Star Gate

“I don’t think you would dare rebel either! The bramble rose possesses a mutinous heart, you don’t seem to have reached that stage yet. I’ve come out to take care of that fellow. Once I have enough resources after killing it, I’ll return your Water of Life!”

“Understood, sir!” responded the redwood rose. It truly brought no attitude to bear with Director General Wang.

The man set aside the topic and spoke a while longer before commanding, “You can stay here and help them with peace of mind. I will be withdrawing for now. Also, be more modest in your absorption efforts. Five of General Pagoda’s descendants will be recovering nearby, you should take care of them when appropriate.”

Now the redwood knew who it was that’d been furiously gulping energy. Its head ached even more so!

It was doomed… General Pagoda? Was Battle Heaven about to fully awaken?

Huang Yu led the troops out of the flying ship. The ruin was spacious enough that although ten thousand people made it a bit cramped, there was sufficient room for everyone. He didn’t say anything upon hearing their conversation and inclined his body at the redwood. “I am Huang Yu of the Silver Moon army, here to be stationed in this locale. We will have to trouble the senior in the days to come!”

“I wouldn’t dare!” the redwood heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness this guy wasn’t as overbearing as Li Hao or arrogant as Director General Wang. It couldn’t do anything about those two and just wanted them to leave as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Director General Wang truly wasn’t interested in staying longer. He’d just left his own ruins and didn’t want to be in another set. “Commander Li, let’s go. We can leave this place to them!”

Li Hao nodded with a smile. He stowed the flying ship as the two walked out.

“You don’t need to give too much face to the plant spirits. They’re just a bunch of fellows that bully the weak and are afraid of the strong.”

The young man nodded again. He could see this, but he also smiled, “The director general sure commands a lot of respect!”

“More or less!” chuckled Director General Wang. “I’m a director general of Security at a main city, after all. While these guys may be stronger than me, their rank isn’t higher than mine.”

Besides, who knew who was stronger? Did that guy dare fight him?

New thoughts ran through Li Hao’s mind. Who would’ve thought that an initial Immortal Director General Wang would be able to fully intimidate the redwood tree? It looked like the humans of New Martial did indeed have a trick or two up their sleeves.

Li Hao swiftly made a trip to the City of Supernaturals and conversed with Lin Hongyu, telling her about Huang Yu. He then rushed to Skystar City with Director General Wang and the rest. His people had mostly zeroed in on the Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s position. Now that he had the director general with him, it was time to gather his troops to march on this faction.

Otherwise, his side’s strength might be exposed if the Wind and Cloud Pavilion decided to scan everyone’s cultivation again. That would place them in perilous circumstances; the only thing Li Hao could do at the moment was pray that they did not undertake such a course of action.

……

Li Hao returned to Skystar City.

At the same time, in a ruin.

Darkness shrouded the land; the only hint of radiance floated upward from a city to illuminate a moderately sized metropolis. A smear of black floated in the center of a massive hall located in the center of the city. It shifted with gloomy displeasure and rumbled, “Are those people from Silver Moon still lingering in the surroundings?”

“In response to the pavilion master, they are!” A voice quickly responded. “Not only that, but they may have locked onto our position. They’ve narrowed their search range over the past couple of days and have drawn closer to our entrance!”

“Useless trash!” cursed the black shadow. These people truly were trash! It was mortifying!

The pavilion had lost the first engagement after their first official appearance and problems then developed with the Arcanus Ranking. Li Hao’s group soon locked onto their position and the agents they installed in the outside world were swiftly eliminated.

After laying low for so many years, the Wind and Cloud Pavilion had wanted to stun the world with their first appearance. Who knew that they’d encounter Li Hao and be unable to shake off that mad dog?

Indeed, mad dog.

In their eyes, Li Hao was a mad dog who latched onto them after taking the slightest whiff of them. He ignored the nine ministries, royal family, three great organizations, and even the Ying Hongyue that he shared a blood feud with. All he did in the past month was keep his eyes fixed on the Wind and Cloud Pavilion!

The pavilion master had known that Li Hao was tracking them after their spies in the outside world were removed, but he hadn’t thought that the young man would narrow down his range so quickly. They would’ve long been unearthed if it wasn’t for them hiding in a ruin.

“Mad dog!” cursed the black shadow. Radiance streamed in from a window, revealing his true form. His face was a bit pale from prolonged lack of exposure to sunlight. He didn’t seem to partake in the illumination that was available in the ruins.

His face appeared young, but his brows were knitted together in a faint frown of irritation. The Wind and Cloud Pavilion… Wind and Cloud Ranking…

In the ancient times, the world shifted with each publication of the ranking. Daoist Wind and Cloud who controlled the ranking was unmatched in the world. His family had produced four emperors and he’d thought that he could continue the family glory with the ranking, but… he’d died before he could accomplish his most grandiose feats!

How inauspicious! The man muttered to himself. “Li Hao keeps at us—does he really think that we can’t do anything to him? Where are those of the Eight Legions?” [1]

“Here, sir!” chorused a group of heavyweights outside the great hall—there were several hundred of them.

“If those people dare linger in our territory any longer… kill them all!”

“Understood, sir!” came the resounding shouts.

An old man in black robes stepped forward from the crowd. “Might you reconsider your actions, pavilion master?” he asked softly. “Silver Moon martial masters are not weak and neither is Li Hao. Although the Wind and Cloud Pavilion fears no one, fighting with him now will only benefit others, particularly Ying Hongyue. Red Moon has a strong backer as well. Our future enemy may be Li Hao, but our greatest enemy now is Red Moon…”

“No no, you’ve got that wrong, Left Guardian!” The young pavilion master shook his head. “Our greatest enemy now is Li Hao. Red Moon is our future enemy. I know about their backer and can take care of them after the second awakening. Li Hao is our greatest trouble. He won’t wait until the second awakening as too few Silver Moon powerhouses have revived. He’ll stir up a great deal of trouble for everyone before the second awakening!”

The pavilion master’s judgement was very accurate, so he did not agree with the Left Guardian.

There were three main guardians of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion—left, right, and middle. They were all powerhouses, but they were unfamiliar with Li Hao.

An old woman walked out with white hair and spoke in a slightly shrill voice. “I rather think that it’s right for the pavilion master to make an example out of them. These Silver Moon martial masters are just a bunch of people who have just entered the Arcanus level. There’s nothing to fear about them…”

The two guardians had very different viewpoints about the situation. Some in the great hall looked at the young woman who was the Middle Guardian. Seeing the pavilion master look her way, the woman in black robes said softly, “It shall be as the pavilion master decides! We should activate the Mirror of Wind and Cloud again before this and verify Silver Moon’s collective strength…”

“It’s been only twenty days since the last instance,” frowned the pavilion master. The treasure consumed a bit too much in resources—at least one million mysterious power stones for each probe of the four directions.

Although he possessed numerous stones, this was still an astronomical figure to expend. It’d been less than a month since the last usage. He’d refrained from giving in to his urges these days as he wanted to activate the treasure closer to the end of the month.

The Central Guardian didn’t say anything, leaving the decision to the pavilion master. She was well aware of her master’s character. It was not a good idea to oppose his decisions. The pavilion master was obsessed with becoming the second Daoist Wind and Cloud, or at the very least, being able to dictate the world like the daoist. He didn’t like being restricted or provoked by others.

Li Hao had irritated him. Hence, refusing the pavilion master’s proposal at the moment was not a wise choice.

The pavilion master nodded when he saw that the woman didn’t speak again. He looked at those assembled beneath him and said slowly, “My Wind and Cloud Pavilion possesses the three guardians, eight protectors leading the Eight Legions, and countless Arcanus to astound the world as soon as we make our presence known!

“That Li Hao does not know what’s good for him. I wanted to publish the Arcanus Ranking to rein him in and have Red Moon and the nine ministries make trouble for him, but to think that he would be so brazen as to provoke them instead…

“In that case, he shall be made a prime example of and we will show to the world that the Wind and Cloud Pavilion is the true heritage of the ancient civilization. Our might knows no bounds!”

“The pavilion master speaks truly!” everyone concurred.

The man they beheld said no more. The Eight Legions outside the door vanished with a wave of his hand—to kill the Silver Moon martial masters nearby. As for exposing themselves… they would expose themselves whether they made a move or not. So what if they did?

It was only Li Hao’s people outside. Any who dared enter the ruins would die!

Blast them! How would Li Hao have the room to be so arrogant if it wasn’t for the second awakening not starting yet?

Muttering curses to himself, the pavilion master dismissed the rest of those assembled.

……

Moments later, the pavilion master entered a residence in the rear yard. A tree soared into the sky, one that was snowy white all over. It was a very different sight from the usual golden color of other plant spirits.

“Pavilion master.” The big tree bent slightly, as if conducting a bow. The director of a Night Watcher branch had once said that he suspected the pavilion master of being an ancient due to the different attitudes that the plant spirits demonstrated.

His suspicions were borne out. If Li Hao was present, he would be very surprised to see a plant spirit bowing to a human. That was such a rare sight!

The pavilion master frowned and didn’t mind the tree’s attitude. “Li Hao improves by the day. Revered White, do you think it’s possible that this person is the reincarnation of a powerhouse?”

“Most likely not,” came the white tree’s mental ripples. “If he was, he would have to live within the ruins like the pavilion master. An awakening would only be possible twenty years ago…”

“Don’t compare me with him!” The pavilion master was highly dissatisfied. “He’s not worthy!”

The white tree didn’t respond, but it sighed to himself. Losing the effects of the yin and yang worlds of the main world to reincarnate in a vassal world was, as it thought, very unwise. The pavilion master had been a wise and brilliant person in New Martial, but now he was rather arrogant and pompous. He had slept for countless years and awoke recently. Who knew if that was good or bad?

1. The Eight Legions are a group of Buddhist deities whose function is to protect the teaching of Buddha. ☜

etvolare’s Thoughts

Oh what the hell. A reincarnated ancient? Now that’s fresh.