Never in Xia Fei’s wildest dreams had he dreamed that the huge shockwave from that big battle before would draw the attention of the Black and White Gods and bring along the legendary Golden Guardians who guarded the Cosmic Gate to the planet he was on.
To make matters worse, the Guardians had even deemed Xia Fei as an associate of the Black and White Gods!
The heavens were kind, and Xia Fei did seem fairly fated with Hua Hei and Hua Bai, but they did not have any overly intimate relationship with each other. The Black and White Gods were still fugitives of the God Race and in a terrible fix, for they were being chased by a group of old monsters. Xia Fei had enough problems on his plate, so he had no wish to be involved with the squabbles of these higher beings.
This change in his mood caused that color energy ball in his seventh brain region to destabilize further. Xia Fei hurriedly calmed himself, doing his best to manage the fluctuation and not care about any external interferences.
“He’s in the process of getting promoted! If he’s got nothing to do with either of you, why would you help defend him at this time?!” that golden armored Guardian shouted.
Hua Hei and Hua Bai were quite vexed. Hua Bai coldly remarked, “It’s our business why we’re helping him; why should you care! Don’t think that just because you’re wearing your Golden Planet Armor, we brothers will be afraid of you. The universe is wide, and whatever we brothers wish to do is our business; no one can stop us!”
The attitude of both sides instantly devolved into unfriendliness. Tension ran high! The crazy killing intent enveloped the planet. A chilly wind blew!
Xia Fei was in for a rough time at this rate. He was still struggling to manage the unstable energy in his brain region, and he was most worried about interference at this time. If the Guardians and the two Black and White Gods ended up getting into a fight, while Xia Fei had strong control of energy, he would still have a hard time sticking to it.
There was also Hua Bai’s sudden outburst. Xia Fei had always thought Hua Hei was the one with the bad temper, but who knew that it was actually the unfriendly Hua Bai who would have a fiery temper, wanting to fight the moment a disagreement occurred?
Seeing just how tense the situation had turned, even Furball’s eyes widened as he vigilantly observed this clash between the Black and White Gods and the Guardians. This was when the most senior member among the three Golden Guardians promptly extended an arm to stop his comrades.
These three Guardians all wore golden masks, making it impossible to make out their faces. The only thing visible was the gray-white goatee extending out from the mask of that senior member. He seemed a lot more resolute in his actions, and from this, Xia Fei could tell that this goateed man was the leader of these three Guardians.
“Everyone, calm down. Though the Guardians and the Rebels don’t get along with each other, we’re not at the point where we will fight upon sight; this is merely a chance meeting, so let’s not escalate this matter unnecessarily.” The goateed elder spoke in a low and hoarse voice.
*Swoosh*
When they heard these words, both sides immediately loosened up, though the surge of feelings in Xia Fei’s heart were still as high as ever.
It turned out that the Black and White Gods were part of the Rebel camp! They were the ones who wholeheartedly wanted to open the Cosmic Gate!
Xia Fei could not help but feel overwhelmed by the complexity of this situation. Aside from the two peak races, the Guardians and the Rebels were yet another pair of existences from the higher realm that could not be underestimated. Furthermore, there was the Exiled Grounds to be considered. The complex ecosystem of the entire Law Realm was perhaps far from what Xia Fei had initially imagined.
Nonetheless, Xia Fei could not be bothered with all these disputes right now. All he wanted to do was properly absorb Law Overlord Wu Yuming’s energy. Actually, Xia Fei could totally just forcibly release all this energy, and doing so would stabilize his seventh brain region, but given the predicament he now found himself in, what use would there be if he stood up, anyway? He would be better off just obediently continuing what he was doing while he used this opportunity to hear these higher beings speak. Besides, Xia Fei was particularly unwilling to just toss away so much energy for nothing.
Thus he made a decision and used Breath Control, doing his best to meld into the background and pretend as if he could not hear or see anything happening.
Hua Hei coldly harrumphed. “Since you don’t wish to fight, then why did you all track me and my brother down?”
The goateed elder shook his head slightly and solemnly explained, “We didn’t follow you two. There was just a strange phenomenon that had occurred nearby, so we came over to investigate. If I wasn’t mistaken, you brothers should’ve unleashed hell upon a warrior possessing Immemorial Mystical Armaments, right? Those two streaks of meteors harbored great sadness, which must mean that their master has passed away.”
Hua Hei shrugged. “Someone did die, but we brothers were not the perpetrators.”
“Then who was it?”
Hua Hei jerked his head nonchalantly toward Xia Fei.
The three Guardians were startled as they questioned, “Him? He’s barely a Great Law Emperor, yet he managed to take down an expert with two Immemorial Mystical Armaments?!”
Xia Fei felt his brain go faint. He kept trying to distance himself from trouble, yet this group of major figures just so happened to point their targets at him time and again. Xia Fei could not help but groan at the situation he was now in.
Hua Hei laughed out loud. “Perhaps others can’t, but my little friend here definitely can do it.”
“You two seem to be very confident in him. Could he be one of yours?!” a young Guardian demanded, his tone sounding very unfriendlily.
However, it was Hua Hei who laughed even more strongly, and he even breezily said, “If the Skywing Clan is willing to join the Rebels, we will gladly welcome them with open arms. It’s a pity that that one from their clan has too great a temper, unwilling to do anyone any favors. I’m sure you guys know this very well, too.”
“Ah, a Skywing!”
“He’s from the Skywing Clan!”
“The Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade!”
These three Guardians were all stunned to learn this fact, and they regarded Xia Fei with somewhat strange expressions. They appeared shocked to have heard the title ‘Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade’ here.
Xia Fei was secretly somewhat happy. It turned out that the Skywings’ name carried much weight, such that even the renowned Guardians had heard of them. It looked like these Guardians would at least not bear any ill intent to him because of this.
Xia Fei relaxed quite a lot after thinking of this point, and he returned his attention toward suppressing the energy fluctuations inside him.
This was when Xia Fei suddenly noticed that the goateed elder was smiling at him, and his eyes were trained on the spatial ring where the old demon lord was hiding in!
Xia Fei knew very well that there were plenty of experts that could peer into people’s spatial rings. The old man Sigh did it before the last time, and now this mysterious Guardian could perhaps do the same, too!
Upon this thought, Xia Fei could feel his heart rate rising once more.
“Don’t worry. While the God and Demon Races don’t get along with each other, the Guardians won’t mind my existence. After all, they don’t belong to either race and are considered an independent force,” Oro suddenly said.
Sure enough, the goateed Guardian only had his suspicions, and he could not figure just how a warrior of the God Race would be with an old demon lord from the Demon Race. Turning his head away, he scratched his chin and said nothing.
“Since this has all been a misunderstanding, we shall take our leave then. Till next time!” The goateed Guardian offered a cupped fist and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, Hua Hei and Hua Bai both extended their hands to stop them from doing so.
“What’s the meaning of this?” asked the elder solemnly.
Hua Hei chuckled sheepishly. “Since we’ve met by chance, why don’t you stay for a while? We brothers have some questions that we wanna ask you Guardians.”
The three Guardians appeared to be somewhat irritated, glancing up in the sky from time to time, seemingly preoccupied with thoughts of other matters, but they apparently had no desire to get into any altercation with the Black and White Gods, so they patiently looked at Hua Hei and Hua Bai.
“I recently heard that there’s been some unrest by the Cosmic Gate. Those—”
“DON’T SAY IT OUT LOUD!”
“YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY THEIR NAMES!”
The three Guardians seemed to be very afraid of this question as they all got agitated, refusing to let the Black and White Gods speak further.
The goateed elder puffed out his chest and sternly replied, “I dare to guarantee that those who-shall-not-be-named haven’t appeared anywhere in the Law Realm! If you Rebels dare to sow discord with this, don’t blame us Guardians for being merciless!”
Hua Hei revealed a cheeky smile as he softly answered, “We brothers were merely asking; There’s no need to turn defensive.”
“We weren’t being defensive!” The goateed elder’s voice was uncompromising. “The Cosmic Gate is ours to guard, so there’s no need for you Rebels to get in our way! We’ve had an agreement on this very thing before!”
“Agreement?” Hua Bai suddenly spoke in an ambiguously cold tone. “Since you dared to mention the agreement between us, I shall speak to you about it; back when we agreed not to touch the Cosmic Gate, conditions were made regarding it, and that’s for those who-shall-not-be-named not to appear ever again. If they were to descend upon the Law Realm once more, that would nullify our agreement!”
“Hmph!” The goateed Guardian snorted emotionlessly. “Speak after you’ve got your evidence! With us Guardians looking after the Cosmic Gate, it’s been nothing but stable.”
“I sure hope so,” the Black and White Gods casually stated.
Xia Fei was very surprised. This exchange of words was enough for him to pick up on the clues on what the conversation was about. While he suppressed the energy instability happening inside his seventh brain region, he quietly asked Oro, “Are the who-shall-not-be-named by the Guardians referring to the Inverse?!”
Oro frowned. “That’s right. The Guardians have a rule never to mention the names of any Inverse. It’s a big taboo to them.”
Xia Fei was even more shocked upon hearing this. From what the Black and White Gods had just insinuated, they seemed to suspect that an Inverse had appeared once more! This would be a catastrophe to the Law Realm if proven true!
Oro added, “The Guardians and the Rebels have an agreement: If the Cosmic Gate can be kept stable, the Rebels won’t intervene, and it’ll be left to this group of the most devout believers to guard the Cosmic Gate. However, if the Guardians fail to keep the Cosmic Gate secured, and the Inverse are sighted anywhere in the Law Realm once more, the Rebels will forcibly take over, whether the Guardians are willing to hand it over or not.”
The Guardians were the conservative faction of the Law Realm, and they resisted any existence beyond the Cosmic Gate. Meanwhile, the Rebels were more radical. They harbored a strong animosity toward the existence beyond the Cosmic Gate and hoped to open the gate, so as to start a fight with the mysterious realm beyond properly!
As such, the only time these two were factions at peace was if the Cosmic Gate remained stable. The Guardians needed to use their actual actions to prove that they had got the ability to guard the realm; only then would the Rebels not interfere. If this balance was broken, torrential bloodshed would be spilled as both sides fought for control over the Cosmic Gate!
The three Guardians were no longer as friendly as before after being asked that one question, which they took hearts the most. As such, the atmosphere between both sides had become extremely tense once more!
Sandwiched in the middle, Xia Fei felt like he was being tormented, composed one moment, nervous the next, giving Xia Fei some severe heart palpitations.
The goateed Guardian was expressionless as he said in a low voice, “Let’s go!”
“We won’t be seeing you off!” The Black and White Gods did not back down and retaliated with cold words.
*Whoosh*
The three golden-armored Guardians turned into three shiny golden orbs, which streaked across the sky, rapidly disappearing into the sea of stars.
…
The three Guardians arrived at a galaxy very far away from the Black and White Gods, coming to a stop as they floated in mid-space.
“Leader Doug, the Rebels have begun to get suspicious! What should we do?” the younger Guardian asked, a hint of hesitation in his voice.
The goateed Guardian slowly shook his head, his eyes resolute. “I’m not worried about all that. We Guardians are still the ones in control of the Cosmic Gate, and it’s very safe and secure! What do you two know?”
These two men helplessly nodded, almost as if they themselves had doubts over this statement!
“Let’s go. We’re still missing the last one. We need to eliminate it as soon as possible!”
*Whoosh*
The three golden glows sped off. It turned out that they had not appeared out here by chance but had, instead, been tracking down something!
However, just what could it be that had made these Guardians of the Cosmic Gate hunt so far away from their base of operation?!
