Star Gate

Chapter 405: A Bustling Ash Mountain (II)

Li Hao now had a deeper understanding of what Southern Fist had spoken of that day. There seemed to be many drawbacks to supernaturals converting to martial masters, so then it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that Silver Moon suppressed the supernatural and mysterious power. But this vast land did indeed seem suited only for martial masters. The revitalization of the supernatural domain had not taken hold in Silver Moon.

Ash Mountain was on the border of Silver Moon and technically out of the province. There might be abundant mysterious power here to facilitate wild beasts turning into monster spirits.

“While there are few monster spirits in Silver Moon, that may not be the case here. Everyone, watch where you step!” With that reminder, Li Hao led the team forward.

Ash Mountain was too big; the dynasty didn’t possess too many maps of it. This was originally the demarcation of the border between two nations. Gradually forgotten and abandoned, no one paid attention to it since it was just an enormous mountain range that didn’t produce anything special.

Ordinary people were hard pressed to find their way through it. Li Hao knew a little about it, but not that much. Silver City locals like Liu Long knew a little as well, but just like the young man, they were the blind leading the blind. They only knew what direction they were proceeding in, nothing else.

Li Hao set course for roughly the eastern direction and proceeded onward. East was where the sun rose, there was no problem with that decision. Since his team was all martial masters, they could climb whatever was in their way if there was no path ahead.

......

As Li Hao and the others pressed onward again.

The foot of Ash Mountain.

Two people had come—Half Mountain and Tidal Wave.

Half Mountain frowned faintly at the mountain range wreathed in cloud and mist. It was an expression echoed by Tidal Wave.

“So... this is Ash Mountain?”

“Yes,” Half Mountain confirmed. “Ash Mountain is a mountain range that has existed since the ancient times. Old texts mention it. It extends beyond the borders of Silver Moon, so I worry that strong monster spirits will appear here!”

There were no monster spirits in Silver Moon, but there might be in Ash Mountain. Half Mountain and the others knew more than Li Hao.

Silver Moon was an impoverished land. Any place beyond it held denser mysterious power than the province. Thus, Silver Moon didn’t have many supernaturals and the ones they did have weren’t that strong.

Everywhere else was stronger than Silver Moon; the province relied on plentiful martial masters and some that’d crossed over to the supernatural to maintain its strength. Some of its martial masters had trained to the utmost of their path and were exceedingly strong.

While one could not say that Silver Moon was the weakest of the ninety-nine provinces, it definitely ranked among the bottom. Excluding special characters such as Hou Xiaochen, Hao Lianchuan might be the strongest out of pure supernaturals in the province. Hu Dingfang, Wang Henggang, and Hong Yitang were examples of martial masters who’d crossed over. Of the Silver Moon Solars out in the open, only Hao Lianchuan was born and bred a supernatural. He wasn’t a Heaven Favored either, but one who’d cultivated to his position.

“I’ve never heard of any major monster spirit appearing in Ash Mountain.” Tidal Wave frowned. “If there are any, we should detect some disturbances given how close the mountain range is to the province. There are some in the North Sea. I once saw a whale monster spirit that was quite forbidding, but it wasn’t bloodthirsty. A Solar tried attacking it, but didn’t even get through its defenses. It was at least a Nova level monster spirit.”

Monster spirits were considered major at the Solar and Nova levels.

“So Li Hao’s gone into Ash Mountain...” Tidal Wave frowned. As a water supernatural, she didn’t like mountains or plains. She vastly preferred areas with water in them.

This wasn’t much of an issue, however.

“Li Hao comes from Silver City.” Half Mountain studied the peak in front of them. “Ash Mountain is close to it, he’s probably familiar with it. It makes sense that he’d run here. But... I will withdraw if we encounter a major monster spirit. The presence of one means the presence of two. It is not a good idea to be mired down here.”

Tidal Wave didn’t say a word. This Half Mountain was a complete coward! As expected of a Celestial member, they were used to the dark and could not stand being in the light!

“That’s fine, you’ve made your point!” Tidal Wave set foot in the air and entered the mountain range.

Li Hao and the other martial masters didn’t sense it, but she did as soon as she entered the mountain. Mysterious power was surprisingly very dense here, possibly stronger than the ambient power of many other provinces. Why did no one from Silver Moon train here?

Half Mountain entered after her, sensing the same feedback.

“Even if those of Silver Moon aren’t willing to leave their province, this mountain is not bad,” Tidal Wave voiced her bafflement. “Why do supernaturals not cultivate here? Better here than the province, no?”

Half Mountain didn’t respond. He frowned with thought only when the woman turned to look at him. “I don’t know, perhaps people do come here. I’ve never visited before, this is my first time. Either people secretly come here to train, or they do not return after visiting.”

The first possibility was likely and nothing worth taking note of. The second possibility... Tidal Wave’s expression changed slightly. They do not return!

That was right. If all the supernaturals that entered the mountain died, then naturally no one would know that mysterious power was very dense here.

Even Tidal Wave felt a flutter of panic at these words, but she quickly stifled it.

“It doesn’t matter if they weren’t able to make it back,” she chuckled. “Silver Moon has too few supernaturals and they’re too weak. Even Solars are few and far in between. Those who come here are likely Starlight and Darkmoon. What are we?”

Novas!

They were preeminent powerhouses even in the central region. Would they be afraid of a mountain on an improverished province’s borders?

Half Mountain spoke no more. He landed on the ground and carefully probed around. Martial masters were difficult to track since they lacked mysterious power. Plant growth abounded in this place and the mountain peak obstructed one’s view. It would be quite difficult to locate Li Hao in an area like this.

Granted, they had to leave certain traces behind given the size of their group.

After a while of searching, Half Mountain settled on a direction and started moving forward. He looked into the distance at the dark depths of the mysterious mountain. He frowned anew. There... wouldn’t be strong monster spirits in Ash Mountain, would there? Martial masters didn’t exude supernatural ripples, there wasn’t much of an issue there. Supernaturals, however, did, unless they were obscured by certain treasures. Monster spirits were very sensitive to such ripples.

......

At the same time.

The mountain range appeared to be a massive dragon crouched at the bottom of an abyss when viewed from overhead. It was also an overlapping series of ravines and gullies, as if multiple dragons hunched over on the ground.

There was a small mountain valley roughly one fifty kilometers away from Li Hao’s group, one beyond numerous other peaks. A small lake sat in its center, the waters still beyond compare. A lotus flower swayed gracefully in the wind from the waters.

A ferocious tiger prowled around the lake. A massive snake was coiled directly across from it. A golden eagle sat on a large tree to one side of the lake and a tremendous ape with golden fur on its head could also be glimpsed in the premises.

There were beasts all around the lake, but everything was very quiet and still. They left each other alone, as if waiting or expecting something.

The lotus bud swayed in the center of the lake, occasionally revealing some golden lotus seeds within. They shifted in and out of view, prompting agitation from the beasts each time they came into view.

A gigantic hawk circled through the air at this time, calling out to the assembly. The golden eagle standing atop the tree jerked its head up, light glinting out of a keen gaze. The hawk was a scout patrolling the perimeter of Ash Mountain. Its cry meant that humans were trespassing.

However, the golden eagle settled down after glancing at the lotus in the center of the lake again. It didn’t move. The same went for the snake, ape, and tiger. None of them seemed to hear the hawk.

This wouldn’t be the case in regular times. But right now, none of them were willing to leave. The golden eagle answered with a piercing, resonant cry a moment later, sending the hawk away. The giant ape slapped the ground, shaking it with tremors. It drew the attention of the other beasts and the ape displayed a hint of dejection. It laid back down and didn’t slap the ground again.

These four beasts seemed to have gained intelligence. They guarded the tiny lake and refused to leave.

......

At the same time.

Li Hao looked into the sky as he seemed to hear something. He could see some shadows, but it was flying too high to be identified. The young man did discover an abnormality, however—a ball of light!

The bird flying through the high reaches seemed to have a ball of light around it. Its strength was too far away to be assessed. But that he could see it at all meant that it wasn’t weak.

There really are monster spirits around! Li Hao took a deep breath. He’d come to Ash Mountain simply because he felt it to be a large landmass with dense forests and overlapping peaks. It wouldn’t be easy for supernaturals to discover them. But it hadn’t been long into their foray that they saw two monster spirits.

“Everyone, stick more leaves to yourselves...” the young man reminded the team. Bird vision was very keen. They could see their prey moving on the ground.

Of course, the monster spirits wouldn’t necessarily care about them since they weren’t supernaturals. However, less trouble was always preferable to more. Who knew what level of strength the bird possessed? It would be difficult if it suddenly swooped and attacked them.

Li Hao didn’t know anymore if Ash Mountain was a good place to be or not. Let’s just take things one step at a time.

The group moved forward, sticking more leaves to themselves. This resource was found in extreme abundance here. As night fell, the group moved silently through the woods in their pitch black armor and lack of supernatural ripples. Li Hao steered them away from the balls of light, regardless of size. In this regard, their journey was smooth.