Chapter 1144: Tranquil Star Ruins (II)

On the twelfth day of Li Hao’s disappearance.

Skystar City, the Skystar Commander Office.

Lin Hongyu was the Skystar commander now. The eastern commander was still Light Sword; she was delivering her report with enormous killing intent.

“The Xu family of the eastern continent has suddenly grown in strength for some reason. Although we were easily able to take the other regions on the eastern continent, the Xus remain stubbornly defiant!”

Everyone in the Skystar Commander Office brimmed with impulse and killing intent.

“Are you unable to raze the Xus even with your level of strength?” frowned Lin Hongyu.

There was almost no one worthy of note in the Steadfast Marquis household anymore. Their current and previous patriarch had been killed. All those that remained were trash.

Light Sword was now peak third level Sun and Moon. Although she was still weaker than some, this level of strength could fight almost everyone in the world except for a few kings and Li Hao. She would even be able to match Jiang Li.

How could she not arrest the entire Xu family given such capabilities?

That was a joke!

Not to mention, one hundred thousand troops marched under the eastern commander banner. Their only mission was to kill all holdouts. There were at least ten thousand Dominators among her troops. This level of force was sufficient to trample any faction!

“The Xu patriarch now is Xu Qing’s younger brother, Xu Huan,” Light Sword summarized. “He was just a Nova supernatural before. The Xus left behind two generals of Heaven and Earth. That meant they had three peak Novas, which would make them the same level as the current peak Dominators...”

This level of strength made the family very weak. Lin Hongyu frowned at what she heard.

If that was the case, it should be a walk in the park to eliminate the Xus. The eastern continent was faced with Barren Dynasty. Li Hao was not responsible for these duties anymore—she was in her capacity as the Skystar commander.

Lin Hongyu hailed from the City of Supernaturals and wasn’t one of Li Hao’s original subordinates. It was very important that she executed these tasks well.

She’d originally thought that it would be easy to sweep the four continents clean of rebels. Who would’ve thought that the unexpected would occur with the eastern continent?

“Give me a detailed overview,” Lin Hongyu instructed.

“Everything started off well.” Light Sword was quite aggrieved and resigned by the situation. “Firebright province and other major factions were very willing to cooperate with us. Only the Xu family ignored all of our correspondence. I concluded business at the other locales first and prepared to deal a swift blow to the Xus. However, trouble resulted as soon as I set foot into Xu territory!

“For some reason, Xu Huan’s strength has ballooned. He’s even stronger than me now. I fought him for a few rounds and was outright suppressed by his supernatural character. Thankfully, Director General Zhao was in the area to facilitate a transition of officials in the local governments and quickly arrived on the scene. He helped me beat back Xu Huan, which was when the two remaining generals appeared. They’re mid Sun and Moon now!”

Lin Hongyu started. Light Sword had sent back messages prior to her arrival, but they hadn’t been very clear. The content had been a bit ambiguous, so Lin Hongyu was quite baffled by the abrupt mention of a supernatural character.

How could there be a supernatural on the scene? That was an exclusive method that the commander had created!

“Supernatural character? Are you sure about that?” She frowned, having come to some preliminary judgments. “His Grace’s supernatural characters stem from the unique arts of Tranquil Star. Could you be mistaken and actually encountered that instead?”

“It’s... possible.” Light Sword jerked to a halt and thought over her fight. “The Xus are said to control the ruins of Tranquil Star. But Director General Wang also said that Tranquil Star is the martial dao sacred land of the ancient civilization! That city produced a lot of exalted emperors, but there was no satellite city established in Silver Moon world.”

“Jiang Yingli and the others came from Tranquil Star. Of the eight main cities, the Lius, Zhous, and Zhengs also come from Tranquil Star...”

Of the Xu family, there was something very odd about the names of Xu Qing’s sons. Xu Zhen and Xu Xing were respectively the characters for Tranquil Star.

Everyone had said that the patriarch had named his sons with grandiose daydreams. A connection to Tranquil Star? Impossible!

But now that Light Sword thought it over, she grew slightly confused. “Can it... really be that sacred land? But it was on the main world, what is it doing on Silver Moon world?”

There must be special circumstances involved for the Xus to suddenly grow so much stronger. Regular ruins could not easily create mid Sun and Moon powerhouses. One had to know, many of the surviving owners of the ruins weren’t necessarily at that cultivation level. That was the equivalent of the Immortal level!

While many owners and plant spirits were Immortals, not all of them had awakened, much less create more heavyweights of the same cultivation level.

“Whatever the truth is, it is confirmed that their battle strength has greatly increased,” Lin Hongyu concluded. “And it has something to do with the legendary Tranquil Star ruins. In that case, this is worth an investigation! It might be very useful to us if we are able to seize it.”

“Since the ruins can create mid Sun and Moon cultivators for the Xus, I’m more worried that there will be a Saint inside!” Light Sword hesitated. “Otherwise, I would’ve been able to defeat them if I just brute forced that fight.

“His Grace is in closed door cultivation, but that peace of mind is predicated on the fact that there isn’t great danger in the world.” She glanced at Lin Hongyu. “If our losses are too great against the Xus... His Grace may be dissatisfied when he emerges from seclusion.

“Also, whether Tranquil Star is real or a satellite city, it will have something to do with Jiang Yingli and her fellow students. The others may not care, but His Grace should probably be notified if we march against it.”

“That’s true!” Lin Hongyu nodded in agreement. It would be one thing if they smoothly took over the ruins. But if their losses were too heavy and they truly did encounter a Saint, then only Li Hao would be able to fight the enemy.

Even Director General Zhao, steadily working toward seventh level Sun and Moon, might not be able to stand against the enemy. There were also too many implications when it came to Tranquil Star...

“Then let’s do it like this.” Lin Hongyu looked around with finality. “We’ll take down the Xus first. Those in the ruins can’t walk around in the world at the moment. Even if they can emerge, they won’t be that strong. We’ll seal off the ruins first and wait for the marquis to return before making a decision!”

“Alright!” Light Sword nodded.

“Have Sky Sword and Tyrant Blade set their tasks aside for now. They can go with you. If that’s not enough, have Empress Dowager Qiao make the trip too!”

The Skystar Commander Office could call on a strong cohort of personnel these days, they did not lack for powerhouses. Most places they targeted surrendered upon hearing their name! Who dared offer resistance these days?

Since the Xus courted death, the Skystar Commander Office would send out heavyweights to squash their little rebellion!

......

Calm Borders province, the Xus, manor of the Steadfast Marquis.

The eastern continent was nearly completely occupied by the Skystar government these days. Only Calm Borders remained under Xu control.

In the manor of the Steadfast Marquis.

Xu Patriarch Xu Huan looked around with an unpleasant expression. He’d taken an enormous risk lately and seen his strength improve by incredible leaps and bounds. Surely there would be no one in the eastern continent who could stand against him after he emerged from seclusion, and potentially the rest of the world!

But setting aside Barren Dynasty confined to their territory, not even Li Hao showed in person. Only the Steadfast Marquis’ former overseer Light Sword was present. Just her alone was sufficient to force him into the field.

And that wasn’t it! He’d thought that sending out the two generals would be enough to defeat the woman, but Zhao Shuguang popped out from somewhere. Xu Huan nearly lost one of his people in the fight!

The conflict only ended when the enemy retreated, leaving the trio noticeably wounded. Xu Huan was quite morose for it!

The world had changed too quickly. They’d been in the ruins all this time and missed quite a few developments. Communication systems were down after they reemerged in the world, which rendered their transmission pendants ineffective. Even now, they were unaware of the exact situation. They only knew whatever others told him.

People whispered and held hushed conversations within the manor, slightly apprehensive about the future. They’d been delighted when Xu Huan and the others left closed door communication, but now...

“They said in the ruins that our current strength would be strong in New Martial,” Xu Huan said after momentary silence. “We would be able to fight even Immortals in an age without core origin! We’re mid Sun and Moon in Li Hao’s cultivation system, but this level of strength has trouble taking down even Light Sword!

“When Zhao Shuguang arrived, he showed that he was stronger than us! This is terrifying...” sighed the man. “I’ve thought it over—we weren’t in the ruins for long, so it can only be said that the heavens are not on our side. In that case, we should enter the ruins one more time.”

The other two paled at his decision. They were originally Novas that neared Arcanus, but abruptly advanced to mid Sun and Moon. It was easy to see how much of a price they’d paid for this progress.

There’d been many that entered the ruins, but only the three of them that emerged. It wasn’t that the others were killed by the existence in the ruins, but that they couldn’t endure the process of improvement and exploded.

The three that’d survived came back out into the world with certain missions to accomplish. But now, they had to go back because they’d encountered trouble as soon as they reemerged, to say nothing of accomplishing their missions.

“Your Grace,” the Heaven General’s expression was solemn. “We have not achieved anything, so it might not be appropriate to return to the ruins so quickly after leaving. That great one also said that we should not disturb him for no reason. Li Hao may be the least of our worries if we return now...”

“Then what do you say we should do?” Xu Huan was resigned.

Everyone fell silent. What

should

they do? They didn’t know either.

“Can... we talk to Li Hao?” ventured the Earth General. “He clashed with the family before, but left us alone after. Li Hao didn’t come himself this time and we are not weak anymore. Perhaps he would be willing to talk.”

“Talk?” Xu Huan sank into deep thought. “That’s true. Although his side is strong, so are we. In addition, Barren Dynasty lurks around us, lying in wait. I’ve already sent people out to scout the premises. Reports say that the Barren princess has led a large sum of elite cavalry to wander around our borders! Starting a fight with the Xu family would also be a risk for Li Hao...”

BOOM!

A thunderclap roared in the vicinity and shook the entire complex. Xu Huan’s eyes widened with alarm!

The three quickly flew out before the manor was decimated and turned into rubble. Large numbers of servants and followers died on the spot!

Xu Huan glowered and a supernatural character materialized over his body. Or rather, the battle characters of Tranquil Star and not the supernatural characters of Li Hao’s invention. The character suppressed the world when it appeared!

Figures flashed onto the scene—Light Sword was here again.