Suddenly, the two custodian slaves imitated Xia Fei, each reaching out an arm to pat him lightly on the shoulder!
Patting someone else’s shoulder normally meant wishing that person well. Countless people had patted Xia Fei on the shoulder and praised him in this lifetime, but today, his heart leapt to his throat, for these were two soulless zombies!
Xia Fei hastily looked into the eyes of the custodian slaves, and found that there was something pulsing within those once empty eyes. The cold faces had a faint tinge of vitality.
“What? Can the two of you not let me go?” Xia Fei smiled. “There’s no such thing as a feast that never ends. I’ve always liked associating with pure people, so I don’t need to waste time and energy scheming back and forth. Of course, if someone tries to scheme against me, I will return it a hundred times over, but that’s very tiring, you know?”
The two custodian slaves kept their arms on Xia Fei’s shoulders for several minutes before finally putting them down. But the strange events weren’t over quite yet. The two zombies set off first, going in the exact opposite direction from the way back. They even walked slowly, as if they were waiting for Xia Fei.
‘Oh? Are they trying to take me somewhere?’ Xia Fei mentally gasped in surprise.
The Unrestricted Spirit Pavilion was actually quite large, and under the watch of the two custodian slaves, Xia Fei hadn’t really had the chance to run around. But today, these two were taking him somewhere of their own will, which made him extremely curious.
…
After following the zombies for quite a distance, they stopped at a room. Just like before, the two custodianslaves flanked the door. The meaning was clear: they wanted Xia Fei to go inside!
Xia Fei opened the door in confusion as the two powerful custodian slaves kept watch by the door. The Unrestricted Pavilion did not have any internal Seals, and entering any room was very easy. Of course, you had to get the approval of the two zombies first!
There was nothing in the room, only a few lines of words written on the wall…
These words looked like they had been carved into the wall with someone’s fingers. Just by looking at them, one felt as if they were being engraved into one’s heart.
“In all things of the universe, link to penetrate, penetrate to arrive, and arrive to laugh proudly over the complexities…” Xia Fei muttered, his brow creasing.
“Ah, sublimate the complex into the simple! Link, penetrate, and then spirit!” Once he was done reading, he spoke in excitement, his eyes glinting.
Radix didn’t understand what it meant, so he asked Xia Fei.
Xia Fei chuckled. “You’re not a Spiritualist, so you wouldn’t understand the wonders of this text. I’m guessing that it must be the inspired words of some ancestor of the Unrestricted sect. He’s telling his descendants that the Unrestricted sect is known as the orthodox sect because of its unique trait of linking the past and future.”
Radix was even more confused, asking, “What does that mean, linking past and future?”
Xia Fei replied, “It’s very simple: different routes all have the same destination! You remember how, after I finished cultivating the Beast Spirit Codex, its pattern disappeared?”
Radix nodded. “Of course. I’ve never heard of something so bizarre before. When has a pattern ever disappeared? Normally, when a warrior finishes body cultivation and goes into the Soul System or Spirit System, the pattern will remain. All that will happen is that there will be a Soul Mark. But your pattern disappeared! That was simply incomprehensible! And importantly, even without the pattern, you can still use the skills of the Beast Spirit Codex. That’s even more unbelievable!”
Xia Fei erupted in laughter, saying happily, “That is the Unrestricted Soul Spirit! The pattern hasn’t actually disappeared, but has fused with the Soul Mark. If I’m able to finish cultivating my two most difficult laws, Speed and Primal Chaos, their law patterns will also merge into the Soul Mark.”
“What’s the advantage of that?” Radix asked in wonder.
Xia Fei replied, “There are plenty of advantages! The merging with the Soul Mark means that the body’s power has fused with the soul’s power, and once the body’s power enters the Soul Mark, it can also make the Soul Mark stronger and accelerate one’s cultivation speed in the Soul System!”
Radix was startled at first, and then he paled. “That means that the more fields you dabble in…”
Before he could finish, Xia Fei replied, “Correct! The more fields I dabble in, the faster I can cultivate my Soul Mark! Because my body’s cultivation will lift up my Soul Mark’s cultivation!”
Radix was stunned!
This Unrestricted Sect was practically made for a jack-of-all-trades warrior like Xia Fei!
The more things one learned, the faster one’s progress. The merging of the Beast Spirit Codex into the Soul Mark had pushed Xia Fei into getting six Soul Marks in one year! That was an incredible cultivation speed!
If Xia Fei was able to one day finish cultivating the Speed Law and Law of Primal Chaos, merging their law patterns into the Soul Mark, what crazy level would his cultivation speed reach? It was simply unimaginable!
It had to be understood that the Laws of Speed and Primal Chaos were absurdly difficult! Few people in the universe could completely cultivate them! Once those two monstrously difficult Laws had fused with his Soul Mark, just how fast would Xia Fei be able to cultivate!?
“A treasure! A real treasure! All of my melancholy has been swept away! I even feel like I’ve comprehended the other meaning of this senior’s words,” Xia Fei exclaimed.
“There’s more!?” Radix cried out in disbelief.
A warrior didn’t just need to be hardworking, but also perceptive. It was why a renowned master could produce excellent disciples. A few words of advice from them were enough for a disciple to instantly achieve enlightenment. Such things were commonplace, and those warriors who only knew how to practice for all they were worth could easily end up bashing their heads uselessly at a problem.
This text was enlightening for Xia Fei. His jack-of-all-trades nature had once been his greatest disadvantage, but it now appeared to be his greatest advantage!
Xia Fei shook his head. “This master seems to be suggesting to me that the Unrestricted Soul Spirit can take me somewhere else. But I can’t get my head around it right now. I need to go back and slowly think it over.”
Xia Fei was very happy as he memorized each word in the room.
Bowing deeply to the two zombies, Xia Fei said very sincerely, “This is a very valuable gift, and Xia Fei is overflowing with gratitude. If Xia Fei survives this trial, I will pay you two frequent visits and tell a few amusing jokes.”
Xia Fei had believed in the equality of all life, so he treated these two zombies as friends. These custodian slaves had never been treated like that before. The previous Sectmaster had barely been willing to glance at them, let alone tell them jokes like Xia Fei.
Alas, without souls, they could think. While these zombies were probably a little moved, they didn’t know how to express themselves, and just stood there.
Xia Fei strode away. After all, a tough battle was waiting for him, and he needed to overcome this trial first before thinking about anything else.
“Xia Fei bids farewell!”
Whoosh!
The alloy gates closed, and Xia Fei vanished from the sight of those two custodian slaves.
Bang!
The gate was completely sealed, and Unrestricted Pavilion turned dark.
Haaa~
Two lonely sighs resounded in the darkness…
…
On the fifth day of the month, the sun was frighteningly red.
Ulan sat in the courtyard and looked up at the sky uneasily, grumbling, “How bizarre! It’s winter, so where did such a large sun come from? And it’s only early morning, so what’s it going to be like at noon?”
He glanced at Xia Fei, who was seated across from him, his eyes closed in meditation. Furball was sound asleep on his lap, Xia Fei stroking him lightly, master and servant seeming to be at peace.
Haaa…, Ulan sighed, and continued to wait restlessly.
At the same time, Spirit Mountain’s gate had opened to welcome guests.
Lingxing, Basalt, and Hei Wuji had smiles on their faces as they greeted and thanked the endless stream of guests.
The ceremony would only begin at noon. The small clans and sects came first, with the true bigshots only appearing later.
Two guests, one tall and short, delivered a gift before hiding behind a gate, eying the guests who were coming in.
The taller one sighed. “It’s still early morning, but there’s already so many people! By noon, there will be a sea of bodies! The Unrestricteds’ influence is formidable this year. I thought that the Unrestricted Sect would decline after Fuchen left, but it seems to be as popular as ever.”
The short one snorted back in disdain, “What do you know? The Unrestricted Sect has a legacy stretching back millions of years, and the ceremony commemorating the day their founder established their sect has taken place countless times now. But this time is very different.”
“How so?” the tall one asked.
“Don’t be stupid!” the short one whispered. “Think about it! The Dark Spiritualists had said that they wanted to challenge the Spiritualist Association! Now is the key moment when all the big clans and sects pick a side. In the Spirit System, besides the Spiritualist Association and the Heavenly Might Spiritualist School, there are also the four supreme sects: the Unrestricteds, Spiritualists of Purity, Purple Jade and Dark Spiritualists. The Dark Spiritualists have already gone rogue, and Purple Jade was almost annihilated by Dark Spiritualists. Thus, what’s important is who the Unrestricteds, Spiritualists of Purity, and Heavenly Might choose to side with!
“The Heavenly Might Spiritualist School’s Qiu Xingbang says that he’s neutral, so among these three, it’s most important to see which side the Unrestricteds and the Purists chooses. While those two big sects don’t have many people, they carry abnormal symbolic significance. After all, under our feet is the Spirit Mountain that represents the orthodox Spiritualist heritage.”
The tall one was shocked, whispering back, “I get that. Our Soul System relies on Spiritualists to make us Soul Weapons, so whichever side the Spirit System chooses will be the stronger side, and the Soul System clans under them will go over with them. While everyone says that they’re coming to commemorate the ancestor of the Unrestricted Spirit lineage, in reality, this is the critical moment where the other clans see which side the Unrestricted Spirit Sect is going to pick. Now that I think about it, I’ve heard that the Unrestricted Spirit Sect is privately on very good terms with the Association.”
The short one scoffed, “Don’t be a fool. While these Spiritualists all seem like proper gentlemen, they turn their coats faster than they turn pages. Trusting their words is basically signing your death warrant.”
They were right. Many of the other guests had the same idea. To the clans and factions of the Alpha Universe, what was important wasn’t the side they chose, but which side the Spiritualists chose!
“Look! The Venus of Eternal Night has arrived!”
“It’s that old donkey Cloud Night himself! He came personally!?”
The crowd was in an uproar. The Night Clan was a first-tier clan of the Alpha Universe. It was very surprising for them to come so early, and with their clan head, no less!
Cloud Night was forcing a smile, and his eyes were deeply sunken, as if he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night.
“Heavenly Might is here! Qiu Xingbang! Qiu Xingbang himself has come!”
“No way! Even the twin dragons of Heavenly Might are here too! Isn’t this too great of a force!?”
The crowd erupted with shocked cries. It was still morning, but various powerful parties were already arriving. They had come early and with great force!
Not only had Qiu Xingbang come, but Duet and Han Pin, two peak Spiritualists!
Heavenly Might Spiritualist School was also known as Double Dragon Xingbang because of these three peak Spiritualists!
Dui Wu, Han Pin, and Qiu Xingbang had arrived, pushing the mood on Spirit Mountain to a feverish high!
The blazing sun in the sky gradually began to turn blindingly red.
