Qin Guan was busy dealing with some of the Guanxuan Academy's affairs in the Study Hall of the Guanxuan Academy.

Swoosh!

An old man suddenly appeared before her. He bowed respectfully toward her and said, "Pavilion Master, a woman has come here to see you. She claims to be a friend of the Young Master and has brought many powerful individuals with her."

Qin Guan put down her brush and said, "Invite her in."

The old man retreated.

Soon, Lou Deyue and Qing Zhi entered, led by the old man. Qin Guan looked at Lou Deyue with a smile and said, "Hello."

Lou Deyue's eyes showed a hint of surprise when she saw Qin Guan.

Qin Guan had no detectable aura, and she didn't appear like a cultivator at all.

Qing Zhi curiously eyed Qin Guan.

So she's Young Master Ye's mother?

Qin Guan said warmly, "Please have a seat."

Instead of sitting down, Lou Deyue asked, "Are you Young Master Ye's mother?"

Qin Guan nodded. "Yes, I am."

"I've heard that Young Master Ye is in trouble, so I've come here to offer our assistance."

"Are you from the Shen Zhi Civilization?"

"How did you know?"

"My people have done some investigation."

Lou Deyue stared wordlessly at Qin Guan.

Qin Guan got up and walked up to the two girls, saying, "From what I know, the Shen Zhi Civilization is a place full of technological wonders. I think we can have a cultural exchanger."

Lou Deyue was curious. "Are you saying that the Guanxuan Academy has also made some advances when it comes to technology"

"Yup."

"Then, I'd like to see it."

"Of course," Qin Guan said with a smile. Then, she turned to look at Qing Zhi and asked, "Are you from the Primordial Spirit Clan?"

Qing Zhi nodded slightly.

Qin Guan nodded and went silent. She then turned to Lou Deyue and said, "Please follow me. I want to show you the technology that our Guanxuan Academy has been improving behind closed doors."

Qin Guan walked out of the Study Hall.

The curious Luo Deyue and Qing Zhi followed closely behind her.

Qin Guan brought them into a star field. A blue planet was suspended tens of thousands of meters away from them. The planet wasn't that big, and a wave of mysterious energy surrounded it, making it appear like a ripple in a pond.

Lou Deyue asked, "What's that?"

Qin Guan explained, "It's a Universe Receiver. The vast expanse has an astoundingly long history, which means that countless civilizations have existed before us.

"Those civilizations have left behind a variety of traces, including sounds and light. The Universe Receiver is capable of capturing those traces, and—" Qin Guan snapped her fingers. The Universe Receiver trembled slightly, and a mysterious image appeared in front of the three women.

The image depicted a certain civilization!

"No way!" Luo Deyue gasped, "That's... Shen Zhi Civilization!"

Qin Guan nodded slightly. "Yes."

Luo Deyue's face was filled with disbelief. "This…"

Qing Zhi was shocked as well.

Recreating past civilizations? How is she doing this?

Lou Deyue turned to Qin Guan and asked, "How?"

Qin Guan explained, "It would be a long story if I were to go into the details. Simply put, the Universe Receiver can capture residual energies from the past, and then it can retrace the original forms of those traces through a special method.

"The device is still in its infancy. Once it matures, it will be able to simulate an entire civilization—from its birth to its destruction…"

Lou Deyue asked, "You're analyzing past civilizations?"

"Of course. Many civilizations have aspects worth learning. For instance, your Shen Zhi civilization is technologically advanced, and we've learned a lot from it."

"'We'?"

"Of course, I'm not doing all of this by myself. I have a team with me, and they're members of the Guanxuan Academy as well."

"Your Guanxuan Academy is so powerful, so how come it is not famous throughout the vast expanse?" Lou Deyue asked.

Qing Zhi looked at Qin Guan, sharing the same curiosity as Lou Deyue.

"Before Little Guan was born, our whole clan had been maintaining a low profile. Everyone was also scattered all over the place, and they all minded their own business. When Little Guan was born, our family came together and started making things happen. It's not strange that the vast expanse does not know of our existence."

Qing Zhi hesitated briefly before asking, "Pavilion Master Qin, does the Guanxuan Academy have anyone with ninety percent divinity?"

"Why do you ask?" Qin Guan chuckled and asked back, "Does accumulating ninety percent divinity mean that you're the strongest cultivator out there?"

Qing Zhi was taken aback.

Qin Guan shook her head slightly and said, "That is not the case at all. In fact, I know that even experts at that level can vary in strength. For example, those capable of opening their own unique path are considered true powerhouses, and above them are those capable of touching upon humanity...

"But I digress," said Qin Guan with a mysterious smile.

Qing Zhi remained silent. She realized just then that the Guanxuan Academy definitely had someone with ninety percent divinity.

The Primordial Spirit Clan had done something incredibly foolish by declaring war on the Guanxuan Academy.

Lou Deyue asked, "Pavilion Master Qin, how many civilizations have this Universe Receiver detected so far?"

Qin Guan pondered over it briefly before replying, "So far, it has detected over a hundred thousand top-level civilizations."

"Is my Shen Zhi civilization the strongest civilization among those a hundred thousand civilizations?"

"No."

"There are civilizations stronger than ours?"

"Yes."

"What are they called?"

"From the data we've gathered so far, we concluded that there are three civilizations stronger than the Shen Zhi civilization. The first one is a civilization that existed before the Shen Zhi civilization, and it's called the Gui Yan Civilization. They emerged roughly sixty billion years before your civilization and were eventually destroyed by a Universe Tribulation," Qin Guan said.

"I know a bit about that Gui Yan Civilization. However, I had no idea that its name was 'Gui Yan.' Back then, we went back in time as well and discovered the existence of a powerful civilization that existed before us. We discovered their existence through their relics and secret realms. Of course, there weren't that many of them, so we couldn't really understand just what kind of civilization they were," Lou Deyue replied. Then, she looked at Qin Guan and asked, "Is this Gui Yan Civilization really stronger than my Shen Zhi Civilization?"

Qin Guan nodded. "They had elites with ninety percent divinity and are capable of opening up a unique path."

Lou Deyue fell silent. Having such elites meant that they were really stronger than the Shen Zhi Civilization. At their peak, they also had elites with ninety percent divinity, but none of them were able to open up a unique path.

Qing Zhi asked curiously, "What about the other two civilizations?"

Qin Guan replied, "One of them is the Forest Civilization, which is now known as the Shenxu Forest. The Shenxu Forest is a remnant of this ancient Forest Civilization. When they went through the Universe Tribulation back then, they used a supreme divine spell to migrate their entire clan to another universe."

"What universe?"

"We're still trying to find that out. What is certain is that it's a universe inaccessible to beings from the Old Era. In other words, only elites with ninety percent divinity can force their way into that universe. Since the Forest Civilization managed to migrate their whole clan to another universe, we became certain that they were extremely powerful during their heyday."

Qing Zhi's expression turned heavy. She knew about the Shenxu Forest, as the Primordial Spirit Clan had been researching them as well.

A whole clan migrating to another universe? They must've been extremely terrifying at the time!

Evidently, the Primordial Spirit Clan couldn't compare to them. Qing Zhi couldn't help but sigh at the realization. The Primordial Spirit Clan was strong, but they had nothing much to brag about at the scale of the vast expanse.

It was a pity that many of her clan members couldn't understand that fact.

Lou Deyue asked, "And what's the final one?"

Qin Guan smiled slightly. "It's unknown."

"Unknown?" Lou Deyue frowned.

"Yes, but we'll find out soon enough. We stopped our exploration because the Universe Receiver warned us of extreme danger. The spirit of the Universe Receiver strongly advised us not to continue, so we had to pause the exploration."

Lou Deyue's expression changed. "Extreme danger?"

"Yes. It didn't happen when we were exploring the Forest Civilization and the Gui Yan Civilization. I suspect that this unknown civilization had elites with a hundred percent divinity. Thus, we had no choice but to stop our exploration at the time."

A hundred percent divinity?! Lou Deyue and Qing Zhi were stupefied. The only person that they knew with a hundred percent divinity was the First God!

Lou Deyue hesitated briefly before asking, "Are you resuming the exploration soon?"

"Yes," Qin Guan replied with a nod.

Lou Deyue was feeling quite puzzled. "Wouldn't it be very dangerous for him?"

"Yes, so I invited someone to hold the fort."

"You invited someone? Who?"

"He should be here soon."

Just as Lou Deyue and Qing Zhi were wondering about who would hold the fort, the starry sky above them was abruptly torn apart.

A ray of sword light descended straight down, landing steadily in front of the three women.

When the sword light dispersed, a swordsman wearing a blue robe appeared before their eyes.