Chapter 500: Spatial Compass

Night time on Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth.

The blizzard was intense, and it was hard to make out anything beyond a half a meter range. The strong winds made it difficult for anyone to stand stationary.

Xia Fei was standing upright in flimsy clothes. His two legs had already been buried by the snow, and his eyes still remained staring out east, looking in the direction of the land he once called home.

There was no cheer or fresh flowers. There was no boisterous send off party. Xia Fei left like this, all alone, standing here in this blizzard which would make anyone’s heart tremble.

“What are you looking at?” Phantom curiously wondered.

“That side of the mountain is China, the Chinese community.” Xia Fei’s answer was simple.

“You can see so far out despite this heavy snowing?”

“Not at all, but I can feel it in my heart.”

Phantom sighed, and did not say a word. There was no telling what mysteries lay in the Law Realm, and who knew when they would be back again? The Chinese would always have this habit of finding it difficult to leave their homeland, and Xia Fei was just the same.

He might miss the place, but that was not going to stop him from going forward. His gaze was as resolute and calm as always.

“Shing!*

A figure emerged from this blizzard, and it was of course the merchant from the Law Realm, Yuhua. He could not help but shake his head when he saw Xia Fei standing in the blizzard, complaining, “Why did you choose such a place?”

Xia Fei glanced at the man and simply answered, “I’m ready.”

Yuhua nodded his head slightly, softly saying, “Take another good look. Unless you grasp the Law of Space one day, or you become insanely rich, there’s no way for you to come back.”

Xia Fei smiled. “I’m not worried about that.”

Yuhua approached Xia Fei and grabbed him by the shoulder. He pulled out a golden compass from his bosom and quickly entered a sequence of numbers to it as if he was locating some landmark.

“What’s that there?” Xia Fei asked curiously.

“This thing is called a Spatial Compass. A warrior who fails to learn the Law of Space can use it to travel across the stars.”

Xia Fei was stunned as he incredulously blurted out, “Would anyone be able to freely travel across the universe with that thing there?”

Yuhua burst into laughter as he smugly replied, “It’s not as simple as you think. Do you know how much this thing’s worth?”

“Is it very expensive?” Xia Fei asked.

“That’s an understatement. Four or maybe five of the Panhuman Alliance added together may buy you the most basic device, but it still costs you money every time you shuttle across space, so unless you’re a commercial genius like me, you’ll have to wait a long, long, long time before you can even afford one.”

Xia Fei let out a bitter laugh. He might be a top businessman here in the Panhuman Alliance, with wealth that could rival a nation, but what little assets he had would practically be worth nothing in the Law Realm. Xia Fei was still very much intrigued by the Spatial Compass, though. He would be able to freely traverse the stars with this device, and wormholes would hardly be a comparison to the mysterious Law of Space.

“So you’ve been relying on this compass to move around those few times we met?” Xia Fei asked.

Yuhua answered, “Then how else would I do it? Do you think every single person in the Law Realm is a Law Adept? If that’s the case, Law Warriors won’t be worth jack, and only the Patriarch Yujiang is the only Law Adept out of everyone in the Yu family, and he’s also the only one able to traverse through space. Of course, most people can’t even afford this expensive Spatial Compass, nor can they afford the cost of the travel.”

Yuhua was acting very pleased with himself in front of a bumpkin like Xia Fei. Merchants and businessmen did not hold too much of a standing in the Law Realm and were at most free to live their lives, which was why Yuhua would often seize what opportunity he could to show off.

“We can set off now, so you can experience what’s called Spatial Transference,” Yuhua happily announced. “This time, I’m paying for this travel upon orders from the Patriarch, so I’ll count this on your bill. I’ll come collect what you owe me when you make it rich one day.”

Xia Fei nodded. A shrewd businessman would of course be shrewd, counting every transaction clearly. It looked like the laws of commerce found in the Alliance applied to the Law Realm as well, and that profits abound.

*Swoosh!*

Xia Fei felt his body lighten as a brief moment of dizziness came over him. Before him was an endless darkness, and both Yuhua and he were seemingly delving deeper toward it. Yuhua was gripping Xia Fei tightly, afraid that he would fall in.

“The biggest taboo with Spatial Transference is panicking. The consequence is dire if you get lost in the spatial barrier,” Yuhua cautioned.

Soon, a bright light could be seen ahead of them. A spatial door suddenly opened, and the two stepped out of it. In front of them was a small stream, and there was a pier by this stream where Yujiang was sitting cross-legged. He was busy fishing peacefully, and beside him was an ordinary earthen bucket with his catches inside.

“The old patriarch loves fishing, and you can always find him right here on this pier, but my advice for you is to bother him as little as possible. Solve whatever problem you run into yourself. There’s a hierarchy to observe in this world, and the mid-level disciples will get upset if you skip the hierarchy and go directly to the patriarch.”

Xia Fei nodded. That was when Yujiang waved to Yuhua and Xia Fei, indicating for the two to come over.

“Xia Fei, how did it feel walking through a spatial door for the first time?” Yujiang asked softly without even lifting his head.

Xia Fei took a moment to think before answering, “It’s like walking along a dark and cavernous corridor, everything so silent around that it’s oppressive, but one gets this invigorating sense of being reborn when they step into the light.”

Yujiang lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at Xia Fei before laughing. “It is as you said. The spatial door is a passageway that connects two different spaces together. Grasping the Law of Space won’t mean merely learning how to open a spatial door but also how to distort and change the space before you.”

Keeping his fishing rod, Yujiang came over to his bucket while beaming brightly. There were several white fish swimming in that bucket, appearing to be extremely lively.

“Against all odds, you finally have the chance to join the great Law Realm, which is both an opportunity and a challenge. Cook all these fish I caught this evening as a form of congratulations.”

Yuhua lightly prodded Xia Fei from behind. “Quick, thank the patriarch; those are Phoenix-tailed Carved Spirit Fish, able to exchange for a hundred Origin Crystals if you sell them outside. They grant plenty of benefits to the body if eaten.”

Xia Fei was slightly surprised. These seemingly ordinary looking fish were actually valuable enough that they could exchange for a hundred Origin Crystals, and just what was an Origin Crystal, anyway?

…

Food was simple, and it was a pot of fresh fish soup accompanied with pancakes. Xia Fei, Yujiang and Yuhua all set together on the ground, holding their bowl and chopsticks as they tasted the fish soup. Xia Fei had always had a good appetite, and he practically finished half the pot of soup himself while also eating plenty of the pancakes offered.

Yujiang and Yuhua merely stopped after sampling the fare as if they had only tried the soup for the taste.

Yuhua chuckled when he saw how much Xia Fei was eating. “This here is the first lesson of the Law Realm: the Law of Energy.”

Xia Fei crooked his head toward him, apparently a little nonplussed.

Yujiang lightly brushed his finger on his spatial ring and pulled out a Purple Heart of Spirit. What was different from it with Xia Fei’s Hearts of Spirit, though, was that it was shaped like a bead, as if someone had carved it.

“You ought to have seen this before in the Panhuman Alliance, right?”

Xia Fei nodded. “It’s called the Purple Heart of Spirit and said to contain Cosmic Origin Energy.”

“Then are you aware of how to use it?”

Xia Fei answered, “Some mechanical equipment uses it as a power source. The energy contained within Hearts of Spirit is very pure but overly violent. Though there are people who use it to replenish their energy, not many do so.”

Yuhua laughed. “What you’re speaking of are Origin Crystals that haven’t undergone purification process, so of course the human body will be unable to accept them. In the Law Realm, Origin Crystals are used as currency and are also a precious source of energy for warriors.”

“A large amount of energy is required for either the study or use of Law, and just relying on food to replenish energy is no longer sufficient for a warrior’s needs. That’s why we use such Origin Crystals to replenish our energy. As for food and dining, it’s nothing more than a pastime. After all, the sensation of going hungry doesn’t feel good.”

It turned out that Law Warriors depended on Hearts of Spirit and the like to replenish their energy. Hearts of Spirit contained plenty of energy, and who knew how much more energy it contained compared that of food?!

*Whoosh~*

Xia Fei saw Yuhua slightly regulate his energy and that Purple Heart of Spirit in his hand instantly turned transparent, losing all its luster. Yuhua then tossed the bead into the grass carelessly.

“Once the energy has been completely drawn, the origin crystal becomes nothing more than trash. This sort of ore is called a Grade 2 Origin Crystal, while a white one is grade 3, and yellow grade 4. The amount of energy contained in each is different, too, and a Law Warrior must first learn how to use these Origin Crystals to replenish their energy. How many crystals you own is also symbolic of your wealth, which is why there’s a saying here in the Law Realm: ‘All things are difficult without Origin Crystals.’

Xia Fei nodded. “Then that purification process that you spoke of just now, what’s up with that?”

Yuhua answered, “That Origin Crystal I just used is different from what you’ve seen in the past, right?”

“That’s right. It seems that what you just used is a crystal that had been processed, looking very exquisite in its appearance. Meanwhile, the ones I saw in the Alliance were those that had just been mined, rough ores with jagged edges.”

Yuhua replied, “Origin Energy is as you said, violent in nature, and it’s very difficult for the body to accept that raw energy. It’s difficult even if you’ve been trained to do so, too. There’s a form of energy purification law, allowing a Law Adept to process Origin Crystals, extracting the Origin Energy inside and transferring it to an energy stone which can be accepted by living beings.”

Xia Fei asked another question, “Is it possible to exchange the original ores for the purified crystals?”

This was a very important question. Xia Fei had brought with him about six tons of Purple Hearts of Spirit, originally to be used as food for Furball, but he suddenly discovered that these ores could actually be used for himself. This could be considered as quite a pleasant surprise, too.

“Sure. If you brought Purple Hearts of Spirit with you from human territory, you can exchange them ten to one.”

Xia Fei was annoyed. Ten to one? Such an exchange rate was really sinister, and the six tons of ores would only come up to be about six hundred kilograms? Even if some of the energy would be lost in the purification process, it would not be that exaggerated, right? It was evident that the middleman of this transaction would be earning a lot.

“There aren’t too many energy purification experts around, and every family will spend plenty of effort in recruiting an Energy Master who has this Law. After all, there are plenty of families that would hope to acquire origin crystals to replenish their energy with, which is why their income is one of the highest among Law Adepts.

“If you think that you’ll lose a lot in this transaction, your only choice is to learn the Law of Energy Purification and become an Energy Master.”