Star Gate

Chapter 403: The Fortune of Five Auras (III)

“What, can I not come?” He Yong roared with laughter. “It’s the Night Watchers who have declared war on you, not the royal family! Are you trying to drag the royal family into this as well? I’m not interested in your business, I want to find Li Hao too. This guy is really something, I want to fight him! His teacher’s run off, but he’ll do...”

“The royal family?” Tidal Wave looked coldly at him. “You’re just a martial teacher, how are you fit to represent the royal family? I’d like to see if the royal family really does emerge from eighty years of seclusion and retaliates on Red Moon if we kill you!”

He Yong was draping himself with the royal banner to impress people! Just look at him strut around!

“Why don’t you give it a try?” He Yong laughed fearlessly. “Do you think I really have just run out from the royal family for the heck of it and refuse to go back? The royal family is also interested in the eight families! Want to share what you know, Tidal Wave? If I’m entertained, I’ll wave a hand and summon some dukes or even princes to help you eliminate Hou Xiaochen!”

“......”

Silence.

Dukes and princes...

These ancient titles of nobility were rarely mentioned in modern society. However, everyone knew that these people still possessed actual power and authority! He Yong seemed to be saying that he was here on behalf of some special missions.

The three great organizations were aware of the conflict between the royal family and the nine ministries. After the royal family was forced to abdicate eight years ago, they fixed looks of burning hatred on the nine ministries. Those were filled with scum who’d stolen their nation!

Balance was maintained only on the surface in present time.

Tidal Wave briefly thought about it, then ignored the newcomer. There was no need to offend the royal family, but also no need for extended contact. Some of Red Moon’s intelligence reports indicated that the royal family was not content to slink off into the night. At the very least, their Black Armaturas remained steadfastly guarding the palace that no one dared enter.

Although the Skystar King who’d abdicated eighty years ago was dead, this generation’s king was purported to be a powerhouse and rankled at being an ornament. He wanted to revitalize the family’s rule and sovereignty. Those of the royal family all possessed certain strategies and strength...

Tidal Wave no longer wished to communicate with He Yong when her thoughts traveled here. Southern Fist didn’t mind. The royal family name was very useful at times. In situations like these, at least, the three great organizations and nine ministries weren’t willing to be entangled with the royal family. It was an incredible hassle!

Take the situation at hand, for example. Tidal Wave and the others ignored him, but also didn’t do anything to him. If it was those of the nine ministries standing in front of him, they would absolutely attack him.

The powerhouses probed each other briefly before leaving separately. Half Mountain left with Tidal Wave. Just as Southern Fist had said, would using Silver City against Li Hao prove fruitful? His family and friends were dead, his teacher had run off. Were they supposed to use random bystanders in the streets against him?

Li Hao was no saint!

Not to mention, they would raise the crazed ire of Silver Moon’s authorities if they moved against Silver City. The situation would be much worse than it was now. Tidal Wave quickly abandoned the notion after further thought.

The Revolution King transported himself away to await the arrival of the masters of the sixteen hells. Plainly, Yama also wanted to try and capture Li Hao for themselves.

Southern Fist jumped to the previous battle site when everyone was gone. He came to several preliminary conclusions after poking around for a bit. Damn, looks like Li Hao’s going to walk the path of summoning spirits into his five visceral organs! He’s going to do like his teacher did and put an aura in each organ. It looks like he has the metal, fire, and earth auras. So he’s lacking water and wood?

Melding three auras together permits him to kill peak Solars... Yuan Shuo utilized two and Incantation of the Blade of Blood to kill Qimei Staff. That guy counted as peak Solar as well...

“Is master and disciple squaring off? So this means that Li Hao is now as strong as Yuan Shuo from that day. But Yuan Shuo’s manifested his third aura, so that makes him a bit stronger than his disciple...” He Yong’s thoughts flew rapidly, estimating that master and disciple were roughly on the same footing. If Yuan Shuo proceeded down his path, it was only a matter of time before he succeeded with all five auras. Li Hao, on the other hand, would run into trouble. It wasn’t that easy to comprehend another two auras.

“The water aura... Liu Long seems to command the water aura—does that map to the Nine Forged Force? So he’s lacking the wood aura then. Does the kid have any hint as to what he wants to do?” He Yong analyzed the situation, unsure whether or not Li Hao had any ideas in mind. He probed the traces left by the Nine Forged Force—there were hints of waves in them. Perhaps the young man already had an inkling of the water aura.

“The wood aura...” He Yong thought for a bit before suddenly grinning. He actually did know of a wood aura sword method in Silver Moon’s martial world. It was said to have been excavated from an ancient ruin. Its master back in the day was hailed the Wooden Swordsman. However, the method wasn’t that well known.

“Weeping Willow Sword... Wooden Swordsman...”

Did Weeping Willow Sword have an heir? The swordsman was dead and his only heir seemed to have died a few years back. So was the inheritance broken?

Weeping Willow Sword had not been one of the Seven Swords of Silver Moon. While it was said that a place among the top ten swordsmen of Silver Moon was absolutely Weeping Willow’s due, who cared about those who weren’t listed in the Record of Thirty-Six Heroes?

“If this kid can obtain Weeping Willow’s heritage, he’ll stand a chance of comprehending the wood aura. What a pity that it’s been lost. I don’t know if there’s word aura sword techniques with the other methods.” Southern Fist shook his head slightly and put the matter out of his mind.

Li Hao might be lucky enough to obtain the method; other ruins might have ancient tomes that recorded it. If not, it would be up to his own powers of comprehension. Perhaps there were other secret arts or enlightenment out there that would bring him a wood aura.

It was just that Weeping Willow’s method would systematically lead Li Hao to the wood aura and save him a lot of time.

Southern Fist looked around a while longer and quietly departed. More people arrived after he left and stayed long enough for a quick glance around.

There were more than the three great organizations and Night Watchers keeping a watch on this area in Silver Moon. The royal family had their representatives, the nine ministries and other esteemed personages also had eyes on the situation.

Detailed reports regarding Li Hao quickly reached all corners of the land. Three kinds of aura! He might be walking the path of melding the auras like the Five Styles as Yuan Shuo had. Li Hao’s martial path was yet to reach its end.

.....

At the same time.

Li Hao concluded his training inside a cave and gave a long exhale. His body felt much stronger and the damage to his organs was mostly healed. There was still a bit of discomfort in his lungs, however. As for the dark attributed energy, he’d fully absorbed that.

He didn’t sense any major difference apart from his presence being more contained compared to before. That didn’t seem very useful as he wasn’t in the business of ambushing people. Martial masters were already hard to detect, so what use was this blasted dark energy to make him even harder to detect?

“The coughing is finally better...” He’d had to cough every few minutes before, but now could resort to coughing gently every few hours. His lungs still felt out of sorts—they’d absorbed fifteen hundred cubes of mysterious power. Surely they would be fine at two thousand cubes.

However, he’d consumed too many mysterious power stones in the process and didn’t have more stones to expend.

“My body, bones, and organs are all stronger. I’ve improved overall, but not that much. It’s my auras that are the key. I haven’t grasped the water aura yet, but I have some clues so it should be soon.

“The wood aura is the issue!” Li Hao sighed softly. He should be stronger with four auras as one and would be able to take on the greatest of peak Solars or initial Novas. He’d also fight initial Novas without a problem if also deploying the Incantation of the Blade of Blood.

It was the fifth aura that he didn’t really have an inkling of! How should he start comprehending the wood aura?

In the Five Styles, the deer style corresponded to the wood aura. However, his path was different from his teacher’s. The Five Styles was not a sword technique, so there weren’t that many points of similarity between the two. The deer aura that the young man comprehended might not be of the wood attribute.

Although auras did not possess an attribute in of themselves—that came from subsequent comprehension and assignment—starting off on the wrong foot meant that the aura one understood would not be the desired attribute.

As Li Hao was lost in his thoughts, Li Heng enthusiastically stabbed forward with his sword not too far away.

“I think I’ve almost got the aura!” he boasted in a low voice to Wu Chao next to him. “I’m such a genius! It’s only been two days since I became late Sunderer, but I already feel that I’m about to understand the aura. Willow leaves drift through the air and tree branches intertwine around each other when the Weeping Willow Sword is deployed. I have a hunch that once my aura manifests, I will be able to combine offense and defense together. What will you bring against me then, Runaway Wu!”

“The Weeping Willow Sword...” Li Hao blinked and looked at Li Heng. He was aware that Li Heng was the heir of the Weeping Willow Sword. The last heir had lingered in Silver City for some time back in the day, but was quickly discovered and killed. Li Hang was an amateur who didn’t have a firm grasp of the technique. He wasn’t able to deploy the true dominance of the Weeping Willow Sword.

Hence, Li Hao started with surprise when he heard that Li Heng was about to grasp the aura. That fast? This indicated that the technique itself possessed traits that led straight to the aura. Not all secret arts naturally progressed to the aura at certain levels of mastery. The Nine Forged Force and Five Styles could, but they were premier secret arts.

Those of the thirty-six heroes possessed such arts back in the day, did Weeping Willow do the same?

Willow leaves drift through the air and tree branches intertwine around each other... to attack and defend?

Li Hao looked at the other, why... did this sound like a wood aura? Strange emotions percolated through Li Hao’s heart. Had a pillow come knocking on his door just as he was drifting off to sleep? But Li Heng was a boastful type. Was he running his mouth, or did he really sense the beginning of an aura?

Hot in the middle of preening, Li Heng suddenly sensed a direct gaze on him. He swallowed when he realized it was Li Hao looking at him and shut his mouth. These days, he had only respect and veneration for this one. Even if his accidental master came back to life, he would only suffer the outcome of being squeezed out of the rankings by Li Hao. Li Hao would absolutely be ranked among the thirty-six.

The subject of his adoration looked silently at him. This was all in Li Heng’s mind and he was the sort to talk a big talk. Let’s just wait and see! His aura would appear soon if he really had begun to grasp it, so Li Hao might be able to ask about it then.