Chapter 1 Where Have All the Humans Gone?
According to the judgment of astronomical experts, the sun’s normal burning lifespan should last at least another five billion years.
But ten years ago, humanity was horrified to discover that the sun’s hydrogen was mysteriously disappearing in vast quantities. At this rate, once the hydrogen is exhausted, the sun would ignite its helium reserves and begin its transformation into a “red giant star”…
The red giant is a phase in the sun’s dying process, during which its volume continually expands, inevitably swallowing the innermost planets of the solar system. However, this process would take at least several million years. What concerned humanity more was the impending “helium flash” that would occur as the sun became a red giant!
The helium flash, though brief, would release a temperature equivalent to all the energy the sun had emitted over the past twenty or thirty million years, instantly destroying Earth’s ecological environment and annihilating all life.
If humanity wished to survive, there was only one option: leave Earth, leave the solar system…
Nations held differing opinions, disputes raged, but after several “friendly negotiations” that escalated into war, a consensus was finally reached!
Pooling their resources, they built a hundred colossal space ecological ships, planning to carry all remaining humans away from the solar system to seek a new, habitable planet in the boundless universe…
They named this day the Day of Escape!
The Day of Escape!
The gathering of so many ships in space was a magnificent sight.
Leaders, officials, and citizens of all nations watched their beautiful blue home on screens from inside the ships, overwhelmed by emotion and often moved to tears. They knew that setting out on this journey for survival among the stars meant they would never return in this lifetime…
With a thunderous roar, the giant thrusters of all the ships burned with long tongues of flame, officially launching the escape plan. Simultaneously, messages in every language were broadcast: “Friends, let us bid our final farewell to Earth and cherish these last moments with our home planet!”
Screens began to cycle through live images from around the world—landmarks, capitals, cities, villages, and streets…
Before departure, nations had used remaining materials to install countless surveillance cameras wherever possible, covering nearly every human-accessible corner of the world. The purpose was simply to gaze upon Earth as much as they could in remembrance before the helium flash consumed it…
In the Summer Nation, there had always been the tradition of fallen leaves returning to their roots and the elderly going home to rest.
Leaving Earth, the people of the Summer Nation watched the ever-changing images of their homeland in silence, the atmosphere heavy and subdued.
Just then, a child suddenly exclaimed, “There’s someone on the street!”
The words startled everyone. Bringing all of humanity aboard the ships had been a massive undertaking, but with satellite lifeform scans, not a single person should have been missed—not even in the deepest forests, much less on a city street!
Everyone hurried to review the surveillance footage. When it switched to Baishui City, their pupils contracted—there really was someone! In the city center’s commercial square stood a young man in his early twenties…
The news reached the person in charge at lightning speed. When they saw someone had truly been left behind, their expressions twitched with disbelief. Regardless of registered status, every person from the Summer Nation had been brought on board, and the satellites had scanned three times for lifeforms. How could this happen…
They looked at one another in confusion—what should they do? The escape plan had already begun, with all thrusters operating at maximum. Turning back to pick up one person would cost over ten billion, and sending a rescue shuttle was impossible—it would never catch up with the interstellar ships after reaching Earth.
The person in charge watched the bewildered young man on the street, fingers trembling slightly, then switched off the screen. “We can’t bring him back. Keep the surveillance on him. If he doesn’t survive, as the only remaining citizen of the Summer Nation on Earth, we will honor him ourselves…”
He felt sympathy and regret, but with the lives of over a billion people at stake, he had to remain rational.
On Earth.
Baishui City, Yuli District, city center, street.
Chen Chushi stood under a traffic light, holding a newspaper, his entire being lost in the wind…
He was not of this world—he had only taken a nap during lunch break, and had somehow traversed into another realm.
Waking in the bed of an ordinary home, he wandered the streets and picked up a newspaper, only to learn of this world’s impending disaster: the sun about to become a red giant, the helium flash that would end the world, and the total human exodus…
After reading the paper, his mind buzzed. Apparently, all of humanity had fled, leaving this slow-to-arrive traveler as the sole “owner” of Earth.
Empty malls, deserted homes and streets, and the pale blue sky—everything was so quiet it was overwhelming. Chen Chushi felt as if he’d fallen into the depths of an ocean, engulfed by an intense sense of strangeness and loneliness…
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind: “Immortal Cultivation Achievement System activated!”
A system? And for cultivation, no less?
Chen Chushi’s spirits soared. Novels hadn’t lied—crossing over really did come with a system!
If he could cultivate to the level of plucking stars with his bare hands like in fantasy novels, then the red giant sun and the helium flash would be nothing to fear—he could string a dozen of them together for a necklace and the brighter they flashed, the more excited he’d be…
The system announced: “Distributing novice package, contents: 10x cultivation efficiency boost, ‘Comprehensive Principles of Immortal Cultivation’!”
A torrent of cultivation knowledge flooded his mind.
He now understood what spiritual energy was, its advantages and drawbacks, its properties, and more. The knowledge was detailed, but he soon realized there were no instructions on practical application—no examples, no tutorials. In other words, he was given only the theory…
This was the novice package?
His lips twitched. Was he expected to create his own cultivation method and practice it himself?
After issuing the gift, the system fell silent as if it had never existed.
No matter how he tried to communicate, there was no response. Looking at the desolate street, Chen Chushi sighed. Now that he’d become Earth’s sole inhabitant, how could he retreat without even trying? It would be a disgrace to his newfound status…
He surveyed his surroundings, entered a high-rise, took the elevator to the rooftop, and stood by the railing, gazing into the distance, lost in thought…
Half an hour passed.
His brow gradually relaxed.
He murmured, “Let’s try a basic cultivation method and see what happens; there’s no need to rush.”
With that, he sat cross-legged, putting his cultivation knowledge to use as he sensed the flow of air around him. It was early morning, when spiritual energy was most active and easiest to sense and absorb. Drawing on his new knowledge, he hastily created a simple introductory cultivation method, which he named the ‘Qi Refining Technique,’ intended solely for entry-level practice, with effects of absorption, circulation, and transformation…
He closed his eyes and focused, motionless as a meditating monk.
Very soon, he sensed a unique presence in the air—judging by its properties, it had to be spiritual energy. Chen Chushi immediately began running the ‘Qi Refining Technique’ to try absorbing it…
Aboard the ships.
Good news travels slowly, bad news travels fast. The story of a single human being left behind on Earth by the Summer Nation spread quickly, reaching all the ships.
Billions of eyes were now fixed on Chen Chushi, the last human on Earth, curious to see what would become of him in such an environment. The topic sparked heated discussion everywhere…