Chapter 236: Slaying Sunflare (IV)

More supernaturals rushed to the scene in short order. Someone knelt for a close look and whispered, “This is strange. These clothes show irregular cuts and damage. Black Armors use swords... Are they not the ones behind this?”

He was examining the late Li Dahu’s clothing. It was a portion that Liu Long had punched through, thus leaving a hole. Although the clothes had been hacked to pieces and it looked like a sword had done it, there were certain other traces to be found as well.

Li Hao and his comrades had left in such a hurry that they didn’t have time to collect the clothing or create a more realistic aftermath.

Some supernaturals vanished as soon as these words were uttered. No matter if they were true or not, they meant that this place was becoming ever more dangerous. It was fine if this postulation was false, but if true... Didn’t that mean there was internal strife between supernaturals?

Who knew how these Yama powerhouses had died? What if some other organizations had purposefully lured the soldiers here? Or perhaps they’d been fighting each other and the Black Armors appeared to kill them all!

The observing Yama powerhouse swiftly left with a piece of clothing. He needed to find Yao Cheng as soon as possible to tell him that someone had died, and possibly not to the soldiers! He’d sensed a hint of lingering aura, so it might be martial masters behind it!

Of course, he couldn’t easily voice this aloud. Once he did, the Sword Sect would come under the greatest suspicion. However, this faction always presented a neutral, nonthreatening front. It wasn’t a good idea to brashly declare war upon them.

Additionally, they didn’t appear to have any martial masters that knew the aura. Hong Yitang once grasped it, but he was a supernatural now.

Quiet gradually returned to the streets.

......

In the alley from earlier.

Li Hao, Liu Long, and Liu Yan heaved for breath, their hearts still racing.

“I made a severe mistake,” Liu Long raised his earlier point again. “These battle spoils have nothing to do with me. That’s one point. The other is that I’ll be bait from now on, the two of you stay back!”

Li Hao didn’t say anything. These were the team rules set by Liu Long himself. The young man wouldn’t oppose it if the captain wished to follow them.

Liu Yan was panting as well and grunted, “I have my revenge! I don’t need any rewards either. You can have it all, Li Hao!” Joy and a bit of helplessness crept into her voice. “I killed Li Dahu! I...”

“Revenge your ass!” Li Hao hissed. “Yama is your enemy. They sheltered the Qiaos and Li Dahu despite their crimes. Do you think killing just one Li Dahu is sufficient revenge? You’re so naive!”

Liu Yan’s joy at executing her vengeance immediately vanished. Yama weighed on her like a massive mountain from overhead. That carefree sense was nowhere to be found. Indeed, Yama was the chief offender, but damned if Li Hao wasn’t annoying!

Delivering these words at this time was too much of a blow to her mentality. Liu Yan didn’t know what to say and felt an emptiness in the wake of the joy that vanished.

Fine then, pretend I didn’t say anything.

“Keep an eye out for me,” said Li Hao. “I need to absorb some more mysterious power. We collected a bit of earth, wind, and fire this time. What a pity that we haven’t come across any water energy!”

It was getting a bit painful, his kidneys were at too great of a deficit! Of the five elements, he’d absorbed the most of fire and earth energy. Metal and wood lagged far behind, and there wasn’t any water to be had this time. If this continued, his visceral organs would be gravely imbalanced!

A person flashed through his mind—a mid Solar. There would be no more imbalance if he absorbed all of her energy. His kidneys would be the strongest then! A mid Solar would contain at least 1500 cubes of water energy.

The thought left as soon as it formed. That person would not be easy to take down. While a mid Solar might turn into a real pig after playing the pig for too long, their spontaneous reaction time and defensive ability wasn’t something that a Sunderer like him could break. He could try as a Dominator, especially armed with Stellaris and the aura of the sword. He might be able to defeat her then!

A sense of urgency nipped at Li Hao’s heels. He would break through as soon as he melded the two auras together. As for five auras? His teacher could have fun with that. He was fine with two. It didn’t matter if it was harder to comprehend the aura as a Dominator. He could deal with that when he was a Dominator.

In this environment, his very survival was at stake if he wasn’t a Dominator.

Li Hao furiously absorbed their new gains along with dwindling energy from the little sword. He was worried that there wasn’t sufficient sword energy for him to advance to Dominator. How was he supposed to replenish it given current circumstances?

Tendrils of mysterious power flowed into his body, bolstering his five visceral organs apart from the kidneys. His heart and spleen, in particular, were noticeably stronger than the others.

......

At the same time.

Yao Cheng of the Yama organization regarded a scrap of cloth in his hand with an unpleasant expression. “Hu Po is dead!”

Hu Po was a Sunflare that’d crossed over from being a martial master and was quite strong. The organization had placed great value on him as a budding talent in Silver Moon. But now he was dead!

Earth energy was highly useful when it came to the Black Armors. Losing one earth supernatural at this time was a greater loss than two or three fire supernaturals. Fire was too heavily restricted at the moment.

It was because earth energy was so effective that he sent Hu Po out with some men. Yao Cheng estimated that they’d be able to minimize danger within acceptable parameters even if they ran into the soldiers.

But Hu Po had still died!

Yao Cheng glowered. Were Black Armors really behind this? Why didn’t that seem to be entirely the case? Hu Po was no idiot. Why would he antagonize a ten soldier squad? Was it that someone didn’t want the earth supernatural to live since that gave Yama more chances to capture Black Armors?

“How many are dead?” he asked.

“Uncertain,” a subordinate murmured. “Other than confirmation of Hu Po and his men, our uniforms have appeared at other locales as well. There’s at least five Darkmoons and one Sunflare that’ve died!”

Yao Cheng’s face darkened. It’d only been how long, but they’d already lost six! This was the least of their losses as well. There were still some groups outside with their current status unknown. If this continued, wouldn’t they lose all of their people after exploring the nearby streets?

He’d brought eight with him and was joined by a few more later on. They numbered roughly a dozen. There weren’t that many Yama members in the ruins, how was he supposed to explain himself to the Revolution King that he’d lost so many at once?!

He brooded as his thoughts traveled here. “I need to report to the Revolution King. Be careful. Also, we can’t be the only ones to scout these streets. It’s far more dangerous than we expected, we need to work together with the others!”

The situation couldn’t continue as is!

His men didn’t have any opinions, so he swiftly vanished on the spot.

......

Within the darkness.

There was a clearing outside the ancient city where large numbers of supernaturals were gathered. Hu Dingfang swept a look over the surroundings a few times and glowered when he didn’t see Li Hao.

When Yama members came forward to demand an explanation as to why the Night Watchers hadn’t previously mentioned the soldiers in armor, Hu Dingfang stared coldly at the Revolution King.

“And are you willing to tell me what treasures and dangers that exist in the ruins that Yama has discovered?” he asked frostily. “Is something wrong with your brains or mine?”

“Hu Dingfang, do you really think you’re invincible here?” The Revolution King wore an arctic expression on his face. “Do you honestly think a late Solar is on par with a Nova?!”

In terms of strength, Hu Dingfang was a bit weaker than them, but the guy’s arrogance knew no bounds! He showed no face to Violet Moon or the Revolution King. Did he think the Night Watchers reigned high and mighty??

Celestial had ever been a mysterious organization and might not participate in this encirclement, but the same might not go for Violet Moon. It would be more than easy for the Revolution King and Violet Moon to move against Hu Dingfang and Hao Lianchuan. Did this guy have a death wish?

“Go ahead, just try!” Hu Dingfang answered calmly. “The Tiger Wings haven’t prepared that many city annihilation missiles, just ten. If I don’t make it out—if I’m not the first one out of those doors—you can yourselves to eat ten missiles. Don’t think too highly of yourself, Revolution. Do you really think I didn’t come prepared?”

He glared sharply at them and sneered, “I bet you haven’t the balls to do anything! Or do you think reinforcements from the central region can hold off the missiles for you?”

The Revolution King scowled! Not just him, but so did Violet Moon send a chilly look at Hu Dingfang.

City annihilation missiles!

This was part of the basis for the army’s confidence. These weapons of mass destruction were top secret. Each province only had a few and they were all army property. As capable as the three great organizations were, they weren’t strong enough to infiltrate the higher levels of the military. In fact, the military partnered with the supernatural organizations in some provinces. That was another story entirely.

In Silver City, only the commanders of the three armies could wield city annihilation missiles. Hu Dingfang was one of them as well as the other two commanders. The overall commander-in-chief had such authority as well.

Violet Moon’s indifferent voice cut through the air as soon as Hu Dingfang finished speaking. “So this means that the missiles will be fired if you die in the ruins? We have to ensure your safety as well? How ridiculous!” she snorted. “Let’s see who has the right to command the missiles when you’re not around.”

“My wife!” answered Hu Dingfang. “My wife is wonderful in aspects, but not in keeping the bigger picture in mind! If I die and don’t make it out, she won’t think of the bigger picture. Try her if you don’t believe me!”

The assembly frowned. Who would’ve thought that Hu Dingfang would go to these depths? They said nothing more after thinking it over. If city annihilation missiles were indeed fired, then everyone would die. Violet Moon and the Revolution King stood a chance of survival as they carried origin weapons and held the strength of a peak Solar. They should be fine if they needed to escape at a pivotal moment. At the same time, heavy injuries were inevitable.

However, if everyone they came with died, they wouldn’t be able to explain themselves either. They were just the leaders of a branch, not headquarters.