Chapter 734: You Have Bad People Working For You (I)

Outside Skystar City, over the Skystar Sea.

The Vast Kun Ship stirred up ripples over the water’s surface. Li Hao and a few others stood at the ship’s bow, resting their eyes on the prosperous Skystar City in the distance. The north was still caught in the grip of winter, whereas the royal city bathed in a temperate climate. Compared to the chaos of the north, this place seemed particularly peaceful—especially when Li Hao wasn’t causing trouble.

Deputy Zhou stood with the young man and looked into the distance for a while. “The second awakening of the supernatural may not occur in Silver Moon. Skystar may be the key.”

“What causes an awakening of the supernatural?” Li Hao couldn’t keep his curiosity down. “A release of energy between heaven and earth? Then where does this energy come from? It can’t just appear out of thin air, can it?”

“Mmhmm.” The deputy nodded. “There are many reasons. The first awakening resulted from unsealing a set of ruins. They likely led to a massive mine that was sealed off. Once that seal was broken, all of the energy inside the mine rushed outward and stimulated the revitalization of energy in our world.

“Another reason is that the plant spirit sealing off the mine had died entirely, causing energy to leak out and the first revitalization.”

The plant spirit sealing off the mine?

“Plant spirits situated on top of a large mine mean that they don’t lack for energy,” Li Hao noted with curiosity. “Why would it die?”

Such a plant spirit should be stronger than its brethren.

“It emerged ahead of time and the heavens did not tolerate its presence,” Deputy Zhou laughed. “The void is broken and void turbulence ripped it to pieces. Chaotic energy assaulted it... All of these were reasons why it died. It might be because of this that other plant spirits and monster spirits understood that the world is different now, that they cannot come forth at will!”

Li Hao understood. The first awakening was said to have something to do with Ying Hongyue and the others. Who knew if they’d done it on purpose or accident? Only they knew of the particulars of what’d happened.

Deputy Zhou said that the key to the second awakening might lie with Skystar City. Did he mean the mines in the ruins of Skystar Town? One had to know that those mines had been able to satisfy the needs of the eight great cities. They were massive beyond belief and were the energy reserves for all of Silver Moon.

Li Hao was also curious why energy had steadily declined since the ancient civilization, revitalizing somewhat only twenty years ago. Before that, no energy seemed to exist in Silver Moon at all. It wasn’t the time to ponder these questions as he could already see the Skystar city gates.

A disturbance built from the ship’s hold as it was the first time that many soldiers had set forth on such a long journey. Traveling to the fabled capital city filled them all with some curiosity and expectation.

It’d taken them four days to make the trip from Silver Moon. It wasn’t a rushed journey, but neither were they idling about over the four days. Li Hao supplied a great sum of sword energy and extracted a great deal more mysterious power. This kind of energy was of limited use to the young man these days, but it was extremely effective for mundanes.

Almost all of the one thousand soldiers had set foot into Slayer of Tens, resulting in a marked increase in strength. However, that was still negligible to Li Hao. It wasn’t hard for martial masters to reach Slayer. In fact, everything was easy before half step Dominator, particularly when he had sword energy to draw on. He could easily suppress the agitation of mysterious power.

If it wasn’t out of concern that advancing too quickly might cause their power to rage out of control, he could’ve used these couple of days to forcefully raise them all to Sunderer. Combined with the Battle Heaven armor, the already elite troops would swiftly improve even more.

Liu Long and the rest didn’t cultivate over the four days. Instead, they spent their time teaching the Ten Rings Mountain Seal Formation to the rest. Ten people could form a minor formation, one hundred a larger one... When all one thousand knew it, the centered effects on one person would surely lead to different results. The caveat was that the focal point of their energy needed to be able to endure the onslaught.

......

The city gates.

Li Hao saw the royal flag fluttering in the air. Skystar Dynasty’s royal flag was as resplendent as the night sky. It sparkled and glittered like the stars, a nod to the origins of the dynasty.

The enormous ship landed on the ground; Li Hao raised an eyebrow. The royal family had sent someone to greet him? He’d already received word from He Yong that the ninth prince awaited him. This prince was said to be a very strong candidate to be the king. Of course, the current king was alive and who knew if the one before that still lived or not?

If even the old ministers were alive, it didn’t seem a far stretch that the previous Skystar King yet walked the world. Although it was said he’d died a long time ago, who knew the truth?

A young man dressed in yellow robes stood in the distance. Waiting quietly, he smiled warmly with his hands behind his back. A few Black Armaturas flanked him—not that many, just one hundred.

“Disembark!” Li Hao commanded. Teams of the newly consolidated Demon Hunters led the way.

......

Not too far away.

The ninth prince’s faint frown quickly dissipated and he transmitted to He Yong, “Is this the Battle Heaven Army? No wonder the Skystar Marquis has returned with one thousand soldiers. They’re all equipped with armor! So this means that the marquis has obtained troop leader authorization in Battle Heaven and can expand his troop at will?”

Even mundanes could withstand Sunderers and Darkmoons when equipped with Battle Heaven Army. Since the royal family possessed the Black Armaturas, they naturally knew some of the secrets within.

“Wasn’t it known a long time ago that he’s a troop leader?”

Li Hao hadn’t kept his silver armor a secret. Those in the know naturally knew what it indicated. As for whether or not the Black Armaturas had silver armor of their own... He Yong wasn’t sure, but they most likely did and just hadn’t revealed it yet.

“It’s not the same!” transmitted the prince with a shake of his head. “Master He has probably realized it yourself that while the Black Armaturas is a troop that benefits from ancient army legacies... they cannot expand at will even if there is a troop leader among them. The process is filled with hassle, yet the marquis recruits an additional one thousand like it’s very easy to do so.”

He looked at the army of one thousand, the look in his eyes shifting slightly. The royal family had many Black Armaturas, but they’d paid a very high price for the authorization. They’d paid an even greater price to fight the nine ministries later on. The nine ministries had occupied the upper hand in a moment of royal family oversight, which paved the way for the wily old foxes that were the ministers to deal a heavy blow to their royal enemy.

“Master He, you’re a Bronze Armor. Are there many ancient powerhouses who can still fight within the Battle Heaven Army?”

“I’m not sure, I’ve only seen one Gold Armor and three Silver Armors... but apparently there’s another Gold Armor in the military barracks.” He Yong didn’t conceal anything, but neither was there a need to. The waters were deep at the ancient cities. All outsiders saw was the surface.

The ninth prince fell silent. Two Gold Armors, was it? Existences on par with division leader? That was strong enough, but also nothing to be wary of if that was all the ancient eight cities had preserved.

It was said that Battle Heaven had housed tens of millions back in the day, but their army consisted of only one million and their division leader commanded only tens of thousands. If only two division leaders were left out of one hundred... that wasn’t many at all. And who knew if they were fully dead or in another condition? It was a difficult conclusion to draw at the moment. Just because they could move didn’t necessarily mean they were still alive.

The living beings that they’d discovered in the ruins thus far were almost all plant spirits. Plant spirits were long-lived and could produce Water of Life to nurture themselves. That bestowed greater longevity for them than regular beast spirits or humans. It was why most modern people meant plant spirits when they referred to ancient powerhouses.

Thump thump thump!

Uniform footsteps echoed in the distance. The tiger flag waved in the wind; Li Hao walked over.

The ninth prince flashed a welcoming smile and didn’t say anything to He Yong. He took a step forward and called out, “My royal father is delighted at the Skystar Marquis’ return! He has ordered this humble prince to welcome the marquis’ triumph!”

“Triumph?” Li Hao couldn’t help but laugh. He took a step forward to look at the thin youngster. “I simply went on a trip home and came back, how is that a triumph? But my thanks to the ninth prince!” He suddenly thought of something. “Do I need to bow down to thank royal favor?”

“That is fine, the royal family has long done away with such rules after withdrawing for eighty years,” chuckled the prince. “It’s just a complicated set of etiquette. The times are different, this is an era of the supernatural’s rise. There is even less need for the marquis to do so as you are one of the powerhouses of the age!”

He was very polite and didn’t mind Li Hao’s lack of manners. The strong reigned supreme in this age—thanking royal favor on bended knee? That wouldn’t happen again unless the royal family reconquered the world. It would just be a request for humiliation if they insist on such formalities.

“This is my first time meeting the Skystar Marquis,” the ninth prince remarked with gratification. “As they say, to know a man by reputation is not as good as meeting him face to face. You are more forthright than the rumors and even younger...”

“The ninth prince is young too!” laughed Li Hao. “I hear that you’re only twenty years old, the same as me.”

The seventh princess had told him that.

“We’re not the same,” chuckled the prince. “I was born and raised in the royal family, after all. I received resources since young that most cannot access. I have never lacked for anything, so I particularly admire heroes like the Skystar Marquis who built everything from scratch!”

He was very humble, to which Li Hao smiled without a word.

“The marquis must be tired after your travels,” the prince quickly added. “You must be eager to get back and rest. This prince will not unduly tire the marquis and trouble you no further...”

He took out a storage ring with a smile. “This is a token of the royal family’s sentiments. The marquis has just returned to Skystar City and must have plenty to attend to. I take my leave! If the marquis wishes to have a drink and chat with someone, you can send word with Master He. I am at your disposal, but I cannot leave Skystar City.”

“My thanks!” Li Hao merrily accepted the ring. “We must get together sometime!”

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“Master He, you should stay and keep the marquis company. I will be going back first.”

He Yong nodded. The beaming ninth prince strode away, followed by the Black Armaturas.