Star Gate

Hong Yitang took a deep breath, he appeared to be accumulating strength for major action. Perhaps he wanted to fully snap a lock, or just unseal himself further.

“Why don’t you keep watching, you shitheads! Get out here and kill him!” he howled at the sky instead.

“Hahaha, coming!” A massive fist overshadowed heaven and earth!

“Northern Fist!” Xu Qing gasped.

“Hahaha little Xu Qing, you should feel honored today!”

“This seat is also here!” A long blade cut through the void, dimming heaven and earth.

“Tyrant Blade!” Xu Qing could no longer maintain his composure. All of the color drained from his face, leaving him ashen with dread. Earthturner Sword, Light Sword, Northern Fist, Tyrant Blade, Old Demon Five Styles, Demon Sword Li Hao…

He smiled a ghastly grin. Perhaps Northern Fist was right, it was his honor to die today. Silver Moon martial masters had moved out en masse!

Tyrant Blade was coolly aloof and struck from the sea. His blow towered beneath the skies with a hint of arctic frost. “We wanted to see what a fully snapped lock looked like for a martial master. Now it seems that this is all there is to it!”

“We have to follow custom,” chuckled Northern Fist. “Deficient Leg and I didn’t get along, but you can’t assassinate him like that. I would applaud you if you beat him in direct combat. You need to respect the rules, Xu Qing!”

BAM!

A fist landed to crush the big foot. Tyrant Blade chopped off one of Xu Qing’s arms with a swing of his weapon. There was no room for the duke to maneuver despite having broken one of his supernatural locks. He could not counterattack as he was surrounded by four major powerhouses. Whether in the skies or on the ground, there was nothing he could do.

Down below, Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes. What a pity that he couldn’t unseal himself, he quite envied them! Bah, I mean I disdain them! They’re four on one, they’re so shameless!

Xu Qing was caught in the depths of utter despair. However, a ripple traveled through the void at this time and coughing could be hard in the air. “Qing’er well deserves the loss of an arm for killing Deficient Leg through dishonorable means. Will you show him mercy after that, martial masters of Silver Moon?”

A streak of flame hovered between heaven and earth, one with some waves intermixed in it. Northern Fist raised a brow and Tyrant Blade smiled at the horizon.

“So the third generation duke is still alive,” chuckled Hong Yitang. “It looks like you’ve ascended beyond Nova and completely unsealed your battle strength. Fire and water exist concurrently, but aren’t you afraid of dying in this manner?”

“Father…” Xu Qing sighed, looking morosely at the person walking through the air.

The third generation duke was a supernatural, one with six broken locks! However, those with six broken locks almost always died once they brought their full strength to bear. Not even Water of Life could help them recover.

“I didn’t want to put in an appearance either…” Off in the distance, the doddering old man sighed. “But if I still do not show myself after all of you have come, Xu Qing is most likely completely dead. He has lost an arm and broken one of his supernatural locks. He can no longer be a martial master. Is this price sufficient to pay for his crime of killing Deficient Leg?”

Li Hao blinked. Hot damn! There really were other powerhouses when it came to the Xus. This was one of the powerhouses hiding in the ruins that Xu Qing had spoken of, right? His old man! It was said that the previous duke had died thirty years ago. He’d passed on his position to Xu Qing not long after Yuan Shuo challenged the latter.

Beyond Nova!

This was Li Hao’s first supernatural truly above Nova—not one as a result of a martial master unsealing themselves, but an existence who’d truly broken six supernatural locks. The young man hadn’t caught sight of the enormous ball of light prior to the old man approaching. Now that he was here, Li Hao could see how piercingly bright it was!

The old man seemed to sense Li Hao’s gaze and inclined his head at the young man. Li Hao’s heart skipped a beat! So strong! It was the first time that someone had sensed him assessing their ball of light.

Too many Silver Moon powerhouses had arrived today; it’d forced a personage like this out of hiding. Powerhouses hidden in various corners of the world registered the development with astonishment. The Xu’s foundations were being forced into utilization!

All of the various factions knew that there were certain people who’d broken through the current limits of the power hierarchy, but didn’t dare show themselves. The Xus were the first to display their powerhouse beyond Nova—the third generation Steadfast Duke.

“Killing a Silver Moon martial master… and from the shadows nonetheless.” Hong Yitang grinned. “Do you think just you are enough to end this matter? You’re thinking too simply, old duke. If the Xus are insistent on sticking their necks out, then we will kill!”

The twin swords struck, as did a fist and blade shoot for the same target—Xu Qing!

Despair was writ large over his face. The old duke seemed aware of the Silver Moon martial master style and erupted with fire and ice. An overwhelming aura swept through heaven and earth.

“I knew this would be the case… What a pity that I did not stop Qing’er back in the day!”

One could kill Silver Moon martial masters directly, no one would care about the results of that battle. But to assassinate one and seize their secret art, that was a grave taboo.

There were no pills for regret in the world; the old duke didn’t care about any of this. There was no need to hide his strength as he was more than sufficient to handle these martial masters with partially snapped locks.

The group felt fire and ice bearing down on them, but none of the four powerhouses paused to stop the attack. All of them were focused on Xu Qing, as if they didn’t see or sense any other threats. Incomprehension and denial appeared in the man’s eyes. Why… didn’t they stop his father?

Did they all want to die with him? Some of them had to split their attention for his father, why were they all focused on him?

He understood in the next moment.

A massive sword flew out of the void and erupted with extreme metal mysterious power when it landed straight down. Magnificent, boundless, tyrannical, ruthless, killing intent… Too much was part of it.

The sword landed with a massive boom and knocked back the erupting old duke. He spat out a mouthful of blood and exclaimed, “You… you’ve broken six supernatural locks as well!”

A person hovered in the air and looked coldly at him, mysterious power sweeping through the land.

The old duke looked at his son and smiled ghastly. “The Xus… should not have stepped forward like this!” He vanished with a sigh.

The person in the air remained aloof and didn’t stop the old duke.

“I am… honored!” Despite the finality of his doom, Xu Qing smiled. “Hahaha! What a worthy death I die today!”

Pfft! His head flew out! This powerhouse, overlord of the east, an incredibly dominant existence, was decapitated by a single stroke from Hong Yitang!

Xu Qing exploded!

Off in the distance, grief appeared in the eyes of the swiftly fleeing old duke. My most exemplary son, the one with the most hope in the family of breaking the barrier and exceeding Nova as a martial master, is dead!

Xu Qing had died after the old duke appeared, right beneath his nose. And yet, there was nothing he could do about his son being killed right in front of him. He could not afford to keep fighting. If he did, the entire family’s foundations would be sacrificed.

There were more and more Silver Moon powerhouses charging this way. His son had roused their general ire after killing Deficient Leg. The situation would not be thus otherwise, they wouldn’t demand Xu Qing’s death just for Li Hao’s sake.

The old duke looked back at the man in the void—Sky Sword! A supernatural who’d broken six supernatural locks had emerged from seclusion and looked to be in a much more stable condition. Why?

The middle-aged man looked down below him and ultimately settled his gaze on Yuan Shuo. “I am waiting for you in the next cultivation level, don’t let me wait too long!” He slashed through the void and vanished on the spot.

“Supernatural brute!” Yuan Shuo snorted, slightly dejected despite his gruffness. Damn it! I’m invincible with five melded auras, but these guys come here in the blink of an eye and they’re all stronger than me!

But so what? Whether it’s unsealing themselves or the supernatural, none of them are the proper path!

Right, that’s the case! I’m the strongest when they don’t unseal themselves or aren’t supernaturals. None of them can measure up to me.

Hong Yitang laughed and looked in the direction of the vanished Sky Sword. “Time to run! If we don’t go… there’s a ton of powerhouses around us. Even those above Nova will be coming!”

“Time to skedaddle!” laughed the rest and scattered in different directions.

Yuan Shuo grabbed Li Hao, dragged the dog in their wake, and swiftly ran off. Given the scale of their battle, there would be heavyweights above Nova here soon. With the caliber of strength that’d appeared, even the dynasty would be shaking in the aftermath. Of course, Xu Qing’s death would give rise to great waves of change and shock through Skystar.

……

Experts hidden in the shadows reeled from shock.

“Sky Sword… is greater than Nova!”

“And the old duke, but his condition seems unstable. Sky Sword is stable, however. Why is that?”

“The old duke was noticeably outclassed and had to run. Staying would’ve resulted in his death. What a pity about Xu Qing… If he’d had a little more time… What a pity…”

“Silver Moon is a bunch of crazies, they’ve completely emptied out and are showing up with everything they have!”

“The Xu foundations certainly run deep, as expected of one of the three great aristocracies. The old duke is still alive and quietly ascended above Nova! I wonder if there will be open war between the Xus and Silver Moon next…”

Strands of conversation petered out as the observers left. This was no place to linger. Although the Steadfast Duke was dead, the Xus still stood. They might be the first ones to display their hidden battle strength on the open stage. Otherwise, the eastern region would fall into chaos that would slowly engulf the rest of the continents! The death of the Steadfast Duke encompassed many things. It was generally understood that an even greater storm was brewing in the world.

……

BAM!

Immense waves crashed upon the shore and obliterated the previous battle site. The East Sea Bridge fully collapsed.

Tremendously powerful presences appeared on the scene not long after all the combatants left. They observed the surroundings, sensed the vicinity, and left just as quickly. Those above Nova had officially emerged in this world. It looked like the rest of them needed to focus on stabilizing their condition and prepare for the next breakthrough.

etvolare’s Thoughts

That’s definitely a glorious RIP. And a literal RIP.