Chapter 770: Incredible (II)

Qian Wanhao could vaguely see Li Hao and the others when he looked inside the campus grounds. “Be careful,” he transmitted. “Although we are highly assured of success, we also need to be on guard against their counterattacks. Li Hao must have some aces up his sleeves if he dared come inside!”

He took out a mirror fragment and flung it into the air. A barrier manifested around the group. The ministers of Examinations, Foreign Relations, and the Judiciary also flung out mirror fragments. The fragments hovered in the four directions, raising four barriers. Just one alone at the Steadfast Duke’s manor had held off a metamorphosis attack. There were four this time!

Even an Arcanus would have to pay a steep price to break the barriers, not to mention there were so many powerhouses present to prevent that possibility.

The old minister of the Ministry of Commerce was a highly cautious individual.

“When we see them in a moment, don’t say anything,” he transmitted. “Throw out all of the core origin talismans, supernatural talismans, and energy bombs we have. Kill one or two of them first before anything else!”

There was no need to converse with Li Hao and the rest. There was only one goal—kill them!

“If they don’t die, the three great organizations will take care of Hong Yitang, the lords of Buddha and Sky Roc Mountain will face Hou Xiaochen. The Stable Mountain Prince and other ministers, as well as the City of Supernaturals will handle Sky Sword and Panther. Us four ministries will take care of Li Hao!”

No one had a differing opinion. Of the four, Li Hao may be the most difficult target. The others were fine. Everyone present on the expedition was a powerhouse. Apart from the Inspectorate not sending a single person, even the Ministry of Finance had sent a vice minister. His main purpose was to witness the death of Li Hao and his comrades.

“Don’t split up, they might ambush us one by one. Don’t give them any opening to do so...” Despite their clear guarantee of success, the old minister continued to issue words of caution, hoping that everyone would place more importance on their upcoming operation. He did all he could to prevent them from unexpectedly suffering a loss.

......

Up ahead.

Sky Sword furrowed his brows and looked around sternly. He could see the group of people approaching them. “Three element Arcanus... there’s at least four of them. Qian Wanhao... might even be a four element Arcanus!”

And they hadn’t even seen the plant spirits yet.

Sky Sword looked at Li Hao with a brewing headache. He’d been... a little careless in following the young man in. Li Hao didn’t look like he’d prepared anything!

I thought you’d arranged for a massive group of people inside the ruins. But... there’s really nothing here!

Li Hao said nothing. He looked into the distance with eyes blazing like torches. The world spun in them. He could see something even through the four mirror shards. There were balls of piercing light within them, but nothing he could see about core origin power. He turned his attention to the first ball of light.

The first one—Qian Wanhao. Li Hao saw straight through the person, through his blazing hot light. “Incredible, he’s a heavyweight of the metal, wood, water, and earth elements!”

It was also clear to see that this wasn’t the minister’s natural state; he’d probably forcefully ascended through paying a great price recently. His water and earth elements were noticeably unstable. Qian Wanhao had likely been a two element Arcanus prior. Who knew how much he’d expended to pull himself up to four elements?

Continued ascension was possible if these people had fortified organs. They would just need a lot of Water of Life. The plant spirits were undoubtedly making a killing off them.

Li Hao looked at the lord of Buddha Mountain next. “Three elements—metal, earth, and fire!” He then looked at the massive bird from Sky Roc Mountain before turning his glance to Panther. “That one seems a lot stronger than you...”

Panther ignored him and stared at the bird. Li Hao scanned all of the powerhouses, but did a double take and looked back at Orange Moon. He hadn’t paid much attention to her because he knew she was weak. But now... he frowned faintly.

Orange Moon’s strength was mediocre. Her ball of light placed her as a new Arcanus. Who knew how much good stuff she’d eaten as it still didn’t seem very stable. At the same time, there was something that pierced the eye on her. What was it?

Li Hao could also sense some threat from it. One had to know that he wasn’t threatened even when he looked at Qian Wanhao. It represented that those four Arcanus were no match for him.

Is it something from Ying Hongyue?

The young man viewed Orange Moon with more wariness.

What an investment!

Li Hao then looked at Hong Yitang, finding the man to be as calm as ever. He happened to be looking across the way, confused by who he saw. Li Hao followed his gaze to find that he was looking at people from the City of Supernaturals. The young man didn’t know any of them, but Sky Sword seemed to be familiar with their style.

Befuddled, Hong Yitang transmitted to Sky Sword, “Are those from the City of Supernaturals?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Do you find them somewhat familiar?”

It was Sky Sword’s turn to be puzzled.

Familiar?

He looked at them closely for a while and didn’t find them so, but he stretched his senses toward them before glancing sharply at Hong Yitang.

What a sharp perception!

“They’re a bit familiar... that feeling... Is it the group that appeared in the Silver Moon martial world back in the day? They’re the same people?”

“That’s right!”

“Who?” Li Hao was curious.

“You wouldn’t know them if I told you,” Sky Sword responded.

“It’s just some gossip,” Hou Xiaochen transmitted with a smile. “And not major gossip. Some outsiders appeared in the Silver Moon martial world one day, calling themselves ancient martial families. They wanted to take back some of Silver Moon’s martial secrets, saying that it was their heritage. After that, many of them were beaten to death and quite a few crippled as well. It was a very long time ago.”

I see!

Li Hao promptly lost interest. He thought there was something important involved.

“Silver Spear of Silver Moon’s Three Spears—Liu Long’s father—died to them. The Nine Forged Force was one of the secret arts they wanted to take back. Silver Spear suffered seven challenges in one day and used the Nine Forged Force each time. He harmed his foundations then and eventually succumbed to his injuries.

“But it was above board sparring, despite the suspicion that they were wearing him down through sheer attrition. It was Silver Spear himself who wished to take the battles, and no one said anything after he won them.”

Hou Xiaochen’s supplemental explanation pointed out that these people had something to do with Silver Gun’s death. But they didn’t break the rules, so Silver Moon’s martial world didn’t see vengeance on the outsiders after Silver Spear died. They’d played by the rules, which was all that was important.

“Then this time... it’s against the rules to mob us. I’ll beat a few of them to death straight off the bat in a bit!”

Hou Xiaochen laughed, the boy was truly too arrogant. Indeed, arrogant. To posture like this even now confused Hou Xiaochen. Where did Li Hao get his confidence from?

The young man looked around them and backed away to a clearing behind them to put more space between him and the buildings. What if they accidentally summoned a great terror because of the ruckus they kicked up in breaking things throughout the school?

“Let’s not wait for them... Director Hou should open with the Broken Will Spear when they arrive and break the defenses of the mirror fragments! Senior Sky Sword can suppress them with your broadsword. You guys can attack them together! Martial Uncle Hong, you and I should choose one person each. Who are you choosing?”

Hong Yitang laughed and transmitted, “I choose the Stable Mountain Prince! He seems to have just become an Arcanus and should be at least three elements. I’m more confident when it comes to martial masters.”

The Stable Mountain Prince was likely a martial master too, one who’d thrown everything out the window by his decision to become an Arcanus.

Hong Yitang did not choose the lord of Buddha Mountain. The latter’s offensive strength was average, but his defensive abilities were domineering enough.

Li Hao swept a gaze over the incoming opponents. “I’ll choose the guy from the Ministry of the Judiciary. He really hates me, so I’ll send him on his way first!”

They had to ensure that they would kill with one strike! Otherwise, their first blow wouldn’t be that impressive.

Hou Xiaochen frowned at the two choosing targets like they were dividing looted treasure. On what basis did these two have to be so... cocky! Hu Mingfa of the Judiciary was also a three element Arcanus. The Stable Mountain Prince was also a three element Arcanus.

To be honest, Hou Xiaochen felt that he wouldn’t be able to fight them if he didn’t unseal himself.

The kid’s just outright discussing killing them with one blow! It’s one thing for Li Hao to be this cocky, but Earthturner Sword is as well?

Sky Sword simply looked at them without a word. Since Li Hao had proposed such a plan... then let them proceed according to his words. No one would be getting away if anything went wrong.

......

Qian Wanhao and the rest were on high alert and finding the situation odd. Across the way, Li Hao’s group was neither evading or hiding from them. They were simply just standing there. Was this... direct frontal combat?

The more their targets were thus, the more wary he was. He was old and no longer possessed the brave ferocity of his youth. In contrast, he was much more reliable and dependable now.

“Be careful!” he reminded. Everyone nodded solemnly. These guys... were crazy, were they not?

The two sides continuously drew near each other. Five hundred meters, four hundred meters... This kind of distance could be closed in the blink of an eye to powerhouses, yet Qian Wanhao and the others moved even slower. Meanwhile, the Sky Roc King from the monster spirits grew impatient.

It wasn’t just here to kill Li Hao—it was here more to secure certain resources. It didn’t have much contact with plant spirits and was hoping to reach an agreement with a plant spirit or a ministry. The hemming and hawing from these humans were getting on its nerves. Their side was so powerful! Was there a need to be thus?

This Qian Wanhao was losing all his nerve in his old age!

“Minister Qian, this king possesses a strong body. If you are worried about something unexpected happening, then this king will strike first. All of you can attack after me. This king will easily take down a mere Li Hao, even if he’s set foot into three element Arcanus!”

Qian Wanhao was taken aback.

You... um... so monster spirits are really not afraid of death, huh? Are you really not concerned that Li Hao may have something up his sleeves with how he’s reacting? But... where else will I find such a good proposal?

He’d wanted to just outright lob spirit origin talismans, but it was best if there was a distraction preoccupying the group. There was one now—a major monster spirit was willing to take the lead. Why should he refuse?