Chapter 242: Chapter 237: The Trial Begins!
By April,
The final month arrived, all cities activated every large formation, conducted inspections in sequence, harvested all plants for the last time, simultaneously downscaled the breeding industries, and all critical industries entered a state of thorough defensive readiness— the Sky Barrier was activated.
Then, the last seven days arrived.
Shen Hao, atop the Lingxiao Palace, personally convened the final pre-war meeting, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the current situation of the entirety of Human Civilization.
This included the number of Transcendents, the readiness of each city, shifts in public opinion, the arrangements of all major industries, ensuring nothing was overlooked.
Then, in the last three days, Shen Hao summoned Empress Xi Qing of the Great Yan Civilization and some of her key officials, along with the entire Sage’s Council of the Sky Spirit Civilization, through his domain.
He also gained a comprehensive understanding of the current state of these two civilizations.
Afterward, the final day arrived!
By this point, no new actions were taken; all possible preparations had been thoroughly completed, and everyone stayed at their respective posts.
including Shen Hao.
He sat alone in the Lingxiao Palace, watching the countdown on the external interface, while keeping an eye on the entire civilization.
The countdown to the start of the Trial entered its final moments.
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It was 10:30 PM.
Most people had returned to their homes, together with their families, making final preparations.
Though fearful and anxious, for the past five and a half years, the entire civilization and society had continuously been preparing for this moment.
Since it was unavoidable, they had no choice but to face it with all their might!
The last hour.
The internet was flooded with a barrage of encouraging messages.
“We will win!”
“If our civilization can’t win, then who can?”
“Six years ago, we were weak and powerless, but now, each of us is as strong as a dragon!”
“With the President among us, victory will surely be ours!”
“I’m already looking forward to the rewards after we pass the Trial!”
“Dismiss it strategically, but take it seriously tactically!”
“…”
Though these messages were self-motivating, they indeed reflected the confidence in people’s hearts.
After all, the Human Civilization was indeed powerful now!
Over 30 million had reached the Second Stage of transcendence, the average Extraordinary Level across all people was Level 8, with barely any unarmed individuals except for children who had yet to start their cultivation.
Together with the various pieces of Equipment that had been made universally available, saying “everyone is as strong as a dragon” was not an exaggeration.
Moreover, the defensive strength of the cities was exceptionally formidable. Every building had defense formations, connected closely with the defense systems of the entire city, and even the entire planet’s extraordinary defenses.
If the difficulty was still the same as the last Trial, frankly speaking, the Human Civilization even had the confidence to achieve a “no-damage clearance”!
At this moment, as an “Emperor,” Shen Hao could vividly sense the “battle will” of the entire civilization!
People were still afraid, but their fear was more about personal safety, yet they had strong confidence in the entirety of civilization!
This was actually enough.
At least, the two previous Trials they had experienced were not enough to make people despair.
Finally, the time came to the last moment!
Under the tense watch of everyone, time stepped into a new Trial!
The Trial commenced!
After a brief moment of alertness, many noticed that there were no changes occurring.
But that was normal.
Based on the experiences of the previous two Trials, the start of the new Trial was mostly silent.
But quickly, voices swelled like a tide on the internet.
“Look at the sky!”
“God!”
“Good heavens! Is this for real?”
“Look at the sky! Look at the sky!”
“Did we go back?”
“No, I can’t find any familiar stars!”
“What exactly is this Trial about?”
“…”
Countless people were shouting on the internet, voicing their astonishment, and more and more people were looking towards the sky from their balconies or in various other ways.
Then, they saw a sky full of stars!
Yes, unlike the previous Trial where only one or two stars were visible, this was a sea of stars!
Stars shimmered in the sky, and under the clear night sky, not even the moonlight could obscure this dazzling sea of stars!
Some astronomy enthusiasts had tried to find the stars they were familiar with, but naturally, they couldn’t find them, not to mention various constellations, they couldn’t even see the Milky Way.
And just with the naked eye, one could see that these stars were even more brilliant than the stars before the Civilization Trial.
There was no need to think further.
Even ordinary people could come up with a guess at this time.
“We have arrived at a new universe! A universe full of stars!”
This news quickly soared to number one on the internet, with countless likes, comments, and a variety of emotions displayed.
There were worries, but also excitement.
The worries naturally stemmed from concern about the new trials; they had once again arrived in a new universe, just this fact alone exceeded the expectations of most people.
The excitement, on the other hand, stemmed from anticipations of this starry sea.
Now, they had a spaceship, but the entire civilization had not fully stepped into interstellar travel, partly because everything needed for their cultivation was available on their Mother Planet, and partly because the entire universe was a silent void.
Beyond the sky’s sun, no other lights were visible.
But now, a vast, endless sea of stars appeared before their eyes!
At this moment, not just the ordinary people, but high-level members of the civilization sprang into action too.
They launched various observations.
Especially the space observatories located in outer space, immediately commenced their observations.
All sorts of information were quickly gathered and delivered to Shen Hao.
Reported personally by Dong Gong.
“We have indeed arrived at a new universe, and the entire Solar System has traveled with us,” Dong Gong reported. Even as he tried to control himself, one could still sense his inner shock, “Great Yan Mother Planet and Sky Spirit Mother Planet remain in their original positions, and the planets of those failed civilizations are also still preserved.”
Yes, if the symbolic event that marked Human Civilization’s entry into the Civilization Trial was “Star Jump”.
Then this time, it was “Solar System Transition”!
The entire new Solar System, along with its nine planets, had all transitioned into a new universe.
More importantly, this universe seemed so vast, too vast to resemble a universe created for the sole purpose of conducting trials!
If it was just to provide a stage for the trial, what need was there to create such a galaxy?
Dong Gong’s report continued, and he now reached the real focal point!
“According to observations from the space observatory, this universe is widely permeated by a strong Extraordinary Power!” Dong Gong spoke very seriously, “This Extraordinary Power is rather concealed, not directly manifested, but can definitely be clearly felt, and its strength is very high, preliminarily estimated to exceed Level 21, reaching the third stage!”
Actually, there was no need for Dong Gong’s report.
Shen Hao had already felt it.
He stretched out his hand, lightly grabbed, and a mass of energy directly converged in the palm of his hand.
Active, powerful, and simple, its underlying rules were not complex.
Just at the initial assessment, it possessed variability and was as strong as the Spiritual Energy within the Cultivation System or the Magic Power within the Magic System.
“Extraordinary Universe.” Shen Hao retracted his hands, and gazed again at the starry river, “I can vaguely sense that this endless starry river contains a large number of creatures, as well as some powerful beings, but the participating civilizations in this trial are still only nine.”
Yes, the Chosen One panel had already refreshed showing the new civilization ranking and Chosen One ranking!
It was still only nine civilizations.
But Shen Hao could clearly feel countless beings scattered around various places within this starry river!
Dong Gong immediately understood the implications of Shen Hao’s words, his pupils momentarily narrowing.
“Are indigenous civilizations present?”
Yes, the most apt explanation was, indeed, native civilizations!
Those not originating from the Civilization Trial but civilizations that already existed in this universe!
Actually, ever since they saw this starry river, the Analysis Department had such a suspicion, and now, Shen Hao’s words undoubtedly further confirmed this suspicion!
But if that were the case, then the scope of the “stage” in this trial was probably far beyond their previous expectations.
What they needed to deal with was not only the other participants of the Civilization Trial but also included the native civilizations within this universe!
“Could this be the purpose of the Civilization Trial?” Dong Gong even entertained a guess, “To select and cultivate different civilizations, and then send us to other universes, to achieve some sort of aim?”
This was no surprise to think so, as the previous two trials had both taken place within that silent universe, everything arranged by the Civilization Trial.
But now, they appeared to be in a universe that seemed to have naturally formed!
For example, the previous Human Civilization was like a new recruit training within a closed base, but now Human Civilization was like a warrior dispatched to carry out a mission!
This example might not be accurate, but at this moment, this was indeed the idea that Dong Gong had.
But if that was the case.
What was the trial?
Was it still stemming from the arrangement of the Civilization Trial, or did it originate from this universe itself?
If it originated from this universe itself, would it add another level of difficulty?
All kinds of thoughts and speculations continuously surged forth.
Even though they had already experienced two trials, Dong Gong and many others sadly found that they still knew nothing about the Civilization Trial.
“First, investigate the surrounding star systems to see if there are any life-bearing planets,” Shen Hao ordered at this moment, “Also, don’t relax our internal vigilance. At the same time, begin research on this new type of Extraordinary Power, maintain communication between Great Yan Civilization and Sky Spirit Civilization, and ensure that we can be informed of any changes at the earliest time — in short, we’ll first try to gather as much information as possible.”