Chapter 769: Incredible (I)

At the same time, inside the ruins.

Li Hao strode in and scanned the tiny martial university with surprise. “He Yong said that it was very small... but it really is very, very small!”

There were just a few buildings scattered around the place, as well as a wall surrounding the entire institution. The skies were dark and there were a few puppet-like sculptures standing at the school gates. Li Hao didn’t find them the slightest bit imposing or stately. It was like he’d come to a kindergarten.

There were people inside, but they were in hiding and unable to be seen. The young man didn’t mind. He walked inside; the little tree’s voice sounded inside his ear. Its mental strength extended outward and it sounded slightly frightened. “Li Hao... this is not a place to linger!”

The young man raised an eyebrow,

why?

“There is... a great terror here!” The little tree seemed to be shaking. “I can already sense a horrifying presence. This place... doesn’t necessarily lack a master! You must be careful to not touch a single blade of grass or tree here. You might be able to protect yourself since you have the bloodline of the Sword Sovereign... so you might survive if you don’t touch anything here!”

Li Hao’s heart quailed.

A great terror?

This tiny university had become a place of great terror in the little tree’s words. It hadn’t been this afraid when it was in Battle Heaven!

“Is this... not a martial university?”

“It is...” The little tree gently probed the vicinity and continued in quavering tones, “I don’t know where the danger comes from, my father might... He might have had certain experiences here... I just have a deep seated fear from the depths of my memories... You must be careful... The danger this time may not come from the outside world this time...”

Li Hao instantly grew solemn. This was a plant spirit at the Apex cultivation level, but it was full of terror at its surroundings. The little tree’s father had been a plant spirit guard of the imperial palace, one who’d seen premier existences in its time!

The young man looked into the school grounds again—they were quiet and peaceful. The four buildings stood firmly in the ground. Upon closer look, their arrangement rather resembled a person’s eyes, nose, and lips...

He said nothing as he swiftly walked inside. “Be careful and don’t touch anything here,” he transmitted to others. There might be great trouble here! It may not be a good thing that the Ministry of Finance has relinquished this ruin...”

Sky Sword and the others jerked with surprise. No one said a word as they swiftly followed Li Hao inside.

......

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance.

Liu Yunqing leaned back against a chair and looked toward the western outskirts.

“Did powerhouses die in those ruins before?” came his father’s voice.

“Why do you ask that?”

“I remember that you entered with Liu Yang last time, but he didn’t come out. Did he die in there?”

“Yes.”

“As I thought!” the old minister said after prolonged silence. “It looks like you still weren’t willing to let it go... Forget it, let’s just pretend we didn’t know about it. It’s just a grade two ruin, so kill whoever knows about Liu Yang!”

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“I know.” Liu Yunqing smiled. Li Hao, the nine ministries, royal family, three great organizations... Li Hao was the culprit for the demise of the Four Seas Company, but none of the rest were anything good! They could all go to hell this time! It would be best if they all died!

A grade two ruin? It was a junkyard from the layout, but they would know soon enough how horrifying it was!

He stood up with a chuckle and looked at the Inspectorate, then in the direction of Military Affairs and Administration. What a pity that these three hadn’t sent representatives, especially the Inspectorate. Not a single person from that ministry had gone. What a damned pity!

......

Evenround University.

Li Hao gingerly picked his way through the campus grounds. The ignorant were fearless and the more one knew, the more cautious one became. It was a sensible reaction.

In the past, he would’ve thought that there was nothing to be afraid of for the ancient civilization since it was long dead. But with living ancient plant spirits in the world and Director General Wang saying that Apex could tear through the void to travel thousands of kilometers, Li Hao knew that he was nothing compared to the ancient civilization. He was just a minion strong enough to be a Silver Armor troop leader. In the ancient civilization, he was just fit to oversee one thousand people.

Of course, he wouldn’t unduly belittle himself. His path had just started and there was no rush. At the same time, he well knew the concept of reverence. It was better to be more prudent when it came to the ancient civilization.

Li Hao quickly threaded past the four buildings and arrived at the rear garden. Or was it better to call it a playground? Whatever it was, it was filled with mysterious power stones. No one had touched them and there was no need to. To the victor went all the spoils. It wasn’t as if these stones would grow legs and run away. If he took them and lost, his corpse would ultimately belong to someone else too.

A dense current of energy wafted out of the packed pile of stones. Li Hao’s heart shook.

So many!

The little tree sensed it as well and trembled.

“So many...” Its mental ripples exclaimed. It almost wanted to emerge and fall into the pile! But it was hesitant as it was a very weak descendant of the plant spirits. Although it’d paid a great price to sever half of its core origin, an action that most plant spirits wouldn’t dare do, this place gave it a great sense of fear.

As the group considered whether or not to leave with the riches, various presences rose from behind them. The powerhouses in the outside world had entered the ruins. Others concealed in the surroundings ran out of their hiding places and quickly convened with the new arrivals. At the same time, various mental ripples extended through the surroundings.

“You’re still alive, big one?”

“You’re alive as well, Redwood, why would I be dead?” The plant spirits that could barely see each other in regular times greeted each other. They weren’t located in the same ruins as there were many such places on Skystar Island. But since they were all part of the island, they were familiar with each other. Although it wasn’t their primary bodies meeting each other again after countless eons, and there wasn’t much core origin powering their replica, it was still an emotional reunion.

New Martial... had passed!

Who would’ve thought that an era as powerful as New Martial would come to pass as well? Who would’ve thought that the domineering Human King, conqueror of all he saw and eventually one who marched on the universe, would disappear? It was unfathomable!

It was so hard to believe that it felt more like one’s faith collapsing. When Silver Moon Territory was fully sealed away and those who stayed behind either died or scattered, the plant spirits suffered untold blows to their psyche to watch everything around them enter the end times.

New Martial was no more!

The eight guardian families were no more in this vast territory and the magnificent armies that once filled it were dispersed as well. Countless powerhouses had disappeared, and New Martial became Ancient Martial. Just like in the days of the celestial emperor, the ancient times that the Human King spoke of had become part of the past. The heavyweights that crafted the world were lost in the river of time.

History repeated itself now, and New Martial was no more.

The plant spirits were emotional over the changes, but also felt some estrangement between them. They were all in the same camp during New Martial, yet that no longer held true after the end of New Martial. They had been quiet for countless years; today was different.

Time was the greatest enemy.

“Alright, let’s not speak of the past. The past is in the past. The one they want to kill this time is the heir of the Sword Sovereign...”

The plant spirits fell silent when they heard this. The heir of the Sword Sovereign! Who would dare do anything to him if this was in times past? But the river of time had flowed onward and New Martial didn’t even exist anymore, they weren’t afraid of this course of action!

Who knew how many generations of heirs the Sword Sovereign had cycled through? How many of them had died? There was no sign of the Sword Sovereign to be seen. Perhaps his name evoked fear in the beginning, but that reverence was no longer there.

“I can smell energy stones...”

“Do not fight me for this abundance, everyone. Once I recover my strength and the outside world is stabilized, I will help you all recover. We must know that our enemy is not each other, but those guys in the central region!”

The central region in their eyes was not the current territory of the dynasty, but Silver Moon. The province was the central region of the Silver Moon Territory.

As the plant spirits perceived the dense energy, one of them suddenly transmitted, “Is there... something wrong... with this place?”

The other plant spirit replicas were puzzled by its question and quickly probed the surroundings. They didn’t find anything majorly wrong.

“Have we... heard of this place before?” another plant spirit asked with puzzlement.

“I think so... Apparently a powerhouse visited Skystar Island back in the day and established Evenround University. They didn’t interact much with the residents or defending troops of the island. That was in the past, however. How many years has it been since?”

They were antiques, every single one of them. Everyone knew who everyone else was. There were no living plant spirits or monster spirits in this place. The humans that once staffed it were all dead. Even if there were some formations or others left, what was there to fear? Not to mention, it was the plant spirits’ replicas that were present. They wouldn’t truly die here.

“I can forgo the energy stones, but I want that heir’s sword...” a plant spirit transmitted.

“You’ve got quite the appetite!”

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll choke on it!”

“The heir’s sword may not be the Sword Sovereign’s personal sword. It may just be an imitation. Do you think this person could use the real sword? Can any of us use it, to say nothing of anyone else?”

“That’s hard to say as the Sword Sovereign goes through swords very rapidly. He might have used this one before or discarded it. No matter what, it is not a mundane item.”

Everyone knew that the Sword Sovereign used swords. It was mentioned in some legends that each stroke led to the death of an enemy and the shattering of a sword. This occurrence happened more than once!

The young man’s sword might be from the Sword Sovereign, it might be an imitation. No matter what, the eight heritage weapons were all highly sought after. To the plant spirits, the eight families were invincible existences.

Mental strength filled the air as the plant spirits conversed among themselves. The other powerhouses could sense an undercurrent of conversation, but didn’t say anything.