Light enveloped Jiang Fan—not warm or golden like sunlight, but piercing, clinical. It wasn't comfort. It was clarity. Sharp, cold, and unrelenting.
He felt his consciousness slipping through space, his mind shedding the noise of flesh, of blood, of breath.
Then, silence.
He stood again in the void, facing the swirling mass—the seed of his planet.
But it had changed.
No longer a dormant light, the seed pulsed in rhythm, emitting beams of blue and silver—structured light. Data, not aura. Calculated, not wild. Measured.
[Planet Core Detected.]
[Conscious Will Identified: Jiang Fan.]
[Unique Trait Confirmed: Technological Memory Stream.]
[Activating Civilization Protocol.]
A sudden chill swept through him.
Lines of code, diagrams, symbols he hadn't seen since Earth cascaded in front of his eyes—algorithms from the Eidos Project, atomic lattice blueprints from advanced material labs, neural lattice schematics from artificial consciousness prototypes.
All of it—his life's work, his regrets, his ambition—was pouring into the seed.
And the seed... devoured it.
There was no resistance, no rejection. The planet welcomed the knowledge. It wanted it.
The core spun faster. Structures emerged—metallic roots reaching outward, scaffolds stretching into the void. Cities built themselves from light. Orbital arrays floated into formation. Fusion cores pulsed with early life.
Then came the sound.
A deep, rising hum, as if a billion machines had exhaled at once.
[Planet Awakening Complete.]
[Planet Type: Technological Civilization.]
[Primary Energy Source: Knowledge and Computation.]
[Unique Civilization Trait Acquired: Artificial Intelligence Nexus.]
[Foundational Structures: Mega-Arcology, Quantum Research Grid, Adaptive Nano-Fabricators.]
[Planetary Consciousness Online.]
And with that last message… the void shattered.
Back in the Real World
When Jiang Fan's eyes opened, the light of his planet was shining behind him—projected through the altar's core like a constellation.
But it wasn't green or gold or violet like the others.
It was steel.
A silver world orbiting itself with mechanical precision, rings of data streams spiralling its equator, digital pulses crawling across its crust. From it, one could faintly hear the deep whirring of turbines, the electric sizzle of life not born of flesh but forged in computation.
Gasps filled the plaza.
"What… is that?"
"It's not a martial planet. There's no aura."
"There's no mana either! And look—no spiritual trees or beasts—what the hell is he showing us?"
An instructor stumbled forward, brows furrowed. "It's… it's a dead planet."
"No," another whispered. "It's not dead. It's something else entirely…"
Principal Yun, the old sovereign who had seen hundreds of awakenings, stepped closer, his gaze sharp. "It's technological."
Everyone turned to him.
"An artificial civilization," he murmured, barely audible. "One that rejects mysticism… and replaces it with logic. Structure. Control."
The younger instructors paled. Even Lin Ye, far in the crowd, froze mid-laugh.
Jiang Fan stood quietly in the centre, his eyes not proud nor mocking. Just calm. Focused.
Inside, however, his mind was racing.
It worked.
This world accepts technological frameworks as a valid civilization path. It's not bound to spiritual laws alone.
That changed everything.
The First Test
[Initiating Civilization Combat Simulation.]
The system's voice rang again, and Jiang Fan's planet flickered in the air. Across from it, another orb appeared—green, vibrant, pulsing with martial qi.
[Opponent: Standard Martial Planet – Grade C.]
[Objective: Full-scale simulation to evaluate potential.]
[Simulating...]
The projection expanded. Now, everyone could see it: the battle between two worlds.
On the left, the martial planet.
Its surface teemed with sword cultivators, giant beasts, sects with sky-piercing temples. Shockwaves from duels cracked the land. Cultivators rode swords into the heavens, wielding mountains like pebbles.
On the right, Jiang Fan's world.
A swarm of satellite arrays aligned with perfect timing. Swarms of autonomous drones took formation. Cities folded and transformed into mobile battle stations. AI networks synchronized orbital fire.
No screaming. No fiery aura. Just cold, calculated execution.
The clash began.
Missiles launched. Energy beams cut through the void. Martial warriors flew to intercept—some succeeded, their bodies glowing with explosive qi.
But they were few.
Because for every warrior who fell, ten thousand drones replaced them.
For every blade of energy, Jiang Fan's civilization responded with a precision-guided counterstrike.
And then… the finale.
One structure rose from Jiang Fan's planet—long, black, slender. It pierced through space itself.
The Rod of Kessan.
An orbital kinetic weapon designed to drop a tungsten shaft at terminal velocity.
It fell.
And the martial planet cracked like an egg.
[Simulation Ended: Complete Victory.]
[Ranking: A+. Planetary Potential: Extreme.]
Silence.
Not awe. Not admiration.
Fear.
Aftermath
No one cheered.
Not even a whisper echoed.
Jiang Fan stepped down from the altar, his projection fading.
He walked past the stunned students, the stiff instructors, the silent dignitaries.
No one met his gaze.
No one dared to.
Except one.
Lin Ye.
The golden-robed prodigy stood with arms crossed, his planet—an ethereal realm filled with floating spirit palaces—flickering faintly beside him.
Their eyes met.
Lin Ye's smile was thin, brittle.
"You're clever," he said softly. "You found a loophole. But loopholes break."
Jiang Fan didn't reply.
He didn't need to.
That Night
Back in the dormitories, while others meditated or trained, Jiang Fan sat cross-legged on his bed, fingers hovering over a virtual console only he could see.
[Planet Management Interface Online.]
[Active Projects: 8][Research Nodes: 35][AI Subroutines: 112,513][Development Index: 10,592%]
He wasn't done.
This was just the beginning.
The planet he awakened was only a seed. Its current capabilities were basic—mere imitations of early Earth technologies, pushed forward by exponential AI growth.
But he would guide it.
He would build a civilization that outpaced every cultivator, every immortal, every so-called god.
Not with power drawn from the heavens.
But with power drawn from understanding.
As the city slept beneath a sky filled with starlight, Jiang Fan whispered into the dark:
"Let them train. Let them meditate. Let them chase power they don't understand."
"I'll create it."