Star Gate

Chapter 643: In the Dark of the Night (I)

Li Hao continued to be absent as the sky brightened. The entire royal city was surprised.

The Skystar Colosseum.

The beguiling woman Liu Sha and deeply tanned Wu Yong were both waiting. Waiting... waiting... for someone who didn’t come.

The Colosseum operated as normal today, but there were many more noble or highly placed guests compared to usual. Of course, they weren’t here to watch Sunflares fight in the ring, they wanted to see Skystar vice commander Li Hao take down the Colosseum.

And yet... it didn’t happen.

All was well.

Sighs of disappointment echoed from the private booths over the arena.

“He’s run off!”

“Who would’ve thought? It was Hou Xiaochen who laid down the gauntlet right after Demon Sword entered the capital. We all thought he was going to do something major to find his footing, but look at this. He’s gone!”

“Has he been assassinated by someone?”

“Then you think too little of Hou Xiaochen and the speed in which news spreads in Skystar City. There would be word out if he’d been assassinated. He’s plainly run off in the middle of the night!”

“Is that all there is to Demon Sword?”

“What a joke!”

“Hou Xiaochen probably won’t dare set foot outside anymore. He’ll be laughed to death if he does! We all thought that Demon Sword was going to soar in a blaze of glory today. Who would’ve thought that we wouldn’t even see him?”

“This is boring!”

“......” Various customers discussed the happenings. Some jeered, some were deeply amused, and yet others understood Li Hao. This was one of the nine ministries that he’d offended, not an ordinary person. Slipping away in the dead of the night was a wise move.

......

Ministry of Finance.

Minister Liu tilted his head back at the sky and sank into deep thought with a frown. Have I been had? Did Li Hao really run off, scared? But when I met him last night, even though it was our first meeting, he didn’t give me a cowardly feeling.

A headache brewed at the minister’s temples. Everything was ready and the Colosseum would be turned into hellish killing fields today—Li Hao’s final resting place. But the boy was gone! They would be boring no one!

His communicator rang; Minister Liu picked it up to listen to the report. “Be careful and stay on guard,” he said slowly. “He posed as a monster spirit when he visited Calm Borders and openly entered the Xu Manor. He might do the same with the Colosseum and make his move when all of you have relaxed your guard...”

That course of action would lack some assertiveness and domination. In the minister’s eyes, Hou Xiaochen shouldn’t proceed in this fashion if he wished to establish his authority, as well as take down the Colosseum.

Various thoughts floated into his mind as the pensive man took out another jade pendant and entered a few words, asking about Li Hao’s whereabouts. There was no news of the young man. He’d disappeared last night after leaving the Nine Dragons Pavilion.

Where had Li Hao gone?

As for He Yong—he kept a very low profile in Skystar City. Not many knew of the occasions in which he made a move and no one shared news of him. Thus, he didn’t appear to have a relationship with Li Hao on the surface. Not to mention, He Yong was a weaker consideration and part of the royal family.

Anyone who wished to investigate him would have to delve deep into the palace to do so. That would easily give rise to unexpected developments, so no one wanted to proceed to the palace and ask if Southern Fist was present.

As the situation stood, Li Hao had just arrived in Skystar and lacked familiar faces by his side before disappearing. It made one wonder if he’d run off because he was scared.

......

The Inspectorate.

The inspector general stroked his chin with an odd expression on his face. “Does the Inspectorate know of Li Hao’s whereabouts?”

“No,” answered a subordinate. “But the north gate reports that a powerhouse left through the air last night. Whoever it was didn’t speak to the city defenders, so they don’t know if it was Li Hao or not.”

“......” The inspector general was also at a loss. “This has grown out of hand! Hou Xiaochen was so overbearing last night, look at how he will be now! Forget it, he's the one who’s lost face. This has nothing to do with me.”

Li Hao had run off in the middle of the night, leaving no time for outsiders to react. They didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’d certainly been a grand show of thunderous lightning, but minor raindrops hit the ground in the end.

No, there hadn’t been a single drop of rain.

......

On this day, Li Hao and Hou Xiaochen once more became names on everyone’s lips in the important circles of Skystar society. This time, they were mentioned with a touch of derision and jeering. People all over continued to search for Li Hao’s whereabouts—the young man still held two heritage weapons in his hand!

However, no one could find him. At present, he was busy sitting on the ocean bed and consuming resources at an eye-popping rate to help He Yong saturate his supernatural locks. As for what others said or thought... Li Hao never worried about the opinions of others. His life was his own. Ole Hou was taking a risk, whereas Li Hao was unwilling to do the same and pin all of his hopes on someone else.

......

In the depths of the Skystar Sea.

Three men, one woman, and a dog sat down cross-legged. Indeed, there was a woman present. The helpers that He Yong had summoned were a married couple in their forties. The group’s internal force swirled as a massive protective barrier. The man was bearded like He Yong, the woman was a petite individual.

“Oooh.... oooh!!” the man moaned with comfort. “Oh heavens, is this cultivation? It feels so good! Ahh! Sooooo good!”

“......” Li Hao couldn’t contain his eye rolls and the man’s wife was also mortified. He Yong itched to punch his friend in the face. You’re such an embarrassment!

“Damn this feels good!” The man was called Yang Shan and had been a martial master back in the day. He chose to cross over when the supernatural rose and was now a peak Nova. Those with the strength of a peak Nova were no ordinary wandering cultivators—and indeed, he wasn’t one.

He’d worked for the Tranquil Duke in the west a few years back and accumulated quite a bit of personal wealth. However, he hadn’t been satisfied and set his eye on the pirates of the West Sea.

Unfortunately, he attacked the wrong bunch and destroyed the duke’s personal pirate faction. The Tranquil Duke didn’t rebuke him for it—he just wanted Yang Shan to hand over the pirate treasure. Yang Shan was a ferocious fighter and as such, a valuable asset in battle. The duke also very much needed the treasure that the pirates had excavated from the sea, so these conditions were lenient.

For some reason, Yang Shan decided to abscond with his gains. Perhaps other motives crept into his mind when he saw the treasure, or maybe he found it inappropriate that the duke had colluded with pirates. Whatever it was, his wife left with him. In actuality, his wife had been a manager of the duke’s harem.

Yang Shan had somehow wooed her away—which proved critical for his escape out of the west.

The man moaned and groaned, laughing wildly as he absorbed energy. He seemed more crude than He Yong and more like a pirate. Anyone’s first impression of him would not be that of a good person.

As expected, birds of a feather flock together. He Yong’s friends were just like him.

“Oh my heavens, how can cultivation feel so damn good? It’s even better than my wife at night...”

“Yang Shan!” shrilled the petite woman. She glared hotly at him—what are you talking about?!

“Oh, eh, I don’t mean it that way,” Yang Shan said sheepishly, then continued with excitement. “Com... commander Li! We’ll follow you in the future! We don’t ask for much, just to enjoy this every once in a while. We’ll attack wherever you point us to!”

“Heh, I don’t need that level of dedication,” Li Hao laughed softly. “So long as you and your wife don’t get other ideas in mind and want to seize my sword. Our partnership should be fine otherwise.”

“How would we ever!” Yang Shan blustered. That was never happening! Are we that kind of people??

Li Hao smiled without a word. He’d seen the greedy looks in their eyes at their first meeting. But one was a peak Nova and the other a late Nova... it was a pipe dream if they wanted to take his goods.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that they were introduced by He Yong and ultimately suppressed their desires, he wouldn’t mind adding two more to his list of victims. He’d long lost his discomfort over bloodshed after killing so many people.

Superhumans were not undying!

Indeed, that was the case. Li Hao himself was not immortal either. There was nothing else to be said since they’d all set foot on this path. You kill me, I kill you. Who knows who would kill who in the end, but everyone on this path had their hands stained with blood.

“Is there a chance for you to set foot into metamorphosis?” Li Hao glanced at Yang Shan.

“That requires disturbing the sixth lock and releasing a second element.” The man considered the possibility. “My element is fire and I’ve touched upon the lock of my kidneys. I can release water energy to form abilities of water and fire through the intersection of these elements.

“But the interplay of water and fire means my lock will break more easily, which makes it more dangerous...”

“What if I use my sword to help you maintain your organs?” Li Hao looked at him.

“Then... there... shouldn’t be much of an issue?” A light danced in Yang Shan’s eyes. “But I’ll need a lot of sword energy and we don’t have that much money. What you pay us can’t be traded for that much. I can see that you’re consuming a lot of mysterious power stones.”