Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 124

Ying Feng awoke from his dream, which he had had countless times before, of Ling Xiao saving him from the explosion. Ever since he inferred through the Remembrance Stone that Ling Xiao was still alive, he had been having the same dream. Its clarity convinced him that what happened that day wasn’t an illusion—it was Ling Xiao, leaping through the cracks of time and space, who had saved him from imminent peril. This could explain why Ling Xiao’s eyes were a different color when he saw them.

After washing his face with cold water and looking up into the mirror, Ying Feng saw his own reflection with eyes the same as Ling Xiao’s. They had been so close to each other once, yet at that time he knew nothing about it. Had he known in advance, he would have responded more fervently to Ling Xiao’s embrace.

But regretting over and over was pointless now; what he needed to do was keep waiting. He believed that Ling Xiao would leap to a point in time where they would meet again, and when that time came, he would hold on to him and never let go.

With this firm belief, Ying Feng casually took his controller and wore it on his right ear, then lightly tapped his temple with his index finger. The black screen flickered, and a pair of pure black sunglasses obscured his vision, hiding the gray of his irises behind the lenses. The unusual sunglasses often drew curious glances from others, but that was better than the pity revealed inadvertently by those who saw the true color of his eyes.

Life for Ying Feng was monotonous, with days of waiting, but occasionally there were surprises. Like this day, he went to the backyard as usual, only to find that the Acacia had bloomed a carpet of flowers, with large red curled petals and goose-yellow semi-transparent stamens surrounded by a faint white glow.

When he had bought the Acacia seeds, the vendor had told him that this flower was extremely difficult to bloom, but he never imagined it would be so challenging. For decades, they had never bloomed, only producing deep red beans the size of soybeans at the end of autumn, leading him to doubt whether the vendor’s words were true or if the soil and water of Tianxiu were unsuitable for their growth.

But when he witnessed the blooming of the Acacia, he instantly dismissed his doubts about the vendor. The vibrant red flowers on the ground were more enchanting than the white lotus, yet not at all gaudy.

With his new discovery, Ying Feng quickly returned to the house, grabbed his sketchbook, and outlined the acacia’s petals in a few strokes. He also tried to describe the fluid light, which was hard to depict, with words as best he could. When he finished the sketch with the name “Acacia”, it reminded him of the Remembrance Stone, which bore a name similar to the flower. So much time had passed that even the Acacia had bloomed, but the person who had carved feelings of longing into the stone had yet to return. This thought saddened Ying Feng. With the fleeting lifespan of a fledgling, would he be able to wait for the day of reunion with Ling Xiao?

Having recorded this rare flowering period, it was past noon. Ying Feng was about to call back Xiao Hui but noticed it acting unusually anxious, pacing back and forth and growling lowly as if facing a great enemy.

Having never seen Xiao Hui like this, Ying Feng knew it was the animal’s acute sense of impending danger. Following Xiao Hui’s gaze, he looked up and heard faint rumblings from afar. But the distant rumbling was quickly replaced by a piercing alarm.

The people living on this planet, many of whom had never heard a real air raid alarm in their lives because no enemy had ever dared to invade their territory, had only experienced related defensive drills during training.

He rushed from the backyard to the front, where he bumped into the new priest of the church. The former priest had been satisfactorily reincarnated and moved on more than a decade ago, and Ying Feng had taken part in the farewell when he left for the base. The new priest quickly came to accept the non-believer who had been residing long-term in the church and who, over the years, had become the person Ying Feng was closest to. Although not a graduate of a military academy, the priest didn’t panic when the alarm sounded; every person here had received the most systematic combat training during their fledgling phase and knew exactly what to do in such situations.

Indeed, several flying vehicles passed by the church, all heading in the same direction, and the priest called Ying Feng to join them.

“Going to Bikong? Take my car.”

Bikong was the fledgling academy of the district. In case of danger, every adult staying within the district would immediately go to the academy to protect the fledglings, rather than waiting for the military to arrive.

Ying Feng frowned deeply, looking at the sky where flying vehicles were gathering in the direction of Bikong. That place was his alma mater, but he had a different, ominous premonition.

“If there’s danger there, contact me,” he told the priest hurriedly as he rushed to his own car.

“Where are you going?” the priest called after him, puzzled.

“Somewhere else!” He didn’t intend to disclose his plans and quickly got into his car, and Xiao Hui also jumped into the passenger seat. The Flying Shark switched to flight mode and sped towards the base.

His intuition was right; the closer he got to the base, the stronger the rumbling signifying war became. He could even see the military’s warplanes; his yellow Flying Shark stood out conspicuously amongst them.

As he approached the danger, Xiao Hui’s warnings grew stronger. It stared intently ahead, its paws scraping at the dashboard, and the low growl that had started earlier hadn’t ceased.

The military’s communication signal came through. “This area is dangerous. Please evacuate if you are not involved.”

“I’m a graduate of Royal Sky,” Ying Feng replied.

The other side took his words to mean he was military personnel. “Which unit are you with?”

Ying Feng had already noticed that the surrounding warplanes bore the emblem of the Long Yin troop, so he answered, “I’m with General Fu Yao’s men.”

Perhaps because the situation was truly urgent, they didn’t confirm Ying Feng’s identity but hastily closed the communication. Ying Feng followed the military to the base airspace, only to be pushed back by the heat wave from an explosion before getting close.

The battle was more intense than he had imagined. Ying Feng had no time to wonder where such a powerful enemy had come from. He parked the Flying Shark hastily to one side and entered the war zone alone. Xiao Hui risked danger to follow him—Ying Feng’s shouts couldn’t scare it off.

A shadow approached, and Ying Feng reacted instinctively. After a few hand-to-hand exchanges with the assailant, he grew increasingly alarmed. He had never seen such attack strength or reaction speed on any alien before. So far, the only ones he knew could reach this level were his own people, the Tianxiu.

Thinking this, he activated a soul crystal in his hand and, with a forceful motion, detached the assailant’s arm, thinking it would stop the attack. But the enemy, as if not feeling the pain, didn’t change expression and continued attacking with the remaining left hand.

Because he was uncertain of the enemy’s strength, he had used only a low-level soul crystal. Seeing the enemy undeterred, Ying Feng leapt back two steps, crossed his hands in front of him, and at the moment the enemy lunged, he released a blinding white light from his palms, piercing through the enemy’s chest.

The fatally wounded enemy paused momentarily, not falling as expected but became transparent in front of Ying Feng’s shocked gaze. A familiar blue light flickered around him.

The invader was a Tianxiu? How could that be?

The enemy’s soul fragments gathered together and flew toward a distant end, which was decidedly not in the direction of the beacon.

With many questions, Ying Feng continued to move toward the center of the war, trying to uncover the truth and dealing with the enemy forces along the way. His supply of soul crystals was rapidly depleting.

The closer he got to the base, the stronger the explosions. Warplanes fought overhead, constantly dropping missiles to the ground. Ying Feng finally saw the enemy’s insignia, but it didn’t belong to any known power.

It was easy for someone in civilian clothes who kept rushing into the base to attract attention. Feeling a breeze from behind, Ying Feng quickly turned to defend, but the person had already flashed behind him again.

This opponent was much stronger than any Ying Feng had encountered before. He focused intently, aware that he had few soul crystals left and needed to make each one count. However, contrary to his wishes, he was subdued by the opponent before he could act.

“It’s you?” Ying Feng realized as he turned that his assailant was Long Yin, dressed in the marshal’s uniform, not staying in the command center but appearing here in person, which was enough to indicate the seriousness of the enemy’s threat.

“What are you doing here?” Long Yin asked with a grim face, noticing Ying Feng’s figure rushing forward without any protection amidst the bombardment of missiles and the crisscrossing of laser beams.

Ying Feng didn’t answer his question but instead asked, “Who are these attackers?”

“I don’t know either,” Long Yin admitted honestly. The attackers had physical abilities equal to the Tianxiu people, fearless in the face of injury, and even their souls after death seemed identical, but he was sure they were not Tianxiu.

They didn’t use soul crystals but had the most modern weapons. The ground combatants were only a very small part of their forces. During the conversation with Ying Feng, Long Yin deflected several attacks from above with protective shields. But what was more disconcerting was the number of enemies; although the Tianxiu seemed to be temporarily leading the fight, with souls continually flying off into the distance, new enemies kept arriving relentlessly. They seemed to be well aware of the strengths of both sides, employing a suicidal tactic of overwhelming numbers against the Tianxiu.

Reports from subordinates were constantly coming through the earpiece, leaving Long Yin with no time to argue with Ying Feng.

“Go back,” he ordered tersely.

Ying Feng had already come this far; how could he possibly leave now? “I have undergone systematic training. I request to join the fight.”

“You’re not military.” Long Yin immediately dismissed the idea.

“But I am a Tianxiu,” Ying Feng insisted.

Long Yin raised his hand swiftly and touched Ying Feng’s temple, causing the sunglasses to flash and disappear. The direct sunlight forced Ying Feng to instinctively turn away and squint his eyes shut before slowly opening them again.

“Even if you are a Tianxiu, you are still a fledgling who dares not face the sunlight. What right do you have to join the battle?” Long Yin said unapologetically.

Bad memories made Ying Feng turn a shade paler, but he still refused to back down.

“I can do this.” He forced himself to look directly into Long Yin’s eyes without blinking, his gray eyes having not been exposed to sunlight like this for many years. Despite the discomfort, he reiterated, “Trust me.”

Long Yin’s gaze was sharp and evaluating, listening to frontline reports. Something seemed to happen there; his expression changed, and without further hindrance, he turned and walked away.

Ying Feng thought his actions were an unspoken consent and followed, but suddenly, the person in front turned back, raised his right palm, and trapped Ying Feng within a protective shield.

Ying Feng’s teleportation was already depleted, and he protested, “What are you doing?”

Long Yin said quickly, “Even if I believe in your abilities, I’m not prepared to let a fledgling take risks. Protecting fledglings is every adult’s first priority. Don’t forget that.”

He murmured something into his wrist device, and then, with a grab, a beauty Ying Feng had never seen before appeared in place. She was wearing a long dress and clearly wasn’t from the military, nor did she seem like someone who should be on the battlefield.

But Long Yin’s actions were familiar to Ying Feng; clearly, the summoned was Long Yin’s Qizi, a woman rarely seen as beautiful as this, but it wasn’t the time to admire her.

“Dai Xuan, protect him and evacuate to a safe place. You may use force if necessary.” Long Yin commanded his Qizi with the same tone he used for his subordinates.

Dai Xuan nodded, and Ying Feng immediately felt a pushing force, realizing she was a master of mental powers. Without the means to resist, he was forced to retreat along the way they had come.

Long Yin had already hurried off. His mental power was still strong enough to maintain the protective shield. Ying Feng tried to convince Dai Xuan.

“The enemy came prepared, concentrating all their forces on the base, clearly targeting the lighthouse or the Soul Tree. Although I am a fledgling, I am also a military academy graduate and have sufficient ability to protect myself.”

She ignored Ying Feng’s words. “I’m just executing my Qizhu’s orders.”

“Watch out from behind!” As two enemies appeared from left and right, Ying Feng shouted a warning. Dai Xuan effortlessly raised her hand, and the two, as if bewitched, turned their weapons on their companions and pulled the trigger. Two beams struck their chests, and both turned into souls and flew away.

“Do you see?” Dai Xuan said with a stern tone. “This kind of soul crystal is ineffective against any species from any galaxy. Mental powers are mostly used in medical and combat enhancement, but I can control them.” Her gaze darkened. “This means they are of the same species as us, originating from another place. This enemy is more difficult than any the military has faced before. How could we possibly let a fledgling like you join the fight? As for the concerns you’re worried about, the military has people for that. You just need to follow me.”

“Why would such enemies suddenly appear?” Ying Feng asked. “Could it be that our genes were stolen by the enemy?”

“As far as I know, no Tianxiu has been captured in the last hundred years.” Even if there were, their instincts wouldn’t allow their bodies to fall into enemy hands. If there was any possibility of that, every one of them would self-terminate without hesitation.

A huge spaceship descended, picked up the two of them, and took off again, but it didn’t leave; instead, it hovered in a relatively safe area. Ying Feng realized this place was essentially the military’s logistical headquarters. Signals from the frontline were being broadcast on a massive monitor, and everyone present was busy with their tasks, showing no curiosity about Ying Feng’s arrival.

Ying Feng covered his eyes with sunglasses again and looked up to the monitor, only to see the enemy’s mothership appear, surrounded by countless warplanes following it densely, like locusts coming from afar. He rushed to the control panel, checking the battle situation across several screens. “There are too many of them,” he reiterated his request. “Let me join the fight.”

“Your task is to stay here.” Dai Xuan’s voice rose over his, firmly rejecting his request. While reinforcements from their side were continuously arriving from different locations, they were still outnumbered by the enemy forces.

The base’s protective shield had been activated long ago. The enemy’s objective was very clear, focusing their greatest firepower here. Ying Feng also saw Long Yin’s warship in the nearby screens, with his elite troops deploying from the ship, skillfully dodging various attacks and surrounding the enemy’s mothership with the unique combat style of the Tianxiu.

But this time, they weren’t facing an opponent who was helpless without modern weapons. Enemies of equal strength confronted them directly in the air, transforming both the sky and the ground into battlefields. With the addition of large-scale destructive weapons, the base’s protective shield was under unprecedented assault.

A loud noise followed by a powerful airwave shook even the logistics ship, which was some distance from the main battlefield. As the turbulence settled, a distressed report came from the loudspeaker:

“There are cracks in the base’s protective shield!”

The logistics ship’s cargo bay opened, and several small warplanes shot out at light speed. Before they could get far, the second wave of explosions hit, with the enemy abandoning all defenses and continually rushing toward the same direction.

It was already too late. Ying Feng’s lips moved, but the words in his heart didn’t come out. In the upper right corner of the screen, Long Yin’s figure appeared. Dai Xuan lifted her head, looking at her Qizhu on the screen.

“Hold your positions,” he said, addressing all the logistics personnel, his gaze fixed on one person. “I will stop them at all costs.”

Dai Xuan’s lips trembled slightly, but she nodded firmly.

Long Yin gave one last look at the person on the screen and decisively cut off the communication. With a swift motion, he teleported outside the ship.

Under the personal command of the marshal, more and more Tianxiu warriors appeared above the base, building a new protective shield with soul crystals. The enemies, disregarding their lives, rushed over and were turned into souls upon their attacks, with more taking their place. There were continuous casualties on both sides, and the number of souls ascending that day could no longer be counted.

“No matter what, we must defend the Soul Tree.” Long Yin’s voice came through the communicator to everyone; even the logistics fleet heard this decree. Dai Xuan watched the central monitor unblinkingly as the protective shield became increasingly dense, and everyone held their ground with a readiness to sacrifice themselves for the last line of defense.

Ying Feng clenched his fists, feeling a sense of powerlessness as he could only watch the unfolding disaster. What was even more unacceptable was that they had been pushed to such dire straits without even knowing who the enemy was or where they had come from.

After a brief pause, the enemy mothership launched a fatal assault on the base, with thousands of warplanes suicidally rushing towards the human-made protective shield to self-destruct, causing cracks that were continuously filled by nearby warriors. Everyone in logistics and at the base witnessed this tragedy, gripping their fists with sweaty palms in anxiety.

“General Fu Yao is returning!” someone suddenly reported loudly, reigniting everyone’s hope. Fu Yao’s troops had been out on a mission but were now rushing back urgently. His arrival would undoubtedly be a powerful reinforcement for the Tianxiu forces.

Just as everyone thought a turning point had arrived, an unprecedentedly strong shockwave hit, rolling the logistics ship back several times in the air before it stopped. Those not secured were flung into corners, and at the same time, an intense white light filled the screens, with the sound of a huge explosion from the frontline being clearly audible even here.

The flagship was forced to land, and Ying Feng rushed out of the ship, followed by others. A shadow appeared on the other side of the sky and reached them within seconds. Leading the approach was the Burning Shadow. The white light above the base continued to flash non-stop as the Burning Shadow and the accompanying warplanes opened their hatches. Fu Yao and his troops jumped to the ground, sharing the same shocked expression as they looked ahead.

The protective shield shattered under the suicide attack of the enemy mothership, tearing open the base’s defenses. In full view, the Soul Tree was broken at the base by the shockwave from the explosion, its massive trunk crashing down. To the Tianxiu people, this process seemed to slow down manyfold, even the fluttering of its leaves as it fell was vividly visible.

People stood dumbstruck, witnessing everything, unable to believe such an outcome was real. The distant lighthouse slowly extinguished after the fall of the Soul Tree, no longer able to illuminate the path of reincarnation for the Tianxiu people.

The soul fragments of Long Yin and others gathered and flew into the sky, but without direction, they lingered, then dispersed again, dotting the sky one after another, like a blue firework show, marking a bleak end to the failed battle.

People in the distance looked up, powerless, as Fu Yao knelt heavily on the ground, followed by more and more people. The loss of the Soul Tree, the lighthouse, and the souls of their kin brought an uncontrollable sorrow that welled up from the depths of every Tianxiu’s heart, whether present or not, they all felt this bone-deep despair.

Gradually, low sobs arose around Ying Feng, catalyzing the resonance of more people, and their suppressed cries echoed throughout every inch of Tianxiu land on this day, like a lamentation within a hopeless plight.

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