Star Gate

Chapter 531: Stillness (II)

“Everyone should focus on improving themselves over the next three days. Comprehending the aura is a hurdle, a massive hurdle! Only after sensing the aura can you all walk further. If it continuously remains out of reach for you...” Li Hao looked silently at the crowd for a moment. “Then it is only a matter of time before you are eliminated! Remaining at Sunderer is too weak. You can walk many more paths after you grasp the aura and break the limits of the body. There is Southern Fist, Golden Spear, and my master to use as reference. There are many ways to proceed.”

They would be forever stuck at this cultivation level if they did not comprehend the aura. The strongest they would be was a Sunderer, and facing off against Sunflare enemies would be their limit if they did not break the confines of their body.

Given the state of the world, unless Sunderers were equipped with black armor, they wouldn’t even be able to participate in a battle against pirates.

A strong sense of urgency rose in the crowd’s hearts. Would there be a place in this team for them in the future if they continued to fail to reach half step Dominator? There were only fifty people in the Demon Hunters, so Li Hao could be as generous as he wished and share any attribute of energy with them, dao comprehension weapons, mysterious power stones, black armor...

This led to a fast pace of improvement. But once they were eliminated... The consequences were impossible to imagine!

A strong sense of pressure brought the group back to reality after yesterday’s revelry.

“Leader, will it affect our future if we grasp the aura from the dao comprehension weapons?” Although hesitant, someone spoke up with their concern in the end. “Will our potential be less than other people?”

“Not necessarily!” Li Hao responded after some thought. “Comprehending the aura is the stepping stone to success. It doesn’t mean that you can’t grow stronger in the future or that you’re locked into a certain development. The sword aura I command comes from... a kind of dao comprehension weapon as well.

“But what you glean from the dao comprehension weapons may not be the best match for you.”

“Leader, if a defensive type like me grasps an offensive aura, will that cripple me?” asked the honest Chen Jian.

“Says who?” Li Hao laughed. “The aura lives in one’s imagination and is the manifestation of the heart and soul. Take an earth attribute comprehending a mountain, for example. Would you say the mountain is offensive or defensive?”

“That’s hard to say.” Chen Jian shook his head.

“That’s right, it’s hard to say,” Li Hao continued. “Even if it’s the strongest sword aura, who says it must be used to attack? Are there no defensive sword techniques? Both possibilities exist at the same time, so don’t seek to pigeonhole your aura with a meaning from the beginning. I understood the earth aura first and my thoughts then were that earth is suited for defense. But later on, I turned it into an earth sword aura for attack. It’s all in how you use it.”

The crowd nodded with some understanding. Though they didn’t fully register the meaning behind their leader’s words, they more or less understood him. No matter what, they were to comprehend the aura first and smash through this barrier to knock on the door to Dominator. As for everything else, that could wait. There might not even be a future if one did not cross the threshold first.

In that case, there would be no need to consider questions of potential.

“You’ve progressed well,” Li Hao continued. “When our ten late Sunderers utilize the Ten Rings Mountain Seal Formation and our formidable armor, they can put up a fight against an initial Solar. I don’t think they’ll be less than a Dominator, but that still isn’t enough!

“It’s not enough to just fight a Solar and not kill them. You cannot do so yet because you are not strong enough and cannot intimidate a Solar!”

Heads nodded; they were aware of this as well. Even if they were to work together and reach higher peaks when melding their force together, they lacked the methods that guaranteed the death of an initial Solar. The Demon Hunters could at most delay an initial Solar at the moment, they could not kill such a supernatural.

This rate of improvement was already very fast! But the people also knew that this had to do with their formation and armor. Without those two factors, it would be decent enough if the ten late Sunderers could fight a mid or late Sunflare.

That was their true battle strength. Granted, their formation and equipment was also part of their strength as others didn’t have the same.

“So long as everyone understands where I’m coming from. Let everything proceed naturally and don’t be overly worried that utilizing the aura within the dao comprehension weapon will limit your potential...” Li Hao paused, but ultimately chose to finish his words. “When it comes to affecting the potential, the biggest challenge will be surpassing the ancients who left the aura behind. If you utilize the dao comprehension weapon, to be honest... your chances of surpassing the former owner are negligible!”

And that was the blatant truth! The young man was well aware of the drawbacks stemming from the auras remaining in the dao comprehension weapons. The Demon Hunters might become like Golden Spear—enshrouded by another’s aura and unable to break or surpass it.

To put it more plainly, there were so many ultimate powerhouses in the ancient civilization that it went without saying how strong their auras must have been to survive to present day. Even Li Hao didn’t fancy himself strong enough to reach that step, the step of his forefather.

So what came after the young man comprehended his ancestor’s aura? That could wait until he truly reached that step! He was an incredible distance away from the other, what was the point of considering right now that he might not be able to break his forefather’s shackles after grasping the aura? That he might become the next Golden Spear...

What a joke!

Golden Spear had the strength of a Nova and outstripped most in the martial world. Only those who’d seen vaster reaches felt that he was restricted. For those in front of him to surpass the ancients... Li Hao felt that it was too hard for them.

Hong Yitang had said to not think that present day was inferior to the ancient times, but those were his aspirations and not reality. Reality was that even when it came to someone like Li Hao, he leaned heavily on his bloodline. Someone like He Yong started only at the Black Armor level.

The crowd turned silent after Li Hao’s words before sighs of relief could be heard.

“So that’s the case... we just won’t be able to surpass the ancients? That’s fine!”

That was terrifying! We thought we wouldn’t be able to improve beyond Dominator if we made use of a dao comprehension weapon. So this is the case!

“Yeah, you were scaring us, leader! We thought we would be stuck at half step Dominator or have no hope of improvement beyond Dominator. The ancients were marvelous! They could destroy stars with one move!” chattered the crowd. Everyone was quite wordless at the picture of doom Li Hao had been painting. They’d somewhat rejected this greatest Guard benefit due to his earlier words that dao comprehension weapons might result in certain restrictions or influences on their development. They would rather they slowly carve out their own path than apply for that comprehension chance.

It wasn’t until now that they understood the full ramifications. So that was it? You were scaring people because of this?

Li Hao was just as wordless as them. Prior to setting foot into Battle Heaven, he’d felt that only the ancient legendary heroes were strong, that their ordinary cultivators were weak. Of course he would surpass their ordinary cultivators... But after joining the Battle Heaven Army, he found that even a Silver Armor could kill him after countless eons... he knew that he’d overestimated himself.

There were one thousand people to a troop in the Battle Heaven Army and one thousand troop leaders. In other words, the Silver Armors that had been dead for endless years could still beat him senseless. There was no point in mentioning surpassing the ancients.

First came imitation, then catching up, and finally surpassing. That was the path of modern people.

Liu Long wanted to laugh when he saw how awkward Li Hao was. Everyone started off with the same thoughts—that they were much stronger than the ancients. They didn’t want to bother with the aura left by the ancients and wanted to directly outstrip them...

It wasn’t until they were mercilessly beaten down by society did they understand that they were just babes learning how to walk. How could they ignore that and want to imitate an adult by jumping ahead? That was sheer nonsense!

Whispers flurried below as some decided to borrow a dao comprehension weapon upon their return. Forty-nine martial masters had all made it to late Sunderer. One time each with the weapons made for forty-nine attempts. The strongest weapon that Li Hao had was a broken sword that Golden Spear left him. There were ten attempts in it. The others were even weaker ones from Golden Spear that could be utilized three to five times.

There may not be enough for all forty-nine members.

However, the young man felt that those who could comprehend the aura on their own might not need the weapons. That would leave enough tries for everyone.

“C’mon, onto the ship and let’s go! Hong Qing and the others will go directly to White Moon City, we don’t need to wait for them!”

The crowd swiftly filed on board. The ship rapidly expanded and shot out like a loosed arrow, quickly vanishing into the horizon.

Someone watched them from the shore, silently observing their departure. The two Sunflares from the Southern Ford Night Watcher branch were also watching. One was older, one was younger. The older one sighed, “We all felt so unsettled when Director Hou left. Although Director Hao is a Solar, he doesn’t offer us much security with the growing number of powerhouses in the world...

“This one has displayed immense strength prior to the director’s full departure and killed enemies with resolution. I trust that the Silver Moon Night Watchers will be quiet for a while and no longer see unrest.”

That was what everyone had been worried about before, but Li Hao appeared with swiftness and killed two Nova powerhouses, as well as five hundred supernaturals. It gave everyone a boost of confidence that the Silver Moon Night Watchers were still very strong.

This was extremely important at this point in time, and was something that Hao Lianchuan could not supply. A mid Solar director... somehow did not merit much respect anymore.

“Isn’t that right!” chuckled the middle-aged man next to him. “One has to say, Director Hou has a good eye for talent. He had this one promoted to deputy director before he left. I say, why don’t we let him...”

“Ahem!” coughed the old man. “Director Hao is not bad, he’s just a bit weaker. He’s a very nice guy, though.”

“That’s right!” The middle-aged man rapidly bobbed his head up and down. That was true, it was very fine that Hao Lianchuan was the director. He was a good man and it was a fine arrangement. However, that deputy director needed to step forward as well, to give everyone reassurance.