Killing intent suddenly radiated strongly from Fuchen as he growled, “We’re definitely snatching away those pairs of golden eyes!”
Ulan was stunned, asking curiously, “Golden Eyes? What are those?”
Fuchen retrieved the golden soul eyes from his spatial ring and showed them to Ulan, saying, “The Inverse have some high-level warriors who have grown pairs of golden eyeballs. We can use those to forge Soul Eyes.”
“Soul Eyes!” Ulan anxiously held the Soul Eyes in his palm and stared at them for the longest time before grumbling. “Now these are truly very powerful stuff! Too bad that we Spiritualists of Botany don’t have the ability to forge Soul Eyes.”
Fuchen shrugged and pointed at Xia Fei. “I didn’t make this set of Soul Eyes; Xia Fei did.”
Ulan gasped as he said hurriedly, “Xia Fei?! I recall that he only got two Soul Marks when he was staying at my pagoda, and now he only has three. How could he forge such a high-grade soul weapon?”
Fuchen casually answered, “Indeed, this soul weapon was something Xia Fei had forged when he used to have only two Soul Marks.”
Ulan was instantly rendered speechless. He knew very well just how powerful Soul Eyes were, but he was ultimately a Spiritualist. In his view, Xia Fei successfully forging such a high-grade pair of Soul Eyes with just two Soul Marks was far more impressive than the item itself, and he truly had no idea how this young man had managed to achieve that.
Ulan regarded Xia Fei with a strange look, which made the latter feel somewhat uncomfortable. Xia Fei said quickly, “We’ll definitely harvest their golden eyes, but more importantly we must eradicate the Inverse, roots and all! I have no desire to let them go underground, only for them to trouble us in the future again just because we get sloppy in eliminating them.”
Ulan gave the matter some thought and said, “I know of the Inverse. They’re just some insignificant alien species in the Alpha Universe, and wiping them out won’t be the problem, but they do have extremely strong reproductive capabilities, so I’m afraid that Fuchen will have to pull out a major killing weapon in order to thoroughly vanquish them.”
Fuchen suddenly appeared and, as if struggling with himself, repeatedly waved his hand. “What’re you looking at me for? I already used a large number of soul weapons in that fight with Shu Yuhe last time, so neither of you should look to me for help in that matter this time. What items I have left are all precious treasures to me, and I won’t ever them for just this operation ‘eradicate the Inverse.’”
Fuchen turned to regard Ulan. “As for you, you’re an old monster that has only recently stepped out from your place after several thousand years of staying there. Shouldn’t you have some pretty good stuff stored away? Why don’t you become the main force this time?”
Ulan slapped his thigh abruptly. “What nonsense are you talking about! I’m a Spiritualist of Botany, so what kind of powerful soul weapons do you think I have? Fighting and combat has never been the work of us, Spiritualists, in the first place, so don’t you think of passing this responsibility to me.”
Xia Fei laughed. While these two bickered like children in front of him, they actually shared a very good relationship with each other.
“No need for you two to quarrel. A genocide like what we are about to perform has to be carefully planned. There’s an immense population of Inverse out there, so there’s no way we can accomplish it with just a few soul weapons,” Xia Fei said. “I’ve always wondered: During that battle, all I encountered were the Inverse’s male warriors; I didn’t meet a single female. I still don’t know how those creatures reproduce.”
Fuchen and Ulan were startled, with the former saying, “That’s strange. Though the Inverse are very different from us, they’re ultimately still sapient lifeforms. Are they multipling, perhaps, by the means of fission? That doesn’t seem to be the case. Biological fission is generally a method only used by low-level lifeforms.”
Xia Fei replied, “I really don’t know. In any case, we must sneak deep into the Inverse’s territory before we can begin our assault. If we succeed, from within, we can just study our enemy’s bottomline.”
Ulan nodded. “What you said makes sense. I’m also curious why those strange creatures living on the fringe of known space have not been surrounded and eradicated. Given the various powerful forces in the Alpha Universe, any one of them can easily eliminate those scourges, yet so far, no one has taken the initiative to do that.”
After a round of discussion, the three settled with having Xia Fei and Fuchen infiltrate the Inverse territory, while Ulan would provide them support. Furthermore, Radix would be joining Xia Fei in his operation. The Silver Specter was still operational even without Radix at the helm, and the only difference was that it would not be considered a highly intelligent soul ship.
After finalizing all these details, Ulan and Fuchen resumed their pondering of the star map on the ceiling. Over time, everyone has gotten into the habit of relying on Xia Fei. His superbly excellent analytical mind had proven itself, time and again, so be it planning or pulling schemes and tricks, all were well within his wheelhouse, allowing Fuchen and Ulan to relax and focus their minds on their leisurely pursuits.
“I’ll have to ask you to work hard again; bring with you this batch of soul weapons when you journey back to the Law Realm.” Xia Fei rubbed Little Goldie’s head as he spoke to it. He was rather reluctant to send it off on its way again when it had only just returned.
Little Goldie immediately looked up, a serious expression on its face. Though it was rather dull, it was intensely loyal. The moment it heard that it had been given a new assignment, it instantly became excited. The demon chrysalis was completely unlike Furball, who would skive off any task every chance it got.
Aside from the fifty gloves for the Skywing Clan were the seldom used soul weapons of Ulan and Fuchen. Those two were Great Spiritualists and had plenty of items in their pockets. Helping Xia Fei supply the Law Realm with lower-grade soul weapons hardly hurt the two, so neither minded giving some away. Xia Fei did a rough mental calculation and felt that these soul weapons should be enough to equip every Law Realm warrior who had grasped Dark Energy.
*Zoom*
Soon, Little Goldie, this unofficially designated courier, was once more on its way back to the Law Realm, carrying important messages for Xia Fei. Of course, among those was an intimate letter Xia Fei had written for Avril’s eyes only.
Xia Fei used what remaining time he had afterward to make specific arrangements for the five hundred Aurorean warriors onboard. Wistplume, who was chosen as the leader, would be picking out other leaders.
Some of the warriors had a few objections over having this unlady-like woman lead the troops, but these objections were all cruelly squashed by Xia Fei. Only using people whom he trusted had always been his policy; since Wistplume had been his choice, it was all the reason he must stand behind her and give the lady his utmost support.
Wistplume, of course, felt extremely grateful toward Xia Fei. She was actually not a direct descendant of the Aurora Clan; in fact, her father was just a hunter, and had ‘Liu’ as his surname. She was adopted and raised by her grandmother after both her parents died in her childhood and was given the adoptive surname of Wist, making her a half-blood of the Aurora at best.
It was all thanks to Xia Fei’s academy choosing merit over legacy that Wistplume had gotten the chance to join and prove herself. Now that Xia Fei had given her a boost to take centerstage, becoming to so many warriors, it was practically a huge opportunity she could not miss.
As they got closer to the Inverse territory, the atmosphere onboard the Silver Specter became even more tense. The warriors, knowing that they were there to eradicate the Inverse, gave it their all and stepped up their training. Truly, none of them had thought that Xia Fei wanted to go rob the Fufeng Clan and kill the Inverse when they first set off on this voyage!
*Rumble*
The Inverse territory. A weird silver-colored warship blasted past, an apocalyptic plume of fire shooting out from its engine thrusters as it hurtled through space at an unimaginable speed.
Against such a terrifying warship, the Inverse could only watch in bewilderment. No one had ever seen something like this before. To think that a warship could reach such speeds, traversing through space like that!
It was a completely irresistible assault!
This was the Silver Specter, the number one warship in the Alpha Universe!
Xia Fei had chosen a very flamboyant way to announce his arrival, using the Silver Specter’s powerful capabilities, so the Inverse were helpless to stop them!
“There’s a battleship from the Inverse up ahead, right in the middle of our path forward!” Radix said.
“Ignore it and continue the charge! Full speed ahead!” Xia Fei ordered.
*Kaboom*
The center of the Evernight Galaxy exploded into brilliant flames. That Inverse warship exploded following the Silver Specter’s charge at it! Countless Inverse lost their lives instantly!
The nightmarish scene did not end there. The Silver Specter pierced through the hull, coming in from one side and exiting from the other. The plume of flame coming out from its behind had turned the wreckage of the ship into slag!
Ulan knitted his eyebrows together. Today was the day he learned that the Dark Gem Spirit Gathering Tower was what powered this Silver Specter’s engine! This energy equipment, which was hidden under the control panel, would only reveal itself when the Silver Specter went charging at full speed.
‘No wonder the Silver Specter is so powerful; Xia Fei actually used that trinket to power its propulsion system!’ Ulan thought to himself.
Ulan turned to look at Fuchen with a slight worry on his face, only to find the latter slightly shaking his head at him, a signal to Ulan not to say a word or to ask any questions about this matter.
The Inverse’s defense force, which was situated on the fringe, was completely no match for the Silver Specter. They were simply skewered by this superwarship as it came flying into the formation.
Any maneuver that the Inverse attempted to resist this assault was all rendered inutile. The super propulsion force the Silver Specter possessed was not something from the Alpha Universe!
“Almost there. Get ready,” Xia Fei looked at the star map and said.
Fuchen nodded and began making his way toward the life preserve pods. Xia Fei went to the command console and removed Nirvana; at the same time, he transferred control over to the onboard AI so that it would accept Ulan’s commands.
“I’m leaving control of the warship over to you,” Xia Fei told Ulan.
Ulan played it off coolly. “Well, get on with it. Nothing will go wrong with me holding the fort here. Remember: I have a special communication method with Fuchen, and there’s no fear of it getting blocked. As long as you aren’t too far away, I can arrive at your location to lend an extra pair of hands the moment I receive the word.”
Xia Fei and Ulan entered the ejection chamber and sealed the cabin. The former tapped on a red control key and a deep robotic voice sounded.
[Countdown to ejection, three seconds. Three… two… one! Launch successful! One minute and fifteen seconds until landing operation.]
At this time, the Silver Specter suddenly turned around and went charging for beyond the Inverse territory.
Pushing into the Inverse territory from the outside would take time and effort, so Xia Fei made the decision to just barge in while piloting his warship. He would let Fuchen and himself get off before making the ship go out.
What defensive line? No defensive line could withstand the Silver Specter’s extremely sturdy hull!
The Inverse watched blankly as that silver warship came crashing to their doorstep and then flew away again. They were completely helpless to stop it, roaring impotently while they all panicked.
Unfortunately, no amount of panic could be of any use in this situation. By the time they gathered a fleet in response, the Silver Specter had already departed without a trace!
However, what these Inverse did not know was that, despite the Silver Specter’s departure, two very restless seeds had been planted in their territory!
*Whoosh*
The oval-shaped life preservation pods opened, and out came Xia Fei and Fuchen from left and right, setting foot on this ominous, dark soil.
While Xia Fei managed to maintain his cool, Fuchen was somewhat impatient, yelling, “What are you standing around for? Quick, let’s go and gouge some eyes out!”
