Star Gate

Chapter 560: All Revealing Themselves (III)

At the same time, at a place less than fifty kilometers away from Tyrant Blade.

A genteel man raised his head and looked in a certain direction, seeming to sense something. He quickly shook his head with a smile and paid no further attention. Instead, he focused on the person warily backing away from him.

“Long time no see, little Spidey. How have you been?”

Cold sweat beaded Black Widow’s face beneath the mask. She was more terrified of this man than she was of Earthturner Sword. She forcefully tamped down the fear in her heart. “I’m alright. Ah, Red Moon’s been looking for you and wishes to engage in great affairs...”

“You’re not being too honest, Spidey,” chuckled the genteel man. “You’re trying to scare me with Ying Hongyue. I haven’t done anything and I don’t like killing innocents, not to mention old friends. I only came by because I heard Light Sword was surrounded. You weren’t part of that, were you? We’re all old friends here...”

“N-no...”

“You’re still not being too honest, Spidey!” the man chuckled again. “I’ve already received word. Look here, I have this too!” He took out a jade pendant. “Apparently you ran fast, you were the first one out of there. That was how I knew you were involved. Otherwise, I would never think that little Spidey would join others in attacking Silver Moon martial masters. We can kill each other ourselves, but other people cannot. Have you forgotten? Ying Hongyue’s taught you poorly these years...”

“I was just watching.” Black Widow sweated profusely. “I didn’t bring my full strength to bear. I was surprised that Light Sword was so strong and wanted to test a thing or two...”

“You’re full of lies!” sighed the genteel man with a shake of his head. “Forget it, I won’t press you. We’re all old friends.”

“Then I’ll be off,” Black Widow said hurriedly. “And please call upon us when you have time...”

“Off?” laughed the man. “Alright, but you did break some rules. I tend to be a stickler for the rules, so I’ll punch you once to help your memory. If Ying Hongyue wishes to kill Yuan Shuo, only his people can take the field. When was allying with outsiders a thing? That’s such disrespect for the rules!”

“No...” Black Widow panicked and attempted to run!

This peak Nova was even more terrified than when Light Sword wanted to chase after her! She leapt into the air to make her getaway. The man sighed and punched!

His fist floated gently through the air, but was also stately and imposing without any extraneous complexities.

Boom!

A fist descended from the sky, its presence so vast and magnificent that it outmatched Earthturner Sword’s technique.

BOOM!

The fist slammed Black Widow into the ground. Her mask shattered, revealing an exquisite face. She vomited blood, dismay writ over her face. A fist was imprinted on her chest—all of her bones were broken and most of her organs were ruptured. Her mysterious power was mostly dissipated as well.

Despair crept over her face. The genteel man laughed in the distance. “That will do, such are the rules. You won’t die, all you need is some nourishment when you go back. Commit this lesson to memory and stop running around with the wrong sorts. You liked to do that before, but at least you kept to other Silver Moon folks. Now you consort with outsiders? You’re better than that!” 

“Gurgle...” Black Widow wanted to say something, but there was nothing she could say. In her horrified and overawed state, she just felt that she was on the verge of death.

Northern Fist!

She knew that Northern Fist must be very strong, but she’d never thought that she’d almost die from a single punch. There was absolutely no opening for her to strike back. What heights had Northern Fist reached? Where had he been all these years? Why was he suddenly here?!

The genteel man ignored her and looked around, contemplating certain things before sighing, “Forget it, I won’t go back to Silver Moon. It can’t handle more disturbance at the moment. I wanted to meet with Yuan Shuo since I heard he left the province, but he’s gone now. Tyrant Blade might also be nearby, but I can’t be bothered with him.

“I hear that Buddha King is still alive and got himself one of those divine mountains... Same goes for Sky Sword. I’ll go catch up with them. Ah, yes. I hear my ole brother He Yong’s joined the royal family as one of their lackeys. Is that true?”

“Cough cough...” Black Widow couldn’t respond as blood flowed out of her mouth.

Northern Fist frowned at her. “You disregard the rules too much. My ranking was higher than yours on the thirty-six and you should be answering when I ask you questions. Or do you want another punch?”

Fear intensified in Black Widow’s eyes. She struggled against the immense pain from her organs and managed to form some words. “At... Southern Fist... is at... the royal family...”

That was more like it!

The genteel man nodded with a smile. “Then I’ll go visit my little brother. Bring a message back with you that pretty boy Red Moon should come visit me. I’d like to see if he’s still so handsome after so many years. I want to smash his face every time I see him—I hate people who look better than me!”

“......” Black Widow didn’t dare say a word. She simply nodded.

“Then I’m off.” Northern Fist let her off the hook and waved a hand. “Spidey, go home to your pretty boy and tell him that he should renounce his supernatural side as soon as possible. What’s the point of training the supernatural? It’s just a waste of time. Martial dao is the true path!”

He left at a moderate pace, but instantly vanished from sight.

Black Widow took out some pills long after he left and quickly swallowed them, but she still wanted to cry. That punch had broken countless bones and severely damaged her organs. She wouldn’t recover without Water of Life.

Thankfully, it’d just been one punch. If another had come... she’d probably really be dead. These people...

Unable to finish her thought, she ultimately sighed and left with difficulty. It looked like Red Moon would have to wait to enter Silver Moon. Otherwise, under these circumstances, Li Hao might kill her himself without needing to wait for Huang Yu and the others.

Northern Fist had appeared, as had Tyrant Blade, Sky Sword, Earthturner Sword, Yuan Shuo, and Jadelight Sword. An era of chaos was soon upon them. Even if various factions didn’t come for these personages, they might take action themselves.

......

At the same time.

Li Hao’s trio swiftly vanished among the North Sea.

The North Sea province.

Although the three northern provinces were caught in unrest, the provincial capital of Seabreeze was still a picture of tranquility.

On the outskirts, in a large hotel.

Earthturner Sword had rented a small villa close to the sea. The view was unbelievably gorgeous. Pieces of mysterious power stones floated in front of them, as well as a massive stone from Hong Yitang. The man sighed, he only had one such piece left!

Of the treasures that he’d found in Battle Heaven, one had been used on He Yong, another being used now, and the Water of Life had also been used. His fortuitous opportunity was slipping through his fingers...

Li Hao said nothing, he plunged the sword into the biggest piece. He couldn’t help it since Hong Yitang wanted to offer it. The Silver Moon authorities had given him many mysterious power stones for the rescue effort.

“This operation is funded by the Silver Moon authorities. I wasn’t in the mood to run to the North Sea to save people. Let me be clear, it’s all from the government. But the stones they gave are so low quality and their effects too mediocre. Therefore, Martial Uncle Hong took out this piece. It’s on Light Sword’s head, I won’t be owning up to anything.”

His words were brusque and to the point. The woman simply nodded and didn’t say anything.

“Thus, you have no need to think you owe me a favor. I’m suppressing your energy because the government is paying and you threatened me into a favor. There is nothing between you and me after this matter, but you bullying me still stands!”

Light Sword remained quiet.

“It’s just a small matter...” Hong Yitang coughed softly.

Sword energy surged out; Light Sword swiftly started absorbing it. The three fell silent with no hint of their previous partnership to be seen. Working together to kill people was one thing, but their personal grudges would not be dissolved because of it.

Li Hao kicked Panther as he released sword energy. The dog looked innocently at him; the young man glared back! That’s enough! You’re too much. She’s dying and you keep devouring sword energy. You’re so black-hearted!

It was rather Light Sword who opened her eyes and looked at Panther. “This monster spirit came to save me as well,” she coughed. “However much it absorbs can be added to my bill. I’m not as poor as you think. I served the Steadfast Duke for twenty years and saved some money over the years...”

She has money?

Li Hao promptly directed a large surge of sword energy to Panther. You should’ve said so earlier!

The corner of Light Sword’s mouth twitched and she closed her eyes without a word. The dog happily began absorbing energy. How nice!

An entire chunk of mysterious power stone was consumed, but that was far from enough. Light Sword’s supernatural locks were too badly broken. Thankfully the old man—woman—had retained some lingering connections and had the benefit of a special surge of light energy protecting her. Added to that help from a drop of Water of Life. Otherwise, Li Hao truly wouldn’t have been able to rescue her.

Even so, he depleted a large sum of resources. Other than the biggest, purest chunk, he began breaking more mysterious power stones. One hundred, two hundred, five hundred...

Stones shattered by the hundreds.

Light Sword’s absorption rate slowed only after three thousand pieces had shattered. However, Li Hao continued breaking mysterious power stones. This next batch was for Hong Yitang. The man absorbed everything he was given like he was a bottomless pit.

The young man himself also shattered stones and continued to absorb the energy. He was both healing his injuries and directing large quantities of sword energy into his body to saturate his supernatural locks.

The locks of his five organs, particularly the heart, had absorbed tens of thousands without reaching capacity. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see if sword energy could saturate them.

Three humans and one dog absorbed energy without an end in sight, a pile of shattered stones gathering around them. The energy being exuded drew some attention, but when a Solar approached the villa and sensed the sword intent, he immediately ran away. The entire world quieted down as nearby residents vanished.

North Sea senior executives suddenly knew who was in residence, but no one dared do anything. Many of them had received word of the North Sea battle, but it’d take multiple heavyweights in metamorphosis to hold their own against these people. The North Sea had plumbed its depths, there was no one sailing the sea who could move against these people.

After this battle, Earthturner Sword and Light Sword’s name was known throughout the dynasty. Li Hao was a little behind them, but he grew more famous than before. There’d been those who didn’t believe that he killed the second-in-command of the White Shark Raiders, thinking that it was wild rumor. But after he killed Xu Zhen in front of many witnesses, no one doubted his strength again.

The only pity was that his master didn’t receive the news. The ruins isolated one from communication.