Star Gate

Chapter 146: Setting Out (I)

“Come in!”

Qiao Peng pushed through the door. “Father.”

Qiao Feilong turned around with a calm expression. “What is it?”

“Father, the Night Watcher branch is being formally established tonight and Director Hao Lianchuan is overseeing the proceedings. Although we have not been invited, Uncle Chen and the others have been issued invitations...”

“Mmhmm.”

Uncle Chen was the driver that had been protecting Qiao Peng recently. He was the powerhouse that the corporation halfheartedly concealed and pushed to the forefront as the strongest among them. As a Plenilune, he matched Liu Long. It was a sign of Qiao Mining Industries’ status and strength.

He was exposed now only because Qiao Feilong wished to avoid certain oblivious people targeting Qiao Mining in their schemes. It was so inconvenient when they did so. Now with such a heavyweight among their ranks, their enemies had to consider if they could take action or not. Would Liu Long have dared to sneak into Qiao Feilong’s room in the middle of the night if the Plenilune had been public knowledge beforehand?

It was due to this and out of a desire to prevent further irritations from happening that this powerhouse was out in the open. Or rather, what they revealed to those higher up was that this powerhouse was here at Qiao Feilong’s request and came with a hefty price tag.

Qiao Mining offered him one hundred cubes of mysterious power a year, the equivalent of one hundred million star coins. A branch director such as Liu Long received only three cubes a month—thirty-six a year. Such was the package offered by the government’s only major supernatural organization.

Patently, it was much better to work for the Qiaos.

“Father,” Qiao Peng interrupted when he saw his father sink into deep thought. “Can I go to the ceremony tonight?”

“You?” Qiao Feilong frowned. “What for?”

His son wasn’t a supernatural and hadn’t been invited. Wasn’t he just creating trouble for himself by turning up?

“I want to take advantage of this opportunity to talk to Liu Yan and resolve our old scores. Also... I want to converse with Li Hao more!” Qiao Peng said grumpily. “I might already have Li Hao’s heart blood if it wasn\'t for Liu Long throwing a wrench into the works yesterday.”

Qiao Peng still hadn’t recovered from yesterday’s failure. They’d been so close!

Qiao Feilong furrowed his brows before quickly shaking his head. “There’s no need! I have made arrangements for Li Hao.”

He didn’t want to drag things out. Although the Qiao ruins were yet to be fully excavated, once the Night Watchers finished with theirs, so was peace in Silver City at an end. He didn’t have much time to waste.

Qiao Feilong needed to handle Li Hao before this and attempt to access the ruins. What a pity that the sword of the Lis had been turned over to the Night Watchers! He didn’t know if it was the weapon they needed or the bloodline. It was because of that that they waffled on the proper course of action.

“Father, the arrangements you speak of are to...?”

“Fake an assault!” Qiao Feilong said coldly. “Pretend to be Red Moon and ambush him. We can’t hope to kill him, but we can take a portion of his blood, and preferably heart blood!”

That was all they could do.

Qiao Peng nodded, he held no dissenting opinion. Of course, it didn’t matter if he did. “Do we wait until Hao Lianchuan leaves?”

“Yes.” Qiao Feilong nodded. If he had any other option, he’d wait until Yuan Shuo left. But Yuan Shuo would very likely bring Li Hao with him to the other ruins. The Night Watchers wouldn’t permit the young man to stay alone within Silver City because they knew that Red Moon had their eye on him.

The only advantage the Qiaos held was being under cover. No one knew about their strength or situation. Even if an investigation was launched after the attack, it would only be traced to Red Moon. That might buy him more time to fully excavate the ruins.

He was still loath to leave like this!

After father and son conversed for a bit, Qiao Peng looked around with uncertainty.

“Speak!” Qiao Feilong frowned again.

“Father, we may be withdrawing from Silver City soon. When... when can I enter that area and make the cross over?” He couldn’t help himself in the end. He wanted to grow stronger, particularly after yesterday! Liu Long had outright ignored and looked down on him. He spoke to only Uncle Chen—that scorn and disregard was too much to bear.

It was the same from Li Hao! This was all due to Qiao Peng being a mundane. Hence, even Li Hao treated him with contempt because the former was a Slayer.

Qiao Peng couldn’t bear it anymore! He wanted to be supernatural. They were leaving soon anyway, according to his father!

“Father, if I leave still as a mundane, I will delay the withdrawal. I can at least ensure that I won’t hold us back if I’m a supernatural then.”

Qiao Feilong’s brows knitted together. This wasn’t the best timing. Of course, he wasn’t planning on keeping Qiao Peng down forever since he only had one son. He’d prevented his son from crossing over due to the need for concealment and for other reasons. But from the anxiety and resentment shining from the depths of Qiao Peng’s eyes, he understood that his son was angry after being suppressed for so long.

“Peng’er, it’s easy to become supernatural!” Qiao Feilong sighed. “I would’ve let you cross over if this was ten years ago! But as time went on and my own strength grew stronger, I discovered more that I didn’t know before.”

He looked strangely at Qiao Peng. “They all say that opening the supernatural locks is the permit toward the mysterious! But my findings these years tell me that opening them ahead of time exhausts the potential and consumes vitality.

“Martial masters reach their limit at Dominator of Thousands. There is no way forward, so the martial master path is not the correct one. However, the supernatural isn’t necessarily safe or holds more promise than martial masters either.”

Qiao Feilong lowered his voice. “I think some of the more powerful supernaturals might have realized the issues themselves through exploring ruins and perusing ancient texts. Just wait a little longer until we excavate the ruins more. I promise that you’ll be a powerhouse in this new world order!”

Qiao Peng’s thoughts took an aggrieved cast at his father’s ambiguity. He was none too happy. What had his father discovered? Not safe? The supernatural dominated the world and the more powerful ones could fly through sky and earth. They were like gods! Could anything be more unsafe than being a mundane?

“Father, no matter what path I walk, I’ve made no progress in either martial dao or the supernatural over these years. I can’t just keep waiting to be a powerhouse, can I?”

So the supernatural wasn’t safe, what about martial dao? But his father didn’t even give him mysterious power to absorb, so he naturally didn’t make much progress as a martial master. He wasn’t even a Slayer, just a mundane who knew how to fight.

“Would I do anything to harm you?” Qiao Feilong said impatiently. “One cannot absorb too much mysterious power at this stage. Absorbing too much damages your own potential! Plus, I’ve discovered a more unique and stronger energy in the ruins!”

The Qiao patriarch’s eyes gleamed and he finally showed some excitement. “That energy is different from other mysterious power and internal force! It can nurture your physical body and strengthen your supernatural locks! While it appears that you haven’t gained much strength, it’s a match made in heaven when combined with mysterious power! If we obtain more of that kind of energy, you’ll quickly make it to Sunderer or even Dominator! Once you use a stronger body to break through your supernatural locks, you’ll vault to Sunflare or even Solar!”

Qiao Peng’s eyes widened. Crossing over as a Sunflare or Solar? How was that possible?? It’d taken his father more than ten years to reach his state, even with all these years of excavations. His father was spinning a farfetched tale!

“Ah... father, do you mean this?”

“Of course!” Qiao Feilong frowned. “It’s not just you, but also me. I will be able to rectify some of the old injuries that I suffered in my early years. This energy will also supplement the potential that was consumed. I’ve found that it’s hard to keep improving after becoming a Solar due to the potential that I exhausted earlier. It may be gone, but that thing will help us get it back.”

He flushed with agitation. If he could lay hands on the energy, he would very likely fix everything and take another step forward. He might be able to proceed beyond Solar and become a true powerhouse, one that could stand on equal footing with the leaders of the three great organizations.

Likewise moved, Qiao Peng no longer insisted that he wanted to immediately become supernatural. His father wouldn’t be lying to him at this stage, unless he wasn’t his father’s son.

......

Qiao Feilong sent away a buoyant Qiao Peng after a while. The former’s smile slowly dropped off his face with a sigh. “Tell me, do you think we’ve been exploring the real ruins over these years or just their outskirts?”

“What makes you say that?” came a low human voice in the spacious office.

“The more we explore the area we discovered... the more I think... I sense... that it’s fringe territory and not the core! The core area is very likely to be behind that door. What else do you think is behind it?”

“The door?” came the wispy voice again. It spoke hesitantly this time. “Perhaps there’s nothing beyond the door...”

“Impossible! The energy is seeping out from it!” Qiao Feilong frowned. “There’s just very little. And remember the grooves that we saw in the door! Do you think the weapons of the eight families need to be embedded within to open it? And that’s when we’ll enter the true ruins of the eight families!”

The more he spoke, the more certain he was. It was just... he had no options. Seven of the eight families were dead, only Li Hao was alive. His sword was with the Night Watchers, so there was nothing Qiao Feilong could do despite knowing what he needed.

This was a key reason why he wavered and debated whether it was better to leave earlier rather than later.

“I’d like to seal off the ruins first and seek out Red Moon when I’m strong enough, seize the weapons they’ve taken, then get the sword from the Night Watchers...” Such were his most recent plans.

“You make the call!” came the voice in the shadows.

“You’re still like this after all these years,” Qiao Feilong laughed. “Alright then, I’ll make the decision! What a pity that we couldn’t obtain enough power... I think it might be able to reform your body.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” chuckled the voice. “Boss, I am who I am today because I do not have the restraints of external concerns. Every sip and every bite is preordained. Who says it’s a bad thing to not have a body?”