Star Gate

What do I do now?

On the other hand, Yuan Shuo was mostly recovered from his injuries and shook his head at his student. “You subconsciously absorbed energy in your sleep and took in too much! It solidified and it’s too difficult for you to digest by yourself.”

Li Hao frowned and looked at his teacher—surely his teacher knew of a way! Yuan Shuo was all-knowing in his eyes. Though that might be an overly high evaluation, it had proven to be true up till now. There was nothing his teacher didn’t know and no question he couldn’t answer.

“I don’t know if you’ll see greater trouble to come,” Yuan Shuo continued. “However, you’re the only heir to the eight families of Silver City. Not only did Red Moon fail their mission, but they also lost one of their Solar powerhouses. This isn’t the last we’ve seen of them.

“Of course, they won’t brashly make their next attempt. I’m here, after all, and they’re yet to fully determine my situation. With me killing their Solar, they’ll send more next time. In the same vein, the Night Watchers are still a faction to contend with and I’m technically their collaborative professor. That means they won’t try again in the short term.”

Yuan Shuo laid this out because he wanted his student to understand that the issue had not been resolved. It was also a type of placation because the matter wasn’t that severe. Li Hao was in no imminent danger. As weak as the Night Watchers were, Red Moon wouldn’t easily stir to action if the agency brought forth a tenacious defense. It would require the organization’s full strength to move against the government agency—Red Moon lacked that kind of conviction.

“Your current problem is easy to handle.”

Li Hao brightened. He knew his teacher had a way!

“There’s two ways!” Yuan Shuo held up two fingers with a smile. “The first, cut into yourself for bloodletting!”

Li Hao smiled awkwardly. Erm… well, of course. That was an option if they were out of ideas. But slicing into himself to let blood flow… honestly, that sounded painful.

“The second, dual cultivation.”

“Huh?” The young man wasn’t completely oblivious about life. He asked in a strange tone, “Are we going to get a woman somewhere?”

“Get outta here!” Yuan Shuo barked. “You’ve gone straight to the gutter just because dual cultivation is mentioned! What are you thinking of women for at your young age? Dual cultivation is just a way of cultivation, don’t think of it as more than it is! I meant dual cultivating with me…”

Li Hao’s jaw dropped.

“What, you don’t want to?” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “Is it so bad to let your teacher pick at the spoils? You absorbed too much to digest. Ordinary people can’t do a thing for you, but the two of us stem from the same discipline. Your foundation is the Breathing Method of the Five Styles—as is mine. At my level of strength, I can deplete a good portion of the energy from you if we dual cultivate. Of course, it’ll be much more of a loss to you as I’ll be taking more than half of the energy you managed to absorb!

“There’s yet another way…” the professor continued leisurely. “Third, wait it out! You can wear away at it bit by bit and absorb it grain by grain. With your condition, I estimate that you’ll fully digest it in a year or two. You might be a peak Sunderer or even Dominator when you’re finished. Ah, it’s not likely you’ll be a Dominator as that level focuses on the consciousness, but this energy will at least guarantee peak Sunderer!”

If Li Hao was willing to wait, he should be able to fully assimilate the energy after two years. Reaching peak Sunderer over such a span of time would make him the envy of countless martial masters. It was truly a short period of time.

However, the professor mentioned this method last because he knew the lad did not enjoy the luxury of prolonged tranquility. The energy had solidified his meridians and blood. If he managed to live through that, he would have to spend the next two years in bed as an invalid.

“I can take most of the energy if we dual cultivate right now. You’ll be left with only a small amount to absorb. While that will still enhance your strength to peak Slayer, it’ll be difficult for you to reach Sunderer!” Yuan Shuo looked merrily at the young man. “What do you think?

“Ah, I forgot to say that bloodletting will also shake the energy loose. You’ll absorb a portion of it that way too—perhaps more than you would dual cultivating with me. It might also propel you to Sunderer!”

Of the three ways, Li Hao would gain the least from dual cultivation because Yuan Shuo was too strong! If the professor was involved, he would claim most of the power.

Li Hao thought about it briefly. “Teacher, can I choose a fourth way?”

“Huh?”

What fourth way?

A baffled Yuan Shuo looked at his student. Do you have more tricks up your sleeve than me, kid?

“I remember you once mentioned a senior sister in White Moon City,” Li Hao said sheepishly. “Does she know the Breathing Method of the Five Styles too? How about…”

“Piss off!” Yuan Shuo was speechless. You’re still thinking about that?? Besides, how would we get to your senior sister at this stage? Do you know how many pairs of eyes are on us? We need to keep a low profile to rest and recover. What’s this talk of your senior sister…

He stroked a nonexistent beard. “Don’t even think about your senior sister! She’s also in her thirties, which makes her an old hag compared to you. You should be pickier in your hunger!”

Li Hao had absolutely no words to say. “Dual cultivation…” he laughed. “Can we drop this term? I really can’t stand it. If you change the name, teacher, I’ll pick this one!”

“Are you decided?”

“Yes!” chuckled the young man. “Teacher being strong is the basis for my survival! If not for teacher last night, I’d already be a lump of charcoal!”

He hadn’t needed to consider anything, it was just the name of dual cultivation that made this option unpalatable. Of course he would share the energy with his teacher. This benefitted both of them and made for a win-win situation.

What good would it do if he reached peak Sunderer? The enemy blew everything up with their first move! They sent a Solar to pick him off—that was two levels higher than Sunderer. What hope was there for Li Hao without his teacher’s protection?

“I knew you weren’t stupid!” Yuan Shuo grinned. “I gave you three ways, but there’s only one. You have to dual cultivate even if you don’t want to because I’m starving! My internal force is grinding to a halt and I would’ve sucked you dry in your sleep if you weren’t my student!”

Li Hao laughed wryly. “Teacher, we’re on the side of justice. Why do you sound like we’re the villains instead?”

“Drop that justice bullshit!” Yuan Shuo sniffed dismissively. “When martial masters swept the land twenty years ago, we ruled the four corners with iron fists and killed untold numbers! Everyone called me Old Demon Yuan! Those who lacked manners called me Monkey Yuan—that was appropriate since I focus on the Five Styles and am very fast!”

In any case, none of his monikers had sounded good. Something like the Three Spears of Silver Moon had nothing to do with him. He was the old demon. It was only after the rise of the supernatural that he reined himself in.

“Cut the crap and start dual cultivating. You’ve been out for a day. Everything’s fine at Silver City—the Night Watchers have found their footing and Red Moon won’t dare send anyone for now. We need to get back as soon as possible!”

“Do we have to right now?” Li Hao wasn’t really in a hurry…

Yuan Shuo cut him off with exasperation. “Are you a fool?! How many did we kill yesterday? One Solar, one Sunflare, ten supernaturals, and some martial masters. How much treasure is there and how much mysterious power? We need to hurry up and collect the loot before heavyweights arrive from the Night Watcher side.

“Once their Solars come, do you think I’ll be able to go against them for the sake of some war booty? They also sent a Sunflare last night and need to keep taking the fall for us in the future. Do you think offending our protectors is something we should easily do?”

“No!” Li Hao shook his head.

“There you have it!” Yuan Shuo grinned. “There’s only Huang Yun here right now and he’s afraid of me. He won’t dare contest my claim, so all of it is mine once I go back. Otherwise… the Night Watchers will definitely want a cut if they have a Solar on the scene. We’re not going to leave even shavings for them! If the two of us have no use for something, your captain and Big Boobies might, no?”

Are you… talking about Liu Yan?? Li Hao found himself speechless once more. His teacher had effort to spare for that? How… unbefitting behavior! How come he’d never seen this side of his teacher before? Had it all been an act?

Well, that was very possible!

His teacher couldn’t beat his enemies in the past, so had no other choice but to enjoy old age with a low profile. Now that he’d grown stronger and killed a Solar, his inner strut came back out!

“Hurry up, stop dragging your feet!” Yuan Shuo tossed the jade sword back to his student. “There’s so much less energy in it compared to before—it looks to be a finite resource. What a pity… I wonder if it can recover? It’s so useful that it’ll be a huge loss if this is it!”

He felt quite regretful as the difference in energy levels had been stark when he pulled from it. Current levels of power were very feeble and would last a bit longer for Li Hao, but a Dominator like him would swiftly empty it, so Yuan Shuo halted his draw.

“Teacher, I unsealed my sword earlier…”

“Nope!” Yuan Shuo interrupted. “You just temporarily ripped a small hole in the seal. That little bit of heart blood isn’t enough for anything! Your sword is much more than you can imagine, so let’s take it one step at a time. The effects aren’t noticeable because you’ve only unsealed a tiny bit. We can study it later!”

He grabbed Li Hao and placed his palms and feet against his student, then decided to take the young man’s shoes off after some thought.

Li Hao jumped when he saw that his teacher wanted to take his own clothes off. “Teacher, we just need to turn our five senses to the heavens and bare our hands and feet. What are you taking your clothes off for?”

“My clothes are wet, they’re uncomfortable!”

“Don’t!” the young man grew frantic. “Teacher, we should observe the rules of propriety!”

“You little bastard!” Yuan Shuo cussed. Do you think I like looking at you? Hah!

He couldn’t be bothered with further words and yanked Li Hao’s shoes off. Placing their hands and feet together, he rattled off, “We need to coordinate our usage of the breathing method. Follow my lead as I call upon my power and crash my internal force against you! Don’t resist, but it’s not like you’ll be able to do anything. No one will come to save you!”

Li Hao said nothing—you sound more and more evil, teacher! I’ll just do as I’m told and not listen to anything more.

Teacher and disciple fell silent.