Star Gate

Chapter 535: Light Sword (I)

The crowd shifted restlessly when they heard Li Hao’s words, but Liu Long frowned. “Will we be a hindrance if we go?”

“It’s fine, we can retreat if there’s real danger,” Li Hao responded indifferently. “We don’t have to gain anything for our time. Not to mention, Panther and I will be going...”

“And me!” Ignored off to the side, Hao Lianchuan quickly piped up. He was also excited by what he heard.

“Do you have nothing else better to do, Director Hao?” Li Hao asked with resignation. “There’s no one else in charge of the Night Watchers now and you’re a late Solar. Your fifth supernatural lock has appeared, so you should go back to cultivate more and ascend as Nova as soon as possible.”

“That can wait a few days!”

Wang Ming started growing frantic. Fatty Hao, you’re stealing my lines! I haven’t had a chance to volunteer yet! Unfortunately for the handsome supernatural, the director was stronger than him. Wang Ming couldn’t outbid him when it came to this expedition opportunity.

“Fine then, it’s just a small ruin.” Li Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “There may not be anything good inside as it’s different from Battle Heaven. Battle Heaven is a city, this place can only count as a village.”

He wouldn’t be interested in visiting if not for the possible tree monster spirit. Just a few more mysterious power stones wasn’t temptation enough.

......

They waited for Hong Hao to complete his cultivation—as expected, he comprehended the aura as well. The three days of cultivation for the Demon Hunters were at a close. Li Hao wanted to immediately set out to try his luck.

He was used to traveling at night and the troop had just rested for three days. Li Hao brought out the Divine Kun Ship—it was an origin weapon after his own heart. Not only could it swim through the water, but it could also fly through the sky. Right now, he wanted to experience flying through the sky.

There were more on this trip than before; Hao Lianchuan made for fifty-six. The Demon Hunters traveled over land last time. This time, he directed the ship in a swift climb into the air. He didn’t want to be monitored—there were several factions in Silver Moon that were possibly keeping an eye on him. While they might not have malicious intent, he wanted his movements to remain more of a secret.

In the ship, the young man surveyed the surroundings for supernaturals. He also gave Li Meng the mission of detecting whether there were martial masters traveling through the air or anything that was monitoring them. Li Hao could only see things that belonged to the system of energy, whereas the girl’s third eye could see more.

A third eye appeared on Li Meng’s forehead, but she didn’t use it to follow Li Hao’s orders and observe anything. It shone with a certain luster; the young man looked strangely at her when he detected something. She seemed to be laboring under some effort, but was still very excited. Rays of splendor flowed past the crowd and enveloped the ship.

“We want to prevent people from peeping in on us, right?” she panted. “Watch me, leader! This is an illusory space! All monitoring methods are useless if I wrap us up in this! No one will see us unless they’re powerhouses looking for us!”

Li Hao raised an eyebrow. In other words, they were invisible to certain people.

“Is this an invisibility art?”

“Pretty much... But invisibility is different. I’m just twisting some things to create a visual inaccuracy. Invisibility... I’m not sure how invisibility does it.”

A visual inaccuracy! Li Hao inclined his head. This seemed like a useful ability. However, it consumed a large amount of energy. Li Meng started swaying on her feet after maintaining it for a short while. Li Hao had no other choice but to direct some sword energy into her body. Darkmoons... were seriously weak. It’d only been how long before she couldn’t hold on?

He looked around in the sky and avoided some patrolling supernaturals. The Night Watchers sent supernaturals out on patrols, but the ones inside the city primarily came from the Inspectorate. The Inspectorate possessed both supernaturals and martial masters.

The young man directed the flying ship away from the patrols and vanished inside White Moon City. Meanwhile, the Inspectorate that’d just been elevated to the duty of patrolling didn’t detect anything.

......

The Inspectorate provincial headquarters.

Kong Jie frowned and scanned the air. He thought about it, walked to a window, and took one step out of it for a look all around. Something was off. After further thought, he took out a set of black armor and sent mind ripples into it.

“Li Hao, where are you?”

“The base. Is everything alright, Inspector General Kong?”

“The base? Then that’s fine. Martial masters seemed to have invaded White Moon. I’m going to grab Huang Yu and kill them.”

“......” Li Hao stared blankly, midway through crossing the capital. Did he really mean that? “There’s no need!”

“Er.” Kong Jie stopped speaking and switched from alarm to annoyance. “Stop running off in the middle of the night, we’ll easily mistake you for an enemy. I thought something had gone wrong with our defenses! Tell us next time before you go out!”

He really thought that enemies were invading, but upon further consideration, felt that it was more likely to be Li Hao. As expected, it really was the kid. He was a true Night Watcher alright, he always made his moves at night!

Where was he off to now?

Of course, Kong Jie wasn’t at liberty to say too much. He could only curse a few rounds and pray that the kid didn’t cause further trouble for them. The current state of the world wasn’t too safe for Li Hao.

......

A resigned Li Hao breathed out heavily. It looked like White Moon City’s defenses were stronger than he anticipated. They wouldn’t have been discovered so quickly otherwise. But this was also good, it meant that the city was safer. Those in the capital all had a few tricks up their sleeves and were not to be underestimated.

Li Meng couldn’t withstand her technique after they left White Moon City. Li Hao had her rest and commanded the ship to fly higher, using his internal force to support the ship’s consumption of resources. It took more energy to fly through the air.

He steered the ship in Flare City’s direction. The ruins were there, not too far away.

......

At the same time, a pitch black night.

The east.

Lights blazed through the night in the distance. A building shaped like a palace appeared in front of one’s eyes, magnificent in the gloom. This was the renowned estate of the Steadfast Duke.

An old man looked at it from a street less than three thousand meters away. He coughed gently and looked around him, sighing, “I’m back and have not lived up to my important duties. Sir Xu... is dead.”

It’d taken her eight days to rush back. Traveling from the north to the east was closer than traveling to the central region, but she hadn’t spent the eight days traveling. She’d rested for three days as He Yong’s punch had deeply injured her.

Dead silence answered her.

“I may be old, but my senses still exist,” the old man coughed again. “Do not underestimate the senses of a martial master.”

A person walked out from the darkness. The street was still deathly quiet. This was a powerhouse wearing armor; he looked at the old man with his true face. “Steward Hu, the duke had us come meet you to prevent others from following you. It looks like you still retain your strength, so your injuries weren’t that severe, hmm?”

Light Sword looked around the premises with another sigh. “Come out, all of you!”

The bulky man who’d walked out looked at her without saying a word. Light Sword was Light Sword, after all. Her senses were incredibly acute. They felt that they hid themselves well, but were easily discovered nonetheless.

“Since the steward has spoken, everyone come out!”

Three more people walked out from the other four corners of the street. That made for four powerhouses.

“The Steadfast North, Steadfast South, Steadfast East, and Steadfast West general have all come. What an honor!” Light Sword looked at the four.

The Steadfast Duke oversaw the eastern territory and commanded a large army at eight hundred thousand people. This was an army that answered only to him. Eight generals oversaw it—North, South, East, West, Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. [1]

There were two of the duke’s direct descendants commanding the generals—Xu Zhen, Xu Xing. Xu Zhen was Xu Feng’s father. The duke was above them as the commander-in-chief.

Four of the generals were gathered here today and their presences were strong. They seemed to have been concealed by something else before, but revealed their presences now. Formidable, intimidating, and the scent of blood about them. They weren't naive little cultivators, but ones who’d killed people—and many.

First on the scene had been the Steadfast East General. “Steward Hu, we were once martial masters as well,” he said slowly. “The four of us grew up in the duke’s household and closed over to the supernatural when we reached half step Dominator. We know the aura as well!”

“Why do you speak of this, general?” coughed Light Sword.

“No reason other than to tell the steward that the four of us are late Novas ascended from martial masters. We are beyond regular supernaturals and command the army. We have seen much killing in our duties,” the general continued slowly. “The steward is a Silver Moon martial master and incredibly valiant. You have broken the limits of Dominator and are a pioneer of martial dao. We revere you and show you due respect in our day to day. It is Sir Xu’s destiny to die! The duke is magnanimous and does not seek to assign responsibility...”

Light Sword did not respond.

“But the steward did not send word on the way back, making us fear that the steward had chosen to leave out of concern that the duke would condemn you,” the general spoke on. “It is for the best that you have returned, despite it being the middle of the night. You must be tired after your travels and the duke is resting as well. Let us request an audience tomorrow—we also wish to inquire about some martial questions. Why don’t you follow us to the barracks to rest for the remainder of the night?”

The barracks!

Light Sword smiled and looked at them, finally settling upon the duke’s household in the distance as she took her measure of the surroundings. There seemed to be someone looking down at her.

“It looks like Silver Moon martial masters must have sent word ahead and said something?” she sighed.

“We do not know the steward’s meaning!” responded Steadfast East.

“Don’t you?” Light Sword shook her head with a smile. “It must be that asshole Ying Hongyue! What a pity that I wasn’t born pretty, he might take pity on me otherwise. Does he wish for me to die as soon as possible because I am ugly?

“How would the duke have sent only the four of you, given how cautious he is? Four late Novas killing a peak Nova is so easily done. But I am a Silver Moon martial master, does the duke dare underestimate me?”

A Silver Moon martial master... was truly different.

1. Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow (天地玄黃) refers to the creation story of Chinese mythology. When heaven and earth were delineated, the skies were dark and the earth was yellow. ☜