ABRIWMTHM Chapter 114

Through the ripples, Shi Xing saw a very strange phenomenon. The space was distorted into mottled colors, compressed within an extremely short process. Upon closer inspection, he could even distinguish a segment of scenery, but the passage had been compressed so much that he didn’t have time to react before being squeezed out.

It was the result of a collision.

The inertia after the collision of mental power.

In the next moment, all he could see were jagged cliffs. Shi Xing had never seen such a landscape.

Shi Xing noticed that when he entered the ripples, it was daytime, but after emerging from the ripples…

He looked up at the cold stars in the sky.

The place he was currently at was experiencing nighttime.

A tall white star beast followed him out of the ripples. Shi Xing quickly retreated, subconsciously strengthening the defensive barrier around him.

The white star beast landed gracefully.

A man and a beast faced each other, with the white star beast circling around Shi Xing a few steps, as if examining him.

In their gaze, Shi Xing was also assessing the star beast.

He could not feel its rank, but it possessed spatial talent, and it was an application of talent he had never seen before.

Glancing up at the sky again, the first, second, and third levels of the defensive barrier were all holding steady in the air. Shi Xing could sense their presence—he should not have left the main star where the Third Legion was stationed.

However, with the transition between day and night… Shi Xing was uncertain how far he was from the station. Was his current position on the backside of the star where the station was located?

The star beast walked in a circle around Shi Xing, maintaining a restrained distance. It was precisely because of this restraint that Shi Xing did not rashly attack, observing the situation quietly.

The star beast opened its mouth, and Shi Xing instinctively prepared to defend himself. But unexpectedly, he heard a voice.

Or rather, it was not a voice, but a message transmitted through energy, reminiscent of the star beast at the festival.

The difference was that this time, he did not need to decipher it; facing directly, the star beast generated this kind of wave, and he naturally understood its meaning, as if it were… an instinct rooted deep within him.

White star beast: “I haven’t seen a Blue Star human of such high rank in a long time.”

“Very good, finally not some defective products.”

“Ever since you were no longer growing on the original star, most of what we found were useless ones, completely unuseful.”

“Perhaps you can satisfy our needs.”

With the rise and fall of its voice, Shi Xing could even understand the attitude expressed in the intonation.

A condescending glare from on high.

Fei Chu felt a bit dizzy.

Today was filled with trivial matters. To avoid making a wrong judgment, Fei Chu walked back for a distance to confirm that there were no other passage hatches; there was only this main road. After returning to the main cabin, he checked behind the sofa and indeed found no one.

While feeling something was off, Fei Chu continued moving forward.

Behind the main cabin were some living facilities. Although Shi Xing generally wouldn’t go to such places, he hadn’t moved much lately due to feeling unwell; mostly, the attendants would go in and fetch some drinking water or nearby necessities.

As he entered the next cabin, he bumped directly into Yan Changyue, who was standing in front of the sink.

“Is Xingxing urging you?”

Yan Changyue hastened his movements.

Only then did Fei Chu notice that Yan Changyue was making crystal fruit juice. Recently, Shi Xing had not been in good spirits, and the attendants were pampering him. Even if it was troublesome, they preferred to bring the flying robot to make fresh juice for him regularly.

This question cued a sharp sense of horror in Fei Chu.

“Xingxing is not here?”

Yan Changyue was also taken aback. “Wasn’t he sitting in the main cabin? You all just held a meeting.”

Fei Chu: “…”

Yan Changyue: “…”

So, they hadn’t seen Shi Xing.

Fei Chu immediately turned on his communicator, asking for someone to check the surveillance.

He and Yan Changyue began searching the entire warship for him.

Within ten minutes, the surveillance footage was sent to Chi Yao’s communicator. At that moment, Chi Yao was conferring with Ye Jun about deployments. He understood Fei Chu well; although he seemed unreliable, he wouldn’t be so reckless. The sudden video in the work channel made him instinctively take a look.

The video lasted less than a minute, showing Shi Xing sitting in the main cabin. Suddenly, the screen went blank, and when it resumed clarity, there was no trace of Shi Xing.

Realizing something, Chi Yao’s mind went blank for a moment.

Fei Chu’s next message came through: [Bro, Xingxing is gone.]

[Currently detecting energy fluctuations.]

[Warship number FLI456443.]

His pupils constricted, and Shi Xing was shocked.

While still on high alert, he focused on the star beast’s movements. If the other party took a step forward, it would signal the start of hostilities in Shi Xing’s eyes.

A gust of night wind swept by, and the sand stung his eyes. Shi Xing could have stopped it but chose not to.

He didn’t know how much the star beast knew about him. If he were to escape, given the physical qualities of a Blue Star human, in this completely bare rocky environment, it would be like a fool’s dream.

He was also weak in utilizing the prince’s talent, far from Chi Yao’s level of accelerating or decelerating with wind manipulation.

But… at least, if a fight broke out, he would have a backup.

This skill, acquired by absorbing mental power, didn’t let him practice anything else; it only taught him a killing move, emphasizing surprise, which might come in handy later.

Given the current situation, it was evident that the wisdom level of this star beast was also quite high.

White star beast: “Why are you not speaking?”

“Your mental power is emitting the aura of my companion. Since you’ve met, you should understand.”

The white star beast moved again, still circling around, maintaining an equal linear distance from Shi Xing.

While Shi Xing was on guard against it, it was also wary of Shi Xing.

Suppressing the strange feelings surging within him, Shi Xing tentatively asked, “What do you want me to say?”

The white star beast stopped, staring at him for a moment, and even in the dim light, Shi Xing could sharply sense its confusion.

Before long, Shi Xing understood the reason.

White star beast: “I don’t understand this kind of language; the sounds have a broad dimension in our ears. You need to speak like I do.”

Strangely, it was very certain, “You should know how to.”

After a pause, as if threatening, it added, “If you can’t communicate, then I can only speed up the process.”

The station had been searched inside and out, but there was no trace of Shi Xing.

Sending messages and dialing communications yielded no response, while the other showed that his device could not be found.

The energy wave fluctuations from the warship where Shi Xing had disappeared had been analyzed, but the result was even more puzzling, for it contained only Shi Xing’s mental power residue.

It was as if he had completely vanished into thin air, just like in the video.

“No, there must be something we’ve overlooked.”

Er Ya frowned, murmuring as he looked at the energy wave detection.

Fei Chu then asked Chi Yao, “Do you have any feelings? There’s a connection between you and Xingxing.”

If Shi Xing encountered danger, Chi Yao would not be oblivious.

Chi Yao’s expression turned grim as he shook his head.

Strange.

The entire situation was riddled with abnormalities.

Soon after, the search results from the Third Legion came in: nothing was found.

Neither of the stations showed any signs of life.

Everyone looked at Chi Yao, who pinched his brow, suppressing the anxiety rising within, and said gravely, “Search the entire planet.”

“Lu Li, notify everyone; five minutes, let everyone prepare for personal protection.”

The notification spread quickly, and after notifying, Lu Li felt a hint of confusion.

But he quickly understood the purpose of this action.

Because he was enveloped within the shields of several officers, searching with the warship would be too slow; Chi Yao directly spread out his mental power.

This feeling was different from before; the intensity was incredibly high. Even while inside the shield, the pressure felt massive.

It seemed he intended to use mental power to first conduct a sweep of the planet, broadly identifying the area.

Shi Xing originally thought he wouldn’t be able to do this, but in this situation, he still managed.

Shi Xing: “What do you want me to say?”

The feeling was the same as at the festival, but the application was not smooth; his sentences were awkward and rough.

The white star beast seemed somewhat pleased, saying, “I told you you would.”

It looked up at the sky, and Shi Xing confirmed that it was not watching the defensive barriers.

Its spatial ability should be able to penetrate these barriers.

Their technology could not effectively obstruct this star beast.

Lowering its head, the white star beast became very serious. “I want you to come with me.”

“We need you.”

Shi Xing tried to say, “Who are you?”

The white star beast defenselessly replied, “My clan.”

The arrogance in its tone, suggesting that Shi Xing was beneath notice, was puzzling; the message was conveyed through energy, but… he could clearly perceive the emotions in its words.

“What do you mean by useless, defective products?” Shi Xing slightly frowned. “Have you taken Blue Star humans before?”

Although it sounded quite human.

But the star beast was certainly not human; it said straightforwardly, “Of course.”

“For so many years, we have been searching for a way, but none have met the requirements.”

“But you are different.”

“If you prove useful along the way, perhaps we will not eat you.”

This promise, resembling a kind of charity, only sent a chill through Shi Xing.

“But you won’t let me go.”

The white star beast said naturally, “Isn’t this just the way of nature?”

Shi Xing: “Then why should I go with you?”

The white star beast arrogantly replied, “I just want to reduce some troubles. Aren’t there emotional ties between people? If you don’t want those close to you to be implicated and even die because of you, going with us is the least damaging option for your clan.”

Shi Xing: “…”

That was certainly not something a human could say.

It seemed like it had emotions, but it was only superficial. No matter how high its intelligence was, it could not understand the unique bonds that exist between humans.

The white star beast circled Shi Xing again, “Besides, you haven’t gone through your maturity period, right? Not growing on Blue Star, the maturity period for Blue Star humans is very fragile. We had accidentally killed two while bringing them back before, and given your high rank, we must be more cautious.”

“If you can come with us, you need not worry about hurting yourself along the way; it would be difficult to handle.”

Shi Xing pressed his lips together.

The white star beast suddenly added, “I heard that you Blue Star humans have a different kind of feeling for your home planet. Don’t you want to know what happened to Blue Star before?”

Shi Xing’s pupils constricted again. His side’s hand instantly clenched into a fist and then slowly forced himself to relax.

Shi Xing feigned ignorance, “Could it be you know something?”

The white star beast: “I know, of course.”

Shi Xing: “Words are not enough.”

The white star beast tilted its head, unable to understand the highly condensed language of human society.

Shi Xing was at a loss for words for a moment and then explained in simpler terms.

However, the white star beast showed no human-like reaction, only discussing the matter, “Starting from the beginning would take too long; the current time won’t allow me to chat about that.”

“If you come with us, there will be plenty of time to talk along the way.”

“My companion likes to talk; let it speak with you.”

Shi Xing: “…………”

That was still unnecessary.

Because he had never considered going with a star beast.

Yet seeing that the highly intelligent star beast did not understand human matters, Shi Xing walked a tightrope, deliberately saying, “My companions are very important to me.”

The star beast nodded, “Normal; human clans are like that.”

High levels of unity, unlike star beasts, which have higher independence and autonomy.

Shi Xing: “This matter is too sudden; I need to think about it.”

The star beast: “How long?”

Shi Xing estimated and boldly said, “All my social relations are within my clan. Whether it’s worth sacrificing myself for everyone, you should at least give me half an hour to consider.”

This statement seemed ridiculous.

But the star beast agreed, feeling that it made sense.

Shi Xing suppressed his exasperation and advised, “I’ll sit here for a while. Don’t come over to disturb me; let me think on my own.”

The white star beast looked puzzled, “Is it very difficult?”

It only knew that humans often sit alone when thinking deeply.

Shi Xing nodded with a straight face, “Yes.”

The star beast retreated indeed.

If its level and ability could be as poor as its reasoning logic, it would be great.

Shi Xing thought, not feeling regretful in the slightest.

Fortunately, he still had his cloak on. Although he wasn’t wearing combat gear, in his current mode of combat, it wouldn’t be a major issue.

With the pressing issue in front of him, Shi Xing looked at the vast sky and the completely inactive natural scenery beneath the darkness, let out a breath. Could he run? If he were to run, how should he do it?

Moreover, was this the only star beast around? The way it so casually agreed to give him thinking time, was it powerful enough to not fear armies, or was there something else set up around?

In this half-hour, Shi Xing had to sort things out and plan carefully.

Of course, a bit of luck lingered in his heart. Even if he was currently on the backside of the planet where his station was located, delaying time just a bit might increase the chances of rescue.

The vast sandy ground was breezy, blowing on the rocky wall, revealing all sorts of peculiar shapes, even producing various long sounds that did not resemble human speech, sounding eerie.

The ground was too damp, so Shi Xing chose a stone to sit on.

Sitting down, he felt he had indulged too much. He actually felt uncomfortable due to the roughness.

Shi Xing sighed.

He missed that cup of crystal fruit juice he didn’t get to drink. Changyue had specially brought it using a small flying robot to make fresh juice for him in the afternoon.

He didn’t know if he would ever get to drink it again.

He didn’t know… if he could go back…

These thoughts flickered through his mind, and Shi Xing activated his first talent. Sensing energy did not require the release of mental power, and the star beast was unaware of his change.

The three layers of defensive barriers were intact. Indeed, Shi Xing still saw a shield above his head.

A peculiar shield that did not seem solid but rather gaseous; it floated, invisibly enveloping them in a semicircular dome here.

Shi Xing was uncertain whether it was a shield or something else.

Looking at the farthest distance, Shi Xing confirmed that testing it would raise the star beast’s suspicions, so he refrained.

His communicator displayed no signal, indicating it was past three in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, as he gazed at the thick night around him, Shi Xing’s feeling of his position grew stronger. This place was like three in the morning; there was not a glimmer of light visible on the horizon… perhaps, he really was on the backside of the planet.

Another question arose: did this star beast possess only spatial mutation abilities?

Could it have other talents?!

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Shi Xing watched the display on his communicator as the star beast arrived without any time lapse. Shi Xing felt it strange, “Do you have a precise sense of time?”

White star beast: “We are one with the universe; every change on the planet is visible to us, so our perception of time cannot be wrong.”

It was judging the time through its super sensitivity to nature.

White star beast: “Half an hour is up.”

“Have you thought it over?”

“If you want to leave, I still need to bring a warship over for you.”

Shi Xing pretended to ask casually: “The warship’s energy cannot support me flying to your destination, right?”

He inexplicably felt that where this star beast wanted to take him was a great distance away.

White star beast: “You don’t need to worry about that; as long as its air function can last, we have other ways to traverse the universe.”

Seeing Shi Xing show no signs of resistance, the white star beast turned to indicate, “Let’s go.”

Shi Xing: “I have a few questions to ask you.”

“What do you want me to do?”

The white star beast opened its mouth, and for once Shi Xing saw a struggle on its face. Eventually, it said, “You will know when you get there.”

Shi Xing felt it wasn’t deliberately hiding anything; there might be some kind of restrictions in place.

By the way, it mentioned its clan earlier; could there be rare king beasts among its clan?

As this thought came to him, Shi Xing felt a chill rising from his feet.

But he suppressed it.

“You know where Blue Star is, don’t you?”

A judgmental statement, and this question was much easier to answer.

The star beast also seemed to have learned negotiation skills from somewhere and said, “What happened before, I will tell you on the way; I’ve already promised you.”

Shi Xing: “Lastly, if I don’t go with you, what will you do?”

The star beast’s hurried pace finally stopped.

Suddenly moving close to Shi Xing, it was closer than before, and Shi Xing was not afraid. The star beast huffed heavily and warned word by word, “Then I’m afraid everyone on this planet will pay the price for your wrong decision.”

“We can kill all the people you care about; once you don’t have anything to cling to, you will naturally come with us.”

The imposing figure of the star beast brought with it a sense of pressure.

Its green round pupils were eerie as they fixed on Shi Xing, making him feel uncomfortable.

Shi Xing’s glance briefly swept towards the horizon, “Are there many star beasts outside?”

The white star beast threatened, “If you don’t come with us, their numbers will surpass your imagination.”

It sounded like it could command and control the star beasts.

Shi Xing grew increasingly curious about this star beast’s rank.

Then, astonishingly, he made an unexpected move, releasing mental power upward. Upon encountering the mist, his mental power devoured this layer that seemed like a shield and then released it outward, encountering Chi Yao’s mental power that spread from the horizon within his talent’s vision.

The white star beast roared angrily and crashed into Shi Xing’s barrier.

Shi Xing shook his hand, slowly saying, “Since that’s the case, it’s just a bother to have you stay behind today.”

A dead star beast wouldn’t go back to inform anyone.

In the next moment, an energy collision erupted, and Shi Xing felt an encounter with a star beast level he had never experienced.

Higher than the D-grade mutated star beast.

And it was tricky.

Despite being psychologically prepared, when it came time for a hard confrontation, Shi Xing still wanted to curse like Fei Chu.

Damn!

Shi Xing had visualized the burst of battle in his mind for a long time. In the instant the star beast crashed into him, instead of bouncing back, he used his mental power to ensnare it. As their mental powers collided, Shi Xing once again felt a vigorous vitality—that was what he needed.

He could not follow the star beast, nor could he allow it to gather more of its kind near.

Thus, Shi Xing was left with one path: the only path left was to fight the star beast.

Fueled by anxiety and excitement, the energy below the layer of his mental sea had already become very lively. After a stalemate of only a few seconds, Shi Xing began to absorb the star beast’s mental power through the outer layers.

Fully prepared, he released an ample amount of mental power at once.

Just as the white star beast sensed something was off, Shi Xing’s mental power had completely wrapped around it.

He intended to devour this mutated star beast!

At the moment this thought surged up, Shi Xing’s mental power increased its binding force invisibly. The star beast howled and struggled, and Shi Xing suppressed it; the star beast tried to pull back the distance, but Shi Xing would not allow it.

The titanic battle between them was about to erupt. In just a few minutes, Shi Xing broke into a cold sweat, with the back-and-forth exchange of mental power continuing an unknown number of times, both sides locked in a stalemate, refusing to yield.

Finally, Shi Xing’s unique energy gained a hint of suppression amidst the continual absorption of the star beast’s mental power and their clashes.

But before Shi Xing could enhance his mental power to increase that suppression, the star beast exhaled a wave of energy power at him.

The wave pierced through Shi Xing’s mental power.

In front of Shi Xing, rippling waves appeared, and he was suddenly pulled into a space leap.

It was the spatial leap ability of the star beast.

Upon re-emerging, Shi Xing was unexpectedly thrown into the air.

The clouds were nearby, and just as he felt weightlessness, the star beast dove up from below, heading straight for Shi Xing.

The collision of energy erupted.

The star beast withdrew instantly, not giving Shi Xing a chance to retaliate.

In this way, being attacked by the star beast in the clouds, Shi Xing realized that the star beast had intentionally suspended him in the air, continuously crashing to deplete his mental power.

Unfortunately, Shi Xing had not yet passed through his maturity period, and his mental power couldn’t withstand such consumption.

He couldn’t maintain prolonged combat.

The energy collision in the clouds continued to erupt, dissipate, explode, and then dissipate again.

After an unknown duration, Shi Xing finally once again captured the white star beast with his mental power.

An energy maelstrom wrapped around him, and upon contact, the powerful talent instantly drained the star beast’s attacking mental power, its attack crumbling into energy, which was snatched by Shi Xing’s mental outer layer and absorbed.

Shi Xing felt a wave he had never encountered before.

It was from his mental outer layer.

It seemed to guide him.

Following the guidance utilizing his mental power, the star beast was firmly bound by him. In a moment, the star beast’s mental power flowed into Shi Xing’s mental sea, and the fur on the star beast’s surface began to disintegrate.

“Awwo—”

“Aw!”

Shi Xing’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he thought the star beast would repeat its previous tactic, a low-grade star beast, which didn’t know how long it had entered this planet, charged from the clouds at an angle.

As Shi Xing dismantled this star beast’s mental power, the white star beast vanished.

Shi Xing felt this was not a good sign.

His instincts were confirmed.

The white star beast changed its strategy, releasing mental power attacks toward Shi Xing while continually creating spatial ripple passages behind him.

Shi Xing’s mental power often hadn’t even reached the star beast; due to the spatial transitions, it was forcibly cut apart.

Strong, too strong.

At some point, both quietly arrived at the same thought.

Repeatedly thrown into ripples, Shi Xing’s mental power was fiercely depleting. After several instances, his hand touched the edge of the ripples, and Shi Xing paused, then pulled hard on the edge of the ripples. His mental power shredded through the star beast’s talent laws.

“Aw!”

The next moment, before the star beast could escape, Shi Xing’s right hand released mental power and tightly encircled the star beast.

Both sides entered a white-hot phase of combat.

Shi Xing had almost no mental power left; he could not allow the star beast to escape this time.

Driven to the brink, Shi Xing’s mental power began to cling to energy maelstroms as well. The invisible mental power, under this enhancement, instantly materialized.

The mental power poured into the star beast’s surface, and along with its cries of suffering, the high-grade energy Shi Xing absorbed enhanced his controlling power over the star beast.

Shi Xing’s mental power rushed in like the winter wind over the wasteland, devouring every drop of mental power of the star beast at a terrifying speed.

Not a single bit of energy would he let slide.

The surface of the star beast began to crumble, penetrated by Shi Xing’s mental power. No longer was it comfortable; the feeling of the spiritual power flowed within felt like steel needles piercing into its body.

The star beast’s body was solid, a powerful existence in the universe, and never had a needle been fierce enough to penetrate its flesh.

But that day, it felt a similar pain.

With another howl, a low-grade mutated star beast charged from a certain direction once more.

A repeat of the previous tactic.

But Shi Xing had two hands.

Controlling the mental power of the white star beast without pause, he raised the other hand, and the charging star beast was instantly immobilized by Shi Xing’s mental power, then, at a speed likened to sunny day melting snow, it was reduced to a puddle of flesh and bones, falling from the sky.

Shi Xing took a deep breath, using the wind’s energy to suspend himself in the air, slowly, pulling the white star beast closer with his mental power.

If he could make contact, he would absorb the white star beast’s mental power faster.

“If you kill me, my companions will come quickly.”

The white star beast warned painfully.

Shi Xing chuckled, his voice floating lightly with exhaustion, while his words held no less menace.

“Most welcome!”

The beast core was just what he needed to replenish his energy.

Shi Xing’s control strengthened once more.

The white star beast emitted ripples, which Shi Xing swept away with a wave of his hand.

As the two grew closer, the white star beast struggled fiercely, and under such resistance, Shi Xing’s rate of absorbing mental power intensified. In a matter of seconds, gory patches began to appear on the white star beast’s body as Shi Xing’s mental power started to dissolve its flesh.

With only two to three meters distance remaining, as Shi Xing was about to reach out and touch the star beast, it howled once more, looking upwards.

A dozen star beasts appeared in the clouds.

Shi Xing stood stunned, then these star beasts charged toward him from all directions.

The white star beast lost control in the chaotic onslaught.

Shi Xing wished to pursue, but he was entangled by several star beasts.

The white star beast was unwilling to linger in battle, unleashing a ripple straight into a passage, and just as Shi Xing was about to rip through it, another star beast crashed toward him heedlessly.

Shi Xing’s mental power pierced through the star beast’s body, striking straight at its core and heart.

With the star beast’s death, as it fell, he raised his head, but the white star beast had also vanished.

Shi Xing’s mental power was consumed significantly. Realizing the fight was over, he exhaled. With no more strength, he swayed slightly.

The star beast he had brushed off revived and once more lunged at him.

This time without waiting for Shi Xing to react, a familiar wave of mental power exploded around him, and the energy shock created a dazzling white light, violently splitting the ordinary star beasts nearby in two. The low-grade mutated star beasts were heavily damaged, while those farther away were all sent flying out.

Shi Xing exhaled lightly, thoroughly relaxing his nerves.

The wind held him aloft.

Chi Yao had arrived.