ABRIWMTHM Chapter 56

The star beast naturally fell a few hundred meters away, landing atop the barrier that had originally been used to confine him.

It had already been battered and torn, and when it landed, it exploded like a splash of red paint, leaving Shi Xing unable to discern head from tail from a distance.

“The beast core shattered, without the protection of mental power, its physical strength has also diminished,” Chi Yao explained.

Shi Xing nodded.

Feeling a bit nauseous and finding the scene before him bizarre, he wanted to take another look, but a hand blocked his line of sight.

“Enough, why are you staring? Don’t you worry about having nightmares after staring at something like that for too long?”

“I won’t…” Shi Xing began to reply, but Chi Yao’s voice was filled with laughter, teasing him with, “Won’t you?”

Shi Xing suddenly recalled those dreams he couldn’t explain, falling silent.

The prince was obviously doing this on purpose to prevent him from looking.

Tan Bai Shan said, “Everyone stay back, the barrier is collapsing overall, compressing the upper space, and it will drop to the ground.”

“Please send His Majesty and the officers out as well.”

In the end, to ensure the attack landed, everyone entered the activity barrier to attack, including Shi Xing.

Fei Chu didn’t dare to bring him too deep, but they weren’t protected by the barrier and were positioned within a gap where they could attack or retreat. If anything went wrong, Fei Chu had already planned to toss Shi Xing behind the barrier; he could handle a hit.

Fortunately, that situation didn’t occur, and the entire hunting process went relatively smoothly.

As it fell to the ground, Yun Wu looked up at the sky, blue and clear, murmuring, “The Northern Territory has probably been clear for many days, right?”

Her partner Tan Wen stepped out of the battleship that had landed behind her, glancing at the sky, “Maybe.”

This high-level star beast arrived too suddenly; the participants in the hunt were unprepared, and the Seventh Army’s reinforcements were summoned last minute. All commands were given in real-time on the battlefield, and the confrontation between them and the star beast was a direct clash of mental power, with the energy waves still resonating…

Tan Wen stretched out his hand in the air, grasping at the abundant residual mental power around them.

“First, send drones to check if the mutated star beast is still alive,” Tan Bai Shan instructed.

Numerous drones entered the activity barrier, buzzing towards the star beast.

Scanned data was transmitted back: no heartbeat, body temperature dropping, suspected dead.

Tan Chi said, “Pierce the heart and the shattered beast core, we must confirm it’s completely dead.”

One provided the organs that allowed the star beast to function, and the other was the core of its power. If the star beast showed no response after penetrating these two areas, it would surely be dead.

Conversely, if there was any sign of life, the drones might need to administer a few more blows.

【Heart piercing starting】

【Heart piercing completed】

【No signs of life during piercing】

【Beast core piercing starting】

【Scanning has detected beast core fragments, please confirm if further dissection is needed】

Chi Yao said, “No need, just confirming it’s dead will suffice; we’ll dissect the core later, maybe there are usable remnants.”

Tan Bai Shan agreed.

After confirming the star beast’s demise, the barriers gradually lifted, and the bloodied star beast finally lay on the snowy ground of the Northern Territory, with the surrounding snow tinged a light pink due to the beast’s blood.

This time, Chi Yao didn’t cover Shi Xing’s eyes again, “Let’s go have a look.”

As they approached, Shi Xing felt the beast’s immense size.

Having been targeted several times and cornered in peril, Shi Xing had only seen the pair of yellow eyes that persistently focused on him. Now, it was the first time he could observe the star beast from a comprehensive perspective after ensuring their safety.

Huge and ugly, it was similar in features to every star beast he had slain.

From the knowledge imparted by the Empire’s professors, Shi Xing knew even more of their habits.

They reproduced quickly.

High birth rates, and their young have a short growth period.

Their physical quality is robust, making them currently the only large species able to travel between planets in vacuum without any flying tools.

The battles between the Twin Star Galaxy and star beasts have been recorded and continued for centuries.

However, the previously encountered star beasts were not as troublesome as the current ones…

“Can you absorb the violent mental power in its body?” Chi Yao asked Shi Xing.

“I’ll give it a try,” Shi Xing replied.

He reached out and felt the abundant mutated energy.

Shi Xing found it strange yet familiar.

But he couldn’t remember encountering such a high-level mutated star beast prior to this one.

The violent mental power was completely absorbed by Shi Xing’s mental sea, and the speed surpassed that of his first absorption. Eventually, Shi Xing sensed he had absorbed enough, yet the mental sea didn’t stop; it began to selectively absorb, gradually devouring the high-level energy until it was satisfied.

The beast core shattered.

But because Shi Xing hadn’t drained the star beast’s violent mental power completely, the star beast’s body didn’t disintegrate like the previous one and was eventually cut open by Fei Chu.

“There are still some small pieces, all right here.”

Fei Chu used a knife to slice a large opening in the star beast’s body, allowing Shi Xing and the others to observe.

After he finished speaking, everyone looked, and as expected, most of the beast core had turned to powder; once it was opened, the mental power directly mingled with the air, raising the energy density around them significantly.

A few small fragments still retained form, but they were not large.

Everyone looked at Shi Xing again.

Shi Xing hadn’t absorbed the beast core today; from the first star beast, he had only absorbed the violent mental power.

“Can I pick it up?” Shi Xing asked.

“Go ahead,” Chi Yao responded.

Shi Xing picked up a piece.

Before he could stand straight, the fragment in his palm was quickly absorbed, disintegrating.

Before Shi Xing could take a second piece, Chi Yao placed another one in his hand, and thus, one by one, Shi Xing absorbed every last piece.

“What does it feel like?”

If it weren’t for the fact that the star beast’s energy would dissipate over time, Chi Yao wouldn’t want Shi Xing to absorb the mental power of two star beasts in one day; that seemed excessive to him.

“I feel a bit full,” Shi Xing replied.

Fei Chu said, “Reach out.”

Unbeknownst to him, Fei Chu had brought over the beast core from the first star beast. Before Shi Xing could react, his hands were filled.

The beast core in his hands… showed no changes.

Chi Yao understood; he had seen this kind of situation before. After Shi Xing’s second awakening of talent, he had a period when he could hold onto crystals with no changes. His mental sea simply could no longer absorb excess energy.

Following the principle of not being able to take what he couldn’t eat, Chi Yao said, “Take it back for later use.”

Fei Chu took it from Shi Xing, inspecting the beast core, “Does the energy dissipate from this thing?”

Yun Wu spoke up, “The Seventh Army has energy storage boxes that can slow the dissipation of high-level energy. I’ll have someone send one to you when we return.”

Fei Chu laughed freely, “Then thank you~”

Yun Wu replied, “No need for thanks, Major General Fei.”

Seeing that the star beast had been handled, Chi Yao glanced at the battlefield and decisively said, “Let’s head back; leave some people to clean up the battlefield, the residual energy in the air is too heavy. Shi Xing’s mental power has attracted the star beast, and today we used special barriers; the remaining energy in the air needs to be cleared.”

Tan Bai Shan agreed.

In the end, Tan Bai Shan, Tan Chi, and Tan Wen stayed to finish things up, while the others began their journey back.

On the spacecraft, Shi Xing took the warm towel offered by the stern officer, wiping the beast’s blood off his hands.

Fei Chu, still excited from just coming down from the battlefield, repeatedly asked Shi Xing questions.

“By the way, how did you create that barrier? Can you create it again in the future?”

“What happened at the end? Can your mental power merge with ours to attack the star beast? Then in the future, can we return the favor and let the mutated star beasts experience the pain of hurting their cores?”

“Wow, wow, wow, don’t say, with how many times we’ve dealt with mutated star beasts, looking at the count from cousin’s kills, but it’s rare to have such a satisfying experience this time!”

“The star beast was actually forced to set up defenses!”

“Who would believe this if we said it out loud?!”

“No, I definitely have to go back and talk about this in the group; they’ve probably never seen that group of imperial folks. Let’s keep them from following us; huh, they’ll never see this again!”

He rambled on excitedly, and Shi Xing could genuinely sense Fei Chu’s enthusiasm, but he…

“Enough.” Chi Yao interrupted Fei Chu’s chatter, “Blue Star humans are different from imperial folks; their physical quality isn’t as good, and after running back and forth on the battlefield, Shi Xing must be exhausted. His mental energy has also been heavily depleted. Can you give others a bit of time to rest and please be quiet!”

“Save the compliments until Shi Xing feels better.”

Once Chi Yao mentioned it, Fei Chu noticed Shi Xing’s pale complexion immediately and became alert, “Hey, don’t say, Star Star, your face does look a bit pale. Come, sit down and rest.”

After a quick reprimand, he added, “Look at me; I won’t say anything anymore. Let you be quiet, okay?”

With that, he indeed kept his mouth shut for the latter half and personally went to get Shi Xing a glass of water.

Shi Xing gulped down half a cup, and his eyelids began to droop.

“Tired?” Chi Yao asked softly.

Shi Xing nodded.

He was tired. But his exhaustion wasn’t solely from the depletion of mental energy.

Being relentlessly pursued by star beasts on the battlefield had kept his nerves tightly wound; once it relaxed, he felt a wave of fatigue crash over him, a hundredfold.

“Sleepy?”

Chi Yao inquired, picking up on something.

Shi Xing nodded again, rubbing his eyes. When he spoke, his voice became slurred, “Your Highness, I don’t really know; I just… suddenly want to sleep.”

They weren’t aboard a comfortable spacecraft; it had limited space and was simply a means of transport. Everyone had come along today, so there wasn’t enough room for Shi Xing to lie down and rest.

Chi Yao thought for a moment and said, “We’ll arrive in a little over ten minutes. How about you lean against me and take a nap?”

“Sure.”

In just a few moments, Shi Xing had already become muddled and could barely articulate his words.

After responding, he leaned against Chi Yao, and after about ten or a few seconds, his breathing evened out.

Xu Jin watched, daring only to speak in a low voice, “Is he too tired?”

Chi Yao gently touched Shi Xing’s head to make him more comfortable, lowering his voice, “He should be.”

The atmosphere in the craft became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Fu Qing was always up for following orders.

Fei Chu, still buzzing with excitement, went to the corner to message the officers from the First Army.

【Cool Guy Fei from the Imperial Capital: Hey, I just took down a star beast today; you won’t believe it, that star beast hit us hard, and it even put up a defense! Ever seen a mutated star beast actively set up a defense barrier? 3S-level, with two talents!】

【Cool Guy Fei from the Imperial Capital: You probably haven’t seen it; just listen to me…】

There was a favorable response in the group, with one officer replying, 【Go ahead, we’re listening to your boasting.】

Fei Chu: 【What do you mean boasting? Have I ever bragged?】

Fei Chu: 【Just listen, I guarantee you’ll be shocked!】

When they reached their destination, Shi Xing was awakened and sensed something was off, still muddled and unsure of what was wrong.

When they disembarked the spacecraft and rushed inside, Shi Xing finally understood.

A hand tugged at Chi Yao’s sleeve, murmuring, “Your Highness, I… I think…”

When Chi Yao turned around, he saw Shi Xing wobbling forward and quickly caught him.

Shi Xing grasped Chi Yao’s clothes tightly; he felt he was using a lot of force, but in Chi Yao’s eyes, he looked completely limp, as if he couldn’t exert any strength.

He could still stand, only thanks to the hand Chi Yao placed at his waist.

“I’m feeling so hot, it’s like… my mental sea is about to grow again…”

Having barely finished that sentence, he leaned against Chi Yao, unsure if he had fainted or just fallen asleep.

A bit of chaos ensued.

Later, the doctor confirmed that Shi Xing was indeed heating up, but it was a low fever.

For the third time encountering this situation, everyone understood it was Shi Xing’s ability growing at a rapid pace, so they weren’t very worried.

However, this time Shi Xing slept for a full two days and was in a state of being unresponsive to calls.

On the third day, he woke up, but the fever hadn’t subsided.

Two more days later, in the afternoon of the fifth day after waking from a nap, Shi Xing finally felt a lightness throughout his body.

It was subsequently confirmed that Shi Xing’s mental power strength had officially increased to SSS-level.

He could easily overwhelm Tan Wen’s mental sea, and his mental power could now touch all areas of Chi Yao’s mental sea.

The inner layer of Shi Xing’s mental sea expanded further, while the outer layer had not fully grown due to an insufficient initial energy supply but remained active. This time, with the violent mental power absorption sufficient, it expanded to a circumference that even Shi Xing found surprising.

In the void, he could now clearly sense that peculiar energy turbulence.

Chi Yao kept an eye on Shi Xing’s health; as long as he was well, that was sufficient.

However, Fei Chu was still worried about whether Shi Xing could still establish that special barrier.

Shi Xing tried in the mental power shielding room for two days. On the second day, he finally mastered the correct method to open that special barrier which only he could create once again.

Moreover, he seemed capable of doing even more.

In addition to intercepting violent mental power, Shi Xing could establish another type of composite barrier.

This barrier sustained by his mental power could obstruct normal mental power while also capturing and nullifying violent mental power.

It was equivalent to stacking the special barrier’s functionality onto a normal barrier.

While Shi Xing explored further changes in himself, he noticed Xu Jin and Yan Changyue starting to pack their things.

Oh, Tan Chi had succeeded in healing; the purchased Red Ore Mining Star had been pushed into the Empire’s main star orbit, becoming an imperial satellite.

Accompanying this was a formal diplomatic letter sent from the Imperial Capital, stating that the Alliance’s Minister of Foreign Affairs would soon arrive to conduct negotiations for the five-year border line conference, which was placed on Chi Yao’s desk.

It was time for them to return to the Imperial Capital.