Chapter 841: Intelligence Reports (I)

At the same time.

The emergence of the ranking caused some changes all the same. The City of Supernaturals abruptly announced that it was willing to work with the Jade Flute and Sunset Mountains of the seven divine mountains.

Of the divine mountains, the lords of Buddha and Sky Roc Mountain were dead. The rest of the mountains still stood, but they kept a much lower profile than before and no longer appeared in the public eye.

The lord of Yonder Mountain was very strong and on good terms with the three great organizations. Sky Sword Mountain was Sky Sword’s faction and he’d been working on Li Hao’s behalf before the young man rose to prominence. Phoenix Mountain belonged to monster spirits. The remaining two mountains stayed under the radar in comparison—the key reason was that they didn’t pit themselves against Li Hao, so he wasn’t very familiar with them.

It wasn’t until the City of Supernaturals announced a partnership that Li Hao learned a bit more about them. Plainly, the appearance of three seven element Arcanus exerted some pressure on these premier powerhouses. They chose to band together at this time.

The members of this latest alliance all had their own powerhouses; their leaders were listed on the Arcanus Ranking. The one from the City of Supernaturals was quite strong, and while the other two mountain lords hadn’t been included in the ranking before, Li Hao did so in his version. His guess was that even though they were weaker, they would improve at a rapid clip now that they knew the layout of the world.

Perhaps they’d reach five or six elements soon.

......

The factions of Skystar Dynasty changed as unpredictably as the wind and clouds. Someone rose and another fell in the blink of an eye, while others chose to ally with each other. Li Hao’s appearance had set everything in motion. If it wasn’t for this, they would all choose to stretch their muscles after the second awakening—not now.

......

Inside Skystar City.

Li Hao kept himself busy as he waited for news of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. He ignored all of the minutiae around him—Deputy Zhou and the rest could take care of those tasks for him. He bent his mind to studying the supernatural locks. Resolving the issue of the physical body was a vital undertaking at hand.

His second priority was to comprehend the auras of the wind, thunder, light, and dark. He postulated that such methods like the Wind Thunder Sword, Light Sword, and Ghost Shadow Sword would lead him straight to their associated secret arts. To him, comprehending an aura was just a matter of time. The key was how long it might take him.

When would the second awakening take place? If it spontaneously erupted throughout the land and gave rise to a myriad of heavyweights, then everyone’s strength in the modern world would just make them the equivalent of ants compared to the truly powerful.

There’s also Battle Heaven to consider...

Should he seek out General Pagoda and revive the tree? He hesitated as a variety of thoughts ran through his mind.

Someone came back before long—the constantly squabbling Southern Fist and Northern Fist. They came back with the director of the Sagittarius province Night Watchers.

Inside the great hall.

The two threw the middle-aged man to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

“Cough cough cough.” He spat blood and despaired when he saw Li Hao standing over him. “Commander, I...”

Li Hao didn’t say a word; Yao Si arrived before long and sighed when he saw the man on the ground.

“Out with it, what have you done with the Wind and Cloud Pavilion? Tell us everything you know. You will die, but your family will be taken care of.” Yao Si turned to Li Hao. “This man joined the Night Watchers ten years ago and once served by my side.”

Despair deepened in the Night Watcher director on the ground. Could not even Yao Si save himself?

Li Hao didn’t say a word. This one had been given up by Deputy Wu of South Peak. The deputy had gone on the run to somewhere—the Wind and Cloud Pavilion would naturally take revenge on him. There was no need for the young man to do anything and truth be told, he’d left the deputy alive on purpose.

Deputy Wu was an Arcanus and wouldn’t die so easily if he ran off ahead of time. The pavilion might have to utilize their treasure to lock on to the man’s position. Perhaps Li Hao could use him as bait to further his own investigation.

It didn’t matter that Li Hao didn’t know where he’d run off to. When the fighting broke out, the young man would quickly receive word since he now spearheaded the Night Watchers of the central region. The difficulty level would be further lowered with the Inspectorate’s coordination.

Ashen-faced, the Night Watcher director on the ground said with resignation, “I only collaborated with the Wind and Cloud Pavilion, I haven’t defected to them...”

“There’s no need to explain,” Yao Si said calmly. “I know your personality and how you are a prudent person. You wouldn’t brashly coordinate with another faction, not unless you thought they were stronger than me and the Night Watchers! They must’ve sent one of their powerhouses to you or even brought you to their headquarters. Otherwise, with your level of knowledge in all these years of experience, you wouldn’t seek help from them that easily.”

“...the director knows me well,” the man agreed helplessly. Yao Si knew him so well that the man would be able to tell if he was lying. “Is there really no hope of making it out of this alive, Commander Li, Director Yao?”

“You are of the Night Watchers. There would be hope if it was anyone else,” Yao Si said coolly. “Did you forget about the vow you took when you joined the Night Watchers?”

“I didn’t, but... director... In this age of ancient powerhouses dominating the world, what is the point in us fighting and putting our best efforts forward?

“Commander Li is strong

now

and the Skystar Commander Office is supported on all sides, with Silver Moon and the Night Watchers leaning toward him as well, but what do we do once the ancient powerhouses can set foot in our world?” The man looked at them, greatly depressed. “How are we to fight in an age where we do not see hope?”

There was no hope!

Hope might be sparked in ordinary people when they saw how strong the Skystar Commander Office was, but it would not flourish in heavyweights. They knew that this time period was overshadowed by the ancient civilization.

“I would think so too in an earlier time, that our age is a hopeless one,” Yao Si answered calmly. “But now, I understand that man is the maker of his own fate! So what of the ancient civilization? Additionally, they’re just a bunch of existences lingering from the ancient civilization, they’re not from the peak of that time either!”

“It’s easy for the director to say so...” The man snorted with laughter, fully letting loose with some contempt. “Man is the maker of his own fate?”

What kind of joke was that?

“If it’s that simple, why has the director cloistered himself during these five years? It’s because you were afraid! How can the rest of us not be afraid when you are?” The man looked at Yao Si. “The director stayed on the sidelines when Yellow Dragon ran the Night Watchers like his personal gang. What were we supposed to do? We could only throw ourselves under the banner of a major faction. The three great organizations didn’t dare take me in because I might be a spy due to being a Night Watcher. It was the Wind and Cloud Pavilion that extended an olive branch to me. I could only choose to accept it.”

“...perhaps you are right,” Yao Si replied after momentary silence. “I have indeed disappointed many people over these five years. Li Hao once lectured me on that. Although I was the faith of the Night Watchers, even I chose to concede. What would that do to others? I extinguished the last trace of passion in the agency...”

It drove the point home even further when one of his vaunted subordinates said that his seclusion disappointed them.

Perhaps my compromises throughout these five years have been a mistake.

At least he was awake now.

“If you’ve only given information to the Wind and Cloud Pavilion these years and have not done anything else, I can ask for mercy on your behalf after I look into it. The pavilion has not wreaked great havoc yet, so you...”

“Forget it, I don’t need the director to worry on my behalf!” snorted the man. “Done anything? What counts as a crime? Colluding with the three great organizations? Killing civilians? Stealing and looting? If they count, then there is no mercy to be had for me.

“Commander Li hates evil and wrongdoers, but do you know how many like me are out there? Too many! Can you kill them all? If I should die, then half of the supernaturals in the world should die as well!

“Why don’t you go and pacify the City of Supernaturals?! They chose a prime location with good feng shui and threw out the local residents so their people could move in. Those who didn’t leave were slaughtered and those who did so had to wander around the wilderness in the dead of winter. The corpses of the original inhabitants could be found all throughout the land that year.

“The nine ministries watched from the sidelines, as did the royal family. Should they all be killed? The commander has killed a lot of people, but can you kill them all?” jeered the man. “Such are the times, what would you have us do in them? All of these factions have plant spirits and animals supporting them. You should kill them if you want to end them all, but can you?”

Li Hao didn’t say a word, whereas Yao Si sighed. “There is nothing you cannot do so long as you are willing to!”

“What a joke!”

Li Hao coughed, interrupting their conversation. “That’s enough, this squabbling isn’t useful. Do you know enough about the Wind and Cloud Pavilion? If you do, I can consider showing you a few things. If not, I’ll send you on your way. Those you speak of won’t meet with good ends either!”

The man fell silent and looked at Li Hao for a long moment. He smiled. “I know enough, at least I know more than Wu from South Peak. I know that he sent people to follow the pavilion’s representatives, but his people’s methods were too crude. Don’t forget, the Night Watchers are experts in this field!”

Li Hao smiled and nodded. “Very well, take him to the ruins then, Director Yao!”

Yao Si was surprised, but quickly led the man to the rear yard with a nod. The death of a plant spirit would be incredibly stunning for modern supernaturals.

“Does that guy know anything?” He Yong asked with bafflement after they left. The man wasn’t strong and had just barely made it to Arcanus, which made him similar to that Deputy Wu. The deputy hadn’t known much. While the pavilion had selected their people, they didn’t seem ready to make use of their investments yet. Therefore, these people knew very little about the Wind and Cloud Pavilion.

“I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. We’ll just keep investigating if he doesn’t. It’s also good that we’ve eliminated two of their Arcanus.”

The group chatted idly; Yao Si returned with the man after almost half an hour. The branch director was stunned speechless and had trouble collecting his thoughts. So plant spirits could die! The one that supported the Ministry of the Judiciary was dead! He stared at Li Hao upon his return and said slowly after a while, “Commander... I see another plant spirit there... I would like to ask you a question.”

“Speak.”

“Are you... going to build a new dynasty... or one of the ancient civilization?”