Gang quickly added with a smile, "Besides, today's main character is Junior Brother Wen Yuan, so everyone's definitely crowding around him!"

"That's true!"

Zhou Ruilong nodded slightly, then smiled and said, "General Wenyuan is only thirty-three years old this year, right? To break through to the Martial Saint level at such a young age is truly a rare genius!"

"Of course!"

Zhao Gang quickly spoke up, saying, "Of the more than two thousand Martial Saints on our Xuanhuang Star, no more than two hundred will be able to break through before the age of forty! Junior Brother Wen Yuan was able to break through at the age of thirty-three. While our teacher certainly helped him, it was also inseparable from his own talent and hard work!"

"General Wenyuan is indeed very talented, and he also has a wealth of combat experience!"

Zhou Ruilong quickly continued, "Six months ago, a beast tide broke out at Changshui Base. General Wen Yuan hadn't yet broken through to the Martial Saint level, but he still single-handedly killed a Sea Demon Saint! Old Zhao, what title did His Majesty bestow upon General Wen Yuan this time?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Gang, the president of the Academy of Sciences, quickly replied, "I heard it's Marquis Tianyuan, but I don't know if it's true?"

"Marquis Tianyuan?"

Zhou Ruilong nodded slightly, then continued, "Old Zhao, General Wenyuan is still unmarried, isn't he? You're his senior brother, I wonder what kind of wife he's looking for?"

"How..."

Upon hearing Zhou Ruilong's words, Zhao Gang quickly chuckled and teased, "Does your Zhou family have anyone suitable?"

"She's one of my nieces!"

Zhou Ruilong quickly spoke up, "She's twenty-five years old this year and just graduated from the Wei Kingdom Martial Arts Academy. She's already reached the eighth level of Martial Master, and she has a great chance of becoming a ninth-level Martial Master before she turns thirty. If it's suitable, I'd like to have her get to know General Wen Yuan!"

"You scoundrel, this is hardly befitting a great general of my Qin state!"

Zhao Gang chuckled and scolded, then quickly said, "However, Master's wife is indeed looking for a suitable wife for Junior Brother Wenyuan recently. Send me all the information about your niece, and I'll help you mention it to Master's wife when a suitable opportunity arises!"

"That would be wonderful!"

After hearing Zhao Gang's words, Zhou Ruilong couldn't help but smile.

In fact, as a general of the Qin state and a fourth-level martial saint, he had no need to rely on marriage to consolidate his position.

But Lu Wenyuan was different.

First of all, Lu Wenyuan's talent is extremely amazing. He entered the Martial Saint level at the age of thirty-three. After several hundred years, his strength may surpass his.

Of course, the most important point is that Lu Wenyuan's father is the strongest person on Xuanhuang Star today, the "King of Yongning" Lu Qingshan!

It should be noted that on Xuanhuang Star, although Martial Saint-level experts can all obtain titles bestowed by the Three Kingdoms, they are basically only marquises!

There are only four people on the entire Xuanhuang Star who can obtain the title of king through their own abilities, and King Yongning is the most powerful of them!

Moreover, given Yongning King's cultivation speed, he is very likely to become a Martial God-level powerhouse in the future!

By then, let alone the fact that the Prince of Yongning will be able to rule his family for ten thousand years, he may even unify the entire Xuanhuang Star.

Even if the Prince of Yongning didn't want to do this, even if he passed away ten thousand years later, the Lu family would still be able to retain the title of prince forever!

And just then...

Lu Wenyuan, who had been chatting with many guests, suddenly strode to the entrance of a passageway on one side of the hall. He then bowed and greeted a figure emerging from the passageway, saying, "Father, you've arrived!"

Upon noticing this scene, everyone who had been chatting in the banquet hall immediately fell silent, looking at the figure in the yellow robe with awe. It was none other than the world's number one expert, Prince Yongning, Lu Qingshan!

At the same time, several more figures emerged from the crowd and headed towards Lu Qingshan's location. Zhao Gang, who had been chatting with Zhou Ruilong earlier, was one of them.

"Brother Qingshan!"

"Prince Yongning!"

"teacher!"

Lu Qingshan looked at the figures walking towards him and quickly nodded slightly in response.

These people were either his close associates or some of the strongest individuals on Xuanhuang Star, and their status and position were not much different from his.

After Lu Qingshan and the other top experts from Xuanhuang Star sat down at the banquet table, he spoke to Lu Wenyuan, who was following behind him, and said, "Wenyuan, the banquet may begin!"

"Yes, Father!"

After Lu Wenyuan responded, he quickly walked to the front of the banquet hall with the Prime Minister of Qin.

"Gentlemen!"

The Prime Minister of Qin looked at the assembled guests and then said directly, "Any newly promoted Martial Saint level expert is entitled to be granted the title of Marquis. Now that General Lu Wenyuan has also broken through to the Martial Saint level, my Qin Kingdom will bestow upon him the title of 'Marquis Tianyuan'!"

"Back then, Marquis Tianyuan..."

After revealing the title bestowed upon Lu Wenyuan by the Qin state, the Qin prime minister went on to recount Lu Wenyuan's past contributions to Qin, all in an effort to highlight Lu Wenyuan's talent and abilities.

After that, Lu Wenyuan thanked the many guests for coming, and then the banquet officially began.

On the other side, Lu Qingshan didn't care too much about the banquet. After all, he had three sons and three daughters. Before Lu Wenyuan, Lu Qingshan's two sons and one daughter had already broken through to the Martial Saint level!

"Congratulations, Prince Yongning!"

Chu Zhongtian, the strongest man in the Chu Kingdom and the third strongest in the world, picked up the wine in front of him and drank it all in one gulp. He then smiled and said, "This Marquis Tianyuan is your fourth child to break through to the Martial Saint level, isn't he?"

"I really don't know how you raised them, they're all so outstanding! I have a total of eighteen children, and only three of them have broken through to the Martial Saint level!"

"You're just too many kids; you're unwilling to provide them with the resources they need!"

Wei Changsheng, the strongest man in Wei Kingdom, the dean of the Wei Kingdom Martial Arts Academy, and currently the second strongest man in the world, quickly spoke up: "You've been handing over most of your resources to your little disciple lately. Be careful, after you fall, even your Chu Kingdom won't be ruled by your Chu family anymore!"

"Hahaha!"

After hearing Wei Changsheng's words, Chu Zhongtian quickly replied, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. There are no eternal dynasties on Xuanhuang Star! My Chu family has existed for nearly two hundred thousand years since the establishment of the Chu Kingdom, and we even had a Martial God. Even if we were to be destroyed now, it wouldn't matter!"

"Martial Gods are hard to come by, and I have no chance in this lifetime, but my disciple might still have that opportunity, so naturally I must lend him a helping hand!"

"Then you might as well leave those resources for your friend Aoyama!"

Wei Changsheng quickly smiled and said, "With your strength and cultivation level, young friend Qingshan, your chances of breaking through to the Martial God level in the future are far, far greater than your disciple's!"

"King Yongning doesn't need my resources to break through to the Martial God level!"

Chu Zhongtian picked up a glass of fine wine and drank it all in one gulp, then continued, "But if I could cultivate a second Martial God, perhaps we humans could wipe out all those sea monsters!"

"Your idea is excellent, but it will be very difficult to implement!"

Wei Changsheng quickly spoke up, saying, "Let's not even talk about whether your disciple can break through to the Martial God level. Even if he does, his strength will be greatly affected after entering that sea area. Even if two Martial Gods join forces, it will be difficult to completely wipe out all the sea monsters!"

"Take your time!"

Chu Zhongtian immediately said, "The number of sea monsters does far exceed that of our humans, and there are also many more Demon Saints than Martial Saints. However, they are not as united as we humans. If two Martial Gods were alive at the same time, they should have a chance to completely eliminate the sea monsters!"

Meanwhile, while listening to Chu Zhongtian and Wei Changsheng's casual conversation, Lu Qingshan quickly turned to his disciple Zhao Gang: "Zhao Gang, has the Academy of Sciences made any new technological breakthroughs? Has the maximum speed achievable by spaceships increased?"

This is the issue that Lu Qingshan is most concerned about. As for those sea monsters, as long as he can break through to the Hengxing level, it won't be too difficult for him to deal with them.

Upon hearing Lu Qingshan's words, Chu Zhongtian and Wei Changsheng, who were standing to the side, also stopped talking and looked at Zhao Gang, the president of the Academy of Sciences.

"Reply, teacher!"

Zhao Gang quickly replied, "Currently, the top speed of a spaceship hasn't broken 2700 kilometers per second. However, a professor at the Academy of Sciences recently developed a new energy source. If all the energy on the spaceship were replaced with this new energy source, it's estimated that the spaceship's top speed could be increased by 30%!"

"However, the production cost of this new energy source is extremely high; for the same total quantity, the production cost can be as high as ten times that of previous energy sources!"

"It's alright!"

Lu Qingshan quickly replied, "Don't worry about the production costs. Just build the new spaceship as soon as possible to continue exploring the universe. I will continue to allocate resources to the Academy of Sciences!"

This is Lu Qingshan's clumsy method.

Although the current speed of the spaceship is not enough to break the speed of light and enter the dark universe, Lu Qingshan still ordered the Academy of Sciences to continuously launch exploration spaceships into outer space, just like Voyager 1 launched before crossing Blue Star. The purpose is naturally to discover other life-bearing planets.

"Yes, teacher!" Zhao Gang nodded quickly after hearing Lu Qingshan's words.

Lu Qingshan was about to say something when he suddenly received an urgent communication.

at the same time……

Beep! Beep! Beep...

The many important figures who participated in the banquet received urgent communications from their respective factions at almost the same time.