Chapter 377: Xia Fei’s Exclusive Beast
It had been twenty-four days since Xia Fei first entered the ancient insectoid capital s.h.i.+p. During this time, the greatest boon Xia Fei had received was the starmap that could lead him to the insectoid territory; at the same time, he had managed to rank his psychokinesis up to Star River, and this was while successfully cultivating up to the sixth stage of the Beast Spirit Codex he had in possession.
Because the Beast Spirit Codex he currently had was missing the later parts, he was unable to learn the final three stages of the technique, which was why his cultivation of it could essentially be considered completed in the meantime. Unless he got his hands on the remaining three stages, Xia Fei had no choice but to stop at its sixth stage.
There was still plenty to go in the future, and whether Xia Fei would find the rest of the Beast Spirit Codex or not all depended on a bit of luck besides taking the time to search for it.
Taking two more days to recover, Xia Fei now felt as if he was back to his peak. This was especially true for his mental strength; due to Xia Fei having improved his mental abilities, his current mental strength was better than before, experiencing a great clarity of the mind.
The poor Furball had collapsed all softly and fluffily beside Xia Fei. Having not eaten anything for over twenty days, Furball’s stomach was rumbling relentlessly. It kept fawning on Xia Fei in hopes of getting something to eat from him, but he was unmoved.
Furball’s mental strength was very powerful, and Xia Fei knew this better than anyone else. In order to subdue it into becoming his exclusive beast, Xia Fei needed to rely on some underhanded means. Establis.h.i.+ng a contract using the Beast Spirit Codex was dangerous, and if he was not careful, he might suffer quite the backlash from Furball’s powerful mental strength.
“It’s about time. Furball’s already very weak. This is the perfect time to establish a contract with it. If it continues to go hungry, an accident may happen when you’re establis.h.i.+ng a contract with it because it’s become so weak.” Phantom cautioned him.
Xia Fei nodded. Making Furball go hungry was just to increase his success rate, and it would be doing more harm than good if Furball ended up getting injured because of this.
With a light brush of his finger on his spatial ring, Xia Fei pulled out a piece of Purple Heart of Spirit, which weighed almost four pounds. This particular ore was crystal-clear and of a deep hue. In fact, it was even purer than that piece he had put up for auction, which got won for over a hundred billion star coins, during The Brotherhood’s trade carnival.
Furball instantly became excited when it saw the ore. Its eyes shone brightly and it began drooling, looking like a hungry cat that had seen a mouse, its eyes turning green.
“Furball, do as I will instruct you and you can have this for dinner.” Xia Fei pointed to the mineral ore as he spoke. In order for him to sign a contract with Furball, Xia Fei intended not to spare any expenses. He would not have been willing to do this normally, and in fact, the cost of this one meal Furball was about to have would have been enough to keep Xia Fei fed for the rest of his life. The price of rearing a top-grade exotic beast was simply not something any average human could afford.
Furball seemed to have understood what Xia Fei had said, for like a puppy shown a bone, the beast bobbed its head vigorously as it clumsily attempted to climb up Xia Fei, its eyes trained on that purple ore Xia Fei was holding in his hand, not even blinking once.
Xia Fei took it into his arm and had it face him directly, allowing both their eyes to meet.
All of a sudden, a light exploded forth as Xia Fei’s pupils enlarged. An imperceptible burst of mental energy rapidly delved its way right into Furball’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
Furball was first stunned, as its powerful mental energy quickly gathered around and closed in on Xia Fei’s mental energy, seemingly wanting to swallow Xia Fei’s energy up.
Furball had quite the appet.i.te, able to completely drain all the energy inside that large piece of Purple Heart of Spirit in one go. If it truly did so, Xia Fei would of course feel the heartache. Though he had already cultivated his Beast Spirit Codex up to the sixth stage, Furball was ultimately not just any average exotic beast, and there was no one that could actually tell just what potential it held.
“Little guy, this is the power of my sixth stage Beast Spirit Codex. No matter what, you’re going to become my exclusive beast today,” Xia Fei said with determination.
…
Furball was lying on the floor, just like a fatty that had devoured its fill. The beast’s already round belly was filled to the brim, looking completely satisfied.
Beside it were four Purple Hearts of Spirit, or to be precise, four transparent ores, since all the energy within them had already been completely drained by Furball, looking no different from chunks of clear gla.s.s.
“Congratulations, Xia Fei. You’ve finally obtained an exclusive beast,” Phantom said.
Xia Fei wrinkled his brows and complained, “While having an exclusive beast is of course something worth celebrating, it’s just that this pet really has quite the appet.i.te; this single meal meant four Hearts of Spirit. These ores were worth hundreds of billions of star coins.”
Phantom thought nothing of it. “Furball grew up a bit, so of course its appet.i.te increased along with it. Right now, it has already signed a contract with you, unable to betray you forever. Feeding your loyal super exotic beast some food is but natural.”
…
Xia Fei pouted as he gave Furball an order: ‘Get up you, lazy worm. It’s time for us to leave.’
This order was mentally given. After signing a contract, any command that came from Xia Fei could be transmitted by mental waves to Furball, and its response would of course also be understood by Xia Fei. The man and the ball had become one, tightly bonded together.
Furball leaped from the ground to Xia Fei’s shoulder, having already grown to a size where it was no longer possible for it to stay in Xia Fei’s bosom.
Though Furball was a ball, it seemed to have some special ability which enabled it to clutch onto Xia Fei’s shoulder tightly. Xia Fei tried to give it a nudge or two, only to discover that it had some sort of magnetic force. Unless someone really exerted their full strength, there was no way for anyone to push Furball off his shoulder.
The eight tribal chiefs, who had been waiting anxiously outside the wars.h.i.+p for the last twenty or so days, had not seen Xia Fei appear once all this time. Because they all departed in a rush without bringing any food along, all they could do was fast. Due to their immense fear toward Xia Fei, none of them dared even go forage for food around the area, merely staying right where they were await Xia Fei’s return.
Fortunately, the little robot Pod was extremely considerate and brought them food and water daily. It even provided them with blankets so that they did not have to weather the cold nights. As such, these eight tribal chiefs were able to spend each day in relative comfort while they waited.
They were all grateful yet fearful of Pod. After all, this was a magical robot Xia Fei owned. No one understood why this robot was capable of thought like any sapient lifeform. They would all be kneeling on the ground, giving their blessing and thanks every time Pod came with food, showering it with great respect and humbleness.
A loud sound could be heard, and Xia Fei came striding out from the wars.h.i.+p. Seeing the eight tribal chiefs standing outside, Xia Fei could not help but find it hilarious. It had been over twenty days since he last saw them; each and every one of them appeared a lot more haggard than before, looking no different from beggars loitering on the streets.
“Hand over all your black crystals,” Xia Fei emotionlessly commanded.
Daimu and the others hurriedly gave Xia Fei their black crystals, which were used to activate the capital s.h.i.+p. Phantom knitted his eyebrows and asked, “What do you want their trinkets for?”
Xia Fei squeezed the crystals in his hand and said, “These things might be worth something; I can’t just let my trip on this planet the Tulons are residing in to be for naught, can I?”
Phantom was speechless. Xia Fei not only discovered a starmap which would lead him to the insectoid territory but also managed to rank up immensely his special abilities on this planet. He had already gained plenty from here, and it was hardly a trip for nothing like what Xia Fei had just claimed.
As the Impaler’s engine blasted off loudly toward the distant stars, the eight Tulon tribal leaders back on the ground felt that they had been relieved of a great burden, thinking to themselves, ‘The G.o.d of death has finally left. Oh, heavens. Please don’t ever let Venerable Xia return here ever again. We have only so many tribesmen; a few more trips from him, and our race will be wiped out from existence.”
…
Ministry of Military Affairs.
Williams walked into Tai’s office with a smile. “We’ve just received a message from Xia Fei. He is still alive and has managed to escape to the back end of the insectoid territory after his wormhole collapsed. That guy’s really hardy. Everybody from the trade delegation fleet died, yet only he managed to escape.”
…
Tai tossed the doc.u.ments in his hand and rubbed his temples. The long hours of busywork had left him feeling very exhausted, and he was using this brief moment to rest for a few minutes. As the highest-ranking commander in the Alliance, the burden on him was unimaginable.
“That’s rather interesting.” Tai nodded. “Unfortunately, he’s all alone. If only he had a fleet by his side, he could be a raider and launch ambushes on the insectoids.”
Williams sighed. “That’s indeed very unfortunate. Now that the insectoid fleets are all millions of lightyears away, their territory is practically empty. If our fleets can sneak in, I’m sure we’ll be able to catch them off guard.”
Tai said, “Doesn’t Xia Fei have a friend by the name of Avril? Inform her about him. Xia Fei has been servicing the military, and that caused him to end up behind enemy lines. It’s our responsibility.”
Williams shook his head. “Xia Fei’s using an open channel broadcast; any wars.h.i.+p fitted with a Black Bat radar should’ve received his signal. I gave the Jian family a call, and they informed me of having received the same message.”
Tai mulled over this for a moment. “Since he’s deep in the insectoid territory right now, perhaps he can help us probe and find out the insectoids’ military deployment. Didn’t you say that if there are enough benefits, there’s nothing Xia Fei won’t dare to do? He’s of a decent cultivation as well, so he should be able to pull this off successfully.”
Williams chuckled. “It’s useless. According to Xia Fei’s message, his wars.h.i.+p’s badly damaged, so all he can do is send out messages, not receive them. Plus, only the open channel communication is available. There’s no way for us to contact him whatsoever.”
“In that case, we’ll just have to depend on his luck. Come take a seat; I’ve got a new idea,” said Tai, somewhat disappointed.
“What idea?”
Tai purposely suppressed his voice as he mysteriously shared. “Since the insectoids suddenly appeared in our territory through that invisible wormhole, why don’t we find a way to destroy the wormhole? Then, the insectoid fleets in Venal Galaxy will be stranded, and without any reinforcements, the southern fleets can easily engage them in battle.”
Williams was momentarily stunned, but his eyebrows soon knitted together. “Tai, destroying a wormhole will need us to mobilize a Dreadnought fleet. Isn’t the risk of such a plan far too great?”
…..
In a distant region of s.p.a.ce, Xia Fei used the starmap the insectoid cerebrum had given him to forge his way forward. Based on his present speed, he would need over a month of travel before he could reach the insectoid territory.
The Impaler exited the wormhole while in stealth mode, and in just a handful of seconds, the s.h.i.+p’s warning system blared.
“Alert! Enemy wars.h.i.+p alert! Insectoid wars.h.i.+ps and facilities have been detected within a range of ten lightyears.”
Xia Fei was in the middle of his meal when this alert sounded, giving him a shock. He realized then that he had made a fatal mistake; the starmap the insectoid cerebrum had given him was from a long, long time ago, so there was no way for the territory the insectoids covered to still be the same after all this time. He might have been inside the insectoid territory for quite some time already.