Chapter 607: Weakness

Li Xiaofei watched carefully. He noticed that the black rectangular objects seemed to be external landing pods, similar to drop pods.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The pods struck the ground heavily, creating deep reverberations. There were fifteen of them in total, landing precisely around the convoy.

From the sky, the pods formed a perfect kilometer-wide circle around the convoy.

Hiss... Hiss...

White mist hissed out from the pods as they began to release their contents. Moments later, the pod walls opened. Two and a half meter tall humanoid figures slowly stepped out, their heavy footsteps echoing ominously.

They were encased in dark golden chainmail armor. Their heads were devoid of features and only had two five centimeter circular viewing ports where the eyes would be.

A dim, eerie red light flickered within those ports, like the eyes of demons peering out from the abyss.

So these are the so-called Governors?

Li Xiaofei’s curiosity was piqued as he studied them.

He silently extended his senses, trying to gauge their nature. What he discovered was astonishing. The lifeforms within these Governors were highly unusual. Their tall, dark golden bodies harbored only the faintest traces of life energy—so faint that it was weaker than that of a newborn infant.

Yet the aura of oppression they radiated was equivalent to that of someone in the Saint Realm. It became clear that these were not purely biological beings. They appeared to be some form of cyborg lifeform.

"Get out of here! Hurry!" The driver rushed into the bus, shouting at Li Xiaofei and his group. "You promised... you said you wouldn’t drag us into this... I’m begging you!"

By the end, his voice cracked with fear, trembling with desperation. His bearded face was filled with despair, and tears glistened in his eyes.

Deep down, he already understood their fate. They were surrounded by fifteen Governors, with the blacklisted extraordinary ones among them. There would be no escape. The cold and ruthless nature of the Governors would ensure that none of them would be spared. A single mistake had led to utter doom.

"Don’t be afraid," Li Xiaofei said calmly as he stood up. He patted the driver on the shoulder and reassured him, "I said we wouldn’t drag you down, and I meant it."

"Brother Li, let me handle these things," Gu Haochen, also known as the Little Sword Immortal, volunteered eagerly.

This sword prodigy from Liuhe Base City, a disciple of the legendary Mi Ruyan of Yunmeng City, had been cultivating Xuanzhen energy with explosive progress. He had long been itching for a real challenge to test his abilities.

"Let’s all handle this together," Li Xiaofei replied.

He motioned for his companions to follow him as he stepped off the bus. Their mission on the cosmic battlefield was to gain experience, strengthen themselves, and prepare for the impending Stellar Holy War upon their return. If they were going to train, everyone needed to get involved.

The Governors had clearly locked onto their targets. They accelerated, charging toward the convoy with heavy, thunderous steps.

"Hmm, no flight capabilities," Li Xiaofei observed. "Impressive speed, but their bodies are heavy. They lack agility or any lightweight movement abilities."

"This seems to be a type of cyborg lifeform designed for close combat," he concluded. "But if they are meant to counter extraordinary ones, there must be something special about them. The most likely scenario is that they are immune to elemental extraordinary abilities."

Li Xiaofei analyzed the situation swiftly, his mind racing as the mechanical giants closed in.

"Pick an opponent each. Leave the rest to me," Li Xiaofei instructed.

The others quickly selected a Governor to engage, stepping forward with resolute determination. Even the four Dragon Maidens split up, each choosing an opponent to face.

Gu Haochen, the Little Sword Immortal, was the most enthusiastic of all. Summoning his sword, he darted forward, arriving before one of the Governors in an instant.

First Sword!

He swung horizontally, and the sword light flashed like lightning.

Clang!

A crisp metallic sound rang out as sparks flew. The dark golden chainmail covering the Governor suddenly sported a visible crack as the sword qi penetrated deep into its chest and abdomen.

Yet the Governor appeared utterly unfazed. It raised its fist and swung it toward Gu Haochen with terrifying force. Gu Haochen brought up his sword to block.

Boom!

The impact sent him flying backward six or seven meters.

What incredible strength!

And despite taking such a serious wound... Wait! It’s healing?!

He stared in disbelief as the Governor’s chest and abdominal wounds began to close rapidly. Even the chainmail on its exterior rippled as it shifted and reformed. In moments, it was completely restored, as if it had never been damaged.

Swoosh!

The Governor raised its hand. Its right hand transformed instantly into a dark golden greatsword. It slashed at Gu Haochen in a move identical to his First Sword technique.

"Imitating my swordsmanship?" Gu Haochen smirked coldly.

If his First Sword could be so easily copied, it wouldn’t deserve to be called a transcendent combat skill. The Governor’s imitation was a hollow replica, lacking the essence and spirit of the technique. How could it pose a threat to him?

Gu Haochen easily evaded the strike and counterattacked, executing Second Sword. His blade cleaved through the Governor’s shoulder, severing its left arm along some of its upper body.

But the exposed metal in the wound writhed as though it was alive. In mere moments, threads of gold, like silk spun from a cocoon, stretched out and pulled the severed arm back into place. The damage was completely repaired in an instant.

Realizing that mimicking swordsmanship was ineffective, the Governor altered its combat strategy. Its left hand morphed into an impenetrable, cone-shaped shield. It started to deftly block or deflect Gu Haochen’s sword techniques, disrupting their trajectory.

At the same time, its right hand shot upward, as a scorching jet of high-temperature flames erupted from its palm. Gu Haochen immediately felt the pressure increase.

This Governor possessed the raw strength of an expert in the Saint Realm. Even the flames it unleashed weren’t ordinary fire, they were entirely capable of harming Saints. Gu Haochen had no choice but to retreat and dodge.

On the other side, the others faced nearly identical challenges. The Governors possessed incredible regenerative abilities and could reshape their arms and bodies at will. They also demonstrated an uncanny ability to detect vulnerabilities and calculate optimal counters. The Governors could analyze their opponents’ techniques and find the best ways to neutralize them.

Moreover, they wielded elemental powers of various kinds. Even more alarming, they appeared to be attempting to decipher and simulate the group’s Xuanzhen energy. The Governors’ combat prowess became increasingly evident as the battles progressed.

Within just a few minutes, they had begun mimicking the martial techniques used against them. When they used these mimicked techniques with their powerful physical forms and elemental abilities, the Governors displayed formidable fighting capabilities.

In some cases, the group members found themselves evenly matched with their opponents.

It seems this really is a valuable training experience.

Li Xiaofei was observing the battles. Gu Haochen, the four Dragon Maiden sisters, Zhang Zhihong, Ximen Piaoxue, and Wang Xiaofan had all been trained by ancient Saints, gaining access to powerful combat techniques and unlocking their bodies’ hidden potential through Xuanzhen energy. But they had yet to master these techniques or form a cohesive combat system of their own. As a result, they could only fight these Saint-level Governors to a standstill.

They would stand no chance against the divine warriors of Eden like the Xie family patriarch. They would be defeated instantly.

In contrast, Ye Liuying, Li Junjie, and Yan Chiyu stood out. They had clearly achieved a higher level of mastery over their new techniques and powers as well as an initial state of integration. They could overpower the Governors in battle and keep them on the defensive.

As for Li Xiaofei himself? He was fighting two Governors with ease, methodically dismantling their bodies to observe the origins of their regenerative and transformative abilities.

After a moment of careful observation, he muttered to himself, "Found it."

His eyes glimmered as a wisp of sword qi pierced through the abdomen of one of the Governors.

Thud.

The Governor’s body immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, its metallic form collapsing and stiffening in place. It lost all mobility in an instant. As it fell, the faint, nearly imperceptible trace of life within it also disappeared.