Xia Fei could no longer hold back his laughter as he blurted out, “After all that, you want me to take over the mess that the Fiends left behind?”

Soza wrinkled his brow and replied solemnly, “How could you call it a mess? The Four Grand Dragoons each have their own expertise and their role in the battle. Right now, the New Hero Alliance lacks the power of its Devil Shadow Dragoon, which makes it no different from a lame, three-legged horse. How could we hope to defeat those Evil Dragons?

“The entire Alliance views the reestablishment of the Devil Shadow Dragoon as a matter of great importance, and every powerful clan in the Alliance was sent to accomplish this task, searching throughout the Annihilation Universe, and even going to the Lower Five Stars Universe to search for a suitable warrior. We of the Zadins were placed in charge of this location, the Collapsed Expanse of Founders.”

Xia Fei pouted, “It’s been so many years, and your clan has only managed to choose four candidates, and that is only including myself! That is a depressingly low rate of efficiency!”

Soza waved his hand dismissively, “Xia Fei, don’t forget how important this is! The Annihilation Universe is the plane above the Five Connected Stars Universes, and there are a lot of warriors there. They are already the descendants of the original Hero Alliance, and their combat strength far exceeds what you find here in the Alpha Universe.

“You’ve been chosen despite only having Four Soul Marks! You must know that most of the candidates that are selected from the Annihilation Universe are an entire level higher than you!”

Xia Fei nodded silently. According to Soza’s line of thinking, becoming a Devil Shadow Dragoon was not an easy feat, as Xia Fei had found himself abruptly pulled to the same battlelines as those experts from the Annihilation Universe.

Annihilators. Xia Fei had heard Aquamarine mention that name before. They were the peak experts who knew how many times stronger than Founders! It remained unknown if there was a war god at the Annihilator level out here anywhere in the enormous Alpha Universe. The fact that Xia Fei was given the chance to fight alongside such super-experts meant he really should not be picky about the circumstances.

After a pause, Soza spoke up again, and what he said pushed the already tempted Xia Fei right toward the brink of excitement.

“Devil Shadow Dragon isn’t just a designation. Though the Fiends have since been rendered extinct, they left plenty of precious treasures behind. If one day you do attain the title of a Devil Shadow Dragoon, you’ll be able to obtain the wealth the entire race left behind.

“The Fiends were known for being weird and adaptive, and the Soul Weapons they used are all considered first rate due to how extremely unique they were. Just think about it. This is a treasure trove that an entire sapient race had accumulated, as a whole!”

*Zing!*

Xia Fei’s eyes instantly sparkled. He had always liked unique martial techniques and weapons, and he hated those generic items that lacked any personality whatsoever. Becoming a Devil Shadow Dragoon to obtain the legacy the Fiends had left behind? That suited Xia Fei’s appetite perfectly!

Who cared that they were the Fiends; being able to eliminate his enemies made them the greatest race!

“Say no more, I’m in!” Xia Fei waved his hand resolutely.

Soza seemed to have seen the countless money signs appearing in Xia Fei’s eyes. It seemed like the temptation of the Fiend’s legacy was far more effective than the labored explanation Soza had given him.

*clap*

Soza clapped, and laid a palm heavily on Xia Fei’s shoulder, loudly declaring, “Okay, from today onward, you’re a New Hero Alliance’s Neophyte Dragoon. I’ll send your information straight to the Alliance!”

“Hold it!” Xia Fei’s expression changed as he held a hand out to keep Soza from leaving. He asked in his puzzlement, “What did you just say? Neophyte Dragoon? Does that mean I’m not an official Dragoon yet?”

Soza shook off Xia Fei’s vise-like grip and said evenly, “It’s not as if we Zadins represent the entire Hero Alliance. All I can do is make my recommendation to the Alliance, and whether you’ll be accepted into the Devil Shadow Dragoon will all depend on the will from above. Of course, you’re not the only one who will be given the title of Neophyte Dragoon!”

Seeing Xia Fei looked very dissatisfied, Soza hurriedly added, “Whatever you do, don’t underestimate the word ‘Dragoon’! All those years back, every single one of those Dragoons were indomitable war gods that were capable of anything. One could imagine just how powerful they were, strong enough to split apart entire universes in half!

“Until now, not more than two hundred individuals have attained the title of Dragoon, and that’s across five universes, including the Annihilation Universe that I hail from. Out of all of those two hundred warriors, those with the lowest cultivation are high-ranked Annihilators!”

Xia Fei was surprised, muttering to himself, “So that’s how powerful the Dragoons are?”

“But of course! However, a Neophyte Dragoon title is enough for you to dominate the Alpha Universe. Plus, look here.”

Soza took out a clear crystal bead that was not too large in size. However, its color was akin to pure water, with not even a hint of impurity, and it was giving off a very tempting scent.

“This is the Life Advancement Bead, something that could be considered a miracle drug. After taking this in, not only will you experience a complete purification, you could even find your seventh brain region enlarging again, without even any adverse side effects. The value of this Life Advancement Bead already surpasses even a top grade Soul Weapon in the Annihilation Universe. Even if the price was an entire clan’s life in exchange for this bead, there would be people out there who would fight over the chance to take it.”

Soza had said a lot, but it was obvious that this Life Advancement Bead that could expand one’s Seventh Brain Region was a super item of astronomical value!

“Aside from the Life Advancement Bead and the Neophyte Dragoon title, you’ll still receive a third gift, and that is opening the inheritance treasury of the Fiends, allowing you to pick three weapons from within!”

Soza glimpsed at that battered Celestial Sole Warning that Xia Fei was wearing, and he said, “That war armor you have on is at the high-grade Founder tier, which was originally not too bad. But unfortunately, it has since been ruined, and it will never reach its previous standard, even after repairs. If you wish, you can also pick an Annihilator-grade war armor from the inheritance of the Fiends.”

*Whoosh*

Xia Fei was originally fretting over that. After all, the Neophyte Dragoon title was not anything practically impressive, but if he could pick out three treasures from the Fiends’ inheritance treasury, that was definitely a fatal temptation. Just thinking about using a super war armor at Annihilator-grade while still being a Level Four Founder excited him greatly!

Seeing Xia Fei was enticed, Soza handed over the Life Advancement Bead in his hand to Xia Fei, and somewhat unwillingly said, “While you have just obtained an ocean’s worth of energy, eat this Life Advancement Bead. It’ll help you purify your entire body once, and eliminate all the useless impurities inside you.”

Xia Fei took the transparent bead and rolled it about in his hand. After hearing everything, Xia Fei was completely convinced of Soza’s background, so Xia Fei opened his mouth, tossed the Life Advancement Bead in, and chewed.

The bead looked like it was a gem of sorts, when in fact it had a very soft texture to it, like he was biting into maltose candy. However, he did not taste sweetness after breaking it, but the sweet coolness of ice from an iceberg.

‘If Fuchen were around, he would surely be shocked in his ecstasy, as this taste is really pure,’ Xia Fei thought to himself. Whenever he came across anything that tasted unique, he would always think of that gourmand, Fuchen.

Suddenly, the pure ice water sensation began to rapidly fill his bones.

It was like there were countless rivers coursing through his body, driving Xia Fei’s metabolism to cleanse his body over and over.

Soza’s words were by no means an exaggeration. He felt like he had been reborn!.

Xia Fei spread out his arms wide, letting out a satisfying bellow. The muscles all over his body tensed, and he was on his tiptoes, his entire body straight as a javelin.

Round after round, time and again, the Life Advancement Bead kept cleansing Xia Fei’s body. He suddenly thought of how wuxia novels would describe the Buddha Cleansing Workout, and he wondered if it was the same sensation he was now feeling!

—

After an entire quarter of an hour, the Life Advancement Bead finally stopped its purification of Xia Fei’s body and began to work on Xia Fei’s seventh brain region.

*Whoosh*

Like the feeling of a rushing river, he had no idea just what was gushing right for his brain region, but Xia Fei’s seventh brain region began instantly expanding.

*Rumble*

This surge was akin to a cosmic explosion, powerful and overbearing!

Years back when Xia Fei had consumed Purple Jade, it had not been as explosive as this even when it broke the barrier of his seventh brain region in one go. However, the Xia Fei of today was by no means the same as the Xia Fei of before. Just his brain alone was making him feel a little lightheaded!

Right at the moment when Xia Fei was feeling slightly woozy, no one noticed that the corner of Soza’s lips curled into a strange smirk…

…

“A 500% increase in the brain region! That is essentially five times the normal limit of an average human. This is remarkable! Truly remarkable!” Radix was yelling loudly, completely excited after having not said a word for a very long time.

Because he had been controlled by Soza to attack Xia Fei, Radix felt rather humiliated, and was too mortified to speak. But after the Life Advancement Bead increased the size of Xia Fei’s seventh brain region, Radix could not bottle up any longer. That was because Xia Fei’s seventh brain region had already achieved an unthinkable five hundred percent size increase, well beyond the limit!

Even Soza was agape. He knew that Xia Fei’s seventh brain region would grow after consuming the Bead, but he was still shocked to see it increased to such a degree!

Smiling, the feeling of this widening of his seventh brain region naturally made Xia Fei pleased as a peach.

All of a sudden, even as the tip of Xia Fei’s toes touched the ground, he went speeding off at great speed.

Speed.

Insane speed!

The ultimate skill that Xia Fei had become famous with had improved once more!

In just a second, Xia Fei’s top speed broke the thirty million meters per second limit.

Level Eight Law of Speed, broken!

Compared to the expansion of his brain region, this increase in speed was much more apparent, and Xia Fei was even more excited by it.

Improving on speed as the most heaven-defying combat technique, was harder than ascending to Heaven. This time, Xia Fei had relied on the miraculous power from the Life Advancement Bead to break through level Eight in the blink of an eye. He now had a speed that surpassed thirty million meters per second!

That was close to light speed!

For some unknown reason, Xia Fei’s footsteps did not stop. He was getting faster and faster, almost as if the increase in speed was not his only goal!

Circling around the lake, Xia Fei made it around like a streak of lightning, stirring up the dust and soil behind him enough to cover the sky.

Radix was very excited, but Soza’s expression was gradually turning grim. It looked like Xia Fei’s speed increase was not something he had wanted to see.

A strange and powerful force was exerting on everything around, chilling everyone right down to their bones. It was Xia Fei’s Inner Demon!

Radix’s expression turned from pleasant surprise into even greater elation. He hoarsely croaked, “Could Xia Fei… Don’t tell me!”

*Kaboom!*

Before Radix could finish his sentence, the Inner Demon inside him exploded out!

After the dust settled, the entire world was enveloped in a majestic Fiendish Aura.

On Xia Fei’s back, a pair of wings had materialized.

No. They were not wings. They were Fiendwings!