The Empress’s Gigolo

The Sixty Thousand Mountains was vast and boundless, and the aboriginals only occupied a small portion of it. Vast areas of it were untouched by humans, with ferocious beasts and some unknown races living among the barren mountains.

In the center, there was a dark swamp where the trees weren’t dense, but each tree had a girth that required six to seven people to surround it. The canopy of these trees blocked out almost all of the sunlight. When a person looked up, the canopy seemed to be pressing down, making it depressing and hard to breathe.

The things most commonly seen in this swamp were snakes and insects. Occasionally, there were some frogs and other amphibians of various sizes.

More than 20 figures could be seen standing or sitting in an open area of the swamp.

Each figure was separated from the others by a considerable distance. It was as if there were walls of air between them.

Indifference emanated from each and every figure.

“They are looking for us!”

“It’s because Bor exposed himself and didn’t eliminate those people, thereby causing this situation.”

“Our pastures have been burned down, and we can’t control the jade-waisted slaves if we do not have pastures for a long period of time.”

“We can’t afford to wait too long!”

“They are looking for us now, so if we take action, we will meet them directly.”

“Since they are aware of our existence, we will meet them sooner or later. Once we take action, they will spot us. Don’t tell me we have to eat ferocious beasts in the future?”

“They are looking for us everywhere and will break through the boundaries!”

“They are threatening our survival by doing so!”

“We must restrict their behavior!”

“Kill them! Kill their leader!”

“They have more than ten million people!”

“They are merely outcasts!”

“Kill their leader first and then kill those people who are looking for us. Those people aren’t weaklings, and we can use them to plant two pastures!”

“This will only provoke them and fan their fury!”

“The differences between us are conflicting and irreconcilable! They are our prey, whereas we are the predators.”

“We shouldn’t let them discover us or our 10,000 years of existence will be destroyed.”

“It’s Bor’s fault!”

“He was too young and didn’t know enough!”

“…”

These voices were transmitted among the figures.

There was no excitement, no argument, no anger, no hesitation, and no contempt.

Everyone maintained an indifferent attitude as they discussed this matter that affected them personally.

“Zaku, state your position! You are the leader here and also the oldest!”

Following these words, most of the figures focused their attention on a normally reticent figure.

“It’s our duty to stop them!” declared the usually uncommunicative figure.

…

A yellow mist floated in the darkness. It wasn’t static, it was rotating like water being agitated.

Inside this mist was an invisible whirlpool that was propelling and sucking in the mist.

Gradually, the mist spiraled into a long yellow dragon that moved in a certain direction.

When the mist reached a certain spot, its forward movement came to an abrupt halt as it condensed until it transformed into a yellow stone.

This stone was also rotating about its axis.

After some time, the stone gradually dissipated until there was nothing left as it transformed into yellow mist that disappeared into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Ren Baqian opened his eyes.

He turned to look at the empress, who was lying prone on a wooden platform in front of the house and staring at a laptop.

The platform was covered with umbrellas to block the sunlight.

A 3D animation about the origin of the universe was playing on the laptop and showed the planets moving along their orbits. They looked like they were about to jump out of the screen, causing Qing Yuan and Hong Luan to scream in surprise.

Ren Baqian drank a cup of water and lay down beside the empress. In the sunlight, he read a book that described a brief history of the universe. All that was lacking was a cup of tea.

The water from the mountain spring tasted sweet, and the taste seemed to linger in the mouth.

“Was the world formed this way?” The empress looked at Ren Baqian sideways.

“Nobody was there to see it, but this idea is based on conjectures derived from other observational evidence. It’s based on facts, but we can’t be absolutely certain,” Ren Baqian said.

“This is amazing! It would be wonderful if we could go to outer space and see it!”

The empress sighed wistfully.

“I have heard about a moon tour being operated on Earth. If Your Majesty wants to participate, we can go to outer space to see the wonderful scenery!” Ren Baqian raised his eyebrows and put his hand on her waist.

The empress poked him on the waist with her finger, and his body immediately became numb.

Even though his defensive power had increased tremendously, he couldn’t withstand this. There was hardly any defensive effect against her.

The empress’s understanding of strength usage and of the body was beyond him.

“I’m only interested in this stretch of space!” Although she said this, her eyes displayed her interest.

She had learned from Ren Baqian that this world was a planet, and they had even given this planet a name.

She was interested in seeing other nearby planets from outer space.

However, she didn’t like the idea of riding a rocket to outer space because she would be putting her life in the hands of others.

Ren Baqian was numb for half a day before he could move a little. He groaned, sniffed the air, and noticed that the fragrance of the flowers was mixed with another scent.

“It will be good to see it when the opportunity arises! It won’t be too long before the technology matures. By that time, flying to the moon will be as easy as taking a flight!”

The pace of technological improvement was getting faster and faster.

It took humans thousands of years to enter the First Industrial Revolution, but only hundreds of years to enter the second one.

The invention of the steam engine was the driving force for progress, and new technologies were driving progress even faster.

The same was true for the aerospace industry.

On Earth, it was now possible to transport people to tour the moon. Two groups had already been sent to the moon and successfully came back.

Colonization of the moon was the hottest topic in other countries.

Many netizens had even mapped out a timetable for colonization.

However, the nation’s domestic trend was different from other countries, with the [Fifteen Sets of Initial Cultivation] being the fad.

It was as Ren Baqian had envisaged.

This set of skills, even though it was modified, required a lot of food, so the practitioner would easily be noticed by others.

Furthermore, those with talent could see results in the short span of a few months.

Junior and senior high school students could gain the strength to lift hundreds of kilograms in a few months. How could such a situation go unnoticed?

Even the other countries were paying close attention to this matter.