Rowan gave the group of warriors only a passing glance, his tone cold and impatient. "I'm not interested in the rest. I'll take her. Bring her onto my ship."
That casual, almost bored attitude made the group of star-level guards tremble. None of them dared to speak another word. They escorted Rowan respectfully toward his vessel, and the girl's bio-chip was already linked to him. With a single thought, Rowan could activate the chip and obliterate her from within.
"Master..." she whispered.
"Get on the ship," Rowan said.
The girl followed him into the sleek, obsidian-black spacecraft known as the Black Dragon. Under the watchful eyes of the star-level warriors, the ship lifted off, pierced through the clouds, and vanished from the starfield.
Once aboard, the girl stood stiffly in the corner. Fear still swirled in her chest, but survival mattered more than dignity. Girls like her were usually sold as companions, trained from young to serve the desires and whims of their future owners. To live was already a fragile miracle.
Swallowing her fear, she approached Rowan and knelt. "Master... please allow me to serve you."
Rowan blinked, then chuckled. "Just stand there quietly. And from now on, stop calling me Master. Call me Rowan."
"Ah?"
Her eyes widened in shock at the unexpected mercy.
"What's your name?" Rowan asked. "I never asked."
"Master, I'm called..." She instinctively used the forbidden title again. Rowan's gaze sharpened, and she quickly corrected herself. "Rowan. My name is Yara. Slave code is "
"I don't care about your slave code. Yara is enough. Stay by my side and assist me. You may cultivate freely, but under certain circumstances, you will wear these special glasses and suppress your mental perception entirely. If you disobey, I will kill you."
Even with the bio-chip, compliance born only from fear wasn't true obedience. Only a soul imprint could force absolute submission, but Rowan refused to use something so vile on her.
"Yes, Rowan. I understand."
Her gaze softened. She no longer looked at him with terrified panic. She quietly moved behind him, adopting a respectful posture.
Rowan found her obedience pleasing. "Do you know how to operate a ship? Or run detection systems?"
"Yes, Rowan. Female slaves like me aren't trained for combat, so we're taught how to operate machinery, manage household tasks, and assist with logistics. I've been trained for more than fifty years."
Rowan nearly dropped the object in his hand. "Wait. Fifty years?"
Yara blinked, confused by his reaction. "Yes. I'm seventy-two this year. I will reach adulthood in eight years."
Rowan's mind froze.
Seventy-two? And she still looked like a child?
Eight more years until adulthood meant...
"You become adults at eighty?!"
Yara nodded calmly and began explaining.
Her homeworld had undergone millions of years of evolution. As their strength increased, so did their lifespan. Tens of millions of years ago, their average lifespan was only around sixty. But as their species adapted to the harsh environment, their genetics strengthened. Even without cultivation, their natural lifespan reached four hundred years. Later, as planetary-level warriors became common, their lifespan extended to six hundred.
With longer lives, their physical development also slowed. Their genes awakened gradually, and upon reaching eighty, their latent potential erupted. Most of their people would naturally evolve to the planetary level once they reached maturity. The success rate was around thirty percent; the rest needed cultivation or stimulation to break through.
Different species across the universe all aged differently. Even among the human race, bloodlines varied greatly. Some high-tier lifeforms were born already equal to planetary or even star-level beings. Their lifespans stretched unimaginably long, and adulthood could take decades, centuries, or even two hundred years.
Rowan suddenly understood many things. During the Genius Tournament, the barbarian warrior Wukka, a famed descendant of the Manaka Clan, was said to possess one of the top ten bloodlines in the universe. Once a Manaka reached adulthood, they would naturally step into the Domain Lord realm.
But Wukka had only been a peak ninth-stage star-level warrior, not even cosmic-level.
Meaning... the guy wasn't even an adult yet.
Rowan couldn't help laughing softly at the absurdity of it all.
The universe was truly vast.
"Rowan..." Yara whispered timidly.
"Go pilot the ship," he instructed. "Deploy every detector in this sector. I want constant surveillance. If any unfamiliar ship leaves the slave planet, notify me instantly."
"Yes."
Yara hurried to the control room and released the thousands of detectors into the surrounding starfield. These were originally Babata's devices, designed to track Rowan after his supposed death in battle. Now they served a different purpose, forming a massive, invisible net around the slave planet.
Rowan hid the Black Dragon behind a dead planet only a thousand kilometers away. Far enough to evade cosmic-level scanning. Close enough to pursue instantly.
Yara monitored the detectors constantly. Every ship movement was reported at once.
Hours turned into days. Days into weeks.
Two months later, Rowan called out, "Yara. Come here."
He planned to examine her mental potential. Despite reaching Apprentice Level Seven, she had never awakened her mental power.
Yara approached obediently. After spending time with Rowan, her fear had faded and was replaced by an almost gentle trust. He had not harmed her. Not even once. She had imagined torture, humiliation, and pain, but Rowan had shown none of it.
"You still can't sense any mental force?" Rowan asked.
"No, Rowan. I don't have mental power."
Rowan touched her forehead. His gentle mental energy entered her consciousness and struck her mind's dormant core like a needle.
A loud crack echoed through her psyche.
Golden mist erupted within her mind.
"Rowan. I... I can sense it. I have mental power!"
"It's strong, better than average for your level," Rowan said. "Here. These are basic cultivation techniques. Train well."
Yara trembled with gratitude as the knowledge flowed into her mind.
Three months passed.
Finally, the cosmic-level slaver left the planet. He took a C-class ship and crept out of the starfield, thinking he had escaped unnoticed.
Rowan smiled. A sharp, cold smile.
"Follow him."
Yara piloted the ship, though worry flickered across her face. "Rowan, that man is a cosmic-level warrior. Will it be dangerous?"
Rowan placed a liquid veil over her eyes. "Wear this. Don't listen, don't look, don't sense. Just stay inside. I'll protect you."
The Black Dragon tailed the fleeing ship. The slaver, Nacoro, soon detected the pursuit.
"That brat again..."
Suspicion flashed in his eyes, followed by deadly intent. He suddenly accelerated toward a white dwarf star. The intense gravitational field would disrupt all monitoring systems.
He planned to lure Rowan there and kill him.
But Rowan had no intention of letting him choose the battlefield.
The Black Dragon surged forward, overtaking Nacoro's ship effortlessly and cutting off his path. Rowan stepped out into the void, calm and expressionless.
"You're running from a mere star-level warrior like me?" Rowan said casually. "What are you so afraid of?"
Nacoro frowned deeply. Something about this boy was wrong.
Before he could decide, Rowan lifted his hand, revealing the Infinity Gauntlet. Multicolored light rippled across its surface.
"What kind of weapon is that?" Nacoro muttered.
His focus fixed on the gauntlet for half a second.
That was enough.
Rowan activated the Twin-Gate Rings.
A massive circular distortion spread outward, fifty kilometers wide, swallowing both ships instantly.
"What ?!"
The universe around them twisted. Space folded, collapsed, and then burst open again.
Within three seconds, the white dwarf vanished.
They were somewhere else entirely.
A distant blue planet glowed ahead.
Rowan spread his arms. "Welcome to my world."
Nacoro's face paled.
Something was horribly wrong, yet he couldn't identify what.