What followed after, appeared to be more harrowing than expected.
As Storm’s Eye continued its voyage towards the Heavenly Fox Clan’s home planet, the crew encountered the wreckages of another three Star Posthouses.
The aftermath of all three disasters mimicked White Glow’s in virtually every way.
Whoever was behind this, they had spared no quarter.
Wanton savagery.
Cultivators died with their eyes opened in futile defiance by the thousands; their carcasses now sprawled all over the rubble-strewn space. Among the hundreds of thousands of corpses drifting around, there were champions, common Cultivators, and women and children – all of them senselessly slaughtered.
The terrible sight made Li Mu’s heart beat like a drum.
The witnessing of one mindless massacre of savagery after another only made his skin crawl.
Even after experiencing the many horrors of the jungle-infested planet he had once been to before, what he saw made his skin crawl.
“What had happened here!?”
“Is there really a war going on between the great races of the Ziwei Star Zone?”
A pall of gloom hung over the crew’s head.
Storm’s Eye cruised through the dark abyssal space.
The Heavenly Fox Clansmen onboard got themselves to work by trying to hail others on their communication apparatuses, hoping to find out the truth.
It did not take long for them to hear any news.
The envoy relayed the information to Li Mu and the others.
It was an attack. One that never happened before – of such manner and scale.
A total of ten major Star Posthouses orbited the Ziwei Star Zone and all ten of them had been hit and completely devastated.
Of the ten Star Posthouses, two belonged to the Heavenly Fox Clan, six to the Heavenly Deity Clan, and the other two to the Pantheon, a force with equal strength and influence as one of the six major sides in the Star Zone.
In just three days, the ten major Star Posthouses of the Ziwei Star Zone were gone.
A tragedy of such proportion had never happened before.
But no one had yet had any idea of who was responsible for these attacks.
Needless to say, whoever it was, they must be powerful. Very, very powerful. In mere moments, they had managed to defeat the General-Realm champions that stood guard on each Star Posthouse and killed them.
Every empire, every faction, and every group in all of the Ziwei Star Zone had launched investigations of their own.
These attacks really had rattled all of the Ziwei Star Zone.
By the fourth day – which was later than their earlier expected time of three days – Storm’s Eye finally arrived at its destination – the Heavenly Fox Clan’s home planet.
The gloomy mood which was gnawing at the crew finally dispelled at the sight of the planet.
A large and beautiful globe.
As the starship came closer to the home planet’s atmosphere, Li Mu stared down at the rivers and mountains from the top deck, feeling enthralled by the beauty of this place.
This world has been preserved in its most pristine condition. The very air they breathed in was so fresh and richly-filled with spiritual energies as if it has been meticulously cleansed using a magical enchantment. It felt richer even than the air he had sampled before at Heavenly Land and Mount Shu, that with each breath, he could feel the lush spiritual energies coursing through his veins. Even Nature here felt vibrant and robust. He could project his Divine Consciousness with no difficulty at all with his spiritual senses all at a heightened readiness.
“What a paradise!”
Li Mu almost screamed out loud.
“This really is the home planet of the Heavenly Fox Clan, one of the six great races of the Ziwei Star Zone!”
Even with Storm’s Eye speed as it entered the home planet known as White Earth, the starship needed another dimensional jump to traverse this vast sprawl of mountains and lands to shorten its journey to the capital of the Heavenly Fox Clan, Imperium Vulpes.
After another day’s worth of journey, Imperium Vulpes finally came within sight.
“A city fit for the gods if ever there was one!”
That was the first thing that came to mind the moment Li Mu’s amazed eyes clapped eyes on the splendid and magnificent city.
If this city was really so imposing and huge, then all the great and vast cities that he had ever been in would have felt like tiny little hamlets in the countryside to him.
Storm’s Eye landed at the eleven-berth spaceport situated to the southeast corner of Imperium Vulpes.
Li Mu and the others were all ushered onboard another little hovercraft that transported them to the city center of Imperium where their lodgings were arranged at an inn.
“Everyone, the date for the tournament has yet to be set. As you wait, your quarters are here, and you can roam around freely to enjoy the local sights and scenes of the magnificent Imperium Vulpes. Feel free to speak to the innkeeper if you need anything.”
On that note, the envoy left them and hurried away.
The Heavenly Legends were each assigned a room of their own.
And each of the rooms was lavishly furnished.
…
…
“Would you like me to take you around, Young Master?”
Bi Yan asked after she was finished preparing the room and unpacking their items.
Li Mu almost laughed out loud.
So this little girl must have been interested in witnessing the greatness of this huge city herself.
Very well then.
Li Mu could hardly deny his interest in some sightseeing of the city that witnessed the birth of one of the greatest races in the galaxy.
They left their rooms and went to the innkeeper.
“So you wish to look around? Hahaha! Alrighty, then. No problem!” said the rosy-cheeked innkeeper with a hearty giggle. The portly and stocky middle-aged man has a pair of mousy mustaches that made him look like a fat merchant. He summoned a pair of guardsmen to serve as Li Mu’s guides.
“Thank you so much, sir,” said Li Mu.
“No problem. You are all Heavenly Legends from different star systems. For that, you’re also guests of our Clan. Sedes Vulpes has decreed that you are to be treated to the best hospitality we can offer,” said the innkeeper, walking Li Mu and Bi Yan out himself. “Dongfang Piaoliang, at your service. Do come to me if you need everything.”
“Dongfang Piaoliang?!” Li Mu grappled with shock at the name loosely translated as “Beauty of the East”.
“This plump innkeeper?!
“The very image of this man and the name hardly suit each other!”
Their guides arrived quickly.
With the guardsmen to guide them, Li Mu did not have to worry about getting lost nor did he worry about offending any of the Clan in their local customs.
Carefree and merry was the little fox girl Bi Yan as they strolled around.
She had a long list of questions for the guides and she jotted a route before chartering another flying boat to explore Imperium Vulpes.
Such beauty and such wondrous spectacles abound the great city of the Heavenly Fox Clan.
It was like falling into the looking glass into an unknown, new world.
So many that he had never seen before nor heard before.
It was just as what the envoy had told them on the last day of the tournament about this Star Zone: Trust that a whole new world is opening its door to you.
The city was thriving with champions; everywhere he could see and feel the presence of General-Realm Cultivators.
In fact, General-Realm Cultivators were two a penny here, just like how common were Soldier-Realm Cultivators in the Brilliance Immortal Star Region.
“What a whole new whole. General-Realm guys everywhere… Any Soldier-Realm would find themselves like dogs in this place…” Li Mu breathed poignantly. But one could almost understand why. The growth of a person is forever decided by his surroundings – the greater height one reaches, the more one sees and the more one feels.
“What a spectacle…”
The long journey here had not been for naught.
Coming here has made Li Mu understand the true zenith of the warrior’s way across all of the galaxy and the greatness of true power and authority across the universe.
All his time at the Heavenly Lands, Mount Shu, or even all of the Brilliance Immortal Star Region – he had been living in a cave.
So did Bi Yan too.
She had never seen anything like this before.
And as a little fox girl, exploring Imperium Vulpes gave her an innate sense of familiarity.
They spent an afternoon sightseeing.
And it was only one-hundredth of the full expanse of the great city.
They returned to the inn later with Bi Yan still immersed in the exhilaration of being able to walk the streets of her homeland’s capital.
The flying boat glided to a stop right outside the inn for them to disembark.
Dongfang Piaoliang was already waiting outside with a warm grin across his puffy-cheeked face. He greeted them when they drew near, “Your Immortal Net accounts have been approved. You can log in to your Immortal Net accounts freely here now.” He gave Li Mu a little silver pendant.
The application for their access into Immortal Net was done by the inn’s management.
Net Cards of Immortal Net varied across different Star Zones or Star Regions.
It was just like how one has to subscribe to a new data and call package if one were to travel to another country on Earth.
Li Mu’s might have been a Silver VIP-class Immortal Net account, but he had been completely off the grid during the long journey from the Brilliance Immortal Star Region to here.
The silver little pendant was not a Net Card, but a pass. Used in tandem with the Net Card, this would allow Li Mu to freely access the Immortal Net anywhere on this home planet.
Li Mu thanked the innkeeper and immediately accessed his account.
As the leading Heavenly Legend from the Brilliance Immortal Star Region, Li Mu was assigned a detached and lavishly furnished cottage with a courtyard of its own.
Li Mu entered his private room, conjured several enchantments to keep away any prying eyes and ears, then he used his Net Card to access Immortal Net.
Even his messaging token could be used now.
Li Mu first contacted Ding Yi in the Baiyu Dynasty.
“Everything is fine here, sir. Don’t worry.”
Ding Yi responded.
Ding Yi and the Second Senior Brother did not come with Li Mu to Heavenly Fox Clan’s home planet.
Almost everyone knew about their friendship with the Wild Broadsword Li Mu and hence coming with Li Mu would only reveal to the whole world who Li Yidao really was. This would place them at a disadvantage if anything untoward were to happen.
That was why Ding Yi chose to stay at the Apricot Forest Apothecary. He wanted to learn tradecraft from Qiu Ling, the old storekeeper there.
The gifted Ding Yi was born for this. He started from the lowest of the ranks at Apricot Forest, and as one of the Dark Yellow Army of Mount Shu, Qiu Ling knew he could be trusted.
As for the Second Senior Brother in his volatile stage, staying with Ding Yi was naturally the best choice.
Li Mu’s trip to White Earth of the Ziwei Star Zone might not be as perilous as riding into war, but risks remain ever-present, and hence he decided that he needed to be prudent and cautious.
After making contact with Ding Yi, Li Mu tried to message Guo Yuqing.
Heaven knows how many times he had tried to reach Guo Yuqing before, but the latter had not responded and Li Mu could only surmise that he must still be in solitary training.
But this time, he answered immediately the first time.
“Qing Feng and Ming Yue have ascended into the Void-breaking Realm. I met them.”
That one sentence made Li Mu’s heart skip.
