The Impaler was like a specter, slowly creeping its way deep into the insectoid territory.
Xia Fei was seated in the command deck, analyzing the information gathered on the computer. He took an insectoid communications system from the bordertown and connected it to his ship’s mainframe.
Though the system was hardly advanced, the insectoids had always been known for their carelessness, hardly putting sufficient thought into their industrialized products. Take this communications system for example; the Pan-human Alliance’s military communications system would not be usable by insectoids even if they had gotten hold of it, for it would be protected by a twin-layer password. Using it would require entering a password first, and it was not a static password, either, automatically changing after a short time.
It was much easier with the insectoid communications system. All it needed was the host’s login password, and anyone could get a hold of the password from the insectoid network unimpeded.
Cracking this password was a piece of cake to Xia Fei. His many years of study had given him a solid foundation in technology, so forget something as simple as the insectoids’ password system; Xia Fei had even cracked the far more intricate and multi-layered password systems of the ancient civilization many times.
Xia Fei was madly hunkered down in front of the computer in these two days, learning as much as he could about the various knowledge pertaining to the insectoids and their societal structure, looking for a target at the same time.
He had too much hatred which needed to be vented. The flames of revenge were like a ticking atomic bomb buried in Xia Fei’s heart, and only fresh insectoid blood could stop him from blasting the insectoids’ inner region into nothingness. Most of the military and high-ranking warriors were away, participating in the war against the Pan-human Alliance, so this was Xia Fei’s opportunity.
According to the information he had collected, the insectoids’ inner region had its own warrior structure, similar to the humans’ Adjudicator Union—a warrior organization in the inner region known as the Sacred Guild.
The Sacred Guild was the only warrior organization of the insectoids, and at the same time, it was a government institution. It was different from the Adjudicator Union which serviced the people, as it directly served the insectoid emperor living in the Golden Tent, Uti.
Plenty of the soldiers around Uti were provided by the Sacred Guild, and the various armed forces each had an elite warrior squad assigned to them by the Sacred Guild, too. They were both the vanguards of the insectoid warmongering machines as well as the backbone of the race. Xia Fei very easily took the Sacred Guild as his most critical target. Of course, he did not forget to include the settlements where the intelligent insectoids resided.
Right now, Xia Fei only wanted to kill. If possible, he even wanted to kill his way to the Golden Tent and take Uti’s head back home to become a stool for him.
“Oh, no! The Alliance got dealt a heavy blow again.” Phantom furrowed his brows and sighed.
Xia Fei was reading the latest battle reports from the insectoid network. The southern fleets in Endaro Star Region had gotten embroiled in a fierce battle with the insectoids. Due to the imbalance of strength between the two forces, the Alliance had had a really tough time. After an intense battle, which lasted five days and five nights, Admiral Layton was forced to concede territory and withdraw from Endaro, letting the star region fall.
The loss of the Endaro Star Region also meant the loss of Earth, Xia Fei’s only home planet had fallen into the hands of the insectoids.
Quantum Holdings, Sarah, Porter, Boateng, even the old man selling beancurd by the alley… There was no telling how they were, if they had managed to escape in time or what the fate of all six billion Earthlings was.
Analyzing the recent battle reports, Xia Fei very easily came to a conclusion: It would not be long before the Alliance fell.
The screen changed again, and Xia Fei pulled out the image of a huge building nestled in a basin surrounded by mountains. Using the surrounding terrain as the wall, a clear glass ceiling was built above to seal off the entire basin, forming a fully-enclosed building with a diameter of over a hundred kilometers.
This building was different from the majority of the ugly insectoid buildings. It had a sparkling exterior, giving off quite an artistic aesthetic.
“Calculate the best route, as well as the best evacuation route, to this place. Include a vector change analysis of possible insectoid troops’ presence,” Xia Fei commanded emotionlessly.
The computer answered in the affirmative and quickly calculated the best route, as well as the most ideal position to keep the Impaler hidden, according to instructions.
Phantom was stunned, incredulously asking, “That’s Tanini’s Sacred Warrior Academy? That’s one of the twelve major warrior training schools for insectoids. Xia Fei, you’re not planning to target that place next, are you?”
“Why not?” demanded Xia Fei icily. He was not listening to anything else aside from killing and getting his revenge.
Tanini’s Sacred Warrior Academy had been named after the Great General Tanini. Just thinking of that villain who had slaughtered hundreds of billions of civilians from the capital ring got Xia Fei’s eyes going bloodshot.
This Sacred Warrior Academy was not simple; though it was located somewhere in the outer region of the insectoid territory, that did not stop it from becoming one of the twelve major warrior training schools. This was all due to the fact that they had the best source of warriors: the Longhorned beetle species.
This part of space was where the powerful Longhorned beetle species resided. Though there were not many of them, they were known for producing powerful warriors. At the same time, this was also where the home planet of the mites was located. The mites were small and short in stature, but they had peculiarly agile minds, widely known as one of the smarter species in the entire insectoid race.
Going by the insectoid warriors’ numerical grading system, where a stronger warrior would be given a higher grade, this school had three grade 4 instructors, and their dean was also the well known Longhorned beetle Tude, possessing a strength close to grade 6. This meant that he was as strong as a Legendary rank human warrior, most likely capable of reaching Eternal rank in his lifetime.
Xia Fei was currently at Star River rank, meaning that he was a whole rank, and then some, lower than Tude.
Presently, practically every high-grade student of the school had been transferred into the army, joining the majority of insectoid troops in their war with the Pan-human Alliance. Only the instructors and some of the newer students remained, numbering around three thousand.
As such, Xia Fei’s wish of laying waste to the school would not be easily accomplished. After all, the four strongest high-grade instructors were still around, and Xia Fei would likely have to triumph in a very grueling battle just to succeed.
Phantom continued to carefully pore over the information regarding Tanini’s Sacred Warrior Academy, wondering out loud, “If you really want to destroy this school, why not just use your Star of Ruin.”
“Planet Pangnick also has a small fleet garrisoned there aside from the school, their population somewhere over ten billion. Escaping from such a prosperous border planet won’t be easy. Exchanging a Star of Ruin for ten billion insectoid lives is rather worth it.”
Xia Fei shook his head, tapping on the screen lightly with his fingers to retrieve an image.
The image was a plant that had a very unique appearance. It looked as scary as the palm of a demon, and its savage grey appearance made it look as icy cold as metal.
“That’s a Blood Demon Claw!” Phantom exclaimed. “How could a school have such a miraculous plant! It’s said that the Blood Demon’s Claw would turn from black to scarlet red once it matures. Seeing that this Blood Demon’s Claw is already slowly becoming lighter in color, it means it has already finished developing, and its maturity date would be coming really soon.”
“A Blood Drop will congeal in the palm of a Blood Demon Claw once it reaches maturity, and consuming one can repair any damaged body part; using it will allow someone to recuperate a missing arm, leg, or even a heart defect.”
With that said, Phantom could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. “Xia Fei, perhaps this blood droplet can even repair your damaged seventh brain region.
“Right now, raising your cultivation is gonna be increasingly difficult. Mystical and rare medicinal ingredients are desired but not always obtainable. Plus, there will come a day when your body cannot withstand the continued usage of medicinal ingredients. After all, the more amazing the medicinal ingredients are, the greater their side effects. Your body has always relied on medicinal ingredients to cultivate from the very start, so you’ve essentially hit your physical limit now, becoming more and more tolerant with their effects.
“A higher tolerance means you’ll need medicinal ingredients in greater volume, leading to a vicious cycle. You’ll eventually reach your limit if you keep increasing the dosage.
“If you can repair your damaged seventh brain region by taking the Blood Drop, this means that you’ll be able to rely on cultivation to rank up your skills, so even though it’ll be slower, there’s no telling what your limit will be. After all, you’re the only one in the entire Alliance who has a completely opened seventh brain region.”
Phantom sounded more and more excited the more he spoke. Even a fool would understand that there was no way to continue relying on medicinal ingredients and drugs, so the only ultimate fix was to repair Xia Fei’s damaged seventh brain region.
Thankfully, the insectoid network was not well protected, which was how Xia Fei had chanced upon the existence of the miracle medicine, Blood Demon Claw. As long as he could get hold of the yet-to-mature Blood Demon Claw, Xia Fei would have the chance of repairing his seventh brain region.
Xia Fei still had a bottle of cell aggregation medicine on him, and he could rely on that bottle to do a final rank-up before the Blood Drop formed, and thereafter he could embark on his road to self-cultivation.
Just how much a special ability warrior who had a completely open seventh brain region could cultivate themselves until, even Phantom was eager to find out. Xia Fei might very well be the first in the Alliance who could pioneer this.
The mainframe computer was still doing its mad calculation. It was not easy breaking into a well-defended planet all alone, not to mention one planet that had a school specializing in training warriors of the Sacred Guild.
The route in and out of the planet needed to be precise, and the timing was also crucial.
“Can you confirm the location of the Blood Demon Claw?” Phantom asked. He became more concerned than Xia Fei after hearing that the plant was hidden somewhere in the Sacred Warrior Academy.
“No. The easiest solution is to capture their dean and grill him thoroughly after I infiltrate the school grounds.” Xia Fei arched his eyebrow as he answered in a low growl.
…
Using the night as cover, the Impaler maintained its stealth as it neared Planet Pangnick.
The warship slowly descended, and Xia Fei leaped off the boarding bay as it hovered several hundred meters off the ground. He landed on all fours, examining his surroundings with vigilance.
All of a sudden, a silver ball dropped from the sky. Xia Fei had no idea why Furball had followed him and jumped off the warship, but it did not have the physical agility that Xia Fei possessed, so it went plummeting down the ground in a freefall.
…
Fortunately, Xia Fei was nimble, so he caught it with his two hands.
Furball had quite a decent diet this entire time. Ever since it became Xia Fei’s exclusive beast, signing a contract with him, Xia Fei had stopped restricting its appetite. After all, the faster Furball could grow up, the more beneficial it would be for him.
It had gained quite a lot of weight since, and the fur all over its body had turned from white to silver.
“Why are you tagging along too?” Xia Fei complained.
The warship began lifting off as previously designated, and it hid itself in the night sky with the cloaking system. It was no longer possible for Xia Fei to send Furball back. “Forget it. Just bring it along. It’s going to listen to your every word anyway.” Phantom suggested.
Xia Fei nodded, letting Furball hitch on his shoulder as he moved in the direction of the distant basin ahead.
