The Morningstar Principality, Golden Shark Starfield, White Tower Floating Land.

Jiangyuan City, outskirts, ultra-long-range Starsea Deployment Platform.

With a thousand-meter pillar of light soaring into the sky, the hundred Emberfire Ships that had been neatly parked on the platform just moments ago vanished without a trace, launched into the distant, unknown reaches of the Starsea.

At the same time, a thousand kilometers away, in Jiangyuan City’s sibling city—one of the five major cities of the White Tower Floating Land—Jiangyuan City.

Jiangyuan First Emberfire Academy, Boys’ Dormitory Building 3, Room 301.

Song Chi removed his virtual headset and logged out of the White Tower Network.

Tension appeared on his face. What he had just been watching was the live broadcast of the real-time Starsea deployment for the graduating class of Jiangyuan City's Emberfire Academy.

And next in line, right after Jiangyuan City, was his own city—Jiangyuan. As a graduating student from Jiangyuan First Emberfire Academy, it meant that the scenes in the livestream would soon become his reality.

Ultra-long-range Starsea deployment. Exploration of the unknown Starsea.
Just thinking about personally experiencing both made it impossible for him not to be nervous.

Yet amid the nervousness, a hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes, because this was also a rare opportunity.
If he could seize it, soaring to the skies wasn’t just a fantasy.

This was an era of the Great Starsea.
Millions of years ago, the multiverse shattered.
The fragments of countless destroyed universes scattered across the void of the Starsea.

Thus ended the Age of the Multiverse, giving birth to a new era—what the remaining civilizations called the Era of the Shattered Starsea.

These surviving fragments of cosmic land, after enduring the passage of time, gained a new name—Starsea Floating Lands.

Soon, the various civilizations discovered that these floating lands, remnants of the final essence of destroyed universes, were rich in untold amounts of rare and precious resources.

To compete for these resources, the surviving civilizations refused to yield, plunging the Shattered Starsea into endless war.

Over millions of years, in every corner of the boundless Shattered Starsea, civilizations have perished every moment, fading into the long river of time.
Yet just as many new civilizations have sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain.

The Emberfire Human Civilization was one of them.

Within the Emberfire Territory, all citizens were eligible, upon reaching the age of 30, to board an Emberfire Ship and undergo ultra-long-range interstellar deployment to begin their journey into the Starsea.

Thanks to advancements in genetic engineering, the average life expectancy of Emberfire citizens had reached 140 years.
In modern terms, 30 was equivalent to the age of adulthood.

Ever since the Emberfire Seed was ignited over 300,000 years ago, this had become a universally observed rule among all members of the Emberfire Human Civilization:
At age 30, one could attempt to awaken the Emberfire Seed, bind an Emberfire Ship, and begin exploring the star regions.

Harvest resources from foreign Starseas.
Upgrade the Emberfire Ship.
Elevate the level of life.
And use this to resist the increasingly powerful alien civilizations near the Emberfire borders, defending their homeland.

In other words, awakening the Emberfire Seed and commanding an Emberfire Ship was the most important opportunity in any citizen’s life.
Once awakened, and the ship obtained, one would instantly rise above the masses.

If one could further enhance their Emberfire Ship to higher ranks, it wouldn’t be impossible to rule over a vast star region, achieve near-immortality, and ascend into the Emberfire nobility.

Suppressing his fluctuating emotions, Song Chi stood up, planted his feet firmly in a horse stance, and slowly raised his hands, palms up and open.

This was the standard posture for practicing Guiding Technique.

According to the official data of the Emberfire Civilization, this set of Guiding Techniques—developed over tens of thousands of years—was not only beneficial for strengthening the body and enhancing one’s life level but also significantly increased the success rate of awakening the Emberfire Seed.
The higher one’s Guiding level before age 30, the greater the chance of successful awakening.

As for why the awakening age was set at 30?

Simple.
With a life expectancy of 140, awakening at 30 allowed sufficient time to train in the Guiding Technique, increasing awakening success rates while also allowing one to study Starsea basics and reduce the death rate during early exploration.

The remaining 100 years of life would then be ample for upgrading the Emberfire Ship and further ascending one’s life tier—a win-win-win outcome.

Three hours later, Song Chi completed his training.

After over twenty years of persistent practice, his Guiding Technique had reached Level 4.
Progressing further was not something achievable in the short term.

It was already dark outside.
Having no plans to continue training, he washed up and went straight to bed.

Tomorrow was Emberfire Awakening Day.
Rest was more important than anything else.

The next day, Jiangyuan First Emberfire Academy training grounds.

The Awakening Ceremony had begun early.

"Zhang Lili, Emberfire Awakening successful. Grade: Colorless. Next, Zhou Pengfei."

As the White Tower Emberfire Bureau officer called out loudly, the reactions among the hundreds of students below the platform varied.

Some sighed softly, but most eyes were filled with envy.

Although all legal citizens of the Emberfire Civilization could attempt awakening at age 30, the success rate was not high.
At Jiangyuan First Academy, a 40% success rate was already considered excellent.

Other schools in the city had even lower rates.

Among the crowd, Song Chi was no different.
Clenching his fists tightly, he was filled with tension and envy.

"Thirty years. It all comes down to today."

As he thought this, the next name was announced.

"Zhou Pengfei, Emberfire Awakening failed. Next..."

"Zhao Yunfeng, Emberfire Awakening successful. Grade: Colorless."

With each student stepping up—some successful, some not—soon it was Class 10-5’s turn.

"Next, Sun Hao."

Beside Song Chi, a figure nearly two meters tall, like a black bear, visibly tensed.

Seeing this, Song Chi patted his shoulder lightly in encouragement.

"Haozi, you’ve got this."

The sturdy young man, Sun Hao, was one of Song Chi’s few close friends at the academy.

Sun Hao gave a slight nod and stepped toward the platform.

Not long after—

"Sun Hao, Emberfire Awakening successful. Grade: White."

A wave of exclamations erupted among the students.

Everyone knew that Emberfire Seeds came in different grades.
Colorless was the lowest, followed by White, then Blue, Purple, and beyond.

Though White was only the second-lowest grade, it was still rare—perhaps one in dozens.

As for Blue or Purple grades, they were exceptionally rare.

A genuine smile spread across Song Chi’s face.
He was truly happy for his friend.

As expected, the moment Sun Hao came down, he was surrounded by classmates, even those who had barely spoken to him in ten years, now eager to build rapport.

You couldn’t blame them—Sun Hao had become a hot commodity.

A White-grade Emberfire Seed meant he could easily attract investment from minor consortia, guilds, or families.
A signed legal agreement could bring him a substantial sum of resources to enhance his ship—far more than what most could achieve on their own.

After all, all Emberfire Ships started at level 0.
Upgrading required resources.
Without financial backing, progress was painfully slow.

"Next, Song Chi!"

After four consecutive failures, it was finally Song Chi’s turn.

Beside him, Sun Hao also gave him an encouraging glance.

Song Chi took a deep breath, calming his nerves, and stepped onto the awakening platform.

Under the guidance of the Emberfire Bureau officer, Song Chi extended his right hand toward the dark flame before him.

This black flame, called the Emberfire Source Seed, wasn’t the original fire from the civilization’s core region, but it had been split from it, capable of aiding in the awakening and improving success rates.

Warmth surrounded his right palm.
It felt like a fleeting moment—or perhaps an eternity.
Then came a sharp sting in the center of his palm.

He opened his eyes.

Before he could react, the announcement rang out.

"Song Chi, Emberfire Awakening successful. Grade: Colorless."

Stepping off the platform, Song Chi’s feelings were mixed.

He was happy—he had successfully awakened.
His thirty years of effort hadn’t been in vain.

But disappointed too—Colorless was the lowest grade.
Fine for now, but if he couldn’t upgrade it, his ship would hit a ceiling, halting his extraordinary journey.

"Hiss!"

Just as he began to worry, a sudden burning sensation erupted in his chest.

His eyes sharpened, a thought emerging.

‘It’s the Starsea Market Token heating up... Why now? This hasn’t happened in thirty years.’

He returned to his class looking puzzled.
To others, it looked like despair.

"Chi-ge, don’t overthink it. Emberfire Seeds can be upgraded. Colorless isn’t the end..."

Sun Hao thought he was upset and quickly comforted him.

Song Chi shook his head gently.
He wasn’t forcing a smile—he truly wasn’t that bothered.

Sure, he had been disappointed.
But just as Sun Hao said, Emberfire Seeds could be upgraded.
Though difficult, it was possible with rare resources.

And as a transmigrator, he had confidence.

Yes—he was a transmigrator.
And not just that, he was reincarnated into this world from birth.

What truly intrigued him now was the Starsea Market Token hanging from his chest.

It had been the cause of his transmigration from Blue Star.
Over the past thirty years, he had grown certain—it was his cheat.

Now that it was undergoing some unknown transformation, how could he not care?

But curiosity aside, with so many eyes on him, he couldn’t just pull it out and inspect it.

Thankfully, the burning sensation soon faded.

About thirty minutes later, the Awakening Ceremony for all graduates at Jiangyuan First Academy came to an end.

Out of over six hundred students, fewer than two hundred successfully awakened.

Crying, laughter, exclamations, wailing—the square turned into chaos.

Some rejoiced.
Others despaired.

After today, their life paths would diverge forever.

Chapter 1: 1. The Awakening of the Emberfire

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