Star Gate

Chapter 527: Safeguarding Silver Moon (I)

“Let’s go!” snapped a livid Yuan Shuo. “We continue down south! What’s there to be proud of with killing an initial Nova?!”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing!”

“Does it have to do with your disciple?”

“I have no disciple!”

Jadelight Sword blinked, caught off guard. What... the heck? You have no disciple? You talk about your final disciple day in and day out. You’re one step away from saying that your disciple is the greatest in the land. What’s gotten into you today?

“Has... someone killed him?” was Jadelight’s first question. It would be terribly shocking if that was the case. Yuan Shuo cared very deeply about his final disciple. If someone killed him, the old man would probably go berserk.

Yuan Shuo walked swiftly and gnashed his teeth without a look back. “No, he’s just fine and dandy!”

Then what are you gnashing your teeth for?

“I’m injured, so walk a bit slower.” Jadelight swiftly caught up. “Tell me, what’s going on?” She was utterly baffled.

A sulking Yuan Shuo stomped off before he suddenly roared, “I’m going to kill late Novas! No, peak Novas!”

You’re crazy! You just took a long time to kill an initial Nova and was injured for it. Now you want to kill late and peak Novas? You’re getting too full of yourself!

“Is something... bothering you?”

“Yes, very much so!” Yuan Shuo shouted. “When I teach disciples, I’m of the mind that they’ll never be stronger than me! Stuff like the pupil exceeding the master is just words I mouth! It was one thing years ago when I was crippled—it was only right that my disciples exceeded me then. But now I’ve recovered and improved swiftly, I kill Solars one day and Novas three months later... Damn it, my disciple was just a thief beating up mundanes three months ago! And now he’s just killed a late Nova!”

“......” Jadelight’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped. Her mind ceased to function from the shock.

Yuan Shuo was on the verge of tears. It shouldn’t have happened this way! This was fake news, that’s what it was! It was a joke! How could someone progress so quickly!

I’m a veteran martial master with five consolidated auras, I should be the one with an incredible rate of progress. If I can kill initial Novas, that means my strength is far beyond initial Nova. I might be a mid Nova to be able to kill initial ones.

And yet, my disciple can kill late Novas!

Yuan Shuo didn’t believe it, it must be fake news. It was too aggravating otherwise! I just killed a Nova and was prepared to let the world know about the might of Old Demon Yuan. Thanks to you, kiddo, I have no more of that prestige and I gotta play dumb. It’ll be a joke if people hear of what I did! What are you doing strutting around after an initial Nova when your disciple’s killed a late Nova?

Jadelight took a few moments to collect her wits and glanced at Yuan Shuo. “Didn’t... you say... that it’s only been a few months since your disciple started practicing martial dao?”

“That’s right!”

The woman fell silent. “Your disciple... may be possessed by another. I’ve seen records of this in ancient tomes. Mmhmm, that’s the most likely story...”

Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes hard. Get the fuck outta here! It was one thing for him to curse at the boy; he was very put out when Jadelight mentioned anything. “And what do you know? He has the bloodline of the eight families and witnessed a stunning sword stroke from the ancient civilization. He has the true teachings of my Five Styles, so it’s normal for him to improve quickly. Your hair is long, but you’re short on wits, woman. What do you know!”

Jadelight looked at him and cursed inwardly, and you need to see a doctor! I was just following what you were saying! There must be something wrong with your brain, but here I am, following you around!

Yuan Shuo snorted and grumbled a bit more; it was unknown whether he was cursing Jadelight Sword or Li Hao.

“This won’t do, it’s too slow!” he exhaled long moments after finishing his round of cursing. “It’s too hard to meld five auras together and the five organs are being strengthened too slowly. Even if the new method is effective, the results won’t be that apparent that quickly. Red Moon’s people have all run off somewhere... so I’ll take you grave robbing!

“I know quite a few ruins and one of them might have Water of Life. I’ll take you there. It’ll be dangerous, but we might see great gains. I was going to wait for my disciple and take him on the excavation. You get to benefit instead! Damn it, he’s stronger than me, so what should I bring him along for!”

Jadelight blinked, astonished. You... She could not come up with a proper response. Grave robbing? You should’ve said so earlier!

The two swiftly departed the premises; Yuan Shuo had his jaw set. I’m not going to kill anyone for the time being. I’m embarrassed to kill anyone below late Nova! I’m going to dig up some graves, find the Water of Life, strengthen my organs, combine all five auras, then come out and kill someone impressive!

I’m gonna show Li Hao who’s the real daddy here!

......

Southern Ford.

Li Hao returned with peace of mind after catching up to Hong Qing and the others to deliver Seabrink’s survivors to them. The young man was certain that Hong Yitang would most adequately take care of the one hundred survivors.

One hundred wasn’t that many. If it came down to it, Li Hao would just kill some more pirates and send him the funds. Wouldn’t that take care of the problem? The young man was just saving him the effort of rescuing people from the battlefield. How nice!

Kong Jie had already left Southern Ford; he wasn’t at liberty to be away from White Moon City for extended periods of time. When he left, he told Li Hao not to worry too much about the White Shark Raiders.

In reality, the young man wasn’t.

......

Inside Southern Ford.

The Demon Hunters were on vacation today. Li Hao didn’t cloister himself in training. On the contrary, he gave himself a chance to relax.

Inside a small tavern.

Li Hao sat in the most luxurious private room in the establishment and drank by himself. He hadn’t been in the habit of drinking before. In fact, he found the beverage bitter and spicy when he tried it on occasion. He seemed to have acquired a taste for it after the past couple of encounters. Martial masters should not drink too much, but that was true only for novices. Yuan Shuo drank as much as he wanted.

This wine that he’d ordered wasn’t good quality. It had a bitter aftertaste, just like everyone’s lives were equally bitter in this day and age. Perhaps they wouldn’t starve to death, but the people spent every day in fear. They were graciously allowed to keep their lives through the benevolence of the supernaturals.

Men, women, and children suffered alike in this era.

Li Hao took a small sip and turned over the bitter wine in his mouth. He looked out the window at the picture of ostentatious prosperity below. A great hubbub of voices rose and fell. As tough as life was, it went on and one must find joy in such difficulty.

He knew that so long as there was hope and goals to be seen, those would spur incredible vitality from the people. The worst case scenario was if they had no hope. Thankfully, there was some hope still in Silver Moon.

A book appeared in his hand—Building Five Bridges. Li Hao paged through it again—the golden dot of his metal aura was much stronger than before and continuously growing stronger. Unfortunately, the other three were slightly weaker and there was no sign of his wood aura to be seen. The four auras were growing out of balance.

A plate of tiny fruit appeared in front of him. He’d traded for twenty Mind Fruits and wanted to take them after gathering his wood aura, but he could wait no longer. Let everything proceed as they will!

There was no need to insist on only one path in martial dao. All paths led to the heavens. The threat of the White Shark Raiders was right in front of him. From what he understood, Kong Jie had made some preparations in Silver Moon, but Li Hao had his own thoughts. He didn’t want to impose on outsiders if he could help it. Whatever he could resolve himself, he would resolve himself.

He drank the bitter wine, read his book, and swallowed one Mind Fruit. A tendril of refreshing power poured into his body. The effects were much weaker compared to the Goldensky Lotus—it didn’t forcefully make improvements. This time, he did not choose to strengthen the metal aura.

He wanted to strengthen the other three if possible and achieve a balance between the four. Would seven Mind Fruits be the equivalent of one Goldensky Lotus petal? Based on the fruit’s pricing at Military Supplies... It didn’t seem likely.

The Lotus required one thousand points for a flower and 125 points for a petal. Only ten points were needed for a Mind Fruit, that was more than a tenfold difference. But sometimes, price wasn’t indicative of everything.

Li Hao swallowed a Mind Fruit and quietly perceived its effects. He sensed the improvements in his aura—there was still a difference between aura and mental strength. Mental strength was just pure force of mind, the aura was a more sophisticated form and usage of force.

Li Hao had read many ancient tomes regarding the martial master aura and compared it to the cultivation system within these books. The modern martial master aura was a brand new system. Only some people would mention the aura in the ancient civilization, bringing it to their cultivation system and eventually popularizing it.

The young man washed down the Mind Fruits with wine—that was a delicious concoction! He absorbed some water, earth, and fire energy. Li Hao paused to sense the changes again. Just having stronger energy was not enough. Aura was not pure energy, but also a reflection of comprehension and personality.

The more one saw and experienced, the more sufficient one’s prestige was. If one sat at the bottom of a well to grasp the aura, their aura would still be that of one single type, despite absorbing endless energy.

After some reflection, Li Hao continued to eat and embark on his journey of strengthening. He needed to reach ten thousand cubes each with his five organs and body. He’d sensed it when he fought Sea Shark. Even with the armor on, his organs shook from the force of his opponent’s blows.

Supernaturals were very strong to have reached this kind of level. Li Hao was unable to fight a powerful mid Nova, despite it just being a match of internal force versus mysterious power. He was constantly relying on the Incantation of the Blood of Blood. However, that method raised one’s strength. As his strength grew, its usefulness declined and it wasn’t as helpful as before.

In his current state, Li Hao should nurture his wood aura if he wished to increase his strength. He was bound to become much stronger after the five auras became one.

Unfortunately, the Weeping Willow Sword had not given him much inspiration. He knew how to deploy it, but didn’t grasp its essence so it was hard to comprehend anything.

Apart from understanding the wood aura, his second task at hand was to strengthen his physical body. The third was to saturate his supernatural locks with energy. If he could do as He Yong and the others did to unseal himself and reseal himself... he would grow stronger as well.

However, that required reaching the peak capacity of his locks. He’d taken in plenty of energy before, but failed to reach that level. His locks could still take in more.

The last method he had to improve with was the Demon Hunters!