Starforce Warriors-Chapter 975: The Real Identity

The pool of water floated in midair. It was crystal clear, without any fish within it. Li Xiaofei reached out and let his fingertips touch the water. A sudden jolt of numbness shot through him. It felt as if something had stung his skin. His entire finger instantly turned pitch black.

“Just as I thought. It really is thunder slurry.” There was no surprise on Li Xiaofei’s face.

He had already suspected that the pool wasn’t made of ordinary water. It was, in fact, liquefied lightning. Liquid thunder slurry. Li Xiaofei withdrew his hand and his charred fingertip instantly returned to normal. He continued following the young fisherman downward.

The area beneath the cliff was vast beyond imagination. Everything they had seen before was like a sesame seed next to a watermelon in this space. It was utterly disproportionate. Eventually, the two of them came to a stop before the entrance of an underground passage.

“Senior, what is this place?” Li Xiaofei asked curiously.

The young fisherman replied, “It is the most dangerous place in the entire Land of Sacred Fall, and also the safest.”

The cryptic statement left Li Xiaofei somewhat confused. The young fisherman simply stood there, gazing quietly ahead, his expression tinged with a hint of complexity. He lowered his head slightly and stepped into the underground passage.

Li Xiaofei followed closely behind. It was clearly a man-made tunnel. Li Xiaofei brushed his fingers along the stone walls. For a structure to stand firm amid the terrifying storms of the Land of Sacred Fall for millions of years, its material had to be far from ordinary.

He pressed his fingers firmly against the surface, yet he could not leave the slightest mark on the rock. Which led to an obvious question. What kind of person could carve such a spacious passage through rock like this?

After walking forward for several hundred meters, a rather expansive cavern appeared at the end of the path. The sound of crashing waves reached their ears once again. The roar of the surf echoed like rolling thunder.

“You are the second human junior to come here,” said the young fisherman.

“Senior, what exactly is this place?” Li Xiaofei asked once more.

The young fisherman put away his fishing rod, removed his straw raincoat, and took off his conical hat. He had a deep black long robe beneath his raincoat. He tied his long hair back with a dark jade hairpin, and his entire demeanor seemed to shift completely.

His once easygoing expression was now replaced with a noble bearing. That handsome face now carried a trace of solemn authority, as if he were someone long accustomed to ruling from above.

“Come with me.” He walked at a calm, steady pace, his expression indifferent.

Li Xiaofei’s confusion only deepened. He didn’t know why, but he had the vague feeling that the young fisherman had not gone to the cliff to fish for food, but specifically to find him. He glanced around.

The cave was vast and the surrounding stone walls were rough and uneven. It was clear that this cavern had formed naturally. The tunnel twisted and turned, until the ground beneath their feet curved into a massive arch.

The light inside was dim and unclear. There was also a strange smell lingering in the air. As they continued forward, the cave grew more and more spacious. Above them, the ceiling was adorned with white stalactites that hung down in clusters. The sound of the rising and falling tide grew clearer with each step. They walked like this for a full ten minutes.

At last, they arrived at an even larger space. No, to be precise, it felt like an entirely different world. The cave extended outward into a wide stone platform. It resembled a train station platform in form. But there was nothing but endless blackness in every direction, whether it be above, below, to the sides, or straight ahead.

Faint starlight flickered from time to time. It looked just like a sky filled with cosmic stars. Who could have imagined that such a vast and boundless space was hidden beneath a small cliff in the perilous and terrifying Land of Sacred Fall?

It truly felt like another universe. Li Xiaofei began to wonder if he had somehow left the Holy Ruins altogether and returned to the real cosmos.

Li Xiaofei was about to ask another question. But the young fisherman, still facing away from him, simply waved his hand. He gazed into the distant, pitch-black space ahead as though waiting for something.

After a long while, a voice echoed out from the darkness.

“You still haven’t given up, huh?” It was a human voice.

The tone was lazy, like that of a lounging serpent. There was even a trace of disdain in it. Li Xiaofei stood behind the young fisherman. Though he couldn’t see the man’s expression, in that moment, he faintly sensed a flicker of anger from this mysterious and powerful figure.

“This time, I’ve brought someone with me,” said the young fisherman. “You might be interested.”

In the distance, a single glimmer of light flickered from a starry sky whose true depth could not be measured. It resembled a lone meteor streaking across the void. It arrived before them in an instant.

The light condensed into the figure of a person clad in white robes as pristine as jade and with black hair cascading like a waterfall. A long sword hung at his waist. His eyes shimmered like stars. His aura was like that of a banished immortal, so handsome it felt almost unfair.

The young fisherman was already among the most handsome of humans. Yet he fell far short of the figure before them. Even Wei Xiaotian, once hailed as the most handsome man in all of Chongque City, was leagues beneath this white-robed, sword-bearing man.

Damn, he’s handsome, Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. He’s almost at a fifty-fifty split with me.

“Are you thinking that I’m very handsome?” The white-robed man suddenly turned his gaze on Li Xiaofei.

Li Xiaofei, not knowing this man’s identity, was a bit dazed and nodded instinctively.

“Heh, just as I expected,” the man in white said, clearly pleased. He turned toward the young fisherman and said, “How many times have I told you? Stop modeling your human form after mine. Look at you, despite all your careful effort to hide it, it still feels like a cheap imitation.”

The young fisherman said nothing.

The white-robed man turned to look at Li Xiaofei once again and said, “So, you’ve been cultivating my technique? Not bad, you’ve managed to grasp some of its essence. Since you’ve found your way here, I assume you’ve also passed through the Burial Ice Cliff, Endless Flame, and Burial Sea?”

A violent tremor surged through Li Xiaofei’s heart and mind. In that instant, he suddenly realized the identity of the man standing before him.

He cupped his fists with both hands and bowed. “This junior of the human race, Li Xiaofei, greets Senior Sword Immortal Lin.”

Yes. This white-robed man was the true Sword Immortal Lin Beichen.

“There’s no need for such formality. Technically speaking, I’m only a little older than you,” Lin Beichen said with a grin.

One of the Five Human Emperors, yet his demeanor was... How to describe it? He seemed easygoing, with a touch of smugness. He carried himself with a sort of cocky charm, quite unlike the aloof and detached image one might expect of a peerless immortal.

Or perhaps it was better to say, he felt more alive and human. Which brought up another question. If this was truly Lin Beichen... then who was the young fisherman? Li Xiaofei wanted to ask, but he held back.

The young fisherman, however, seemed to read his thoughts and said, “You’re wondering who I really am, aren’t you?”

Li Xiaofei nodded. Suddenly, the young fisherman burst into laughter and said, “Haven’t you been listening to my story along the way?”

Li Xiaofei froze. Then, his eyes widened in shock as his face filled with disbelief.

“No... it can’t be. That’s impossible.”

He wanted to deny the guess forming in his mind but the young fisherman only laughed harder.

“Hahahaha!” He bent over with glee, like a mischievous child who had just pulled off a successful prank. “Surprised? Delighted? Thrilled?”

Li Xiaofei had already grown wary. The Blood-Drinking Sword appeared naturally in his hand. An Emperor’s aura radiated outward.

“Relax. I’m not planning to kill you.” The young fisherman reined in his smile and said, “Meeting you today was just a coincidence. Heh, that girl of mine really likes you. The two of you will meet again in the future.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he casually glanced sideways. The Blood-Drinking Sword trembled slightly, as if it had encountered something terrifying. In an almost human-like response, it 'hid' behind Li Xiaofei.

Li Xiaofei drew in a sharp breath. It was the first time he had ever seen the Blood-Drinking Sword afraid. The young fisherman didn’t tease Li Xiaofei any further.

Instead, he met the eyes of Sword Immortal Lin Beichen and said, “You’ve been standing guard here for so long. You still refuse to give up?”

“None of your damn business,” Lin Beichen shot back without hesitation.

A row of dark lines slowly appeared on Li Xiaofei’s forehead.

Alright. Now that felt real.