Star Gate

Chapter 259: The Terrifying Sight of One’s Back (IV)

“The Night Watchers captured seventy-two,” Director He said promptly. “We forced one Bronze Armor into desperate straits and it self-detonated...”

Seventy-two was a sizable harvest. The other factions quickly called out their numbers. The sum total came to more than two hundred Black Armors being terminated and three Bronze Armors self-detonated!

This meant that there were less than one hundred Black Armors left within the city and at most two Bronze Armors. The army of one thousand was finally liquidated and there were no more threats left in the outer city!

Sixty-some people stood in front of the inner gates. Sunflares occupied the greatest portion, with Darkmoons being in the minority. They were too weak, after all, and thus almost all dead.

“What do we do now?” Hong Yitang frowned at the towering wall. “We’ve finally made it to this stage and it seems that we must head inside the city for a look. But are we to force our way up if that guy doesn’t come down here? Don’t the Night Watchers have a way?”

“There is a way!” Hao Lianchuan smiled.

Really? There’s really a way?

“Anyone who has their presence obscured by the second passageway can fly through the city!”

“......” The crowd was dead silent.

A keen light sparkled in the Revolution King’s eyes as he looked wordlessly at his Night Watcher counterpart.

“Nice scheming!” he finally said. “You speak of this only now and didn’t say anything before... You were prepared to use those who took the second passageway as scouts from the very beginning, weren’t you? No wonder you didn’t let any of your Night Watchers try the ancient house!”

Who didn’t understand what was at play after the Revolution King pointed things out! Violet Moon also looked at Hao Lianchuan with an exceedingly unpleasant expression.

“Violet Moon and Swordmaster Hong can fly without hindrance,” Hao Lianchuan said seriously. “Just try if you don’t believe me. There are no more threats in the air to you anymore, truly! This is a good thing, you have much more freedom of movement than us and can even fly over the city walls. I didn’t have the courage to try the second passageway, so you guys enjoy the first mover advantage for your troubles!”

He made sense, but Violet Moon still boiled over with annoyance when she thought of how no one dared fly when this bastard said they couldn’t.

“Hao Lianchuan!” she hissed. “Are you not worried that—”

“Don’t be angry,” Hao Lianchuan chuckled. “I’m just an initial Solar—I really didn’t have the courage to take the second passageway. I didn’t hide this information from you on purpose, I was just concerned that you guys would leave us behind after gaining the ability to fly. Now you can fly over the city walls and throw that Silver Armor down to us. We’ll attack him together, open the city gates, and enter together. That makes it much more safe!”

The Night Watchers knew quite a lot about the ancient ruins. Flying had been on the table when they brainstormed how to get past the city gates, but not even Solars dared easily give it a try. They would be going to their deaths if things went south.

Now that the truth was proven otherwise, Violet Moon was both irate and exasperated. But upon further thought, they really did hold a significant advantage. It was so much more convenient when they could fly.

Hong Yitang, however, cursed inwardly. Holy fuck! I wouldn’t have gone through the second passageway if I’d known this earlier! That damned Hao Lianchuan obviously wants me and Violet Moon to be bait and lure that guy down. It’s too dangerous! And here I thought that the second passageway would conceal my presence, that I would be safer if it was easier to keep a low profile. It turns out to be a trap! Hao Lianchuan is nothing good!

Violet Moon didn’t say a word as she brooded over the situation. As gravely injured as she was, she didn’t want to be an easy target.

“You guys can take the second passage too!” she declared coldly. “It’s not like it’s sealed shut!”

“If even Yao Cheng died, I’m dead without a doubt if I try,” Hao Lianchuan sighed. “We might lose half of the other Solars too. How are we to withstand that one if too many Solars die?

“Since the two of you have already gone through the process, why don’t you put forth just a bit more effort? You can have more of the spoils when we divvy up the goods! Get that guy down here, kill him, and we’ll all feast on the inner city!”

Off to the side, Li Hao could only regard the deputy director with respect. No wonder he’d tricked the others into taking the second passageway! Not only did he want to weaken the other delegations, but he was laying the groundwork for this move.

What would happen if Violet Moon and Hong Yitang refused? Would Celestial accept it, to say nothing of the Night Watchers? Would the Revolution King?

We just want you to be bait, we don’t want to kill you. Can’t you fly up there for a look?

There would be no further cooperation if this was the case. And let’s say only the Night Watchers attacked Violet Moon at the end of the expedition, would she be able to withstand the might of the agency?

This was plainly her thought process as well. She took a deep breath and suddenly proposed, “Have Li Hao try! Li Hao, force out a few drops of your heart blood and drip it into the crack in the city gates. Let’s see if that opens the gates...”

Li Hao’s jaw dropped. What’s this got to do with me?

“If the gates don’t open after you try,” Violet Moon concluded coldly. “Hong Yitang and I... can fly up there for a look. Don’t even think about it otherwise!”

She wouldn’t be satisfied unless she tried all other possible avenues.

“I’m from the Li family.” the young man frowned. “This is an ancient city of the Wang family. It belongs to a completely different faction. Aren’t you barking up the wrong tree?”

“Just try!”

“My wounds aren’t fully healed and I suffered extreme internal injuries just now,” Li Hao pointed out waspishly. “Are you trying to force me to death in wanting my heart blood this very moment?”

“No!” Violet Moon smiled. “You like blood pearls, don’t you? I’ll give you one! If you are unable to open the city gates with your heart blood, I’ll compensate you with an initial Sunflare blood pearl. You’ll recover then!”

Oh for fuck’s sake! Li Hao cursed. He’d had a grand time shooting the shit earlier, but now he’d talked himself into a corner!

Would his heart blood prove effective? Who the hell knew? It was fine it was ineffective, but if it was... these Solars wouldn’t look at anyone but him from now on!

A headache throbbed at his temples.

Hao Lianchuan also cursed to himself. He’d forgotten about Li Hao being a factor.

Hu Dingfang wanted to protest when the young man answered, “Fine, but... I want a Solar level blood pearl. If not, then ten Sunflare level ones!”

“Are you kidding me??”

“You guys are getting rich after you enter the city, what’s in it for me after I pay the price of my heart blood?” Li Hao responded with annoyance. “Is it over the top that I want some payout? No matter whether or not I open it, I’m agreeing only after you give me the things first! If not, I won’t do it and it has nothing to do with me if you open the gates or not!”

His heart blood was likely useless, Li Hao was very aware of that! He would’ve opened the stone door last time if it had an effect. So he was just losing a few drops of blood essence, but it would be an enormous loss if he didn’t recover them. A Sunflare level blood pearl would absolutely do the trick.

But the key issue was that he wouldn’t be happy unless he earned something for his troubles. He didn’t care about mysterious power anymore since there was no more sword energy to distill them. In that case, blood pearls were just as fine.

“Ten is too much,” said the Revolution King. “Let’s do three. How about it, Li Hao?” The man turned to Violet Moon. “Red Moon will not be asked to pay this price. The Sword Sect, Celestial, and Yama will each pay one or a treasure of equal value! Since Li Hao is providing his heart blood, the Night Watchers are exempt from payment!”

“Er...” Hong Yitang didn’t accept the distribution. “I’m also going up the city wall after Li Hao fails...”

What, am I supposed to pay for that as well? Even if a Sunflare level blood pearl wasn’t all that costly, why should he pay that price?

The Revolution King smiled and amended faintly, “That’s true. How about Yama offer two of similar value?”

Why fret over small gains and losses like these at this time? If Li Hao refused to take action and Violet Moon dug in her heels as well, then were the Solars actually supposed to fight it out?

Li Hao acquiesced to the situation with a nod. “Very well, I will agree on account of the Revolution King. If it was Red Moon... I would never, not in a million years!”

Violet Moon narrowed her eyes at him. She really hated the brat at the moment! If it wasn’t for the fact that they couldn’t kill him, she’d slap him to death with one palm strike!

“There’s not much use for an overabundance of heart blood,” Li Hao added. “Being a Sunderer, I don’t have that much. It won’t do you any good to force me to my limit. I’ll coalesce three drops, and that’s it! Don’t say anything else if they prove ineffective, or you might as well dig my heart out and hang it on the city gates for a try.”

The group didn’t say anything. Hu Dingfang ran a few quick calculations, judging it to be fine if the young man expended only three drops of heart blood. The three Sunflare blood pearls would replenish his consumption and even strengthen his blood qi. That would do.

Violet Moon threw over three pills the color of blood. Li Hao was beginning to suspect that all of these guys carried storage rings. Or were space supernaturals a thing? There wasn’t any place to store treasures on them, so where were they pulling all of this out from?

He swallowed one blood pearl as soon as he received them, then stepped forward. He circulated a breathing method and slapped his chest with a soft exclamation, slapping out a drop of blood that glistened like a ruby.

He sprayed it over the gates—they remained unmoving!

Slight disappointment rippled through the crowd. Although this was within expectations, it seemed that the heirs of the eight families were truly ineffective when it came to the other families. They would have to locate the ruins of the Lis if they wanted to make use of Li Hao.

The first drop of blood was completely ineffective. The young man slapped a second drop of blood into existence and sprayed it over the gates again—still nothing. He took a deep breath. As his back faced the crowd, it obscured the strange look that entered his eyes.

His blood was ineffective, he could see that. But he also sensed that the two characters over the city gates seemed to want to... absorb his blood. There was an attraction to his blood. He forced himself to concentrate on spraying his blood over the gates and preventing it from coming in contact with the two characters. However, his heart shook with excitement.

Was there a meaning behind those two characters?