Star Gate

“Haven’t you encountered one already?” Yuan Shuo smiled. “You’ve unearthed an ancient plant spirit—can it be the only one that still exists in this vast world? However, you need to keep in mind that the world has changed in the river of time. It is a different age. Be careful of releasing the tiger from the cage. There are good and bad people in any era!”

The old man didn’t go into details; he just continued to issue reminders. “Whether it is Battle Heaven or the plant spirit that you found, you can converse with them and partner with them, but you cannot lose your sense of self! You are Li Hao! As for the identity of the eight families… discard that!

“The responsibilities, glories, and everything about the eight families has nothing to do with you!”

Li Hao continuously took in deep breaths before nodding. “Understood!”

Yuan Shuo grinned. It was good that he did! He needed to live his own life! He didn’t wish for his disciple to constantly live under someone else’s shadow. Would he still be Li Hao in the end?

Whether weak or strong, it was always better to be oneself.

……

Master and disciple didn’t talk much after Yuan Shuo imparted the newly revised Breathing Method of the Five Styles. They returned to absorbing sword energy.

Yuan Shuo wasn’t of a mind to overly interfere with his disciple or correct his notions. This was his teaching style. He would go over the concepts a few times and if the student understood, that was good. If not, then forget it. He would not expect his student to be the same as him.

It took Li Hao five whole days to craft five simple bridges. He felt something different the moment he succeeded. The five bridges formed a circulatory loop. He should be able to strengthen the five organs in an easier fashion from now on.

There was one more task for him to do after this—root the auras in his organs. In this way, he would have completed the rudimentary training of Summoner of Spirit. Only then could he refine his five auras.

These five days might have been the longest span of cultivation he’d ever undergone. He’d completely forgotten everything about the outside world. Yuan Shuo also tirelessly absorbed sword energy. He needed to take advantage of his disciple being nearby to fortify himself. It would be such a shame if he didn’t enjoy this feast!

Master, disciple, and a dog consumed a lot of resources. And with Hong Yitang and Light Sword present a few days ago, the group depleted nearly fifty thousand pieces of mysterious power stones in a very short period of time. This level of consumption would bankrupt a moderate-sized faction and force them to close down.

But as high the level of depletion was, so was the amount of gains. On the sixth day, Li Hao sought to incorporate the wood sword aura into the five organs. It corresponded to the liver. According to his teacher’s tutelage. Summoner of Spirit was to nurture the auras and not just lock them away.

As instructed, the young man carefully inserted the aura into the liver’s supernatural lock. The lock that’d wrapped around the willow tree unleashed a strong recoil when the tree roots slowly sank in. It felt like it didn’t permit the aura to take root in it.

Multiple attempts ended in failure. Li Hao opened his eyes, frowning deeply. He’d thought it would be easy, but it turned out to be… very hard. After some thought, he came to a ruthless decision. Why not shatter some of the supernatural locks first, such as the one of his heart? The other four organs couldn’t undergo the same, but that was fine.

Supernatural locks couldn’t be touched under ordinary circumstances, but Li Hao could disturb his, and in a very simple fashion. He would combine the five auras under the overview of the sword aura, dig a hole out of the lock, then shove the tree’s roots in. That would do it!

Having made up his mind, Li Hao immediately funneled his five auras into the sword aura and erupted with force, stabbing at the lock that was wrapped around the little tree!

Clang!

A metallic collision sounded on the mental level. Yuan Shuo’s eyes snapped open and he stared askance at his disciple. What was the kid doing? Destroying his supernatural locks? He opened his mouth to speak, then decided to shut it.

Whatever, it’s not like he’ll die from this. Sword energy is his greatest protection.

The kid was using brute force again, wasn’t he? Yuan Shuo kept up a litany of internal exhortations. He wasn’t thinking of forcefully destroying the supernatural locks to incorporate the auras, was he? Yuan Shuo had told the kid to nurture the auras, but this wasn’t how it was done.

The locks needed to be coaxed into accepting the aura, much like one would coax a wife. If one day wasn’t sufficient, then two, if not two, then three…

So long as sufficient time and effort was spent, occasionally feeding the lock some sword energy or blood qi intermixed with the aura, success would be at hand sooner or later. Li Hao had absolutely no patience at all!

Yuan Shuo was quite irked. The kid was sometimes like a bull in a china shop! Granted, he had his confidence in doing so, so there was nothing that could be criticized about his course of action. It hadn’t been hard for Yuan Shuo to incorporate his auras into his locks, but he’d taken a little more than a month to do so. He’d rooted one aura at a time, each one needing around a month.

As for Li Hao…

The young man opened his eyes after roughly half an hour and spat out a mouthful of dark blood. “Teacher, I’ve completed one aura!” he chuckled. “My wood sword aura has been implanted into the supernatural lock. I’ve officially set foot into Summoner of Spirit now, haven’t I?”

“……” Yuan Shuo couldn’t stop rolling his eyes!

“Teacher, the supernatural lock doesn’t seem to be feeding strength to my aura.” Li Hao raised an eyebrow.

“Is it supposed to be nurturing your aura after you forcefully shoved it in?” Yuan Shuo asked with a headache. “It’s good enough that it doesn’t shatter your aura in protest! You’ll have to wait for your aura and lock to slowly become one. Once lock and aura are a complete whole, there will be feedback then.”

His disciple was beginning to irritate him. As much as he lectured or berated the kid, Li Hao had completed rooting one of his auras in half an hour. How was that not annoying??

Yuan Shuo decided to put this vexing matter out of sight and blocked off his ears to continue absorbing sword energy. Meanwhile, Li Hao continued his violent cultivation.

This manner of cultivation could save him at least a month’s worth of time. However he could expedite his advancement was all for the best. As for other people… they would have to proceed methodically as they lacked sword energy.

The young man attacked his supernatural locks one after another. If you don’t let an aura take root in you, I’ll beat it into you! After multiple attempts, each of his locks was beaten into quiet submission and permitted his auras to take up residence in them. However, the five locks were still independent of each other. If there came a day in which they were one, then he would be a Refiner of Spirit.

However, Li Hao wanted more. When he was finished with his supernatural locks of the organs, he asked, “Teacher, I have another question. If I comprehend more sword auras, do you think I can root them in the locks of my limbs, spine, and zifu?” [1]

“Your spine and zifu?” Yuan Shuo raised a brow.

“Yes, one is a supernatural lock of the body and the other a supernatural lock of the bones. Have you not discovered them, teacher?”

“You absorb sword energy from day to night and take in too much energy to digest!” Yuan Shuo couldn’t restrain himself and cursed loudly. “It’s all gone to your supernatural locks, so of course they’ve manifested! For the rest of us, we don’t have enough for the organs and limbs, so how do we have additional energy to explore other locks…

“There shouldn’t be much of a problem with what you’re proposing,” he ultimately returned to the question. “The five organs are a minor circulatory loop while the human body is a major circulatory loop! They’re all the same, just on a different scale. Are you planning to go with quality over quantity?”

“The five auras won’t fully meld together that quickly even with instruction from you, teacher.” Li Hao nodded. “Who knows how much time it will take? If I can comprehend more auras through certain cultivation methods, it’ll be easier to strengthen them and have the overview of the sword aura lead them together. This is another possibility.”

“It’s a good idea!” Yuan Shuo nodded.

“Martial Uncle Hong told me about it.

“Shut up!” Yuan Shuo snapped back weakly. He’d just complimented the lad, but it turned out that the idea came from Hong Yitang. “It’s a good idea, but… is your sword overview strong enough? Can it lead everything? Your ancestor’s stroke is mighty, but you were too weak when you comprehended it. Perhaps you should return to Silver City and observe that stroke one more time!”

Li Hao nodded with surprise, then quickly frowned. “I may not be able to see it again, teacher. Seeing it requires activated bloodline power—only blood pearls were able to manage it before, and ones stronger than me. At my current level of strength, even peak Nova blood pearls may be ineffective. I’ll require metamorphosis level at least…”

“Then go to Red Moon!” Yuan Shuo said matter-of-factly. “Red Moon will have them.”

Alright then. Li Hao laughed. Perhaps it was time to settle old debts with Red Moon powerhouses. His teacher was right, perhaps he needed to go back and observe that stroke one more time. He’d been very weak when he saw it the first time. What he saw then might not have been the full picture.

Now with five auras rooted in his locks, Li Hao began pulling from mysterious power stones to strengthen his organs, body, and bones. His next task was to continue saturating his locks. He was going to paint a picture with two brushes at the same time!

There was no rule that said he couldn’t fill his locks while he nurtured his auras. Those with sufficient wealth could afford to splash it around. He had so many mysterious power stones that he could do whatever he want.

Yuan Shuo rose on the eighth day, interrupting Li Hao’s cultivation. The young man opened his eyes and glanced at the old man. His teacher seemed ready to leave. Sometimes, he didn’t quite understand his teacher. Staying with him at present and cultivating with sword energy might result in greater benefits for the old man.

When you head out to dig up old graves or kill people, aren’t you doing so for the sake of what the sword energy does for you?

Yuan Shuo heaved a long sigh, his mental state greatly restored.

“The effects have been good!” He glanced at Li Hao with a smile. “But I’ve been here long enough, I’m going to have fun with some old friends. Take it easy if you head to the central region. Other people are improving while you’re improving. There will be plenty with their eyes on you since you’ve got your family’s sword and the Windchaser Boots. They won’t give up so long as you don’t set foot into the sixth realm.”

Li Hao nodded, slightly saddened.

“Then I’ll be off now,” Yuan Shuo chuckled, not the least bit perturbed. “Travel the world a bit more kid, see more of it. And don’t always keep the dog by your side. It’s a lazy glutton and is too big of a target!”

Panther whined a complaint. The old man was awful!

1. The zifu is a Taoist term that refers to a portion of the mind. ☜

etvolare’s Thoughts

Presenting Li Hao, le brute force cultivator...