Chapter 2: Civilization Advancement Exam
Lin Yi quickly calmed his thoughts.
The temperament he had honed over countless years of tempering prevented him from staying immersed in emotions for too long. After briefly reminiscing, he shifted his attention to the upcoming civilization advancement exam.
Seven days—long if considered loosely, but in reality, extremely short.
Since he had been given such an incredible opportunity to be reborn, if he wanted things to be different this time, he had to plan ahead.
Before the exam began, he needed to make all necessary preparations.
Lin Yi paced back and forth, then sat down heavily at his desk. While tidying the slightly messy surface, he began carefully recalling and organizing all relevant information about the civilization advancement exam.
The human territory in the universe was vast beyond imagination. Every day, countless primitive planetary civilizations reached a critical point, attempting to step into the ranks of interstellar civilizations.
Although humanity had endured countless hardships and was now considered a powerful race among the myriad species of the cosmic sea, there were still hundreds of equally powerful races above them.
And even higher than them were the pinnacle races.
Thus, within the Pan-Spirit Alliance—centered around the Spirit Race—humanity was only slightly stronger than ordinary member races.
To survive and develop in the brutal competition of the universe, and to allocate limited resources efficiently while selecting promising emerging civilizations capable of producing strong individuals, the highest human council established the “Civilization Advancement Exam System.”
This system was overseen by Eternal God-level beings specializing in the Illusory Law, who sent avatars to evaluate all civilizations eligible for advancement.
Earth’s human civilization, after long and independent development, had finally reached the threshold of interstellar civilization.
Seven days later, a divine avatar of an Illusory Law deity would descend into Earth’s outer space. A projection of its divine kingdom would envelop the entire planet to conduct the ruthless yet “fair” advancement exam of humanity.
High scores meant resource allocation, heavy support, and even relocation from resource-poor regions to energy-rich zones.
Low scores meant being reduced to a resource planet or a military recruitment base, left to struggle in suffering while hoping that pressure would produce a transcendent genius capable of changing fate.
This was the coming-of-age ceremony of civilization.
Then came—
the descent of abyssal beasts! The apocalypse begins!
Abyssal beasts were terrifying entities created by Eternal Gods using supreme power, existing between reality and illusion.
They possessed real destructive power and killing instincts, yet originated from the Illusory Law—endless and inexhaustible.
Countless abyssal beasts poured out of their nests, tearing apart order and devouring life.
Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn’t help but feel emotional.
In his previous life, after Earth’s millennium-long assessment ended, humanity learned the truth of the apocalypse—and was filled with outrage.
Countless deaths, generations of struggle, and the fate of an entire civilization being manipulated at will. Yet because Earth only achieved a Tier 2 civilization rating, it was reduced to a resource planet.
Almost all Earth humans lived in hardship and suffering.
Those who managed to obtain a Tier 4 personal rating and leave Earth freely—like Lin Yi and others who had reached Star Core level—entered the universe amidst such resentment.
But as time passed, as they explored the star sea and expanded their worldview—especially after gaining access to the virtual network—their resentment gradually shifted.
From hating the Supreme Human Council that created the system…
to hating themselves.
Hating their lack of effort. Hating their failure to seize opportunity.
Even more, they hated how after reaching Star Core level, they slowed down their cultivation and got distracted by trivial matters, missing the golden opportunity of the civilization exam.
Because they later learned that all newly born human civilizations were protected by the Supreme Council before the exam.
This protection ensured that developing civilizations would not be destroyed prematurely by external forces.
Why had Earth remained safe despite the dangers of the star sea?
No star pirates, no stellar collapses, no planetary collisions.
Because all of these were handled by civilization guardians dispatched by the Purple Gold Star Alliance under the Supreme Council.
In other words, without the Supreme Council, 99% of early civilizations would have already been destroyed by natural disasters, or enslaved by higher civilizations and cosmic pirates.
Lin Yi recalled a teammate from his mercenary group, who had also joined after passing the civilization exam.
That man once mentioned casually that his civilization, “Campo,” had recorded more than thirty extinction-level crises in history—but all of them were mysteriously resolved.
In one of the most outrageous cases, a meteorite was already about to enter the atmosphere, yet suddenly disintegrated into dust.
Because of such last-minute interventions by their guardian, Campo civilization had developed an extremely strong religious atmosphere—after all, gods truly “responded” when needed.
The only time they didn’t respond… was during the civilization exam.
Thus, Lin Yi and others had extremely complicated feelings, mixed with regret and self-blame.
Because aside from the early protection phase, the civilization exam itself—both for individuals and for civilizations—was not only a disaster, but also an opportunity.
Not to mention anything else, the fact that the assessment was overseen by Eternal God-level beings showed how important it was.
According to public information on the virtual network, in the entire Purple Gold Star Alliance, only the chairman of the alliance executive committee, “Ming Luo,” was an Eternal God.
Normally, an ordinary civilization would only come into contact with such beings once in its entire lifespan—during the civilization assessment.
Lin Yi thought of his recent college entrance exam and the admission letter from Qingteng University he had just received, and couldn’t help but sigh.
“This civilization advancement exam… isn’t it very similar to Earth’s college entrance exam and university education?”
“Not only is the college entrance exam the best shortcut for ordinary people to change their fate, but university is also the only stage in life where one has a chance to interact with top-tier societal figures.”
“And the massive resource supply during the exam period is like the four years of university study. If one fails to take advantage of unlimited resources to develop properly, and ultimately doesn’t even achieve a Tier 3 ‘graduation certificate’ civilization rating… then who can you blame for being crushed after entering interstellar society?”
Naturally, only oneself could be blamed for incompetence.
When the abyssal beasts first descended, Earth civilization resisted in chaos and desperation.
Cities turned into ruins. Order collapsed. Humanity struggled to survive under the shadow of monsters, establishing fragile shelters among the rubble.
Technology advanced slowly through hardship, and individuals evolved through blood and fire.
However, once the situation stabilized into a strategic stalemate, Earth’s nations did not unite to fully eliminate the abyssal beasts. Instead, initial cooperation devolved into mutual restriction and internal conflict.
A key reason was the valuable resources produced by abyssal beasts.
Killing abyssal beasts of different ranks would yield a strange energy crystal—Abyssal Radiance Crystal.
Inside it were randomly generated rewards of varying value.
This was both a form of cultivation support and reward from the exam system—and the most crucial resource of all.
The crystal’s quality directly corresponded to the strength of the beast. Every kill was essentially opening a “loot box.”
It could contain rare cosmic metals or biological materials, cultivation techniques or inheritance fragments, highly condensed energy crystals…
or even weapon and equipment blueprints far beyond Earth’s technological level.
This critical resource caused divisions among Earth’s leadership.
Some believed abyssal beasts were evolving and must be completely eradicated.
Others believed they were a renewable resource.
As long as they were controlled, they could greatly boost civilization development—or even allow negotiations with intelligent abyssal beast kings for cooperation and mutual benefit.
(End of Chapter 2)
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