Chapter 768: A Grade Two Ruin (III)

“Does the Ministry of Commerce have such a feud with Li Hao that it brings forth that one...?”

“No, it’s probably that the others aren’t willing to take the field. The Ministries of Finance and the Inspectorate don’t care. Administration and Armed Forces are the main parties confining us,” replied the Skystar King. “The ministers of Examination, Foreign Relations, and the Judiciary are here. The only one missing is Internal Affairs—I don’t know what’s happened with Mu Hai...”

The king furrowed his brow with thought after the old minister of Commerce arrived.

“So Qian Wanhao has come. I thought it’d be the old fart from Finance this time.”

The Liu father and son of the Ministry of Finance had been invisible lately. It was surprising that they were nowhere to be found at this moment either. This was even harder to understand than the Inspectorate.

As for Internal Affairs, the Skystar King absolutely understood the situation there. Fatty Mu Hai was extremely frustrated after his daughter was taken. He felt that the nine ministries and royal family had abandoned him, so he refused to be involved now. There was nothing he wanted more than for the nine ministries to suffer an enormous loss!

“All parties should be present and accounted for now!!” However, the king suddenly shot to his feet with a frosty look in his eyes.

A presence flared through the surroundings! All of the royal descendants blinked, looking at astonishment with someone who’d appeared in the image. They weren’t the only ones—those assembled were equally surprised!

......

The western outskirts.

Someone came striding through the air with an aloof expression. He wore yellow robes, a crown on his head, and inclined his head at Qian Wanhao. “You don’t mind, do you, Old Minister Qian?”

“Ah, the Stable Mountain Prince, this...” the slightly rotund old minister flicked a startled glance at the newcomer.

After the death of the Steppe Prince, there were only eight princes left in the royal family. And today, the Stable Mountain Prince was present.

His features were clear-cut and marked with a grave expression. “I am here today because Hong Yitang killed my younger brother. Out of the nine princes, only the Steppe Prince and I shared the same mother. Our other royal brothers likely don’t wish to make a showing, so I am the one who comes!”

While the assembly was surprised, no one said a word. The nine princes of the royal family were from the same generation as the Skystar King. They were blood brothers, the sons of the previous king. As for their royal uncles... they were all gone. No one knew who’d killed them.

The previous Skystar King had given his sons their respective titles. Only the Steppe Prince and this one shared the same mother. At the same time, there were many talented members of the reigning royal generation. The current king was a brave talent and a brilliant strategist. The nine princes were premier powerhouses who’d led the Black Armaturas in battles across the land back in the day.

The Steppe Prince had established the Skystar Guards, while the Stable Mountain Prince had once led troops in victorious skirmishes throughout the world.

“Very well then, this makes all of us with the Stable Mountain Prince in attendance too,” laughed Qian Wanhao. With him included, there were four ministers of previous and present. There was one prince, representatives from three great organizations, three Arcanus from the City of Supernaturals, and a few other powerhouses from the other ministries...

There were almost more Arcanus alone in this expedition compared to the last battle. They weren’t even the key—that lay in the plant spirit replicas that they carried with them. Would there be an issue in killing Li Hao’s quartet with the show of this force?

Qian Wanhao, in particular, looked to the Stable Mountain Prince and Orange Moon. Although many felt that Ying Hongyue wasn’t placing the proper importance on this expedition, Qian Wanhao inclined his head after taking a few more glances. He was rather stunned at how heavily Ying Hongyue had invested in this operation. So it seemed that he could no longer contain himself!

“Since we’re all here, let’s go inside!” Qian Wanhao smiled at the vortex in front of him. “Demon Sword might be so excited by the sight of all of those mysterious power stones that he’ll dive right into the pile. It might be hard to find him in it.”

The group of thirty roared with laughter and walked inside together. Quiet immediately descended upon the western outskirts. More powerhouses appeared before long, but they waited inside instead of entering the ruins. If all went well, Li Hao would be dead after this. It wouldn’t take long, but no one would be emerging for five days. They had to be wary of the royal family during this time. However, a prince had gone inside. What did the Skystar King have in mind?

......

The royal palace.

The Skystar King remained ominously quiet until someone cursed lowly, “Royal Uncle Stable Mountain... is truly... unruly!”

The royal family had said that they wouldn’t participate, but that prince had gone anyway. It was clear to see that he didn’t think much of the Skystar King’s authority.

The king simply swept a look over the speaker, cowing the royal descendant into silence. It was a long moment before the king spoke.

“It’s fine, he could not understand the death of our younger brother. That is only to be expected! But some sacrifice is inevitable if the royal family is to rise again! He will understand sooner or later!”

The Skystar King wasn’t willing to speak further on this topic and changed the subject. “Make the preparations and be ready in five days. If Li Hao does not emerge, the nine ministries are sure to act against Yao Si and the others. Let’s see if Silver Moon will send more people this time...”

No matter what the result was, it was to his benefit either way. When dog ate dog, there was no difference as to who died. It was best if they all ended up on the brink of death!

“Royal father, Li Hao has taken a few people of the Ancient Academy from the Nine Dragons Pavilion...” said the seventh princess.

“Kill them in secret if Li Hao doesn’t come out!”

These people could not be left for the nine ministries! The Skystar King left without another word. They couldn’t see anything anymore, nor was there a need to see anything.

The assembly slowly dispersed after he left. A small tree extended mental ripples toward the king when he entered a rear garden. “Have they all gone inside?”

“Yes.” The Skystar King nodded. “I wonder how many plant spirits are present on the expedition.”

“Since that Li Hao dares make a move, he must have his confidence in doing so...” the little tree seemed to be laughing. “No matter what, let’s wait and see first. This martial university... may not be as simple as it seems. I hope nothing else develops.”

“Not as simple?” The Skystar King furrowed his brows. “It’s just a very small university that’s a university in name only. The Ministry of Finance didn’t obtain any treasures from it in all their years of excavation...”

“It’s called the Evenround Martial University, is it not?”

“Correct.”

“I’m not certain either... There wasn’t anything special about this university when it was established, but the Skystar Army commander-in-chief went in person to congratulate them during their commence ceremony. Ordinarily speaking, having a division leader in attendance was honor enough. But they had a commander-in-chief!

“Not only that, but if I recall correctly, powerhouses from the eight main cities visited the university on that day as well. There were many martial universities across the land, with some branches of premier universities in Silver Moon. The most famous on Skystar Island should’ve been Skystar Martial University. The rest were small-scale institutions of learning.

“Representatives from the eight main cities came when Skystar Martial was founded, but they sent only some weaklings...” The little tree swayed. “You must know that Skystar Island was just a mine back in the day. All of Silver Moon Territory was just one of the human domains. I’m not certain of certain things either. Perhaps... they came from the main world?”

“You’ve mentioned the main world a few times.” The Skystar King raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that? Isn’t the entire dynasty, four seas, and eight wildernesses the entirety of the ancient civilization territory?”

The little tree seemed to both be laughing, jeering, and recollecting. “You must know that this... was only Silver Moon Territory!”

The Skystar King frowned.

“You still don’t understand. Here, even the greatest of the eight families, the Lis, were but one of the emperor’s families. Battle Heaven was just an auxiliary branch. Back in the day, the Human King was unparalleled in the battlefield and had countless powerhouses following his banner. Once he conquered the world, he spent one thousand years in quiet and marched on deeper expanses when he emerged...”

Here, the little tree seemed apprehensive and didn’t speak further. “Just remember that everything is just a beginning. Only after opening the Star Gate will you witness the true ancient civilization! The eight families safeguarded the Star Gate and the Ying Hongyue you speak of likely wishes to collect the eight bloodlines for this goal...”

The king listened quietly before suddenly declaring, “One day, We will sweep through the four corners and revitalize the glories of the ancient civilization!”

“......” The little tree didn’t respond, but viewed the words contemptuously.

The glories of the ancient civilization? You? You will never know how wondrous the ancient civilization was at its peak! Silver Moon Territory alone was staffed with an army of tens of millions. Just their general alone numbered one thousand Apex! What splendor it was, what an age of magnificence! Are people like you supposed to restore it?

What a joke!

It didn’t say anything as, being the royal family’s plant spirit, it was in a favorable position for special advantages. It’d absorbed many mysterious power stones from the royal family over the years and thus had awakened a bit more compared to other plant spirits. That was how it barely managed to cross beyond the ruin and extend its mental strength here.

It didn’t care about the others, it was just slightly curious about Evenround Martial University. Its memories showed that this university was a very mysterious institution. Very few students graduated from it and most didn’t stay in Silver Moon. The tiny school was said to have fewer than one thousand students in its heyday.

Are there... secrets there?

It wondered, but didn’t didn’t further converse with the king. It retracted its mental strength and returned to its ruins. There was a preeminent palace underground with a beguiling rose blooming in it.

An old man sat in the center, cross-legged and wearing yellow robes. There seemed to be nine locks crisscrossing over him, locking him in place. He opened his eyes when the little tree’s mental strength returned.

“Can you break it?”

“Not for now, those two have not left!”

The old man frowned and closed his eyes again.