“What grade is this spatial compass that Busey awarded me with? How far can I travel with it?” Xia Fei asked.
Zanian Feng laughed. “That’s a ZR-10, one of the best spatial compasses available in our circle. How could anything the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall awarded be subpar? With White Horse Constellation as its center, you can travel a billion lightyears all around.”
“A billion lightyears!” Xia Fei was shocked. Just this small compass provided him with a spatial channel that could cross a billion lightyears! Just how shocking was this!
“Don’t be so happy just yet. Using a spatial compass like this will cost you, and the price is roughly one Origin Crystal every hundred lightyears. That is to say, 100 lightyears will cost you a grade 1 Origin Crystal, 10,000 lightyears a grade 2 Origin Crystal, 1,000,000 lightyears a grade 3 Origin Crystal, and a billion lightyears a single grade 4 Origin Crystal. Plus, this is just the cost for a one-way trip. A trip back and forth of a billion lightyears will cost you two grade 4 Origin Crystals,” Zanian explained with a smile.
Xia Fei nodded. He did some mental calculations and realized that Furball and he had consumed several dozen grade 4 Origin Crystals in this assessment. He still had 1023 crystals left, and that was enough for a hundred trips, and if he were to use it sparingly, that would be enough to last him quite some time.
“Could I reach the Alliance in a billion lightyears?” Xia Fei asked.
Zanian laughed, “The Alliance is roughly 8.7 billion lightyears away from here! A ZR-10 is of course not enough. You’ll have to at least get a ZR-90 model, and the price of a ZR-10 is already 1000 grade 4 Origin Crystals, so you can forget about getting the ZR-90 without at least 20,000 grade 4 Origin Crystals. Plus, spatial compasses of models 90 and above require a super-long range transition qualification from the Law Enforcement board, and such a qualification certificate would only be given to warriors at the rank of Law Emperors and above. At present, aside from begging for the black market, there’s practically no way for you to get hold of one.
“Besides, those *ssh*l*s in the black market are really shady and unscrupulous. You can forget about getting hold of a ZR-90 without forking over 60,000 Origin Crystals in the least.”
Xia Fei nearly gagged. The entire Alliance was just a territory, which spanned about 7.2 million lightyears, and that was already considered to belong to a fairly famous species in the universe, yet the Law Realm was almost 8.7 billion lightyears away from the Alliance!
Going by the speed of a cosmic express warship, which covered a distance of 1,200,000 lightyears daily, he would have to be flying for nearly twenty years before he could arrive at the Alliance from the Law Realm. This was assuming that there were no mishaps while onboard; would he not just end up dying in the vast space in some place unknown if anything untoward happened during this journey?!
No wonder the superior Black Bat radar had such a poor signal reception in the Law Realm. It turned out that the distance between the Alliance and the Law Realm was not merely super far but extra super-duper far!
Xia Fei was a little depressed. Money. Everything needed money. Even making a trip back home was difficult. Unless he could become as rich as Yu Hua, accumulating wealth that would rival a nation’s, there was no way he could afford a ZR-90 or above spatial compass.
Zanian saw how despondent Xia Fei looked, so he added, “Actually, there’s no need for you to buy a model 90 on your own. Some merchants actually provide the service of traveling between the Law Realm and the Alliance, though they do charge quite a premium price for it.
“Calculating by the distance, it will cost you eighty-seven grade 4 Origin Crystals to be transported from the Law Realm to the Alliance, so if you can find these shrewd businessmen, perhaps you’ll manage to secure a trip with 200 grade 4 Origin Crystals, and every day that you spend in the Alliance will cost you about twenty grade 4 Origin Crystals.”
Xia Fei began counting with his fingers and a trip back and forth while staying for a week would require around 540 grade 4 Origin Crystals, which was quite an exorbitant sum!
“The greatest benefit of going through these businessmen is that you won’t have to worry about the Law Enforcement Board causing any trouble for you. Since they dare to send someone back to the Alliance, they of course have to ensure that you won’t be hunted down. If you are still unsure about such arrangements, you’ll have to find those people in the black market. They have their untraceable compasses, though the risk is also higher. Who knows if those *ssh*l*s will be swayed by money after the fact.” Zanian continued to explain.
Xia Fei more or less understood the situation. If he wanted to head back to the Alliance and spend some time with Avril, he must be able to afford the huge price tag! He had always felt that the Alliance was very sinister last time, but who would have thought that the Law Realm would be even worse! So illicit that it felt dirty just talking about it!
“Just how vast is the universe, anyway?” Xia Fei asked. This question had been troubling him for a very long time, and now that he was with Zanian, he figured that it was his best chance to get some answers.
“Everything within a radius of thirty billion lightyears with the Law Realm as the focus is under our control, and we have no idea what else is beyond. We commonly believe that the universe is endless,” Zanian replied.
“It’s endless? No, that’s quite illogical. Nothing in this universe is limitless.” Xia Fei had his doubts.
Zanian smiled, retorting, “Illogical? Can you use that term to explain the seventh brain region? Special abilities? Law?”
Xia Fei was speechless. The higher he came into contact with, the more Xia Fei felt that the universe was a peculiarity, something that logic and science could not explain or account for.
“It’s truly a vast and strange universe.” Xia Fei sighed softly.
…
Xia Fei spotted a Nine Tier Tower and its huge courtyard from afar. The name Law Enforcement Board sounded very rigorous, but it was actually just a peaceful and beautiful location.
After crossing the ancient wooden gate, one would be greeted by the sight of a verdant garden, with squat cedar trees growing next to each other. Plenty of the rooms were overrun by their branches; not one was being groomed or maintained, allowing the branches to grow however they liked.
Several elders were gathered, drinking a pot of tea and playing chess. The scene was quite chaotic because one of the elders playing chess was arguing until his face turned red, and Xia Fei could not help but think of the term ‘old urchin’ when he saw the person.
Most of them were in casual wear, with only a handful in uniforms, which had a very large print of the word ‘Law’ on each, evidently showing the different status they held with everyone else.
“Don’t underestimate those elders. They are all the elites of the Law Realm. The Nine Great Clans, as well as other generational clans, all have to send a respected senior to take up the mantle as a member of the Law Enforcement Board, while the rest are respected elders of various families and clans as well as retired veteran warriors.
“Here in the Law Realm, below the two peak races are the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall, the Law Enforcement Board, and the Nine Great Clans; all the various elders gather here. The power and authority that the Law Enforcement Board wield are indubitable, and when necessary, the board can command the troops of the Nine Great Clans.” Zanian gave a simple introduction.
Xia Fei nodded. “Gathering all the major figures of the various clans and families to enforce the law, no one will of course be dissatisfied with such an arrangement. After all, these are individuals from their affiliations that can be held to their word.”
“That’s indeed the case, which is why you’d best not provoke any one of these elders for no reason whatsoever, or else things can get very messy,” Zanian said with a hint of fear as if he had personally experienced this himself.
The two of them continued chatting as they entered the hall. There was a large marcescent plaque hanging above the entrance, indicating that this was the place where high-grade spatial compasses could be registered. Because ZR-10 could let one travel up to a billion lightyears, marking it as high grade, the compass required registration with the Law Enforcement Board here in the White Horse Constellation. Anything lower only required it to be registered with the various family branches, so there was no need for such a hassle. Thus, it could be seen just how strict the Law Realm was toward the movement of their Law Adepts.
“Brother Gigawolf!” Zanian Feng shouted with a smile as he entered the place.
Behind the long workbench was a young man with a full beard covering even his cheeks. He was napping, but upon hearing the call, he raised his head impatiently. “Who’s there?”
“Sleeping on your job in broad daylight, aren’t you afraid those old coots outside giving you trouble?” Zanian teased.
“Zanian!” The bearded youth shouted in glee. He stepped away from the workbench and brought over three chairs, even serving some tea for the newcomers.
“This here is my good friend, from the Cruelwolf Clan of the Nine Great Clans, Wolf Shunye. Don’t be fooled by that bushy beard of his; Gigawolf is actually younger than me by two years,” Zanian made the introduction.
Wolf Shunye awkwardly rubbed his head. “I can’t help it. The men of the Cruelwolf Clan always have had bushy beards; it’s a genetic trait we got from our ancestors and can’t be changed even if I want to.”
Wolf Shunye was fairly honest, seemingly unaware that Zanian was merely joking with him. However, it was true that his countenance was somewhat unexpected. With his upturned nose and a full beard, Xia Fei would mistake him for a middle-aged man if not for Zanian’s introduction.
“This young man here’s Xia Fei. A friend I met in the Dragon Ascension Conclave. I brought him here to register his spatial compass.” Zanian did the introductions for Xia Fei for Wolf Shunye’s benefit.
“Xia Fei?! The one who placed first in the initial assessment?” Wolf Shunye was surprised.
“That’s right. The very same,” Zanian said.
His shocked eyes did a once over of Xia Fei’s body before bursting into uproarious laughter. “Great! It’s going to be the second cycle in another month. When that time comes, you must teach me a few pointers! Don’t you hold back on me when we meet, too!”
Xia Fei humbly replied, “I wouldn’t dare presume that I could teach you, but I’m sure that we can spar.”
Wolf Shunye was a straightforward person, so he registered Xia Fei’s compass without another word. The price for registration was five grade 4 Origin Crystals, which was still acceptable, and Xia Fei was also provided with a card from the bank. Every month, the cost of traveling could be deposited into the bank and he could also do so in advance, saving him the hassle of payment, since the bank card was directly linked to the compass.
“Ahem! What a terrible life I lead. You’ve been made a scout of your family, which is a very interesting job, yet here I am, forced to join the Law Enforcement Board. I’m bored to death working here daily!” Hearing Zanian’s experience, Wolf Shunye could not help but complain about his lot in life.
Zanian chuckled. “That can’t be helped. You’re from one of the Nine Great Clans, so of course you’d be sent to gain some expatriate experience. Do you think the Law Enforcement Board is something that most people can just join? Small families will be fighting for a chance to do what you do, and the board won’t even take them.”
“Let’s not compare anymore. The patriarch of your Feng family leads Dragon Ascension, and that name itself is far greater than my family,” Wolf Shunye said.
Like Zanian, Wolf Shunye was also a descendant of a known generational clan in the Law Realm, with plenty of ties to each other. Xia Fei, who did not really get the conversation that these two were having, fiddled with his spatial compass, feeling bored.
Zanian glanced around the place and said, “Hey, has that elder, Xia Zonghai, been looking for me recently?”
Upon hearing the name ‘Xia Zonghai’, Wolf Shunye looked completely unnerved as he said with a glum face, “Don’t even say that. Why did you end up provoking him out of all the elders here? That old monster beat me up good all just so he could find you, but it’s a good thing that your brother here is loyal, so I didn’t say a word about you being with Dragon Ascension.”
Zanian furtively observed Xia Fei’s reaction when the conversation reached this point. There were plenty of people who went by the surname of Xia, and Xia Fei did not react any differently, but hearing an elder by the name of Xia Zonghai bold enough to beat up Wolf Shunye of the Nine Great Clans did pique his interest. Further seeing how Wolf Shunye was practically shivering in his boots at the mention of the name, there was no doubt that this Xia Zonghai lived up to his name as an old monster, and his temper was nothing to be scoffed at.
Xia Fei did not have any special reaction, and Zanian could not help but be slightly disappointed.
‘Could Xia Fei really have nothing to do with the Skywing Clan? Is it impossible?’ Zanian thought to himself.
With a smile, he said, “I remember that today’s the first, which means it’s the date of the Law Enforcement Board’s internal auction. Brother Gigawolf, why don’t you bring me and Xia Fei along so we can enrich ourselves from the experience?”
Wolf Shunye slapped his thigh. “I nearly forgot about that if you didn’t mention it. This is one of the perks of joining the Law Enforcement Board. Come, let’s go and take a look. You two may not be aware of this, but those old monsters have plenty of fun trinkets! Don’t be dazzled by those when you see them later.”
