The first time Jiang Fan opened his eyes in this world, he was floating—weightless, adrift in an expanse that shimmered like an endless ocean of starlight.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
There was no heartbeat, no breath, not even the sound of his own thoughts—just the silence of eternity, waiting for something… or someone.
Then a soft hum broke the stillness.
Warm, metallic. Alien.
[System initializing…]
The voice rang not in his ears, but within his bones, his blood, his very soul. Jiang Fan blinked. The world shimmered around him and shifted. The stars retracted. The ocean of light dimmed. Space bent—
And he awoke.
Gasping.
He sat up abruptly, chest heaving, sweat clinging to his forehead like morning dew. His vision spun for a moment before it cleared, revealing a room far too pristine, too smooth, too… futuristic.
He wasn't on Earth anymore.
It hit him like a cold slap.
His last memory—the blinding white flash in the lab, the sharp metallic taste on his tongue, the panicked shouting from his team before everything went black—was the last link he had to his old life.
Now, everything had changed.
Jiang Fan looked down at his hands—smaller, smoother, younger. He wasn't thirty-two anymore. This body was lean, seventeen at most, clothed in a simple navy robe with silver patterns resembling stars. His reflection in the translucent wall nearby confirmed it: he had transmigrated.
And not just anywhere.
He was in a new world. One where the rules he once understood no longer applied.
A World Built on Planets
Three days passed before Jiang Fan was allowed to leave the quarantine chamber.
The moment he stepped outside, he realized the world wasn't just different—it was radically different.
People walked on paved silverstone roads in flowing robes or armor woven with spiritual threads. Hovercrafts zipped overhead, their presence common, yet powered not by fuel or electricity—but by "origin energy." Gigantic towers etched with runes pierced the clouds, resonating with faint pulses that kept monsters at bay.
But none of it compared to what he saw in the heart of the city: a monument of suspended planets, each orbiting slowly in the air above a circular plaza.
An announcer's voice echoed from nearby floating speakers.
"In this world, one awakens a planet at age sixteen. The planet becomes your soul's domain—your core. The stronger your planet, the stronger you become. Your civilization becomes your weapon, your faith, your future."
Jiang Fan stood still beneath the monument, heart pounding.
So this was the truth of this world.
Everyone would awaken their own planet—build it, shape it, grow with it. It was more than just a representation. It was real. Your power was tied to the strength of the civilization you created.
People spoke in excited tones:
—"He awakened a martial arts planet. Everyone there practices body-tempering from birth!"—"That girl? She built a magical civilization. Elemental towers rise like mountains!"—"Spiritual energy users are the strongest—immortal cultivators who can create god-beasts and fly between stars!"
Jiang Fan didn't speak.
He simply clenched his fists behind his back.
He could feel it now—deep inside, like a second heartbeat. A small seed, barely the size of a grain, spinning in the void of his soul.
His Planet Seed.
Waiting.
The Day of Awakening
The Planet Awakening Ceremony was held once a year.
On that day, the sky itself shimmered. All classes were suspended. All of Star Origin City gathered before the Constellation Dome.
Jiang Fan stood near the edge of the plaza, eyes half-lidded, listening to the chatter around him.
"Hey, did you hear? Lin Ye's going next. I bet he awakens an immortal planet again. That guy's insane."
"Yeah, and Su Qing's probably going to get a martial domain. Her lineage goes back five generations of sect lords!"
"And that weird guy, Jiang Fan? He's last. Probably a trash seed."
He didn't flinch.
He didn't care.
None of them knew that Jiang Fan carried something far more terrifying than any lineage.
He carried Earth.
Or rather—its memories.
Jiang Fan's Past Life
He remembered the blinking lights of server racks. The heat of CPUs pushing their limits. The smell of stale coffee and sleepless nights.
Jiang Fan had been one of the youngest quantum software engineers in Earth's tech elite. His crowning achievement had been Project Eidos—a neural-simulation network designed to map hypothetical multiverses.
Before the accident.
Before the white flash.
Now, all of that knowledge was tucked away inside his mind—mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence theory, virtual infrastructure, dark matter studies, high-energy weapon schematics.
A whole civilization of logic, steel, silicon, and relentless innovation.
They called this world a realm of spirit and energy?
He would build a civilization of progress and purpose.
Last to Awaken
The ceremony was nearly over.
One by one, the other teens had stepped into the altar, awakened their seeds, and projected their planets.
Some were lush with forests of qi. Others pulsed with magical storms or glittered with immortal palaces.
Each was cheered.
Each was admired.
And then, Jiang Fan's name was called.
No one clapped.
No one whispered in awe.
The silence was heavy—dismissive, almost pitying.
He stepped onto the platform without pause.
The altar pulsed beneath his feet.
"Jiang Fan," an instructor muttered, checking his crystal tablet. "Orphan. Low lineage. No innate spiritual body. Likely to fail... Begin the awakening."
The world faded around him.
His soul was pulled inward—deep into his core.
There, he stood in the void.
Before him: a swirling, sleeping mass of light.
His Planet Seed.
He reached out.
I'm not like them.
I won't build on qi. I won't build on mysticism.
I will build on truth. On science. On reason.
He pressed his palm to the seed.
A blinding surge of light erupted.