Star Gate

Chapter 399: Known Throughout the Lands (III)

Hou Xiaochen quietly perused the report. He said softly after a while, “Some of the supernaturals that made it out say Li Hao should be hailed Demon Sword. What do you think?”

What do I think? I don’t think anything! Hao Lianchuan stood slack-jawed, not uttering a peep. It wasn’t just facing Solars in single combat. If that was the case, he’d seen that before and wouldn’t be so taken aback. It was one against six and Li Hao had killed them all! That was most terrifying about everything.

Can Li Hao challenge Novas now? Six Solars working in tandem should be able to fight a Nova, right? There should be no problem, but... Li Hao killed them all.

Regardless of how many accidents or coincidences there might’ve been in the process, it was undeniable that Li Hao had won.

“Director... do we send reinforcements?” Hao Lianchuan wondered.

“Reinforcements?” Hou Xiaochen laughed with a cough. “Nope! You, on the other hand, should hurry and form a team to sweep the southern part of the province! Not only you, but Little Yu should go as well. I’ll participate when necessary and bring the others back as well. We’ll run through the entire province!”

Reinforcements? That’d just be following the three great organizations. If the four institutions swiftly marched through the southern part of the province, the three great organizations would be too weary to handle everything. Should they continue to hunt Li Hao on the northern side of Rift Canyon, or should they work together to defy the provincial authorities? It would be a choice they would have to make.

This was the best move that Hou Xiaochen could see!

“Have the Guards move out en masse! Li Hao’s Demon Hunters will be known throughout the land after tonight. Even the central region will learn of him and this newly established army unit soon. Golden Spear has bided his time for too long, it’s time to show his face again!”

Hou Xiaochen stood up and smiled to the north. Li Hao! You really are something! I knew that someone who could break my lingering will would not be a simple character. So you did hide most of your strength and erupted with all of it tonight. It looks like you will hide yourself no longer.

Hao Lianchuan quickly left without a word. He needed to contact all relevant parties to commence a massive sweep! They needed to force the three great organizations to keep their elites in the south of Rift Canyon. Otherwise, Li Hao’s people would find it hard to escape.

It was too dangerous to consider a rescue. The three great organizations might have sealed off the canyon area. Anyone who approached would be unexpectedly mired in the situation.

......

The provincial government.

Director General Zhao coughed weakly beneath the feeble light and smiled at Deputy Zhou. “Yuan Shuo’s disciple... As we expected, like master, like disciple. Yuan Shuo is not one to provoke. If the bloodline of the eight families fully erupts, it will be beyond the capacity of ordinary people to endure...”

He coughed and asked, “What is your grandson being involved for?”

“Him?” Deputy Zhou grinned. “He’s just curious and chafes under strict rules at home, so he went looking for some thrills. Those little guys are probably running as fast as they can back here...”

“The three great organizations are all headed north to hunt Li Hao. Those little guys will be in danger.”

“It’s fine, there should be no issue.” Deputy Zhou shook his head. “I haven’t heard of them being involved tonight. They probably ran off after receiving word ahead of time. Li Hao and the rest are martial masters, so they can hide. The little guys can’t, so they probably started running as soon as the fighting started.”

The director general nodded. Based on Li Hao’s resume, he would consider this point as well. He was someone who acted after planning and wouldn’t let his people be needlessly exposed to die.

“Someone says that Li Hao should be hailed the Demon Sword... what do you think?”

“Demon Sword or not,” Deputy Zhou took a deep breath. “I know that Silver Moon will be the center of attention again after this battle. The master and disciple duo seem greatly fearful that we’ll fall out of the spotlight and keep creating incidents.”

“Indeed, they’re killing people in the north and south. Yuan Shuo killed a peak Solar tonight as well and ran after. He probably thought that would attract some attention, but now no one will notice. They’ll all be focused on his disciple, the little guy who stands at the peak as soon as he emerges!” the director general waxed eloquent. This young man was truly frightening—do you know, Yuan Shuo? Your student has grown to terrifying heights and his battle accomplishments are starting to surpass yours. You hemmed and hawed for so many days to kill a few Solars, but Li Hao’s already taken out eight!

No, wait, maybe more than that.

Zhang Ting was dead and Hao Lianchuan said he wasn’t behind it. That left Li Hao, didn’t it? So... nine Solars? Were there any more unknown Solars out there?

The master and disciple duo were quiet when they didn’t take any action, but when they did, lofty Solars turned into clowns they could eliminate at any time. They’d killed double digits worth of Solars in the blink of an eye!

......

All factions stirred with shock as news spread madly upon the wind.

Demon Sword Li Hao!

Old Demon Yuan’s final disciple killed six Solars in one battle in Silver Moon today. He trod upon the corpses of the three great organizations to make his name known beneath the heavens!

......

The central region.

The first province beyond the North Sea was called Seashore. The latest news of the day flurried over like a hurricane.

Yuan Shuo had just killed a Solar and was busy running and hiding. His hiding spot was unusual—a Celestial base—so he casually cleaned out the area of supernaturals as well. A mirror next to him abruptly lit up with lines of text.

Busy recovering from his wounds, Yuan Shuo’s jaw dropped when he happened to glance at it. Jadelight was also attending to herself and looked at Yuan Shuo when she heard the disturbance. She found him with his mouth wide open and a wooden expression on his face. What was it? Were enemies coming?

She followed his gaze to the text on the mirror.

“Emergency report: Great happenings have taken place in Silver Moon tonight. Li Hao, disciple of Yuan Shuo, fought six Solars alone in the northern region of the province. He killed our powerhouse Yue Pu as well as Jin Jiu, Duan Chao, and Zheng Ping of Red Moon, as well as Iron Wall and Seduction of Yama.

“Silver Moon’s level of danger is hereby upgraded. Li Hao’s troops of the Demon Hunters are comprised of fifty martial masters. They have killed more than one hundred supernaturals and are a bloodthirsty crew that far exceeds Yuan Shuo!

“Li Hao’s level of danger is hereby upgraded, with a recommendation of the Nova rating. If any members accept a mission involving him, it is recommended that mid Novas and above go into the field.”

Wu Hongshan’s eyes shot wide open as she whipped her head around to stare dumbly at Yuan Shuo. This... is talking about your student, isn’t it? The biddable, mature, and young man of culture Li Hao?

Indeed, that was how Yuan Shuo had always described the boy. It coincided with Wu Hongshan’s memory of a refined and elite child who was well-read, obedient, and liked to smile. So... what was this in the mirror? Someone of the same given name and surname? And someone else with the same given name and surname as Yuan Shuo, right?

Fighting six Solars by himself!

Yuan Shuo snapped out of his dazed expression and recovered his cool aplomb. He smiled at seeing Wu Hongshan look at him. “What are you staring at me for?”

“Your disciple?”

“Yes, what about him?”

“Didn’t... you say he’s obedient?”

“Yes, is he not?” Yuan Shuo roared with laughter that petered out as resignation. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t know how this kid is improving so quickly either. I just know he very quickly became a Dominator and could soon fight Solars. But... but... I don’t have a freaking clue how he can fight six at one time! And win at that!

“The kid’s in deep trouble now,” the old man muttered with resignation. “I finally took the heat off him when I came here, but now he’s gone and brought the spotlight back to him. He’s even more dangerous than me now!”

What the heck did he do that for? Who was covering for who now? Also, how had the kid done it at all?

Yuan Shuo couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He might be able to reach Li Hao’s level in his current condition, but that was with integrating his three auras. When that step was complete, all that was missing was an inability to deploy the Incantation of the Blade of Blood. However, there was no helping that as he lacked sword energy.

If he haphazardly employed it, he would be dead without a doubt since he hadn’t had time to obtain scarlet shadows. Therefore, he would not use it without cause.

Even so, Yuan Shuo was already ridiculously strong. He may not be able to stand against Novas, but he fancied himself invincible and a domineering presence among his fellow Solars. His disciple seemed right up there with him!

“Your disciple is incredible!” Wu Hongshan took a deep breath. “But if even Celestial is notifying all of its people, I’m afraid that the entire dynasty will know of your disciple’s feats after tonight. That’s not good.”

“What are you afraid of?” Yuan Shuo didn’t mind. What were they afraid of? They’d kill anyone who came! They’d run if they couldn’t or acquiesce to fate if they could not.

“Not bad, kid!” he started chuckling. “But your master isn’t bad either. I killed a Solar tonight too, that makes for the tenth Solar so far on my trip! Mmhmm, I need to keep this up so that the kid doesn’t surpass me. Jadelight, hurry and recover from your woods. We’ll continue killing when you’re healed. My disciple is almost catching up to me in terms of the number of Solars killed, but we’re the ones running to and fro everyday. Now isn’t that embarrassing!”

Wu Hongshan didn’t say a word, but the emotion in her heart was hard to calm. Yuan Shuo’s student, his youngest disciple, had killed six Solars tonight. It was a tough pill to swallow—she’d just spent hours fighting an initial Solar. It had Yuan Shuo suppressing the other for her to successfully kill the target.

Compared to Li Hao, she felt her cheeks burn with mortification!

......

All parties reeled with shock as the various great organizations heatedly discussed this topic.

The southern outskirts of Silver Moon.

Southern Fist sighed with great emotion in a large manor. “Damn, he’s something! Thank goodness I didn’t agree to his offer of a spar—I’d be used to wipe the floors if I did!”

It was the same woman next to him as last night, the Heartjab Daughter, now known as Madame Bai. A single woman and man sitting next to each other in the middle of the night... and the woman being married as well... If Li Hao was present, he’d deliver a litany of criticism.

The Heartsick Daughter was likewise astounded, but she quickly came back to her senses. “This Li Hao is indeed a source of surprise! But, truth be told, it involves the Bai family as well, no? Hu Dingfang is his senior brother-in-law. Tell us, Brother He, do you think we can bring Li Hao to our side?

He Yong leered and looked meaningfully at her. “Don’t even think about it. This kid is more ruthless and merciless than Yuan Shuo. He’s also cold-blooded as well! You’d have to worry about being eaten in return if your recruitment spiel proves unsuccessful.

“I’ve met the kid once and knew from that one meeting that he’s no kind soul. He watched without the slightest flicker of change in his expression when Hou Xiaochen killed Red Hair—he didn’t even blink! He wasn’t distressed at all by the deaths of innumerable powerhouses. It’s best to stay away from these kinds of people if possible!”