Star Gate

Chapter 763: Mass Cultivation (IV)

“Are you... not going to tell your master about this?” asked Hong Yitang.

“I’ll tell him next time we meet,” Li Hao replied. “The main thing is, my master isn’t ready yet. Neither are Director Yao and the rest. The director actually saw my change with his own eyes, but he still didn’t choose to snap his supernatural locks. This means he still has certain reservations and hesitations. In that case, I will not force him. I’m unsure myself how far this path can be taken.”

After some thought, Li Hao asked with a frown, “How should we grow stronger after we integrate all of the locks in our bodies?” There would no longer be the distinction of three, four, or five element Arcanus. What would the road ahead look like?

Hong Yitang nodded; it was a valid question.

“We’ll have to move forward from the characters themselves then. But that is a question for the future. See well the present. Who knows what will come in the future?”

Li Hao nodded, that was true. The future was very far away!

“The integration of three elements doesn’t necessarily guarantee our victory...” Hong Yitang offered upon further musing. “I’ll try saturating my eleventh lock over the next two days. If I succeed, I’ll incorporate a fourth element!”

“Alright! I’ll try fusing the wind and thunder attributes into the sword aura as well!” Li Hao nodded. It may indeed be more safe to have four elements at the ready. If they wanted to be completely sure of themselves, they might even go for five or six elements. Director General Wang had said that Apex might be the equivalent of supernaturals with eight or nine broken locks. Li Hao might give it a try, but in a slow and steady manner.

A three element Arcanus was the equivalent of seven broken locks. These seven might be very different compared to what the director general spoke of. What if he didn’t include the four of the limbs?

If that was the case, then the Apex cultivation level was formidable indeed. It meant that the strongest martial master of the modern age would have to snap all eleven supernatural locks to barely reach that equivalence.

Who in their world could accomplish that feat?

......

While Li Hao, Hong Yitang, and the rest cultivated, a storm brewed in the outside world. There was no sign of action from the nine ministries as they were plotting and strategizing. At the same time, they wondered if there would be any Silver Moon martial masters joining Li Hao in his madness this time?

One time wasn’t enough, they came a second and a third time...

Did these Silver Moon martial masters really not fear death?

......

The massive Skystar City fully quieted down. Whether it was nobles or superhumans, everyone was astoundingly quiet over these few days. They no longer pranced around with their nose in the air. All were deeply afraid of offending the completely maniac Li Hao and being hauled off to be beheaded.

Time passed day by day. One day, two days, three days...

Li Hao deactivated the mirror fragment after three days.

In the outside world.

Various powerhouses covertly or openly assessed the changes in Li Hao’s people. They didn’t dare scan the heavyweights, but the thousands of soldiers were weak martial masters. Even though they wore armor, it was still hard for them to conceal their status. Unstable blood qi and weak strength meant that they couldn’t keep their secrets.

“What an investment!” someone gasped lowly. It was indeed an enormous investment. Almost everyone out of two thousand had set foot into the Sunderer level.

The soldiers from the Silver Moon provincial army had been mundanes and wouldn’t consume too many resources. More than one thousand at the same time, however, was a tremendous expenditure.

The Silver Moon Guards had almost all been Sunderers to begin with. They didn’t have many Dominators, but that was changed after some of their half step Dominators absorbed vast sums of energy and Water of Life. There were now almost sixty Dominators among the old Silver Moon Guards.

Multiple Dominators had appeared in Li Hao’s Demon Hunters. When summed up, it meant that Li Hao had nearly one hundred Dominators under his command. This feat didn’t appear as much to supernaturals since Dominators could not defeat Solars. It was such a hefty price to pay for an unimportant improvement.

But for martial masters, it was an entirely different concept to set foot past the Sunderer threshold and enter the Dominator level.

“There’s even a Nova...” Some recognized the new Nova on the scene—Hao Lianchuan. The new metamorphosis Qin Lian was an unfamiliar face to the crowd. They only knew that she’d acted before and was a dark supernatural. Her husband, Yang Shan, was another metamorphosis.

Two metamorphosis made for a force that was neither strong nor weak. The newly ascended Solars were ignored. Hu Hao, Yun Yao, and a few others were Solars now, Wang Ming had become a late Solar. But for the crowd, even Dominators were more worthy of note.

“Mass cultivation for thousands of people is quite the outlay!”

Such investment was very rare in this day and age. Modern supernaturals either improved by themselves or made use of fortuitous opportunities. Swearing allegiance to a faction didn’t mean that one’s new liege lord would automatically provide resources for no reason at all, not even if there was a surplus.

Thus surprised, the observers turned their attention to the heavyweights that they hadn’t considered before. They couldn’t read anything from Yao Si or Hou Xiaochen. The Heaven’s Eye hidden within the crowd only found these people to be painfully bright. Looking at them for too long even resulted in the feeling that these Heaven’s Eye might go blind! Many of them suddenly vomited blood, a sign that backlash from what they were observing was recoiling onto them.

Inside the complex, Hou Xiaochen suddenly looked outside. Those gazing upon him felt their minds threaten to rip apart. As more people vomited blood, they fled the scene.

Too strong!

Hou Xiaochen was so strong that no one could see through him. He’d easily killed an Arcanus in the previous battle, making it impossible for one to estimate what level his cultivation was at.

......

The Nine Dragons Pavilion.

The ninth floor.

A stately powerhouse gazed upon an image hovering in front of him—the scene of the complex in the northern city quadrant.

“Hou Xiaochen is at least between a two or three element Arcanus,” he said coldly after a while. “He’s very strong!”

Someone nodded beside him, while yet others remained silent. The man turned to address a fatty next to him. “Mu Hai, is Liu Yunqing still going to play dead?”

Liu Yunqing of the Ministry of Finance had stayed out of the subsequent operations after his first injury. It was like he’d died!

Apart from collecting taxes, the behemoth that was the Ministry of Finance ignored all other matters. It was as if Li Hao’s disturbance had nothing to do with them. Mu Hai was the minister of Internal Affairs. The stately man speaking was Hu Mingfa of the Ministry of the Judiciary. After his father, old minister Hu Xiao’s death, it was Hu Mingfa who agitated to kill Li Hao. They needed to prevent further trouble from occurring.

Mu Hai had been quietly sipping from his tea; he responded slowly when addressed, “I don’t know, I haven’t heard from him.”

“Is Chen Yao not coming?” The look in Hu Mingfa’s eyes turned chilly. “How long will he continue to hide and cower?”

Chen Yao was the minister of the Inspectorate.

“He said that he’ll contribute funds, but that his cultivation level isn’t stable enough,” Mu Hai said ponderously. “The plant spirit in the ruins that the Inspectorate holds requires too much energy to supply him with sufficient Water of Life. As such, his cultivation level is still unstable...”

“Bullshit!” snorted Hu Mingfa. Excuses, just excuses!

It was one thing for someone else to say that their cultivation wasn’t stable, but people at the minister level sat on a mountain of resources. Swiftly ascending to three, four element Arcanus was more than feasible, not to mention two elements. The only question it came down to was a matter of price. Granted, the price to be paid was a tough pill to swallow.

Even if the nine ministries were as wealthy as nations, they couldn’t really concentrate all of their resources on one person. Who would work for them if there was nothing in it for them? A ministry of one person would not make them the modern day nine ministries.

All powerhouses required the effects of Water of Life if they were to become an Arcanus. There wasn't that much Water of Life to go around. This also meant that the current path of Arcanus was restricted by plant spirits. This was a very big disadvantage that current supernaturals struggled with. Those who saw more clearly understood the inherent problems, but it wasn’t something that could be quickly resolved.

Hu Mingfa shouted with fury a few times before settling back down. “So this means that the Ministry of the Inspectorate and Finance are unwilling to participate?”

People drank either wine or tea around him, no one said a word. Whether they participated or not didn’t matter. It was just one more or one less participant.

“It’s not a key factor and not important,” someone finally said slowly after a while. “The crucial question now is whether Li Hao is willing to enter the ruins?”

That was what the focus should be.

“If Li Hao isn’t willing to set foot inside, we’ll have to kill him out here,” the speaker chuckled. “In the current state of things, is there anyone fully confident of not letting him get away? We’d have to ignore the cost and propel someone to become a five element Arcanus to achieve that.

“He is on high alert and has those like Yao Si, Hou Xiaochen, and Hong Yitang around him. It’s too hard to outright kill him! He’s expended a lot of his resources the past three days and may be scraping the bottom of the barrel—apparently he’s even used Water of Life on those martial masters. Although we can create a massive mine in the ruins, to be honest, it’s not normal for a mine to appear in a ruin.”

It would come across as a blatant plot. Here I am, throwing one hundred million stones into the ruins. Dare you take a gamble, Li Hao? Anyone would be able to tell that something was wrong with the picture.

“He’s always been bold.” Hu Mingfa frowned. “He even went to the Xus for the Windchaser Boots. He was only a Nova then, while the Xus already had an Arcanus. He went all the same, taking a gamble. In that case, why wouldn’t he be willing if the potential payoff is great enough?”

“It’s not the same!” The speaker thought for a bit, then suddenly smiled. “It’s not a difficult problem to resolve either. We only have mysterious power stones for now, but what if another one of the weapons of the eight families appears? Do you think he’d be tempted then?”

Several people glanced sharply at him when he offered that suggestion.