Chapter 860: Chapter 860

Once he heard Li Xiaofei’s account, Chu Xiang couldn’t help but laugh.

“Haha, Brother Li, to be honest, the Chu Family has never gotten along well with the Yue Family. We’ve always been competitors in business. If Yue Zhuoran intends to make a move against you, there’s no way the Chu Family will just sit by and watch.”

She patted her generous ‘chest’ as a sign of her firm guarantee.

“Then I’m relieved,” Li Xiaofei replied.

He truly didn’t want to drag the Chu Family into unnecessary conflict because of his own matters.

“Also, send me all the intel you have on the Yue Family,” Li Xiaofei added. “The more detailed, the better.”

“A small matter.” Chu Xiang agreed again without hesitation.

She didn’t try to deliberately stir up further conflict between Li Xiaofei and the Yue Family either. Soon, the group departed Shang Yu Planet. The Xiao Kuang Star Region was vast. Even with subspace teleportation, it would still take three days to reach Chu Planet. Interstellar travel was an incredibly dull affair.

“I truly don’t know anything,” said Lin Yi, now fully recovered from her injuries. She wore a bitter smile. “I was just a pawn groomed by Song Yu, used to gather intelligence through seduction. My orders were to manipulate and bewitch the high-ranking officials of Chongque City, and I only followed my orders. She never told me anything involving real secrets.”

Now a prisoner, Lin Yi showed extreme respect toward Li Xiaofei. She answered every question without hesitation. But Lin Yi was unable to provide any meaningful clues when it came to the whereabouts of Si Kongxue and his daughter.

Li Xiaofei’s mood soured. He could tell that Lin Yi wasn’t lying. The death of Song Yu had increased the difficulty of locating his wife and daughter several fold. If Lin Yi offered no clues, then he would have to resume his previous plan of tracking down other high-ranking members of Eden. Ideally, he needed to find Song Yu’s direct superior, someone she would have reported her activities to.

As for Lin Yi? Li Xiaofei decided to keep her by his side for the time being. A dangerously beautiful woman like her would attract attention wherever she went. Sooner or later, she would catch Eden’s eye as well, increasing the chances of future contact.

“Try to get in touch with Eden. Reveal your identity, and report back to me the moment you hear anything.” Li Xiaofei ordered.

Lin Yi nodded quickly, agreeing without hesitation.

The group arrived safely on Chu Planet. As one of the top noble families in the Xiao Kuang Star Region, the Chu Family had been granted a prime territory. It was an upper-grade planet with a favorable location and rich resources.

It was a highly developed world. Reportedly, it was abundant in all kinds of mineral resources. Most notably, they had plenty of mythril. However, compared to Earth, the planet’s natural environment was far inferior. Vegetation coverage was sparse, and water resources were limited. Its population hovered around ten million, and were mostly concentrated in several hundred cities known as base cities.

Li Xiaofei hadn’t expected to see the term base city again in this outer star region of the human world.

“Truly life-sustaining planets are rare in this vast universe,” Chu Xiang explained. “Especially for us humans, our standards for livable environments are very high. So, we’re forced to terraform second-tier planets and build livable cities on them.

“After centuries of war, the human population in the starry river has dwindled. Some old base cities have already been abandoned. Many of those second-tier planets have reverted to desolate worlds. There are no ordinary residents left, only stationed troops.

“Chu Planet is now the most prosperous human-occupied planet within several surrounding star systems.”

As the spacecraft passed through low orbit and approached the Moon Gate to enter the atmosphere, Chu Xiang and Li Xiaofei stood side by side on the bridge. They could see the massive ochre-colored planet coming into full view through the enormous viewport.

Chu Xiang offered Li Xiaofei detailed introductions and commentary as they approached the planet. Li Xiaofei listened quietly, but said nothing.

Thirty minutes later, after passing through several levels of Moon Gate inspection, the spacecraft successfully entered Chu Planet and eventually landed at the airport of the main base city, Mulin Base City.

They were warmly welcomed upon arrival. Chu Xiang’s older brother, Chu Heng, came to greet Li Xiaofei at the airport on behalf of the family. The group then proceeded to the most luxurious hotel in the city, the Mulin Grand Hotel, to settle in.

Originally, the Chu siblings had planned for Li Xiaofei to stay at the Chu Family estate. As the rulers of Chu Planet, the Chu Family was immensely wealthy. Their ancestral manor sprawled across more than ten thousand acres, as befitting a noble family of the starry river. But Li Xiaofei preferred staying at a hotel. It offered him more freedom, comfort, and privacy.

As night fell, standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the 107th-floor penthouse suite, he gazed at the entirety of Mulin Base City. Unlike the base cities on Earth, where living space was tight and high-rises were packed closely together, Mulin Base City spanned a wide area. Its buildings were scattered and well-planned, the lights at night sparse and spread out, carrying with them a subtle sense of emptiness and solitude.

The main reason for this impression was the low population. Centuries of endless war had exacted a terrible toll on the human race of the starry river, causing a drastic decline in numbers. If not, the former Heaven wouldn’t have needed to divide Earth into one hundred thousand base worlds to train warriors and send them to the galactic frontlines.

Earlier, Li Xiaofei had learned from Huang Dinggou that nearly all human-occupied planets near the Star Battlefield had a low population density. Most labor was replaced by formation-powered puppets, robotics, martial-powered machinery, and other mechanical substitutes.

Population collapse was the greatest crisis currently facing the starry river’s human civilization.

Li Xiaofei glanced at Lin Yi, who went to answer it. It was Chu Heng.

“My apologies for the late visit,” Chu Heng greeted with a cupped-fist salute and a smile.

“Please, come in,” Li Xiaofei said. “Brother Chu wouldn’t visit this late without good reason, I presume?”

Once seated in the living room, Chu Heng spoke, “First and foremost, I must thank you, Brother Li, for looking after my younger sister inside Heaven. According to Xiang’er, if not for your repeated acts of valor, she would’ve likely died at the hands of evildoers.”

Li Xiaofei offered a faint smile and said, “Everyone has their own destiny. Your sister is blessed with good fortune, which is why she escaped danger. Brother Chu, there's no need to be overly polite.”

“Brother Li, you are a benefactor to the Chu family.”

“Heh, Brother Chu, feel free to speak your mind. There’s no need to circle around. Go ahead and be direct.”

“I’m being a bit petty, I admit,” Chu Heng said with a somewhat embarrassed chuckle. “Then I’ll speak plainly. The Yue Family has already joined forces with the business alliance of the Xiao Kuang Star Region and issued a bounty to capture you. By tomorrow morning, a group of enforcers from the alliance’s Revered Protectors Corps will land on Chu Planet.”

“Oh? In that case, I’ll leave Chu Planet immediately, so as not to trouble the Chu Family.”

Li Xiaofei instantly understood Chu Heng’s intent. It seemed that Chu Xiang, who was still relatively inexperienced in the martial world, hadn’t grasped the full severity of the situation and had confidently brought him back. However, the elders of the Chu Family weren’t willing to take the risk of offending the alliance.

A trace of awkwardness appeared on Chu Heng’s face as he said, “It’s shameful, really. Families like ours... we have too many concerns. For the sake of our family, we often lose the freedom to act as we wish. Brother Li, your great kindness can only be repaid at a more suitable time in the future.”

“No need to be so courteous,” Li Xiaofei replied evenly.

Chu Heng added, “Earlier, you requested certain materials from my sister. We’ve prepared them. I hope they’re of use to you.”

He handed over a jade slip. The Chu Family belonged to an ancient martial cultivation lineage. Confidential information was not stored on hard drives or cloud networks but encoded within jade slips or memory talismans.

Li Xiaofei accepted the slip and glanced through it. It contained a wealth of intelligence regarding Eden. One detail caught his attention in particular. There had once been rumors of the Yue Family being in collusion with Eden. Dıscover more novels at 𝗻𝗼𝘷𝗲𝗹•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝕟𝕖𝕥

More importantly, Yue Zhuoran, the Jade-Faced Saint Hand, was alleged to be entangled with Eden. He was a leading figure among the Yue Family’s younger generation. He had even been arrested by the military at one point. However, after several rounds of investigation, he was declared innocent and eventually released.

Li Xiaofei’s heart stirred upon reading this.

Then Chu Heng added, “Furthermore, the alliance’s Revered Protectors Corps are approaching aggressively. There are eighteen high-level cultivators among them. Their leader goes by the title Blazing Flame Grand Venerable and is a powerful expert of the Six Gods Realm. In the civilian martial world of the Xiao Kuang Star Region, he ranks among the top ten. His combat strength is overwhelming, and he is a legendary figure in this sector with deep ties to the Yue Family. Brother Li, you must not confront him directly. The best option is to leave the Xiao Kuang Star Region and lie low for a while.”

Li Xiaofei gave a slight nod, then asked with some curiosity, “Do civilian merchant alliances truly possess such great power in the Xiao Kuang Star Region? A Six Gods Realm expert... why hasn't he joined the military to fight the Reapers?”

Chu Heng gave a bitter smile. “A battlefield supported solely by the military is unsustainable. Logistics, supplies, and resources all rely on merchant guilds to manage and mobilize. Administrative orders and soldiers alone can't solve every issue. Merchant alliances, noble families, and sects act as lubricants between the bones and flesh. They help the military perform essential support roles more effectively.”

Li Xiaofei nodded thoughtfully. He was beginning to realize that the Star Battlefield wasn’t quite what he had imagined. It wasn’t a pure warzone. It wasn’t just military outposts and formations. It was still very much a martial world. Up to this point, he hadn’t had any meaningful contact with the military.

In fact, Li Xiaofei’s original goal upon coming to the Star Battlefield had been to enlist and fight on behalf of humanity. But due to the schemes of the old chancellor and Song Yu, he had instead been dragged into the war within Heaven.

Now that he had finally walked out of Heaven, he was once again caught up in the search for his wife and daughter, forced to operate from the shadows and follow scattered clues. His goal of joining the army had been postponed again.

Once I find them, I’ll enlist. That was the resolution forming in Li Xiaofei’s heart.

A short while later, Li Xiaofei and Lin Yi boarded an unmarked shuttlecraft and quietly departed Chu Planet, vanishing into the endless sea of stars.

“I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear it!” Chu Xiang shouted furiously, her voice trembling with frustration and emotion, like a child clinging to a stubborn belief. “Brother, you were completely wrong about this. You don’t know what Brother Li did in Heaven, you don’t know his character or his strength. You don’t understand... I don’t want to argue anymore. I’m going to find him myself!”

Chu Heng gave her a pained look and blocked her path.

“Do you really think this was my decision alone?” He said softly, “Xiang’er, calm down.”

Chu Xiang froze for a moment, then snapped, “Then I’ll go to Grandpa. I’ll ask him to bring Brother Li back!”

Chu Heng shook his head slowly and said, “It’s too late.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice stiffening.

At that same moment, in outer space, just beyond Chu Planet, the shuttle exploded with a deafening roar. A blinding flash of light, like a miniature sun detonation, lit up the void. The shockwave far exceeded the shuttle’s own mass, spreading in a searing white bloom in all directions. The explosion consumed everything.