Chapter 1 Something Amiss

A figure appeared behind her, slightly stunned, but still nodded. "Yes, Your Highness!"

Loserick, also a graduate of the Arbiter Chant, though long ago. A level 99 warrant officer, currently Captain of the Knights of Valhalla.

Despite violating her usual principles, Hermia felt a sense of relief after making the decision. Perhaps dreams were the opposite of reality, and he needed her rescue.

----

Meanwhile, Li Hao was starving when he was discovered by a few mechanical dogs. Despite his good appetite, he couldn't chew the metal. Then… he passed the test. The mechanical dogs would guide him to the Arbiter Chant because their eyes were green, unlike the red-eyed ones from before, and they weren't emitting any murderous intent.

Li Hao looked at the mechanical dog, and the mechanical dog looked back. "Are you sure there's no mistake?"

The mechanical dog…

"Haha, your advanced civilization certainly doesn't make mistakes. Good, saves me the trouble of acting. Uh… I'm a bit hungry. Can I ride you over?" Li Hao asked. Although the mechanical dog didn't speak, something this intelligent should understand human language.

Hermia had been watching the whole time and finally couldn't hold it in any longer, giggling. She started recording with her Star-Net. Li Hao was earnestly trying to persuade the mechanical dog.

While recording, she opened the control panel. Soon, the mechanical dog was under her control. Thinking about the human's stingy behavior, she suddenly became playful. "Do you have money?"

Hearing the mechanical dog speak, Li Hao was halfway through his laughter before he couldn't help but retort, "The power of money works everywhere." "You were pretending not to understand just now. Figures, the richer you are, the more like a dog you become. You already are a dog. How much? Let's get this straight, if it's too expensive, I'll walk."

Watching Li Hao seriously negotiating with the mechanical dog, Hermia was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. The princess, who had always suppressed herself, was releasing her true nature at this deserted moment. This person was too fun, or were all humans this fun?

"One hundred gold coins," Hermia said, naming a price she thought was as cheap as possible. She was just teasing the human. Since she had decided to save him, she had no intention of making things difficult.

But Li Hao jumped up. "Are you trying to rob me? You lead the way, I'll walk!"

Li Hao was furious. He only had 92 coins in his pouch. This dog's demand would turn him from rich to in debt. No way he was riding it!

"I get it now. What advanced civilization? You're all just money-grubbers!" Li Hao said resentfully. When he got a powerful chant in the future, he'd charge like this.

Hermia was breathless with laughter. One hundred coins? He didn't even have one hundred coins. How could someone not even have one hundred coins?

"If you carry me, I'll give you… fifty coins!" The princess had studied price negotiation. The core principle was to test the waters.

The next second, Li Hao had already hoisted the mechanical dog onto his shoulders. "Boss, where to? Point me in the direction. I'll deliver you, guaranteed steady!"

Hermia, watching all this, was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. How could there be such a funny person? The mechanical dog pointed towards the base, and Li Hao carried the mechanical dog and ran off, a strange smile on his lips.

After all, the other party was showing goodwill.

Two were laughing, and an orc hidden in the shadows was dumbfounded. He had sharpened his claws, but what was this?

Hearing footsteps, Hermia quickly wiped away her tears, trying to control her expression… but it was useless. She couldn't control it. Hermia ran away. A noble and dignified princess couldn't lose her composure.

Watching the mechanical dog disappear into the distance, Dao Ku Ku decided to take action. He didn't know how this human had passed the test, but the mechanical dog's eyes were green, which meant he had passed. This meant that other mechanical dogs wouldn't attack him. Once he entered the Arbiter Chant and became an official warrior, the aftereffects of assassinating him would be too great.

Dao Ku Ku decided to kill him. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past. Dao Ku Ku frowned, feeling a bit stunned and dizzy. Then, he saw his lower half being cleanly severed.

Crack crack crack…

Accompanied by a series of ripping sounds, a rain of blood flew into the air.

The Arbiter Chant was located in Bana Saint City, the most prosperous city on Diwu Star.

Bana Mo meant "arrival" in the ancient Tianren language. During the age of the Galactic Empire, many powerhouses across the galaxy came from the Arbiter Chant.

After obtaining the title of warrant officer, the best way for Tianren to acquire divine artifacts was to come to the Arbiter Chant with their key and seek out a divine artifact that resonated with their soul.

The Arbiter Chant was a city within a city, vast in scale. Diwu Star's famous Sacred Mountain was located within the Arbiter Chant and was also the location of the Valhalla. The entire Chant was shrouded in a massive energy halo, and the source of this energy was within the Chant, radiating eternal energy that all intelligent civilizations envied.

After ten days of fierce competition, the final batch of candidates was selected, totaling 387 warriors from various civilizations. Including previous batches, this year's Arbiter Chant had recruited a total of 862 people, an unprecedented number. The standard of the participants was extremely high.

Arriving at the Chant, Li Hao ultimately didn't get his coveted fifty coins. Listening to the mechanical dog's cracking laughter, Li Hao didn't know what to say. It was probably a kind-hearted child. The other party had been observing him for some time and had probably given him the qualification to pass after seeing the danger. A laugh was just a laugh.

He was assigned accommodation and received the Arbiter Chant's robes. Feeling the material, he figured he could sell them for some money. After learning that Li Hao didn't even have a Star-Net, he received his own amidst the other party's strange glances.

Opening the Star-Net, he saw his personal information:

Li Hao, Earth of the Solar System Civilization, Arbiter Chant Trainee, Level 0, Merit Points 0, No Missions.

Inside were also the rights and obligations of a trainee. With this identity, Li Hao was no longer an unknown nobody.

Diwu Star's gravity was around 36.58. Of course, Li Hao wasn't adapting to the gravity. Rather, his strength had been increasing uncontrollably since the selections. His whole body was filled with power, he didn't know why, but he felt that after entering this star region, his body's vitality was very strong. It seemed that this planet was filled with a kind of energy that could nourish living things. The orc had wanted to attack him, and Li Hao had originally planned to give him a lesson, but he had ended up pulverizing the orc.

What a pity about that set of equipment.

After arriving at the Chant, this situation seemed to be intensifying. The entire Chant was filled with an incomprehensible and enormous power. This power was very nourishing, somewhat similar to primordial qi, allowing his body to be constantly immersed in it, which was very comfortable. He just needed to pay more attention to controlling his strength.

Li Hao was staying in a circular building, and one of the rooms was his. The environment was advanced, but it wasn't too surprising. After settling in, Li Hao snuck out. The outer perimeter of the Chant had a large number of residents, including Tianren and various other civilizations. Generally, the location of each Chant was also the most prosperous place, with all kinds of creatures gathered together. If it were just for tourism, it would be incredibly enjoyable. If it was Yi Jie and Zi Yuan, who liked to travel and shop, this would definitely be their first choice. He hoped that one day humans could freely travel to all the planets of the Star River Alliance, just like the Tianren.

Chant warriors had special clothing and insignia and would receive respect wherever they went, regardless of race. In just a short time, Li Hao had been repeatedly mistaken for a Tianren warrior. The goods here were dazzling, from all the civilizations of the Star River Alliance, making Li Hao's eyes spin. The cuisine also made Li Hao drool, showing his lack of refinement. He and Zuo Xiao Tang both liked to eat simple food, a plain and unadorned interest, but he was too embarrassed to freeload with empty pockets. He could only refuse the shopkeepers' hospitality. He had to admit that the logistics were really fast. He even saw cigarettes and alcohol from the Solar System, but after seeing the prices, Li Hao was directly despondent.

After taking a quick tour, Li Hao returned. The expenses here weren't suitable for him. The Star-Net could replace all functions and even carried a small compression space. As for gold coins, they were rarely used now, mostly given as gifts to commemorate encounters with new civilizations.

In the core circle of the Chant, to maintain reverence for Valhalla, fancy flying vehicles were prohibited. Returning to the circular building, he saw several novel alien neighbors upon entering the hall.

A tall and handsome Tianren with golden curly hair was eloquently talking, and a blue insectoid, who looked familiar, although insectoids weren't easy to distinguish, this one's particular color suggested it was from the spaceship. A short sea-being, who he was very familiar with. The sea-being burst into laughter when he saw Li Hao.

"Human, human, you're not dead? Wow, you're really lucky. How did you sneak in?" Kuta said cheerfully.

Li Hao looked at the short being speechlessly, feigning confusion. "Who are you?"

"Haha, human, stop pretending. I'm Kuta, the great genius arcanist of the Sea-Leviathan!" Seeing a familiar face, David Kuta's wrinkles smoothed out from his smile. "Now we're in the same district. Don't worry, don't be afraid. If anyone bullies you in the future, say my name. I'll protect you."

Gaia had also been sizing up Li Hao, with a different glint in his eyes. This was the Arbiter Chant's first human warrior. The Arbiter was famously difficult to enter. "Hello, Gaia Rastaya, from one of the ten great families of the Ozir Empire. In the Tianren world, Kuta's name might not be very useful, but if you say my name, everyone will give you some face."

Kuta chuckled. "Haha, he just likes to brag. The Rastaya's glory was decades ago. You haven't had a seat on the Council of Elders for a century. You've long fallen out of the top ten!"

Gaia wasn't angry at all, looking at Kuta with a smile. "No matter what, the Rastaya surname is still great. My ancestors are still in Valhalla. Reviving the family's glory is our inescapable duty. Long live the great Rastaya!"

Even without being on the Council of Elders, the Rastaya was still a major family, that was beyond doubt. The problem was that the Sea Race's golden-shining family was one of the top three powers in the entire Sea-Leviathan Empire, and Kuta was the only direct descendant. His test was just a formality.

"Work hard, young Rastaya. If you perform well, I can sponsor you," Kuta said, fully displaying his extravagant wealth.

"How has your mouth survived until now?" Gaia exclaimed. "With my handsomeness and strength, my future is limitless. Now is the perfect time to invest!"

"Li Hao, from Earth. Our Solar System Civilization just joined the Star River Alliance. I don't really know the rules. If there's anything amiss, please forgive me," Li Hao said with a smile. He felt lucky that he hadn't encountered anyone who oppressed weaker civilizations. He really didn't want to punch everyone he met.

"What rules are you talking about? All civilizations are the same at their core. The Star Alliance is just that, nothing special. We've gathered together from billions of light-years away, that's fate. Maybe we were a family tens of thousands of years ago!" Gaia didn't act like a Tianren at all. "This guy is Gasmi, an insectoid from the Stronghold Empire. It's quite a feat for an insectoid to come here."

Compared to humans, insectoids were even less popular because they didn't use the Tianwu system. After so many years, their civilization still maintained its unique independence, so those who came to the Arbiter were mostly tools for insectoids to maintain communication and presence with other civilizations.

Li Hao smiled, glancing at the other party's small tuft of hair. "We've met. The three of us came on the same ship."