Star Gate

Chapter 567: I Want To Keep A Low Profile (IV)

Kong Jie quickly departed with the jade pendant. As he did so, Director General Zhao sighed. “Do you think this was an accident, or was it meant to be?”

“I don’t know!” Huang Yu responded calmly. “If he stayed in hiding and showed himself only at the last possible moment... we would naturally have a lot less trouble. But in that case, you and I both would think less of him. Now we think more highly of him, but taking a stand creates a lot of trouble for both him and us!”

The two truly hadn’t meant to land the young man in trouble. They’d anticipated a bit of fallout, but hadn’t expected him to charge into the fray. So at the moment, they didn’t know if they were happy or sad.

“Forget it, we’ll take things one day at a time!” sighed the director general. “Li Hao’s willingness to show himself and save people means that he’s changing. In that case, we can’t let him down. You should make a trip and keep an eye on him from the shadows. Don’t let him get overwhelmed.”

“If I go, then White Moon City...” Huang Yu frowned. “And the military... The others aren’t too reliable.”

“That’s fine, I’ll keep an eye on things,” responded Director General Zhao. “Take our remaining reserves of Water of Life. Li Hao is a free spirit and thinks a lot at times. He may not be willing to save you if he’s not in the right mood, so you’ll need to save yourself!”

A speechless Huang Yu said nothing further. He turned and left. Being in the military, it was a more self-contained faction. His absence could be concealed to the greatest degree possible.

Director General Zhao leaned against his chair when everyone left and sank into deep thought. After a while, he murmured softly, “Ying Hongyue...”

This guy loved to commit acts that neither benefited him nor others. What was the point of that?

Yuan Shuo, oh Yuan Shuo. This is your fault for creating trouble day in and day out, and not cleaning up after yourself. Look at the mess you've left behind, but meanwhile, you’re off living your best life. You’ve probably gone off to dig up graves again.

......

As winds of change rose in the outside world, countless people worried or were sent in a frenzy over Li Hao. As for the target of their attention—the trio did not have the best sources of information. They were completely oblivious despite possessing some transmission pendants. That level of information was not made public; it was shared only with some powerhouses.

Li Hao and the other two didn’t receive any word. The young man had long thrown away the pendant he’d taken in the North Sea to prevent others from tracing his movements.

The trio was not thinking of the consequences of their actions, not even Hong Yitang. His thoughts were that it didn’t matter, that not that many people knew about Li Hao’s capabilities with the sword. He Yong wouldn’t speak of it and non-martial masters didn’t understand the martial master system. Those who’d cultivated to this level wouldn’t carelessly share this kind of information. Light Sword’s thoughts were focused on dark energy; jeopardizing her salvation was the last thing on her mind.

Li Hao sometimes considered that there might be undesired consequences from using his family treasure in this way, but as more people knew about the sword’s capabilities, the less he cared. Sometimes, he wanted to go crazy for once and experience how it felt to be enemies with the entire world.

Such were the disadvantages of reading too many books. He liked to put himself in the shoes of the heroic biographies that he read, wanting to give things a try or act without caution for once. His heart was finding it difficult to come back down to earth after reading the War of Southern Jiang. Otherwise, he never would’ve shown himself to blatantly save Light Sword based on his previous character. If he didn’t possess supreme assurance that he could eliminate everyone, he wouldn’t do so even after Earthturner Sword took action.

Therefore, Li Hao wouldn’t mind if he found out that he was suddenly the hottest topic in the world. Perhaps he might even sigh with appreciation that he would find himself in such circumstances one day!

No one else knew of the young man’s thoughts, not even Hong Yitang next to him. Li Hao had a heart that was unwilling to be calm, to remain out of the spotlight. It agitated with a desire for action.

The trio currently hid in a small city that no one knew of. Li Hao was taking inventory of his battle spoils and also sending some dark energy to Light Sword. Of course, he didn’t forget Hong Yitang. He told the man how much sword energy could be traded for what combination of mysterious power stones. Li Hao knew that Hong Yitang had claimed the storage ring of a metamorphosis expert and was attempting to empty him out the best that the young man could.

Metamorphosis was the strongest level of supernaturals in the world at the moment. They surely had a lot of treasures on hand!

Li Hao didn’t intend to ask for too much—just half of his usual fee. Regular people wouldn’t even have access to such treatment!

Hong Yitang was the height of speechlessness!

But he agreed after further thought. There was no helping it, Li Hao offered an exclusive good. Sword energy could strengthen the five organs and everyone wished for that outcome. Modern day martial masters and supernaturals all faced difficulties in this area.

Hong Yitang had one massive chunk of mysterious power stone left and Light Sword paying off her debt. He had some money to spare and could enjoy himself luxuriously for once.

When Light Sword saw his decision, she wanted nothing more than to empty her wallet as well! The two turned over almost everything they had to the vampiric young man. Apart from their personal swords, they itched to sell everything else to Li Hao in exchange for some sword energy.

And so, time passed for Li Hao in a haze of anguish and delight. He completely bypassed the turmoil in the outside world. It wasn’t until the two powerhouses had completely transferred all of their riches to him and had nothing else to offer that he stopped supplying them with sword energy.

Hong Yitang was despondent! It was such a lovely feeling, but he’d sold even the last big chunk of mysterious power stone to the young man. He really had absolutely nothing to offer in payment.

Well, he had some treasures still, such as the Goldensky Lotus. But after repeated consideration, he decided to keep it to anchor his personal fortune. He couldn’t have absolutely no treasure in his storage ring, that would be so humiliating!

If he was killed one day and his storage ring taken, his murderer would curse and laugh at Earthturner Sword! A premier martial master that could kill metamorphosis existences had an empty storage ring!

Meanwhile, Light Sword sighed plaintively. She’d absorbed a great deal of dark energy, her mustache had greatly receded and her Adam’s apple had gone down quite a bit, but it still wasn’t enough!

She wanted more energy, but Li Hao wouldn’t supply it to her. It couldn’t be helped, this was all that the Windchaser Boot was worth. The main reason was also that he’d consumed most of his mysterious power stones. Of course, his body, organs, and supernatural locks had grown much stronger as well. For the first time, it seemed that the lock of his heart might be saturated!

He’d absorbed nearly one hundred thousand cubes this time, a figure that made even Li Hao wince. It was too much!

It didn’t seem like much when converted to mysterious power stones—just one hundred pieces. But Li Hao had absorbed the essence of their mysterious power, which put his consumption on an entirely different level. There was also a vast amount of waste that occurred in the process.

The trio didn’t leave their hiding place until mid October and headed for White Moon City. A notification blinked in Li Hao’s armor when they approached the city. Soldier Kong Jie has hailed you three hundred times...

The young man blinked. Are you crazy?? It’s only been a few days, you called me once every hour, didn’t you? I should block you. You never have anything good for me when you call me!

He’d yet to have a chance to call back when another notification came through from Kong Jie. This time, the inspector general was delighted!

“Fuck!” He finally connected to the kid. Li Hao was within five hundred kilometers of the capital city, but had dropped off the face of the world the past couple of days. Kong Jie would think that the kid had been assassinated if he still didn’t show up or that Hong Yitang and the others had killed him for his riches!

......

Kong Jie quickly relayed everything that had happened. Li Hao listened quietly.

“You need to come back to White Moon City as soon as possible and don’t leave for the time being,” Kong Jie concluded at the end. “The capital is still safe for the moment. As bold as those fellows are, they won’t dare come to their deaths here.”

“Okay, understood!” Li Hao didn’t say much and had a calm expression on his face when he hung up. “I’m going back to White Moon City. Will you two be parting ways here or going to the city with me?”

“I’m going with you!” Light Sword immediately said. While she’d suppressed some light energy, it was far from enough, so she had to continue traveling with Li Hao.

“Whatever you wish.” The young man didn’t express an opinion. He wanted to make a trip to White Moon City and collect the rest of his fee first, then head to the ruins that contained the little tree. He’d promised the tree a large amount of benefits and the Demon Hunters were also there. There was no need to bring the other two with him, however, just in case that attracted unnecessary trouble.

Li Hao didn’t speak of what Kong Jie had said. As isolated as the other two were, they should know relatively quickly, so it didn’t matter if he brought it up or not. Not to mention, it’d been less than two days since word got out. Everyone knew that Earthturner Sword and the others were strong. No one would make a move unless they were completely prepared.

Ying Hongyue. You again.

Was life too good for this guy for him to be making trouble for Li Hao over and over again? The young man was no longer who he was. He’d seen far more of the world, his strength was great, and he was fully confident. Ying Hongyue’s little tricks could no longer scare him!

......

Three humans and one dog made quick work of the five hundred kilometers to White Moon City. Li Hao took out the Divine Kun Ship and ferried them through the sky. They landed near the city in less than three hours. However, Hong Yitang didn’t seem inclined to head inside.

“Since you’re here, I’ll go back first...”

“Are you not going to visit Hong Qing?” Li Hao was going to bring everyone back from the ruins in a bit. Was Hong Yitang not even going to look in on his daughter?

“You can take care of her, I might not have time to in the days to come...”

“Of course, I’ll take care of everything, don’t worry!” Li Hao smiled.

Hong Yitang flicked a glance at him, his thoughts unknown.

“Martial Uncle Hong, I hear that you’re going to build a city?”

“Not a city...” Hong Yitang wanted to deny, but changed his answer. “I’m just expanding the Sword Sect.”

“Mmhmm, that’s nice.”

The two chatted for a while before Kong Jie flew out of the city. He inclined his head at the other two and turned gravely to Li Hao. “You’re finally back. I would’ve thought you were assassinated by someone if you still stayed out of sight...”

Li Hao chuckled and didn’t say anything. “I won’t die that easily. Inspector General Kong, I’ve brought back Light Sword. Where’s the rest of my stuff?”

“What stuff?”

“The terms for the mission. I only received a deposit. You guys still owe me an origin weapon and twenty thousand mysterious power stones.”

Kong Jie was speechless. Did this kid not care about his safety at all?

“I’ll give it to you tomorrow...”

“I want it now!”

Kong Jie was truly at a loss. “I don’t have that much at the moment, I need the provincial government and military to render aid...”

“Then go to them!”

“.....” Kong Jie furrowed his brows. What was this kid in such a hurry for? They wouldn’t shortchange him!