Chapter 140: The First Mission, Veska Star

"Viska Star, Blood Luo World, Flame Ice Continent..."
"Lost Nebula, Cloud Palace, Dead Star..."
"Choose one from the eight 'Dangerous' level mission worlds. Choose one from the five 'Desperate' level mission worlds."
"There are no specific details provided about the mission worlds, nor any concrete requirements, other than the mandatory synchronization with the Virtual Universe. No criteria for evaluating the trial are mentioned either."
"Is this an attempt to observe how I handle things within a mission to judge my character?"
Jiang Chen’s mind drifted to this speculation.

A moment later, Jiang Chen shook his head, dismissing the thought, and muttered to himself, "Whatever. It would be great to become the disciple of the Founder of the Giant Axe, but if I can't, it’s no big deal. I will stick to my own plans."

After ten years of grueling study, Jiang Chen’s mindset had become incredibly calm and stable. The fact that the Founder of the Giant Axe wanted to take him as a disciple and had set a trial no longer had any impact on his emotions. He would carry out training missions and acquire resources strictly according to his own intentions. As for the criteria of the Founder’s assessment or whether he would pass, Jiang Chen refused to dwell on those questions.

"Combining my Void Dragon mecha with the immortal legions makes my combat power quite formidable, even among immortals. If I were to follow standard procedure and just complete the basic tasks before leaving, even a 'Desperate' level mission would be easy for me. However, if I intend to explore the deeper mysteries of these worlds, the difficulty rating is not a reliable reference. In a 'Dangerous' level task like the 'Blood Luo World,' if one ventures to their 'Holy City,' they might run into a large group of immortal gods, making the danger level far exceed that of a normal 'Desperate' mission."

"Still, the distinction between 'Dangerous' and 'Desperate' at least indicates the overall threat level of the world. Places like 'Demon Mountain' or the 'Lost Nebula' are dangerous just by virtue of their environments, and they harbor many immortal-level combatants."

"For the first mission, I’ll be a bit conservative and choose a 'Dangerous' level world."

Jiang Chen opened the list and selected 'Dangerous' training missions. Suddenly, a warning in red font appeared before his eyes, flashing insistently and catching his attention.

"Warning! Warning! Candidate Jiang Chen, this is your first training mission. According to probability calculations based on countless historical examples of the Virtual Universe Company, the death rate for choosing a 'Dangerous' level mission on your first attempt is as high as 78.2%. Please choose carefully. If you wish to proceed, click confirm; otherwise, cancel this mission selection."

Ignoring the warning, he clicked confirm. A long list of missions appeared before him.

1. Viska Star (Virtual Universe Company, Primitive Secret Realm)
2. Seven Flames Palace (Virtual Universe Company, Heaven and Earth Secret Realm)
...
36. Blood Luo World (Virtual Universe Company, Taichu Secret Realm)
...
186. Flame Ice Continent (Universe Galaxy Bank, Black Hole Secret Realm)

There were 186 mission worlds in total, all located within the core secret realms controlled by the five major powers. Each power possessed four core secret realms dedicated to cultivating geniuses, totaling twenty realms. The 186 missions were scattered across these twenty locations.

Jiang Chen had three avatars: two in the Virtual Universe Company’s Primitive Secret Realm and one in the Universe Mercenary Alliance’s Glory Secret Realm. If he chose a mission in any of the other eighteen realms, the travel time alone would take a year or two, which was typical. Lacking sufficient knowledge of these worlds, Jiang Chen naturally didn't want to waste time traveling, so he prioritized the realms where his avatars were already located.

Though 186 missions spread across twenty realms averaged nearly ten per realm, giving him plenty of room to choose, the distribution was not even. For instance, the Taichu Secret Realm had only five 'Dangerous' level missions, while the 'Giant Axe Secret Realm' of the Giant Axe Dojo had the most, with 37. As for the realms where his avatars were located, the Primitive Secret Realm had 8 'Dangerous' missions, and the Glory Secret Realm had 13.

"Let’s look at the 'Dangerous' missions in the Primitive Secret Realm first." Jiang Chen scanned the list quickly, reviewing the information for each world.

"Viska Star, Ruins of the Ancient God Temple, Void Glacier..."

He skimmed the data for the eight worlds, though the information was not very detailed—just a general overview. Anything involving special 'opportunities' or 'hidden secrets' would certainly not appear in such basic documentation.

***

However, even the basic data contained information that made Jiang Chen marvel. For example, the 'Void Glacier' was a vast river of ice suspended in the cosmic void, larger than a typical galaxy. The miraculous substance that composed the 'river water' had a temperature so low it could freeze souls and consciousness; even a World Lord could not survive directly within it. Only on a few select stars within the glacier could one safely leave the shelter of a spacecraft and step outside.

"Of the eight 'Dangerous' missions given by the Founder of the Giant Axe, two are in the Primitive Secret Realm: 'Viska Star' and 'Morning Dawn Continent'."

"The 'Ancestral God Tomb' on Viska Star—Luo Feng didn't obtain it in the original records, but it is confirmed to hold the secrets of Viska Star. It is guarded by a group of immortal gods. My avatar’s combat power is definitely insufficient; I must go with my main body and the mechanical legion to see if I can seize the benefits."

"As for the 'Morning Dawn Continent,' I’ll send the 'Uchiha Shisui' avatar."

"Hmm... and for the Mercenary Alliance mission, I'll choose the 'Prison Battlefield'."

Jiang Chen made his decision quickly and applied for the 'Viska Star' mission through the Virtual Universe system. As for his two avatars, he would wait until he had packaged and sent over the 'beggar-version Void Dragon mecha.' Once they received it and gained stronger survival capabilities, it wouldn't be too late for them to venture out into the mission worlds.

After clicking apply, a long list of information appeared on the screen.

"Viska Star, a special planet birthed in the early stages of the Primitive Secret Realm, with a diameter of about 10 billion kilometers..."

"Viska Star is inhabited by countless powerful humans. They possess their own language, culture, and cultivation systems..."

"Warning!"

"The natives of Viska Star are extremely hostile toward outsiders. Any technological weaponry will lead to exposure of your status as an outsider, resulting in pursuit by the natives..."

The introduction to Viska Star was long. At the end were the training tasks that could be completed on the planet.

Viska Star Training Missions:
1. Obtain a 'City Lord’s Token.' Success yields 10,000 points.
2. Kill 953 types of vicious beasts on 'Viska Star' and collect their material samples. Success yields 10,000 points.
3. Become a 'God Child' of the 'Ancestral God Sect' and obtain an identity verification token. Success yields 100,000 points.

Note: Only one of the three tasks needs to be completed to successfully finish the training mission.

Reminder: 99.7% of geniuses who take the 'Viska Star' mission complete the first or second task.

Jiang Chen glanced at it for a few moments and accepted the mission.

"A vast planet with a diameter of 10 billion kilometers, exceeding even the 'supergiant stars' in the universe, and yet it is a planet suitable for life. Cosmic secret realms are truly miraculous."

Jiang Chen couldn't help but exclaim. Before Earth made contact with the universe, the largest supergiant star discovered by humans in the 'observable universe' of the old era, 'RSGC2-18', had a diameter of only 3 billion kilometers—less than a third of 'Viska Star.' Theoretically, a planet of such size would undergo violent 'fusion reactions' due to gravity, turning the entire planet into a supergiant star. Over long ages, once the 'fuel' capable of fusion was exhausted, the entire planet would collapse inward to form a black hole.

But the universe is miraculous. Under the influence of the universe’s primordial power, anything that seems to 'defy reason' can happen. What we call 'defying reason' is often just a lack of deep understanding of the order and laws of the universe.

Viska Star was one such strange planet that completely defied 'logic.' Not only did it avoid triggering 'fusion reactions' despite its massive mass, but the environment within the planet also far exceeded the conventional understanding of astrophysics. Given the size of Viska Star, its mass should be astonishing, naturally generating terrifying gravity. Even if powerful beings could survive on the planet, ordinary weak life forms should absolutely perish. Even for Planet-level, Star-level, or even World Lord or Immortal-level beings, there are limits to the gravity they can withstand.

However, according to the data provided by the Virtual Universe Company, the natives of Viska Star were only at the Apprentice level when born—not even Planet-level—yet they could survive normally on this planet. This was a fascinating phenomenon.

In Jiang Chen’s eyes, it was also worth researching. However, compared to studying the special environment of Viska Star, Jiang Chen placed more importance on the potential special resources available there.

***

The natives of Viska Star consisted mostly of two types: humans and vicious beasts. The humans were similar to those in the broader universe, divided into many branches, some of whom looked like Earthlings, so Jiang Chen didn't need to adjust his appearance. However, he still needed to learn the planet's languages.

After spending a few days mastering the mainstream common language of Viska Star, as well as several widely spoken 'dialects,' Jiang Chen felt prepared. He applied for the Viska Star training mission through the Virtual Universe system. A Virtual Universe Company spacecraft landed at Manor No. 114 on Wuchen Continent to pick him up.

—

After flying through the Dark Universe for over ten days, Jiang Chen finally arrived at his destination. Amidst a fog formed by dense primordial energy, a gigantic planet was vaguely visible ahead. With a diameter of 10 billion kilometers, it was nearly the size of Pluto’s orbit around the sun. While it couldn't compare to those cosmic continents measured in 'light-years,' it was undoubtedly a super-colossus among 'planets.'

Earth’s diameter was only about 12,000 kilometers. 'Viska Star's' diameter was nearly ten thousand times that of Earth. One could imagine how vast the surface area of Viska Star was.

Outside the planet, there were no stars or galactic environments. Viska Star floated alone in the cosmic void, motionless, without forming any 'linkage' with any other celestial bodies. Around the planet’s orbit, a 'floating island' drifted in the starry sky, orbiting Viska Star like a satellite. The 'floating island' was not small—about the size of the moon—but compared to a behemoth like Viska Star, it was small enough to be ignored.

"Candidate, that floating island is the place where the super-entities of my Virtual Universe Company cultivate. They are stationed there to prevent the natives of Viska Star from leaving the planet and entering the universe."

The Virtual Universe Company employee introduced this to Jiang Chen, then immediately changed the subject, saying, "According to company regulations, we can only bring you this far. As for entering the planet, you must take your own spacecraft. When your mission ends, contact us, and we will immediately send someone to pick you up."

There had been a prompt regarding this when he accepted the mission, so Jiang Chen had no objections and nodded immediately, "Thank you."

With that, Jiang Chen stepped out of the cabin, retrieved a small spacecraft from his World Ring, boarded it, and flew toward Viska Star. Jiang Chen was skilled in technology, so he was not lacking in spacecraft. He carried over a thousand ships of various types in his World Ring. However, since this was just an infiltration to familiarize himself with the environment, he wouldn't make a grand entrance by deploying his fleet; he simply took a small E-grade spacecraft.

As the spacecraft approached Viska Star, its exterior rapidly changed, disguising itself as a meteorite. Upon entering the orbit, Jiang Chen shut down the spacecraft’s propulsion, allowing it to fall naturally toward the atmosphere under the gravitational pull of Viska Star. The mission briefing had suggested that whether dealing with a planet or a continent, disguising oneself as a meteorite and falling naturally under gravity was the most inconspicuous method, least likely to arouse the suspicion of the local natives.

There were simply too many meteorites of all sizes in the universe. On larger planets and continents, countless meteorites fell every day, and no one paid them any mind.

As he entered the atmosphere, the detection equipment rapidly read the data within the planet and summarized it into a list presented before Jiang Chen.

Gravity: 22,578 times Earth's gravity.
Atmospheric composition: 62% oxygen, 31% nitrogen...
Continental structure: ...

Item by item, the data appeared clearly on the screen.

"Over 22,000 times Earth's gravity? The natives on this planet are only at the 7th or 8th Apprentice level when born—how can they withstand such immense gravity?"

Jiang Chen couldn't help but frown, his heart filled with doubt.