Chapter 1 Time Flies and Things Change

Many pioneers of the Pioneer Space complete their missions at different times and spend varying amounts of time in the mission worlds. Unified gatherings are rare. Even within organizations like the 'Candlelight Appreciation Society,' the 'Multiverse Water Conservancy Facility Construction Enthusiasts Association,' and the 'Light Country Office in Pioneer Space,' it's unusual for all members to gather collectively.

Except, of course, when the Pioneer Space itself encounters a multiverse-scale cataclysm. At such times, the Pioneer Space forcibly gathers all explorers back or sends them away on the spot.

Only then does the Pioneer Space become filled with countless explorers from all over the infinite worlds of the multiverse.

And recently, the Pioneer Space has welcomed a similar grand occasion: the Ice Coagulation Void has thawed, the Great Seal has dissipated, and the restrictions on mutual travel between all things and beings in the sealed multiverse have completely disappeared.

This is both a good thing and a calamity. Countless worlds gather together, and large world clusters merge. Many worlds that were previously unconnected now draw close, causing the Pioneer Space's original arrangements in the multiverse to be disrupted.

Naturally, they must start anew.

Therefore, just as Su Zhou was ending his journey to the Creation World and engaging in strategic cooperation with the Pioneer Space to move many worlds, many explorers returned to the Pioneer Space to enjoy this forcibly imposed 'vacation.'

Jiu Ming wasn't forcibly granted a vacation.

Since becoming a Land Immortal and resurrecting his teacher, the Tianchi Dragon King, the Dragonkin youth had participated in several missions, raising his Pioneer authority to the level of 'Low-level Pioneer Completion'—and then he had a considerable amount of free time.

It would be more accurate to say that, from the beginning, the Pioneer Space had no way of restricting explorers. The so-called missions were simply tests, one after another, until all explorers became 'Pioneers.'

At this time, Jiu Ming was wandering around the Utopia trading area. Because of the forced vacation, a multiverse-scale super-large explorer trade fair was in full swing.

As a fellow dragon and dragon cancer card player, he was currently riding his mental card, the 'Yusei Genma Enryu,' everywhere. The silver-blue, heavily metallic abyssal dragon was indeed rare, but most of the explorers at the trade fair were battle-hardened and had seen a lot, so they weren't too surprised by such a strange Land Immortal-level mental dragon. Only occasionally did other fellow dragon cancer enthusiasts come over, wanting to take a photo with Jiu Ming or invite him to join organizations like the 'All Heavens and Myriad Worlds Dragon Protection Association.'

"Hmm~ I don't feel like there are many good things at the trade fair."

Jiu Ming put his legs together and sat sideways on the dragon's head. He couldn't help but stretch. He adjusted his somewhat disheveled clothes. The Egyptian priest robe was quite cool, and when it was messed up, it wouldn't cover his thighs and feet.

But all in all, it was the reason those inexplicable older sisters ran over to take pictures and messed with him—not that there weren't men, but most men preferred Jiu Ming's dragon... Good heavens, the Yusei Genma Enryu's appearance was indeed quite good. In terms of looks, some would even believe it was a Celestial Immortal, so it's no wonder the Dragonkin youth received so much attention.

Shao Shuangyue had complained several times that Jiu Ming's clothing style was problematic, that dressing like that was just asking to be touched, but Jiu Ming, who had transformed from a true dragon, was obviously not very sensitive to this. He never thought that humans touching him was a big deal, just like humans rubbing a cat's head.

If you really want to take advantage, it should at least be in dragon form.

According to him, Chen Dao Longnu's dragon body was much cuter than when she transformed into a white-gold-haired girl, extremely mechanically beautiful, making his heart yearn, wishing he could also transform his mental card into the same appearance.

"Is it too late to switch to the Mech God Method now?" he asked. "You guys should cultivate it too, the human body is really quite simple."

Then Jiu Ming was driven out of the Hope Light headquarters by Shao Shuangyue and Chen Dao Longnu, which is why the Dragonkin youth was wandering around here alone, without the company of the Shao sisters, who truly loved to shop.

This trade fair was different from what Jiu Ming had experienced in the past. Back then, various hobby clubs and groups set up their own stalls, just like regular doujin circles.

But now, it was basically a street vendor economy. The youth looked around and saw all kinds of demons and monsters setting up stalls everywhere. Even high-level elemental spirits who could be considered gods in other worlds were sitting on the ground, holding up a sign and hawking their wares.

[Excellent fire element condensed crystal, excellent fire element condensed crystal! Space sells for 1500 exploration points each, now on sale, 750 exploration points each, 50% off!]

The original meaning of this fire element spirit's language should have been more euphemistic, such as 'I have excellent elemental crystals, space sells for 1500 exploration points, now I sell for 750, half price,' but because the universal translation module was so down-to-earth, in Jiu Ming's ears, the entire trade fair was basically no different from a second-hand market.

Jiu Ming came out this time, of course, not for strength—after his teacher, the Tianchi Dragon King, was resurrected, he was already diligently researching and would soon break through to the Celestial Immortal realm. At that time, Earth would have its first Celestial Immortal powerhouse other than Su Zhou.

Although not a member of the new generation civilization, but of the old Immortal God civilization, compared to Su Zhou's difficult-to-reference example, the Tianchi Dragon King's breakthrough would undoubtedly bring experience and a ladder of progress to the Land Immortal powerhouses of the Zheng Nation.

The only slightly embarrassing thing was... the Tianchi Dragon King's remains had become the Immortal God spiritual education museum. The Dragon King was quite understanding about this and didn't want to be resurrected in a high-profile manner, so he simply changed his name to 'Cen Ming' and appeared before the public as Jiu Ming's brother.

With this teacher's guidance, as well as the assistance of Su Zhou and the Pioneer Space, Jiu Ming's cultivation path had long been clear and smooth. He only needed time to achieve the Celestial Immortal realm and even beyond. His strength only needed to be replenished and didn't need the Pioneer Space's direct improvement.

This time, Jiu Ming came to the trade fair to find some gifts to give to Shao Shuangyue and Chen Dao Longnu as apology gifts.

Chen Dao Longnu was easy to deal with. Just give her some unique creations from various worlds. These Mech God Path cultivators, to put it nicely, could see beauty in anything and turn it into their own experience and inspiration, as material for creation.

And to put it bluntly, these people were very easy to fool, extremely easy to deceive. Back then, Shao Shuangyue had tricked Chen Dao Longnu into her team with just a few words and made her wholeheartedly devoted.

"So scary!"

Thinking like this, Jiu Ming secretly became alert. Shao Shuangyue looked like just an ordinary, harmless otaku, but in reality, she was a bad woman who could manipulate others at will!

"However, bad women are also easy to deal with."

That guy would be happy and overjoyed with some games.

The Pioneer Space had everything, and there were all kinds of things for sale. Jiu Ming applied to the Utopia Space for the transaction category he wanted, and the space in front of him changed instantly.

[The 328th Practical Relic Guardian Battle in the Mad Moon World is about to begin. Please register as soon as possible, fellow explorers! There are only two hours left to register! This Practical Relic Guardian Battle is jointly provided by Radiant and Dire. The winner can obtain ten units of Radiant Sacred Ore and Dire Magic Stone of the highest purity!]

This was relatively formal.

[The registration deadline for the 36,000-person Wuxia Battle Royale is eight hours later. Don't miss it, friends! Limited to humanoid martial arts cultivators. Divine Martial and Immortal Martial are both welcome. This Battle Royale is about friendship second, martial arts first. The aim is to determine which school of martial arts is the strongest!]

This was using the name of a game to fight beasts.

This was the game area in the Utopia District. Jiu Ming looked around and found that most of them were games that explorers were using to amuse themselves, such as cosplay melee or using various Daoist techniques and divine powers to play karting, or using their pet beasts to fight and hunt treasures in Pokemon 6v6 battles.

Some people had even cultivated Pokemon, allowing them to cultivate various martial arts techniques, resulting in Pikachu with 750,000 layers of magnetic field reversal fighting Machamp who had entered the realm of the Killing Intent Hadou, resulting in Celestial God-level battles that almost shattered the continental shelf...

Of course, this was a physical gathering of game enthusiasts, but it was the Pioneer Space version. Bringing Shao Shuangyue here would be alright, but it was naturally impossible to use it as a gift.

But after thinking about it, the Dragonkin youth immediately shook his head—if they really participated, who would be the Pokemon participating in the battle? Would it be Gyarados Jiu Ming, or Steelix Chen Dao Longnu?

In any case, it definitely wouldn't be Shao Shuangyue.

But soon, Jiu Ming heard a cry that he found quite interesting.

[Dark Wolf Part 22: Meng An Void Sword is now on sale! The game industry in our group's world is developed, leading the general world's game industry by about 50 to 100 years. Don't miss it, everyone! Space is easy to cross, but time is hard to bridge!]

"Interesting!"

Although explorers rarely share their hobbies, Jiu Ming and Shao Shuangyue were friends in private, so he naturally knew that she liked the Dark Wolf series very much—but who told Earth's civilization to be impacted by the revival of spiritual energy? Although the game industry hadn't regressed, before the arrival of the era of innovation, most people were focused on cultivation, so where did they have time to make games?

And now, it seemed like there was a gift she would definitely like.

With this expectation, Jiu Ming came to this group's stall to observe.

This stall was very large, and the games being sold were also very miscellaneous, but with the perception of a Land Immortal, Jiu Ming instantly knew the names of all the games here.

Most of them were complicated and strange, not particularly unique, and some, judging by the name and introduction alone, were of average quality, but after all, this was the Pioneer Space. Some of the games being sold here did indeed arouse Jiu Ming's interest.

[Perfect Reincarnation: Myriad Lifetimes Cycle]

[Old Days Kindling: Ferry World Ark]

[Creator's Diary: Genesis Project]

[Genesis Grand Finale: Eternal Song]

Whether it was fate or the fact that Jiu Ming was also a card enthusiast who liked to play games and could distinguish good games, in short, Jiu Ming was extremely interested and asked, "Excuse me, how many exploration points are these four games, including that 'Meng An Void Sword,' in total?"

"This..."

The stall owner was a very mature fox-eared elder sister. She had noticed this rather delicious Dragonkin youth when he appeared. When she heard him ask her about the game prices in a naturally cute tone, she really couldn't help but want to say something like 'Then how about you give elder sister a massage?'

But because Jiu Ming's strength was indeed quite strong, and she didn't know if he was really a beautiful youth or an old monster in disguise, and this fox-eared elder sister was also a decent person... Decent people also have fantasies! In short, Jiu Ming took a photo with someone again, and he only used a mere 500 exploration points to obtain these five cross-space games, as well as five game illusions.

Yes, game illusions.

One exploration point could buy a large amount of basic supplies, and even cross-space games couldn't sell for a high price of 100 points—and the reason why that game group dared to sell this high price was because they had integrated 'Super Dream Technology' and 'Real Illusion,' creating a game experience that was as immersive as being there.

This was no ordinary thing—for ordinary worlds, this game illusion was enough to cultivate real and solid combat experts and veteran adventurers. Whether it was to cultivate new recruits or bring them back to their hometowns as popular education for transcendents, this couldn't be described as a mere game!

"Games are the ninth art, and although our group doesn't create them ourselves, we can make art even more artistic!"

The fox-eared elder sister from the explorer group named 'Art is Magical Modification' boasted like this, and when she said this, her golden fox ears seemed to be glowing: "In our mother world, all races and countries are using our game illusions to cultivate new transcendents!"

"If you want to learn adventure knowledge, go to the Western fantasy game to experience demon slaying; if you want to learn strategic scheduling, send them to various Total War series as commanders, or even soldiers!"

"If you want to cultivate magical beasts and pets, then without a doubt, it's Pokemon; if you want to fight to the death, then go to various fighting game Battle Royales and fight to the death!"

As she said this, Jiu Ming was also a little curious, and he asked, "What about P Society players? If they go to Stellaris, Hearts of Iron, and Crusader Kings series, what kind of people will they cultivate?"

"Of course, anti-human elements and death row inmates!" the fox-eared elder sister said without thinking, and then realized that her words might be a little too assertive, so she pressed her ears and said a little embarrassedly: "Hey, what I mean is, most people who can get into it... you know what I mean, right?"

Jiu Ming thought about it, and thought about the series of heinous, terrifying, and unbelievable operations that Shao Shuangyue had performed when playing this type of game, and couldn't help but agree.

Similarly, the five games that Jiu Ming bought also had corresponding training effects.

"Perfect Reincarnation seems to be a simulation management game with adventure role-playing elements."

"Old Days Kindling is an action role-playing game with extremely important decryption elements, just like Monster Hunter and Dark Wolf, there are many big monsters and powerful people who need to be challenged."

"And Creator's Diary is a bit like a combination of City Skylines and Spore, not only do you have to create your own cultivation body, but also create your own unique cultivation veins—in addition to that, you have to constantly decrypt during the growth process to unlock more high-level maps and parts!"

"As for Genesis Grand Finale... a traditional RPG?"

After all, Jiu Ming wasn't a fanatic about games, so he naturally didn't understand the meaning behind these games.

However, satisfied and feeling that he had indeed found enough good games, he prepared to bring these back to Shao Shuangyue as gifts.

She would definitely be happy.