Star Gate

Chapter 645: In the Dark of the Night (III)

Li Hao didn’t mind the state of his auras for the moment, they should hold up for the time being. When all five locks of the organs were saturated, he would be able to use them to complete the true construction of the five bridges—as according to regular cultivation procedure. That would make it easier to nurture his auras.

Once he fully completed the five bridges and melded his auras into them, as well as was able to unseal himself like others could, that would place him in the Refiner of Spirit cultivation realm that Yuan Shuo spoke of.

However, he did not choose to fashion the five bridges as one. The auras would be immensely nourished, but to the point in which he probably wouldn’t be able to suppress them with the sword overview. That was not what he sought.

Li Hao focused on only one supernatural lock over the next three days. Meanwhile, He Yong furiously absorbed energy without reservation. He’d taken in quite a lot before and secretly absorbed some more when Li Hao suppressed his looks on prior occasions. Not to mention, he’d received some benefits from the royal ruins.

He Yong saturated another one and a half locks this time, making for three locks of the organs in the blink of an eye. His blood qi was much stronger than before. Previously, he was the equivalent of a mid Nova when he didn’t unseal himself. Now, He Yong estimated himself to be a peak Nova if he didn’t unseal himself!

Three saturated locks put him on equal footing with Light Sword. Although, he was still less than a sealed Light Sword if they were making an equal comparison. Thus marked the differences between martial masters when they reached this stage. Everyone headed in a different direction and strengthened their locks to different degrees.

“Why do I feel like... my blood qi still isn’t strong enough?” he commented with some confusion and regret when his third lock was saturated.

“The problem lies with your body.” Li Hao flicked a glance at him. “You’ve saturated the locks of your four limbs and three of the five organs, but the ones of your zifu and spine are incomplete. If you wish to strengthen your blood qi, I think the key point lies in the lock of the zifu.”

He Yong’s eyes danced around as he looked at Li Hao.

“Have you not found them yet, martial uncle?” The young man looked at him.

“I have a vague sensation of where they are, but I don’t think I can fully locate them yet...” He Yong rumbled. “Can you?”

“I can’t either. This can only mean that martial uncle’s physical body and skeletal structure have not caught up to the rest of you.”

“I see...” He Yong nodded with an exhale. “I was wondering about that. I’ve already saturated my third lock of the organs, but I’m somehow still less than Earthturner Sword and the others. Is it because their bodies and bones are stronger than mine?”

“Martial Uncle Hong should be stronger than you, as for Light Sword...” Li Hao thought for a bit and laughed. “Probably stronger than you too. Her power of light can also nurture the body to great effect!”

He Yong was rather despondent with the response!

“What about Tyrant Blade and the rest? His body definitely isn’t as strong as mine, he focuses on blade intent...”

“I don’t know about him.” Li Hao shook his head. “But Tyrant Blade is so strong likely because he’s strengthened other supernatural locks, such as the one of his head!”

He Yong sucked in a sharp breath. “So this means... I’m at the back of the pack??”

“Not necessarily,” Li Hao laughed. “But if martial uncle can manage to saturate a lock of your zifu or spine, I’m sure that you’ll be at the metamorphosis level without even having to unseal yourself.”

“Then we’ll have to wait for that,” He Yong said with regret. “I need to digest all of this first. And I wondered why I was still less than them after all these years of improvement! These bastards have secretly obtained plenty of benefits!”

Energy abruptly surged next to them as fire and water collided. The fire energy was noticeably stronger than water. The impact was so fierce that it made Yang Shan spit out a mouthful of blood.

A current sword energy rushed into his body. Fully recovered, Yang Shan opened his eyes with some fear.

“Fuck!” he cursed, then capered with joy. “The metamorphosis level is really dangerous! If it wasn’t for sword energy protecting and strengthening the five organs, my lock would’ve been blown wide open after I loosened it slightly. These guys really have some ability to their name. It takes some guts to set foot into metamorphosis!”

The slightest collision between fire and water had nearly shattered his organs. It was easy enough to imagine how strong those who truly broke their locks and set foot into Arcanus were.

“Does this count as you successfully ascending?” He Yong asked curiously.

“Of course!” Yang Shan roared with laughter. “Both fire and water have been released, what do you think? It’s just... my water energy is too weak, so I don’t dare erupt with too much. I can only meld a little bit together, but I’m much stronger than before, that’s for sure...”

He was a full metamorphosis expert, just at a low degree of his lock breaking. He was most likely the equivalent of the Yellow General that Li Hao had killed through ambush. But when considered with the aspect of an earth rank origin weapon and the assurance of Water of Life, he wasn’t too weak.

His wife had already become a peak Nova yesterday—that was a much easier process than Yang Shan. This was their third day of cultivation.

“Try and acclimate yourself to your strength, big brother Yang.” Li Hao made some calculations. We’ll make our move when it’s dark!” He took out two sets of black armor. “You should each use one. Its defensive capabilities are passable, but also levies certain restrictions on supernaturals. However, it prevents leakage of mysterious power to the greatest degree possible at the same time!

“Wear it for now. You can take it off when we encounter serious fighting.”

He Yong cackled. Black armor? I’m a bronze armor troop leader!

The two didn’t ask questions and swiftly put on the armor under He Yong’s instructions. To their surprise, they found that they could communicate with each other within it. Communication was possible even when five hundred kilometers apart—that was incredible!

......

The night was fully dark when four humans and one dog left the bottom of the sea, making for the headquarters of the Four Seas Company.

......

Having disappeared for three days, Li Hao was a total and complete laughingstock by now, as was Hou Xiaochen.

The Night Watcher headquarters.

Hou Xiaochen had suffered his fair share of sarcasm and jeering over the past two days. Not only that, but there were official censures underway. Representatives from the other ministries continuously sent missives to the Inspectorate, asking if there was a need to make adjustments to Hou Xiaochen’s position.

Who’d given him the audacity to antagonize the Ministry of Finance?

“Deputy Director Hou,” Yellow Dragon started anew in a conference room. “The Ministry of Finance is refusing to pay out this month’s salaries! Our brothers need to eat! Although the Inspectorate fronts part of our monthly bills, the ministry is our largest source of funds. We’re alright if the ministry doesn’t pay out the salaries, but our brothers will be out on the streets!”

The Ministry of Finance didn’t claim sole ownership of their wealth. They needed to disburse funds to various institutions—this was part of the checks and balances between the nine ministries.

The Inspectorate had people and force, but did not have money. Of course, the inspector general had his personal wealth, but there was no reason for him to utilize his personal funds to support the entire ministry. He wouldn’t be able to afford it either.

“What’s the rush?” Hou Xiaochen responded calmly. “It’s only the fifth. If my memory serves, salaries are paid on the tenth.”

“The Ministry of Finance has already sent word that there will be a delay in this month’s payment,” Yellow Dragon said coldly. “They’ve encountered some difficulties with collecting taxes from the east and need some time. But the deputy director should know full well the real reason for the delay. You should head to the Ministry of Finance and have a conversation with Minister Liu. Apologize or offer to make amends. I think the minister won’t make things difficult for you then.

“Director.” Yellow Dragon looked at Yao Si. “I think giving Li Hao the position of Skystar vice commander is inappropriate! Not to mention, the guy’s run off! I think it’s better that we cancel it and also investigate Li Hao for misconduct.”

Yao Si sipped tea out of a giant mug and lifted his head with a smile. “Well then, you should discuss this with Deputy Director Hou. Draw up the documents and send them to the Inspectorate. I wash my hands of this.”

Yellow Dragon cursed inwardly and snorted softly. Wash your hands? If you do, why did you sign the order giving Li Hao the position? Hou Xiaochen does not have the authority to install a vice commander. The old thing had signed the order without discussing anything with him. It looked like he wasn’t satisfied with the state of things either.

Yellow Dragon didn’t wish to converse further with the old man and looked at Hou Xiaochen again. “What do you think, deputy director?”

“There’s no rush.” Hou Xiaochen smiled. “We won’t lack money once we take the Colosseum. If the Ministry of Finance won’t disburse our salaries, I will.”

“What, is the deputy director still going to continue?” Yellow Dragon frowned. “There are many nobles and wealthy characters at the Colosseum, aren’t you afraid of causing some disturbance if you clamp down on them? These people are full of vigor. It’d just be creating trouble for the Night Watchers if you don’t give them a place to vent their energies. Has the deputy director ever given thought that a lot of Night Watchers might die if there is too much unrest? I think the status quo is very good...”

Did he make sense?

Some.

But if one did not keep crime in check for the sake of preserving the most life possible, that would ultimately still lead to great bloodshed.

Hou Xiaochen laughed and looked at the man. “Deputy Director Yellow’s lofty words are certainly eye-opening! According to what you say, we should leave the three great organizations alone and indeed, leave everyone alone! They can do as they see fit when it comes to killing and fighting others. That will ensure that a lot fewer Night Watchers die, won’t it?”

“That’s not what I mean,” Yellow Dragon responded faintly. “But a comparison between the Colosseum and the three great organizations is not apples to apples. You don’t need to try to confuse the matter!”

“Enough, let’s end here for today.” Hou Xiaochen rose to his feet. “What’s the rush for? I’ll find a way to fill the gap on salary day if the Ministry of Finance does not give us our funds.”

“I’m only afraid that you won’t be able to afford it!” Yellow Dragon sneered.