Star Gate

Chapter 764: Simple and Crude (I)

“Don’t look at me,” the middle-aged man said slowly. “I fully believe that Ying Hongyue wishes to kill Li Hao as well. He’s the one under the greatest threat if Li Hao continues to grow and develop like this. Paying the price of one heritage weapon in order to lure Li Hao to his demise... Would he refuse that?”

The others furrowed their brows, it was hard to say. No one could speculate what Ying Hongyue was thinking.

“It’s been three days. If we continue to fail to lure out Li Hao, are we to wait for him to trample our dignity again on the seventh day? Is there really no hope of taking the fight to him and killing him outright?” asked another person.

“Killing him outright? There may be some hope of doing so. We stand a chance if we all bring our trump cards to bear. We wouldn’t have to rely on the plant spirits either. But... how much of a price would we have to pay? How many present would have to die for it? Are all of you willing to pay that price?”

No one had any answers. The danger was much less in the ruins with the plant spirits marshaling the offensive. But outside, they would truly have to risk their own necks against the young man.

“For the Ministry of Administration... is the old minister willing to lend a hand?”

“It’s not a matter of willingness, but that we must curtail the royal family as well. Otherwise, it’d be expelling the wolf to make room for the tiger. Li Hao is the wolf and the royal family the tiger. If the old minister takes action, that would be letting this ferocious tiger out of the cage!”

The discussion continued for a while before Hu Mingfa from the Judiciary announced, “I’ve reached an agreement with the plant spirits, they’ve agreed on one condition—that all of the mysterious power stones being used for bait will be left behind for them!”

The group had been prepared for the possibility; they wouldn’t have prepared so many stones otherwise. There was a price involved in asking the plant spirits for help. The cost for this operation was the riches being used for the lure.

“That’s one hundred million... they are certainly greedy!” someone sneered. These plant spirits wanted nothing more than to devour all of the stones that the nine ministries owned. If it wasn’t to encourage the ministries to keep collecting for them, they likely wouldn’t part with a single drop of Water of Life.

“They can have it. We can’t expect them to work for us with no payoff.” The discussion continued.

“Li Hao is now a superhuman cultivator and can no longer conceal his presence as thoroughly as before. Hong Yitang is the same as well. I’ve gathered everyone here today to propose that we bring forth our fragments of Sky Gander and temporarily join them together to peer into the void. We can use the treasure to investigate Li Hao’s strength, to ensure that there are no surprises waiting for us!”

The mirror fragments were key. The group considered the proposal and didn’t immediately turn him down.

“We can do that, but the mirror fragments probably can’t become one since the treasure has been shattered, can they?”

“A temporary joint use is possible...”

“Very well then!” The group came to a decision. To know the enemy as well as one knew themselves was to ensure victory in every battle. Although Li Hao seemed to have failed grasping three elements, no one was certain if he was hiding more of his presence with immense concealment abilities.

The young man might also have a fragment of the mirror—no, he certainly did have one. Hadn’t he employed it in the northern city quadrant when he obscured the complex during his people’s training?

......

The northern city quadrant.

Two thousand soldiers began running drills, practicing the Ten Rings Mountain Seal Formation. Li Hao and the others walked back to the great hall, chatting with high spirits.

“There’s a bit of time left, but not much for the nine ministries!” Li Hao sighed with emotion.

Hong Yitang flicked a glance at him. Are you this cocky after grasping four elements? Be careful of upsets! He couldn’t be bothered to voice the words out loud, instead saying, “Are you sure about establishing the Skystar Martial Academy?”

“Of course!” Li Hao nodded. “Those who dare enroll at this time are either out of options, bolder than the heavens themselves, or have deep grudges with the nine ministries. Why shouldn’t I open a school for them?

“Although it’s called the Skystar Martial Academy, it’s not one strictly of martial dao. We’re selling horse meat as beef steak! Martial dao isn’t a matter to be plumbed in a day or two, I hope martial uncle can pursue your own inspiration and raise a crop of unique talents!”

“I know what you have in mind,” Hong Yitang frowned. “But I lack the proper teachers for it. There would be more than ample personnel if you wanted to focus on martial dao. If it comes to other subjects, however, ample personnel will be a big problem.”

“I know.” Li Hao nodded. “So I’ve sent people to look for the teachers and students from the Skystar Ancient Academy, including those being held at the Nine Dragons Pavilion. They’ve refused to relinquish their grasp on those people, so I went to them directly today! The royal family will show me face at a time like this. They want nothing more than a fight between me and the nine ministries.”

The royal family had dragged their feet, likely because they were waiting for the final results. But from Li Hao’s perspective, he hardly had the generosity to let them sit back and watch.

Hong Yitang inclined his head; the young man looked at Deputy Zhou, wondering how the man had completed his arrangements. You talked a good talk last time and I paid the price of two hundred drops of Water of Life. Have you done anything the past couple of days?

Deputy Zhou smiled to see Li Hao’s attention on him. “I will most certainly see great gains on my side if you can win the upcoming clash! If you head to the ruins and I visit the east, I will absolutely quell all problems in the east. The caveat is that you emerge the victor!”

Everything was off the table if the young man lost, and all sides were his for the taking if he won.

Li Hao nodded, this was just as well.

“What do you mean?” Yao Si frowned. “Li Hao’s going to the ruins, but you’re not going?”

“What’s the point of so many people going?” smiled the deputy.

Yao Si furrowed his brows and sharpened his look at Deputy Zhou. Is he that confident? Li Hao was quite strong as a four element Arcanus, but to put him down as invincible... particularly in the ruins... The young man wasn’t to that level. There was great danger within and the nine ministries wouldn’t be careless in their desire to kill him. Was the deputy really at ease not accompanying Li Hao? Or did he not care?

The young man’s eyes darted around as they conversed and he took out a mirror fragment—it was vibrating. Li Hao frowned. What did this mean?

Yao Si’s eyes widened and he quickly transmitted, “Be careful, it might be that the nine ministries are utilizing the other fragments to probe your capabilities...”

Li Hao furrowed his brows and thought about what course of action to take. He exuded his wind and thunder attributes, enveloping his body with them. Off to the side, Hong Yitang did so as well with his energy.

“Can this item peer into people at will?” Hong Yitang asked via transmission.

“I’m not sure.” Li Hao shook his head. “Mine can, but it has a short range and a very small field of vision. How can the nine ministries spy upon us when they’re so far away from the northern city quadrant?”

It was very perplexing.

“Perhaps they’re combining their fragments,” Yao Si clarified. “It’s said that there were a lot of fragments when this mirror was first discovered. Those who found it didn’t think much of it, treating it as the ordinary fragments of a weapon. The pieces were thus divided up, and their secrets revealed only after the supernatural awoke.”

Li Hao could already vaguely sense a prying sensation as they talked. It truly was the same familiar sensation as being probed by the mirror. Highly discomfiting, this was the nine ministries investigating him. They were even being blatant about it, as if saying, “I’m going to spy on you, what are you going to do about it?”

The young man frowned deeply without a word, looking to the east. He needed to be careful of the nine ministries. Despite already demonstrating two elements, they still want to make sure of the situation. Would they be able to detect the characters?

Li Hao wasn’t sure.

His own mirror fragment wouldn’t be able to, but since they could peer at him from so far away, they had either put their fragments together or theirs was too big to be imagined. Li Hao wasn’t certain if it would reveal the characters in his body or not.

He sent the characters into his organs when his thoughts traveled here. The ‘exterminate’ character formed by the sword aura was also concealed. It was a melting pot of all the elements that he did not have auras for. It wasn’t too useful—serving to prevent elements from conflicting with each other at most.

......

Inside the Nine Dragons Pavilion.

Several powerhouses had gone back to their seats of power and returned with a mirror fragment. The pieces were connected to each other and quickly formed a massive screen in the center of the hall. Li Hao and his companions were pictured on it.

Motes of light shimmered over them. That of wind and thunder sparkled over Li Hao, while thunder and fire shifted over Hong Yitang. Nothing could be read from Yao Si—just a few hints of supernatural locks. Their exact number couldn’t be identified, which was one of the reasons why martial masters were so hard to gauge.

However, that was enough to confirm that he was a martial master. As strong as they might be, martial masters were limited in this day and age.

The group turned their attention to Hou Xiaochen, he was mostly the same as Yao Si. And finally, they assessed Light Sword and the rest. Some hints of supernatural looks could be seen on all of them.

“This is what’s troublesome about martial masters.” Hu Mingfa frowned. “But it also has to do with the fact that we’re using fragments. Otherwise, we’d be able to fully reflect the truth about them and thoroughly investigate their capabilities!”

No one responded to him. What they had were pieces of the mirror, and their pieces may not be complete fragments. What was the point of saying all that?