"Don't you dare do anything that angers me, okay?"
Though phrased as a question, it unmistakably carried the tone of a condescending command, brimming with an unshakeable threat of cold danger.
Xia Feng really wanted to laugh.
He didn't even have to pretend; the scorn curling his lips came naturally from deep within, "Miss Mu, whatever are you pretending to be?"
Xia Feng roughly opened her hand and then somewhat forcefully patted her delicate, cool cheek, his taunts reaching a crescendo, "Got a bit of respect and now you're all puffed-up, thinking you're invincible, are you?"
In the face of Mr. Xia's extremely contemptuous actions and tone, Mu Qingtong had already achieved a state of dispassionate calm.
After all, ignorance knows no fear.
She would allow him to remain arrogant a few more times before he would cower completely before Mr. Xia.
After that, the foolish Mr. Xia wouldn't have this opportunity anymore.
Seeing Mu Qingtong look at him with a face of calm indifference, Xia Feng couldn't help but feel confused. She wasn't angry?
But then he quickly figured it out—was this because after acquiring the Sea of Memory, Miss Mu felt she held all the cards?
Heh~ Xia Feng withdrew his hand, proudly lifting his chin with a smirk, "How about this, Miss Mu, once this matter is settled, I will allow you to challenge me again, at the summit of the Bronze Building for a formal showdown! What do you say?"
Mu Qingtong's beautiful eyes sparked with interest. It had to be said, Mr. Xia was indeed very brave—or rather, actively seeking a beating.
That suited her just fine; at that time, she would completely demolish the foolish Mr. Xia, make him fully recognize his place, and offer up his spirit and submission to her, Mu Qingtong!
Mu Qingtong couldn't be bothered to correct Mr. Xia's error in who was challenging whom and simply nodded indifferently, "Agreed."
By the time they made their battle appointment, it was past midnight.
Under the hazy moonlight, the two hurried nonstop to the address given by Ms. Fu, a café on the corner of Huainan Road.
After scouting the surroundings and ensuring there were no suspicious individuals, Xia Feng quickly dug out the invitation placed beneath the locust tree and left swiftly.
The invitation envelope was bright red with gold-trimmed corners, looking less like an invitation to a birthday feast and more like one to a wedding.
It seemed Lord Yeli Dong still harbored grievances regarding Ms. Fu's jilting him years ago and wanted to make up for the loss today.
Xia Feng glanced at the information on the invitation.
The forged identity provided for him was that of a high-ranking officer in the Yama Army's Third Gate Pillar, complete with various identification documents and a letter.
The letter detailed the officer's personal information; he was the son-in-law of the Ye Li Royal Family.
After quickly committing the officer's details to memory and assuming his disguise with precision, Xia Feng began making his way towards the Sky Fortress.
As Ms. Fu had said, the birthday banquet would officially commence at seven in the evening, but the process of getting into the Sky Fortress was complex, and passing through the numerous checkpoints could take several hours.
Thus, guests would typically arrive around noon.
"Looking at this fortress, it's far stronger than the East Victory Fortress of Helian City."
Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong stood atop the clouds, gazing at the colossal fortress dominating the heavens, and he remarked in a low voice.
The fortress seemed like a primordial beast plunged into slumber. Should it be disturbed, awaken, and roar, the entirety of Litian City wouldn't stand a chance against a single blow.
Exchanging a glance, Xia Feng cracked a sly smile: "I'm going to snatch a few Spiritual Artifacts. Miss Mu, you wait here for my return."
With that, Xia Feng headed toward the fortress.
The identity forged by Sword Heart was tremendously advantageous, allowing him to quickly pass through the successive checkpoints and enter the inner sanctum of the Sky Fortress.
Under the guidance of an officer, Xia Feng walked through the opaque VIP corridor. Activating the Eye of Decompilation to look below, he could see the entire fortress in all its grandeur. Chapters first released on n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
Command centers at all levels, weapon storage, spiritual material vaults, alongside various space-time ships and warships stretched out. Several giant starships spanned the area, with thousands of maintenance workers crawling over them like ants, engaged in construction work.
However, many of these workers were just Apprentice Spirit Masters.
Even fewer were in possession of Spiritual Artifacts.
Next, Xia Feng walked and stopped intermittently, occasionally admiring the interior of the fortress. After taking a break for afternoon tea in the rest area and more or less memorizing the layout of the fortress, he passed through several inspections. It was almost four o'clock by the time he finally entered the core area.
If he had been a real big shot, entry here should not have been so troublesome.
But his current identity was simply that of a son-in-law to the Ye Li Royal Family, not particularly high or low in status, so he could only obediently accept the checks.
However, Xia Feng didn't mind—in fact, it suited him just fine.
Because once inside the core area, he discovered that at least 30% of the officers there possessed Spiritual Artifacts!
Having finally made it into the belly of such a military force, Xia Feng naturally did not want to miss this golden opportunity.
Although his supply of Yao Stones was running low, he still directly consumed 50 Yao Stones to activate the Mind Domain.
The range of the Mind Domain was a radius of 50 meters, and upon activation, it turned the surrounding world into shades of black and white, which was quite eye-catching.
But as long as he used spiritual power, he could conceal the black and white color effect of the Mind Domain, achieving silence and stealth, difficult for others to detect.
Unless someone with a much stronger spirit was present, it was practically impossible to notice the Mind Domain.
Xia Feng's spiritual power even without merging with Miss Mu or using any Spiritual Artifacts or Spiritual Clothes, had reached the Wise Man Level.
Even just starting at the Wise Man Level, he was still much stronger than anyone in the fortress, including Lord Yeli Dong.
So he wasn't afraid of being discovered while using the Mind Domain here.
He continued to walk slowly, unscrupulously copying the Spiritual Artifacts of the officers who passed him by.
It had to be said that, true to being Lord Yeli Dong's strongest fortress, there were indeed many Spiritual Artifacts, and the quality of many was quite high.
[You have successfully copied 306 Spiritual Artifacts, among them N Level – 227 pieces, D Level – 41 pieces, C Level – 30 pieces, B Level – 8 pieces]
Xia Feng remembered that during his last visit to Litian Fortress, he had only copied two B Level Spiritual Artifacts and less than ten C Level ones.
Xia Feng scanned the effects of these three hundred plus Spiritual Artifacts again, committing them to memory.
The effects of the eight B Level Spiritual Artifacts were all decent—a few auxiliary Spiritual Artifacts increased the spiritual quantity, some were powerfully offensive Spiritual Artifacts, and one could release poison silently and stealthily.
The remaining lower-level Spiritual Artifacts each had their effects, which might not be useful individually, but the combined effect was astonishing.
While walking, Xia Feng considered Miss Mu as an enemy template in his mind, using these Spiritual Artifacts for battle simulation and thinking about the best combination strategy.
After thoroughly trouncing Miss Mu hundreds of times.
Finally, after five in the afternoon, he arrived at an arch-shaped gate led by an officer.
Pushing the door open.
Different from the solemn military district outside, the inside seemed like a courtly and magnificent ballroom.
The majestic hall was brightly lit, the classical and soothing court music calmed the mind, creating a pleasant atmosphere.
The gentlemen, mostly of military background, stood before war sand tables, toasting and chatting merrily.
Ladies and young misses had their small groups, conversing in hushed tones and giggling behind their hands.
As soon as Xia Feng entered, he sensed Ms. Fu's location through the Pale Seal.
He looked up and saw that Ms. Fu was likely in one of the rooms on the second floor.