Star Gate

Chapter 455: Majestic (II)

“Where is the leader of the Twelfth Troop?”

“Him?” The leader of the Seventh Troop thought briefly. “I don’t know, I’ve just met him. But from the looks of things so far, he doesn’t seem particularly impressive. He is far less than the soul-stirring powerhouses of yesteryear whose charisma reached the heavens!”

The two troop leaders fell silent without further question. This was the first time that the army had gained new recruits after so many years, so it drew some interest. But just some. It looked like that one wasn’t as magnificently superb as they thought he might be. Perhaps the Battle Heaven Army would continue to be quiet...

......

Li Hao didn’t know that his comrades were discussing him. He was feeling uncomfortable with the situation as he didn’t dare attack those who were too strong, but those who were too weak were useless. He focused on Sunflares and initial Solars, not daring to target mid Solars. That might cause too great of a disturbance.

It was good to be able to easily advance or retreat, but that also gave rise to bottled frustration. The adrenaline rush he’d felt when battling six Solars at once was far more preferable to his current situation.

He also seemed unable to manifest the aura of the Nine Forged Force because of these limitations. While the young man could just barely manage nine layers, the spontaneous ease that’d come from enlightenment when Liu Long deployed the Nine Forged Force was out of reach.

Li Hao breathed out slowly, this was probably the essence of martial dao... It was unfeasible from even a mental perspective to grow stronger from constantly killing the weak.

I am almost invincible in the Solar level and perhaps I rival the Revolution King with an origin weapon. But at this rate, I still won’t be able to match Novas!

He saw a mid Solar pass by, but let them go. He’d heard Hong Yitang and He Yong’s conversation because he was a Silver Armor. Patently, Hong Yitang was also growing impatient. The strong were fierce and stubborn. If it wasn’t for the military merits, they would’ve long lost their tolerance for killing Solars and Sunflares.

Li Hao turned his gaze to a nearby street. A peak Solar had lurked there for a period of time. He hadn’t considered such a target before, but now he was tempted. Slaughter wasn’t their goal—killing the enemy was good, but there wasn’t much meaning to whittling away their weak. Killing their strong to intimidate the weak would lead to even better results.

“Peak Solar...” Li Hao was yet to kill a true peak Solar. There had been a peak Solar among the six he battled, but he’d ambushed that one and killed him instantly, preventing him from showcasing his strength.

While the water aura of the Nine Forged Force was yet to materialize, the young man understood the crux of the problem. The method was ferocious and valiant beyond compare. How could hobbled fights bring its aura into reality?

“Martial Uncle Hong!” Li Hao’s transmission raised both men’s attention. “We’ve cleared out most of the Solars, so there’s no point in continuing our operation. People will sense our movement sooner or later as well, that will scare off some people from entering the city. We should take advantage of this opportunity to strike together and cut down a few powerhouses. After that, we’ll retreat!”

“That’s what I’ve wanted to say for a while!” Hong Yitang responded. “I have a target in sight. If He Yong doesn’t want to act with me, he can find one himself. What about you?”

“I’ve got one too, a peak Solar! I’ll test myself against him first. If the effects are good... I’ll go straight to a Nova next time!” Li Hao was also itching for action. The difficulties in manifesting his water aura and being stuck between Solar and Nova created a very uncomfortable state.

“That’s good, you can give it a try,” Hong Yitang laughed. “As a martial master, it’s a fantastic feeling to challenge our limits! It’s not easy for us to find opponents, but yours can be had everywhere. The younger you are, the more fire and spirit you should have. That falls away in old age.

“They say that a strong fist is afraid of the young and that the old fight timidly. A youngster’s style is more murderous as they are unafraid of injury or enemies. It doesn’t matter if your identity is revealed. It’s both surprising, yet not, that the heir of the eight families has become a Silver Armor.”

He knew that many concerns ran through Li Hao’s mind, especially after receiving some identities to conceal. The young man was deathly afraid of revealing himself!

However, those fears would also impact his actions and make it difficult for him to give himself over to the fight. That wasn’t a good development once time dragged on. One could walk in the shadows when appropriate, but still had to act at the right times.

Hong Yitang was one who usually kept a low profile, but threw caution to the wind in times of need. He’d acted in Ash Mountain and also once killed a large group of supernaturals in the central region. He’d been content to await retaliation from a Nova then. Sometimes, one had to set aside considerations of one’s identity being exposed.

“Await my commands,” Li Hao said after a while. “It’s fine if we cause a greater disturbance in our next fights. A lot of people in the outer city have sensed danger and a large sum of powerhouses has already retreated...”

......

Li Hao walked out of the ancient house after a round of instructions. Moments later, he melded naturally into a troop of Black Armors that came marching by. The group of ten was now eleven. He gave an order within his armor and sent the troop down the next street.

On a rooftop of the next street over.

A strong man crouched silently on the roof, scanning the surroundings with a particularly calm gaze. He was a peak Solar from Yama and was in the outer city with one mission—determine where the Silver Armor was hiding.

The three great organizations had discovered that a Silver Armor was missing from the city walls. It was very possibly in the outer city and responsible for the high death toll that was still climbing. But being from Yama, he was not afraid. He’d even fought a Silver Armor in a regular state before. It was not weak, but so long as it didn’t reawaken, the soldier wasn’t stronger than him.

All he needed to do was engage it for a while so he could notify those outside. Reinforcements would soon come along to eliminate the enemy with him.

Up until now, not a single expedition had killed the Silver Armor. The one who died before had died of its own accord.

Could a Silver Armor’s equipment be removed? That would be incredible if it could—it would bestow Nova strength on a Solar. By now, everyone had obtained numerous sets of black armor, but no one had any bronze or silver armor.

The Yama expert slowly inched forward while observing the patrolling Black Armors. He was aware that Silver Armors could hide themselves as Black Armors, but he could sometimes sense if the soldier was strong or not.

He’d already discovered some things from his vantage point on the roof. The number of dead increased, but there was no sign of their bodies. Perhaps the soldiers were hidden in the ancient houses.

A troop of Black Armors approached from a distance. The Yama expert Xie Gang didn’t notice it at first, but took a few more glances when something seemed off. Was there... too many Black Armors in that troop?

He counted them. There were indeed too many. There were eleven!

Had a soldier from another troop joined them, or was it the Silver Armor? It was perplexing as Silver Armors possessed some intelligence since they could hide themselves, but they wouldn’t do so in such a blatant fashion, would they?

Such an obvious deviation made Xie Gang hesitate instead.

......

Li Hao had also seen the person on the roof and confirmed his identity after careful observation. This Yama expert was in the information that Deputy Zhou had given him. Xie Gang, peak Solar, a mutated earth supernatural. Rather than the conventional earth attribute, he was skilled in rock techniques. Strictly speaking, he would be a rock supernatural if such a category existed.

Others utilized earthen walls and awls in their techniques, but he summoned boulders and meteorites. He was known throughout the peak Solars and came from another large province in the north—Heavy Earth province. He was one of those that Yama had gathered for the expedition.

Xie Gang was in charge of the Yama branch in Heavy Earth, making him a similar figure to the Revolution King. He wielded an origin weapon, but it could be seen that his position was less than the Revolution King’s from his weapon’s caliber. As a fellow leader of a provincial branch armed with an origin weapon, his weapon’s strength came up short compared to the Revolution King’s wind chime. However, a peak Solar with an origin weapon still made for a difficult opponent.

So it’s him! Li Hao realized with some relief. Good, this was very good. While Xie Gang was less than the Revolution King, he shouldn’t be that much weaker. It was a worthwhile endeavor to fight this guy before they withdrew. Would he inspire Li Hao to manifest the water aura of the Nine Forged Force?

If not... he might have to really pick a fight with a Nova if he wanted to bring forth the water aura in a short period of time.

Li Hao flashed upward without deliberation when he approached the roof. He appeared in front of the supernatural.

Xie Gang jerked with shock. So he’d really run into the Silver Armor? Was the soldier’s mind truly gone to appear in front of him like this? Bronze and Black Armors could not fly as they lost the support of the city if they left the ground. Only Silver Armors could fly.

The man looked around him, but didn’t see anyone. The plaza wasn’t too far away. Powerhouses would make fast time to his location, so should he call for help? After all, Silver Armors were difficult to handle.

The one in front of him suddenly commenced action that made Xie Gang’s jaw drop. A storage ring appeared over an armored hand; resplendent mysterious power stones floated out of it! Their luster was so bright that it was startling!

Li Hao picked up all of the mysterious power stones and shoved them into his mouth—into his armor. He wouldn’t use them, but Xie Gang would think that he was refueling through eating the stones.

As expected, the man jerked with shock. So Silver Armors needed to eat mysterious power stones to maintain operations! This one had eaten so many at once and their sheen was frightfully brilliant. How many mysterious power stones were in that storage ring??