Chapter 946 - The Dark Night Diary’s Secret
Chapter 946: The Dark Night Diary’s Secret
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
*Whoosh*
The Gemini came to an abrupt halt. Using its narrow frame, it silently hid behind a small asteroid belt, as still as the vast expanse around them.
Xia Fei kept White Skull and quickly jumped out of the Precious Brilliance Space, headed to the cockpit and using its radar system to search for any traces left by Dark lifeforms.
“According to the Dark Night Diary, the proper entrance to the Dark lifeform territory should be near here. It’s heavily guarded, so it’s best if we stay silent as we sneak our way in to avoid being noticed by our enemy. If that’s too much, we can call Little Goldie and enter via the Dark Space, but the Dark lifeforms have defenses in Dark Space, so it’ll take some effort on our part to get past them. Besides, the difference between the Dark Space and conventional space is huge. I wonder if Little Goldie has caught up to us yet,” Radix said.
Xia Fei did not wish to be noticed by anyone, so even though The Gemini could rely on its speed to escape from pursuit, it would nevertheless alert the enemies to their presence and, thus, subject Xia Fei to further complications down the road. The best solution here was still to sneak in.
“The Dark Night Diary is right; there’s a defensive perimeter set up here. Look here; these white spots glowing on the radar are Dark lifeform warships, while these red dots are gigantic beasts,” Xia Fei pointed to the screen and said.
“A combined defense with both Dark lifeform beasts and warships. Seems that it’s gonna be very difficult for you to pass through this region of space without being discovered. Are there any alternative paths we can take?” Radix asked.
Xia Fei activated the warship’s stealth system and flipped through the Dark Night Diary again. When they first arrived, Xia Fei, who had been rushing to learn Thousand Shapes Artificing, only casually flipped through the guidebook. Now that he had arrived on the outskirts of the Dark lifeform territory, it was time to examine it in closer detail.
The Dark Night Diary appeared to be very normal, with plenty of rough star map sketches aside from the text, all hand drawn. The current position Xia Fei had flown to was called the Old Tiger’s entrance, with two twinkling stars that looked like a tiger’s incisors, and right in the middle was the mandatory channel that would lead him right into Dark lifeform territory.
“Without mentioning how much more time we need to waste if we make our way out and venture around the periphery, we can also come across powerful electromagnetic storms and hidden black holes. It seems like the Old Tiger’s entrance is indeed a route that we must take in order to enter Dark lifeform territory. It’ll be hard to circle around it,” Xia Fei came to the conclusion after inspecting the star map for some time.
Though it was hand drawn, the information relayed on the radar scans and the map on the Dark Night Diary were one and the same. It looked like Xex Sin was quite the expert when it came to interstellar reconnaissance.
“Have another closer look. If there’s really no way around it, we’ll have to enter the Dark Space. Little Goldie has an innate familiarity to the passageways, so it should be able to bypass the entrance,” Radix offered.
Xia Fei nodded. He continued perusing the Dark Night Diary closely. He had only skimmed through the guidebook moments ago and had not studied its finer details. It was after this close inspection of the book that he noticed several irregularities.
“There seems to be something missing here…” Xia Fei muttered to himself as he shut the book.
“No way. Why didn’t I notice it?” Radix asked curiously.
Xia Fei replied, “There are quite a lot of traces that hint this was manmade. Since the Dark Night Diary was a daily log of Xex Sin’s journey, there ought to be records like the names of the locations he visited, how he entered and left them, but what we have here are mostly maps, with no personal thoughts or comments made by Xex Sin. It’s very abnormal.”
Radix was startled. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I kinda recall how dry and bare this guidebook read as if it were a fabricated machine.”
Xia Fei did not say another word as he continued to scrutinize the book.
The Dark Night Diary was black in color, made from some mysterious yet thin metal. The texts and images on its pages had all been carved with a corrosive pen, such that no one would be able to correct its content after it was written down. In fact, it was not even possible for them to tear off a page.
“It’s normally very difficult for anyone to falsify a copy with metal books like this. Could there be some trickery to this?” Radix shook his head as he wondered out loud.
Xia Fei smiled. “There’s nothing impossible in this universe! How could such a pedestrian guidebook have caused such a desperate contest among people from all sides? Forget the location of the Dark lifeforms’ main base or treasure, there aren’t even instructions on how to get past these checkpoints. I refuse to believe that there’s no trick afoot!”
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei casually tossed the Dark Night Diary into the air and the pages of the book flashed past, allowing him to witness a curious scene when under the light.
Those originally irrelevant maps created an indistinct animation under the rapid flipping of pages, almost like an old-fashioned projector!
“So that’s how it is!” Xia Fei was surprised, his two eyes ablaze. “No wonder Xex Sin stuck to the traditional hand-drawing method. Turns out he’s even a great artist, hiding what he wants to impart for posterity in the illustrations on every page!”
*Swoosh*
Xia Fei tossed the Dark Night Diary again. Every page of the book had star maps, so if he found the right angle and speed to flip through them rapidly, he could then view a steady stream of images!
There was a dagger amidst the illustration, like a woman’s hairpin, short and exquisite. There was even a mysterious cross intricately etched on it, as if someone had stabbed the Dark Night Diary using a hairpin!
With a small knife in his hand, Xia Fei swiftly peeled off the outer layer of the diary, and sure enough, he found a very flexible yet absolutely harmless, thin little hairpin.
“I get it now! That’s an activation device for a shadow book!” Radix was well read, so he had very quickly determined the use of that thin little hairpin.
“Shadow book?” Xia Fei inquisitively wondered.
“A shadow book is a type of mental transmission method. For example, if you have some images you don’t wish for others to see, nor do you want anyone unconcerned with the matter finding out that it exists, a shadow book can be used as a means of mental transmission. When a shadow book is used, the one who activates it will directly receive the images in their head, just like watching a movie,” Radix explained animatedly.
Xia Fei hurriedly searched for the key slot on the Dark Night Diary and expectedly found this very inconspicuous indent on the back of the book. It was just long enough for the long hairpin to be slotted in!
*Snap*
A crisp sound could be heard the moment the hairpin was slotted in place. Following which, an astounding scene unfolded!
Xia Fei saw as the Dark Night Diary automatically closed itself, and that thick dictionary-sized guidebook turned into a brick!
The next second, that black metal break promptly scattered as if made of fine black sands and hung suspended in mid-air!
*Whoosh*
The black sand particles surged, and a magical movie began to play!
…
“So that’s how it is!” Xia Fei had an epiphany after watching that shadow book Xex Sin had left behind. “So he not only came into contact with the king of the Dark lifeforms; he was even his mentor, becoming his closest confidante!”
“Xex Sin was really powerful to have actually made his way into the lair of the Dark lifeforms, even accidentally becoming friends with their king. Most people wouldn’t have such an opportunity and would probably never learn where the main base of the Dark lifeforms was!” Radix exclaimed in shock.
Xia Fei gritted his teeth. “Aside from the path we need to take, what I’m most concerned of is the warrior organization of the Dark lifeforms. To think that they’ve mastered a power similar to the Law of Darkness while also harnessing the ability to travel through the Dark Space. Without a doubt, they’re definitely a very formidable opponent!”
According to Xex Sin’s shadow book, the Dark lifeforms only had one law power, the Law of Darkness. Though they shared the same name as the Great Law of the Demon Race, there were actually many differences between the two.
The Dark warriors were divided by tier, with Tier 1 being equivalent to a common law warrior, Tier 2 having the strength of a Law Sovereign, and so forth.
Xia Fei shook his head, skepticism in his voice. “I still can’t make sense of just how the Dark lifeforms actually has seven tiers! After all, a Tier 6 Dark warrior is equivalent to our Law God, so what’s a Tier 7? Are they perhaps the founders?!”
Radix rumbled, “I don’t understand this, either. From what I could remember, Hosu was fairly powerful and definitely even greater than a peak Law God, but he’s someone from beyond the Cosmic Gate, where there’s a system of power we have no idea about at the moment. As for those founders, even I haven’t come into contact with any of them before; plus, those old demons don’t seem to exist anymore or, at least, not in the Law Realm, nor do they care to ask about matters affecting our plain.”
With a wave of his hand, Xia Fei grunted, “Forget about all these questions for now. No matter how powerful the enemies are, we still have to face them! The grand ancestor is still waiting for news from us. I must hurry up and infiltrate the Dark lifeforms’ territory, investigate their movement in secret and find out if they’re hiding any Immemorial Mystical Armaments here!”
Xia Fei stored The Gemini in his spatial ring as he distanced himself somewhat before calling Little Goldie to his side and bringing him into the Dark Space. This was also how Law God Xex Sin sneaked into the territory back then; Xia Fei’s movement was a lot smoother since he had Little Goldie for a pet. After all, Xex Sin did not have a demon chrysalis to lead the way during his sojourn.
“Let’s go! Circle around this region!” Xia Fei held one hand on Little Goldie’s forehead and said.
Little Goldie seemed to be very tired after its long journey, but this somewhat dull-witted creature happily did as was commanded and without any complaints whatsoever. It even behaved very affectionately when it saw Furball, most likely due to the solidarity they shared from the battle back at the Night Banquet.
*Zip*
Little Goldie rapidly shuttled through channels after receiving orders.
According to what was written in the Dark Night Diary, Xex Sin had spent a very long time wandering about in this region of space back then before coincidentally entering the back garden, Hawkeye, in the Dark lifeform territory. From that point onward, he began his slow journey in the Dark lifeform territory, which was what Xia Fei planned to do as well.
Little Goldie might be somewhat dull, but it was smart where it counted. Xia Fei showed him the image from his own memory, and the creature expressed that it already understood Xia Fei’s intention after a glance or two. It proceeded to rush to Hawkeye, the back garden of the Dark lifeforms.
There were defenses set up in the Dark Space, too, and in order not to alert them of their presence, Little Goldie must keep its distance from those, favoring the more desolate backward channels.
*Kaboom*
Little Goldie forcibly opened a path where there had been no channels before, the creature actually using its body to make its own way forward!
With Xia Fei on its head, the demon chrysalis zoomed ahead, but it just so happened to have come face to face with another gigantic demon chrysalis. Fortunately, these two huge creatures did not collide, for atop this other demon chrysalis was another warrior!
“Xia Fei?!”
“Secludeless!”
Coincidentally, this warrior in front of Xia Fei was none other than the lord of Secluded Springs, Law Sage Secludeless!
“To think I’d actually bump into you here of all places!” he exclaimed before pointing right at Xia Fei’s face. “You destroyed my Secluded Springs and killed my comrades! I shall settle this account with you today! Don’t you dare run if you’ve got the guts!”
*Whoosh*
Secludeless was well aware of how just how great a speed Xia Fei possessed, which was why he had been very worried that the latter would make a sudden break for it. In his mind, Xia Fei was still that same Xia Fei from before; he would not be a match as long as he did not run away!
Even if Xia Fei had landed a grievous blow on Secludeless back then, it had only been the result of a trick!
*Kaboom*
Law Sage Secludeless hurtled over and went on the offensive!
All of a sudden, Secludeless came to an abrupt halt while in mid-air.. This was because Xia Fei had very calmly gazed at him from across, as the corner of his mouth arced into a peculiar smirk!