“That’s strange… Why is this a one-way passage?” the old demon lord asked, feeling puzzled.
Xia Fei had also noticed this problem. Secluded Springs was well-known for its varied and revolving paths, forking out after a short distance, changing in a myriad of ways. Even the natives had trouble identifying the right way around the Secluded Springs.
However, this passageway he was now in had no forks even after several hundred miles, becoming a singular winding path. This was very abnormal and decidedly different from the channels Xia Fei had been in before.
Furthermore, the number of plants on both sides of this passage they were on was shockingly plenty. In just a small area of one square meter, there were actually more than a dozen or so large trees crisscrossing over one another! These branches with lush leaves brimmed with vitality.
Gritting his teeth, Xia Fei ventured forward. No matter how strange this passageway was, it was ultimately better than falling into Secludeless’s hands. Seeing that relentless rage the Law Sage had for the Skywing Clan, Xia Fei would surely suffer an unimaginable fate if Secludeless got his hands on him, the lone wolf of his clan.
Peacock Blue was still resolutely executing Xia Fei’s plan, exploding wildly alongside Furball as they brought destruction and ruins in Xia Fei’s wake.
As if Law Sage Secludeless had been blocked by the collapse passage, he was unable to catch up in time. However, Xia Fei did not dare to let his guard down. Reality had proven that there were plenty of secret passageways in the Secluded Springs aside from the usual channels. How Law Overlord Secluded Mess and Super Law Overlord Secluded Hunt had suddenly appeared before was a testament to this fact.
Several minutes later, the way ahead suddenly disappeared! Xia Fei arrived at a boundless space!
He saw a fairly large circular region in front of him, like a sea of stars spanning a diameter of at least twenty thousand kilometers! He could not see the end of this space, but right in the middle was a planet!
Yes. An actual planet! From afar, it looked like a full moon about a thousand kilometers in diameter, glowing pale white!
This glow came from the soft rushes. The whole planet was made up of intersecting plants, intertwined with one another as they grew together!
Xia Fei frowned. He tossed the already unconscious clairvoyant, Secluded Well, to the side as he came to a stop. He brushed his finger lightly across his spatial ring and took out a green medicine.
*Pop*
Xia Fei directly poured the medicine on Secluded Well’s face, the strong minty smell pervading.
Secluded Well jolted awake and, the next second, jumped to his feet. He was no longer the least bit lethargic, and his two eyes shone with a very exaggerated glow.
The name of the medicine Xia Fei had administered was called the Refreshener. A single drop was enough to perk up anybody, not to mention a whole bottle poured on Secluded Well’s face.
Quickly wiping away the extremely cooling liquid off his face with his sleeves, Secluded Well did not dare to speak. The pain he felt from Xia Fei breaking his finger and ear had yet to subside, so he was extremely fearful of Xia Fei.
“Where is this place?” Xia Fei pointed to the luminous moon far away and asked.
Secluded Well merely glanced at it once before he began sweating profusely as he yelped, “How did we get here? This is the core region of the Secluded Springs!”
*Whoosh*
With a lift of the Blood Crystal, Xia Fei pressed his cold knife edge against Secluded Well’s throat and solemnly asked, “What’s with that planet and this space?”
Secluded Well gulped before sighing. “Weren’t you looking for the Ark? Here it is.”
Xia Fei was stunned. Never would he have imagined that the Ark that he wanted to investigate by all means was now actually right in front of eyes!
After a brief pause, Secluded Well said, “The Ark exploded after passing through the Cosmic Gate, and one of the fragments fell into Dark Space. As such, Secluded Springs came to be here in the Dark Space from which no life should exist, and this piece is what provides a place for sapient lifeforms to survive.”
“Secluded Springs was formed by an Ark fragment?!” Xia Fei was shocked.
“Look. That planet is completely formed of plants; how vibrant of a life force do you think is necessary to achieve something like that? It’s said that the Ark was what brought life to the universe, and that’s why!” Secluded Well animatedly expressed, seemingly induced by the Refreshener.
It was not just Xia Fei; even the old demon lord was utterly surprised.
No wonder the ancients suspected the Ark of having brought life. This plant amalgamation the size of a planet was formed just from an Ark fragment. This was completely incomprehensible!
A pity that the Ark had already exploded into pieces, spreading throughout the universe. Otherwise, this miraculous ship would have become quite the astonishment to all sapient lifeforms!
Xia Fei gritted his teeth. If the Ark was what ushered life to the universe, then it brought along a very complex problem: Did all life, including humans, originate from beyond the Cosmic Gate?
Meanwhile, according to what people understood, there was just the Inverse, a sort of evil being that destroyed all, beyond the Cosmic Gate!
Xia Fei could feel his head throbbing. The Cosmic Gate, the Ark, and the Inverse. These strange yet profound existences were like unsolvable riddles, existing in the dark, shrouded in unknowable mystery.
“What about the Cosmic Gate then?” Xia Fei asked further.
Secluded Well shrugged. “I know as little as you do when it comes to the Cosmic Gate. Since you know my name, you surely know that I was expelled from the Demon Race precisely because I tried uncovering the secret behind the Cosmic Gate and the Ark.”
Xia Fei was baffled. It seemed that seeing the future was not his sin, which resulted in his expulsion from the Demon Race, but rather his investigation of the Cosmic Gate and Ark.
This was when Oro voiced, “While it may seem like my predicament was the result of having been framed by my nemesis, I’ve always felt that the matter isn’t as simple as it appears. Perhaps it’s got something to do with my wish to investigate the Cosmic Gate.”
Xia Fei was shocked yet again. Did looking into something as little as the Cosmic Gate really cause a clairvoyant to be expelled and the prolonged detention of the Lionheart emperor?!
Associating this with how the Black and White Gods were being hunted down despite their profound cultivation and their choice to join the Rebel camp, everything became very strange and completely illogical!
Secluded Well focused his profound gaze on Xia Fei as he muttered again, “Strange… To think that there’s someone whom I, Secluded Well, can’t see through.”
Without a doubt, this someone he was referring to was Xia Fei. Secluded Well had said this before. It seemed that he had been greatly disappointed because he could not get a grasp of Xia Fei.
Oro, who had been with Xia Fei for a long time, could not get a firm grasp of Xia Fei’s character, either. After all, the young man was someone who most enjoyed keeping things to himself—an existence that refused to abide by the rules.
However, Secluded Well was a clairvoyant. The fact that even he could not read Xia Fei meant that this was a big deal, something that troubled Secluded Well greatly.
While they were standing there, staring at the planet, a huge change occurred!
A beam of light, fatal and bright, suddenly exploded through the collapsed passageway and shot forth! It was an inexplicably fast attack!
“Crafty Approach!”
Xia Fei’s superb neural response came into action, and without pause, Xia Fei darted to the side. He had evaded the attack in the time it took for a flint to spark.
The beam brushed past Xia Fei’s body. It was so close he could feel his hair singing following its passing!
Xia Fei may have evaded his attack, but Clairvoyant Secluded Well did not. All that was left of him was the half severed arm Xia Fei was still holding, while the rest of his body had been reduced to dust after the Law of Illumination shot past.
Xia Fei tossed the arm away and accelerated with all his might. He sprinted right for the planet that had the Ark fragment hidden in it, a flash of excitement in his eyes.
“You’re insane! Secludeless is a Law Sage with the Law of Illumination! The Law of Illumination is the best at ranged and AoE attacks! Running into emptiness like this is no more than suicide!” Oro yelled desperately.
It was apparent that no cover or anything stood between the entrance of the passage and the distant planet with its moon-like glow, which was the ideal environment for Law Sage Secludeless to use his Law of Illumination.
Xia Fei had now become an open target for Secludeless’s attacks!
“You’re wrong!” Xia Fei shouted. “Secludeless won’t attack me because behind me is the Ark fragment; ruining it will destroy the entire Secluded Springs! It’s very obvious that he’s significantly reduced his attack before, and the angle of attack was even very carefully calculated, clearly showing his reluctance to attack!”
Oro was shocked. Secludeless had unleashed the full destructive force during his first attack, but the second one was just a beam, completely different from what he had sent forth the first time around!
Due to Secludeless’s grudge against the Skywing Clan, he had not even spared a thought for the life of his confidant, Secluded Well. Why, then, did he go easy on his second attack?
There was just one explanation: Secludeless did have the desire to kill Xia Fei, but he was even more afraid of harming that faraway planet made of plants!
Xia Fei had always lived by the principle of using all possibilities to attack the enemy without holding anything back!
Since Secludeless was afraid of Xia Fei touching the Ark fragment, Xia Fei would do just that today!
Besides, the question over just what exactly was the Ark had troubled Xia Fei for a long time, and he wanted an answer right now! He wanted to look at that Ark fragment with his very own eyes!
Of course, Secludeless appeared in that empty space, hot on his heels, though Xia Fei had left him in the dust already!
There were indeed shortcuts inside the Secluded Springs, but there was none in this empty space. The only thing they could rely on was speed!
There were approximately hundred thousand miles from the passage to that strange planet of vegetation, but Xia Fei merely needed three seconds to reach it!
Secludeless might wish to catch up to Xia Fei, but that was easier said than done!
Law Sage Secludeless panicked. After all, the Ark fragment was the foundation of the entire Secluded Springs, and the moment this got disturbed, no one could imagine just what sort of catastrophe might transpire!
*Whoosh*
Most likely answering to Secludeless’s call, the form of Super Law Overlord Secluded Hunt instantly appeared. Only he could stop Xia Fei with his instantaneous spatial movement, being the sole practitioner of the Law of Space among the Secluded Springs’ six kings!
“Quickly stop him!” Secludeless pointed at Xia Fei as he shouted, already just a black dot in the distance.
Secluded Hunt was startled. He hurriedly used his instantaneous movement technique and attempted to get near Xia Fei, blocking him from in front.
Secluded Hunt had a much higher in level than Xia Fei, being a Super Law Overlord. If the former ran in front of the latter, Xia Fei would end up in a dangerous predicament, where he needed to fight from two fronts!
However, all Xia Fei did was flash that smirk of his and raised one hand; five spatial tears appeared, his target none other than that planet formed through the Ark fragment!
Secluded Hunt froze, cold sweat dripping from his forehead!
His figured promptly disappeared, appearing right before Xia Fei’s spatial tears. With one spatial wall, he blocked Xia Fei’s attack forcibly!
Too bad that Xia Fei’s attack did not show any signs of stopping!
*Kaboom*
*Kaboom*
One after another, these ranged spatial attacks exploded upon contact. Secluded Hunt was absolutely flustered by this, doing his utmost to block the attacks from every angle, giving it his all to prevent any one from landing on the planet.
Xia Fei, who had clutched onto this weakness, dealt a severe blow toward it!
Secluded Hunt had exploded with indignant rage. Originally, he intended to block Xia Fei but was made a fool of by Xia Fei when he was forced to run around, trying to salvage the situation!
