Chapter 142: Central Lord University

The Central Lord University stands as one of the three supreme lord universities within the entire civilization framework, cultivating numerous exceptional lords for the civilization and continuously supplying fresh blood to various legion alliances.

All the subjects taught internally are structured around the development of lords, following a four-year system characterized by one year of fundamentals, two years of mentorship, and one year of internship.

Specifically, the first year is dedicated to laying the foundations for the numerous lords, allowing students to understand dimensional traversal and learn how to traverse.

Most importantly, it involves interpreting future developmental paths and enabling students to choose the path that interests them the most for their growth.

By the second year, students are assigned to study under the guidance of professors and mentors. Generally, study groups are formed, consisting of three to six students per class.

The professors and mentors here are entirely transcendental-tier lords. These transcendental lords guide students in conquering the World Sea, acquiring energy career systems, constructing territory law frameworks, and simultaneously helping students modify their cities.

The final year serves as the internship stage of the lord university. All graduating seniors are required to spend a year interning at the front lines. Only afterward can they choose to join a specific legion, and then decide whether to leave the front lines to explore the World Sea or remain stationed at the front lines to defend the borders.

Of course, for the proud children of heaven at the Central Lord University, this part is largely a smooth and uneventful formality. Generally, even before graduation, they have already become reserve members of a certain legion.

When the internship arrives, they enter the command of that legion alliance, and the tasks required for the internship are carried out under the legion's arrangements. Without a doubt, there will definitely be familiar faces within these legions—their own senior fellow apprentices, or even their mentors, who might hold honorary titles as consultants for the legion. It can be said that the so-called art of human relations and social networking is played out to the absolute limit.

The location of the Central Lord University is not within the civilized domain itself, but rather inside a super-large void fortress close to the First Domain—the Star City of the Central Lord University.

This was jointly developed by two civilizational giants: the Civilizational Void Heavy Industries Group and the Civilizational Construction Engineering Group. At the same time, it is the pinnacle product among the civilization's numerous void fortress architectural series—the flagship of flagships, the Star City series.

It is custom-built for the most important and largest-scale activities in the World Sea. Internally, it can function as both a city and a military base, while also serving as a core defense fortification within the civilization.

The Star City of the Central Lord University has been meticulously modified, with reinforced treatments applied to specific areas. The fortress, originally purposed purely for military directions, has undergone subtle internal adjustments to better suit daily human living.

Furthermore, as one of the three top lord universities, its funding is entirely supplied by the civilization, supplemented by the generous donations of numerous distinguished alumni.

Consequently, whether it is the outer walls or the interior decorations of the Star City of the Central Lord University, luxury-grade materials are employed, carefully selected to push this multi-functional fortress and symbol of power to the absolute extreme.

Numerous teleportation matrices reside within the interior of this Star City, making it essentially a teleportation hub within the civilization, though it is not open to the public.

Beyond that, this Star City can accommodate all types of void warships within the civilization, including Titan-class void carriers.

It is also equipped with numerous weapons of mass destruction and world-ending armaments, meaning it inherently possesses the capability to annihilate an entire world.

Naturally, its core is equally terrifying, powered directly by a supreme entity who harvested the sun of a certain world to supply energy for the entire Star City.

……

Li Hongshen closed the introduction manual of the Central Lord University, sat at the desk in his dormitory, and stared somewhat blankly at the scenery outside the window.

He had arrived at the Central Lord University three days ago. Upon entering the university, he finally came into contact with the upper-tier powers and technologies of the civilization.

Although upon just entering the university, there were no beautiful senior female students to welcome him, nor any guidance counselors to show him the way.

What awaited him was merely a companion robot and a batch of new students who had been teleported over just like him.

Still, a companion robot was sufficient. On the first day, he followed the companion robot through the admission process step by step, starting with registration and enrollment.

Then, he came to the Lord's Heart Storage Hall, handed over his Lord's Heart, and had it sealed by the Central Lord University inside a void wonder known as a Spacetime Amber.

The operator instructor told him at the time not to be afraid or panic, explaining that these were minor matters and completely safe; the lord space being sealed within the Spacetime Amber was secure.

Within the Spacetime Amber, time in the lord space would be paused and sealed, and it would resume flowing once unsealed later without causing any adverse effects.

According to the instructor, all new students had to go through this ritual because they had just left the Endless Great Wilderness and had not yet mastered technologies such as avatar projection, leaving them unable to directly descend into their territories to manage their subjects, which would cause problems over time.

……

Moreover, for the coming year, most of their time would be spent either traversing or on the way to traversing, leaving them no time to manage their territories.

Once they advanced to the second year, gained strength, and acquired the necessary techniques from their professors and mentors, they could bring an official note from their mentor to unseal their lord space.

However, after listening to all this, Li Hongshen still felt panicked, nervous, and terrified. To be fair, encountering the manipulation of time just upon entering university would shock anyone.

Ultimately, Li Hongshen didn't say anything. After all, everyone else was going through the same thing; what else could he do except follow the school's rules and regulations?

Fortunately, he soon received some good news. Because he was among the first batch of arriving students and had entered via special recruitment, the school allocated him a prime dormitory. Situated near the outer wall of the Star City, it commanded a sweeping view of the entire First Domain, making it truly a scenic room among dormitories.

From here, one could occasionally spot void warships entering and exiting, and from time to time, certain mighty figures would cross the void with their physical bodies alone to land on the fortress.

Li Hongshen didn't envy this; instead, he cursed his own system for being a stingy piece of trash. Ever since he left the Endless Great Wilderness, signing in yielded practically nothing every time, pinching pennies to give him only a few dozen origin points.

Once he entered the Central Lord University, this broken system shrank even further to a mere dozen or so origin points. Li Hongshen had already abandoned his extravagant hopes and no longer counted on this wretched system; relying on this trash system was far worse than relying on himself.

Therefore, after accepting reality, Li Hongshen immediately contacted the connections left behind by his parents to inform them that he had entered the Central Lord University.

As a result, the next day, a senior sister from the Broadband Mountain Legion showed up at his door with an A-grade reserve member contract. The contract contained exceptionally comprehensive clauses, such as a basic investment of one hundred thousand origin points per year, task completion rewards, and so on.

This effectively provided Li Hongshen with both a foundational investment and a set of evaluation standards.

What Li Hongshen found rather peculiar, however, was that when he asked how he should choose his professor and mentor in the future, that senior sister's expression became extremely bizarre. Her look resembled a pie chart: six parts envy, three parts pity and sympathy, combined with one part of a spectator eating melon seeds and watching a show.

Even when Li Hongshen tried to act cute and dashing, the senior sister steadfastly refused to leak even a fraction of information regarding the professors and mentors, merely stating that Li Hongshen would naturally find out later on.

Resigning himself to the realization that his looks were ineffective, Li Hongshen saw the senior sister from the Broadband Mountain Legion off.

What he didn't see was that after walking out of Li Hongshen's dormitory with a stiff face, the senior sister immediately clutched her chest, undid a button, and turned rapidly pink starting from the skin of her neck all the way up.

Holding the lord contract in one hand, she used the other to fan herself rapidly in an attempt to cool down.

"Ahhhhh, what do I do? I'm so stupid, I actually forgot to ask for Junior's contact number! I lost out big time, lost out big time!"

……

Although the Central Lord University had not yet officially started classes, this did not hinder Li Hongshen from acquiring knowledge in advance, as the library here was open to him.

However, he only possessed first-floor clearance. As for how many floors of clearance existed in total, Li Hongshen had no idea; rumors circulating within the campus claimed there were nine floors, but the school administration had never officially acknowledged it, leaving it merely as gossip among students.

As the library of the Central Lord University, it was bound to be extraordinary. In this highly developed civilization, a university still using physical objects to store books implied that the books themselves were extraordinary. Clearly, the content recorded within these books required physical carriers, and other methods could not fully capture their essence.

Furthermore, this was one of the few places within the Star City of the Central Lord University where spatial expansion technology had been applied.

One must know that to avoid interfering with spatial fluctuations, spatial expansion technology was rarely used inside Star Cities, because most Star Cities existed beyond the domains, serving as defensive fortresses and home bases.

Once massive spatial fluctuations occurred, it was easy for enemy races to find weaknesses and directly breach the interior of the Star City, destroying its defense system from within.

Clearly, however, the Central Lord University had no fear of this when creating such a library. The reason for this fearlessness was something Li Hongshen knew very well: the white-bearded, muscular old man sitting right before his eyes.

The moment he stepped into the library of the Central Lord University, Li Hongshen saw this mighty figure sitting on a recliner, sporting a long white beard and wearing a mage's robe, with a crescent-shaped blade leaning right beside the recliner.

The old man held a book in his hands, reading it with utmost concentration. The book looked utterly ordinary, devoid of any transcendental spiritual light or majestic aura. Yet, in Li Hongshen's eyes, the book appeared as if covered by a pixelated censor bar, impossible to see clearly no matter how hard he looked.

Li Hongshen immediately lost his nerve at this sight. What kind of situation was this? The moment he entered the library, he saw a mighty figure reading a forbidden book. Did no one come to manage this? This was a forbidden book! Once its restrictions were lifted, it could very well trigger large-scale deaths directly.

Upon seeing this, Li Hongshen instantly stopped in his tracks, cold sweat instantly beading up on his forehead. To be honest, he had never come into contact with death at such close quarters. If this powerhouse made a single mistake, the powerhouse would certainly be fine, but Li Hongshen knew he himself would undoubtedly be finished.

A single thought flashed through his mind: the library was too terrifying, and he never wanted to come to the library ever again. Goodbye, farewell.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the mighty figure's gaze shifted away from the book in his hands and locked onto Li Hongshen with a rather piercing glare.

"Did you see anything just now?"

Li Hongshen truly experienced what it meant to have an X-ray gaze; he felt as though his entire being had been seen right through by the powerhouse before him.

"N—no, nothing. I couldn't see the book clearly at all."

"Hmph, no need to be nervous. This old man isn't some evil person—bah, I mean, I'm not a bad person either. I'm just an ordinary librarian. Put your mind at ease. Come, you're here to read books, right? Hand me your student ID, and I'll process your paperwork.

Later on, a study space will be directly assigned to you. As for what books to read, just go find little Luo; she'll find them for you. However, the books here are not available for checkout; you can only read them here, understand?"

"Understood, I understand, absolutely understand. You can rest assured."

Li Hongshen nodded frantically, respectfully handing his student ID to the powerful figure with both hands.

Without putting his book down, the old man simply swiped his single hand across Li Hongshen's student ID and shouted,

"Xiao Luo! Xiao Luo!"

"I'm here!"

"Open a room for this little fellow."

"Got it!"

Having given his instructions, the old man turned his head back to look at Li Hongshen.

"Don't be nervous. Honestly, kids nowadays have terrible mental resilience. Xiao Luo is the sprite of this library and also the administrator of all the books here. If you have questions or need help, just look for her."

With that, the powerhouse in front of Li Hongshen waved his hand, and Li Hongshen vanished on the spot.

After moving Li Hongshen away, the old man visibly let out a sigh of relief, tossing the book in his hand onto the tabletop. Once the book left his hand, it emerged from the shroud of the civilization's law power, exposing a cover that could make any man's blood boil.

Right at the top of the cover, several large words were written in peach-pink with thick black borders: *Young Master*. Below that was a small box containing the words: *The Latest Issue of the Beauty Rankings*.

"Phew, almost exposed. Seriously, are young people today this studious? Entering university so early, coming to the library just days after arriving instead of going out to fool around more.

Back in my day, my old man threw a three-day banquet, inviting relatives and friends far and wide, making a huge splash and showing off grandly.

Then he specifically took me to several different-world bars to experience what exotic-world culture was all about. Thinking back, those days were truly wild! But what on earth was I thinking later on, hanging myself on a single tree?

Now, even buying a magazine has to be done with extreme caution so that tigress at home doesn't find out. I can only hide here to read, while vigilantly guarding against these youngsters. Sigh, when did my family status fall so low?"

……

Transferred to his personal study room, Li Hongshen also let out a sigh of relief. Standing next to a powerful figure reading a forbidden book carried truly hard-to-bear pressure; it felt much more relaxed now.

Before long, through Xiao Luo, he obtained the books he desired, such as *The Development of Data Laws*, *The Construction of Law Frameworks*, *How to Traverse Elegantly*, and *Transmigration and Reincarnation as a Technical Skill*, among others.

Time slipped away as Li Hongshen immersed himself in the sea of books, and in the blink of an eye, the Central Lord University officially began its semester.

One chapter today, four thousand words.