73: Chapter 73 Star River City, Death Manual

As Wang Pingan stepped out of the star gate, he noticed the difference with his very first breath.

The concentration of spiritual energy was absurdly high. It wasn't thin and scattered like ordinary environmental spiritual energy; instead, it had been repeatedly washed by the tidal waves of the Source, resulting in extreme purity. As it entered his body, his demigod fire even flickered slightly in response.

The Wang family's ancestral grounds were considered a top-tier cultivation site on Tianhai Star, but compared to this place, they were several grades inferior.

Divine light frequently streaked across the sky above Galaxy City.

Some auras were only those of a 2nd Order God or third-tier deity, but others were so heavy that they made Wang Pingan's divine core feel vaguely suppressed, clearly indicating a higher level.

Lining both sides of the streets were large commercial firms, divine kingdom resource banks, battle formation rental agencies, and auction houses for alien materials. Any item displayed at their entrances would be considered a priceless treasure on Tianhai Star, yet here, they were simply tagged with prices and hung out in the open.

Seeing him looking around, Wang Cang took the initiative to speak.

"Galaxy City is the outer city of the university. You cannot bring guardians into the school, but intelligence, trading, and supplies are all handled within this city."

"Every major family has a stronghold here. Whichever family has a stronger stronghold, their students will have an easier time getting things done."

Wang Pingan nodded.

There was more than one way for one's background to manifest. Inside the school, one had to fight for themselves; outside the school, one relied on the family to pave the way. Those without family backing would lag several steps behind others just in terms of intelligence and supplies.

Wang Cang led him to the high-level mansion district in the center of the city.

Every mansion had an independent spatial formation, with tightly guarded defensive arrays on the exterior, and the crests of various families shimmered with flowing light before their gates. The Wang family's courtyard was not the most destitute, but it was located in the central area and was quite large in scale.

The steward at the gate had been waiting for a long time; upon seeing them arrive, he immediately withdrew the array and welcomed them in.

The interior of the mansion was a world of its own. The front courtyard housed the reception hall and intelligence room, the middle courtyard was the resource warehouse, and the backyard was fully equipped with cultivation secret chambers and independent teleportation rooms.

Wang Cang pointed them out one by one: "This is a property the family spent a huge sum of money to acquire in advance. From now on, they and I will be stationed here."

The 2nd Order God followed up immediately.

"If you, Daoist, have any resource needs inside the school, just send a message. We will purchase them through Galaxy City's channels and then deliver them to the transfer point in accordance with school regulations."

The three First-Order Deity members had their own divisions of labor—intelligence, trading, and security patrols—all arranged clearly.

Wang Cang finally looked at Wang Pingan.

"Daoist, rest assured and focus on competing within the school. We will handle all resource mobilization and intelligence gathering outside."

Wang Pingan knew clearly how extravagant this treatment was for a freshman.

Others had to find their own channels, verify the authenticity of intelligence, and guard against outside forces secretly causing trouble. He, however, only needed to pour all his energy into fighting, mass-producing troops, and expanding his divine kingdom.

This was the true value of the Wang family's support.

Wang Pingan did not exchange pleasantries; he only said one sentence: "I will convert all these resources into combat power."

Wang Cang smiled.

"That is exactly what the Old Ancestor wanted to hear."

With external affairs settled, Wang Pingan entered the mansion's secret chamber alone.

The shielding array could isolate external divine sense and stabilize divine core fluctuations for a short time. He took out the freshman handbook and opened it; the first school rule immediately caught his eye.

The school is absolutely safe. No student is allowed to engage in private duels, invade the divine kingdoms of others, or spy on divine core coordinates.

Off-campus assessments do not enjoy absolute protection. The average mortality rate in the alien battlefields over past sessions has been thirty percent. If the divine core shatters, it is a true death.

The words "True Death" were marked in red.

No resurrection, no do-overs, no simulation protection.

Wang Pingan's finger traced over that line of text. He felt no fear, but he read the rules more carefully, word by word.

No matter how intense the Seventeen Stars assessment was, it ultimately had projections and the system to fall back on. Xinghe University, from the very first gate, threw freshmen into a battlefield of real blades and guns.

Turning to the second page, he saw the mandatory requirements for the three years as a freshman.

Demigod freshmen must expand their divine kingdom scale to the baseline of a First-Order Deity within three years—an area of no less than 30,000 kilometers, with population, civilization, and citizen limits also being assessed simultaneously.

Those who fail to achieve this will have their status as Xinghe University students stripped and will be forcibly expelled.

Wang Pingan's gaze fixed on the words "30,000 kilometers."

He had just expanded his divine kingdom to 2,500 square kilometers, which was considered a solid foundation for the demigod stage on Tianhai Star, but in Xinghe University, it was merely the starting point.

Within three years, he had to go from 2,500 square kilometers to the baseline of a First-Order Deity.

If an ordinary demigod relied solely on buying cards to expand their land, the consumption of Source Power would be so great that even a 2nd Order God would feel the pain.

The handbook quickly provided the answer.

The fastest way to expand—entering the exclusive alien battlefields for freshmen.

These were clusters of alien demigod divine kingdoms captured and sealed by high-level human deities. Every freshman could use the school system to select targets, obtain the coordinates of the enemy's divine kingdom, and launch a real invasion.

The victor would annex the alien divine kingdom's Source, directly increasing their area and the strength of their Source.

The loser would have their divine core shattered, resulting in death and the dissipation of their Dao.

It was the fastest path, and also the bloodiest.

Wang Pingan continued to flip through.

The handbook specifically warned: Alien demigod divine kingdoms are different from simulated planes. Their internal laws are complete, the enemy divine lords will mobilize all their resources to counterattack, and the alien citizens will not dissipate due to system judgments, nor will they show mercy because you are a student.

After reading the last line, Wang Pingan actually smiled.

Real battlefields, real Source, real annexation.

This was the fuel that the Master of Time needed most.

He opened the campus intranet forum; as soon as he entered, the entire screen was filled with posts from freshmen looking for teams.

"Peak demigod from the Central Seventh Star Region looking for a powerful main attack teammate. I am willing to concede 40% of the profits."

"Mechanical-style with 3,000 mechs looking for a Foundation Establishment magic cultivator support. 50/50 split of profits. No dead weight from remote star regions accepted."

"Urgent! Looking for a big shot to carry me through the first alien divine kingdom invasion. I am willing to concede 60% of the profits, just want to survive and complete the first kill."

Wang Pingan scrolled down, and the more he read, the more he understood.

Xinghe University allowed team invasions, and Source profits were divided according to system contributions. Many freshmen dared not fight alone and would rather give up the majority of the profits just to cling to the thighs of the strong.

Because if you die in the first match, you lose everything.

While he was browsing, his personal terminal popped up over a dozen invitations in succession. The senders came from different star regions, and their names were all marked with family insignias.

One of them was particularly glaring.

"Wang Pingan, your legion's frontal pushing ability is decent. You can join my team, but the command authority must be handed over to me, and you will take 20% of the profits."

The second one was more blunt.

"Being able to win the championship in a remote star region shows you have some combat power. Come here and be a secondary attacker for me; I will guarantee you don't die in the first match."

The third one carried a sense of disdain.

"Don't think that just because you defeated Xiao Xuan you can walk sideways in Xinghe University. Any Grade A team from the Central Star Region can crush a Seventeen Stars champion. If you want to live, you'd better be sensible."

Wang Pingan finished reading and didn't reply to a single one.

He directly clicked on batch operations, cleared all invitations with one click, and closed applications for unknown teams.

He knew exactly what these people were planning. They coveted his Immortal Martial Legion's frontal pushing power and wanted to use their Central Star Region status to pressure him into handing over command. Once they teamed up, his battle formation deployment, citizen scale, supply rhythm, and even the method of deploying his divine kingdom channel would all be exposed under the eyes of outsiders.

More importantly, teaming up would slow down his speed of mass-producing troops.

Wang Pingan looked at the cleared interface and muttered to himself.

"Teaming up? It would only affect the speed at which I flatten the enemy's divine kingdom."

He closed the forum and sank his consciousness into his divine kingdom.

The 2,500 square kilometers of territory spread out beneath his feet. Thirty thousand citizens were performing their duties, the war flags of the Northern Military Camp stood solemn, and the 3,000 main forces were fully equipped and waiting for orders.

Wang Mu and Wang Shan sensed the Divine Lord's arrival almost simultaneously and rushed to the high platform of the military camp.