Chapter 413: A Great Show (IV)

The tiger floated through the air like a patch of clouds. A gust of white mist rose and enveloped Earthturner—a water tiger!

Hong Yitang cursed to himself, but didn’t pay much attention to the attack. He parted the mist with a sword slash and ran off. Meanwhile, Southern Fist was sent flying by another punch and utilized the momentum to draw nearer to Hong Yitang.

“Take me with you!” he bellowed with tragic resignation. “Brother Hong, let’s go together. Don’t run off by yourself!”

Oh, for...

Hong Yitang didn’t respond.

Go fuck yourself! Get away by yourself! I don’t want to be with you! One tiger is hard enough to shake off already—here comes another giant ape. Do you want the two of us to die together??

A massive boom echoed in the distance. The Revolution King’s body was breaking after being whipped by the snake tail, but he utilized the strength of his origin weapon to turn into a gust of wind and churn through the snake’s blockade. He convened with Half Mountain and Tidal Wave, enlarging the wind chime without a word and enclosing all three with it. The other two immediately infused the origin weapon with endless mysterious power.

The golden eagle settled its claws around the wind chime and closed them with a crunch!

The origin weapon did not break—it would require more than that to break it. Not even the formidable eagle could shatter it like that!

The three acted like they’d worked together for years. The Revolution King directed the wind chime to protect the trio as they swiftly shot for the outskirts of Ash Mountain. All three were vomiting blood, but they ignored their state of being and infused their mysterious power into the origin weapon. That enabled the origin weapon to accelerate to new heights—they would make it out if they could go past the mountain!

A frosty look in its eyes, the golden eagle gave chase. It was followed by a swiftly slithering snake. The former was so fast that it caught up to the wind chime in a thunderous dive and forced it to slow down. Cracks even appeared in the origin weapon’s exterior defenses! The three powerhouses shrieked and wailed, filling the wind chime with as much mysterious power as they could bring to bear.

......

Li Hao took note of everything; the young man was so terrified that he couldn’t move. All four major monster spirits were on the hunt! This ran so far beyond his expectations that he only absentmindedly scanned the golden light emanating from the distant mountain valley. He couldn’t be bothered to consider it more fully.

What should I do?

Run? Will that raise attention? Also, Southern Fist is pretty strong. He’s stronger than I thought.

Mm, there’s Hong Yitang as well. So it’s not Golden Spear, that’s surprising. Where’s Hong Yitang’s ball of light? This guy’s really perversely strong. That tiger is incredible, but it still can’t take him.

Additionally, the powerhouses of the three great organizations were much stronger than anticipated. Sixteen Solars were dead, but the three remaining representatives could still work in such harmony. It made Li Hao wonder—did the senior executives of these organizations often partner together?

Otherwise, to cooperate so well on their first attempt... That would be a reflection of utmost battle consciousness. But was that possible?

At the moment, this tiny part of the woods hosted eight Nova level powerhouses and one peak Solar equipped with an origin weapon. There were sixteen dead Solars on the ground... It was a battle that exceeded all the ones that’d ever taken place in Silver Moon. Hou Xiaochen hadn’t given rise to such a scene when he killed the Nova!

Li Hao abruptly made up his mind. Play dead!

He would play dead without shifting a finger. They weren’t traveling in his direction, so he could lie low and wait for the situation to clear. The sparkling golden light probably meant that the flower was mature, but he wasn’t interested or had designs on it.

His only thought was that with it matured, these monster spirits might depart and go home after eating it. This place was obviously not their normal camping grounds. Therefore, he would survive if he outlasted them. As for claiming that ultimate treasure for himself... The young man didn’t wish to die. As soon as those monster spirits discovered that the item was gone, they would search through the air, ground, water, and trees. As opposed to thinking he could make it to safety, the young man thought it would be better to pray that all parties died together!

Not to mention, the Demon Hunters were nearby. If he took the treasure, that would cause the monster spirits to search high and low. That would certainly expose the team and cause their demise.

He might’ve been able to try if he was here alone. But in these circumstances, he was better off suppressing the impulse.

Li Hao fell to the ground like he was dead, still covered in leaves and awaiting the end of battle. As for Hong Yitang whom he did have good relations with...

Forget it, it’s not that I’m not saving you, but that I don’t have the right to! Not to mention, nothing might happen to him. He’s so damned strong!

The young man thought back to the earlier conflict as he laid on the ground. Who would survive at the end of it all? Did Southern Fist have a hope of seeing it through? What about the powerhouses of the three great organizations? Even if the latter did, would Southern Fist and Hong Yitang permit them to walk out of Ash Mountain? They’d concealed their strength for so many years; it was all exposed today.

I am so very weak...

Li Hao sighed to himself. The weakest present was the Revolution King, but he might not measure up to the man either. It was quite a blow to his ego.

Tiger roars shook the air far away, followed by piercing calls from the golden eagle. Crashes and collisions abounded!

The entire mountain seemed to have quieted down; all wild beast noises had vanished. Only the major monster spirits could be heard in all directions. Some fervent cursing from Southern Fist and Hong Yitang could also be heard in the wind. Those two seemed to have been caught by their pursuers again.

.......

Rumbles and booms rose and fell, intermixed with determined yelling. That the four monster spirits were unable to eliminate their targets when they were all in the field spoke to how strong the humans were. As he played dead, Li Hao also considered how he might get away if he was discovered.

One must be prepared for danger in times of peace. It wasn’t his turn yet, but what if he was discovered? Southern Fist and Hong Yitang were prime examples. Perhaps the former wasn’t that good at hiding, but Hong Yitang had been well concealed and found out all the same.

These monster spirits seemed quite sensitive and able to work together. That was most alarming of all.

Li Hao was still wondering if he’d been discovered or not. Perhaps he’d been detected, but also assessed as too weak to warrant immediate attention. It was very possible that they’d decided to eliminate the stronger ones first before coming back for the ant that was him.

Could he really avoid those major spirits through playing dead? This was his chance, now that they were preoccupied with the powerhouses. He could run immediately, but complications would easily arise from him traveling with the Demon Hunters. Why not... pick over the corpses around him first?

Sixteen Solars were dead and Half Mountain’s shield seemed to have been discarded nearby. It could be fed to the little sword, whereas the mysterious power of sixteen Solars could strengthen him. The sword would be well replenished if it absorbed the shield—but that required time. How much longer did the monster spirits need to resolve the situation and return?

Despite not making up his mind, Li Hao settled on his first decision. He would locate the shield first. Half Mountain had thrown it away when he was ambushed. The powerhouses of the three great organizations were relying on the wind chime for protection. Li Hao needed to grab the shield—he’d be much more fortified with ample sword energy. Otherwise, just the eight mysterious power stones left in his storage ring weren’t very inspiring.

The young man crawled up from the ground and headed for the spot he’d taken note of earlier. The origin weapon had drawn his attention as soon as it appeared. Half Mountain and the others didn’t have time to come back for it, leaving ample time for Li Hao.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Sword light illuminated the heaven and earth in the far off distance—Hong Yitang. The man was very formidable; it was a pity that he’d encountered the four major spirits. Southern Fist had convened with him and led another powerful monster spirit to him. Which of them was stronger, Hong Yitang or Hou Xiaochen and his colleagues?

Would Hou Xiaochen and the others be able to challenge a monster spirit by themselves if they entered Ash Mountain? They shouldn’t have much of an issue with the snake, but the others were inconclusive for now.

His thoughts did not delay his search for the little shield. After a while, Li Hao found a shield on the ground not too far away. It was very small, just slightly bigger than a plate. Dim and dull, it lay in the dirt.

It seemed to come alive when he approached it. An incredibly weak shadow floated out of it, like it wanted to run away. Origin weapons were quite unique. So long as its soul did not die, it had the ability to move by itself.

Li Hao scanned it. There were four levels to origin weapons—sky, earth, arcane, and gold. Zhang Ting’s Shadow Snake Sword that he’d snapped was apparently the lowest gold level. This little shield should be stronger, right?

Half Mountain was Celestial’s leader in Silver Moon. This little shield would be arcane level at the very least, no?

The shadow on the shield wanted to resist when he grabbed at it, but the heavily damaged origin weapon could not put up a fight. The shadow dispersed on the spot when Li Hao’s hand broke through it. It wasn’t dead, just dispersed because it lacked sufficient energy.

Unless the origin weapon could devour mysterious power stones, there was nothing special about it without the support of its master. They were just durable items with special abilities that they could not utilize. If there was sufficient energy powering it, the weapon soul would bestow powerful defensive ability upon the shield.

Li Hao was left with the shield in hand when the shadow vanished. Cool to the touch, it wasn’t heavy. In fact, it was almost too light. He took out Stellaris. Origin weapons were hard to break—the golden eagle couldn’t claw through it even when the item lacked defensive power. At the same time, the young man knew that the most durable material was useless when it came up against Stellaris.

The Flaming Phoenix Spear was purported to be a sky level origin weapon. It’d still been terrified when it saw the little sword.

All Li Hao considered now was if the little sword would devour enough energy when it broke the shield. Would it strengthen the little sword to the point of revitalizing large amounts of sword energy?

The young man smiled after some thought. The shield’s soul always existed; it didn’t impact anything after it disappeared. Half Mountain awakened the weapon’s soul simply because he supplied enough power from mysterious power stones and himself.

Li Hao didn’t intend to retain the weapon—quality over quantity. As good as the shield was, it wasn’t better than the little sword.