Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 3 Young Master Hu Ge, bestowed

Thunderstorm Star: After traveling through the universe for half a month, the silver-gray spaceship finally broke through the endless thunderclouds and slowly landed on the planet's surface.

Not long after, in the grand hall of a castle with extremely luxurious interior decoration, Qi Yuan finally met the 'owner' who bought him for the first time.

It was a boy dressed in a magnificent robe, with a chubby face. Apart from a dark red horn about half a foot long on his forehead, his physique and appearance were quite similar to those of humans on Earth.

However, this 'master' is not very powerful, only around the eighth level of the planetary stage.

However, the four black-armored guards standing behind him, each with a deep aura, made Qi Yuan feel immense pressure.

Qi Yuan dared not stare at the boy for too long. After a brief glance, he immediately bowed and paid his respects.

"Your subordinate Qi Yuan greets your master."

"Oh? Your name is Qi Yuan?"

The young man sitting on the throne above was taken aback upon hearing this, and muttered strangely, "Damn, why does this name sound so much like that old man's!"

Qi Yuan saw the boy's expression change instantly and thought he had given himself away, so he felt uneasy.

Fortunately, the boy's complexion returned to normal in the next second.

He sized up Qi Yuan, then nodded with a forced, mature smile, and said:
"Haha, I heard you're from a planetary native? Without guidance or resources, you've cultivated to the stellar level using only a few cobbled-together, incomplete methods. It seems you have quite a bit of talent."

On the way here, Qi Yuan had already been fitted with an auxiliary optical brain similar to an arm guard. With the help of the auxiliary optical brain's translation function, he was able to easily understand the language of these "people from outer space".

Upon hearing the young man's words, he immediately replied respectfully, "Thank you for your praise, Master."

"Ah."

The boy gave a faint hum in his nose, then pointed to a gaunt middle-aged man in a black robe with fine scales on his cheeks beside him, "From now on, you will be assigned to my personal guard. You will follow Old Wu in a moment, and he will give you the personal guard's exclusive armor and cultivation techniques."

"Battle armor? Cultivation techniques? What a wonderful thing!"

Qi Yuan was overjoyed upon hearing this!
He was just worrying about not having a complete cultivation method when he suddenly found a solution!

This boy-looking 'owner' was quite considerate; he solved his biggest problem right away!

"Thank you for your generous gift, Master!" Qi Yuan immediately put on a grateful expression.

"Haha, don't worry, from now on, you'll have no shortage of secret techniques and resources if you follow me!"

The young man smiled rather proudly, "I like subordinates with potential. Even if they are slaves, as long as they have talent, I will never be stingy with resources to train them!"

"Of course, besides being my personal guard, you have another very important task."

The young master changed his tone, "Besides cultivating, you must manage your clansmen well and make them work hard to help me mine lightning crystals. As long as the output satisfies me, you will definitely be rewarded handsomely."

"If any member of your clan breaks through to the stellar level, they can also become a member of the personal guard and enjoy the same treatment as other personal guards."

"Rest assured, Master, we will swear to serve you to the death!"

Qi Yuan reluctantly offered a wave of loyalty.

"Okay." The one-horned boy nodded in satisfaction. "Go ahead, just follow Old Wu's instructions from now on."

"Oh, and remember my name, Master. My name is Hugo Ortega!"

Outside the main hall, after leaving with the guard captain named 'Old Wu', Qi Yuan boarded a small, disc-shaped spaceship.

Old Wu was thin and his skin was bluish-gray, like a demon with a blue face and fangs from a novel.

However, perhaps because they were both slave guards, he treated Qi Yuan quite well.

"Your people have all been assigned to Mine No. 5. I'll take you there first to see the situation and make arrangements for your people."

As Old Wu spoke, he started up the spaceship. “Normally, the master’s personal guard doesn’t have many tasks. You can stay at Mine No. 5 or go back to the castle to cultivate. As long as you can arrive in time when the master summons you, that’s fine.”

"clear."

Qi Yuan nodded, secretly pleased.

Not having to stay under the castle owner's nose makes many things much easier for him.

On his way to Thunderstorm Star, he was still worried about where he would be taken, and whether he would be used as cannon fodder in the power struggle and thrown directly into some dangerous battlefield.

Judging from the current situation, there's no need to worry about safety for the time being.

As they spoke, the spaceship they were in soared into the sky. The instant they left the castle's perimeter, a storm of purple lightning erupted outside the portholes, accompanied by a fierce gale-force wind far exceeding level twelve, whipping up large amounts of gravel and quicksand that pounded against the spaceship's hull.

"That's just how the environment is on Thunderstorm Star. You'll get used to it eventually."

Old Wu, the "Blue-Faced Ghost," smiled and handed a silver ring to Qi Yuan.

"This is a small spatial ring. You can open it by imprinting it with your mental power. According to the rules, the master's personal guards will receive a C2-grade alloy battle suit, a second-tier force weapon, and some cultivation supplies. They are all here. As for the cultivation techniques exclusive to the personal guards, I have already sent them to your auxiliary computer. You can check them yourself when you get back."

"A spatial ring? Thank you, Master, thank you, Lord Wu!"

Qi Yuan happily accepted the spatial ring.

Unexpectedly, the master of Thunderstorm Star was quite generous to his subordinates, not only providing them with cultivation techniques, but also preparing battle armor, weapons, and cultivation resources.

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he asked Old Wu with great anticipation:

"Lord Wu, can I only practice the cultivation techniques bestowed upon me by my master? Can I pass them on to my clansmen?"

"No."

Old Wu directly refused him, saying, "The cultivation techniques bestowed upon the personal guards by the master were obtained by exchanging a large amount of resources. The highest level they can be cultivated is the peak of the universe level, and there are also matching combat secrets. They must not be easily passed on to outsiders."

"Okay, I understand."

Qi Yuan replied somewhat dejectedly.

He had been hoping to use the system's functions to retrieve a more advanced cultivation technique, but now it seems that's not going to work.

As for secretly passing on the knowledge, don't even think about it.

His people were all controlled by biochips, and in their minds they were absolutely loyal to their master.

Even he, the 'Ancestor of Thunder Origin Star', would be exposed and abandoned without hesitation if he infringed upon his master's interests.

"It seems that staying here indefinitely is not a long-term solution; otherwise, my development will be limited in every way."

Qi Yuan felt a little anxious. "No, after settling in, I must quickly improve my strength using the system's return function, and then find a chance to escape as soon as possible."

"You don't need to be disappointed."

Seeing that he remained silent, Old Wu assumed he was worried about the fate of his people, so he smiled and offered words of comfort.
"Don't worry, the personal guards' exclusive cultivation techniques cannot be passed on to outsiders, but I have plenty of planetary-level cultivation techniques here. I'll send you a few sets in a bit."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan quickly composed himself and pretended to show gratitude.

"Then thank you very much, Lord Wu."

Their spaceship traveled at extremely high speeds, covering thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Soon the spaceship landed at the bottom of a deep canyon that was tens of kilometers deep but only a hundred meters wide.

The natural terrain provides a natural barrier, making this place almost completely protected from lightning and strong winds.

On the rock walls on both sides of the canyon, you can see dark caves of varying sizes leading into the interior of the rock walls.

“Mine No. 5 is a newly opened mine for lightning crystals. For the time being, only your clansmen have been assigned here.”

"The master's requirement for you is that the annual output of this place must reach at least 300 million tons of pyrocrystal ore."

"It should be noted that the lightning crystal vein contains extremely strong lightning energy. Even ordinary planetary-level beings will not be able to withstand it if they come into contact with it too much. Although your people are more resistant, they should also be careful to act within their limits."

"It would be best to have them enter in batches, and then leave to rest every now and then, so as to avoid delaying the master's mission due to physical injury."

"I've sent all the other things you need to be aware of to your auxiliary computer. You can contact me anytime if you need anything."

Old Wu led Qi Yuan on a quick tour of several major mines, gave him a few more instructions, and then boarded a spaceship and left.

It was only at this moment that Qi Yuan finally felt a little relieved.

"Phew~ I've finally passed the first hurdle. Thank goodness, I wasn't thrown into some near-death situation right from the start!"

As he watched the spaceship carrying Lao Wu completely disappear into the sky above the canyon, a strange light began to spread across his eyes.

"Now that we're temporarily out of danger, we can find an opportunity to test the system's return function!"

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(End of this chapter)