Gregory Clark: Father of Wang Wei, Chief of Staff of the Federation's Third Fleet.

　　Peter Brooks: Director of the Imperial Federation Hospital, highly respected, with close ties to many powerful figures, and a close friend of Kevin Carter despite their age difference.

　　Helen Brooks: Only daughter of Peter Brooks, sworn sister to Brian Carter.

　　Franklin Cooper: Chief instructor of the Federation's Special Forces, husband of Helen Brooks.

　　Ethan Carter: Instructor in the Federation's Special Forces, admires Franklin Cooper.

　　Heinz: New recruit in the Special Forces, once trained by Kazakh, one of the seven great ancient martial arts masters in the Federation military, and competed in the same test as Brian Carter.

　　Holly Carter: A genius girl from an ancient martial arts family, already at the eleventh level of ancient martial arts.

　　Jackson Carter: Expert defeated by Brian Carter in the Blade Tomb.

　　Steven Harris: Principal of Augudin Academy, an innate-level ancient martial arts master.

　　Jason Bolton: Specially admitted student who entered Augudin from the same intermediate academy as Brian Carter.

　　Henry Foster: Freshman at Augudin in the same year as Brian Carter, born with incredible strength, narrowly lost to Brian Carter in the Duel Arena.

　　Ian Sullivan: Dedicated mentor to Brian Carter after entering Augudin, possesses nineteenth-level ancient martial arts strength, gentle and easygoing, and rather likes being close to Brian Carter.

Volume One: The Undying Program

Chapter One: Galactic Core Explosion

　　The Soul Sanctuary, as the sacred forbidden ground of the great Zuma Empire, has always allowed only one person to enter—none other than the supreme emperor George Washington, who founded the great Zuma Empire and led it into a tenth-level civilization.

　　At this very moment, George Washington was gazing intently at the "Cosmic Well" at the center of the Soul Sanctuary, seemingly deep in thought.

　　The Zuma Empire was founded twelve hundred years ago. During this time, George Washington single-handedly developed what was once only a third-level civilization into a galactic tenth-level civilization empire. It is no exaggeration to say that the current Zuma Empire has become the most powerful force in the "Bodor" star system. Even those old tenth-level civilizations dare not challenge it, and at the root of it all is the existence of George Washington.

　　Now, the Zuma Empire has reached its peak—a point where even the great founder George Washington can no longer advance it further, having remained a tenth-level civilization for three hundred years. George Washington regards this as an evolutionary bottleneck.

　　If there were still plenty of time, George Washington would not worry about this three-hundred-year bottleneck. But having already lived for one thousand two hundred and thirty years, this bottleneck has become George Washington's greatest concern.

　　It is known that the average lifespan in the Zuma Empire is as high as six hundred years, and as the empire's greatest warrior and emperor, George Washington has reached the terrifying age of one thousand two hundred and thirty. But time spares no one; even the mighty George Washington can feel his life nearing its end.

　　"If I die, can the Zuma Empire remain as strong as it is now? Relying on those few useless sons of mine?"

　　Staring intently at the "Cosmic Well," filled with antimatter energy crystals and said to be the most mysterious existence in the Bodor star system, George Washington couldn't help but think to himself, "At most, I have only a hundred years left... Perhaps only this Cosmic Well can help me achieve the legendary immortality..."

　　After hesitating for a few seconds, George Washington seemed to make an extremely important decision. He slowly took out a crescent-shaped object no larger than a fingernail, which, judging by appearance alone, looked very much like a pendant.

　　The "Eternal Star"—this tiny pendant is George Washington's greatest lifelong secret and the source of power behind the mighty Zuma Empire. George Washington knew very well that without the "Eternal Star," he would probably have remained just a farmer's son, never to be associated with the title of emperor.

　　When George Washington reached out and placed the "Eternal Star" flat above the Cosmic Well, this peerless powerhouse's hand actually trembled slightly, a rare hint of hesitation showing in his expression. Even when he had once faced a neutron war star alone, George Washington had never so much as frowned, but now, his brows were tightly knotted like the roots of an ancient tree.

　　According to information left behind by prehistoric twelfth-level civilizations, the Cosmic Well is actually a passage connecting hundreds or even thousands of parallel spaces. With sufficient power, one can open this passage and link to alternate spaces different from the original.

　　And once one can successfully travel back and forth between different spaces, it is equivalent to transcending the laws of the universe, escaping the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and thus attaining immortality.

　　This information was precious data that George Washington had spent one hundred and fifty years to obtain, and it was his last hope of achieving immortality.

　　"The power of the strongest in a twelfth-level civilization is just barely enough to open the Cosmic Well. Even I cannot do it as I am now. But with the power of the 'Eternal Star,' everything will become possible. At worst, the 'Eternal Star' will be destroyed in the process, but I already have everything. As long as I can achieve immortality, what does it matter if I lose its help!"