Despite his protest, the head of the Apophis family insisted on hosting Feng Yi for the night. Federal Colonel, Special Envoy, and Medal of Honor recipient - the prestige he brought to the table was undeniable. And if rumors of him being the Revenge Shadow Rider turned out to be true – well, direct questioning would be futile – but since Feng Yi arrived and until he retired to his room, everyone looked at him as if they'd struck gold.

When did he become such a hot commodity?

Oddly enough, ever since Feng Yi arrived at Apophis family on Icebird planet, several rival families also began showing interest in forming associations. They were, however, quickly dismissed. All major families should be contemplating on which side to align themselves with. Does it serve them to continue siding with the Apophis family or not? In such considerations, the role played by Feng Yi was crucial.

After all, Feng Yi was a high-ranking military officer wielding significant power. He had infamously dared to kidnap a member of the Federal ruling party and that too without batting an eyelid, openly traded a ransom for the captive's release. Could any ordinary family power compete with him? Therefore, understanding his agenda was paramount—he had come here, but why?

A family mole soon reported that Feng Yi had taken a maglev train back to the spaceport first thing the next morning. According to him, Feng Yi had a previous acquaintance with a member of the Apophis family, but he was uncertain of the specifics. He doesn't know what Feng Yi discussed during his visit to Icebird Planet. The mole, being an outsider, couldn't find out in such a short time.

After Feng Yi left, no one knew his destination. However, the family head had hoped that Feng Yi would take someone from the Apophis family with him, either as a Flame Soldier or as a combatant.

Feng Yi had initially refused. Even though the individual from the Apophis family was strong enough to rank among the top in the Flame Legion, Feng Yi was reluctant to shoulder such responsibility. What if something went wrong? This member of the Apophis family was of the Golden Sword caliber. Feng Yi eventually agreed on the second day.

The reason was that if he did not accept this soldier, that person from the Apophis family would have insisted on kneeling down and begging to join. Damn it; they were of similar age, there was no need for such dramatics.

Feng Yi reluctantly agreed to accept with one condition: this person would start as a regular soldier in the Flame Legion, gradually moving up the ranks. He was firm in the belief that one should not strive to achieve everything at once. As a commander, he won't allow such exceptions within his ranks. The case of former space pirates joining was a rare exception since Wolf and Powder Keg had already established their reputations amongst thousands of space pirates, and the Flame Legion was unstable then.

However, things were different now. The Flame Legion was a formidable force. Apophis wasn't concerned about working his way up the ranks due to his considerable strength. It was just a matter of time. Remember, he was ranked amongst the top four super elites of the federal military academies, alongside Cangmu Kuang Qi, Amelia, and Zi Mou.

Like Zi Mou, Amelia was focused on planning and commanding military strategies, whereas Zi Mou had a broader skillset, including close combat and spy intelligence, with slightly less specialization. This was also the long-standing practice of the Texas family.

Apophis was on par with Zi Mou in terms of understanding different fields, but he leaned heavily towards combat, with a much more profound understanding of Mecha. In contrast, Zi Mou was far superior in military strategy, intelligence, and other areas. The thought of having someone like Apophis serving as a mere foot soldier in the Flame Legion seemed unsettling to Feng Yi, but rules were rules. If Apophis was insistent on joining, then Feng Yi had no choice but to accept.

Of course, Feng Yi had a secondary agenda - to find information about the whereabouts of the Jade Clear Sect. Icebird Star Area was not only close to the border star area between the Zana Republic and Hell's Gate, but the families there also had a tradition of venerating warriors. The Apophis family was an ancient martial arts family with a long history – perhaps they knew something.

Unfortunately, they didn't. The only thing they knew was that Feng Yi had been affected by some kind of water-oriented Curse Seal. The only ones capable of lifting such a seal were possibly its caster or the Yanhuang Soul.

The so-called Five Elements theory involves mutual promotion and restriction, but the levels of restriction between the elements vary. Everyone knew that the Jade Clear Sect was incredibly mysterious. As water belongs to Yin, and the Nangong Family hails from Huaxia and is majorly of Gold lineage, also belongs to Yin. Yet, only the Tianyin Sect and the Holy Hall were of the Yang category, with Yanhuang being of the Earth element. Given that earth can overpower water, it might be possible for the Yanhuang Soul to completely resolve this water-based curse seal. However, this is not an absolute. These ancient sects were so secretive that even the Apophis family only had rumors and hearsay about them.

Feng Yi was speechless and helpless. After all that talk, the problem still remained unsolved. At the moment, his condition was maintained at a high level, yet could not reach its peak. The situation felt like his body was a bottle of water about to overflow and then leak when it got filled.

He also tried purchasing local specialties to supplement his recovery, such as tonic pills, medicinal wine, and dog food. After swallowing a tonic pill, his HP increased slightly, then he had some medicinal wine...he recovered a little bit from hangover... and then dog food...his spirit increased by 1.

But there was no other option. It seemed that they would have to return to Mardis and plan from there. With this in mind, Feng Yi and Apophis headed to the spaceport together. Intriguingly, Apophis's attitude towards Feng Yi was not that of a peer, but more of an apprentice, a tradition passed down from the Ancient Martial Arts families.

Although the Jade Clear Sect and the Tianyin Sect are mysterious, the Yanhuang Soul, the Nangong Family, and the Holy Hall are places that a few people are aware of. These factions may have different ways of doing things, but they all uphold the martial morality of respecting teachers and honouring the way of the Rujia philosophy.

Feng Yi was somewhat uneasy about this. They were friends after all, so why take on the roles of master and apprentice? Fortunately, the shuttle moved quickly and the two of them returned to Mardis with little conversation after a few days.

Perhaps news travels fast. By the second day after Feng Yi returned to Mardis, frontline battlefield reporters had flocked here.

During the interview, Feng Yi was able to expertly respond to various topics regarding the war.

"General Feng, how do you foresee the outcome of the federation's future battles?"

Feng Yi answered straightforwardly: "The federation will be victorious."

"It's said that the empire's soldiers suffered heavy casualties in the recent Death Desert battle, how do you analyze the victory of this battle?"

"The victory was not a fluke. Both ability and mindset are indispensable, there are many factors that determine the outcome of a battle, but execution will always play a significant role. I believe that our army will achieve brilliant victories in subsequent battles."

Somehow, a tabloid reporter had snuck in. After the official interviews were over, many reporters began to ask Feng Yi other questions, "General, rumors say that you're the Revenge Shadow Rider, what do you think about this?" The reporter appeared to be asking Feng Yi's opinion about the rumor, but in fact, they were interested in how he would respond.

Feng Yi shrugged helplessly, "No comment."

The reporter's eyes lit up as they quickly followed up, "What do you mean by that?"

"If I were the Revenge Shadow Rider, I certainly wouldn't admit it. Conversely, if I'm not, then saying that I am wouldn't make a difference."

The reporters mused over this response and seemed to find it quite reasonable. At this point, another journalist presented a question that the public has debated for many years, "General Feng, we've heard that every soldier is a hand-to-hand combat expert, yet there is a video online of a special forces soldier being knocked down by an Ancient Martial Arts champion. What do you make of this? Does this mean that special forces soldiers can't win against Ancient Martial Arts champions?"

This was a clear attempt to stir up controversy, but Feng Yi simply laughed, "Both parties possess the skill to incapacitate the other with a single strike. However, special forces soldiers have to learn much more including combat, shooting, concealment, capture, specialized theoretical knowledge, and modern equipment use. The comparison shouldn't just be singularly focused on hand-to-hand combat, as it compared a champion against an average soldier, didn't it?"

As the Special Envoy, Feng Yi clearly had a volatile temper. He added lastly: "The Blazing Legion is basically a special forces unit. Our soldiers risk their lives in training every day. That so-called champion is welcome to come and spar with me."

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