Star Gate

Chapter 178: The Sweet Thrills of Fighting (IV)

“How about we stop here for today?” Liu Long panted a few times. He needed to rest! There was something very, seriously, absolutely wrong with Li Hao. Seven hours straight of battle for a normal Sunderer would incapacitate them to the point of being unable to fart, much less bring internal force to bear!

But Li Hao? It felt like he could still fight!

Li Hao nodded with a parched mouth. “Alright... let’s continue tomorrow... Chief, do you... need to recover from your injuries? Will you be back to full heath tomorrow?”

“That’s not an issue!”

“That’s good...” Li Hao heaved for breath and stuck his thumb up. “Chief, you’re... amazing!”

Liu Long smiled faintly, his smile rather rueful. That’s it? Just amazing? I’m crazy to agree to fight you everyday!

“I’ll come by earlier tomorrow morning, chief. Let’s say 6am. We can fight for the entire day, today wasn’t enough...” With that, Li Hao turned and walked outside.

When Yun Yao saw Liu Yan standing outside the door after Li Hao opened it, she remarked faintly, “Are you happy to be not wearing much and having that shameless woman take advantage of you?”

By the door, Liu Yan crossed her arms and assessed the young man coming toward her. “He’s not bad, just bleeding. Otherwise, it should be nice to feel him up considering how fair and tender he looks!” She smiled craftily.

Li Hao looked wordlessly at the woman. He didn’t feel the slightest bit shy—look if you will, I still have boxers on! He turned around to put on a new outfit.

Liu Yan watched silently from the door before returning to a serious expression. She considered Liu Long. “Chief, if you’re done sparring with him, spar with me next!”

“......”

Go to hell! Scowling blackly, Liu Long stomped off to change clothes. Spar your ass!

Plainly, Liu Yan was prompted to action by the scene. Anyone could tell from Liu Long’s condition that Li Hao was far stronger than they estimated. She said nothing as she walked in to assess the basement’s status. Many places were shattered or dented. Liu Yan’s heart quailed as she made a quick evaluation.

So strong!

She glanced at Yun Yao and walked over, keeping her voice down. “What level is he?”

“Perfection!” Yun Yao flicked a sideways glance at her before returning to her room, leaving behind a stunned Liu Yan.

Perfection! Peak Sunderer! She’d thought that Li Hao wouldn’t improve so quickly after setting foot into Sunderer, but he was now a peak Sunderer!

Abrupt dejection assailed her, as well as envy and jealousy. She barreled into Yun Yao’s room and grit her teeth. “You and I will fight tonight! I’m a peak initial Sunderer and you’re a Crescent Darkmoon. We’re evenly matched. Do you want to improve yourself?

“Absorbing mysterious power through normal ways is too slow,” Liu Yan talked over whatever Yun Yao wanted to say. “Only when we beat each other half to death can we absorb it quickly! I haven’t been able to stand the sight of you for a very long time now, so I think I can land painful blows if I go against you!”

“Same!” Yun Yao wanted to refuse, yet found herself agreeing after thinking back to the events of the day. She snorted softly, “I’ll kick your ass!”

Liu Yan thrust her chest out with a sniff. “I think I might actually beat some growth into you instead! Let’s do it!”

Flashes and shadows from weapons flickered in the tiny room.

......

Li Hao ran off as soon as he finished changing. He was starving and felt like he could eat a cow!

No, wait, the cow could be saved for another day. He needed to go back and eat the five elements. Absorbing another one hundred cubes seemed completely doable tonight! He would eat himself silly and report to the Inspectorate tomorrow morning for another day of fighting with the chief.

Damn, this was nice! Li Hao quite loved the sensation of every punch connecting with solid flesh—it was such a thrilling way to fight! So this was what fighting was like; this was so much better than pulling a dirty trick on someone!

Not only that, but Li Hao felt that it might only take a few days to fully consolidate his internal force if the situation continued like this. It would take a few months under normal circumstances; no one could be like him and remain in peak condition after fighting for seven hours straight. His sparring partner had matched his every move within the seven hours. This was an opponent that regular people would find it impossible to find!

......

At this moment.

A suddenly worried Liu Long sneezed in the law enforcement building. Were they really going to fight until they set out for the ruins? What if he couldn’t hold up?

Dominators were only human in the end...

......

Time passed through days of endless sparring. Li Hao’s typical schedule was fighting, absorbing sword energy, digesting the five elements, sleep, and more fighting...

It was a continuous cycle and he loved it. However, Liu Long was just as unhappy as the young man was delighted. This was exhausting!

He couldn’t erupt with full force in case he accidentally killed Li Hao. He couldn’t be too careless lest the young man counterattacked in a moment of his carelessness and inflicted a myriad of wounds.

At the same time, happiness tinged Liu Long’s struggle. He could clearly see Li Hao’s level of strength and rejoiced that it was increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. The young man was growing stronger by the day and making noticeable progress toward consolidating his internal force.

All Silver City Night Watchers immersed themselves in the joy of cultivating.

Liu Yan and Yun Yao sparred for half a day starting at night. They beat each other black and blue until their faces were swollen and refused to see anyone the second day. After spending daylight hours resting in their rooms, they continued to fight the next evening.

Once Wu Chao and Chen Jian learned that the captain sparred daily with Li Hao, and Liu Yan with Yun Yao, they faced off against each other as well. They’d both just ascended to Sunderer and were evenly matched.

And so, the law enforcement building became quite lively internally. It was very closed off to outsiders; there was no movement from it other than a bit of disturbance on the agency’s day of formation. The Night Watchers didn’t even leave their office building.

It was a very nonsensical sight to those who were paying attention to this new government agency. Were Liu Long and the others not working? Apart from Li Hao clocking in and out as usual, only the White Moon transfers were occasionally seen out and about. Those Night Watchers sometimes showed themselves in strict calls of leisure. Indeed, Li Meng was once followed out to a shopping trip.

She really was shopping!

Their watchers were extremely frustrated. What was with this group of people??

......

The law enforcement building.

Wang Ming had a lot of time on his hands these days. There was nothing in particular he needed to do and no one scrutinized his movements. Liu Long was busy practice sparring with Li Hao and didn’t have energy to care about anyone else when he was done.

He was wandering around the first floor lobby when his eyes lit up at seeing someone come in. “Li Hao!” He quickly walked up to welcome his colleague.

“Ole Wang!” Li Hao was in fine spirits and beamed widely. He’d just ridden over from home. “Do you need me for something?” He was in a hurry to go to the basement.

His internal force felt ever more taking shape as a sword these days. He seemed on the brink of success and might finish consolidating his internal force any day now. When internal force combined with aura, he would be a true peak Sunderer!

Wang Ming wasn’t in a hurry to explain his purpose. He sized up the other first. “Director Liu looks like he’s putting his life on the line and has crazy dark circles everyday from lack of sleep. How come you’re alright?

“Li Hao, seeing as you’ve just become a Sunderer, you shouldn’t be gaining much from your practice sessions with Director Liu, right?” He could understand it if his colleague fought anyone else, but he didn’t understand Li Hao practicing with Liu Long. To be honest, he wouldn’t gain much himself if he sparred with Sunflares, so what was the meaning behind Li Hao’s actions?

It was ever more mystifying considering that Liu Long was perfectly willing to keep the young man company.

“It’s alright!” Li Hao was surprised to see Wang Ming follow him upstairs. “What are you coming upstairs with me for? Do you need something? You can also spar with Hu Hao and Li Meng...”

“What would I spar with them for?” Wang Ming shook his head. “Hu Hao is a flight supernatural and Li Meng possesses the eye of reality. I focus on the offensive. No one’s of the same system, so we can’t practice with each other. It’s different compared to martial masters.”

He wasn’t being lazy, but that there truly wasn’t a point to sparring with his White Moon fellows. If he fought Hu Hao, what was he supposed to do if Hu Hao flew into the sky? Just look up at the man from the ground? Fire off a sword from the ground and try to shoot Hu Hao down?

What a joke.

“At our current level, we supernaturals focus on absorbing mysterious power. It’s alright—I’ve still made progress recently. We were allotted a lot of mysterious power before. I think I’ll be a Plenilune after absorbing it all.”

He was currently a Fullmoon. Supernaturals did not need coordination from the aura when they progressed from Fullmoon to Plenilune, nor did they need to understand the aura. Even Sunflares didn’t really command an aura.

The two cultivation systems were different. Rising to Sunflare wouldn’t be so much easier otherwise.

Li Hao had some knowledge of the supernatural system, but he wasn’t too familiar with it.

“Then I congratulate you in advance!” He smiled.

“Don’t congratulate me so quickly!” Wang Ming quickly said. “Remember when you said that we would absorb mysterious power at a faster rate with the aid of a blood pearl? Did you mean it?”

“What, you don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that...” Wang Ming explained. “The Night Watchers don’t have many blood pearls left. If it really works, then I can pay the hefty price and obtain some for a try. But if they’re ineffective, won’t I be wasting them? I’ve asked around and learned that the Night Watchers only have one Sunflare and three Darkmoon pearls left. That’s it!”

Only four blood pearls! There’d been nine to begin with, but half of them had been awarded to Silver City.

Li Hao was a bit startled by the situation, but quickly understood. So Director Hou hadn’t killed Red Moon members for a while.

“You’ve got some ability alright, to learn even that.”

“That’s normal!” Wang Ming chuckled. “I’m a genius, after all. I’m recorded in the White Moon register. Upstairs won’t keep it from me if I ask how many blood pearls are left and how I can trade for one. It’s not like they’re origin weapons to be kept a secret from me.”