"I am not here to destroy your sect," Lin Feng said. "I am here as a guest of the Eternal Sect. Control your disciples. If this happens again, I will not be so kind."
The Sect Master hit his head on the ground one more time. "Thank you, Ancestor! Thank you for your mercy!"
Lin Feng closed the window and turned back to Bai Wei.
"Let's rest," he said. "We have a long road ahead."
The next morning, at breakfast, the inn was completely silent.
Lin Feng and Bai Wei sat at a small table by the window, eating. Now that everyone knew Lin Feng's identity, no other guests dared to make a sound. Even the chopsticks clinking sounded too loud.
The innkeeper himself brought out the dishes, his hands shaking a little as his chefs placed the best food they had in front of Lin Feng and Bai Wei.
While they were eating, Bai Wei asked, "Now that you got your memories back, can you guess where your sister is?"
Lin Feng frowned slightly. "Actually, I do know where she is. That's why Master sent me here to Binglan Star," he said, thinking for a moment.
Bai Wei caught the word immediately. "Master? You mean Senior Brother Huai?"
Lin Feng nodded. "Yes. I told you, he is our Master. With him here, we will win this time for sure. And as for my sister, she is okay right now. Although she is not related to me from my past life, I can still feel her presence on this plane through our bloodline connection." He chuckled at the end.
Bai Wei asked again, "Then what are we going to do next, Lin Feng?"
Lin Feng stopped eating. He looked at Bai Wei's face and then smiled. "Why don't we go to the battlefield to get some experience?"
Bai Wei's eyes lit up instantly. He nodded hard and started shoving food into his mouth very fast. Lin Feng chuckled and put some more meat onto his plate. Bai Wei ate it all without complaining.
After they finished eating, the two of them left together in their space shuttle.
On the ground below, the entire Binglan Star and the Glacial Veil Sect all heaved a huge sigh of relief.
After a few days of travel, they arrived.
The Mid-Level Battlefield No. 00321 was not on a planet. It floated in the broken void between stars. Below them was a shattered continent the size of a moon, covered in red dust, broken swords, and deep craters that still glowed from old battles. The sky was dark purple, and far away you could hear the sound of spiritual cannons and beasts roaring. Ships and cultivators flew in and out constantly, some carrying wounded, some carrying loot.
The moment Lin Feng and Bai Wei stepped out of their space shuttle, a cold voice rang directly in their heads.
[Welcome!]
[Citizen Lin Feng and Citizen Bai Wei from the Holy Grade Sect "Eternal Sect" to our Mid-Level Battlefield No. 00321.]
[Please register your information and cultivation level at the Tower of Battle. The Tower of Battle will provide you with a token. That token is required to enter the battlefield.]
[Lowest requirement: Star Apprentice Level 1]
[Highest cultivation level: Star Sovereign Peak]
Lin Feng and Bai Wei looked at each other at the same time. It was Nexus who changed their sect's details after she knew about the real Cultivation level of Shen Huai and Yan Wuhe.
Lin Feng and Bai Wei, they were both at the Star Venerable realm, only one major realm below Star Sovereign.
But in real combat, it was different. Lin Feng could now fight against Galaxy Masters. Bai Wei was a little weaker, but with his ancient pine bloodline, he could still fight against a Galaxy Apprentice.
They both walked forward toward the huge tower standing in the void near the battlefield.
The Tower of Battle was completely black. It was made of some unknown black metal that absorbed light. It was at least ten thousand meters tall, with no windows, only thousands of glowing red runes crawling across its surface like veins. At the top, a giant eye made of formation light slowly scanned everyone who came close. The air around it felt heavy and cold.
As they walked, everyone turned to look at them.
When they saw how young Lin Feng and Bai Wei looked, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, some of the older mercenaries started to sneer.
"Tsk, look at these two babies. Did they get lost on the way to their mother's house?" a scar-faced man laughed loudly.
Another woman in armor shook her head. "The battlefield is not a place for kids to play. Go back to your home before you get yourself killed."
A third one spat on the ground. "Another pair of young masters here to waste our already scared resources. They probably think war is a game. They don't even know what death is ...tsk tsk! "
Bai Wei's hand tightened, but Lin Feng did not even glance at them. He kept walking straight toward the registration office at the base of the black tower.
Bai Wei followed him without a word.
Seeing themselves being completely ignored made the commenters even angrier.
"Hey! Brat! I'm talking to you! You think you're too good to look at us?" the scar-faced man shouted.
"Let them go," the armored woman sneered. "The nether beasts will teach them soon enough."
Lin Feng pushed open the heavy black door of the registration office, and the door closed behind them with a deep boom, cutting off all the noise outside.
Inside the tower, it was completely different.
The heavy black door closed behind them, and the noise from outside vanished instantly. The room they entered was quiet, cold, and empty. There were no other cultivators, no line, no waiting chairs. Just a single long counter made of white jade, and behind it sat an old clerk in a grey uniform.
The clerk looked up, bored. "Next. Place your hand on the crystal."
Lin Feng went first. He walked up and placed his palm on the floating black crystal on the counter.
The crystal flashed, and a light screen appeared only for the clerk to see.
[Name: Lin Feng]
[Sect: Eternal Sect]
[Sect Grade: Holy]
[Recommended by: Goddess Nexus]
The clerk's eyes froze on the second line.
His hand started to shake.
Everyone in the human territory knew what had happened just a few days ago. Goddess Nexus, who had not spoken for thousands of years, had suddenly used her last authority to make a universe-wide announcement. She had personally evaluated an unknown sect and raised it directly into the Holy Tier.
The name of that sect was the Eternal Sect.
And now, people from that exact sect were standing right in front of him.
The clerk gulped loudly. He quickly stood up and bowed so low his forehead almost hit the counter.
"Young... young master! Please forgive this one for not recognizing you!" he stammered.
Lin Feng just said calmly, "Register us."
"Yes! Yes, immediately!" The clerk's fingers flew across the formation keyboard, terrified that he would be too slow and offend them. He did not dare to ask for Lin Feng's cultivation level. He just entered what the crystal showed and assigned him to the front line.
Bai Wei came next and put his hand on the crystal.
[Name: Bai Wei]
[Sect: Eternal Sect]
[Sect Grade: Holy]
[Recommended by: Goddess Nexus]
The clerk's face turned even paler. He bowed again. "Young master Bai!"
He finished Bai Wei's form in less than ten seconds, and with shaking hands, he made sure to put them both on the exact same front line.
He then carefully pushed two black iron tokens across the counter with both hands.
"Here are your Battlefield Tokens, my lords. You are assigned to Front Line Seven. Please... please have a safe battle."
Lin Feng took the tokens, nodded once, and turned to leave with Bai Wei. The clerk stayed bowed until the door closed behind them.
Both of them walked out of the black tower with the tokens hanging from their waists.
Outside, the same group of mercenaries was still waiting. The scar-faced man saw them come out and opened his mouth, ready to sneer again.
"Look, the babies are back. Did the tower kick you out..."
He stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes locked onto the two black iron tokens swinging from Lin Feng and Bai Wei's belts. In the center of each token, a single golden word glowed faintly: Holy.
The blood drained from his face instantly.
The armored woman next to him saw it too. Her legs gave out.
In the human territory, everyone knew what that mark meant. A Holy-grade token did not just mean a strong sect. It meant you were from one of the Holy Forces, the apex powers of humanity that were directly backed by Galaxy Sovereigns.
And they had just insulted them.
Thump!
The scar-faced man dropped to his knees on the red dust, his head hitting the ground hard.
"Young masters! This lowly one has a dirty mouth! Please spare my life!" he shouted, his voice shaking.
The armored woman and the others fell to their knees right after him.
"Forgive us! We did not know you were from a Holy Force!" she cried. "We are just idiots! Please forgive us!"
The whole crowd around the tower went silent, staring at the two seventeen-year-old boys who had just made a group of veteran killers kneel in terror.
Lin Feng did not even look down at them. He just walked past with Bai Wei, the black tokens clinking softly against their robes as they headed toward Front Line Seven.
Before Lin Feng and Bai Wei had even disappeared from view, a gentle voice spread across the entire plaza in front of the tower.
It was Lin Feng's voice. He had not turned around, but his words were clear for everyone to hear.
"Protecting humanity is our most important mission. Do not waste your time picking on people and insulting them. Everyone who comes to this battlefield has already made the decision to sacrifice themselves. They are all heroes of humanity."
The mercenaries who were still kneeling on the ground froze.
The newbies and even the old veterans all turned and looked toward the distance where Lin Feng and Bai Wei were walking away.
No one spoke for a long time.
For years they had come here to fight and die against the nether races, and most of the time they were treated like tools or dogs by the big sects. No one had ever called them heroes.
Some of the younger soldiers standing at the back had tears in their eyes. One of them wiped his face and whispered, "At least... at least someone finally understands why we are here."
Their respect for the two boys from the Holy Force grew bigger and bigger with every step Lin Feng and Bai Wei took toward the front line.
A surge of motivation rang through the whole crowd.
The kneeling mercenaries slowly stood up, but they did not leave. They looked at each other, then at the backs of Lin Feng and Bai Wei walking toward the teleportation gate for Front Line Seven.
"Let's go," the scar-faced man said quietly, his voice no longer mocking. "If young masters from a Holy Force are willing to walk to the front line, what are we afraid of?"
The armored woman nodded and tightened the strap on her sword. "He's right. He called us heroes. I haven't been called that in twenty years."
The new soldiers who had been crying wiped their faces and started talking excitedly to each other.
"Follow them! Let's fight behind them!"
"Did you hear that? Protecting humanity is our mission!"
"Today we don't fight alone! We'll fight together !"
Even the veterans who usually fought by themselves started forming small teams. The mercenaries who had insulted Lin Feng and Bai Wei just minutes before were now the loudest, shouting for everyone to move together.
Within a few minutes, a whole tide of cultivators, hundreds of them, started walking in the same direction, following the two black tokens toward the battlefield.
The surge of motivation was real. For the first time in a long time on Battlefield No. 00321, the crowd was not moving as scattered dogs, but as one army.