Starforce Warriors-Chapter 1022: Meeting Again

Inside the sealed domain, the chaotic storm from the fall of the Ancestor of Strength raged in all directions. As one of the primordial beings born at the dawn of the universe, the Ancestor of Strength had once held the Fate Qi and laws of this entire realm within its body. Now that its physical form had been utterly destroyed, those laws began returning to the heavens and earth.

Wei Xiaotian stood motionless at the center of the storm as his body underwent a drastic transformation. Having absorbed the majority of the Ancestor of Strength’s blood essence and origin, his humanoid form now resembled a giant swollen balloon on the verge of bursting.

The battle was over, but Li Xiaofei didn’t feel particularly exhausted. After all, he excelled at absorbing an opponent’s energy mid-battle, so he had devoured a portion of the blood essence released when the Ancestor of Strength had been obliterated.

Even so, a battle at this level posed a tremendous challenge. Li Xiaofei’s spiritual force was undeniably fatigued.

"You don’t need to worry," Lin Beichen said, glancing at him. "Leave the rest to me."

Li Xiaofei let out a quiet sigh of relief, then vanished. He entered the Secret Time Pavilion, beginning a short seclusion to reflect on and comprehend the insights gained from the recent battle.

His clash with the Ancestor of Strength had been his first true fight since becoming an Emperor. It was of great importance. Meanwhile, Lin Beichen casually pulled out another handful of sunflower seeds and continued watching Wei Xiaotian’s transformation unfold.

It was obvious that absorbing so much essence and blood from the Ancestor of Strength, despite the fact that they had once shared the same origin, was still incredibly difficult to refine and stabilize even for someone at the quasi-Emperor Realm.

Lin Beichen observed the changes with keen interest, as though enjoying a rare spectacle.

Time passed. Then, as if sensing something, he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Go on, don’t bother me."

In the distance, the spatial barriers shimmered and collapsed like flowing light as a figure flickered into view. It was none other than the Ancestor of Wisdom in the form of the young fisherman.

"I came to see one of my own," the Ancestor of Wisdom said softly. His gaze fell on Wei Xiaotian, who was still refining the blood essence and origin energy of the Ancestor of Strength. "We sealed the Ancestor of Strength together all for the sake of this very day, did we not? Lin Beichen, now that this day has finally come, I believe you owe me one final answer."

Lin Beichen casually tossed aside his sunflower seed shells, dusted his hands, and replied, "I already gave you my answer a long time ago."

The Ancestor of Wisdom's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of confusion passing over his face. "The final calamity has already descended. You should be able to sense it. With your intellect, you must understand that all of us will be completely annihilated if we do not join forces. Why do you still insist on clinging to that laughable principle?"

Lin Beichen said, "How can someone who betrayed his own race ever be a trusted comrade? You've got too much dark history. I can't trust you."

The Ancestor of Wisdom countered, "Interests and stances are forever intertwined. You must see that our positions are aligned now. If we don't work together, all that awaits us is destruction."

Lin Beichen laughed coldly as he replied, "The human race already has six Emperor-level cultivators. And with him—"

He pointed at Wei Xiaotian, who was still immersed in refining origin energy and blood essence. "With him completing one more piece of Fate Qi and laws, we no longer need you."

The Ancestor of Wisdom's face turned grim and cold. He replied, "If that’s the case, then I wish you all the best."

His figure slowly faded until it completely vanished from sight. Lin Beichen curled his lip with a trace of disdain. "Tch."

Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, ten years passed. Wei Xiaotian's condition finally began to stabilize. He had returned to his human form, and no longer resembled a grotesque, ever-expanding mass of flesh.

He exhaled slowly and the overwhelming pressure radiating from his body began to rapidly subside.

"I'm just a hair’s breadth away from the Emperor Realm," he murmured, a trace of regret flashing across his face.

But he had also expected this. The path to becoming an Emperor was arduous. Devouring an Emperor-level being was not enough to take their place. One had to discover their own Dao. Not to mention, Li Xiaofei had devoured a portion of the Ancestor of Strength’s origin energy and blood essence as well.

"Thank you," Wei Xiaotian said, turning to Lin Beichen.

Lin Beichen raised his middle finger to rub his brow and replied, "You earned this yourself. From here on out, you know exactly what you need to do."

"I’ll head to the Ancestor Court star system," Wei Xiaotian said.

"Good," Lin Beichen responded. "I hope you don’t turn out to be another Ancestor of Wisdom."

"Of course not," Wei Xiaotian said calmly. "He and I stand on very different grounds."

Lin Beichen said nothing more as Wei Xiaotian turned and left. With his current cultivation realm, he could come and go as he pleased. His figure melted into the darkness like a wisp of light, vanishing in an instant.

Lin Beichen dusted himself off and departed as well. He didn’t stay behind to wait for Li Xiaofei.

***

The war had yet to end in the Ancestor Court star system. The human resistance had grown stronger by the day as their influence continued to spread.

In the past ten years, half of the life-bearing planets within the Ancestor Court star system had fallen into the hands of the human race. Now, humanity stood on equal footing with the Reapers, confronting them head-on.

Ten years was but the blink of an eye to both great races. The rise of the humans posed an existential threat to the Reapers. But what truly left them shaken and bewildered was the shocking piece of news that emerged from the Ancestor Court system.

The Ancestor of Strength had returned.

In the era when the Ancestor of Wisdom had yet to step down from his leadership rotation, the sudden reappearance of the Ancestor of Strength first brought confusion to the Reapers, then overwhelming joy. But then, it became staggering disbelief.

At first, they assumed the growing threat of humanity had forced the Ancestor of Strength to emerge early from seclusion to join forces with the Ancestor of Wisdom and eradicate the humans once and for all.

But what followed shattered every expectation. The Ancestor of Strength publicly declared that the Ancestor of Wisdom had betrayed their race and ambushed him in secret. In response, the Ancestor of Wisdom announced to the world that the Ancestor of Strength was already dead, and the one claiming his name was merely a vassal under the control of the human race.

The split between the two supreme progenitors was unprecedented in Reaper history. From any perspective, such a rupture had once seemed impossible. A great battle erupted on one of the Ancestor Court’s core planets.

In the end, the vast planet was utterly shattered and vanished into the void of the universe. Many of the Ancestor of Wisdom’s disciples perished in the chaos. This upheaval dealt a severe blow to the morale of the Reaper race.

And the outcome of this battle between progenitors? The Ancestor of Wisdom was defeated and vanished. Rumors later claimed that it had been the combined might of a human Emperor and the new Ancestor of Strength that brought him down.

The schism between the two progenitors plunged the Reaper race into internal chaos. The Wisdom Faction and the Primal Faction turned on each other, creating a fierce civil war. It was during this turbulent time that Li Xiaofei emerged from seclusion.

His strength had soared once again. He then journeyed to the Burial Sea within the Realm of Ruins with Lin Beichen.

Li Xiaofei stood at the gates of the Dragon Palace but did not enter. Clad in white and armed with a single sword, Lin Beichen stepped inside. There, he met the woman who had long secluded herself within the Pure Sea Dragon Palace.

No words were exchanged; just a single, quiet embrace, one that said everything that needed to be said. On that day, the Burial Sea expanded outward.

For the first time in history, the undead army marched beyond its borders.