Chapter 385: The Star of Ruin’s Power

Within a meticulously designed incubation chamber, Xia Fei finally saw the Blood Demon Claw he had long been seeking.

The plant was inside a transparent incubator that was about one cubic meter in volume. Fluorescent lights simulated a night-and-day cycle, and even the air contained within was adjusted to simulate a natural environment.

In truth, while the Blood Demon Claw was a miraculous plant, it did not have particularly strict growth requirements. It simply needed sufficient water and sunlight to thrive.

“So this is the Blood Demon Claw!” Xia Fei excitedly said as he walked up to the incubator. He pressed his hands up to the glass cover and got a closer look.

The Blood Demon Claw truly did appear like a hand, its five fingers as sharp as knives and carrying indescribable savagery. Rather than the gray it appeared in the pictures, it was faint white with gold speckles.

“Eh? This Blood Demon Claw has already started to lose its black hue and turn blood-red. It just needs to get through its golden and orange phases to begin ripening. It probably won’t be long before you can pluck the Blood Drop and completely repair the damage done to your seventh brain region!” Phantom excitedly said.

Xia Fei firmly nodded. The Blood Demon Claw had many phases to its growth. It began from a small sapling, and its color would turn from black to gray, gray to white, white to gold, and gold to orange until, finally, bright red, indicating that it had ripen.

The Blood Demon Claw before Xia Fei had already begun to turn gold from white. This meant that it was getting closer and closer to ripening. In two years’ time at most—with one year being the best case—Xia Fei would be able to pick the Blood Drop that he had dreamed about and henceforth break free of the embarrassing situation where he needed to rely on external help to advance in rank.

Squatting on Xia Fei’s shoulder, Furball began drooling, its eyes flashing. Xia Fei sharply glared at it. “Scoundrel, you’re not thinking about eating this, are you? Let me warn you: If even one leaf is missing from this plant, I won’t forgive you!”

Xia Fei was very serious this time. In the past, when Furball recklessly ate anything, Xia Fei would try to scare it, but he had never been as serious as today. After all, this was connected to his seventh brain region’s full recovery! The slightest mishap would have Xia Fei filled with endless regrets.

Furball could sense the killing intent in Xia Fei’s threat, so it somewhat helplessly sighed. Its face turned into a smile as Furball began to rub itself against Xia Fei.

“Xia Fei, you’d better keep a close eye on this plant. I feel that Furball isn’t going to give up on it that easily.” Phantom warned him.

Xia Fei knew Furball very well. This rascal was outwardly docile and cute, but in its bones, it was a cunning and sinister fellow. Once he got back, he would need to find a way to hide the Blood Demon Claw in case Furball tried eating it.

Storing the incubator in his spatial ring, Xia Fei turned and prepared to leave. In truth, he had brought his own small incubator, but it was not as advanced. In any case, he still had space in his ring, so he decided to take both the incubator and the plant with him.

Suddenly, Xia Fei noticed that a corpse in a corner seemed to be holding something in its hand. He immediately squatted and took a look. What he saw was a signal transmitter that was rapidly blinking red. This was clearly some sort of signal this mite warrior had sent out before his death!

“Oh, no! Is it a signal for reinforcements?” Phantom gasped.

Xia Fei did not have time to think. Fighting with the entire academy and the large number of soldiers outside was a terrible idea. Moreover, he had just gotten his hands on the Blood Demon Claw, so he wanted to get out of here as soon as he could.

Stroking his spatial ring with his finger, Xia Fei took out a Star of Ruin, threw it into the room, and then left at high speed.

That door leading to the depot was not that sturdy, so Xia Fei used Celestial Moon to break it.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Several dozen spotlights immediately turned to the source of disturbance. The soldiers and academy staff, who had received the signal, were already assembled, laying out a massive net to catch Xia Fei!

With a wicked smile on his lips, Xia Fei coldly chuckled and shot out like a bolt of lightning.

He was far too fast, and before these insectoids had any time to react, Xia Fei was already in the middle of the crowd! This made it so that those soldiers armed with thermal weapons did not dare to fire for fear of wounding their own kind.

“Anyone who stops me dies!” Xia Fei roared. Celestial Moon erupted, reaping the lives of these young insectoid warriors, the dagger flying around like a comet.

These students, who had just joined the academy, had never seen something like this. With so many insectoids around, the soldiers and the higher-grade instructors did not dare to strike recklessly. This allowed Xia Fei to kill his way through the crowd and vanish.

The crowd still wanted to pursue, but Dean Tude could see what was up. These insectoids did not have the ability to handle someone of Xia Fei’s speed. Putting aside whether they could catch up to Xia Fei’s ten thousand meters per second speed or not, if they did pursue, they might be unable to come back alive.

“Hurry and come with me inside!” Tude waved his hand, leading ten-some trustworthy instructors into the depot. Xia Fei running away was a minor matter. If the Blood Claw was lost, then he was doomed! This was Uti’s precious treasure, and not even with one hundred lives could he compensate for its loss!

However, Tude did not believe that Xia Fei could have taken the Blood Demon Claw. Having heard that one of the Seven Sacred Champions, Mengen, was present, he was certain that Xia Fei had fled because he was no match for Mengen.

So that he could sleep at night, Tude ignored Uti’s orders and entered the depot with his trusted subordinates and some soldiers.

Upon seeing the open door, old Tude fell unconscious on the spot.

“Dean! Are you okay?”

“Dean, what’s wrong?”

The instructors ran over to help him up, shaking and jostling him until he regained consciousness.

“Hurry… Go in… t-the Blood Demon… Blood Demon Claw…”

Tude was so worried that he could not properly speak.

“Dean, terrible news! Sir Mengen, he’s… he’s dead!” An instructor discovered Mengen’s body in the corner and mustered up his courage to touch it. Upon discovering that it was not breathing, he immediately announced this.

Truly, when it rained, it poured. No one had imagined that one of Uti’s Seven Sacred Champions would be inexplicably slain here.

Tude’s face shifted between green and white, and his heart almost stopped beating. He forced himself to stand up and came over to Mengen’s corpse, his face ashen.

“How did Sir Mengen die?”

“I don’t know. I inspected him. His neck is somewhat colder, while his spine has completely shattered.”

“Could it have been that black-clothed man?”

“It couldn’t be! What grade did Sir Mengen have, and he’s one of the Seven Sacred Champions to boot! How could he be killed so easily?”

“It’s hard to say. Perhaps that black-clothed person has an even higher cultivation than Sir Mengen. You saw his speed when he’s fleeing. That must be nearly ten thousand meters per second of speed.”

“If that’s true. Then the fact that he didn’t kill us can be considered as a sort of blessing.”

The others began to chatter, but Tude was not listening. Mengen was related to Uti by blood and was one of Uti’s most trusted confidants. He had now inexplicably died in Tude’s academy. If Uti learned of this, it would not just be his life but his entire family and the several thousand members of his race perishing with him, instead.

His only hope was on the Blood Demon Claw. If the Blood Demon Claw was still present, Tude might be able to exchange his life alone to spare the rest of his tribe.

With this plan in mind, Tude rushed into the incubator chamber, mentally praying to all the various gods the insectoids had.

Alas, he was disappointed. Everything else was in the chamber except the incubator with the Blood Demon Claw.

In truth, Tude had never been here before. He began searching the room like a crazed insectoid, pulling open drawers, knocking over cabinets, and even scouring the wall corners.

The instructors and soldiers, who had come with him, were silent. Only Tude himself refused to believe that the Blood Demon Claw was lost. The rest of them no longer held any hope.

“Eh? What’s this?” A sharp-eyed instructor picked up the Star of Ruin that Xia Fei had left behind.

“What is it? Let me look.”

…

There was a dazzling light like the afterglow of the sun setting in the west, and then a ball of flame ignited in the black sea of stars, exploding with flames more blinding than the sun!

Not just this planet; even the somewhat closer planets were also caught up in the explosion. The flames from the nova-like explosion seemingly endlessly expanded outward, and in the space of ten-some seconds, half of the star system had been engulfed!

Standing at the window of his ship, Xia Fei watched the entire process from start to finish, his face painted bright red by the enormous flames. The joy of revenge should have left him excited, but for some reason, Xia Fei was surprisingly calm.

“Not enough. It’s far from enough,” Xia Fei softly said, putting out one cigarette and lighting another.

Phantom pursed his lips. “The Star of Ruin destroyed half a system, and you’re still not satisfied? Just how did those ancient humans manage to do it so a fist-size explosive could possess so much power!”

Xia Fei shook his head. “I’m not talking about the Star of Ruin’s power. I’m saying that ten billion insectoids aren’t enough to serve as a funeral offering for Avril.”

After a few moments’ silence, Phantom finally said what had been on his mind this entire. “Avril might still be alive. After all, we haven’t received any definite reports. It’s not worth making such a big deal over it just yet.”

A hint of heart-throbbing sorrow flashed across Xia Fei’s eyes; after which, they turned harsh and cold.

“I’m still a man. I promised that I will never let Avril come under any harm, so I will see it done! No matter who it is, anyone who wants to hurt my woman must pay! The insectoids put Avril in danger, meaning that they had better be ready to offer their lives in exchange. Plus, I have many comrades on Earth. For their lives, even more insectoids must join them in death!”

Phantom was dumbfounded. Given how intelligent Xia Fei was, he should have known that Avril being hurt was only a possibility. After all, the mighty Jian family was incredibly wealthy, so it naturally had a better chance of escaping than ordinary people. It turned out that Xia Fei’s almost insane desire for revenge was simply because the insectoids had engaged in actions that exposed Avril to harm!

‘Such a frightening desire for revenge! Xia Fei is really the most obstinate and most crazed fellow in this universe.’ Phantom pursed his lips as he thought to himself.

The Impaler silently departed toward its next destination.

Xia Fei had no idea that his actions would set off a storm among both the insectoids and the Pan-human Alliance.