Chapter 985: First Encounter with an Inverse
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Xia Fei had shared a fairly satisfactory cooperation with the Guardians back at Feng Siniang’s Night Banquet Inn. The Guardians had appreciated Xia Fei’s crazy strength, while he similarly also found the extraordinary dedication of the Guardians to be very admirable.
On the outskirts of the Cosmic Gate was the base of the Guardian faction.
This was originally an important location that outsiders were restricted from accessing, but as Xia Fei was part of the Skywings, and because he had also joined hands in fighting against the Dark lifeforms with Law G.o.d Pandiani and the others back at the Night Banquet, including his relations.h.i.+p with Old Demon Lord Oro, the Guardians had made an exception and allowed Xia Fei to enter their mysterious base.
This was especially true for Oro, who was a reborn Superior Law G.o.d and had rich combat experience, including all sorts of unbelievable tactics and stratagems; everyone viewed him as a genius!
The disruptive Law of Primal Chaos had given Oro’s cultivation a boost, and in the handful of days since they last met, he had already shot from Law Emperor to Law Sage!
The entire Guardian faction was in shock! They thought of Oro as a genius among geniuses, so everyone across the board looked at him differently and did their best to help him.
Though Oro had not yet reached Law G.o.d and was still quite far from returning to his peak condition, he had managed to gain an extraordinary status with how rapidly his cultivation improved. Now, he had become a protege the Guardians were the proudest of! He had even been drafted to become their Ultimate Guardian, the successor to Peak Law G.o.d Moses!
“Come come come! Let me introduce someone to you: This here is Oro, our top talent out of the entire Guardian faction! I’m unsure if you noticed that day when we were fighting side by side to fend off the Dark lifeforms, but this young lad was among us then.”
Law G.o.d Pandiani enthusiastically introduced Oro to Xia Fei, which left either man torn between laughter or tears. What did he mean by ‘top talent out of the entire Guardian faction’? Oro was originally a Lionheart emperor and the holder of the Three Lions Imperial Jade Ring!
It could not be helped. Oro was ultimately the mole that Xia Fei had planted in the Guardian faction, so the two pretended not to know each other and exchanged basic pleasantries, but when they got closer, Xia Fei whispered, “Find a chance. I have some urgent questions for you.”
Oro replied, “Got it. I’ve got many things I wish to speak with you about as well.”
After the exchange of pleasantries was over, both parties took up their seats as hosts and guest respectively. Of course, now that he was one of the Guardians, Oro sat across Xia Fei, together with those brothers-in-arms he had fought alongside back then.
With regard to that incident where the Guardians and the Skywings worked together to repel the Dark lifeforms, everyone could still feel their blood pumping as they recollected it. The Guardians were very resilient, while the Skywings held their speed advantage, ultimately allowing them to deal a fatal blow on the Dark lifeforms, which caused this group of Guardians to feel deeply impressed!
Now that the Skywings had suddenly obliterated Fig Corporation, and news of their departure from the Law Realm had been spread far and wide, the senior Guardians summoned into the guest room all those warriors who had fought with Xia Fei at that time so that they could reminisce with him, hoping to build rapport and win ties, all for the sake of the Skywings standing on the side of the Guardian faction.
The Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade held an abnormal keenness!
Any faction out there that got the vigorous support of the Skywings would indubitably gain an additional powerful backer!
Several of the peak experts in the Guardian faction had not shown their faces today, most likely because they still had their reservations toward the clan. After all, the Skywings were well-known for being unreasonable, and having Law G.o.d Pandiani first interact and probe Xia Fei was understandable.
During the conversation, Pandiani was full of praise for Oro, constantly raising him up to be an unparalleled genius of his generation, even going as far as to call him a new force that would likely surpa.s.s the predecessors, worthy of awe. Xia Fei was greatly amused by this series of boasting, while Oro felt immensely depressed because of it.
When the old demon lord was a Superior Law G.o.d, who knew where Pandiani was playing with clay in his diapers? Now, it was the dignified Oro who had been called a junior by Pandiani, which made the former feel very uncomfortable.
Oro looked very anxious to share what he had learned with Xia Fei, yet there were still many people around, so it was hardly the best time for them to confer. As such, Xia Fei could only patiently wait; he chatted with Pandiani first.
Suddenly—
A shrill alarm broke through the chatter, and every Guardian leaped to their feet as they were mobilized.
“Ah!”
Pandiani was startled. He swiftly got up and was about to dash out of the guest room when he saw the look of curiosity on Xia Fei’s face, which was why he stopped and told Oro, “Stay here and accompany Brother Xia. I have something urgent to attend to, but I’ll be right back!”
*Whoosh*
With that said, Pandiani sped off with the other warriors, leaving just Oro and Xia Fei in the room.
“Just what exactly is going on? From the sound, it seems to be an alarm,” Xia Fei curiously wondered.
Oro’s expression was placid as he said in a low voice, “Haven’t you always been wanting to see what an Inverse look like? This is your chance!”
Xia Fei was startled. To think that this alarm was a warning of the Inverse’s arrival! In that case, it meant that the Inverse had already begun their a.s.sault on the Cosmic Gate!
“Follow me. I’ll bring you to see just what exactly an Inverse looks like,” Oro quietly told Xia Fei.
…
While the Guardians were in a state of disarray, Oro swiftly sneaked Xia Fei out along a small path that circled out the base, and with a sweep of his palm, took out a communication device used by the Guardians.
This device was a star map, with s.h.i.+ning points depicted on it indicating the region that the Inverse were invading.
“No need to go far. As you can see, countless Guardians have this region surrounded, searching for traces of the Inverse. We’ll be fine just peeping here, as we’ll be discovered if we go any closer,” whispered Oro as he pushed Xia Fei next to a floating rock.
Xia Fei nodded. In front of him, he saw countless Guardians looking ready to face their own death, doing every method they had in their a.r.s.enal to search for traces of the Inverse.
“Is the situation now very serious? Are there often Inverse a.s.saulting the Cosmic Gate so that they can make their way to this sea of stars?” asked Xia Fei.
Oro shook his head. “It isn’t to the degree that I’ll call ‘often’, but things have become even more dire recently. According to some of the senior Guardians, the Inverse only travel through the Cosmic Gate very decade or so on average.”
“What about now?” asked Xia Fei anxiously.
“Once a week.”
The expression on Xia Fei’s face changed drastically as he gravely asked, “From once a decade to once a week?! How can you say that the situation hasn’t become more serious?! Are you only going to consider things severe when the Cosmic Gate is thrown open?!”
Oro pouted. “What are you being so nervous for? I have yet to even get near the Cosmic Gate; everything has been mere hearsay. Rumor has it that the seal on the Cosmic Gate is still holding strong, so it won’t be easy for the Inverse to just crash right through it.”
“Right now, we’re at the Guardians’ headquarters, still a good distance away from the Cosmic Gate. When I was at the special training camp before, several times, I heard the sounds of war drums beating. It’s said to be the sounds produced by the Inverse attacking the Cosmic Gate, and so though I’m very worried right now, I simply have no way of knowing the truth of what is happening at the Cosmic Gate.”
Xia Fei somewhat urgently asked, “So why haven’t you gotten near it? What are you hanging around the main base for?”
Oro scoffed. “You think that it’s my wish to remain here? These Guardians have never asked just who yours truly is; they just keep claiming that I am a genius only seen once every one hundred years, and so they insist on me staying in HQ to receive their g*dd*mn special training. If not for this, I would’ve already headed over and taken a look myself!”
Xia Fei became speechless. It was unfortunate that Oro had become human after his rebirth, so the rapid recovery of his strength was naturally mistaken by others as a sign of him being a genius, becoming a candidate for special training.
The Guardians giving the Lionheart emperor special training… People would likely laugh their b.u.t.ts off if news of this were to get out.
This was when Radix’s voice echoed in Xia Fei’s mind. “Best if we look at the state the Cosmic Gate is currently in. The seal that Hosu created with his life isn’t anything simple. If these Inverse plan to break through this seal, they’ll have to pay an appropriate price, and I feel that they might be spying on the situation here in this universe, all in preparation for a final a.s.sault. Plus, there may be other conspiracies afoot.”
Xia Fei nodded. “Good. If we have the opportunity, I’ll be sure to try and get near the Cosmic Gate.”
It was at that moment when the Guardians yelled.
“It’s here!”
“Kill that-which-shall-not-be-named! Don’t let it run away!”
*Whoosh*
A good distance away, a group of golden-armored war G.o.ds surrounded the Inverse and threw themselves into battle; Xia Fei could not make out just what the Guardians were encircling.
“Ocular Cognition!”
Xia Fei hurriedly used his Beast Spirit Codex power. The Inverse was a foreign and unknown existence that had bothered Xia Fei for the longest time. He really wanted to know just how this powerful organism, which was said to come from beyond the Cosmic Gate, looked like.
“Can you see it?” asked Oro anxiously.
“Nope. We’re too far away. All I can make out is a golden glowing form,” replied Xia Fei.
However, just as he said that, he heard a shrill scream, which caused Xia Fei’s eardrums to ring in shock.
A startling scene had just unfolded! He saw as the dozen or so golden-armored Guardians instantly fly in the air, blood spilling everywhere!
It was evident that they had all been severely injured by the powerful Inverse!
“What a powerful attack! I wonder just how powerful the enemies are, to have actually charged and killed their way in this huge formation of Guardians numbering over thousands!” Xia Fei gasped.
Oro’s expression went pale as he said in a low voice, “From what I know, this is just one Inverse.”
“Just one!” Xia Fei nearly yelped!
A single Inverse could actually give several thousand Guardians a headache and could even injure many of them! It was hard to imagine just how frightening an existence the Inverse were!
If there were a hundred or even tens of thousands of Inverse invading this side of the universe, could they hold the line?! Furthermore, the enemy’s full numbers were entirely unknown! Perhaps there was a million, or even a hundred million, Inverse ready to invade; this was not an impossibility!
Xia Fei did not wish to think about this any further. No wonder the Thirteen Founders were so unwilling to become enemies with the Inverse. It turned out this was just how powerful they truly were!
Suddenly, something peculiar occurred!
Xia Fei saw that Inverse actually broke through the Guardian’s encirclement, leaving behind a trail of blood as it dashed out!
It headed in the direction where Xia Fei and Oro were at!
In order for Oro to let Xia Fei see what an Inverse looked like, he had chosen a position with the least people yet afforded the best view. The crafty Inverse had also identified this weakness in the defense, and so it also chose the spot where the two were at!
*Whoosh*
A black shadow came hurtling toward Xia Fei! That huge floating rock that Oro and Xia Fei were hiding behind had been eyed by the Inverse!
“Awoo!”
Furball was the first to come out. As a Holy beast, his threat awareness was even greater than Xia Fei!
Alas, this one cry from Furball had caused both the Guardians and the Inverse to discover Xia Fei’s presence!
Perhaps because there was hardly any energy fluctuation coming from his body, the Inverse had deemed Xia Fei as an easy target. The creature actually turned menacing; it bared its fangs and claws, almost as if it had animosity with Xia Fei, and recklessly came diving for him!
“Not good! Quickly go and protect the Skywing!” Law G.o.d Pandiani, who was clad in a golden suit of armor, shouted.