Star Gate

Chapter 470: After the Battle (II)

The little sword trembled from delight. Everything it’d eaten before was trash! Origin weapon souls were good enough, but those were snacks. It’d been starved of a main meal for so long, all the snacks did were prolong its suffering.

Dense sword energy bloomed in the blink of an eye. The little sword grew rapidly—it’d already been the length of a forearm before. It started growing longer again.

Li Hao swiftly drew on the sword energy and sent it into He Yong’s body; he also absorbed some in the process. The sword energy seemed to be of higher caliber this time. The young man had suffered grave injuries in his last fight and was finding it difficult to control four melded auras.

He’d been able to kill Xu Feng partially because the guy had been too arrogant. Xu Feng had depleted from the earlier chase, his boxing gloves ran off, and he’d ensured his own death through sealing off the four corners. Otherwise, Li Hao wouldn’t necessarily kill a mid Nova even through an ambush—despite melding four auras together.

He might be able to match his opponent, but killing Xu Feng? That was in all likelihood difficult to do.

Li Hao swiftly drew power from the large mysterious power stone. The three sat down cross-legged to furiously absorb energy. He Yong finally breathed out with ease while Hong Yitang remarked, “Remember, you owe me three thousand mysterious power stones now. I’m not charging you too much as this large piece can’t be had for that sum!”

“......” He Yong could say nothing to that. “You... absorbed some energy too...”

“I just need a little, I don’t need that much. I’m not like a certain someone who broke four supernatural locks to put on an impressive showing. Why would we be consuming so many stones otherwise??”

Exhausting nearly four thousand stones in one go—of which three thousand came from a large stone that was worth more! Even the three great organizations would go bankrupt at this rate! Granted, they were as good as nearly bankrupt after the last battle.

It’d been a fabulous fight with an equally fabulous price tag. Hong Yitang glared viciously at He Yong. This madman had no money, so he shouldn’t have been so brazen! That hadn’t been a fight, that was just setting money on fire!

Breaking three locks was sufficient against Light Sword—even one would be just barely enough to stop her. This guy had snapped four so he could put on an awe-inspiring performance. How else would he have sent the swordswoman flying with one punch, and Hou Xiaochen as well? But was there a point to that?

If I’m willing to waste my money like you, I’d put on an even better show! Hong Yitang cursed to himself. I didn’t do anything, but here you go with guns a-blazin’. The key thing is, you’re spending my money to do so! I should’ve just let him die at Ash Mountain and not let him borrow anything!

He Yong looked on sheepishly, knowing that now wasn’t a good time to talk. “I did so to protect Li Hao...”

“Shut up!” Hong Yitang couldn’t be bothered to entertain that argument. What protect Li Hao? You didn’t need to go to the extreme! One thousand stones would be sufficient for an eruption like last time.

Hong Yitang blinked in the middle of castigating He Yong and looked to the side. Sword energy and mysterious power stones were being depleted at a fast rate and the key thing was, there seemed to be someone else here apart from the three of them absorbing the energy.

He jumped with shock when he turned his head. A black dog had appeared at some point, one that was almost skin and bones. Its tongue lolled and excitement filled its eyes as it took in sword energy like the energy was delicious fare that it hadn’t seen in many days.

How was there a dog in the city? Hong Yitang looked around alertly. An ancient dog? His look turned to skepticism when he glanced at Li Hao. The young man remained directing energy with his eyes closed and also sent some to the dog.

How surprising!

As surprising as this was, Li Hao didn’t have the capacity to dwell on it. Panth seemed to be starving; since they’d run into each other here, he’d feed it some. He was being generous with someone else’s wealth anyway, it wasn’t his money.

Well, some of it was since a portion of the mysterious power stones on the ground had belonged to Xu Feng. But compared to what they were absorbing, those stones were just a paltry tip.

What surprised Hong Yitang was none other than the dog seemingly operating the Breathing Method of the Five Styles. He Yong sensed it as well and turned for a look. He was dazed by the sight and blinked with incomprehension. A... dog had suddenly appeared and it knew the Breathing Method of the Five Styles!

Both of them raised an eyebrow at each other. The dog also seemed very strong! A martial master dog? There didn’t seem to be supernatural ripples coming from it, but it’d approached them soundlessly and wasn’t discovered until it started absorbing energy. It was clear to see that the dog was very skilled at concealing itself.

Now that was terrifying! Where did this major monster spirit come from? This dog spirit could compare to those ones at Ash Mountain. Of course, it was hard to determine anything without a fight.

When the two men saw Li Hao send energy over, they guessed that Li Hao knew the dog. They didn’t say anything; only He Yong looked mournfully at the young man. This is energy that I’m taking out a loan for! Use it sparingly!

Three humans and one dog absorbed sword energy. The Gold Armor suddenly landed with the fading Silver Armors and glanced at the gathering. “Leader of the Twelfth Troop, head to the city lord manor when you have a moment!” it said mechanically and swiftly left with the three Silver Armors.

Hong Yitang looked in their direction with a strange look in his eyes.

“The three Silver Armors seem to be dying!” He Yong transmitted. Hong Yitang inclined his head, he could feel it too. The Silver Armors were about to perish.

Li Hao opened his eyes and looked thoughtfully in the Gold Armor’s direction. Were they... about to dissipate?

......

The city lord manor, below the Tortoise Pagoda.

The Gold Armor stood still and waited with the three wavering Silver Armors. “Please show them mercy, Guardian!”

“Are you... certain you wish to do this?” asked the old tortoise.

“I am certain!” The Gold Armor answered emphatically. “They are surely willing as well to become weapon souls like me. They will be the weapon souls of their armor until the day the Battle Heaven Army and the Human King returns...”

Weapon souls! To fully refine the fragments of their souls and lingering obsessions into the armor. This meant that they would fully become part of their equipment, just like the origin weapons.

Origin weapons were unique byproducts of a great war between humans and monster spirits in the ancient civilization. Monster spirits were killed in an exceedingly cruel way and their souls extracted to be made into origin weapons. After the war was over and their emissary determined, the method of creating origin weapons was destroyed and banned.

Even monster spirits found it cruel, much less humans. To become part of the weapon meant that one would never die, only gradually lose some memories and the remaining fragments of one’s soul.

“Guardian... we... are willing!” came one of the three Silver Armors’ thought ripples. “We... are not willing to fade away like this! There was insufficient power within the city when the leader of the Tenth Troop faded away, so he could not entertain this particular hope... We have killed more than one thousand practitioners of the path of energy... The city’s reserves should be sufficient... Please grant us our wish!”

The Silver Armor on the last expedition had chosen to brandish his sword against the heavens because the city’s reserves were very low at the time. He wouldn’t have been able to become part of his armor even if the chance had been offered to him. It was possible today. The Silver Armors wished to remain in this world because they had too many wishes left unfulfilled. It was fine to take even one glimpse of what they hoped for.

The old tortoise’s mind shifted with a soft sigh. The Silver Amors vanished and reappeared at the top of the pagoda. A peculiar flame wafted over them, raising agonized shrieks inside the armor. The refinement process was exceedingly cruel, which was why origin weapons had been banned.

The old tortoise had once undergone it as well, but it had been so long ago that it’d forgotten.

The Gold Armor breathed out in relief beneath the pagoda. This was good. At least, it wasn’t any worse than their situation now. Becoming a soul of the weapon and continuing to manipulate their armor wasn’t necessarily a less ideal outcome than their current straits.

“The people at the gates...”

“We don’t need to pay attention to them for now!” responded the tortoise. “I have observed all of the events of the day. We will take heed of their actions first, then their hearts. The Battle Heaven Army will not carelessly recruit even the heir of the Sword Sovereign. We have enough Silver Armor troop leaders at the moment!”

“Understood!” affirmed the Gold Armor as he vanished on the spot.

......

At the same time.

Three humans and one dog devoured large quantities of energy. When all of the mysterious power stones on the ground were shattered, that meant they’d consumed more than four thousand pieces. Their injuries were completely recovered and their organs slightly stronger again.

He Yong raised a proud head!

“Remember, three thousand stones,” Hong Yitang reminded. “Interest is ten percent every month!”

He Yong’s face dropped. “You...”

“Cut the bullshit and just try dodging your debt!”

“......” He Yong was highly aggrieved and dejected. This fight had not only bankrupted him, but saddled him with infinite debt! It’d been such a thrill, but also so tragic that all his years at the royal family hadn’t provided him enough wealth to repay his debt!

Li Hao had recovered from the aftereffects of four auras erupting at once and the consequences resulting from the Incantation of the Blade of Blood. His injuries were all healed.

The young man placed the two origin weapons on the ground into his storage ring. There were now four origin weapons in his possession. There was the wind chime from the Revolution King, the boxing gloves and Heart Protector from Xu Feng, and the yellow armor from Xie Gang of Yama. Heart Protector, the wind chime, and boxing gloves were of a high level; the yellow armor looked to be a lower level.

Four origin weapons! He also had quite a reserve of mysterious power stones and his rations of ten pure stones. He’d also collected some from the last battle, but he hadn’t had time to take an inventory.