Chapter 560: Feathered People
He looked at Xu Wuyi and pushed up his glasses. "That energy spike underground just now... Did you use Water Drop?"
"Yes." Xu Wuyi didn’t hide it. "Its penetration is excellent. It can precisely destroy the core without triggering a chain reaction."
Lu Wenquan recorded the data on his tablet. "I’ll send the combat data back to the research institute. Also, I just detected an abnormal surge in the Energy Fluctuations of two other nests. They may have sensed the battle here."
Tie Zhan frowned. "They can communicate with each other?"
"It’s likely some kind of biological network." Lu Wenquan pulled up the Star Domain map. "The Alien Insect Nests exchange information. When one is destroyed, the others will raise their alert level. The cleanup ahead might get more difficult."
Xu Wuyi gazed northwest, the desolate horizon reflected in his dark gold pupils.
"Then we’ll speed up," he said. "We’ll clear out as many as we can before they’re fully on alert."
The recovery operation at the first nest lasted for twenty minutes.
The recovery team brought large quantities of biological tissue samples up from underground, including the remains of the nest’s core, biological mucus, and intact alien insect corpses.
These were all valuable research materials and ingredients for Potions, worth a considerable amount.
The mission continued.
...
On the third day of the cleanup operation, something unexpected happened.
Xu Wuyi had just crushed the core of another nest with Returning Ruins Seal and was watching the 17th Division’s recovery team carefully collect the dark green biological mucus.
Suddenly, Lu Wenquan’s warning blared over the communication channel:
"Three o’clock, five kilometers out! Three high-energy signatures are approaching fast! It’s the Feathered People!"
Xu Wuyi immediately looked up.
In the distant sky, three black dots were rapidly growing larger.
Their grayish-white wings were exceptionally striking against the dark red sky, each beat of their wings creating a sharp, whistling airflow.
"Prepare for battle." Xu Wuyi’s voice was calm as he took the Liaoyuan Long Spear from his back. The spear bag slid off, revealing the dark gold shaft gleaming faintly in the dim light.
Tie Zhan grinned, twirling the war hammer in his hand. "Finally! My hands were just itching for a fight."
Lu Wenquan quickly put away his detection equipment and formed hand seals. Twelve silvery-white runes materialized around him, forming a simple early-warning barrier.
Data streams scrolled rapidly across the lenses of his glasses. "Energy Levels confirmed: forty-seven, forty-eight, and forty-nine. The one in the lead is a peak Sub-King."
A peak Sub-King, Level 49.
This was already touching the threshold of a Grandmaster. In the Feathered People Civilization, an expert of this caliber was often just one opportunity away from completing their Transformation and becoming a true King Level existence.
Three seconds later, three figures hovered in the air a hundred meters away.
The leading Feathered Person slowly descended, folding his wings behind his back.
He was almost fifty percent taller than an ordinary Feathered Person. The edges of his grayish-white wings shone with a cold, metallic light. He wore dark silver light armor, and a long, slender Curved Saber hung at his waist.
Most striking were his eyes—dark gold, with vertical pupils. They were as indifferent as a cold-blooded animal’s, showing no emotion as they swept over Xu Wuyi and the other two.
"Xu Wuyi." His voice was low and hoarse, and he spoke standard Federation language. "The man the Blood Sacrifice Divine Hall specifically wants dead. I didn’t expect to run into you here."
The Feathered People Civilization was also a high-level intelligent civilization. Information on Xu Wuyi’s appearance had long been circulated among them; even his aura had been recorded.
If Xu Wuyi hadn’t refrained from using his Flame Power, he would likely have been discovered long ago, instead of only just being encountered now.
Xu Wuyi tightened his grip on his spear, his dark gold pupils meeting the other’s vertical ones. "State your name."
"Under the command of Helos, Captain of the Seventh Blood Wing Guard, Jialou." The Feathered Person slowly drew his Curved Saber. The blade was long and narrow, its edge shimmering with a dark red, bloody light. "By order of Lord Helos, I am here to take your life."
The two Feathered People behind him landed at the same time.
One held a Double-Bladed War Axe, his grayish-white muscles bulging; he was clearly a melee type. The other wore the robes of a Priest and held a staff inlaid with a purple Crystal Stone, surrounded by obscure Energy Fluctuations.
Tie Zhan spat on the ground. "Three on three, fair enough. Kid, you take the leader. We’ll handle the other two."
Lu Wenquan pushed up his glasses. "The Sub-King with the War Axe is Energy Level forty-eight, likely a strength specialist. The Priest is forty-seven and specializes in spellcasting. Be careful of Spiritual Attacks."
Xu Wuyi nodded and took a step forward.
"Jialou," he repeated the name. "I remember the Blood Wing Twin Kings were also subordinates of Helos."
Jialou’s vertical pupils contracted slightly. "Their defeat at your hands was a disgrace. Today, I will wash it away myself."
Before his voice had even faded, his figure suddenly blurred.
It wasn’t flight, but a lunge that was almost like teleportation.
His dark silver light armor left an afterimage in the air as his Curved Saber sliced a bizarre arc, aimed straight for Xu Wuyi’s neck!
Fast!
Faster than any Feathered Person Xu Wuyi had ever encountered!
But Xu Wuyi’s reaction was just as fast.
The moment Jialou moved, the great, dark gold marsh in his sea of consciousness had already begun to "breathe" naturally. A rhythm of fluctuating weight spread through his body as he executed Quicksand Step, his figure drifting half a step backward.
That half-step made all the difference.
The Curved Saber scraped past the air in front of his throat. The sharp Qi Force it generated sliced open the collar of his combat suit, leaving a shallow, bloody line on his skin.
Xu Wuyi could even smell the faint scent of blood coming from the blade.
"Not a bad reaction." Jialou’s voice sounded by his ear. He had somehow circled around to Xu Wuyi’s back and side, his Curved Saber thrusting out again, this time aiming for the heart from behind.
But the strike met only air.
Xu Wuyi’s figure rippled and dissipated like a reflection in water—it was just an afterimage left by Quicksand Step. His real body had already appeared ten meters away, the Liaoyuan Long Spear held horizontally before him, its tip aimed at Jialou.
"Your speed is inferior to the combined attack of the Blood Wing Twin Kings," Xu Wuyi commented calmly.
Jialou’s gaze turned cold.
He slowly turned, pointing his Curved Saber diagonally at the ground. "That was just a warm-up."
The next moment, the Energy Fluctuation around him skyrocketed.
Fine, blood-red patterns appeared on the surface of his dark silver light armor. His grayish-white wings spread fully, every feather taking on a metallic sheen.
The full power burst of a Level 49 Sub-King made the very air around him begin to distort.
In the distance, Tie Zhan had already clashed with the Feathered Person wielding the Double-Bladed War Axe.
Every collision between the war hammer and the double-bladed axe unleashed a deafening roar, the shockwaves pulverizing the rocks on the ground.
Meanwhile, Lu Wenquan was engaged in a duel of spellcraft with the Priest-type Sub-King.
Silvery-white runes and purple energy beams intertwined and annihilated each other in mid-air, creating a dangerous zone of chaotic energy.
But the standoff between Xu Wuyi and Jialou was the core of the battlefield.
"I heard that in the Tianshui Star Realm, you killed quite a few of our people using Gravity Manipulation and Flame," Jialou said slowly, his vertical pupils locked on Xu Wuyi.
"But here, you wouldn’t dare use your Flame Power so easily, would you? The ground beneath us is riddled with the energy network of the Alien Insect Nests. If you were to trigger a chain explosion, your own people wouldn’t survive either."