Chapter 817: Why So Foolish (III)

Li Hao quietly worked out some information from the old men after the conversation. At the very least, he knew their individual names. The six were male. While there were female cultivators among the old guard, they’d either died or been crippled. There were fewer female martial masters to begin with. Those that survived to present day all remained in Silver Moon.

The six had some background to them. Northern Fist’s martial uncle was a wandering hero once hailed as Thunderbolt Fist. Berserk Blade’s master was once hailed as Crazed Demon Blade. Li Hao hadn’t thought that he’d run into masters of the thirty-six here. That was quite beyond his expectations.

The other four didn’t have much to do with the thirty-six, but one of them quite surprised Li Hao. He was the previous generation Iron Shirt. That wasn’t the important detail; the key was that he was the master of the dead Iron Shirt and the lord of Buddha Mountain... had been his disciple.

Li Hao stared at the hulking elder for a while before saying, “The lord of Buddha Mountain... was... senior’s disciple?”

“Disciple in name!” the old man laughed heartily. “He came from the west and was hung up for all to see after Yuan Shuo defeated him... I felt an urge to protect a promising talent since his potential was decent, his Golden Body art good enough, and his age young enough.”

He then shook his head and fell silent. Li Hao found the situation very dicey indeed. There was a grudge at play here!

Indeed, a grudge festered as he knew that Yuan Shuo had broken through the last Iron Shirt’s defenses and killed the man. That had been someone else’s disciple! A headache brewed at the young man’s temples.

My teacher... seriously...

The old man laughed at seeing Li Hao remain silent. “What are you thinking of? That your teacher killed my disciple?”

“Well...”

“It was a sparring match in the martial world, life and death are quite common when we go about our business!” The old man didn’t mind at all. “My disciple has killed those from the Five Styles discipline as well. Granted, it wasn’t called the Five Styles back then. The person involved should’ve been your martial uncle, he was Yuan Shuo’s senior brother. Yuan Shuo’s master then died in the battle of Skystar Sea. Those of us who survived have all benefited from him at some point in time.”

“Benefited from... my martial ancestor?”

“Correct!” laughed the old man. “Do you think he’s been dead for many years? Not at all, just twenty years. He was part of the main forces at the Battle of Skystar Sea twenty years ago. Peak Dominator then was very strong, but it’s naturally nothing worth speaking of now. But back then, he was a preeminent heavyweight!

“Your teacher stirs up so much trouble, do you think it’s by his merits alone that he’s lived such a carefree life all these years?” The old man smiled. “Your martial ancestor was always protecting him from the shadows. Of course, your teacher was well aware of that too. It was a pity that Yuan Shuo was never able to advance to Dominator before he passed away twenty years ago. That was one thing that your martial ancestor found quite regretful when he died in that battle.”

Li Hao remained silent. That was indeed very regretful. The most important disciple with the greatest potential was still stuck at half step Dominator when he passed away. Although Yuan Shuo was on par with a Dominator with the melding of his five auras, being unable to take that final step was still immensely saddening.

These old men were rather willing to discuss past events with Li Hao. They did so from the perspective of simple conversation, one without too much bitterness. All such feuds and grudges had long dissipated twenty years ago. In the past, Silver Moon martial masters were highly adept at fighting among themselves. All internal conflict mostly ceased after the rise of the supernatural. It rarely happened after the battle of Skystar Sea broke many heritages. So many died that those who survived were less inclined for internal strife.

......

After leaving Sky Sword and Northern Fist to keep the elders company, Li Hao returned to the depths of the Judiciary complex. He reached the entrance to the ruins located in the rear garden. The plant spirit extended a wisp of mental strength. “You seem to have encountered some trouble... I heard the names of Wind and Cloud Pavilion and the Ranking of Wind and Cloud...”

The plant spirit could hear a little of its surroundings when it extended its mental strength, so Li Hao didn’t normally discuss business inside the complex. It was all casual chit chat, with secrets being transmitted.

“That’s right!” Li Hao nodded. “Therefore... I need the senior’s help.”

“My help?”

“I need a core origin replica!” Li Hao declared. “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion wants to move against me and they might have premier powerhouses. I need the help of a core origin replica, one that cannot be too weak. It has to be at least seven elements or on par with an Apex...”

The big coconut tree inside the ruins nearly toppled over from shock.

“Ah...”

“There’s nothing good in it for you if I die!” Li Hao said solemnly, to which the tree completely ignored.

What does your death have to do with me? The next person will choose to partner with me as well.

Plant spirits held a monopoly on human cultivation. The entire species needed Water of Life.

“Do you think none of the major factions have their own partnerships with plant spirits?” Li Hao explained. “They all do! Those with true wealth have long cemented a regular partnership. Do you think they’ll abandon the plant spirits that they’ve sunk endless resources into to ally with an unfamiliar one?”

The coconut tree swayed with surprise at the presentation of a new perspective.

“Your only choice is someone like me who’s risen too fast to already have an agreement with a plant spirit! Silver Moon’s plant spirits are strong, but they require too many resources. I can’t satisfy them, which makes us a perfect match for each other! Do you think the royal family or other factions will choose to partner with you if they take this place? Or is it more likely that their plant spirit will decide to eat you whole?”

The coconut tree swayed again.

“Which among the three great organizations doesn’t have a powerhouse standing behind them? Your only choice is me and the Silver Moon martial masters! As for local overlords... Hah, what a joke! They have issues producing even an Arcanus. Do you think they can supply you with millions of mysterious power stones?”

The coconut tree sank into deep thought. Did the young man’s words make sense? They did! It hadn’t considered this much up to this point. Just as Li Hao said, those with the ability to form an agreement with a plant spirit would’ve done so twenty years ago. The coconut tree couldn’t be bothered with weaklings—how much in benefits could they bring?

As for Li Hao... he’d risen so quickly. There were strong plant spirits in Silver Moon, but perhaps they wanted so much that they weren’t a viable option.

“Therefore, once I’m dead, the most likely outcome for you is to be forgotten here and no longer continue to recover. You can only wait for the second awakening to take place and then... be carved up by others!

“Trust me when I say that the other plant spirits in Skystar Town’s ruins will pounce on you at the first chance to do so! All of the various factions, nine ministries, and royal family are enhancing their strength as quickly as they can. They’re consuming large quantities of stones everyday to produce Water of Life. All of the other plant spirits are improving, but only you will continue to decline!”

The coconut tree jerked with alarm! That was the truth! If Li Hao refused to supply it with mysterious power stones and it wasn’t able to come in contact with other powerhouses, then it would continue to decline while other plant spirits grew stronger. Even if it didn’t weaken, it wouldn’t grow stronger either.

“Your demands are too high,” the coconut tree said solemnly. “You must know that to me, cutting off an Apex level replica represents nearly one third of my core origin. I’ve already lost a lot before and wasn’t replenished for it. Cutting off so much more again... I won’t be able to recover without at least thirty million mysterious power stones...”

“I don’t want to ask for that much either,” Li Hao took a deep breath. “But I’ve encountered a lot of trouble. You should know Daoist Wind and Cloud. If the Wind and Cloud Pavilion has that sort of heritage, then they’ll have more than one peak six element Arcanus. Of course, I’ll try to fight them in an empty ruin. Your replica will still exist if I win. If not... then we don’t need to talk of anything else.”

The big tree was quiet for a very long time before saying, “Then give me thirty million stones first. I won’t be able to do it otherwise. Severing that much core origin will shake my main body.”

And if it was destroyed, greater trouble would arise. It might even impact the foundation of its primary body.

“Thirty million...” Li Hao’s head ached. “That’s too much. I won’t be able to come up with that much for a while!”

The big tree remained quiet. Then there was nothing to discuss. It wasn’t a fool. Without sufficient treasures to pay me and consume my replenishment yourself... I’m not a fool. Won’t I be in greater trouble if you die?

“In that case, I’ll definitely give you the mysterious power stones, I just don’t have that many on me at the moment.” Li Hao set his jaw. “I’ll substitute with some treasures and trade back for them when I have sufficient mysterious power stones!”

“What... kind of treasures?” The big tree was slightly curious.

Li Hao grit his teeth and very reluctantly brought out a large mallet. “The mallet of the Hongs! One of the eight guardian treasures! This item is worth more than thirty million mysterious power stones!”

“That’s just three million energy stones. Do you think this... is worth that much?”

“Don’t worry, what’s a mere thirty million stones worth if we can take them done?” Li Hao said with tragic determination. “You’ll lose nothing once your replica returns and you’ll earn thirty million stones for free. I won’t relinquish the mallet of the Hongs, I’m going to reclaim all eight heritage weapons!”

“.......” The big tree was tempted. The divine mallet of the Hongs! Li Hao was correct, it was worth more than thirty million stones. It could even be worth three hundred! But... it couldn’t use it. Only the Hongs could.

Perhaps Li Hao might be able to, and the young man wasn’t going to give up on the treasure either. It was indeed precious beyond compare, but the tree would be stuck with a worthless hunk of metal if Li Hao died.

The young man grew irritated when the plant spirit didn’t respond. “Is that not enough? You’re too greedy!”

“It’s not that I’m greedy... and the divine mallet is indeed more valuable than my core origin replica,” the tree answered. “It’s just that I’m unable to use it...”

“None of that is an issue if I win.” Li Hao frowned. “If I die and someone else takes over this place, a weapon of the eight families is something that everyone wants. Have them trade for it with thirty million stones, they’ll do it!”

“You can’t put it that way...”

“Then I’ll add more!” Li Hao glowed ominously. “I’ll throw in another ten powerful origin weapons. You can devour them if I lose, but you can’t touch them before that!”

“Origin weapons? What weapons?” This piqued the tree’s interest.

Li Hao immediately took out a bunch of high-level origin weapons. The tree sensed them, surprised to find that they were all earth level. That was indeed not bad. If these weapons were devoured, they were worth several million stones due to their level. It couldn’t digest the mallet of the Hongs, but it could these ones.

“They... will do... but that’s still not enough...” The coconut tree was tempted.