Star Gate

Chapter 256: The Terrifying Sight of One’s Back (I)

“......” A ringing silence greeted her words. Hong Yitang felt so awkward that he wished for the ground to swallow him whole.

He’d never spoken of this to outsiders as it was a difficult subject to raise. The supernatural world didn’t care about these relationship particulars, but in the martial world, some veteran martial masters would ridicule him for marrying his eldest disciple! It was a flagrant violation of martial world rules!

Granted, it was fine now that he was no longer a martial master, but he would still be condemned and disdained by countless martial masters for his past actions. Hong Yitang coughed dryly to mask how uncomfortable he was.

“Eh, ah, everyone... I humbly request that you keep this a secret for me...”

Hao Lianchuan and others from the Night Watchers chuckled, whereas Violet Moon and other supernaturals smirked. All the same, one faction possessing two Solars made it formidable indeed! So while knowing looks and smug looks flew through the crowd, no one said anything. Instead, shoulders relaxed with relief. They’d exposed two Solars in one go—Li Hao was their lucky star!

Who would’ve imagined that even the Sword Sect possessed a second Solar? It wasn’t that the group was wholly unprepared, but that Hong Yitang was being far from honest!

An embarrassed Li Hao smiled apologetically at Hong Yitang from a distance. The man responded with a faint smile and inward ruefulness. Could he blame Li Hao?

No!

It wasn’t the young man who’d exposed them. It was all because that Celestial bastard wanted to drag his wife down and slander the Sword Sect. Damn him!

Hong Yitang was ninety-nine percent certain that this fellow was behind the assault on Li Hao. What a pity the young man wished to smooth things over. If not, the sect leader was of a mind to ally with Hu Dingfang and the Night Watchers to take out the Celestial delegation first! The fucking bastard!

Hong Yitang’s ire mounted the more he thought about it. This wasn’t just a simple case of exposing their hidden strength, but that his personal secrets were out in the open. They would be in more danger from now on!

Hao Lianchuan clapped Li Hao on the shoulder and regarded the young man skeptically. You didn’t inflict these wounds on yourself, did you? Nice going kid, you forced two Solars to reveal themselves with just a few words. Is even Zhang Ting going to be revealed if you say another few words?

You’ve really got some skill up your sleeves!

......

The inner city gates.

Two Solars had been exposed in a matter of seconds. Hong Yitang’s second wife came before long. He transmitted a few words to the woman who possessed ordinary beauty. She paused briefly before explaining, “The Sword Sect would not ambush Li Hao. We would not, and we dare not. Grandmaster Yuan is the leader of martial dao in our times. The Sword Sect is not so bold as to harm his final disciple!”

Hong Yitang nodded hastily as well. They would not be the scapegoat for this matter! The others might not know, but he understood all too well that Yuan Shuo might really kill him if he harmed the old demon’s student. No matter how, his own doom would be forthcoming if anything happened to Li Hao. Hong Yitang knew Yuan Shuo well and Yuan Shuo knew the martial world’s old guard well.

It would prove to be more troublesome than offending the three great organizations if he ran afoul of the old demon.

“I do not believe that the Sword Sect would do this...” Li Hao coughed when no one else said anything. “Don’t worry, martial uncle Hong. I, Li Hao, will not do an injustice to anyone!”

He coughed again, spitting out flecks of blood. His organs did seem to be gravely damaged and the coughing didn’t sound fake.

It wasn’t fake to begin with—any pretense would be quickly unmasked by all of the powerhouses present. No one believed that he was putting on an act.

“Forget it, let’s let this matter pass!” exhaled the young man. “It’s my own lack of skill that landed me in these straits. Perhaps they’re not a Solar... If they’re not, then it’s just a normal occurrence if I die in the attack. There’s no need for those who walk the martial path to pursue this to the ends of the world!”

He looked at Violet Moon and asked hesitantly, “Leader Violet Moon... Could you give me a blood pearl? My injuries are severe and I’m worried I’ll die here if there’s more fighting to come.”

“......”

Silence.

Violet Moon’s face was so frosty it could freeze fire itself. A blood pearl? That was a divine shadow! Li Hao was crazy! Red Moon and him were enemies, but he was asking her for materials to treat his wounds!

“I’m so heavily injured and my organs damaged that regular mysterious power is useless,” Li Hao explained earnestly. “I’ll need either legendary treasures or a blood pearl—those are the best for healing martial master injuries. We don’t need to go into particulars, I just need one. Leader Violet Moon, I don’t think your organization wants to see me die, either.”

“Are you looking to die, Li Hao?” Violet Moon bit off. “Or do you really think you’re so wondrous that you cannot be permitted to die?”

Li Hao sighed and didn’t say anything else. Hao Lianchuan frowned at the response.

“If you really have them, Violet Moon, what’s the harm in handing out one?”

Hu Dingfang was already walking toward her. “If you don’t have any, I’ll enter the city and kill some Red Moon supernaturals. I’m sure I’ll collect one then!”

“You can try!” Violet Moon hissed. “Try and see if I’ll care that my entire delegation is dead!”

“Then I will!” Hu Dingfang punched forward without further ado. A dragon howl and tiger roar ripped through the air, ferocious beyond contention. With how injured Li Hao was, there was no difference to Hu Dingfang laying down his life if Violet Moon refused to offer a blood pearl. In that case, he would beat it out of her!

Violet Moon also erupted with thunder and lightning; Hu Dingfang broke through it with one punch! His arm emerged unscathed and he continued to deploy the tiger fist!

A ferocious tiger threw its head back to the sky with a howl!

The scalps of those in the surroundings ran with numbness. Hu Dingfang really was very strong after learning the Five Styles and becoming a supernatural. He could give Sun Yifei a run for his money. They were both late Solars and ascended from martial masters. Hu Dingfang knew the Breathing Method of the Five Styles and his offensive capabilities were astounding as a metal supernatural. One of his punches was the equivalent of a late Solar’s full strength!

Violet Moon was injured and her Armor of the Thunder God damaged. She held no advantage at all and was forced onto the back foot.

Sun Yifei had killed pure peak Solars in the central region—pure as in homegrown supernaturals, not ones who crossed over from being a martial master. Regardless, those were still formidable and did not count among the weak. That Hu Dingfang could match him explained why he was so arrogant.

Rumble!!

Collisions rang out as Violet Moon was forced back. Her power of thunder and lightning exploded with abandon.

After a while, the quiet Revolution King interjected, “You two... is there a need for internal discord like this? The city gates aren’t open yet, who knows how much treasure is inside? Is this worth it?

“Violet Moon, there ought to be dead Red Moon supernaturals in the city. You need to collect your divine shadows from them, in any case. Why don’t you give a blood pearl to Li Hao since he is gravely injured? It doesn’t need to be too strong—Darkmoon or Sunflare will do. Red Moon won’t miss one such divine shadow, will it?”

Hu Dingfang halted his moves. He didn’t want to fight to the death because the Revolution King would not idly sit by. Both Yama and Red Moon only had one Solar each. They’d reached a tacit understanding even if they didn’t ally together.

A partnership!

The Night Watchers, Celestial, and Sword Sect all had two Solars. They would be fools if they still didn’t work together. As strong as they were, they would find it difficult to stand against so many enemies.

Violet Moon’s face shifted through a variety of expressions before she settled on a frosty and disquieting look. One blood pearl was nothing, but it rankled her terribly to give in!

She looked at Li Hao. The simple and honest young man was looking straight back at her, not a hint of fear to be found on his face. He smiled to receive Violet Moon’s attention. There was no sign of timidness or cowardice, a noticeable difference from before.

There was no reason for his change other than the fact that their enmity ran too deeply to require a polite facade. He did not need to bow and scrape when it came to Red Moon! His teacher had killed multiple of their powerhouses and he was their target. There was no need for him to be as polite to Violet Moon as he was to the others. Despite killing numerous Celestial and Yama members in the dark, he was still friendly to them on the surface.

At the very least, he wouldn’t let them know that he thought of them as an enemy.

“Leader Violet Moon, do you know how to make the blood pearls? I can teach you if you don’t...”

Violet Moon looked coldly at him and retracted her previous assessment that he was an honest and simple young man. To Red Moon, at the very least, he brimmed with malicious intent!

Granted, this was only to be expected. She just hadn’t thought that a mere Sunderer would dare provoke her. After some more silence, she threw a red pill to Hao Lianchuan.

“So Red Moon does know how to create blood pearls,” he said with curiosity. “I thought you didn’t know about the unique properties of your divine shadows before.”

A frosty Violet Moon said absolutely nothing.

Li Hao took the pill from Hao Lianchuan and sniffed it closely. He was assessing its strength, but put on a great show of seeing it for the first time. “A Plenilune blood pearl, eh? I thought it was a Sunflare level one... It looks like leader Violet Moon has more than one and just gave me the weakest one!”

Violet Moon continued to remain silent.

Li Hao laughed and swallowed the pill. All eyes focused on him! Were blood pearls really that useful? Their organizations had hunted down some Red Moon powerhouses and even created some blood pearls according to the leaked instructions. But they’d entered the ruins too quickly to know what the effects were.

This was just a Darkmoon level blood pearl... Would it heal Li Hao’s severely damaged organs? If it could, that would make it a compelling resource even if it wouldn’t enhance their strength.

Li Hao operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles to digest the power within the pill. Although the effects would be poorer without sword energy, blood pearls were made for martial masters. They were still quite effective without the accompaniment of sword energy.

Being a Dominator, his aura was stronger than before and his rate of absorption even faster. He devoured half of the red energy in the blink of an eye and immediately felt its effects in his organs. A healthier flush returned to his cheeks and his body began inflating like it was being filled with water. His emaciated look from moments ago improved greatly and internal force burgeoned in his body.