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Chapter 367: Gathering (I)

“No!” The man shook his head. “But if it’s just sparring, it’ll be like the fights with the other centurions. He’s stronger than Wang Qing, so there won’t be a case of accidentally using too much force. There are great benefits to be had in sparring.”

“I don’t want to fight him because of any grudge,” Wang Qing murmured. “My master’s not dead, so there’s no hatred to speak of. I just want to see how strong the Five Styles discipline is. He’s young, so I really want to broaden my horizons!”

Golden Spear nodded.

“Master, then I...” the young woman was tempted.

“You shouldn’t go,” Golden Spear reminded. “You’d have to be careful of dying to him!”

“Hmm?” exclaimed the young woman.

“You are a little stronger than Wang Qing,” Golden Spear exclaimed. “And have barely crossed the threshold to Defier. Your will poses a threat to him. The way of the spear is one of violence and slaughter. His killing intent is very strong. Li Hao may be able to pull his blows with Wang Qing, but he might not be able to do so with you.”

The young woman was on par with a Solar, and she was very young!

Off to the side, Wang Qing wasn’t surprised at all. This was to be expected as Kong Youyun not only had a powerful teacher, but also a noteworthy family. Her father was Inspector General Kong Jie of the Inspectorate. Kong Jie had been a martial expert back in the day, or he wouldn’t sit so firmly in the position of inspector general.

But after he ascended to the supernatural domain, he no longer passed on martial dao. Hence, he sent his daughter to learn from Golden Spear. It further emphasized that the Night Watchers and Inspectorate were two sides of the same coin. The Inspectorate had plainly known about the Guards long ago and provided significant help.

Kong Youyun didn’t say anything further. Since her teacher had spoken, there must be a certain rationale to his thinking.

“Master, what level is the Five Styles King now?” she asked instead. “He defeated the late Solar Qimei Staff... Is he possibly late or peak Defier?”

“Him?” Golden Spear gave it some thought. “He’s at least peak Defier, he wouldn’t have been able to kill Qimei Staff otherwise! Although Qimei Staff was only a late Solar, his martial will was never extinguished! His battle strength was exceedingly strong, which puts Yuan Shuo at peak Defier at the very least!”

“He’s improved so quickly!” Kong Youyun sighed. “He just broke through to Dominator and reached another level in the blink of an eye. No wonder he was the greatest demon back in those times!”

Golden Spear remained quiet, Yuan Shuo’s form appearing in his mind’s eye. This was a brazen, unbridled, and utterly cocky person. Yuan Shuo had caught his spear with bare hands in their fight. If it hadn’t been for how durable the spear was, he would’ve snapped it in two.

After losing to Yuan Shuo, Golden Spear fell from the cusp of breaking through to Dominator. He never reached it again. Every time he stood poised on the threshold of Dominator, he was assailed by an incredibly uncomfortable feeling to the point where he couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t until Hou Xiaochen stabbed his internal demon to death did he manage the final step.

Golden Spear himself also understood that this meant it was very hard for him to ever surpass Yuan Shuo. So long as Yuan Shuo’s path stretched onward, he would most likely be the victor if the two met again!

An internal demon was difficult to vanquish. Beside him, Kong Youyun noticed something and said softly, “Master, I will challenge the Five Styles King when I perfect my path of martial dao!”

“Forget it, the grudges of the past generation have nothing to do with you.” Golden Spear shook his head. A challenge wasn’t a spar, it was a very serious matter. Yuan Shuo would kill her in such a fight.

When Qimei Staff challenged Yuan Shuo, the latter hadn’t necessarily wanted to kill his opponent. But neither combatant cared about that when the interest seized them. In some people’s eyes, it was a mark of respect to kill their opponent.

Golden Spear looked at Li Hao on the balcony. The young man clumsily slashed forward again and again. Golden Spear didn’t find anything wrong with this sight; this was how the spear should be practiced. Perseverance prevailed, so he quite admired this kind of attitude.

But... that also meant he wasn’t out recruiting people.

“Master, then... do we still go to the ruins?” asked Kong Youyun. “We didn’t gain too much from our last trip. Although they aren’t as dangerous as Battle Heaven, I feel that we’ll still collect a lot if we fully explore it. Why don’t we take Second Brother Mu and Li Hao with us? That might bring us other rewards.”

Golden Spear sank into deep thought. He’d been exploring a particular set of ruins over the past couple of days. Although they weren’t intact like Battle Heaven after millions of years, there was still notable danger within them. Danger meant opportunity.

He’d emerged empty-handed after three attempts. This time, he was of a mind to bring some Guard experts with him.

“Isn’t Li Hao the disciple of the Five Styles King?” Kong Youyun pointed out. “The Five Styles King is most adept at exploring ruins...”

That tempted Golden Spear. He nodded after some thought. “Mm, notify him that he will go with me after five... no, ten days. We’ll be in charge of exploring virgin land. The Guards can follow if we are successful!”

This was a Silver Moon Guard tradition. The strongest took the first crack and thus reaped the greatest harvest. The weak were allowed into the ruins after the biggest dangers were defused. There would still be danger left, but it was much reduced.

Granted, accidents were still possible. There’d been instances of severe casualties when danger was overlooked by the first team. It couldn’t only be veterans filling the ranks of the Silver Moon Guards after so many years. Many of the veterans were long dead. The modern day Guards were the second or third generation of troops.

......

Immersed in training, Li Hao was unaware that he would so quickly be assigned a mission. He was unable to extract himself from the joys of repetitive movement. The figure on the balcony hacked from morning to night. Thanks to sword energy, he wasn’t concerned about accumulating injuries from overexerting himself. On the other hand, Golden Spear and Mu Lin were worried about the eventuality since the young man could be a bit too feverish at times. He would easily hurt himself if he continued in this vein.

However, their relationship with him wasn’t that close, so no one stepped forward to speak some sense.

......

The second day.

Li Hao disappeared.

He didn’t leave the Silver Moon Guards. The young man continued his game of chase with Flaming Phoenix Spear in the jungle next to his apartment.

One human and one spear darted swiftly through the trees. It was just mysterious power stones—Li Hao was quite willing to spend when he needed to. Manager Yu was only lending the weapon to him for three days. How wasteful would it be if he didn’t utilize it to its fullest extent?

......

Li Hao was blind and deaf to the affairs of the outside world as he trained. A group of newcomers arrived at the complex on this day. Manager Yu was in the lead, as usual, but a dazed look was found in her eyes.

Hong Yitang’s wife had sought out the Night Watchers that morning with this group of people. She was looking for Li Hao. Manager Yu learned of the situation after a brief conversation. Sponsors...

Li Hao really had gotten himself a sponsor, and not an ordinary one! The Sword Sect was giving him most of their martial disciples. This was the fullest display of support that they could give. While their strongest was late Sunderer, the Sword Sect’s martial masters solidly cultivated their way to this level of achievement. They rarely employed mysterious power, so their foundations were very sound. Although Hong Yitang was no longer a martial master, he gave his disciples a thorough grounding and training process. He grasped a very deep understanding of martial dao.

These Sword Sect disciples might soon enter a period of fast development once they join the Silver Moon Guards. Manager Yu also knew that the director quite had his eye on the Sword Sect.

According to Hou Xiaochen, Silver Moon’s martial masters had declined with the rise of the supernatural. There were very few systems within the province that continued to focus on raising martial masters and helping them learn and grow. Some sects touted themselves with martial heritage when, in reality, they utilized supernatural methods. They swiftly strengthened themselves with mysterious power with the goal of ascending to the supernatural once they reached peak Slayer.

Some with greater ambition aimed for Sunderer so they could cross over as a Sunflare. There were very few who remained on the straight and narrow of martial dao.

These people didn’t care about passing on martial tutelage. There were supernatural techniques to be had once the crossover was made, so why waste time on learning to fling hands and feet around? Only a secret art that could take one to Sunderer was needed.

Such was the problem that existed with many martial masters of modern times.

Never could Manager Yu fathom that the faction the director had his eye on for the longest time would throw their lot in with Li Hao! Although Li Hao was also a Night Watcher, it didn’t make sense to the secretary. Was Li Hao more dependable than the director? Hou Xiaochen would surely accept them if Hong Yitang went to him; there wouldn’t need to be someone else between them.

......

In front of the Silver Moon Guards building.

Golden Spear himself stood in welcome. He was startled to learn that these people came from the Sword Sect. Earthturner Sword’s disciples. He inclined his head after sweeping them with a glance, surprised by their bearing and mood that plainly spoke of excellent condition. They lacked the lost dejectedness found in most martial masters of the day. Some martial masters were in exceedingly poor condition due to continued failure to ascend to the supernatural!

They were so obsessed with crossing over that they’d long lost the self-assured carefree poise that should be found in a martial master.

Earthturner Sword Hong Yitang had been quite famous back in his day. He’d become a laughing stock after avoiding several of Yuan Shuo’s challenges. Ridicule became attached to his name, one that was just as striking as the mighty Sky Sword of the Seven Swords. It wasn’t for no reason that people spoke of skies churning and earth turning when the swords were unsheathed!

Golden Spear swept a glance over Hongxiu, knowing some of the inside story. Hongxiu had been Hong Yitang’s eldest disciple. ...forget it, he couldn’t be bothered saying anything since both of them had become supernaturals. Golden Spear didn’t even have the desire to tease them. He didn’t consider Hongxiu for too long, but quickly turned to Hong Qing with some curiosity.

She had very solid foundations! All of the Sword Sect martial masters did, but Hong Qing was Hong Yitang’s daughter. Being as mighty as he was, Golden Spear easily determined Hong Qing’s’s strength with a quick glance. Hong Yitang’s an interesting one! The other disciples more or less showed signs of mysterious power, even with reduced usage compared to other martial masters. The traces were obvious when mysterious power was employed, Li Hao was no exception either!

But Hong Qing was a bonafide late Sunderer, one who’d never supplemented with mysterious power. It was extremely rare to train to late Sunderer at her age without resorting to mysterious power!

Granted, there was also the possibility that she’d employed mysterious power stones instead. Mysterious power stones barely left traces of energy on the user.