Star Gate

Chapter 528: Safeguarding Silver Moon (II)

Indeed, the Demon Hunters.

After the last battle, Li Hao could sense that some people’s auras were almost formed. He had the troop rest for a day because he wanted those people to relax. Continued battle had swiftly increased everyone’s strength to the point where all members were late Sunderers, but there wasn’t a single peak Sunderer among the group!

In the battle with the pirates, Li Hao discovered that the Demon Hunters were more enthused about this enemy than the three great organizations. Plainly, people had their own thoughts, especially those of the Sword Sect. If things developed according to his expectation, there might be a first batch of half step Dominators in a few days.

He hadn’t let anyone try the dao comprehension weapons thus far. Now, he wanted to give them a chance when the Demon Hunters returned to base. Using them without any inkling of the aura was not a wise decision. Once one had some understanding, the dao comprehension weapons were more of a catalyst.

One or two of the Demon Hunters being strong might not be that impressive, but fifty of them assembled in the Ten Rings Mountain Seal Formation with Li Hao as the core... It would certainly strengthen his internal force. As for how much, that was up to how strong they were.

Fifty Sunderers were not that impressive, but fifty Dominators? That would be incredible.

Li Hao read his book and mulled over various thoughts in his mind. He also ate quite a few Mind Fruits. The sky began darkening outside, the day was almost over. This was the second day of Hou Xiaochen’s departure—October 5.

On this day, Wang Ming made complete arrangements for the Demon Hunters. Some went to eat and drink their fill, others went singing. He even took some to special places... Li Hao could lock onto their location if he wished to, but he didn’t want to keep them under such tight control. They were all adults and hot-blooded martial masters. They’d just undergone a battle. So long as all parties involved were willing... the young man didn’t want to interfere too much.

When he finished reading the Building Five Bridges booklet, he started on another, the third book he’d borrowed—Fundamentals of Sword Theory.

Li Hao raised his eyebrows when he glanced at the author's name. This was a special book that he hadn’t noticed before. There were some notes on the cover.

Editor-in-Chief: Eternal Sword Sovereign.

Senior Editors: Nether King, Prince Hong, Headmaster Chen.

There were only four names, but they sent the young man into a trance and even a fog. The Eternal Sword Sovereign again! The names listed beneath his also seemed to be quite the characters. There were kings and princes, and that headmaster... Their full names weren’t listed—whether out of taboo or respect for noble personages.

The first line of the first page sent Li Hao into a daze again.

“The sword is a keen weapon of killing. What is at the end of slaughter?”

What was there? Li Hao didn’t know, but also seemed to know a little. This was just fundamental sword theory, what was the point of making it so profound? The next line sent him into another trance.

“Some say that it is responsibility, protection, and tolerance. That is incorrect. The sword is a keen weapon of killing! To cultivate the sword is to have a pure heart. To kill the enemy first and cleanse one’s heart and soul. Everything can be considered after the killing is complete...”

“Ahem, cough cough!” Li Hao coughed violently. From the first line, he thought this was a book that taught one how to comprehend the dao. From the second line... he felt that the editors scoffed at the notion. They seemed to be saying what was the point of thinking so much.

Swords were used to kill. As for talk of responsibility and protection, that had nothing to do with sword methods. That had to do with humans. The sword was dead, humans were alive. These concepts came from the human mind and not the sword.

Li Hao suddenly found this very interesting and kept reading. These editors had an exceedingly deep understanding of sword dao. They didn’t simply describe the core essence of sword methods; depictions of their own unique theories were also recorded.

The young man was somewhat familiar with the Eternal Sword Sovereign’s sword dao. The sword of severing the self meant that blood must be spilled when the sword was unsheathed. The book didn’t speak much of Prince Hong’s sword dao, simply noting a few concepts and how his sword took a sweeping, domineering path.

The Nether King’s sword dao was that of pure slaughter. His killing intent grew stronger the more he killed. It seemed to be a military sword method suited for the troops. Headmaster Chen was different in that his was a gentle and tender method. His sword was like a babbling brook, first weak, then strong. It was calm when it was a river and erupted with spontaneous fury as a waterfall.

The last method held a certain resemblance to the theories behind Jadelight Sword. That was another method that was first weak, then strong, and focused on spontaneous eruption. There wasn’t much written about these powerhouse’s theories, but they led to the same paths and the end goal was the same—to kill enemies.

......

Li Hao munched on Mind Fruits as he perused the book, occasionally taking a sip of wine. This book of elemental sword methods was fascinating. It was very deep as the easier some concepts were, the deeper they were. It required an exceedingly high level of mastery to describe concepts to the point where everyone could understand them.

The young man could understand a book of advanced sword theory, but to explain it? He could not. He lacked the sufficient foundation—what would a novice need with such deep theory knowledge? However, was theory required in martial dao?

Yes!

There were some things in the book that were worthy of further research and study. Some unique methods resulted in varying strength from the same sword if deployed at different angles in different environments. This was Li Hao’s first time hearing of such theory and knowledge. A difference in angle, stance, and eruption point would all affect the force behind the blow. Simply striking fast didn’t necessarily result in peak strength.

Li Hao nodded as he cross-referenced the material with some of his own practical experience. His metal sword aura was the peak of speed before it erupted, but sometimes, one could not attain that speed. In that case, the force it erupted with was weaker. It had to be accumulated first.

The book gave another minor unique technique of nurturing the sword! Just as one nurtured an army for a moment of action, one could also nurture a weapon. The swordsman could use his mind, intent, blood qi, internal force, and killing intent to nurture the weapon. Upon encountering strong foes, he could unsheathe it for a definitive blow. He needed to keep one breath in reserve in ordinary times—killing intent!

The book spoke of some stories related to the Eternal Sword Sovereign. Li Hao had read about them in the Battle of Southern Jiang, of how his ancestor had killed an enemy above his rank with one stroke.

“Nurturing the sword...” The young man took out Stellaris and considered it thoughtfully. The book mentioned swords as weapons, but that swords also had their own thoughts of killing. They should not be constantly kept in storage rings or in the body. They could just be worn on the self.

“This theory is interesting.” Nurturing a sword would result in greater battle strength? Was that possible?

It wasn’t that easy to nurture a sword. Li Hao followed the instructions in the book and agitated his blood qi, sending it into the sword. There was no response. The book had mentioned that this was a long, gradual process that was not to be rushed.

Ordinary people could not nurture swords. Swordsmen would use their swords sooner or later, unless they didn’t fight. If they did not, they would not be a swordsman. The Eternal Sword Sovereign had refrained from picking up his sword for a decade only because he was injured. Real swordsmen needed to constantly battle.

Li Hao didn’t think about this and considered the notion, sending a surge of sword aura into Stellaris. It trembled and hummed, as if celebrating with delight. Then came the earth sword aura, fire sword aura, water sword aura...

Various auras entered the sword and lazily circulated through the weapon. Li Hao read through the book again, finding that it didn’t mention particular sword auras. Perhaps the ancients were different from modern people, but the book mentioned this as a tempering for swordsmen. Maintaining a constant output of blood qi and mental strength was a honing of the self as well.

In the same vein, prolonged output of sword aura should be a tempering of his auras.

Radiance sparkled in the small sword of his hand as various auras flowed through it. Li Hao frowned slightly at it—sustaining his effort for a while was fine, sustaining it for a few hours was feasible. But continuing in this vein over a prolonged period of time... he would probably die first. The sword auras consumed too many resources that may not be recovered in a short period of time.

“It’s too hard to nurture a sword this way!” But since he’d read about the method and the book spoke highly of it, Li Hao decided he wanted to give it a try. He could always give up if it proved impossible. His sword auras could also be supplemented by sword energy.

Additionally, he hadn’t sensed his organs nurturing the spirits or auras yet, but it was a concept that his teacher spoke of. Li Hao knew that he didn’t fully understand it—perhaps the five organs could nurture the auras, but he didn’t have much sensation from it at present.

“What a pity that teacher isn’t by my side,” Li Hao remarked with regret. It was his teacher who’d created the Summoner of Spirit cultivation realm. He’d left so quickly that the young man needed to fumble for some things by himself.

Nurturing spirits... his teacher wouldn’t have mentioned that haphazardly. The five organs could certainly strengthen the aura—but how?

“Ai... teacher should have finished his thoughts... Or perhaps his own theories weren’t perfected then.” After some thought, Li Hao felt that it might have to do with the supernatural locks.

The supernatural locks sealed potential away out of concern that martial masters were too strong for their organs and bodies. Their extraneous power was stored for later release. Such were ether supernatural locks!

Human bodies contained a certain strength to begin with in the locks. When his teacher spoke of nurturing the spirit, he likely borrowed the theory of supernatural locks nurturing the auras.

“Summoner of Spirit is a stage of releasing potential, a methodological process that strengthens the organs while strengthening the aura. That can avoid a lot of trouble and even prevent a condition like Hou Xiaochen’s and the others—strong potential but hesitance to unseal themselves.”

Li Hao thought over the implications, feeling that his teacher’s path was much more complicated than he’d thought! Perhaps his teacher had certain thoughts long ago and only manifested them later on.