Chapter 17: Canglan Evolution Ranking, What Did You Say?

Accompanying the change in Lin Yuan's citizenship level,

a series of 'emails' swiftly arrived in Lin Yuan's inbox.

"Emails?"

Lin Yuan's eyebrows slightly raised.

Immediately thoughts stirred, and, upon connecting to the network, a phantom screen appeared before him.

The Cosmic Human Civilization valued technological development and had long abandoned external networking devices like mobile phones and computers.

As long as one was a human citizen, they could connect to the omnipresent network through specific mental fluctuations.

The Goddess of Wisdom and other three ultimate AIs could contact any citizen at any time through this method.

"Open the mailbox."

Lin Yuan started reading the first email received.

The sender of this email was the Cosmic Human Civilization.

The gist of it was to congratulate Lin Yuan for becoming a level two citizen and expressed hopes of progressing together with human civilization and so forth.

At the end of the email was an encouragement from the Cosmic Human Civilization.

A transfer of five million.

"They really are generous."

Lin Yuan thought to himself, clicking his tongue.

He then casually glanced at his bank account.

Sure enough, five million had just been deposited.

The currency of the Cosmic Human Civilization was extremely stable.

Five million... enough for a normal family of four's expenses for two hundred years.

Father Lin Shoucheng worked his entire life and never earned five million.

Even a level two citizen wouldn't ignore five million.

After all, no one would complain about having too much money.

"It seems higher-level citizens are much more favored than evolvers of the same tier..."

Lin Yuan quietly mused to himself.

At least he had never heard of any citizen who just became an evolver receiving a transfer from the Cosmic Human Civilization.

Actually, this was reasonable as there were many ways to become an evolver, such as purchasing specific resources like gene potions or developing one's body and so on.

These were all personal affairs, unrelated to the Cosmic Human Alliance.

But to become a level two citizen, one must make contributions to the Cosmic Human Alliance and earn Merit Points from the Goddess of Wisdom.

The Cosmic Human Alliance naturally valued higher-level citizens more.

Lin Yuan delightedly looked again at the five million in his account.

With this large sum, Lin Yuan could buy nutrient solutions and other supplements,

without any restrictions, restoring his full strength was just around the corner.

...

Next,

Lin Yuan finished reading the other emails.

The content of these emails was basically explanations of various privileges.

After becoming a level two citizen, Lin Yuan gained many privileges that ordinary citizens could not access.

Mainly five aspects.

One: Financial security.

A level two citizen, even without doing anything,

could still receive ten thousand civilization coins from the Central Bank every month.

Two: Immunity privileges, like conscription, immigration, and other compulsory actions.

Unless Lin Yuan volunteered, he could outright refuse them all.

Three: Virtual world access, level two citizens are eligible to enter the Virtual World local network.

Four: Life privilege.

Within the controlled area of the Cosmic Human Alliance, even if a level two citizen committed a crime, local law enforcement had no right to arrest or kill them.

Five: Purchase permissions.

Many of the civilization's limited resources, even if one had the money, couldn't be purchased without the appropriate citizenship level.

...

Of course, besides these five privileges, level two citizens also had many hidden benefits.

For instance, according to the rules of the Cosmic Human Alliance, a large corporate conglomerate must have a certain number of level two citizens and so on.

"No wonder there are so few higher-level citizens..."

Lin Yuan's expression showed astonishment.

"Virtual world access..."

Lin Yuan's gaze fell on the third privilege.

He could understand the other privileges of a level two citizen,

but this virtual world access...

"Enter the Virtual World?"

As Lin Yuan focused on the line about the Virtual World, the solemn voice of the Goddess of Wisdom sounded in his ear.

"Let's go in."

Lin Yuan nodded.

He was quite curious about this Virtual World.

"Applying for connection to the Virtual World..."

"Since it is the requester's first time connecting to the Virtual World, identity verification is required..."

"Iris verification passed."

"Blood verification passed."

"Clone characteristics checked, result as non-clone, DNA verification passed."

"Unique life fluctuation matches records, verification passed..."

"Citizen Lin Yuan, during your time in the Virtual World, do not harbor any thoughts of resistance..."

No sooner had the voice of the Goddess of Wisdom ended,

than Lin Yuan felt a darkness before his eyes, and his consciousness rapidly sank.

With Lin Yuan's strength, he could easily break free from this sinking sensation.

But by doing so, he might not be able to enter the so-called Virtual World, so he let his consciousness continue to sink.

...

"Where is this?"

When Lin Yuan opened his eyes again, he found himself amidst a starry sky.

Beneath his feet, a pale blue planet slowly rotated.

"Is this Canglan Star?"

Lin Yuan's pupils constricted slightly.

He immediately recognized that the planet beneath his feet was an exact miniature of the real Canglan Star.

The number of continents and the proportion of ocean coverage were exactly the same as the true Canglan Star.

"Respected citizen Lin Yuan."

Just then, a solemn voice came.

Lin Yuan looked up and saw a beautiful woman in a white dress, watching him quietly.

"I am the Goddess of Wisdom."

"I will now introduce you to the functions of the Virtual World."

The Goddess of Wisdom paused, then continued:

"The virtual world currently connected by citizen Lin Yuan, to be precise, is the Virtual World Canglan Star LAN."

"It is divided into seven areas, they are Residential Area, Trading Area, Arena Area, Central Plaza Area..."

Every time the Goddess of Wisdom mentioned an area, that part of Canglan Star below instantly enlarged.

"That is..."

Lin Yuan looked toward the 'Central Plaza Area' as introduced by the Goddess of Wisdom.

In this area, a large crowd gathered, and in its center, a giant, towering stele stood erect.

"That is the Canglan Evolution Ranking."

"It records the hundred strongest evolutionary paths in the history of Canglan Star."

The Goddess of Wisdom explained softly.

"I see."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, then curiously asked, "I wonder what rank the Martial Path Evolutionary Path ranks?"

"The Martial Path Evolutionary Path developed by citizen Lin Yuan, after calculations by the highest intelligence, can be ranked ninety-third."

The Goddess of Wisdom replied.

"Ninety-third..."

Lin Yuan showed no particular emotion.

The current Martial Path Evolutionary Path was only something he had developed in the World of Martial Tao, after spending twenty years.

Even with his Against-Heaven's Understanding aiding him, in the context of Canglan Star's history of nearly a million years and countless generations of scholars and geniuses, ranking ninety-third was not unusual.

In terms of understanding, no one in a million years of Canglan Star's history could compare with Lin Yuan.

But given the long history and large population base...!

"The Canglan Evolution Ranking will be updated tomorrow, and at that time, the Martial Path Evolutionary Path of citizen Lin Yuan will be displayed for the first time."

"Would citizen Lin Yuan like to hide their citizen ID?"

The Goddess of Wisdom asked.

In the Cosmic Human Alliance, what identifies a citizen is not their name,

but their citizen ID.

After all, many people might share the same names, but a citizen ID is unique.

"Hide it."

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and nodded.

Tall trees catch much wind,

Since the Canglan Evolution Ranking only selects the strongest hundred evolutionary paths, its prestige is tremendously high.

Given Lin Yuan's current weak strength and lack of background, it would be best not to be so high-profile.

....

Having learned about the functions of the Virtual World,

Lin Yuan then exited.

"Is it about to dawn?"

Lin Yuan glanced at the sky.

"Xiaoyuan, may I come in?" At that moment, the voice of Lu Qiong came from outside the door.

Worried that Lin Yuan wouldn't be able to cope with the shock of the mandatory conscription, the parents had held back all night and hadn't approached him.

Now, as the dawn was almost upon them, mother Lu Qiong, after much consideration, decided to come and check on Lin Yuan.

"Come in."

"The door isn't locked."

Lin Yuan sat up from the bed.

"You're up early? You probably didn't sleep well last night, did you?"

Mother Lu Qiong's voice was gentle. Although her features were somewhat ordinary, they exuded a kind of approachable warmth.

"Xiaoyuan, actually, we knew about the conscription yesterday, the district chief called Shoucheng."

"Shoucheng refused on the spot, you know your dad, he would never exchange your freedom for his future, and neither would I, why should our family of four have to be torn apart..."

Mother Lu Qiong's eyes reddened.

"Mom, don't be too sentimental."

"I understand, I really do."

Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.

Indeed, the forced conscription was just because of poor luck on Lin Yuan's part, nothing to do with others.

And there was no particular targeting against Lin Yuan...

"You are the son I've raised for so long, the flesh that fell from my body, if you are conscripted, what will I do afterward..."

Although human civilization in the universe had long mastered technologies like ectogenesis,

nearly half of all citizen couples still chose to bear children through the laborious and thankless process of pregnancy.

Lu Qiong was among this half.

"Xiaoyuan, this card contains all the money I've saved over the years, even Shoucheng doesn't know about it, you take it for now, the PIN is your birthday, it will definitely come in handy..."

Lu Qiong pulled out a bank card, stuffed it into Lin Yuan's hand, and spoke with a slight choke in her voice.

"This..."

Lin Yuan hesitated, his expression uncertain.

He could clearly see that the money in the card was what mother Lu Qiong had saved from her frugality over the years.

Now giving it all to him...

"Actually, I don't need these..."

Lin Yuan hesitated, then said, "I don't have to go to conscription anymore."

"I know, I know Xiaoyuan, you are sensible..."

Mother Lu Qiong was about to say something when she suddenly caught on.

"What did you say?"