Ethan approached the grand throne step by careful step. Each footfall echoed through the colossal hall like a slow, ominous drumbeat. His Shadow Sword hung at his side, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from the figure shrouded in darkness.
At first glance, the silhouette looked...oddly round. Bulky. Almost fat.
What the hell...?
He squinted, and as he drew closer, the throne’s deep shadows peeled away in slow, deliberate layers. The shape didn’t grow any more imposing—only more absurd.
And then, in the last few meters, clarity struck him square in the face.
Ethan stopped dead in his tracks, mouth falling open.
It was a panda.
A damn panda sat on the throne, plump belly perched majestically over crossed legs, black ears flicking with regal disdain.
He couldn’t help himself. The words exploded out of him like a cannon shot.
"What the actual f—"
Before he could finish, the panda leaped from the throne with startling grace, landing right in front of him. Its paws slapped the marble floor with a hollow boom.
"Insolent fool!" the panda bellowed, its deep voice reverberating through the vaulted hall. "You stand in the presence of Master Po!"
Ethan blinked. Then blinked again.
"Master Po? The...Kung Fu Panda?"
"I am Master Po!" the panda roared, puffing out his fuzzy chest. "How dare you show such insolence in my sacred presence?"
"But...you’re still a panda, right?"
The panda’s eyes narrowed to lethal slits. He cleared his throat, coughing twice in obvious embarrassment.
"Cough. Cough. Anyway—let us forget about that." He straightened his robe, which Ethan was fairly sure was just a napkin tucked under his chin. "I have been waiting for you...for fifty million years."
Ethan’s brow furrowed. "Huh? Fifty years?"
The panda stomped a paw in irritation. "Fifty million! Do you not understand normal English?"
"It’s...hard to understand how a panda can live that long," Ethan said carefully, suppressing the hysterical laughter bubbling in his chest.
"I am not
"Supreme, huh?" Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Well, I’m Supreme Ethan Hunt. Care to give me your proper introduction, oh Supreme Master Po?"
The panda sniffed and lifted his chin. "I was sent to this planet by my master, the Galactic Lord Sycarion Voss Ithrael, fifty million years ago."
"Sycarion...Voss Ithrael." Ethan let the name roll over his tongue. "That sounds...impressively pompous."
"It should," Master Po replied with dignified gravity. "My master is among the most exalted beings alive. He rules over dozens of galaxies."
Ethan frowned. "So he’s...still alive?"
"Indeed. The lifespan of a Galactic Lord spans eras you cannot yet comprehend," Master Po said. "It’s just been fifty million years. If you can pass the trials, you will be able to meet my master."
Ethan let out a slow breath. The thought made him feel very small.
"Why here?" he asked after a moment. "Why Earth?"
Master Po’s gaze softened. "My master has a dream—to gather disciples worthy of his teachings. He scoured the galaxies for worlds that showed potential lifeforms. For every such world, he sent a batch of fifty realms, one of which is an inheritance realm...like this one."
"So this palace..." Ethan murmured.
"It is the inheritance realm," Master Po confirmed. "The other forty-nine realms you humans have stumbled upon—those are supplementary. They contain treasures and knowledge to cultivate an ordinary person into a star-level lifeform."
Ethan rubbed a hand across his face. "You said fifty million years. You’ve been...waiting here all that time?"
"Yes." Master Po’s voice dropped lower. "I was created to wait. Until this planet birthed a being worthy of stepping through the threshold."
Ethan fell silent, the scale of it all settling over him like a shroud.
Master Po’s eyes glimmered in the gloom. "In the beginning, Earth was not what you see now. Long before your people, there was another civilization here—one whose technology rivaled the stars. They had many powerful existences, far beyond anything alive today. But they fell to a catastrophe. It wiped them out in mere days. Everything they were...erased, consigned to the annals of history."
Ethan imagined it: towers crumbling, skies burning, oceans swallowing entire continents.
"You watched them die?" he asked quietly.
"I did," Master Po said. "I could not intervene. They were never fated to inherit this power. When they fell, I waited. Eons passed. The Earth lay barren. No intelligent creatures arose...until, at last, humanity."
"Then why did you wait until now?" Ethan asked. "Why not release the realms earlier?"
"Because that catastrophe locked this world away from the greater currents of the universe," Master Po explained. "This entire solar system was sealed. Until fifty years ago, when cosmic energy re-emerged. When the seal weakened, I released the batch of realms across your planet."
"So...the ruins?"
"Correct," Master Po said solemnly. "They are remnants of the previous civilization. They didn’t even have time to protect them—just wiped away."
Ethan’s thoughts spun. The alien ship humanity had found...all those impossible relics that rewrote history books. It all traced back here.
"The ship discovered first—was that also your master’s doing?"
"No," Master Po said. "That was a merchant vessel, here to trade with the prior civilization. When they perished, the ship was buried beneath the shifting crust."
He paused, studying Ethan’s expression. "Do you understand now? Everything you call ’ruins’ and ’realms’ has been either the remnants of the old civilization or my master’s gifts. Your people were simply too young to tell them apart."
Ethan exhaled slowly. "So your master sent all these realms...just to find a single disciple."
"Indeed," the AI said. "A disciple born from hardship. My master believes that those raised in barren worlds—where nothing is given freely—grow stronger than any pampered heir of a prosperous civilization."
Ethan folded his arms, letting that sink in. Barren worlds forge unbreakable steel.
"So," he said finally, "you said he was a Galactic Lord. What...does that mean, exactly?"
Master Po’s voice turned hushed, almost reverent. "Galactic Lords are cultivators who have transcended the ordinary ladders of power. Their cultivation realms begin where yours end. Beyond Emperor lies the Planetary Realm, then the Star Realm, the Black Hole Realm, the Galactic Realm, and finally...the Galactic Lord Realm itself. A Galactic Lord’s merest thought can turn stars—even entire galaxies—into vapor."
Ethan swallowed. Even for someone who had grown used to power beyond imagining, that was humbling.
"Is Galactic Lord the end of evolution?" Ethan asked, his heart racing. A door seemed to open inside him—a door onto something vast and terrifying.
The panda snorted. "The universe is not something you can understand, boy. There are naturally even greater existences. But we cannot speak of them casually."
Ethan nodded in realization. Then he asked again, voice quiet. "Why not just send someone here directly to train us?"
"Because destiny cannot be imposed," Master Po said. "You must reach for it yourself. My master believes a true successor must claim their fate, not have it handed to them. He must be both a genius and a destined soul."
Ethan studied the panda’s solemn face. For the first time, he felt something beyond amusement—a genuine sense of awe.
"And all this time..." Ethan murmured, "...you’ve been here. Just waiting."
"I was made to wait," Master Po said simply. "That is my purpose."
Something in that quiet acceptance struck Ethan as profoundly sad.
"What happens now?" he asked.
Master Po tilted his head. "That depends on you. If you can pass the trials, the inheritance realm and all its treasures will belong to you. Knowledge beyond this world. Techniques more profound than anything you’ve seen. Guidance that could one day make you stand among the stars."
"And if I fail?" Ethan asked.
"Then you will leave," Master Po said. "Your memory of this place will be sealed. And I will wait again...until another comes."
Ethan nodded. An inheritance from a Galactic Lord—nothing shabby. This would surely open the future path of cultivation, which now seemed sealed at Emperor level. He could also build his own army.
He was certain now: the universe held countless powerful cosmic civilizations. Among them, Earth was nothing but a single drop in the ocean. Even a galaxy was merely a grain in the cosmos.
And Earth had already faced a catastrophe that destroyed a civilization far stronger than theirs. The universe was full of dangers. He couldn’t afford pride—not until he stood above everything and everyone.
He looked at Master Po. "What are the trials?"
Meanwhile, in the world outside, the sky darkened without warning. Thunder roared.
The ocean churned with mountainous waves.
All the super cities erupted in alarms.
A Grade 5 beast tide.
The Great War thirty years ago had been a Level 6 beast tide.
Panic swept across every metropolis. Sea monsters—hundreds of thousands—were surging toward the coasts.
Dragon and Leon opened their eyes.
"What is going on?" Dragon muttered, voice tight. "Sea beast tide? At this time? Why?"
They both hurried outside to see the situation firsthand.
It wasn’t just sea monsters. Land beasts and avian beasts had gone berserk as if receiving some kind of summons.
All military and civilian martial artists were being called to the front lines.
Warrior-level beasts in the hundreds of thousands. Master-level beasts. Grandmaster-level beasts.
Every defensive measure on Earth activated at once.
In an apartment, a small child clutched his mother’s hand.
"Mama, what is happening?"
"I...I don’t know," she whispered, voice shaking. "But don’t worry. Mama is here. Your papa has gone out to fight the monsters. Nothing will happen."
Scenes like this unfolded everywhere.
Inside the inheritance realm, Ethan received the alerts through his clones.
He rubbed his forehead.
What’s going on? Is this my protagonist aura or something? The moment I set foot in this place, the bastards go crazy. What a drag.
But he exhaled, steady.
The situation is not out of control. They can handle it. I just need to finish this trial—fast.