Chapter 988: Alliance
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The ovoid item had a uniform shape, and nothing about its appearance made it peculiar. He could hold it with one hand, its weight not the astonis.h.i.+ng sort.
However, Radix seemed to be very interested in the black, little trinket, urging Xia Fei to crack it open at once.
“This thing here is called the Rigid Soul Orb; it’s quite similar to the spatial ring that the Law Realm uses, except that it isn’t used to store items but messages, instead,” said Radix.
“Messages?” Xia Fei furrowed his brows. “Why not use a memory chip, instead, if it’s just for storing messages? A microchip the size of a fingernail can store an ocean of information, and it’s far easier to carry that around compared to this Rigid Soul Orb, too.”
Radix chuckled. “That’s where you’re mistaken. A memory chip storage is for third-party information, while a Rigid Soul Orb can perform scene restoration, so anyone who accesses it will be able to see an event played out as if they’re there when it happened. The realism isn’t comparable to what a memory chip can recreate.”
Xia Fei nodded. “So you mean to say that this Solid Soul Orb is like a holographic projection?”
“A realistic holographic projection!” Radix re-emphasized the pros of the Solid Soul Orb.
Opening a Solid Soul Orb that someone else had used to store messages was not easy, for it was usually encrypted to prevent others from peeping at what was contained within. However, because Xia Fei had an expert like Radix by his side, this situation became a lot simpler.
“The Solid Soul Orb actually has a flaw, which you can exploit to bypa.s.s completely the owner’s screening and copy the information inside.” Radix told Xia Fei this with a mysterious smile on his face.
Xia Fei suddenly realized that Radix was truly a formidable individual. No doubt that such a flaw was by design, and there was no way anyone would know about it, unless they understood the very essence of the orb. Furthermore, there were probably few who knew of this flaw in the first place. If this flaw of the Solid Soul Orb were known to everyone, people would most likely stop using such a device.
Following Radix’s instructions, Xia Fei bypa.s.sed its security measures and accepted the message stored in the orb into his brain. Instantly, Xia Fei froze up and his expression turned solemn.
“The Solid Soul Orb’s actually storing evidence of the secret communication between the Founders and the Inverse! The complete ledger of souls that the Founders have given to the Inverse in the recent year is recorded in here! Plus, the Founders intend to provide a million qualified souls, as well as ten thousand high-quality souls, to the Inverse; that’s the condition for them to stop their a.s.sault on the Cosmic Gate!” said Xia Fei gravely.
“A million qualified souls and ten thousand high-quality souls?!” Radix was astounded. “Qualified souls refer to Law Overlord experts, while high-quality souls mean Law Sages! If so many lives get harvested like that, the Law Realm will be crippled! The Inverse sure are evil!”
Gritting his teeth, Xia Fei said, “No way. I must report this matter right away to the grand ancestor. After all, this is first-hand proof of the Founders betraying the Law Realm!”
Bidding farewell to Pandiani and the other Guardians, Xia Fei went to a secluded location and pulled out the White Flamingo from his spatial ring.
…
Just as Xia Fei found evidence of the Founders betraying the Law Realm in the Guardian base, the grand ancestor, who had just departed from the battlefield between G.o.ds and demons, met with one of the Thirteen Founders, Old Crane.
“You’re the one called Crane?” asked Xia Gucheng, his face emotionless. He did not have a good impression of the Founders, so while Xia Gucheng was unsure if all thirteen of them were enemies, he was at least sure that someone among them had betrayed the Law Realm, so Xia Gucheng was being fairly cautious here.
Crane nodded. “Xia Gucheng, you and your Skywing Clan have become rather strong. I wish to discuss a matter with you.”
Xia Gucheng raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you saying that you came to chat with me on behalf of the Thirteen Founders? Let’s get the ugly words out of the way first; whoever killed the G.o.dwings of my clan in the past will have to pay the ultimate price! If we can’t discuss this point, then you might as well forget about discussing anything else!”
Xia Gucheng was resolute. He was determined to kill whoever threatened the Skywings’ existence, even if they were the Founders! This was the ironclad rule of the Skywing Clan!
Crane chuckled. “You’re mistaken. I’m not here representing the Thirteen Founders. The people know that there are thirteen Founder-tier experts who established the Law Realm together, but what they don’t know is that these founders have long since split into two groups.”
Xia Gucheng was startled as he exclaimed, “Is that true?!”
Crane unhurriedly told him about how the thirteen had encountered the threat of the Inverse all those years ago and the process by which the schism occurred with extraordinary honesty.
Xia Gucheng listened as he observed the other’s expression. He judged that this old man called Crane was not lying, so he decided to believe about 70% of it.
“What you mean to say is that you, Vista, Ocean, Yore, Solo, and Lingua, six of the thirteen Founders didn’t agree to supplying the Inverse with souls in return for continued peace, so there have been intermittent cases of experts disappearing from the Law Realm, as well as many major wars between the G.o.d and Demon Races, all these years. All those were orchestrated by the strongest founder among the thirteen, Constant?”
Crane nodded. “That’s right. Constant is the only Superior Founder among the thirteen, and he possesses unbelievable talent and combat strength. Be it Mortis, Youth, or Chill, all are working for him.
“As for the treaty between the Founders and the Inverse, just like the deal they have with the Dark lifeforms, Constant has always been the one secretly in control.”
*Zing*
A chilling light flashed across Xia Gucheng’s two eyes, and the killing intent inside him surged. He did not say a word, his nostrils merely flaring coldly. This was essentially him treating Constant as an enemy that he must kill!
“Crane, it’s good that you told me about the Thirteen Founders’ matter to me, but for you to stop me here today, that’s not all there is to it, is it?” Xia Gucheng solemnly probed.
Crane smiled. “Indeed, the state of the universe is fairly tense at the moment. The Inverse has been testing the safety of the Cosmic Gate again, while the Dark lifeforms from outside the Law Realm are unfriendly. Though they’re cooperating with the Law Realm on the surface, they’re actually making moves and calculations from behind the scenes.
“‘Caught between a hard and rock place.’ This is the state the Law Realm is currently in. If there’s nothing out of the ordinary, Constant and the others will surely compromise like before, and the entire Law Realm shall be swept up in a great storm! The war you just stopped between the G.o.d and Demon Races is only the beginning; I believe there’ll be a lot more ma.s.sacres in the future.”
“That’s why I hope that you’ll ally yourself with us to stop this bloodshed!” Crane offered earnestly.
Xia Guchen stroked his beard with his right hand. “Cooperation? You’ve said it yourself: Constant is very powerful. Even with you, Vista, and Ocean all working together may not be a match to him. With such an outright disadvantage, why bother risking your lives by going up against Constant?
“Besides, the moment the balance is broken, the Law Realm will no longer be subservient to the Inverse, and those murderous b*st*rds will definitely bust through the Cosmic Gate and invade. At that rate, the Law Realm—the entire universe even—will still be due for a great calamity. Do you really think that the strength the Law Realm wields now can fend off both the Dark lifeforms and the Inverse’s attacks?”
Xia Gucheng’s question was very pointed, causing Old Man Crane to shrug and laugh.
“I’ve thought about this problem for the longest time. What will come will come, so whatever Constant’s doing will only keep the universe safe for a time, never forever! All this time, the number of souls that Constant must pay as tribute to the savage Inverse has only increased, yet the Law Realm is still as before, and nothing has changed.
“A day will come when the Inverse are so powerful that they’ll no longer tolerate the Law Realm’s existence. When that time comes, they won’t hesitate to slaughter their way in and annihilate this piece of the universe.
“To think we had thirty Founder tier experts back then! If we only fought against the Inverse to the bitter end at that time, even if we couldn’t come out victorious, we’d at least be able to deal them a heavy blow, but now look! The Law Realm only has fourteen Founders including you, and half of them are even subservient to the Inverse!”
At this point, Crane’s gaze became a lot sharper, and his voice became a lot hoa.r.s.er, too.
“This is the result of our indecisiveness during that critical juncture back then! Rather than accept a temporary survival, it would’ve been better if we subjected ourselves to a fight to the death with the Inverse! At the very least, we would retain a measure of our pride as warriors, rather than live this life no better than a dog’s!”
Xia Gucheng was quite astonished. Evidently, Old Man Crane had come with a do-or-die spirit, and the oppression he felt all these years had finally imploded. He was determined to make up for his past mistakes with his very life!
After a pause, Crane continued speaking. “Vista, Ocean, you, and I, that will make for a total of four Founders. There’s also Yore and Lingua; they might join us in this fight, and if we can reveal evidence of Constant and the others’ betrayal to everyone, both the G.o.d and Demon Races, and every other faction out there in the entire Law Realm will stand on our side!
“Adding the two major factions, Guardians and Rebels, into our numbers, even if we are no match to the mighty and indomitable Constant, the chances of victory aren’t zero!” Crane was exuberant as he said this.
Xia Gucheng was silent for a good while before he said, “You said that out of the Thirteen Founders, the closest in strength to Constant is the one called Solo. Which side will he stand on?”
Crane paled before gravely stating, “Solo’s a weird one. Though he’s against Constant’s plan, he has since left in a huff, and it’s been years since we last had any contact with him.”
“What about the Dark lifeforms? Whose side will they be supporting?” Xia Gucheng asked again.
The expression on Crane’s face turned even uglier, and he sighed. “If nothing unexpected occurs, the Dark lifeforms will most likely stand with Constant, and they have three founders.”
People had always thought that Xia Gucheng was just a meathead, but in actual fact, he was the textbook example of what it meant to be a thinking meathead. No matter what Crane said or intentionally omitted, Xia Gucheng took everything into consideration.
After some careful calculations, it was clear that even if the strength of the G.o.d and Demon Races, as well as the Guardians and the Rebels, were all consolidated into one, they might not be a match against the seven Founders who had Constant in charge. Even more so if they included the Dark lifeforms. After all, the number of Founder experts they had on their end was a whopping ten!
Old Crane thought that since Xia Gucheng had asked so many questions, the Skywings would very likely refuse to cooperate, so he was somewhat disappointed, but he was wrong! He had forgotten what sort of clan the Skywing was!
Wherever the fiendish blade pointed, G.o.ds and demons alike would be slaughtered! This was by no means just talk!
Afraid? The Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade had never been afraid of anyone since ancient times!
“Good! From here on out, we are considered allies! My Skywing Clan shall give it our all to join in this fight! No matter what the outcome is, the enemy will have to pay a dear price!” With a slightly cold gaze, Xia Gucheng very softly uttered this line.
Old Man Crane could hardly believe his ears. Xia Gucheng had clearly thoroughly a.n.a.lyzed the situation that they were in and understood just how perilous the upcoming battle would be, yet the leader of the Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade had still made the decision to join in the effort!
No doubt, they lived up to their names as the craziest of the insane in the Law Realm! Their actions could never be deduced by common sense!
At this very moment, the Skywings had formed an alliance with the three Founders led by Crane. Their enemies? The seven Founders and the Dark lifeforms!