Star Gate

Chapter 287: Silver Moon’s Reaction (II)

This was a martial master! A person flashed through the hapless Sunflare’s mind. It was Hong Yitang and this was the Earthturner Sword! It was his move of turning heaven and earth upside down! But why did Hong Yitang wish to kill him?

The Sunflare had no more time to think as his exploding body marked the end of his mental activity.

The metal supernatural jerked back with wide eyes. He was the strongest among the three at late Sunflare, yet he wasn’t able to cut down a mid Sunflare with one stroke no matter how he erupted with power. Did they face a Solar??

He turned to flee, but the broadsword was yet to finish descending. It crashed to the ground as unbounded gravity bore down on its target, covering the supernatural with blood through cuttingly sharp rays of sword qi.

The broadsword came to a rest with a rumble, crushing the metal supernatural to death!

He was better off than the metal supernatural since he didn’t explode, but this was the result of one sword stroke! A mid earth Sunflare had been detonated and a late metal Sunflare crushed by the lingering momentum...

There was no desire for battle in the water Sunflare. He just wanted to run!

And run he did as Li Hao’s sword rested in the ground, peeling away in the opposite direction of the young man. However, the sound of waves traveled into his ears and a fist appeared. Liu Long had been poised, waiting on the side. He rushed out like a leopard on the hunt and smashed out with his fist!

The Nine Forged Force crashed into a terrified Sunflare, one that only wanted to run!

The supernatural had proceeded only twelve meters forward when the punch connected with an audible collision. Not only that, but the fist ran the target through!

Liu Long’s expression was detached as he delivered multiple hits during his attack. It rankled that he hadn’t been able to kill Li Dahu with one punch on the excavation; that was a lesson engraved on his heart. He’d tried to brainstorm every manner of way possible to break through a Solar’s defenses when he fought Zhang Ting. His confidence grew greatly after killing the woman.

This punch was the summation of his experiences in the ruins. It bore through the mid Sunflare’s chest, whereupon Liu Long’s fist flashed like a shadow as he delivered a dozen more. He didn’t stop until the other was a quivering heap dead on the ground.

Battle was over in the blink of an eye; the three scarlet shadows abruptly stopped right in front of Li Hao’s forehead. Having lost their instructions, it was more like they’d delivered themselves on a silver platter.

Wang Ming rushed in from the distance—Li Hao had wanted him to wait for a bit and come after the fighting started. He’d sprinted to his comrades as soon as Li Hao made his move and...

Nothing! The battle was over!

Liu Long was cleaning up the battlefield and Li Hao was stabbing at empty air with a small sword. Who knew what he was doing? Wang Ming... continued to be confused.

That was it? It was over? Three Sunflares were dead? They’d beaten up Darkmoons, not Sunflares, hadn’t they? What was he here for?

Wang Ming was completely befuddled. That was his state ever since emerging from the ruins. So... there was nothing else to be done?

He didn’t return to his senses until Li Hao finished disposing of the scarlet shadows and absorbed their power. The handsome supernatural looked at Liu Long, but the chief continued rummaging through the bodies instead.

“There are indeed mysterious power stones!” the man exclaimed with excitement. “But not many—these guys weren’t that bold and hid only one stone each. There’s one of earth, metal, and water. It looks like they dared to keep just one stone that corresponded to their element.”

Combined with the thirty-two that the trio had gained before, this made for thirty-five total stones!

“Um... Director Liu,” Wang Ming said haltingly. “Let me... let me take care of cleaning up the battlefield next time.”

I didn’t do anything and don’t even have to clean up the battlefield! I’m so useless! Will I be counted in for the next operation if things are like this?

This won’t do!

Li Hao was busy digesting the scarlet shadows. He didn’t see the diagram of the eight trigrams this time. It looked like that manifested only in Silver City.

The young man was in good spirits—not because they’d killed three Red Moon Sunflares or that he’d killed a late Sunflare with one stroke, but that he had a new understanding of the earth sword aura. Upon experimentation, he found it much stronger than before.

So Hong Yitang’s theories were useful—this blow was proof.

“Let’s hurry and deal with it all so we can leave!” Li Hao was in wonderful spirits. They needed to vacate the premises quickly since battle had been over just as fast.

Liu Long swiftly destroyed the battle site; Wang Ming joined in to help. Everything was soon wrapped up and the three left without further word.

......

Not long after.

Hao Lianchuan rushed to the scene with a couple Sunflares. He looked in the relevant directions where he registered some ripples.

“There was a battle here.” He frowned slightly. “I don’t know if it involved the Red Moon members... but the site’s been cleaned. There must have been deaths!”

He carefully cast his senses around the surroundings. There seemed to be a ray of sword intent here, but it wasn’t blatant.

“Do we continue looking for them, director?” asked a subordinate.

Hao Lianchuan recalled there were still a few Sunflares from Red Moon present only when he finished with the Nova’s body. Hou Xiaochen could forget about them, but he couldn’t. Sunflares were a threat. Now that they were in open hostilities with Red Moon, how could he let any of their members go after they killed one of their Novas?

He’d tracked them all the way to this spot without catching up with them. A disturbance had come from this direction earlier, but he was too late despite sprinting over at top speed.

Had a Solar made a move?

Hao Lianchuan wasn’t too sure, but the feeling he’d received earlier mapped a bit to a Solar. Countless powerhouses were hidden among the province at the moment, so it was difficult to judge who was responsible. It might very well be Red Moon’s members that were dead—they were the only organization that the general public felt safe in attacking at the moment.

“Let’s go back!” Hao Lianchuan gave up the chase. They’d wasted enough time here; White Moon City would be the heart of the situation to come. Who knew how much trouble there’d be after Director Hou killed a Nova with one jab?

......

Serenity teeming with undercurrents of tension filled the night. It was the calm before the storm.

White Moon City entered its highest state of alert after Hou Xiaochen returned. The Tiger Wings demonstrated increased movement; the city’s Inspectorate turned out in large numbers and began investigating the city.

The provincial government was an uncharacteristic hotbed of activity—lights blazed from every corner.

Hou Xiaochen might rebel!

Such was some people’s judgment, but they couldn’t be certain. He’d taken the field himself after continuously waiting in vain for reinforcements from the central region. If the man led the Silver Moon Night Watchers in open rebellion after killing a premier heavyweight... Plus the Tiger Wings and Inspectorate...

Unrest would shake Silver Moon.

Not only that, but precedence was often the most feared. Once he began, it might start a chain reaction across the lands!

It was a small matter if individual powerhouses ran out of control. The key thing was that Hou Xiaochen represented the Night Watchers and a partnership between the Inspectorate and local army. That wasn’t a matter of one or two powerhouses, but an enormous shift in the entire governmental system. That kind of upheaval was intolerable.

As much disorder beset Skystar Dynasty now, even with the appearance of a few hotly ambitious characters who wished for independence, there wasn’t a titan that’d appeared among the ninety-nine provinces that called for more.

Hou Xiaochen might be one.

......

The provincial government.

Not only were Silver Moon government members in attendance, but so were some special guests. One of them wore an Inspectorate uniform.

“Who would’ve thought that Hou Xiaochen would keep himself so deeply hidden!” intoned a man with short hair and a sharp look in his eyes. He looked at the rest in the small conference room. “We knew that he was no simple character when he fought Ying Hongyue to a draw all those years back. The central region has wanted to send him elsewhere many times, offering him promotions and ennoblement. The Ministry of the Inspectorate even made him the unusual offer of being deputy inspector general at headquarters. He refused them all!”

Being one of the nine ministries, the central Inspectorate’s inspector general was one of the nine movers and shakers within the dynasty. To be his deputy would make Hou Xiaochen a major character within the government. Compared to his current identity, it was a promotion three grades higher!

But even so, Hou Xiaochen declined to acquiesce.

“As we thought, he wanted to mutiny a long time ago!” sneered the man. “He refused his redeployment orders so many times and decided to step out of hiding this time. I say that he’ll be rebelling very soon...”

“Ahem!” coughed an old man with slightly graying hair. “Be careful with your words! It is Hou Xiaochen’s mistake to refuse his orders, but his duty to kill a Red Moon Nova. He remains part of the dynasty so long as he has not hoisted his own flag. We cannot speak wildly. Otherwise, which one of you will claim responsibility for forcing him into rebellion?”

Those in the conference room looked at the old man. He was nominally the highest leader of silver Moon—the director general of the provincial government.

Hou Xiaochen colluded with the army and was of one mind with the Inspectorate. Only the administrative government ignored him and frequently reminded its superiors that proper attention needed to be paid to the province. Hence, those from the central region traveled here as soon as they fled Rift Canyon.

“Master Zhao...” The speaker wanted to continue, but was interrupted by a cough. The sound made the rest of the conference room noticeably uncomfortable.

Hou Xiaochen loved to cough! Silver Moon denizens all liked to cough at random times. Apparently Yuan Shuo nursed the same habit. Were they all feeble and weak??

This Master Zhao, Director General Zhao, had been a scholar before. He was Silver Moon’s highest leader when the supernatural rose. As such, those upstairs gave him abundant good treatment. He crossed over to the supernatural, but only barely made it to Sunflare after twenty years.

Sunflare... while he was older, it didn’t make for poor health!

The others grumbled inwardly, but stayed silent. As weak as the old man was, his status was high. The network of relationships as Skystar City was very complicated, so they weren’t willing to interrupt him.

“Everyone, we should not be hasty!” the old man said slowly after coughing some more. “We should wait to see what develops. Hou Xiaochen will not raise the banner of mutiny unless there is no other choice left to him. At the moment, I think we can still make some appropriate overtures. Keeping such strong battle strength in Silver Moon will strengthen the province. If he is willing to head to the central region, he will dominate the battlefield for the dynasty. It is not a good thing to force him to take up arms!”