1: Am I the grandson of Emperor Ming?

"What's going on?! H10008 suddenly accelerated?!"

Long Yuan stared intently at the large screen in front of him, his face filled with shock, because he saw the strange space rock locked on the screen suddenly emit a dazzling light, pulling out a long tail, clearly increasing its speed significantly, looking very much like a comet…

"That's not right. Although the space rock H10008 poses some threat by approaching Earth, it has always been very stable. Moreover, after multiple observations, the possibility of it being a comet has been ruled out. The Heavenly Eye even confirmed it's just a strangely shaped space rock that looks a bit like an ancient small building. The threat isn't significant, so why is it acting up now?" Long Yuan's thoughts raced as he muttered.

As Hua Country's youngest expert in the field of astrophysics, Long Yuan was recently entrusted with a heavy responsibility. Along with a group of domestic experts, he came to the "Heavenly Eye" observatory deep in the mountains of southwestern Hua Country to collect and process extraterrestrial information. His main purpose was to search for the existence of extraterrestrials and to rule out the threat of some near-Earth small celestial bodies. This is an issue that countries around the world have been increasingly focusing on recently, and Hua Country is at the forefront in this regard. The peculiar space rock, designated H10008, was one of the threat points recently locked onto by Long Yuan and is under continuous tracking and observation by the Heavenly Eye.

Today was a rare rest day at the observation base, and only Long Yuan, the young man, was on duty at the observatory. After discovering this anomaly, Long Yuan thought for a moment, not daring to delay. He immediately pressed the button to sound the alarm and directly called the director to report the matter urgently. Not long after, the entire observation base began to stir, with people appearing everywhere, and their common goal was the observatory located at the top!

"What's happening? What did you find?!"

"I'm not sure. Is Little Long on duty tonight?"

"It's him! Little Long is just too young and impetuous. What situation requires this alarm?"

"Exactly, the alarm he pulled is the highest level. Is the sky falling?! I don't believe it!"

"Hmph, these countless stars are perfectly fine. His reckless alarm is simply disturbing people's dreams!"

"This kid's getting ahead of himself. He's so young and already part of an expert team like ours. Now he's eager to make a name for himself. Let's see what reason he can come up with later. If he can't, he definitely shouldn't be let off lightly..."

"Indeed, he has the least experience, but the most issues. It seems he's also found the most threat points recently, right?"

"Hey, what do you mean 'most threat points'? Isn't he just eager to make a name for himself and show off? He's just young and has good eyesight..."

"Exactly, exactly..."

As these people grumbled and hurried along, someone suddenly shouted, "Look at the sky!!!"

Everyone paused at the sound, looking up, only to see a streak of light in the distant sky, like a sharp arrow piercing the heavens, instantly illuminating the entire world. With a "whoosh," the light arrow passed directly over the Heavenly Eye base and disappeared.

Everyone was struck by this light arrow in that instant, as if they had been transported to another world. They stood in a daze for an unknown amount of time before regaining their senses. Looking up again, they found the night sky was still, and a cool breeze blew, as if nothing had changed. However, when they reached the observation deck, they still discovered an anomaly: "Where's Little Long?!"

Long Yuan, who was on duty, was gone!

Only the large screen in front of them tirelessly replayed the astonishing scene of the light arrow's recent arrival, seemingly reminding them that Long Yuan's disappearance was related to it. The observation base once again fell into chaos…

… …

"Ah!!!"

Long Yuan shrieked hysterically, the dazzling light in front of him piercing, as if trying to penetrate his tightly shut eyes and strike his Soul. He felt as if his entire being was about to be melted by this light. He struggled violently, struggling, and gradually fell into unconsciousness…

After an unknown amount of time, his consciousness returned. He slowly awoke, opening his eyes to a strange room, decorated with both modern and ancient touches. Looking around, he found himself slumped on the ground, with a pool of blood next to him. Strange items, resembling cold weapons, were scattered around, along with some incomprehensible furniture and decorations he had never seen before…

"Who am I? Where am I?! What am I doing?!"

He was momentarily bewildered, the classic three questions immediately surfacing in his mind. Just then, a sharp pain struck, intensely stimulating his head and body. He clutched his head, howling and rolling. It wasn't that he was too weak, but that the pain was truly extraordinary, as if he was being cut into a thousand pieces or devoured by ten thousand ants. Even a fierce general with unmatched bravery would likely fall to his knees if they encountered it; how could a frail scholar like him endure it?

Fortunately, the pain came suddenly and left quickly, disappearing without a trace after a short while, leaving only Long Yuan still sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath…

After this intense, Soul-deep pain, he felt like a fish reborn, fully alive again. He finally remembered what had happened to him earlier, which made him exclaim, "No, no, the direction of H10008 was directly facing the base, and the Heavenly Eye was frantically calling for help, but there were no defensive measures at the base. Even if there were, they couldn't have stopped that falling meteor. Everything should have been completely destroyed, so how am I not dead?! How could I not be dead?! Or is it…"

Just as he struggled to understand the situation, a refreshing breeze seemed to blow through his mind, and his thoughts suddenly became clear. "What's going on? I'm not Long Yuan, I'm Zhu Deyuan?! And a descendant of Prince Fu of the Great Ming Empire, ranked four hundred sixty-eighth overall, and ninth among male descendants?! Sixteen years old this year?!"

Long Yuan was completely stunned, because there was a second person's memory in his mind. This memory was so clear, so vivid, the events in it felt like personal experiences. So, was he Long Yuan now, or Zhu Deyuan?

This feeling was extremely strange, as if he had Transmigrated into Zhu Deyuan's body, and also as if Zhu Deyuan had dreamed of going to Earth's Hua Country and lived for over twenty years as Long Yuan, and now the dream was over and his Soul had returned!

He struggled to his feet and carefully examined the entire room. The more he looked, the colder his heart grew, and his body trembled. Finally, his face became grim, and he slumped back to the ground, for he finally understood his current predicament. He never imagined that the legendary Transmigration would happen to him. He was no longer Long Yuan, the youngest astrophysicist expert from Earth's Hua Country, but had Transmigrated to the Great Ming Empire, becoming Zhu Deyuan, the ninth son of Prince Fu of the Great Ming Empire!

As an expert in the field of astrophysics, Long Yuan was not unfamiliar with the concept of Transmigration, but in the past, he had always considered it nothing more than a Xuanhuan story. However, when it truly and concretely happened to him, he was unable to accept it for a time, and he fell into confusion…

According to Zhu Deyuan's memory, this Great Ming Empire was similar yet different from the Great Ming Empire in Earth's Huaxia history. The course of history initially didn't differ much, but it diverged more and more. During the Wanli period of the Great Ming Empire, a huge change occurred: an energy gas called Profound Qi appeared in the natural environment, allowing talented people to Cultivate and become powerhouses. Global organisms also underwent massive mutations. Unlike the Great Ming Empire on Earth, which only existed for 276 years, under this cataclysmic event, the Great Ming Empire miraculously continued to exist until now, for over a thousand years. This means it Advanced more than six hundred years compared to the time on his own Huaxia Earth. Although many figures and events were quite similar, a closer look would reveal considerable differences, much like the same tree species developing branches and leaves with different forms and directions. Simply put, the direction of civilization development for the two was completely different!

The direction of Earth's tree was technological civilization, while the direction here in the Great Ming Empire was Cultivation civilization. Here, Profound Qi exists between heaven and earth. People Cultivate by absorbing Profound Qi, tempering their bodies, practicing martial Dao, and striving to become powerhouses. Martial Dao powerhouses are respected in this world, enjoying high status and position, and are envied as life's winners.

Of course, not everyone can embark on the martial Dao and become a powerhouse. In fact, most people, due to lack of talent or extremely low talent, can only live ordinary lives, working and living cautiously their entire lives. Lacking the ability to protect themselves with martial force, they can only resign themselves to fate when danger arises, leaving everything to luck. It can be said that in this Profound Qi era, they are like ants.

Therefore, the Great Ming Empire actually implements a dual system, with both Xuan Practitioners and Mortals. Aside from significant differences in status and position, their lifestyles are also vastly different, almost as if they live in two separate worlds.

Long Yuan's mind churned, countless unfamiliar pieces of information Emergence, making his head feel heavy as iron, dizzy and muddled. It took a while for him to gradually calm down. The sheer volume of information was too great, and even with his extraordinary intelligence, he couldn't fully digest it in a short time. Furthermore, he was suddenly in another world, with unknown dangers lurking around, so he had no mind to carefully study what this Great Ming Empire was like. Instead, he was most concerned about his current situation. After all, the pool of crimson blood on the ground was quite glaring, and the room was in a mess. All of this indicated that his predecessor's situation was not good. Had he just barely escaped the meteor disaster and Transmigrated, only to Transmigrate again? Thinking of that terrible Soul-devouring pain he just experienced, he absolutely did not want to go through it again!

"What a pit! That damned small building!!!"

Thinking of how he inexplicably suffered this undeserved calamity, Long Yuan couldn't help but curse that small building-shaped space rock again. He thought that although his life was saved, he couldn't return home and didn't know how his parents would react to his "death." Countless "grass mud horses" (a Chinese internet meme for 'fuck you') galloped through his mind…

"Since things have come to this, I should first think about how to survive in this foreign world. My current identity seems pretty good. I Transmigrated and actually became the son of Prince Fu. Isn't this a genuine imperial prince or grandson as legend has it? Saying I was born with a golden spoon isn't enough; at the very least, I arrived with a printing press. And I've become younger, only sixteen years old. Doesn't this mean I've gained nearly ten years of precious time for free? But what's with this ranking four hundred sixty-eighth and ninth among male descendants?! Is that Prince Fu really that fertile?!"

Long Yuan began to carefully review his identity information, and the result made him overjoyed—no, no, no… not overjoyed, but greatly disappointed!

How to put it, his predecessor, Zhu Deyuan, was indeed a direct descendant of the Great Ming, because Prince Fu was the current Emperor Ming's ninth son, and Zhu Deyuan was also Prince Fu's ninth son. Therefore, he was a legitimate imperial grandson, that much was true. But the Emperor Ming's direct descendants numbered tens of thousands, and he was just one of them, and a waste at that. He was not valued by the Emperor Ming or Prince Fu at all; it was likely that if Zhu Deyuan stood before them, he wouldn't even be recognized…

Why would even Prince Fu, his father, not recognize Zhu Deyuan? That's because Zhu Deyuan was not with Prince Fu at all. Ten years ago, he left the primary base central city of Southern Yue, where Prince Fu resided, with his mother and came to Fengyang County, the third-level base where his mother Dragon Snow's Family was located. After ten years apart, Zhu Deyuan grew from six to sixteen years old, and his appearance changed quite a bit. Coupled with Prince Fu's complete disregard for him, showing no concern for the mother and son, it's likely that even if father and son met now, they would be like strangers.

What made Long Yuan even more speechless was that Zhu Deyuan's mother, Dragon Snow, had passed away a few years ago. The reason was that Dragon Snow and Prince Fu had only a fleeting romance. The Long Family was a small Family in Fengyang. Dragon Snow was quite beautiful. Prince Fu once came here to travel and met Dragon Snow. Moved by passion, he took her and brought her to the Prince Fus Mansion in Southern Yue City. Later, due to Prince Fu having too many concubines and not being able to care for them all, he gradually grew cold. In addition, others, jealous of Dragon Snow's beauty, would occasionally whisper malicious words into Prince Fu's ear, which completely extinguished Prince Fu's feelings for Dragon Snow. Dragon Snow fell out of favor, and in her sorrow, she took Zhu Deyuan and left the Prince Fus Mansion to return to Fengyang. Due to her depression, she passed away a few years later…

… …