The most noticeable detail was that both he and the man Xu Fei had previously killed bore a cherry blossom emblem on their clothing.
“Could it be that some foreign force from R Country has recently infiltrated our territory? How have I not heard any intelligence about this?” Xu Fei wondered, finding it odd. To preserve evidence, he took out his dagger and cut the cherry blossom emblem from the man’s clothing, slipping it into his pocket.
After dealing with the man, Xu Fei had no choice but to continue deeper into the hall.
He didn’t know what danger awaited him next, but he could only press forward.
This time, for caution’s sake, Xu Fei chose to selectively activate his clairvoyant vision for short periods before deactivating it. This way, the small amount of true qi consumed when activating it could be replenished during the downtime.
By cycling this way, Xu Fei could sustain himself to go further.
It wasn’t that Xu Fei feared death, but years of combat experience and ingrained habits compelled him to act this way.
Back when he was still a soldier on missions, his seniors had drilled one crucial lesson into him: always minimise unnecessary waste during a mission to avoid being caught without resources at a critical moment.
Even now, as a cultivator who no longer needed to conserve ammunition or food, Xu Fei’s ingrained habits led him to preserve his true qi as much as possible.
“After this mission, I need to go back and prepare some recovery pills. It seems these are quite important for cultivators,” Xu Fei muttered to himself. During the brief periods when he activated his clairvoyant vision, he quickened his pace.
After advancing through the underground palace for about five minutes, the surroundings began to change strangely.
The previous grand hall had exuded an air of opulence and was impressively vast. But here, the style shifted entirely.
Wooden structures dominated, and共和, enshrined deities and fluttering chrysanthemum patterns under the eaves silently told Xu Fei exactly where he was.
“It seems these R Country folks have been quite active on our turf lately. Once this is over, I’ll need to check things out properly!” Xu Fei remarked.
Having been away from the battlefield for a while, Xu Fei still kept a close eye on the situation there, but his intelligence-gathering ability wasn’t what it used to be.
As Xu Fei cautiously proceeded, a strange doll dressed in R Country’s formal attire suddenly appeared before him.
“Halt! This area is restricted!” the doll declared.
Xu Fei naturally assumed this was another trap set by the mysterious Evil King to stop him. The doll’s voice was unsettling, neither fully human nor ghostly.
“Petty tricks! Stop playing games, or I’ll smash this place to bits!” Xu Fei snapped, his patience thin. He moved to charge through the barrier ahead.
“Intruder detected, activate defence! Requesting execution!”
“Execute!”
As soon as Xu Fei stepped into the barrier’s range, the doll’s voice grew even more mechanical.
Then, slowly, the sound of flapping wings echoed from within the building.
“Strange, how could there be wings here? Unless…” Xu Fei trailed off, suspicion rising.
