After reading the report, Xia Fei became very grave. He printed a copy and returned to the cultivation chamber. As for the data on the computer, Xia Fei deleted it all out of caution.
Upon pushing open the door, Xia Fei was surprised, and then he bitterly smiled. Fuchen was no longer there, and all that he had left was a stack of his writings on the floor.
“Radix,” Xia Fei called, placing the hunchback’s blood test together with the papers that Fuchen had left behind.
*Whoosh~*
The fiendish blade Nirvana swiftly flew over, and Radix popped out and said, “Fuchen left. When you were still in the lab, Fuchen borrowed a small shuttle from me and ordered me not to tell you. He seemed to be very determined, as if he wouldn’t rest till he’s reached his goal, so…”
Xia Fei nodded. “I don’t blame you. I know that Fuchen wanted to leave. His mood hasn’t been right these last two days. He’s a free man, so I don’t have a reason to keep him at my side.”
Radix pursed his lips. “I was hoping that Fuchen and Ulan would stay around. Remember what White Haze said? When you next encounter an enemy, it may be another Dragoon like you. If Fuchen and Ulan were around, we would fare much better.”
Radix was very worried about what White Haze had said that day. Internal turmoil within the Dragoons meant that Xia Fei might get into a sudden conflict with other Dragoons. This would be a Dragoon versus a Dragoon! A most bitterly contested battle.
“What will leave will eventually leave. A person mostly has only themselves to depend on,” Xia Fei said coolly. “Take a look at this report and see if it brings anything to mind.”
Radix began to read the report regarding the hunchback’s blood, while Xia Fei picked up the letter Fuchen had left.
Ten minutes or so later, Xia Fei and Radix both put down what they were reading, their faces both very grave.
“What did Fuchen say?” Radix asked.
“He’s left to make a charge at the Annihilator tier. According to him, he’s been unable to make any progress in the last few years because he hasn’t acted according to the law of Annihilators,” Xia Fei replied.
“The law of Annihilators? What law is that?” Radix asked curiously.
“To kill,” Xia Fei answered simply. “Just as Aquamarine said, killing is the means by which the strong prove themselves.”
Radix was startled, and then he nodded. “No wonder Fuchen was so much more ruthless upon his return. Turns out that he finally knew why he’s been unable to progress in all these years. Perhaps it’s that ‘senior’ Fuchen spoke of who reminded him. I wonder what sort of person that senior is?”
Xia Fei paused before continuing. “I don’t know who that person is, but he definitely doesn’t have good intentions. That person asked me to use my Nirvana to fight against the Ten Great Blades of the Thousand Soul Ranking. Of course, it’s not now but rather in the future, when I’m willing to try becoming an Annihilator. Besides that, he gave Fuchen a weird gift, the ‘Serpent-swallowing Whale’, and Fuchen left this gift to me.”
Radix was shocked, asking hurriedly, “He wants you to challenge the Ten Great Blades? Does he have some sort of grudge against their owners or something?”
Xia Fei shook his head. “No, from Fuchen’s tone, it seems to be purely symbolic, for the Ten Great Blades represent the orthodoxy of soul weapons, but my Nirvana isn’t the traditional sort of weapon. It symbolizes eccentricity, and that man thinks it’ll be interesting if the soul blades of tradition fight against my fiend blade.”
Radix blinked. He suddenly realized something and said in surprise, “There’s a problem here! That guy seems to think that Nirvana has got the potential to challenge the Ten Great Blades of the Thousand Soul Ranking, provided that your fiend blade constantly evolves!”
Radix looked suspiciously at Nirvana. Back then, for a variety of reasons, like the Law of Primal Chaos mixing with the Celestial Zerohammer, and some other inexplicable things, Nirvana, this blood-sucking fiend blade, was able to improve itself constantly. This blade had the potential to challenge the Ten Great Blades? This was a little too unbelievable!
“Do you think it’s possible?” Xia Fei asked.
Radix stroked his chin for a while. “It’s not completely impossible. Nirvana now has six blades, and it’s able to absorb energy much faster than before, but I truly don’t get it. Nirvana sends you 30% of the energy it takes in, and even if some energy is lost in the process, it should have 50% to 60% left for itself, but I normally can’t sense that much energy, so where is it keeping the rest? If this keeps up, Nirvana may actually eventually be able to reach the top of the Thousand Soul Ranking.”
Xia Fei said, “Even stranger is this Serpent-swallowing Whale. All of Fuchen’s food therapy skills originated from this book.”
Radix said hastily, “No wonder Fuchen left without saying goodbye. He even recovered all his power when he returned to Spirit Mountain because he sought a food therapy master! Serpent-swallowing Whale, what a domineering name! Since it managed to restore Fuchen’s power completely, it must be a real treasure codex! This tome should be of huge help to you. Quickly tell me: What method did Fuchen use to recover his power?”
“Using a soul to heal a soul,” Xia Fei replied. “There’s no other explanation. This is the highest realm of this Serpent-swallowing Whale tome. Everyone knows that exotic beasts have powerful mental energy, with Divine Beasts being above them and Holy Beasts having the most. Fuchen must’ve killed a Divine Beast with an attribute similar to his, perhaps even a Holy Beast, and then used its mental energy to repair the damage.”
Radix’s blood ran cold. Eating a Divine Beast or Holy Beast to heal one’s soul? It was a wicked-sounding idea. Also, would the blood of a Divine Beast actually taste good?
Furball also broke out in a cold sweat. Although this Holy Beast did not know how to talk, he could understand what Xia Fei had just said, so when his master brought up eating a Divine Beast or a Holy Beast to heal the soul, Furball immediately thought of himself.
“Formidable! Ruthless! Wicked!” These were the three evaluations Radix came up with of the Serpent-swallowing Whale once he had organized his thoughts.
These two were the most important things Fuchen had passed on to Xia Fei. Besides these, he told Xia Fei to treat the two custodian slaves kindly, as they had served the Unrestricted Sect well. Some of the Unrestricted Spirit lineage ancestors were Annihilators, but the factional requirements of Annihilators meant that there were no Spiritualist sects. In the future, if Xia Fei went up to the Annihilator Universe, he would have to be nicer and more polite to them.
Radix and Xia Fei were both filled with regret. It seemed like Fuchen was determined to reach Annihilator or die trying! No turning back without success! This letter he had left behind sounded like a last will and testament.
Radix and Xia Fei could do nothing except pray for Fuchen’s success.
Changing the subject, Xia Fei asked, “What do you think about the hunchback’s blood test result?”
Radix went pale immediately and whispered, “There’s something really weird about this! Those four hunchbacks didn’t seem human, but part of one of them’s DNA sequence is clearly human, with genes from exotic beasts. There are even parts that I don’t understand…
“Such a mess makes me think about Aquamarine’s lab and those creatures that miserably died in it. Are those guys perhaps madmen who use humans as a basis to breed ancient demon beasts?”
Xia Fei nodded and gave Radix a satisfied look. While Radix was a warrior, he had a very strong foundation in science. Otherwise, he would not have been locked away in Pinnacle’s research station.
“I think the same. Aquamarine sought the universe’s cruelest exotic beasts and mixed their strongest traits to breed vicious devils akin to the Ancient Dragon. If those people are indeed using humans as a basis, then we’re in trouble,” Xia Fei said worriedly.
“They won’t succeed. The gap between sapient lifeforms and beasts is massive,” Radix said with a shake of his head.
“It’s hard to say. You forgot that sapient lifeforms have two special points that beasts can never have,” Xia Fei said.
“What are those?” Radix asked curiously.
“Cruelty and betrayal.” Xia Fei narrowed his eyes and lit a cigarette.
Radix froze. No doubt that humans were crueler than exotic beasts and were experts at betrayal! No matter how cruel and cunning Furball might be, he had never done anything bad to Xia Fei. On the contrary, he was the most worried of all whenever he was in danger. This was an innate trait of Holy Beasts. They normally did not recognize masters, but once they did, they would stick with their masters for life!
As for humans, Fuchen’s senior brother and disciples were prime examples. In this aspect, humans were clearly more vicious than beasts!
Using vicious humans as their base so that they could create their ideal demonic beast seemed like an unconventional idea, but it was also plausible.
“I get it!” Radix shouted suddenly. “You remember what Shu Yuhe said? He chose Seventh Young Master Xiao because he had a wicked energy, so when you killed him in the Collapsed Expanse of Founders, Shu Yuhe was even more worried compared to when his martial brothers were killed. Those four hunchbacks might’ve been built upon people like Young Master Xiao.”
Xia Fei had naturally thought of this already, which was why he regarded this report with such importance. It would be fine if they failed, but if they succeeded, they would create a supreme existence second only to the Ancient Dragon!
“Should we tell White Haze?” Radix whispered. “He’s the Annihilators’ liaison, and they should be very concerned about something like that.”
Xia Fei very firmly shook his head. “Don’t forget that it’s the Dragoons who saved the Dark Spiritualists, and they’re the core power of Annihilators. I’m very distrustful of Annihilators right now. They seem to have run into trouble, beset by problems internally and externally. Since they couldn’t even manage their internal affairs, why should I trust them?”
Radix stuck out his tongue. Xia Fei’s habit of not trusting others was showing up again. He could not even trust the Annihilators!
Xia Fei suddenly thrust his hand into his sleeve and then laughed. “What a coincidence! We were just talking about White Haze, and White Haze is now calling.”
*Whoosh!*
A screen appeared, and on it was the dishonest face of White Haze with his cute little wool ball.
“There’s a matter I need to discuss with you, sir,” White Haze said.
Xia Fei smiled. “Orders are orders. Why so polite?”
White Haze explained very seriously, “In truth, I’m not here to discuss an order, for you are a Devil Shadow Dragoon, and Devil Shadow Dragoons that don’t have any actual structure and are under temporary command of the Blueblood Race’s Destiny Dragoons. In other words, Destiny Dragoons don’t actually have the authority to give orders to Devil Shadow Dragoons, which is why I am discussing this with you, sir. If you are willing, that would be excellent, but if not, that is fine, too.”
Xia Fei felt rather amused at how cautious White Haze was behaving, but the other could hardly be blamed for it. White Haze was a liaison, so it was only natural that he would be careful.
“What is it?” Xia Fei asked.
White Haze replied, “As sir knows, the Lower Five Stars comprise five universes in total. My superiors wish you to leave the Alpha Universe for a time and head to Universe No. 3, the Undercurrent Universe, to take a look.”
