Star Gate

Chapter 766: A Grade Two Ruin (I)

“How many... are there here?” He Yong swallowed hard.

“More than you can imagine,” someone responded faintly. “One hundred million mysterious power stones!”

He Yong’s heart spasmed with shock!

“You guys... really have a death wish!” He looked at the speaker.

“You can tell Commander Li that!” the other replied calmly. “He doesn’t need to come if he doesn’t have the guts to!”

He Yong’s face flickered through a variety of expressions—crazy, they were all crazy!

The nine ministries had thrown down one hundred million stones in this locale to lure Li Hao into the ruins. This martial university was as small as a kindergarten... Alright, he was exaggerating, but it truly was not up to the standards of a typical martial university.

There was nothing worth investigating here apart from these mysterious power stones. Puppets could be supposedly found within the buildings; there was no treasure. He Yong couldn’t be bothered with them. All that filled his mind right now were the one hundred million stones.

“Brother He, aren’t you going to deliver this message to the outside world?” Another person looked at him with a meaningful smile. “There’s an energy mine here, are you going to take it for yourself?”

He Yong stared back at him.

“Don’t worry,” the person laughed. “So long as Commander Li comes fast enough, Brother He can keep a watch at the gates. Everyone is only coming in, no one is leaving and certainly no one will be stealing the treasure. All of it will remain right here!”

He Yong sighed dismissively. These guys really were something!

“You guys... might not even have bone dust left of you after everything is said and done!” He Yong crammed a few stones in his pockets and left. Those watching him felt their eyelids twitch, but no one stopped him. The man had only taken a dozen pieces, and it was only to be expected since he was such a shameless sort.

He Yong swiftly walked out of the school gates and stepped out of a ring of light. After returning to the outside world, he swiftly sent a message to Li Hao, then took up a spot at the entrance to wait for the young man. It was up to him now whether he came or not.

......

“One hundred million!”

The northern city quadrant.

Li Hao’s eyes lit up with shock and glee. Holy fuck! They really were willing to pay a hefty price for this operation! One hundred million... Even though a lot of parties are participating in this, each faction has to front at least several hundred! Are none of them thinking of life after this?

Granted, these factions had stood for decades and started excavating ruins before the rise of the supernatural. However, there weren’t many mines in the world. One hundred million was the equivalent of ten million stones used by the Battle Heaven Army. If converted to the equivalent of the ones that Hong Yitang had found on the ground, three of his massive pieces was equal to ten thousand regular stones. The biggest ones were thirty thousand pieces at most.

Sources of energy had all withered away in this day and age, so where did all this energy come from?

Li Hao’s face rapidly shifted through numerous emotions. He Yong had said that the stones were all piled away there without many precautions taken. The nine ministries’ meaning was clear. Here they were—dare you take them, Li Hao?

Of course he dared!

“Martial Uncle Hong, you should go with me.” Li Hao looked over those gathered.

“Just you two?” Hou Xiaochen frowned. Are you looking to die? Or do you just want to flirt with death? He rose with a dispassionate look. “I’m going in this time as well! I don’t care about core origin talismans, four or five element Arcanus, replicas of plant spirits or anything else, I just want to expand my horizons!”

Yao Si opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. Li Hao wanted him to stay here and oversee the Night Watchers. They did indeed require someone to hold down the fort as well.

“Count me in!” Light Sword stood up.

“Then me as well!” A small smile appeared on Manager Yu’s aloof face.

“You guys are too weak!” barked the young man.

“......” Manager Yu’s expression shifted slightly, as did Light Sword furrow her brows. Hou Xiaochen remained unmoved. The young man was obviously talking to the ladies, not him.

“Director Hou should also stay.”

“......” Hou Xiaochen stared at Li Hao, not saying a word or expressing anything through his eyes. So... you were including me when you said that we’re too weak?

He looked steadily at the young man. Since when did he, Hou Xiaochen, count as a weakling? Did you see it when I killed those Arcanus a few days ago? Who has ever dared call me a weakling in my entire life? The Steppe Prince didn’t dare do so when he was alive, neither did Ying Hongyue dare underestimate me when he rushed to Silver Moon!

But in the end, he was dismissed by a kid wet behind the ears! What an utter humiliation! The look in Hou Xiaochen’s eyes shifted as he looked at Li Hao, then at Hong Yitang. Had Hong Yitang taught him this?

“One hundred million mysterious power stones... that’s quite a hefty investment,” Deputy Zhou mulled over slowly. “It looks like the nine ministries have truly made up their minds this time. If you make it out alive, Li Hao... then you have truly found your footing in the world. No matter what you want to do until the second awakening, there will be no one who dares run afoul of you.”

If he won this time, the nine ministries would have to shrink in on themselves and quietly lick their wounds.

“Of course!” Li Hao laughed. “I’m going to accomplish the entire goal in one campaign. Why else would I be so brazen for? I’m going to use my success to break their bones and make them cower at home! I’d like to see if the nine ministries will be sending out their old geezers this time!”

“They might not,” Deputy Zhou joined in the laughter. “These people won’t rashly enter the ruins, they still need to keep the royal family under control. They should be actively restraining a royal powerhouse—it might be the old Skystar King. There would be no need for this otherwise.

“The old Skystar King fought the nine ministries back in the day and ultimately lost, giving the nine ministries a chance to rise up. But a few decades ago, the old ministers quickly withdrew behind the curtain as well. It likely had something to do with a counterattack from that one...”

Li Hao was hardly surprised by the new information. Was it strange that these people were still alive?

Not at all!

But he was rather curious now, how many of the old guard martial masters were still alive in Silver Moon? They couldn’t have all died out. The nine ministries and royal family still had people alive who were older than one hundred years old! As much as Silver Moon martial masters like to fight, the oldest martial master out in the public right now was Yuan Shuo. At seventy years old, he counted as an extreme veteran.

Were those older than him all dead?

It wasn’t a good time to ask this question. Li Hao looked at Hou Xiaochen. “Director Hou, it might be inconvenient if you... go inside. If large amounts of powerhouses appear, well, Martial Uncle Hong and I have broken our locks. But you...”

Hou Xiaochen simply continued looking coolly at him. Are you thinking too little of me?

“Very well then, we’ll add the director to the mix!” Li Hao smiled.

Someone broke through the air, blotting out the sun with his muscular body and lofty bearing. Clad in long robes, Sky Sword descended like an immortal gracing the world with his presence. A broadsword on his back broke the otherworldly image that he projected.

“Let’s go!” he said faintly with a look at Li Hao.

“......”

He said nothing else or asked any questions. He simply said, “Let’s go!”. It was as if he’d seen through to the true essence of everything and was simply here to kill people.

Li Hao looked back at Sky Sword. This was his third time seeing this august personage. The first time had been at the East Sea—Sky Sword had beat back the old duke with a single sword sword.

The second time had been at the Skystar Sea—he’d killed an Arcanus with one stroke. Three Red Moon elders had surrounded him after that, but he still killed one. It was plain to see just how incomparably strong he was.

And today, he was here again without extraneous words. Let’s go!

Li Hao broke out laughing. Sky Sword! The powerhouse who dominated the central region was here again.

“Senior Sky Sword...”

“Are you not going?” Sky Sword looked at him with confusion. “You stand a chance for survival in the ruins. Outside of them... While the situation may look more simple, it will actually be filled with more danger! Once you grow too strong, you might draw attention from both the royal family and the old farts at the nine ministries. It’s rather the ruins that appear to be risky, but offer a fighting chance since the enemy hasn’t plumbed its depths!”

Sky Sword was normally a man of few words, but he immediately touched upon the crux of the issue when he spoke. The outside world only appeared to be softer than the ruins, but the slightest misstep would result in being attacked on all sides like last time.

While there may be great hassle inside the ruins, they could kill everyone with no one the wiser. It would be very difficult for reinforcements to show after they killed the initial expedition team.

“Then Senior Sky Sword will be part of the expedition as well!” Li Hao smiled. “It’s us four!”

Light Sword wanted to volunteer, but Li Hao interrupted her. “Let’s just settle on us four. Senior Light Sword and Manager Yu should stay, I’ll also have Senior Southern Fist stay. You guys should coordinate with the Demon Hunters in the outside world to prevent the unexpected from developing. Added to that Director Yao and Deputy Zhou... that should be enough!”

He took out a small flask. “Here are one hundred drops of Water of Life. Use these if you need to unseal yourself at some point. I probably won’t be back for another five days after making this trip.”

The young man then brought out another flask and gave it to Deputy Zhou. “Here’s another one hundred drops of Water of Life. When it really comes down to it, and Yang Shan and Qin Lian are willing to put their lives on the line, then help them break through to Arcanus. This will be enough for them to stabilize their cultivation level!”

Two hundred drops!

Everyone took a sharp breath. Li Hao was being seriously generous!

Even Deputy Zhou was surprised and looked sharply at the lad. How many stones does one drop of your Water of Life cost? You gave me two hundred drops before, and here’s another two hundred. You must’ve spent at least one hundred drops on the Demon Hunter Army earlier. That makes for a total of five hundred drops in short order.

Just how rich are you?

Li Hao wanted to protest that he truly didn’t have much Water of Life left, that he only had one hundred drops or so in his storage rings. He really was almost out! Although one hundred drops sounded like a lot, he needed to save some for Director Hou and Sky Sword on this expedition, to say nothing of Hong Yitang and himself. If he didn’t claim that one hundred million stones, this expedition would be an enormous loss!