Chapter 270: Even a Universe-level Civilization, I, Bai Fu, Will Fight!
The journey to the Empire was not long, only about ten days in total.
But for Bai Fu, the changes in those ten days were quite significant.
First, she finally maxed out the Path of the Apostle she had activated using the advanced knowledge she obtained from Yuan Yi.
The moment the Path of the Apostle maxed out, she received a notification that a new talent, 【Apostle’s Body】, had been activated, and her 【Transcendence】 talent had advanced into 【Psionic Hub】.
Bai Fu had originally thought that Apostle’s Body was a talent that boosted endurance, but in reality, Apostle’s Body was a very rare clone-type talent.
After mastering 【Apostle’s Body】, she could designate any of her summoned unintelligent True Spirit creatures as the Apostle’s Body, and at any time, anywhere, she could temporarily 【Descend】 a large portion of her Stats, mental will, and skill talents into that Apostle’s Body, making it her clone.
“Rather than Apostle’s Body, it feels more like a god descending to the mortal world.”
【Psionic Hub】 truly turned Bai Fu into a psionic hub; it not only retained the effects of her original Transcendence talent but also added a very powerful new effect.
One — the Psionic Legion’s hyperspace delivery ability was greatly enhanced. As long as she established what was called a 【Psionic Relay Station】 somewhere, she could use it as the center point to carry out hyperspace deliveries within a radius of several hundred million light-years.
Two — even if separated by countless light-years, all the bonus effects she provided to her Psionic Legion would still remain.
Three — she could now consume psionic energy to directly heal her Psionic Legion.
It had to be said that these two talents were extremely powerful.
With them, Bai Fu’s strike range instantly grew exponentially. As long as she took the time to build more Psionic Relay Stations, covering the entire Edge Worlds would not be a problem.
Of course, the biggest benefit for now was that in the future, she no longer had to deliberately leave Hei Fu to guard the home when she traveled far — a clone descent plus Psionic Relay Stations would be enough to handle the majority of problems.
If those two couldn’t solve it, having an extra Hei Fu wouldn’t help much either.
“They call it an apostle, but why do I feel like I’m walking the path to becoming a Psionic God?”
The second change Bai Fu experienced was an official buff.
On the way to the Empire, the downtime for the long-awaited new version update finally arrived.
As she expected, because of her outstanding contribution in striking against the Glorious Forces and the Ten Saints Council, and the plot exploration she had accumulated, she gained a new buff in this update.
The 【Psionic Vision】 skill evolved into 【Apostle’s Psionic Vision】. The original Psionic Vision could only be used to inspect the stat panels of NPCs or the description information of items, no different from a player’s Advanced Reconnaissance skill. After evolving, Apostle’s Psionic Vision became much stronger, inheriting Psionic Vision’s ability and adding an analysis function.
The so-called analysis function meant that when Bai Fu obtained an item, she could analyze it. If she had mastered all the knowledge required to make that item, she would directly obtain its production method. If she lacked some knowledge, the skill would inform her exactly which knowledge she was missing.
She also gained a new Legendary Certification — 【Tide of the Dark Moon】 — which increased her own HP regeneration speed by 100% and increased the max HP of players in the Silent Court faction by 5%.
Her designation was adjusted to World-class BOSS (limited to the Edge Worlds region), Tide of the Dark Moon was adjusted to be a top-tier Edge Worlds power, and the pioneering main quest she had set using the Main Storyline Quest Seed was adjusted to become the basic regional main quest of the Edge Worlds.
“Even though I didn’t get a new talent or offensive skill this time, with Apostle’s Psionic Vision, I can now become Phantom Thief Fu-fu!”
Bai Fu’s eyes sparkled.
Many rare psionic constructs and Prayer Cards were never sold publicly, so getting the blueprints for them was extremely difficult — either you had to rely on game quests or on exchanges of interest. With Apostle’s Psionic Vision, she now had a much easier way to get these blueprints.
In the long run, this would be very helpful in boosting her combat power.
She had long wanted to upgrade her combat suit and such, but in the Edge Worlds, she simply couldn’t buy a better set. The psionic stream was a path that relied heavily on knowledge, and powerful psionic priests rarely stayed in backwater places like the Edge Worlds — they preferred to venture into the “Cosmic Center” held by the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations.
“Things are starting to get interesting. Originally, I joined the Ethereal Realm Research Society just to make friends, but now…”
Shopping spree!
This time, Bai Fu was going to go on a serious shopping spree!
…
The mobile palace navigated around multiple stargates and finally arrived at the Vast Continent one day earlier than scheduled.
The Vast Continent was the star sector where the Rebirth Empire’s capital circle was located. It was from here that the Rebirth Empire had emerged, taking tens of thousands of years to grow from a galaxy-level civilization into a universe-level civilization.
Unlike the Edge Worlds, the Vast Continent was much smaller in area but had a very high galaxy density, extremely developed interstellar transport between galaxies, and spaceships traveling between transfer stations in numbers beyond counting, with styles and sizes far surpassing those in the Edge Worlds.
The moment she entered the Vast Continent, Bai Fu felt that the word 【Civilization】 was practically shoved in her face.
“Amazing!”
Looking around, she saw her own photo at a transfer station — it was an advertisement for a product she endorsed.
Her 300+ Reputation with the Rebirth Empire was clearly paying off.
While feeling emotional, Bai Fu met Whitney.
Whitney was of demon lineage, but things were different now — in the past, the demon lineage had fought the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations to the death, with even many Transcendents perishing. Now, however, the demon lineage had completely integrated into the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations.
“I’ve got some new intel. Want to hear it?” Whitney asked with a smile.
Bai Fu asked in surprise, “What news?”
Whitney explained, “A few days ago, the Saint suddenly announced publicly that they had been attacked by the Empire, resulting in the loss of the Pillar of the True Spirit. The Three Major Interstellar Civilizations are now holding emergency meetings over this. My intel is that the Empire is very likely to launch a new large-scale Dark Zone exploration soon, with the goal of quickly finding the Apostle Holy City. As for the Supernova Legion and Titan Industries, they’ll probably follow in the Empire’s footsteps, but whether they have other motives remains to be seen. If anything unexpected happens, that interstellar peace treaty might be nullified.”
The peace treaty nullified?
That meant large-scale war could break out?
Bai Fu noticed that when talking about this, Whitney showed not the slightest worry, but instead seemed faintly excited.
Clearly, she was a ruthless one.
Bai Fu quickly analyzed how this could impact her.
One thing was certain — this incident would inevitably bring a chain of quests.
Not only could she take on these quests, but her players could too. After all, these were exploration quests, not combat quests.
“No matter how dangerous the place, players dare to go — that’s my huge advantage.”
Bai Fu’s eyes lit up. If she could seize this opportunity, she could gain huge benefits from the Empire and quickly grow the Silent Court.
She quietly thanked Whitney for giving her such important intel in advance.
Whitney just smiled and didn’t dwell on the topic.
She wasn’t interested in Dark Zone exploration — her profit chain wasn’t tied to it, and meddling would yield little benefit. Better to let Bai Fu take that slice of pie. Whitney’s real concern was another of the Empire’s plans.
“If there’s nothing else, let’s head to the Ethereal Realm Research Society now. I’ll tell you the meeting etiquette on the way.”
Bai Fu nodded.
The group then changed course toward the Ethereal Realm Research Society.
On the way, Whitney explained the Society’s organizational structure.
The Ethereal Realm Research Society was an unofficial organization formed by psionic researchers. It had few members — just over a dozen in total. The top three seats were held by three Transcendent-level psionic priests, with all other members being Domination-level.
Normally, the top three rotated the presidency of the Society. Only one of them belonged to the Empire; the other two didn’t have bad relations with the Empire but weren’t particularly close either.
“The current president is 【Curse Lord】Olsen, who specializes in curse-type psionic arts. He once, single-handedly, cursed to death a Domination-level legion with billions of members, earning a fearsome reputation. His temper is bad — don’t provoke him unless necessary. The previous president was the Empire’s 【Shepherd】Heinz, who specializes in summoning-type psionic arts. He’s the one who introduced you to the Society. The next president will be 【The Painter】— real name unknown — who, like you, specializes in making Prayer Cards. She appears to be a kindly old lady but actually keeps everyone at arm’s length and is the hardest to get along with.”
Bai Fu memorized these words carefully.
The Ethereal Realm Research Society was not a research institute, but essentially a forum for exchange. During meetings, members gathered in small groups or alone to conduct various transactions.
“The reason I value the Society so much is because the Empire is pushing a plan called 【Heroic Soul】. I can’t tell you the details yet — you’re not considered trustworthy personnel by the Empire for now. All I can say is that the Empire has negotiated with the Curse Lord and the Painter many times, and they value this plan even more than finding the Apostle Holy City. If you get selected, you could receive direct mentorship from the Shepherd, which would be invaluable to your development.”
Bai Fu nodded without commenting further.
One bite at a time — the 【Heroic Soul】 plan was most likely the main storyline for Version 3.0 or later. No need to rush. For now, her priority was to keep gaining advantages in the Taim Civilization civil war and the Dark Zone exploration, and to strive to become Transcendent before Version 3.0 — so she could go from being someone allowed at the table to being someone who decided who got invited.
While chatting, Bai Fu finally arrived at the Ethereal Realm Research Society with Whitney.
Whitney was fairly well-known in the Empire, so the attendants at the entrance let them pass without question.
The group passed through the foyer and entered the hall.
The moment the door opened, the people inside who had been conversing stopped talking. Their gazes passed over Whitney, skipped Yulia and Anya, and all landed squarely on Bai Fu.
The last time she attended Yuan Yi’s peace summit, Bai Fu’s fame in the Edge Worlds had already spread far, but few people at the venue had truly paid her attention.
This time, although her reputation in the Empire was only average, no one here ignored her.
Her arrival made even the soft light from above seem dim in that instant!
Bai Fu scanned her surroundings and saw the top three seats Whitney had mentioned, as well as some unfamiliar faces.
The gazes directed at her were mixed — some curious, some friendly, and some openly hostile.
Taking the chance, she used the Virtual Heart to search and discovered that the one with the most hostility toward her was 【Zephyr】, a long-term partner of the Supernova Legion.
Not a friendly visitor.
Bai Fu thought to herself.
She had never directly interacted with the Supernova Legion, but their Favorability toward her had already dropped to –200, while the Rebirth Empire’s number sat above 400.
There were two reasons.
First, the Supernova Legion had deep interests in the Taim Civilization, and when the civil war broke out there, she supported Nilis, the mortal enemy of Gustav, whom the Legion backed.
Second, she was on close terms with the Rebirth Empire.
Competition between civilizations was extremely fierce.
If they weren’t worried that open conflict would result in mutual destruction — letting another universe-level civilization reap the benefits — any two of the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations would have gone to war already.
Although they maintained a façade of peace for now, in secret they clashed constantly, and as for underhanded tricks, they happened far more — and far more ruthlessly — than anything Bai Fu had seen between nations before she crossed over.
While Bai Fu was thinking this, Zephyr walked toward her.
Upon learning that Bai Fu wanted to join the Ethereal Realm Research Society, Zephyr was the first to object.
His reason was that, although Bai Fu’s strength was decent, she had never studied formally, and given her young age, the knowledge she possessed would likely be of little real use to the members of the Society.
Following the principle of quality over quantity, the Society should reject her.
Zephyr’s argument was reasonable enough, but since Bai Fu had been recommended by Heinz, the Shepherd, one of the top three seats, the others were unwilling to directly slap Heinz’s face.
Let’s wait and see…
Everyone smoothed things over.
No one clearly took a side, and now, seeing that Zephyr wanted to provoke Bai Fu, they simply watched — getting involved at this stage would only make enemies.
“Bai Fu? I’ve long heard your name.” Zephyr looked at her with a half-smile.
Bai Fu smiled back and nodded. “Zephyr, I’ve heard of you as well — a Domination-level psionic priest under the Supernova Legion, a pioneer in the simplification of psionic arts.”
Zephyr said, “You have the Shepherd’s recommendation, so by rights I shouldn’t question you. But in keeping with the Society’s traditions, I still have to give you a proper test.”
Prepared for this, Bai Fu asked, “And how do you want to test me?”
Zephyr said, “Since you know my name and my field of research, you should be well aware that joining the Society isn’t about a moment’s fame or beating someone in a duel. My test is — knowledge. Knowledge that can inspire the members here!”
As he spoke, his gaze sharpened, radiating an edge.
Zephyr wasn’t provoking Bai Fu out of sheer boredom, nor solely because the Supernova Legion and the Empire didn’t get along.
There was another reason — he wanted to see for himself just how capable Bai Fu truly was.
From the moment she entered the Legion’s notice, to advancing to Domination-level and becoming someone even a universe-level civilization had to take seriously, she had taken just over a year.
That speed was staggering.
The Legion, upon learning Bai Fu wished to join the Society, had immediately instructed Zephyr to test her.
She was too close to the Empire — they needed to find out her true depth.
What to do afterward would depend on her performance.
Ignore her, recruit her… or find a way to eliminate her.
Zephyr’s expectation was that she might last a few minutes against him without losing face.
After all, if she could fight Cade as an equal, she should at least have that level.
“Knowledge?” Bai Fu thought for a moment. “Most of the knowledge I have is related to combat, and that can’t be explained in just a few sentences. How about we have a fight instead?”
Zephyr froze.
He had been wondering how to smoothly turn a contest of words into a contest of force, but Bai Fu had actually suggested the fight herself.
Was she that confident in her strength? Or was she looking down on his?
Alright, alright.
If you’ve come to deliver yourself, don’t blame me for being rude!
Zephyr’s thoughts hardened.
“This place isn’t suited for a spar. Let’s go to open space.”
Bai Fu added a condition on the spot. “To avoid anyone saying I’m bullying an injured man, let’s limit the fight to three minutes.”
“?”
This time, not only Zephyr but several others looked surprised.
Injured?
Was she talking about Zephyr?
Zephyr’s pupils shrank. “How did you tell I was injured?”
His injury had happened while researching ways to reduce psionic consumption, but he had hidden it well — even Olsen, the Curse Lord, hadn’t noticed.
Of course I can tell — I’ve got cheats, Reconnaissance skills… what could I not see?
Bai Fu kept quiet, playing the expert.
Zephyr’s expression shifted several times. “Fine. Three minutes it is.”
Once he unleashed his full power, three minutes would be more than enough to decide the winner.
He never realized he’d walked into Bai Fu’s trap — she had insisted on a three-minute limit because her Blessing of the Mind effect lasted only three minutes.
If the fight went on without a time limit, Bai Fu knew she might not be his match — after all, Zephyr was famous as the “endurance king,” someone who excelled in drawn-out fights.
But if the fight was capped at three minutes…
“I, Bai Fu, will show you today what ‘extreme burst’ means! So what if you’re from the Supernova Legion? You think I won’t hit you?”
…
In the starry void.
Bai Fu and Zephyr faced each other from afar.
The other members of the Society each took their own vantage point to watch, even Heinz watching with interest.
His recommendation of Bai Fu to the Society wasn’t out of deep friendship with her, but because he owed a favor to the Rust Corps — and the Rust Corps had close ties to Whitney.
At this moment, only Whitney among the spectators looked grim.
Damn you, Zephyr!
If Bai Fu were kept out of the Society just when she was at the doorstep, Whitney might be driven to kill someone.
Now she could only pray that Bai Fu would last the three minutes against Zephyr, and at least look decent doing it.
Dozens of seconds later, with a crisp command, Bai Fu began her transformation.
Blessing of the Mind! Shadowed Night Resonance! Faith’s Blessing to the Legion! Zenith Sovereign’s bonus! Hei Fu and Yulia’s stat boosts — aid me!
Almost the moment her two legions were summoned, Bai Fu’s Inspiration surged to 11,130!
And that still wasn’t her limit — she hadn’t yet fused with Yulia, hadn’t triggered Dark Desperation’s HP-drop stat boost, and hadn’t triggered the outnumbered boost.
Even so, the sudden surge of her aura at that moment shook everyone present.
An invisible storm swept out from her, shaking the starry void.
“What’s going on?”
Even Olsen, the Curse Lord, was taken aback.
The Bai Fu now was simply not the same as the one from moments ago.
For a second, he seemed to see divine fire burning on her — equal to his own!
Transcendent?
No.
Bai Fu was not yet Transcendent, but the aura she erupted with now was far beyond what a newly advanced Domination-level psionicist should possess!
Zephyr realized something was wrong.
A sense of danger gripped him — he even thought about calling a pause.
But Bai Fu wasn’t about to give him the chance.
If she wanted better cooperation with the Empire, she had to demonstrate her value beyond intelligence work and player management.
For example — combat power.
Come forth, Psionic Behemoth Kabaye!
Come forth, Prayer Card fusion — Prayer Angel!
And my proudest creations — Dark Force Field and White Nightmare!
When Zephyr came back to his senses, Kabaye’s massive palm was already descending toward his face.