Chapter 423: South Below and North Above (I)

Ash Mountain.

Li Hao and the Demon Hunters made swift time. As expected, there were few major monster spirits residing in the woods after they passed the territory of the four they’d encountered earlier. However, the hawk in the sky continued to accompany them. It might be to follow them, and it might be to protect them. Or it might be worried that the group would cause another clash between the two premier martial masters. The four major spirits already knew that the swordsman’s daughter resided among the group.

That was of secondary importance. The primary importance was that the demon’s heir was among them!

When it came to Yuan Shuo, three of the four major monster spirits were fearful of the man. They could not forget how strong he was. Surely he was a force to be reckoned with even though Hong Yitang said that he’d slightly fallen behind the other thirty-six.

......

The Demon Hunters walked for a full day and night, traveling two hundred and fifty kilometers. That was their limit on these winding and twisty mountain paths. Li Hao could continue, but the others could not. He called for a halt when he heard breathing grow heavy.

“Stop and rest!”

Many sagged to the ground as soon as he stopped. Their nerves were stretched taut and they’d traveled at a punishing speed. Most of the Demon Hunters were exhausted.

Hong Qing walked over, completely drenched with sweat inside her armor, yet holding up beneath the discomfort. She normally avoided conversation with Li Hao as the young man intimidated her with his brusqueness. However, she approached with some apprehension at this time. “Leader!”

“Yes?” Li Hao raised an eyebrow. Did this martial dao second generation find the pace too grueling?

“Um, ah... My sword method seems to have improved lately, but I still fall short when it comes to the aura. Since the leader is a swordsman and the greatest in Silver Moon these days, could you... give me a pointer or two?”

Li Hao looked askance at her.

Give you pointers? And me the greatest swordsman? Your dad’s way stronger than me.

But it made sense seeing how deeply Hong Yitang hid himself.

“You can ask me any questions you have.” He nodded. “Not only you, but any of the others as well.”

Hong Qing beamed! Li Hao was a grandmaster alright!

“My sword technique is well-honed and I have some thoughts when it comes to the aura. However, the key to the aura lies in presentation of mind intent. I have many ideas in mind, but am never able to fully act on them and present the sword aura that I envision...” Hong Qing understood the sword aura and had certain theories about it, but she was unable to really display it.

Li Hao immediately identified where the crux of the problem was. It wasn’t a difficult issue. He thought for a moment before responding, “You lack a stimulus.”

“A stimulus?”

“You lack a battle in which you will find full satisfaction. The enemy cannot be too strong or too weak. They must be equal in strength to you. You saw how my battle with Sun Moxian went. That was when I coalesced my sword aura...”

“Wasn’t that an act?” Hong Qing blinked.

“......” Li Hao blinked back at her, understanding her meaning only after a moment. He grinned ruefully when he looked at the rest of the team. Plainly, they all thought that he’d been pretending in that battle, that he hadn’t been a Sunderer then. They thought he was just presenting the same level of strength as his opponent.

He didn’t bother explaining himself. “Many of you lack this opportunity, and it is indeed a kind of fortuitous opportunity. You need to find an evenly matched opponent who happens to be an enemy. They must disregard their own life and be willing to fight to the end with you, to bring forth everything they command and know!

“It won’t be difficult for you to manifest your auras if you meet this kind of opponent. Of course, there are other ways apart from that.

“You can observe stronger auras, but that might not result in the kind of aura that you wish. You might reap some other gains if you witness a sword aura of the same origins.”

Li Hao thought of Hong Yitang. If the man displayed his aura to his disciples, some of them might comprehend the sword aura. The reasons that he hadn’t were also vaguely apparent to the young man. Perhaps Hong Yitang didn’t wish all of his disciples to follow his path. In martial dao, particularly when it came to the aura, one’s own enlightenment was stronger than observing someone else’s.

However, Li Hao also knew that not everyone was Hong Yitang. The pupil could not always exceed the master. Hong Yitang’s expectations for his disciples were too high. It would be most ideal if he could personally demonstrate the sword aura for his disciples.

Hong Qing was hesitant, but still asked, “Leader, can you demonstrate your sword intent for us? Show us how powerful a sword aura can be from a real powerhouse.”

Li Hao looked speechlessly at her. If he didn’t know that she didn’t know her father’s true condition, he’d think that she was mocking him. She was choosing not to learn from her dominating father and wanting to learn from him instead!

Well, it wasn’t impossible for him to demonstrate his sword intent.

“I can.” Li Hao nodded after some thought. “But you might not gain anything from it. My sword intent hasn’t reached perfection yet either. It might be more inspirational when I improve. I was there when my teacher set foot into Dominator and gained a lot from it. Therefore, my recommendation is for you guys to wait a bit longer.”

The Demon Hunters might comprehend more from his aura once his five swords were one and the perfect swords of the five elements.

“Then we await the leader’s perfected sword intent.” Hong Qing had no choice but to conclude. In reality, she felt that Li Hao might not be willing to teach them. That was only to be expected and nothing out of the ordinary.

The young man said nothing further. He spoke the truth, that Hong Qing and the others wouldn’t receive much if they studied his sword intent in its current state.

The topic was dismissed and the group focused on their respective cultivation again. Late Sunderers turned their attention to sensing the aura. Mid Sunderers took advantage of the respite to improve once more and set foot into late Sunderer.

Li Hao began training as well. His training happened to push the rest forward on their martial path as unattributed mysterious power wafted from him as a result of distillation by sword energy. It was stronger than regular unattributed mysterious power and fortified the constitutions of the Demon Hunters.

The young man was hard at work at the pile of mysterious power he sat on. If he just let it be, it would become another person’s spoils sooner or later. Thus, he distilled elemental energy out of it.

Each of his organs already stood at fifteen hundred cubes. One mysterious power stone produced nearly three hundred cubes through sword energy under ordinary conditions. The range of deviation wasn’t great.

He’d gathered a large sum of stones this time, but consumed most of it to save Hong Yitang and He Yong. There were one hundred and sixty pieces left. Based on his previous distillation efficacy, that would result in forty-five thousand cubes of power.

Li Hao might not be able to absorb so much energy as there were still limits to the body. His goal was to reach five thousand cubes in each organ, as well as his physical body and bones. That meant the organs required seventeen thousand and five hundred cubes, and that the body and bones required eight thousand.

That would ensure that his body, bones, and organs were at five thousand cubes each. It would make him three times stronger than current. In that way, even if his sword aura didn’t improve, he himself would show massive advancement.

Twenty-five thousand cubes of mysterious power... Not even a premier Nova would be able to absorb that sum under normal circumstances. But since martial masters constantly resided in a state of enhancing their supernatural locks, that didn’t hold true for them.

The young man sat down cross-legged, thinking of his teacher again while perusing these thoughts. Yuan Shuo’s heart had absorbed one thousand cubes of fire energy when he left. While he’d nurtured his organs for a few years, his heart had been damaged then. Therefore, his teacher’s organs might not be that strong.

It now looked like they were only at the fifteen hundred cubes level. While he’d killed some Red Moon members these days and extracted their blood pearls, Li Hao felt that his teacher’s absorption efficacy would be limited without the aid of sword energy. It would be providence from the heavens if his teacher could reach two thousand cubes each.

Li Hao could not surpass his teacher in terms of aura for now, but the foundation of his body and organs would likely completely outstrip his teacher after this incident.

A smile spread across the young man’s face; energy percolated through the crowd. Whether it was Li Hao, Liu Long, or the others, all of the Demon Hunters quietly absorbed the drifting energy. To them, strength of the body didn’t seem that useful and any potential strengthening was limited. However, they knew that Summoner of Spirit had something to do with the strength of the organs. Thus, they were slightly hopeful that after they comprehended the aura... perhaps the path of Summoner would be accessible to them.

......

Time passed second by second. It was another day in the blink of an eye. September 22nd now, the little valley that Li Hao and the others were in was now obscured by energy. A hawk circled overhead a few times, but didn’t dare land. It watched with confusion and surprise from afar. Were these humans cultivating? That miasma of energy was so dense!

......

Rumbles echoed from Li Hao’s body! Bolts of thunder and lightning shook his bones while the power of wind strengthened his body. Of the five organs, all of the supernatural locks gleamed with reinforcement. The lock of the lungs that’d barely managed to lock the metal aura aura now clamped firmly over it. The metal aura could no longer struggle free!

Close to Li Hao, Liu Long’s organs shook and his blood thrummed furiously without rest. Waves reared near his kidneys. The man had wanted to lock the waves into the kidneys a few times, but always fell a bit short.

His organs weren’t strong enough and he’d yet to reach the level of locking his auras. Once he did, that was a precursor to Summoner of Spirit. It would mean that the martial master’s cultivation level was the equivalent of a Solar, but that his actual battle strength might be stronger than an initial Solar.