Star Gate

The City of Supernaturals wouldn’t have been so self-assured if it wasn’t for the Arcanus Ranking. When they saw that Lin Hongyu and a few other patriarchs were ranked toward the front, they felt that they were quite strong in the world.

It was why the city had so quickly agreed to forming a cabinet of government. If they weren’t weak, then they wanted to vie for supremacy! They’d been wary of the royal family, nine ministries, and three great organizations before, but after seeing the ranking… heh. What was there a need to be afraid of?

“Does the third elder really think… that the Wind and Cloud Pavilion is behind this ranking?” sighed Lin Hongyu.

“Eh?”

“It’s a fake!”

The third elder blinked. How could that be?!

“It’s most likely the commander’s work,” Lin Hongyu laughed softly. “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion was plainly targeting the Skystar Commander Office during its inauguration. We all found it odd that there were 3 seven element Arcanus on the ranking when it appeared. Now I understand, that ranking is probably fake!

“The real ranking… might’ve never been published. The commander keeps talking about wanting to eliminate the Wind and Cloud Pavilion because he doesn’t want to give them a chance to publish another ranking. He’ll eliminate them first!”

“How is that possible?” The third elder couldn’t believe it.

“Why not?” chuckled Lin Hongyu. “He just needs to control their source and prevent their ranking from being distributed. That will naturally make his ranking the real one. The Wind and Cloud Pavilion won’t be able to modify his and no one will believe their real ranking. They compromise the ranking’s integrity if they undertake too much action! Therefore, they can only bide their time no matter how angry they are and wait to distribute the next ranking before Commander Li can!”

The third elder understood now and sucked in a sharp breath. “What… incredible plotting!”

Everyone’s eyes were on the seven element Arcanus now; no one paid much attention to Li Hao. Since he didn’t do anything out in the open, he was further ignored. But under the table, the young man was quite the busy person.

“Isn’t it!” Lin Hongyu sighed with emotion. “I just thought through all of this myself. Also, Chen Zhongtian is following him as well… It would seem that the Inspectorate has quietly joined the Skystar Commander Office. Combined with the City of Supernaturals, Sky Sword Mountain, and the support of Silver Moon… It would seem that the Skystar Commander Office is the strongest of all factions at the moment!

“As for his backers, he’s the only one who can kill plant spirits. It’s only a matter of time before he revives Battle Heaven and the other major cities. You tell me, should we just wait for death instead of allying with him?”

“Chen Zhongtian?” The third elder blinked. “Who?”

“The boy toy!” Lin Hongyu laughed. “Did the third elder not recognize him?”

“……” The old man rummaged through his memories. “No wonder I found him familiar. So it’s him! Who would’ve thought?

“This Chen Zhongtian is an interesting fellow.” The third elder suddenly smiled. “He has very keen foresight and joins the side of whomever is strong. Although some call him a fair-weather ally, he happens to choose right every time. He chose the nine ministries last time and crafted eighty years of glory for the Inspectorate. This time, he chooses the Skystar Commander Office. Perhaps… he is right.”

“Our most pressing concern is to stabilize the City of Supernaturals,” Lin Hongyu changed the topic. “We need to slow the spread of news. You must work with me, elder. We can’t have anything going wrong before Commander Huang Yu arrives.”

“I understand!”

“There were five matches today between Arcanus heavyweights,” Lin Hongyu’s voice then sounded throughout the city. “Everyone was skilled in their own area and I have learned much from them. Five cabinet ministers have been chosen today. They are Patriarch Huang Ming of the Huang family, Patriarch Liu Yue of the Liu family…

“Thirty cabinet ministers will be chosen and five matches will be held each day. The rest in attendance may observe the fights of the Arcanus level. All cabinet ministers will be chosen after six days!”

The announcement sent the City of Supernaturals into a slight uproar. Of the five cabinet ministers chosen today, four were from the ancient aristocracies and one was a renowned wandering cultivator.

“What a pity that only the bigwigs are allowed to watch.” The city buzzed with conversation and much regret. “We’d learn a lot from watching Arcanus fight! That’s five fights a day for six days straight!”

“Senior Sky Blade is incredible, alright! He’s become a cabinet minister as a wandering cultivator! It’s a damned shame that we don’t have the right to participate…”

“It’s a good thing for us that wandering cultivators are part of the cabinet!”

“……” As the first five ministers were analyzed, the news swiftly spread throughout the land.

The City of Supernaturals had chosen five powerhouses on its first day. The city lord manor had been sealed off, preventing transmission pendants from functioning so that images of the fights could not be leaked.

This effectively forestalled other possibilities from being considered. It was only five days before the meeting was over.

Of the ancient aristocracies, five families had their Arcanus completely eradicated while Li Hao was present at the City of Supernaturals. Lin Hongyu showed the same ruthlessness to the remaining six families. She visited them herself under the cover of night and executed all of their Arcanus. No one could measure up to her strength as a peak six elements.

Large numbers of city defenders quickly locked the rest of the family in their complexes. Everything was completed with none the wiser as the world’s attention was on the city lord manor. No one looked at the various family complexes in the inner city.

……

Skystar City, the royal palace.

It was the first time in a long while that many heavyweights set foot into these grounds. The current Skystar King addressed the visitors, focusing most of his efforts on the two from the Ministry of Armed Forces and Administration.

“The revered one means to say that we need to seize some energy even before the second awakening. All of us have been expending too much in resources lately and we’re short on Water of Life, but Li Hao’s side continues to strengthen…

“His own strength grows by the day, so we need to take some risks even if it’s just for ourselves. We should bury the hatchet on past grievances. Otherwise, Li Hao will be the only one who benefits if our standoff continues.

“The City of Supernaturals is establishing a cabinet for their government as we speak. They show signs of wanting to conquer the world. They have strong families and numerous Arcanus…”

Qi Pingjiang listened quietly to the Skystar King’s persuasion and said softly after a while, “It won’t be easy to handle the one at the mine. Our strength is feeble and there’s a limit to what we can do.”

“No matter!” laughed the Skystar King. “Our mission is very simple—clear the soldier puppets guarding the mine! The vice commander will be left to the revered ones. We just need to clear out the grunts.”

The heavyweights standing in front of him chose to remain silent.

“It’s for your own good that all of you enter together.” A faint pulse of mental strength reached out to them as the bramble rose manifested a faint tree image. “Also, there are some arrangements inside the mine that permit only humans to enter. Every group will receive five hundred drops of Water of Life upon successful completion of this operation. In addition, future transactions can be made for ten thousand stones per drop!

“We will try to delay the second awakening for as long as possible, but the caveat for that is that we must grow stronger ourselves! Otherwise, delaying it will be of no benefit to us. But if it is not postponed, can you guarantee immediate ascension into the Apex level once it occurs? How about the Immortal level? You lack sufficient strength!

“It is also best if you release Jiang Chen. He is a division leader of the Skystar Army and possesses some of the commander’s bloodline. I know that you are wary of him, so my proposal is for you to accompany him. You can restrict him if you wish, but I hope that everyone works together so he can at least move around…”

That was also the key of their operation—a division leader! The old Skystar King would be very useful in crucial moments. The surviving vice commander did not have the right to demote Jiang Chen. Once the vice commander was preoccupied, Jiang Chen could even utilize certain tricks to take command of Skystar Town.

Most of the town’s executive level had died. Only the vice commander and the guardian plant spirits were still alive. The town used to possess ten division leaders—they were all dead. Only Jiang Chen occupied one of those positions now. It was only with his presence that they stood a chance of fully seizing the mine.

It was best if they didn’t have to share it with anyone else. The bramble rose wished even more to keep it all to itself. The second awakening was a course of action they’d take if they had no other choices.

A genteel looking man close to Qi Pingjiang frowned at the last suggestion. “Jiang Chen wishes to walk free?”

“Like I just said, you guys can still restrict him after you enter the ruin,” the bramble rose said faintly. “But you need to escort him to some pivotal areas when there is a need to. This is what all of you should do, in any case. Must you really create opportunities for Li Hao and those guys in Silver Moon to revive before you are happy?”

“We can agree to this, but on one condition,” the old minister of Administration said slowly. “Armed Forces and Administration want five hundred drops of Water of Life right now.”

“After the fact…”

“No, right now!” the old minister insisted. “I know you have it and can spare it! We need to fortify our other people, in case anything untoward develops when we’re gone. We’ll go if you bring it out now. You can keep waiting if you don’t!”

The bramble rose bristled with anger! This meant that it needed to produce one thousand drops right now! It wasn’t that it didn’t have that sum, but that depleting a plant spirit’s reserves was the equivalent of taking their lives. It wasn’t willing to do so.

But seeing at how resolute those in front of it were, it said coldly, “Very well, I agree!”

Next to it, the Skystar King’s eyes darted around. He could barely contain himself. One thousand drops!

What about my royal family?

He wanted to raise the same request, but could already sense a surge of anger rising around him. He sighed to himself and didn’t voice his thoughts aloud. The rose would likely fly into a rage if he did.

“Then it’s so settled, we march after three days!” Qi Pingjiang smiled.

“Why three days?” snapped the bramble rose.

“My son is four element Arcanus,” Qi Pingjiang laughed. “He needs some time to digest the Water of Life. Five elements isn’t a problem and six elements depends on luck. Some time is needed, wouldn’t you say?”

Although the bramble rose felt that long nights made for numerous dreams, it’d already waited so many years. It acquiesced after some thought, “Then three days it is.”

The group left without further word.