*Whoosh!*
Xia Fei moved very quickly as he dragged Fuchen with him by the hand.
The lightning-fast speed caused Fuchen to cry in pleasure, and when paired with Xia Fei’s movement technique, he felt as though he were riding the most exhilarating roller coaster. The scenery passed in a blur he barely had time to see anything.
The Inverse territory occupied a large region of space. While Xia Fei and Fuchen had landed near the core, they still needed to travel across a rather significant distance. Xia Fei’s goal was very clear: reach the most central location of the Inverse territory.
On the radar, this was a pitch-black star system that even lacked a sun.
It was difficult to imagine what the Earth would be like without sunlight, yet the Inverse had lived in such a bizarre, cold, and sinister place, completely setting up their nest here, for many years. It was as if these wicked creatures had never belonged to the light.
The temperature began to drop. This star system comprised nine planets, with a dead star at its very center. From what had been detected by the radar, it was easy to see that this star had gone out eons ago. The closer they got to it, the colder it became.
Fortunately, Xia Fei and Fuchen were both wearing decent suits of armor. The armor Fuchen was wearing under his clothes seemed to possess flexibility on par with Xia Fei’s Celestial Sole Warning. It was a rare treasure that could resist the cold without a problem.
The coldness could not penetrate their armor, but the darkness seemed to stretch endlessly. At this time, Xia Fei’s Ocular Cognition played a role. He could see all the layers of sentries, allowing his mind to analyze the most well-concealed route.
“Do these sentries all possess golden eyes?” Fuchen asked, spotting an Inverse force.
“Nope. They’re just puny soldiers.”
“How about those?”
“Not either.”
Xia Fei was simply speechless. Fuchen seemed far too keen on those golden eyes, hoping that every Inverse he saw had a pair. In this way, he could dig out their eyeballs.
“Our goal this time is to scout, so even if we do find a large number with golden eyes, you can’t attack them,” Xia Fei warned.
Fuchen felt rather dejected, pouting and falling silent thereafter.
They arrived at the dead star, which was unbelievably large, the size of which was equivalent to several hundred suns. Xia Fei would not find it strange at all if trillions of Inverse lived on it.
There were volcanoes wherever he looked; the Inverse had even dug out caves on the slopes where they resided.
Xia Fei did not rush in, instead opting to search along the dead star’s surface.
“Someone’s nearby. We’ll make an effort to avoid him.” Xia Fei pushed Fuchen behind a giant stone and activated Breath Control to conceal their presence.
“Still no female? Are the Inverse really a race that reproduces through cell division, or—”
Before Xia Fei could finish speaking, the commander of this force of Inverse soldiers looked over to Xia Fei and Fuchen’s hiding place. He had a pair of golden eyes, which glimmered like the eyes of a predator in the darkness.
“Golden eyes! Look,” softly said Xia Fei to Fuchen, his hand moving to pat the latter on the shoulder. Alas, his hand struck nothing but air, and he discovered that Fuchen was gone!
*Whoosh~*
*Plush! Plush!*
Fuchen had charged out the moment he discovered the golden eyes! By the time Xia Fei noticed this, the old man had already used his dagger to dig out the enemy’s eyes!
“Such a troublemaker!”
Xia Fei grit his teeth and rushed forward at the Inverse force. There were eleven soldiers in all, and they soon became his prey under the fiendish blade Nirvana, leaving behind no traces.
“What’re you doing? Didn’t we already agree on us being here to scout? Why attack?” Xia Fei questioned Fuchen.
Fuchen nonchalantly weighed the golden eyeballs in his hand and smiled. “I couldn’t help myself. These eyes, which are exceptionally good materials, are extremely valuable to us Spiritualists. If we can build a stockpile of these, we’ll be rich!”
Xia Fei sighed. It seemed like Fuchen really liked the golden eyes; the old man’s eyes even shone as he spoke.
“Don’t make so much trouble next time. Now isn’t the time for killing. Completing our mission takes priority.” Xia Fei frowned and sighed.
Fuchen nodded, but just as Xia Fei was about to give Fuchen some more warning, the latter pointed at an extinct volcano and said, “Gold! More golden eyes!”
One pair, two pairs, three pairs! In the space of a few seconds, three golden eyes had appeared halfway up that volcano!
“So many?! Is this a base of golden eyes for the Inverse?” Xia Fei exclaimed in surprise.
Fuchen smiled. “Let me ask you something: Do you know why Soul Eyes are so valuable?”
Xia Fei shook his head. Technologically speaking, Soul Eyes could be considered portable soul arrays, but while they were powerful in function, they were not that amazing. Their functions did not match up with the awe normal people regarded them with.
“First, it’s not easy to get the materials to make Soul Eyes; second, Soul Eyes have a more powerful use. If one has many Soul Eyes, they can be combined into a powerful moving offensive soul array! In short, the value of Soul Eyes is far greater than it seems. Do you understand? Golden eyes have an extraordinary value!” Fuchen said solemnly.
Xia Fei was not surprised. Given the awe people showed Soul Eyes, it was not hard to estimate their real value.
Fuchen pointed at a cave midway up the volcano and said, “That place is probably a nest of golden eyes. Let’s go inside and look. I need to know just how many Inverse have these golden eyes.”
…
Several minutes later, Xia Fei and Fuchen appeared in front of that pitch-black cave midway up the side of the extinct volcano.
“There’s wind blowing out from the cave, meaning that these caves are connected, though I don’t know how far they extend into the mountain,” Xia Fei said.
The two swiftly sneaked in. Although there were no guards at the entrance, Xia Fei knew that they were truly entering the tiger’s den. After all, this was a real base of the Inverse, their mother planet.
*Whoosh!*
An Inverse appeared in front of them, and Fuchen stepped forward and ended that creature’s life at once, not even giving the other a chance to make a sound. Xia Fei swiftly followed suit, using fiendish blade Nirvana to absorb the Inverse and turn him into dust, leaving no evidence behind.
Xia Fei was surprised. Though they had infiltrated this place, Fuchen was still showing some impressive combat power. His movements were instant yet methodical. The two of them quickly built up a good rapport, Fuchen killing and Xia Fei getting rid of the corpse.
“Let me,” Xia Fei said. A fork had appeared in the path, and at the intersection were three slack-eyed Inverse guards. As they were rather far, Fuchen would risk exposing himself, for he was no speed warrior. Thus, Xia Fei had decided to attack.
Fuchen smiled and waved off Xia Fei. “You’re looking down on me too much. I don’t need your help with this.”
Fuchen opened his mysterious bracelet, releasing his personal soul servant, Wraith.
*Whoosh~*
Wraith, like a white streak of light, passed through the three Inverse. As it was a soul, Wraith did not deal any physical damage, but with his sharp claws, he dragged out faint black masses from their bodies.
Those were the souls of the Inverse! Wraith had seized their souls!
Creatures naturally could not survive without their souls. Before the corpses could fall, Nirvana flew out in a perfect arc and turned them all into ashes.
Wraith quickly returned back into Fuchen’s bracelet, apparently afraid of meeting Xia Fei. Xia Fei frowned. He did not like Wraith, but he and Fuchen had agreed that he would not attack the soul as long as Fuchen lived, so he decided to act as if he had not seen anything.
“Three paths. Which one shall we take?” Fuchen whispered. It was rather strange. They had seen at least three golden eyes Inverse appear, but once they were inside, they did not find a single one, though they had already traveled a dozen or so kilometers into the branching caves.
Xia Fei pointed at the center path. “This one.”
“You’re sure?” Fuchen asked.
“I’m certain. Two of the three guards were standing in the middle, their gazes intersecting over this entrance. I’m thinking that they’re all just guarding the center path,” Xia Fei said.
Fuchen was surprised and then went in. For Xia Fei to have been able to tell what way his enemies were looking before attacking exhibited a level of observation that few people had. There would be no problem with trusting him.
“Heavens! This is a treasure house!” Fuchen cried in shock not long after he went in.
The passage suddenly opened up. Several dozen Inverse were sprawled out on the ground, and around them were statues, fountains, et cetera; there was even some piercing and bizarre music playing in the background.
The main point was that these Inverse all had golden eyes! All of them possessed pairs of golden eyes!
“It seems that eye color decides the intelligence of the Intermediate. These Inverse with golden eyes aren’t as dumb as their lower-class comrades. They know how to enjoy life and know how to live in elegant surroundings. They don’t seem very violent when they’re not doing anything,” Xia Fei commented.
Most Inverse had pitch-black eyes, and those were bestial existences. All the lower-class Inverse knew to do was eat, drink, and fight, but these one with golden eyes were clearly on a much higher level.
“There are still no women even among the higher-class with golden eyes. I really don’t know how this wicked race reproduced to the point of establishing such a massive presence in the universe,” Xia Fei shook his head and muttered, feeling rather uneasy for some reason. Inverse were very different from humans and all other sapient lifeforms.
Fuchen smiled and said mysteriously, “I may have a guess, but before I come to any decisive conclusion, let’s go deeper and look for more clues first.
“We have two choices: Keep going by going through these Inverse with golden eyes or go back and take another route with fewer enemies.”
After some thought, Xia Fei pulled out the fiendish blade Nirvana. “Let’s kill them and take a few eyes.”
Fuchen was very happy, taking out his soul weapon as well. “That’s exactly what I was thinking!”
