Chapter 584: The Blood Crystal evolves again
The fourth a.s.sessment, the exotic beast test, was already over, but the storm that Xia Fei stirred up was far from over. As per normal, the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall’s White Horse Constellation branch should have posted the grades right after the test, but today, there was nothing at all. No poster was put up on the walls with the results.
The candidates were very curious and gathered around the main gate, unwilling to leave. The grades would determine whether or not they could get into the next round was what all of them were concerned about. This was the glorious path leading to the peak of the martial path, the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall. Anyone who said that they did not care about their grades would definitely be lying. Thus, after the test, almost all the candidates lingered, waiting for the results to be posted.
Xia Fei and Ludi walked through the crowd. Even though Xia Fei was not the strongest of the candidates, they still opened a path for him, allowing the two of them to walk through.
A warrior’s fighting power did not merely involve their cultivation but also their presence and methods—two aspects in which Xia Fei undoubtedly held the upper hand. The scene of him ignoring all the rules and killing Evil Wind still lingered in their minds, and there was also Shatterstar’s terrifying roar. Many of them still felt like their eardrums were aching.
“I’m treating today! You can pick any of the restaurants in White Horse City!” Ludi heartily laughed. He was the most excited person today. For no reason at all, he had gotten full points, and put together with the extra thirty points from the secret question as well as his scores on the first three a.s.sessments, Ludi had a score which was not low at all and could be considered in the upper half of the pack. This was something that this playboy and the entire Lu Clan found worth celebrating.
Ludi believed that Xia Fei had been his bringer of good fortune, but his bringer of fortune had himself suffered defeat, leaving Ludi very apologetic. Thus, he wanted to invite Xia Fei to a feast to celebrate how easily he had gotten full points and to soothe Xia Fei’s dejection. If there was one thing the Lu family did not lack, it was money. He decided that everything tonight would be of the highest standard.
“What if I help you book the Bright Jade Pavilion, the venue owned by the Nine Phoenix Immortals?” Ludi timidly asked.
Bright Jade Pavilion was also known as the Pavilion of Death’s Charge, for it was essentially a black hole. Numerous scions had gone there and come out half-alive, and the Nine Phoenix Immortals were the supporting pillars. These were nine sisters, each more beautiful than the last, with two of them even being twins. Anyone would be enraptured to share a bed with one of these nine beauties.
Ludi had money—a lot of money, but he still was unsure if Bright Jade Pavilion would take small-time customers like him and Xia Fei. In the Law Realm, money could not decide everything. Thus, he was somewhat timid.
Xia Fei waved his hand and said solemnly, “We’ll talk about it another time. I still have some other things to attend to.”
Ignoring Ludi’s attempts to keep him and with everybody looking at him like he was a weirdo, Xia Fei left. He appeared to be in quite a rush as if there really was something that he needed to attend to.
A sigh came from a corner. Mu Fuping watched Xia Fei leave, her brows furrowed.
“I understand. Thank you,” Mu Fuping said to a young man next to her. The events which had taken place on the testing ground had been conveyed by this youth to her. Xia Fei’s killing of Evil Wind, leading to that mysterious elder from the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall vomiting blood, was retold by the youth in a rather exaggerated manner, and Mu Fuping was naturally rather worried about how gloomy Xia Fei had seemed.
“It was this lowly one’s honor to serve Miss Mu.” The young man took his award, said his thanks, and departed. The Mu family was one of the Nine Great Clans, and the youth would have been willing to serve even without a reward. After all, everyone knew of the fame of the Withered Mu family.
Xia Fei had given Mu Fuping a small lesson earlier, but not only did this fail to push her away, it only caused her to pay more attention to him. It was just that this attention went underground, quietly burning in the depths.
“This is very bad! Big Brother Xia Fei will find it very difficult to pa.s.s the a.s.sessment, and if he can’t get into Dragon Ascension Martial Hall, his future will be greatly affected,” Mu Fuping worriedly said.
Mu Qingping raised an eyebrow, delighting in Xia Fei’s plight. “Serves him right! Who does he think he is? Breaking the rules of Dragon Ascension Martial Hall whenever he pleases! In my view, once the results come out, Xia Fei may even be kicked out of the a.s.sessment. It’s not like Dragon Ascension Martial Hall hasn’t done such a thing before.”
Mu Fuping became even more anxious at these words, even forgetting to rebuke her younger sister as her heart throbbed in fear.
After some thought, the bodyguard standing behind Mu Fuping sternly said, “If young miss seeks the master’s help, the Mu Clan has enough prestige to let Xia Fei continue taking part in the a.s.sessment, but after what happened last time, the master holds a very deep grudge against Xia Fei and probably won’t agree.”
Mu Fuping clenched her teeth and began to move, saying, “I have to try at least. Big Brother Xia saved my life; he’s my savior!”
…
Rather than returning to the inn, Xia Fei used his speed ability to move to a small and deserted mountain outside of the city.
Once he confirmed that no one was around, Xia Fei lightly stroked a finger across his spatial ring and took out a dark red dagger which he examined in his hands.
The dagger had no edge. It was like a spike but did not have the sharpness of one, like a bayonet but longer and thinner.
Xia Fei looked at it for a while and still could not find the proper words to describe it. It seemed to occupy a category of its own, different from any other kind of known weapon.
“This is the Blood Crystal?!” said Phantom finally after a long daze.
Xia Fei nodded. “When I was putting it away, I felt that the Blood Crystal was evolving again, but I didn’t think it would turn into something like this.”
Phantom’s shock was at maximum saturation. He had heard tales about the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect’s most wicked sect master, Slaughtershadow, and the Blood Crystal had its own extremely foul reputation. It had been built by the ancients and existed to drink blood. The stronger the expert of the blood it drank, the more quickly it would revive. On the day the dagger was reborn, the entire world would grow dark due to its evil nature, and the seas would boil!
Slaughtershadow had killed countless people over his lifetime, but he had still been unable to revive the Blood Crystal. However, today, in Xia Fei’s hands, the Blood Crystal had evolved again! Did this mean that this wicked dagger was going to be reborn?
The first time, Xia Fei had used the power of the Law of Primal Chaos to twist the attributes of the Blood Crystal, allowing it to absorb not just the essence blood of humans but also the life of all living beings. Even if Xia Fei stabbed himself, the Blood Crystal would not show the slightest courtesy. From this, one could see how cruel it was!
The second time was when the Celestial Zerohammer fell, causing the Blood Crystal to evolve again! Besides absorbing essence blood, it could send a portion of this energy to Xia Fei, allowing the user and the Blood Crystal to advance together. The blade had also become sharper and longer.
This was now the third time the Blood Crystal had transformed. Could it be that this mysterious and cruel weapon was finally about to break out of its coc.o.o.n and reveal its ultimate form? Could it be that Xia Fei was about to realize the dream that Slaughtershadow had failed to achieve?
No one had ever seen the Blood Crystal’s ultimate form, but this dagger’s aura truly had changed. There was no doubting that.
“This dagger of yours is very strange.” Lying in the ring, Lionheart Emperor Oro suddenly spoke. Xia Fei was taken aback. He had almost forgotten about this extremely powerful existence at his side.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Its killing aura is no more,” Oro shrugged his shoulders and said.
“I know. Whenever I took out this dagger before, I myself could feel its intense killing aura, but now, it’s like a newborn infant, its aura pure and clean. Could the Blood Crystal have devolved?”
Oro shook his head. “There’s a theory that says that when a killer goes from a butcher to a killing G.o.d, their killing aura will gradually be hidden. When killing becomes a part of life, as routine as eating and sleeping, the killing aura will naturally disappear. This is a kind of state—a state where killing has reached its apex.
“I’m not sure about anything else, but I can clearly sense that this dagger has a life force. Look at its dark red color; if you stop killing, this hue will slowly recede, and when the red is completely gone, the blade will have died.”
“A weapon with a life force?!” Xia Fei was stunned. To keep the Blood Crystal alive, he would have to kill constantly! Otherwise, the dagger would die!
This was far too wicked! It forced Xia Fei to make a choice!
He must keep killing to sustain the dagger’s life, or he would have to give up on this peerless and wicked blade, allowing it to become a piece of sc.r.a.p metal!
The reversal of the Law of Primal Chaos, the reinforcements of the Celestial Zerohammer, all of it would be for naught!
…
An attentive person might have noticed that the Yu family had become much more heavily guarded as of now, with sentries posted both out in the open and in the shadows. In the main city, there were clearly many more strangers who seemed to be in a hurry.
As Xia Fei pa.s.sed through the spatial gate and returned to the Yu family, he happened to run into an old man wearing a large bamboo hat. He had a pair of sharp eyes that could pierce through everything, and when these eyes pa.s.sed over Xia Fei, he could not help but s.h.i.+ver.
“Xia Fei?! Why are you coming back now?” Yu Hua said in surprise.
As if they had made an appointment, Xia Fei, the mysterious elder, and Yu Hua had arrived almost at the same time.
“There’s a small problem in the Dragon Ascension Conclave. The test has been suspended for three days, so I came back,” Xia Fei breezily said. The pause in the a.s.sessment was naturally because of the trouble he had caused in the fourth test. The Dragon Ascension Martial Hall was still considering how to resolve the matter.
Yu Hua frowned, apparently not happy to see Xia Fei.
“So you’re saying that you’ll go back after three days?”
“It’s hard to say. The announcement still hasn’t been posted.”
After all, Xia Fei had caused this trouble, so he felt that there was a ninety percent chance that he would be expelled from the a.s.sessment. The prices in the White Horse Constellation were very high, he had no fixed place to cultivate, and Ludi was constantly pestering him.
Xia Fei found it boring, so he decided to return to the Yu family. After all, he had a home here, and he was used to the cultivation chamber; he could also eat the zhajiang noodles made by Pod. Zhajiang noodles and smoking were both very important to Xia Fei.
“Who’s this old man? He’s got a vicious gaze,” Xia Fei frowned and asked.
“Law Emperor Guo Yue, a master of the Law of Matter,” Yu Hua softly said, his eyes momentarily flas.h.i.+ng.
“Oh, no wonder his presence is so imposing. So he’s a Law Emperor.” Xia Fei nodded. It was very normal for experts to move between various clans, so Xia Fei did not think too much of it.
After saying goodbye to Yu Hua, Xia Fei nonchalantly returned to his residence.
“Xia Fei, why is it that you came back exactly at this time?” Yu Hua muttered as he watched Xia Fei leave.