Star Gate

Chapter 435: The Ruins Open Again (II)

The Red Moon delegation collectively frowned, not understanding their leader’s intentions.

“When I left, the leader said that Hou Xiaochen cannot sustain long intervals of strength. He is very strong, but he must conclude battle quickly. Therefore, we will whittle away at him bit by bit.

“Additionally, all we need to do when we reach Battle Heaven is to determine if it is the real Battle Heaven.”

“......” This left the group even more confused. The real Battle Heaven? What did that mean?

Green Moon was equally resigned. This was how their leader operated at times. His words made absolutely no sense.

“Our leader means to say... he means... I don’t know how to explain it either. You guys know his style. All he said that we’ll naturally know if it’s the real Battle Heaven. If not, we won’t feel it either.”

The group exchanged wordless glances with each other. Forget it, they weren’t going to dwell further on this. They understood in the sense that Ying Hongyue didn’t have specific demands, other than Li Hao being the only concrete goal. Plainly, the young man was more important than any origin weapon in their leader’s eyes.

It was all the more confusing. Was Li Hao really that important? In that case, why didn’t they bring their full strength to bear against the young man? Why did they split up their forces to hunt Yuan Shuo? Or was Yuan Shuo equally as much of a threat?

Additionally, their leader couldn’t easily leave their headquarters, or it’d give government agencies such as the Night Watchers a chance to dismantle a core Red Moon position. But there were many powerhouses among the elder council, some of whom were listed on the Divine Masters Ranking. Why had they gone missing as well?

While the Seven Moons of Red Moon were the leading figures of the organization, things were a bit complicated. Whether out of loyalty to past relationships or simply a lecherous nature... Ying Hongyue had assigned purely women to the first generation of Seven Moons.

It wasn’t until the second generation that men such as Blue Moon were chosen. Therefore, the strength of the Seven Moons was inconsistent. Some were weaker than those of the elder council, but none of the elders complained. Everyone knew that Red Moon answered to one family. Ying Hongyue was the leader, so it didn’t matter if his lovers were the leaders or not.

Although some of the delegation were still very confused as to their mission in the ruins, they also knew that Ying Hongyue had an eccentric temper. He would explain more if one caught him in a good mood, but explode with rage if asked when he was in a sour mood. An irritable Ying Hongyue was a frightening prospect.

......

Not only was Red Moon discussing their plans, but so was Yama. The Parity King was the most infuriated of all. He stalked around their camp with a glowering expression. It was one thing that the Revolution King had yet to return, but his sixteen hell masters had also gone missing!

He’d given orders that if they failed to catch up to Li Hao, they should rush back before the ruins opened. And yet, his men were well aware that the ruins would open first thing tomorrow morning, but there was no sign of them to be seen.

Where the hell were they??

Ash Mountain was very dangerous.

Parity’s strength would greatly increase with his sixteen hell masters. He was just a mid Nova if they did not return. Highly cantankerous, he kept sending scouts to look for his men.

You bastard Revolution! Die if you must, don’t drag my people down with you!

......

As the three great organizations urgently waited for word of their own, the night grew long without any clues. The clock ticked over to the 28th.

The ruins would open again when dawn broke; people crowded the entrance before any rays of sunlight hit the horizon.

A group of Night Watchers and Silver Moon Guards surrounded the cliff face, preventing the crowd from pressing up to the entrance. The two government institutions were under enormous pressure as there were too many people and experts present. Most were here for treasure, but quite a few were here for Hou Xiaochen.

More people gathered the more time went on. Some renowned personnel made themselves known as well.

“Xu Feng’s here!” Someone recognized Xu Feng in the distance. The entrant on the Divine Masters Ranking landed on a cliff face instead of jostling with the crowd.

“The Liu family of Skystar City is here!”

“Those are people from Near River province’s government, right?” Some within the assembly recognized those from Silver Moon’s neighboring province.

Near River’s hierarchy of power slightly differed from Silver Moon’s. The four institutions were on even footing in Silver Moon. Near River was similar, but its director general enjoyed high status and exercised great authority. He occupied absolute advantage and spoke for the rest of the province. He’d combined the various institutions into one—the Near River Director General Office. He was the first of Near River in both deed and name. Those from his office were here.

The canyon bustled with activity as more powerhouses arrived. A loud laugh cut through the assembly. “Everyone’s here early!”

An unkempt, unshaved man walked through the air. He shattered a few rocks when he landed with a rumble. Some recognized him as well.

“Southern Fist is here!”

“That guy? This isn’t a place for him to throw his weight around. People show face to the royal family outside the ruins, but who will care about a royal instructor once they’re inside? He’s just a martial master and though he’s said to be strong because he changed his blood a few times, putting him on par with Solars... That’s nothing on this venture.”

Southern Fist’s arrival raised a flurry of discussion, but not that many people cared. Even those from Skystar City swept a quick glance over the man and moved on to other topics.

......

On the cliff face.

Xu Feng of the white accents in his hair chuckled when he looked at He Yong. “Southern Fist... I hear he’s changed his blood three times and possesses the battle strength of a Solar?”

The old man next to him cast a complicated look at He Yong and nodded. “That is indeed what they say.”

“Mmhmm.” Xu Feng looked into the distance with a frown. “Qi Gang’s here as well.”

That was his true opponent. As a fellow peer on the Divine Masters Ranking, Qi Gang came from the Ministry of Administration and was ranked much higher than him. They were both mid Novas, but Qi Gang was stronger.

Xu Feng was aware of numerous people in attendance who were also listed on the Divine Masters Ranking. There was Blue Moon of the Red Moon organization, Qi Gang of the Ministry of Administration, and a famous elder from Celestial called the Umbra Swordsman. The swordsman had once assassinated a Nova.

Just as Xu Feng observed the premises, so were those around him doing the same. Many heavyweights had responded to the lure of these ruins.

......

Li Hao was also present in the crowd. Instead of his suit of black armor, he was wearing a mask. It was one of a ferocious tiger instead of the Red Moon ghost face. The mask would be conspicuous in normal times, but quite normal as of the moment.

There were numerous other masks around him as wandering cultivators were also worried of harm befalling them. If someone learned of their identity after they secured some treasure, they’d be hunted in the outside world after leaving the ruins. Thus, concealment from the very beginning was necessary.

Li Hao ignored them. He looked around, identifying quite a few people thanks to the information he’d obtained a few days ago. Mid Nova Xu Feng was one of the more famous. The mid Nova rushing in from a distance was Qi Gang from outside government authorities. The young man also knew initial Nova Hu Qingfeng.

Many had come from Red Moon—Li Hao saw a few balls of light belonging to Novas with a quick scan. One of them was even stronger than Qi Gang. That was probably Green Peacock, also known as the Green Moon.

Apart from the two Novas of Green and Blue Moon, Red Moon possessed another two Novas. One was initial Nova and the other was... late Nova! Their ball of light wasn’t that obvious and they were listed in what he’d obtained. It looked like they were obscuring their identity.

It was the oldest trick in the book! These people loved pulling these ruses, but none of it fooled Li Hao.

His eyes abruptly settled on a young man on the Red Moon side. The latter was also looking around, a strange look in his eyes. Li Hao followed the young man’s focus, a strange look entering his eyes as he did so.

The Red Moon youngster was looking at all the people who Li Hao had identified as concealing their identities! He was pinpointing all the powerful ones, including some martial masters!

......

At the same time, on the Red Moon side.

“There are a couple Solars in the crowd,” transmitted the young man as he glanced around. “I can’t tell if there’s any Novas yet, but the Solars can’t conceal their broken supernatural locks. I can tell that four of their locks have broken...

“There are also some formidable martial masters present with aura around them.”

The youngster’s eyes were slightly different—he had more whites in his eyes. However, that was only discernible through close examination.

Green Moon didn’t mind. “Look at Hou Xiaochen!” she transmitted.

Hou Xiaochen had arrived in the distance.

Blood flooded the young man’s eyes. He grunted before responding, “I can’t see anything... just a spear that threatens to split the void. I can’t keep looking at him. If I do, my eyes will be crippled!”

Green Moon greeted these words solemnly. That strong? The youngster in front of her was one of the Heaven’s Eyes.

It was very difficult to train one. Although the organization didn’t have many of them, they’d gone to the trouble of bringing a veteran Heaven’s Eye to Rift Canyon so they could better observe the various factions and the dangers within the ruins. Who would’ve thought that they’d come up short against Hou Xiaochen?

......

In the distance.

Hou Xiaochen looked at the Red Moon delegation and smiled at the youngster. He murmured to the person next to him, “A Heaven’s Eye... how nice to have one’s heavenly eye opened. They can see things that others cannot. It’s rumored that Li Hao also has his open. What do you guys think?”

No one replied.

Kong Jie was also looking around and asked after a while, “Ole Hou, do you think Li Hao’s here?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re too humble!” Kong Jie laughed. “He should be. Forget it, he must have his own thoughts. Ole Hou, there are a lot of powerhouses here this time. Are you confident?”

“I’ll need the inspector general to look after me.”

“Hah, nah, I can’t do it!” Kong Jie chuckled.

“Earthturner Sword is here again?” Hou Xiaochen suddenly frowned at a person far away.

“......” The group followed his gaze and saw Hong Yitang burrowing into the crowd like he was an ordinary person. Hou Xiaochen remained quietly frowning, while Golden Spear raised an eyebrow.

“Earthturner Sword... is growing ever more dispirited these days.”

How was that how the second sword of the Seven Swords should comport himself?

Manager Yu and Berserk also looked over without a word.