Sparrow scooped up the guy and they all rushed toward the spaceport Aran had located. The few leftover forces were dealt with by the team. At this moment, they had nothing else on their mind. Jill had undone the binds of Crystal as well. They did not wish to lag behind this girl.
Mitsu was rushing beside Sparrow, as someone with superb medical knowledge and a special ability related to the same field, she said, "It is very faint, but boss's heart is getting slower."
The team was shocked, and Mitsu said, "It seems that his consciousness has entered a deep sleep mode, we need to take him home. The spirit energy is the only thing that can cure him."
Crystal said, "We can take him to my home planet."
Jill cast her a cold gaze and said, "We do not have the authority to take any decision. Sonic, take over that fucking ship already or I will skin you alive."
She was pissed and losing herself in the rage. Shi Lang was the pillar of strength and watching him in such a fragile state, this was not something they could handle. Although some of them were older than Shi Lang, this young man was the pinnacle of strength for them. They did not know the reason why Shi Lang had fainted, but they were not going to trust anyone just blindly.
Sonic moved and after killing the last of the Celestial Mercenaries they boarded the ship. The strategy was to leave the planet and then contact Harley to send something to pick them up. The mercenaries must have some mechanism to inform the Ikeras, and they might be mobilizing as they moved.
Raz contacted Adjutant Shina and said, "Adjutant Shino, this is team Ace, we have a situation at hand. The targets have all been dealt with and we have also acquired some sensitive information. However, Captain Shi Lang has been injured and we need an urgent pickup, it is possible that the forces behind the mercenaries might come after us. Please contact Commander Harley, as soon as possible."
He did not give her the chance to ask anything and reported things on his own. Shina was surprised but then she rushed to the commander's office. Harley heard the news and told them to get off the planet to dock with a strike-force cargo ship. They will smuggle the people back.
The orders were given out and things moved quickly. On the other side of the galaxy, the top dogs of Ikeras were also mobilized. Chinat, the Ikeras handler they had tricked was not a fool, he quickly received the news that his hunting team was all dead and that the Befil planet site has been attacked.
...
Shi Lang was laying flat in a med bay, while Sparrow and Mitsu monitored him. Sonic had located an asteroid belt and used a space hyperjump to move the ship near it to get some cover from any other spaceship. Soon, they were located by the cargo ship from the Strike Force.
While they were all under pressure, Shi Lang entered a deeper state of cultivation. His spirit energy had run dry, and at the moment, he was a mortal, but with immense soul energy. At this moment, he was sitting in a white space, floating in the void with his legs crossed over each other.
His long hair fluttered around like a wind was blowing. Slowly as his focus deepened, the scenery around him changed and a voice sounded in his mind. Opening his eyes, Valerin found himself standing in the desert, around him a lot of skeletons were laid on the red sand.
A figure dressed in a red hanfu stood in front of him. The man was dashing and his features were blurry. However, the voice was clear. The person said, "Finally, you have reached this level."
Shi Lang nodded and cupped his fist to the man as he said, "Greetings to you, Senior."
The man nodded and said, "Tell me, young Lang, what do you see?"
Shi Lang smiled and said, "It is a field of blood. Did you paint it like this senior?"
The man chuckled and said, "You sure are something, young one. Calling this heinous scene a painting. Well, yes. These are all the corpses of my enemies. Some managed to wound me on my path, while some managed to almost take away my life, but they all ended up here in the end."
Shi Lang asked, "Senior, may I ask your name?"
The man nodded and said, "It has been ages since I died, you may call me Shura. This avatar of mine is the last bit of energy I have left. You must have used the Shura body to have accessed this place."
Shi Lang asked, "What is this place?"
Shura replied, "The Shura Realm. A place where my successor can train his skill to the highest level. After my spiritual wisp vanishes, this realm will vanish as well. After that, you will be able to create a Shura Realm of your own and leave it for the future generation to learn and carry the legacy."
Shi Lang nodded and asked, "I am guessing that the time in this realm is highly different from what it is in the material world."
Shura nodded and said, "Interesting, to so clearly state a difference between the material world and the shura mental realm. Very good. I do not have much energy to spare, so allow me to tell you how this works. You will be facing every skeleton you see here. Until you finish each one of them, you will not be able to get out of here. Is that alright?"
Shi Lang nodded and said, "I understand."
With that said, the skeletons began to reform into their peak human or monster form, and then the battle began.
...
In the material world, the cargo ship has just docked at the Strike Force spaceport and the Ace division was taken to the hospital. Commander Harley personally decided to come over and meet the team. In the meantime, the doctors did not dare to slack and immediately got to work.
The Ace Division was holding a small meeting with each other. People were talking about how to convince the commander to allow them to take Shi Lang back to the federation, and at the same time, they were thinking of what to do with Crystal. Should they tell her to leave or should they wait till Shi Lang came around?
At this moment, Harley walked into the hospital with Shina in tow. She did not have much of an expression on her face and the people retracted when they saw her coming over. She came to stand in front of Jill, who led the entire division in saluting her, and said, "Vice-captain Jill reporting, mission accomplished, the galaxy does not have an organization called Celestial Sharks anymore."
Harley sighed and then with a gratified expression, she said, "You have the gratitude of all your deceased colleagues and their families. I am grateful to you all."
Jill shook her head and said, "The credit belongs to the captain, he was injured when facing the twenty advanced Jigta mechs."
Harley opened her eyes wide and asked, "Do you have proof?"
Jill nodded and handed over a small data cube, and said, "This does not only have proof that this notorious bunch was backed by the Ikeras, but also some other crimes of the Ikeras."
Harley nodded and then asked while she placed the cube in her pocket, "What is his condition?"
Jill sighed and said, "We wish to take him back to the federation for further treatment. This is an ailment that can only be treated by Terran methods."
Crystal was standing beside them but did not dare to say a word. She was not going to reveal the spiritual world to the Galaxy. Harley thought about it and then said, "Fine, take him with you. I grant you all an official vacation."
Jill thanked her and then the team rushed through the formalities to take Shi Lang with them. Crystal wanted to volunteer and tag along, but how everyone was isolating her, she did not know what to do. She was curious about how the Federation was.
Jill looked at her when they were preparing to move Shi Lang and said, "I apologize for my rashness, but the boss is the most important person for me while on duty. We treated you like a friend and even considered you a family, yet you lied. We terrans may be weak but we do not like to be fooled."
Crystal nodded and said, "I apologize but I did not wish to hide it intentionally, it was something I had to do to see if I can trust you all. I apologize."
Sonic sighed and said, "Fine, you come along with us, but if you tried anything funny, Sister-in-law Amelia will have your head. Understood?"
Crystal was surprised but then nodded hurriedly. How can she let go of the chance to know about fellow cultivators? And so, Shi Lang was taken back to the federation.
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