Star Gate

Chapter 418: One Step to Heaven, One Step to Hell (III)

When Li Hao collected the mysterious power stones, Hong Yitang gestured to the wind chime with a jerk of his chin. “Take that too!”

The young man stowed the wind chime with his belongings and rose to his feet. He silently considered the two men, a calm gaze in his eyes and one hand behind his back. No one could tell what he was thinking

He Yong looked at Hong Yitang, who laughed and breathed out. “You walk your path however it should be walked. Southern Fist and I will cultivate here for a day and have a chat with these monster spirit brothers.”

He Yong pursed his lips, but didn’t object.

Li Hao took another look at the two and quietly walked off. Hong Yitang watched him and called out, “Don’t forget the corpses on the ground! You can gather mysterious power from them. We have no use for it, but you should.”

Although much of it had dissipated, two dead Novas and seventeen Solars still produced a flabbergasting amount of mysterious power. Solars typically supplied one thousand cubes. Novas, being known as three times the suns of a Solar, held at least three times the mysterious power within their bodies. Thus, even the weakest Nova would produce roughly five thousand cubes. The fiercer ones could hold ten thousand cubes. It would take at least ten times that for a Nova to train from Starlight to Nova.

Li Hao didn’t reply; he swiftly threaded through the woods and quickly extracted mysterious power, as well as a large pile of energy rings. The four monster spirits were watching warily from the mountain valley. They kept a sharp eye on the two humans, wondering if they’d brought themselves under control. They relaxed at seeing that the humans weren’t erupting with the same presence as before.

The situation was finally over and done with!

“Hong, you’re not waiting for me to leave before going back for him, are you?” He Yong suddenly asked. Hong Yitang ignored him. He Yong snuck a few glances at him. “It’s that little sword, right?”

Hong Yitang continued to ignore him.

“Since you’re a swordsman, you might be invincible with it in your hand!”

“Is that so?” Hong Yitang chuckled. “Will a pair of boxing gloves make you invincible? Is it just the weapon that makes one strong and not the person themselves?

“Does the weapon come first, or the person? We have the weapon, but was it not forged by man? The ancients crafted them, so are we stuck to using only their creations as we seek to dominate the world?”

He Yong didn’t have an appropriate response.

“He Yong, do you think that he was prepared to... cut us down just now?” Hong Yitang looked in the direction that Li Hao had disappeared in. “Did his brain short circuit for him to take the foolish path of saving us? Can you believe that he’s Yuan Shuo’s disciple?”

That might’ve been the most dangerous moment that Li Hao had encountered thus far in life. It was more dangerous than any time! The young man had already drawn his sword and was ready to throw himself into battle against two powerhouses. What was laughable was that he’d been saving both of them seconds ago.

The three martial masters were all well aware that this was a gamble—a gamble with Li Hao’s life as forfeit. Most hilarious of all was that the forfeit had come knocking on their doors.

“I didn’t think anything like that!” He Yong said irritably. “You’d be the one taking any action! I’m not as strong as you—you might even attack me if you’re of the mind to!”

“I don’t need to.” Hong Yitang flicked a glance at him. “Not to mention, can we utilize the weapons of the eight families without their bloodline? Isn’t this so much better—we can ask him for help so long as we bring some mysterious power stones to him. Any action you take would be killing the goose for its golden eggs. Wouldn’t you weep to find out that you’re unable to use it?”

He Yong’s eyes darted around as his thoughts spun rapidly.

“Therefore, I’m not tempted because I’m intelligent,” Hong Yitang chuckled. “You... may lack that sort of intelligence.”

“Keep laughing at me, why don’t you!” He Yong cursed. “I’ll beat you to death with one punch!”

“No, you won’t.”

“......” He Yong had no witty comeback because... he really wouldn’t be able to do it. He scratched his head with irritation. “Forget it, I won’t beat you up. Just gimme a petal and seed!”

“Why?” Hong Yitang snorted. “Tell me, why? Can you survive by yourself in these mountains? I have a hope of doing so, but not you. So how do you think you have the right to demand those treasures from me?”

“You...” He Yong fumed. “You have two seeds and three petals, that’s too much. I’ll help you digest some, okay?”

“Nope!”

He Yong was so dejected that he nearly wanted to spit out blood. He’d been so damned unlucky on this venture! Thank goodness his heart lock hadn’t shattered. In fact, it’d grown stronger instead. That counted as snatching good from misfortune, right?

“I haven’t taken you to task for running to me when the monster spirits attacked,” Hong Yitang continued. “That’s already showing you enough face!”

He Yong kept up a storm of inaudible curses. You would’ve been in for it too had I not run to you! He exhaled heavily and peeked at the four major monster spirits in the distance. “Are these guys the strongest in Ash Mountain?”

“I don’t know, we’re only in one area of the nine mountains and eighteen layers. Perhaps there’s even stronger ones waiting somewhere.”

“So Great Li has fallen?” He Yong frowned. “Surely not. Great Li’s martial masters are also formidable and may not be any worse than Silver Moon’s. Those savages are still a force to be reckoned with at the end of the day. Rivers of blood flowed when they clashed with Silver Moon’s martial masters. Perhaps they’re just waiting for the opportunity to invade again!”

“Who cares,” Hong Yitang laughed. “What does it have to do with us? I’ve seen a few Great Li citizens here and there, but there’s nothing to be concerned about. They need to put their own affairs in order first.”

Southern Fist inclined his head, then looked in Li Hao’s direction again. “This fellow’s in big trouble once he makes it out! The three great organizations have lost so many people in their hunt for him. Although they don’t know about it right now, they’ll know sooner or later.”

Hong Yitang laughed and looked in the direction of the monster spirits. “What does it have to do with him? Aren’t the monster spirits behind it? The three great organizations won’t dare make trouble for them. We all know of the dangers of Ash Mountain, as do Ying Hongyue and the others!”

“It’s just that no one thought that these creatures would improve so quickly.” He Yong inclined his head. “The royal family has records of them, but they only speak of the truly powerful being in the center of the mountain. Who knew that the outskirts would be so uncanny as well!”

They didn’t mention Li Hao again, but only they knew what was really on their mind. Had thoughts of eliminating the lad crossed their mind? The most important characteristic of formidable martial masters was self-control. Whether or not they were of the mind to, they restrained themselves in this moment.

Martial masters were violent, cruel, and cold-blooded, but true grandmasters could control the desires of their heart. That applied to Yuan Shuo, Hong Yitang, He Yong, and Hou Xiaochen... These experts killed without blinking, but sometimes showed tenderness as well. Li Hao had saved them and given them hope, so they suppressed their impulses no matter how strongly their emotions flared.

The two powerhouses stooped on the ground and began roasting monster spirit flesh. The great snake’s tail had been hacked off in the earlier battle. They were hungry, so they availed themselves of what was nearby.

A violent glint shone out of the snake’s eyes when it looked upon its severed tail, but the radiance quickly faded away. It could not afford to provoke those two. As for why the two humans hadn’t left, the monster spirits knew that they were waiting for the weak human to put some distance between them.

“Did any of you...” came a ripple from the ape. “See how the weak one left?”

The golden eagle didn’t respond. It had indeed observed something. Meanwhile, the tiger looked into the distance. “He’s... that one’s disciple!”

“So it was the two of you!” the ape exclaimed.

“......” His two comrades did not respond, they couldn’t be bothered to. So what if it was? What are you going to do about it?

“That person really isn’t dead! The one that left also grasped some unique auras, but they don’t seem to be like the ones that person knew.”

“That’s normal. Based on what they say, one person walks one dao. A myriad of changes exists in martial dao. Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die. Martial dao should be a journey of one’s own undertaking.”

The monster spirits fell silent; the great snake attempted to speak a few times, but didn’t say anything. There were four petals and three seeds left. Did they split that up? The petals could be evenly divided, but there was one less seed to go around. It... was more likely than not that the snake would go shorthanded.

None of the other monster spirits said a word, plainly wanting the snake to come to its own understanding and acceptance. They wanted it to volunteer a relinquishment of the entire flower. Only then would they possibly give one petal to it...

The snake lowered its head dejectedly. Those guys were truly one clique. It wasn’t part of them since it’d never been beaten by that human.

......

At the same time.

Drenched with sweat, Li Hao quickly fled without a word. He was soaked through and had almost unsheathed his sword in the final moments. He didn’t regret his own actions, it’d just been a solemn moment.

However, they’d stayed their hands in the final moment. Was it out of consideration that he’d saved their lives? Or thinking that the two of them wouldn’t be able to properly divide the loot? Regardless, he’d escaped from sure death, and with a hefty harvest himself.

Li Hao had witnessed a magnificent battle and saw with his own eyes the moves of multiple premier powerhouses. It hadn’t taken place through an illusory realm or other obstruction. He’d obtained many treasures—the lotus petal and seed resting in the storage ring that Hong Yitang had given him was immensely valuable.

There were approximately one hundred mysterious power stones—a number on par with what he’d collected from the corpses himself. Seventeen Solars and two Novas had also yielded thirty thousand cubes of mysterious power. His energy rings were almost out of space.

There were also many energy rings rattling in his pockets. He hadn’t taken inventory of them, but it would be tens of thousands of cubes even if each person carried just a few hundred on them. Combined with what was left... Li Hao estimated that he held nearly fifty thousand cubes!

It was a staggering figure that was an underestimation. Half Mountain and the Revolution King had been the leaders of their faction in the province. They wouldn’t possibly only have a few hundred cubes on them. That would be belittling the three great organizations. Tidal Wave would be the poorest among them.