As an apology, the White-Horn Human Clan offered appropriate compensation, which Andrew Han naturally did not refuse. Besides, he had never planned to sever ties with the White-Horns just because of Ruby Whitehorn.
No matter what happens.
Andrew Han always remembered the kindness of the White-Horn Human Clan.
This is his fundamental principle in life—no matter what he encounters, he refuses to waver and will never cross this bottom line... Kindness must be repaid; enmity must be returned!
"White-Horn Human Clan."
Andrew Han nodded to Dan Booth, returned to the Azure Cloud Palace to tidy up, then left the palace and headed toward the top of the Chenriver Palace’s core region—the Chenriver Giant Tower.
Passing through clouds of color, he stood before the Chenriver Tower.
The jade-gold giant tower stood tall and unchanging, eternally rotating. Even after countless eras, it remained dazzling and magnificent.
Buzzing.
The ninety-nine floors of the Chenriver Tower slowly rotated, each level marked by sharp edges and a shining exterior.
The tower’s outer walls gleamed, each floor corresponding to a vivid name, like ancient, noble carvings of time... Looking from top to bottom, Andrew’s gaze remained calm, finally settling on the nineteenth floor.
Names written in flowing script would sometimes fade, sometimes shine, as if cycling through reincarnation.
And now!
His name—Andrew Han—now sat on the nineteenth floor of the giant tower!
"Hmm."
Andrew Han narrowed his eyes: "The top twenty are the First Ladder. Judging from this, even though I crushed Ruby Whitehorn in just a few blows, in the eyes of the Stellar Palace Tier, I still only rank nineteenth."
Andrew Han felt neither resentment nor a desire to challenge.
So what if he was ranked nineteenth?
Andrew Han had never needed empty fame to bolster his presence; rankings were just a gimmick, and any truly resolute cultivation genius rarely cared for them.
However.
Rankings are tied to points, which is what fuels the competitive atmosphere in Chenriver Palace.
Standing with his hands behind his back, Andrew Han glanced over the outline of the Chenriver Tower, then looked upward again: "Let me see once more who stands above me."
The closest to Andrew Han, pressing just above nineteenth, was the eighteenth—none other than the Chenriver Empire’s current Third Princess, Mora.
"Mora?"
Andrew Han stood beneath the starry sky, momentarily stunned.
He had chatted with Mora a few times; they were at least familiar, if not close.
But Andrew distinctly remembered that the Third Princess, Mora, had been ranked somewhere in the thirties before. How did she suddenly rise so much, as if surging upward with unstoppable momentum?
Thinking it over, Andrew shook his head and smiled wryly: "My perspective has been a bit narrow. The starry sky is so vast—I'm not the only one improving and growing stronger; all other lives are also cultivating and evolving."
In other words, he was not special—nor was he unique.
Across the boundless expanse of Human Territory, Andrew Han was just an inconspicuous ripple; there were many with better cultivation aptitude than him, and countless whose fortunes were even more mysterious.
Such is the dazzling splendor of the universe and starry sky!
Hundreds of ships race, thousands of peaks compete—on the path of cultivation and evolution, to stand still is to fall behind. He was not the only one with opportunities; every life had its own brilliance.
Andrew Han gazed at the Chenriver Tower: "I once didn't understand; later I understood; now I understand even more."
He still remembered as a child, always thinking the world revolved around him—that only when he moved did the world move, that his existence was the center of everything.
But in this world, there is no only, and no eternity.
The world does not revolve around one person; no matter how brilliant, there will always be a time for the curtain to fall.
As a youth, he was still naive, slowly growing up, meeting many people, experiencing many things, until he finally understood the cold reality of the world's workings.
"That's right."
"Compared to the universe and starry sky, I am just insignificant dust." Andrew Han looked at the Chenriver Tower, feeling his heart grow ever clearer, as if washed clean—from ordinary to extraordinary, then accepting his own ordinariness as the best kind of baptism.
Thinking of this.
The quietly growing pride and sense of achievement faded in an instant; Andrew Han continued to look upward.
Further up, there were all sorts of strange names—even some with thirteen characters. Ruby Whitehorn of the White-Horn Human Clan was still ranked tenth.
"Chenriver Palace isn’t immune to these things either."
Andrew Han shook his head. Even the seemingly independent Chenriver Palace couldn’t avoid such influences—after all, the White-Horn Human Clan dominated the eastern sector of the Chenriver Empire.
Wherever there is life, there are interests, disputes, and compromises.
"However."
"Sen is still ranked first."
In this year’s Chenriver Palace, Sen is truly unmatched!
Yet now, that name no longer qualified for Andrew Han’s admiration.
On this return to Chenriver Palace, Andrew Han’s soul and will had reached Third-Order Constant Light of the Starlight Tier, and his consciousness nodes had long surpassed a terrifying one thousand!
"Sen."
Glancing at the crystal-clear name, Andrew Han skillfully flew toward the base of the Chenriver Tower.
The entrance to the Chenriver Tower isn’t on the first floor, but built into the circular base, with a doorway about a hundred meters across.
To enter the Chenriver Tower, there is only one entrance at the base. The sheer size and grandeur of the tower make people instinctively look up in awe, their hearts subdued, their movements cautious, and a sense of solemn respect naturally arises.
Thinking about it, this must be to remind the cultivation geniuses arriving at Chenriver Palace to always remember reverence.
...
Inside the Chenriver Tower, on the seventh floor.
Though inside the tower, the area was vast—over a thousand kilometers long and wide.
On the seventh floor, a white ocean lay on one side, a colorful volcano on the other. Waves churned in the ocean; the volcano spewed multicolored flames—truly wondrous and hard to describe.
The air was cool, as if filled with a hint of mint.