Star Gate

Chapter 860: Observing the Characters Again (I)

“I know now, Director General Zhao. I’ll head to the city of the Zhaos next time and revitalize the guardian plant spirit there. I can’t right now though, I’m out of resources. I’m so poor that I only have the clothes left on my back!” sighed Li Hao. “This one eats too much! It’s devoured even my cultivation resources. I have a huge headache about this!”

The director general didn’t press the point. Seeing that Li Hao was ready to leave, he said, “It’s best if you don’t provoke Ying Hongyue for the moment. Seven element Arcanus is another notion entirely. That level is too strong! You might not be fully aware...”

“I am!” Li Hao nodded. “It’s very strong and on par with the Apex level. Don’t worry, I know. You don’t need to be worried, director general.”

Director General Zhao felt a headache of his own develop upon seeing how perfunctory the young man was being. Are you sure? But with Li Hao’s attitude, he wasn’t at liberty to say much more.

“I really do,” Li Hao emphasized upon seeing the man’s expression. “If the director general isn’t at ease about me, are you similarly worried about Deputy Zhou and the others? They’ll stop me from doing anything.”

That’s right! Director General Zhao relaxed a bit more.

“Then... you won’t be clashing with the nine ministries or any other faction, will you?”

Li Hao regarded the director general speechlessly. Do you take me for a kid? Why are you so worried about me? I’m super dependable!

“Don’t worry, director general. I won’t take any risks unless I’m fully confident in my chances.”

“That’s good, that’s very good.” Director General Zhao nodded.

“Then I’ll be on my way, director general,” said Li Hao. “I’ll go back to Silver City for a look before directly returning to Skystar City.”

“Mmhmm, then be careful...” The director general still wasn’t reassured and transmitted as the young man prepared to go, “Don’t fully trust any of the ancient existences or any of their people! It was a complicated situation in the ancient civilization as well. You can borrow their strength, but you can’t entirely rely on them!”

“I know!” Li Hao nodded and vanished on the spot.

Director General Zhao shook his head to see the young man run off so quickly. The young were so impatient! He took another look at Rift Canyon. Was Battle Heaven reliable or not? He didn’t brashly venture inside, but left after looking a while longer. Although they partnered with these ancient existences, one still had to be on their guard.

......

Li Hao was already far removed from the scene. He had his own thoughts regarding Director General Zhao’s concerns. It would seem that the director general had his wits about him—at the very least, he saw things more clearly than the nine ministries or royal family. No wonder he was undisputed in his position in Silver Moon.

The nine ministries and royal family depended on the plant spirits. Silver Moon, on the other hand, possessed very little Water of Life. Director General Zhao might not even want to revive the ancient plant spirits even with sufficient mysterious power stones on hand.

Lack of plant spirits was no issue since there were plenty of ruins throughout the province. Who knew how many ruins there were apart from the eight main cities? A random one that Li Hao had stumbled onto produced the imperial palace. Surely Director General Zhao and the others had excavated more than just the city of the Zhangs over the years?

And yet, he rarely heard Silver Moon citizens mention plant spirits. The only ones they did were the ones sleeping in the main cities.

......

General Pagoda’s revitalization caused quite the disturbance. It was felt on all sides and caused panic and consternation. It was a grave matter if a powerhouse of the eight main cities awoke. One had to keep in mind that all of the plant and beast spirits in the land were waiting for the second awakening. That was the signal for them to quickly enter Silver Moon and devour the province’s powerhouses.

Those plans were based on those powerhouses being unable to awaken or had their revival delayed. Once they were revived, they were easily Immortals or Saints. How could anything contend against them?

......

The Lin family’s secret location, not far from the City of Supernaturals.

Lin Hongyu was ashen-faced as she stood in a tiny ancient city. A redwood tree rustled its branches.

“Milord, has the pagoda tree of Battle Heaven come back to life?” she asked.

“Most likely,” the redwood tree answered ponderously after a period of silence. “You say that Li Hao is incomparably domineering and killed my replica in a split second. That itself is evident that his strength is on par with an Apex. Perhaps... he’s killed similar replicas before, or even the primary body of weaker plant spirits.

“Outsiders might not know how he revived the pagoda tree, but you and I do.”

“Does milord mean that... he’s killed other ancient powerhouses as well?” Lin Hongyu paled even further.

“What do you think?” asked the redwood tree after more silence. “You say that he previously summoned the martial masters of the world to Skystar City, wanting to eradicate the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. However, it was yet to appear before the martial masters went on their ways. Do you think he brought together all of those powerhouses just to demonstrate his might?”

Enlightenment abruptly descended upon Lin Hongyu. That was right! Li Hao had summoned Silver Moon martial masters to congregate at Skystar City. Everyone thought he was going to move against the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. When the ranking came out, however, Li Hao was not number one. The martial masters left after that, so the world thought that the young man’s actions had to do with the Arcanus Ranking.

The martial masters had likely dispersed after they felt that the faction wasn’t targeting Li Hao.

“So milord means that he had different goals then.” A light sparkled in Lin Hongyu’s eyes as she carefully turned the matter over in her mind. “He took down the Ministry of the Judiciary—the ministry should’ve been supported by a plant spirit of Skystar Town. That Li Hao so swiftly summoned his reinforcements... was perhaps to move against that one?”

The woman was quick-witted and quickly came to certain conclusions. However, they were so horrifying that she paled even further. So Li Hao had emerged from that campaign and then rushed to Silver Moon to revive General Pagoda.

It was easy to connect the dots—the plant spirit backing the Hus... was likely... dead!

That was impossible to believe! Lin Hongyu almost couldn’t believe it. The plant spirit was dead!

“Of the ones at Skystar Town, the bramble rose is the strongest,” pronounced the redwood tree. “It’s almost a Saint. The rest are of the Immortal level and cannot have recovered much due to heavy depletion of energy. However, neither are they targets that can be killed by regular Apex—your seven element Arcanus. Seven elements only comes close to Apex—there is a division of weak and strong among Apex as well.

“If Li Hao really can kill the plant spirit... that means he has other trump cards that he is yet to play.” The redwood tree was equally stunned and dazed by this conclusion. It was impossible to believe. “What do you think of his demand for you to lead everyone to surrender instead of pursuing you to the end?”

It was Lin Hongyu’s turn to be silent, she said slowly after a long while, “He thinks too much. I am not the sole voice in the City of Supernaturals. It is the joint endeavor of twelve ancient aristocracies. Although I am the city lord, I am just one of the spokespeople.”

The redwood tree didn’t say anything.

“The outside world is currently unaware of the particulars of his strength,” Lin Hongyu murmured to herself. “Only we know and have speculated that he killed the plant spirit behind the Hus. Milord, how... do you think I should decide?”

“Skystar Town is of one system with plant spirits guarding ten locales,” mused the redwood tree. “Nine remain with the death of one. If news of this is spread, they will know that he can kill one by itself, but not all nine together. He will be dead the next time he sets foot into a ruin!” n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

They could spread word of Li Hao’s capabilities. Of course, people might not believe him, but their words could be verified. Skystar Town was one system, so certain investigations could be made without leaving the ruins.

Lin Hongyu, however, quieted down. “What if he doesn’t enter the ruins and stays outside? He didn’t chase me down and permitted me to run. Perhaps he’s thinking that the moment news leaks is the moment he marches on the City of Supernaturals. Perhaps he cannot defeat the plant spirits of Skystar Town, but what of you, milord?”

The redwood tree stilled with surprise.

“Milord cannot leave a ruin and the other plant spirits cannot enter. They dare not enter, and they will not enter. There are powerhouses backing all of the ancient aristocracies, but they are separate forces. If Li Hao can kill one Skystar guard, can he not kill milord?”

The redwood tree swayed like it’d suffered a vital blow. Indeed, if Li Hao could kill one, could he not kill a second? Not to mention that it’d already suffered the grave loss of one replica. It’d only just entered Immortal in its time and wasn’t too strong.

Who could save it if it lost again? These ruins were no longer its home ground, Li Hao could kill it even here.

“So what you mean, Hongyu...”

“Li Hao is improving too quickly,” sighed Lin Hongyu. “His rate of advancement is incredible, and that is not even the key. The key is that he can deploy strength beyond six elements prior to the second awakening. Not even backlash from the void can contain him. This is highly unusual.

“Now that he’s revived the pagoda tree at Battle Heaven, I suspect that the city has decided to fully support him.” The woman paused and said hesitantly after a long while, “Milord... what will happen if I decide to throw myself under his banner?”

“......” The redwood tree didn’t have an immediate response. Its original thoughts were to share the news so that the plant spirits of Skystar Town would kill Li Hao. But Lin Hongyu responded that the young man might not care and just refuse to set foot into the ruins again. Who could kill him in the outside world before the second awakening?

On the other hand, plant and beast spirits residing alone in a ruin were in the most precarious position after news spread. They were solitary and without reinforcement. These locations had seemed like good residences before, but now they felt more like cages.

Once powerhouses that could kill them appeared in the outside world, they wouldn’t have any place to run to. They would be churned to pieces by the void if they ran out of the ruins. If they didn’t flee, they would have to bear the brunt of Li Hao’s attentions head-on. Could they do so?

Throwing ourselves under Li Hao’s banner...

The redwood tree weighed up the pros and cons. Danger would decrease immensely, but unfortunately, it hadn’t supported Li Hao to his present position. Battle Heaven stood behind the young man, and possibly other plant spirits. He’d given Water of Life to his followers a very long time ago, prior to General Pagoda’s awakening.

Of course, it could be that the auxiliary plant spirits of Battle Heaven had awakened beforehand. No matter what, it demonstrated that there was more than one plant spirit standing behind Li Hao. If they joined him, they would be ranked further back.

Another issue of note was that the plant spirits outside of Silver Moon had their eyes set on the province’s powerhouses and heritage.