Star Gate-Chapter 1106: Sword Dao Abilities (II)

At the same time, the other seven handpicked by Li Hao arrived at the ruins. Sky Sword, Earthturner Sword, Hou Xiaochen, Kong Jie, Huang Yu, Chen Zhongtian, and Lin Hongyu.

Their strength ran the gamut and their weakest was Kong Jie. As one of the four protectors of Silver Moon province, he was the weakest among them to begin with. He was neither among the first batch of personnel to Skystar City nor commanded troops like Huang Yu.

After a few excursions, the gap between him and the others had widened further. The rest were nearly all twelve dao meridians—peak first level Sun and Moon. He was barely ten meridians.

At the moment, Kong Jie was slightly nervous and rather agitated. When he heard Li Hao say that someone would strengthen them, he couldn’t help but say, “Um... um... how about I give my opportunity to someone else? Tyrant Blade and Northern Fist are here too...”

Inwardly, however, he prayed madly that his suggestion wouldn’t be accepted. He wanted this opportunity! It would be hard to come by another after he was passed over for this one.

“Inspector General Kong has sat in residence at Silver Moon for many years and the Silver Moon Inspectorate has always fulfilled its duties,” laughed Li Hao. “You bear a lot of credit for the province being prosperous and the people living in safety! Not to mention, I was part of the Inspectorate back in the day!”

Kong Jie grinned, his heart light with exuberance. This was a reward and a friendly gesture from Li Hao for deeds rendered! He’d held down the fort in Silver Moon all this time and refused to let it dissolve into chaos. Although the Inspectorate had many unsolved cases in its books, at the very least, tranquility had been maintained for many years and the three great organizations didn’t dare exceed the limits of acceptable behavior.

All four protectors of the province were here to benefit from this rare opportunity. It was indeed a reward from Li Hao for their outstanding tenure. Otherwise, Kong Jie would never be listed among the ten to be enhanced. There were plenty either stronger than him or closer to Li Hao than him.

Chen Zhongtian, Gan Wuliang, and Lin Hongyu were also present as a reward for their service. Such was give and take!

“You guys should wait a while for them to come back out. You can enter the ruins only if everything seems fine.”

The newly assembled group settled down in wait. Time ticked by second by second. The sky darkened and the first day passed. It’d been an entire day since Li Hao’s replica had been destroyed.

Although the young man wasn’t aware of the agreement of three days, he knew that time was not on his side. Impatience nipped at his heels after a full day passed, but he didn’t openly display it.

Three people emerged from the ruins after another two hours. They blinked in the fresh air. Compared to their previous selves, their strength had undergone tremendous changes.

Hidden in the shadows, Zhang An furrowed his brows. There wasn’t a particular presence on these people, but... he held a faint distaste for them.

Sky Sword and the others didn’t sense anything. Li Hao had a very faint perception that the Red Moon power had seeped into their bodies. Nothing much about them had changed—even Director General Zhao was the same as before.

“Commander, we’ve secured excellent improvements!” He grinned radiantly as the outcome was better than he’d expected. There also weren’t any signs that he’d been infiltrated by Red Moon’s power.

He even suspected that Earthflare hadn’t done anything malevolent toward him.

“We don’t seem to be affected,” Yuan Shuo transmitted to Li Hao. “There’s nothing interfering with our minds either. Did he not utilize Red Moon’s power against us?”

Li Hao sighed to himself. What a dastardly well hidden power! Hadn’t this been his reaction when the exalted emperor attacked him? He felt no energy contamination during the fight or lingering effects from the exchange. Only when he entered the Hao Cosmos did he realize what had happened.

The trio’s strength had greatly risen. Director General Zhao was officially fourth level Sun and Moon at nineteen meridians. His progress was the most noticeable. He’d only been at fourteen dao meridians before; he’d opened five more in one go!

It was incredible!

The might of a Saint exceeded imagination!

The second to improve the most wasn’t Yuan Shuo, but Gan Wuliang. He’d managed to set foot into third level Sun and Moon at sixteen meridians! That meant he’d opened six dao meridians in that session, more than the director general.

Last was Yuan Shuo. He was also third level Sun and Moon at seventeen meridians. However, these results meant that he’d only opened four dao meridians. That was less than the other two.

Li Hao raised a brow, understanding why this was the situation. He looked at Gan Wuliang. The man’s eyes burned brightly and there seemed to be gleeful excitement flickering in their depths.

“Very good, well done!” commended the young man. “You’re all third level Sun and Moon now and Director General Zhao is even fourth level! That’s the equivalent of initial Immortal! For the new humans of the age, apart from those of us favored by the heavens, the director general may be the first to reach this level!”

And that was before combining with his replica! Once he did, he might truly stand a chance to be fifth level.

The young man had absorbed a great dao of dao power before, but he hadn’t used it to open meridians. Instead, he cleared acupoints within the 360 meridians. Despite having cleared many, the total number of his dao meridians hadn’t increased.

As of now, Li Hao was at twenty-four meridians and peak fifth level Sun and Moon. His acupoints remained at 250 among the thirty-six dao meridians, and more than 300 total. He’d cleared a lot of acupoints among other dao meridians; he just lacked having cleared them all.

The others looked on with envy at his words. The weakest of the three was at least third level? They’d improved so quickly!

Li Hao made a quick round of internal assessment, finding that perhaps Earthflare also had certain limitations in mind. Most people would only reach third level. Apart from Director General Zhao, he wouldn’t elevate anyone to fourth level.

All the same, that was enough!

“Everyone else can go inside!” Li Hao smiled and tossed a storage ring to Hong Yitang. “This contains twenty thousand drops of Water of Life. As for the rest of the benefits promised to Senior Earthflare, I’ll pay him when everyone is done. The senior doesn’t need to worry that I won’t make good on my debts!”

The group didn’t say much as they were eager to head inside. Li Hao watched them silently.

“Then I’ll head back in to introduce them,” said Director General Zhao.

“Very well.”

The director general led them in. Li Hao still remained silent.

“Have your master and Gan Wuliang enter the ruins as well.” Zhang An’s voice sounded in his ears. “I’m uncomfortable with them being here and want to speak privately with you.”

The young man raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Teacher, Wuliang, you guys head in for a look as well...”

The two exchanged glances, but didn’t say anything. A solemn Zhang An appeared as soon as they were gone.

“There was something very wrong about those three when they emerged! Li Hao, you’re playing with fire, do you know that? They might be possessed through another method!”

This was a very grave matter! Li Hao had set foot over the line! Red Moon major world would take over the entire Skystar Commander Office if he continued in this vein. This was a very dangerous undertaking.

“Don’t worry, senior, I know what I’m doing.”

Zhang An frowned ferociously, but didn’t insist. He knew that the young man was persisting in this manner because the gains were great. That could be seen from the state of those three. They’d improved so drastically in the blink of an eye!

If it was up to him, it’d take at least a few months, if not years for the same level of progress. Earthflare was truly willing to invest a lot in this venture!

As a fellow Saint, Zhang An knew what kind of price he needed to pay to enhance these people by so much, even when his physical body yet remained. He might even need to expend some of his foundation of being a Saint.

The second session lasted a long time due to the number of people. Li Hao, Deputy Zhou, Director General Wang, and Zhang An waited quietly outside.

Director General Wang didn’t mind the wait since he’d already opened a fair number of dao meridians at a rapid clip. He was almost fourth level Sun and Moon now, so he was in no rush. It was Deputy Zhou who felt a bit regretful about the state of affairs.

He did not possess a human body of the modern era and had been very strong when the dao meridians were not discovered. He could stand against sixth or seventh element Arcanus then.

But now, he was at most ninth level Mountain and Sea or first level Sun and Moon. While it was still strong compared to the rest, these ten would leave him behind today.

For one tantalizing moment, he wondered if he should relinquish his golden body and return to his original physical body. But when he thought of how a mighty powerhouse had immolated himself to create this golden body... That powerhouse was his master in his eyes. He couldn’t bear to give up the golden body.

The deputy sighed softly to himself and didn’t speak of his considerations. Perhaps... he didn’t need to pursue immensely strong battle strength. It was just that his battle strength had always been the peak of the world. How could he not care about this fall from grace?

He’d thought that Li Hao and the rest looked so weak back in the day. None of the four protectors, apart from Ole Zhao, could stand by his side.

“Deputy Zhou, you guys will be rich next time we fight an ancient city!” Li Hao suddenly transmitted and grinned broadly. “There are many powerhouses in the ancient cities, as well as plant spirits and indestructible matter... The deputy might be able to spontaneously set foot into the Immortal level at that time and attain heights beyond fourth level Sun and Moon!”

Deputy Zhou blinked, then looked at the young man. Li Hao was sometimes very skilled at observing people. He’d simply been turning over some thoughts in his mind, but the young man had detected all of it.

“Then I await the commander’s good news!”

Li Hao laughed and nodded without further comment.

......

After a few more hours, when light started to graze the horizon, the group walked out in fine fettle.

“I... opened six dao meridians in one go!” Kong Jie was the most excited and could barely contain his fervor. “I’m at sixteen dao meridians, I’m third level Sun and Moon!”

Heavens above, this was incredible!

Apart from Director General Zhao who was fourth level, the rest of the ten were as Li Hao imagined—third level. They spanned a range of sixteen to eighteen dao meridians. All of a sudden, there was a fourth level and nine third levels under his command.

Kong Jie’s change was very noticeable. He was so joyous that he threatened to bounce off any walls he could find. He had been under a lot of pressure recently. Now that it was lifted, he was even of the mind to joke with Li Hao.

“I’ll smack He Yong to death with one punch if he dares lecture me now!” Kong Jie crowed with laughter. “Third level Sun and Moon!”

Li Hao smiled as well and looked at the rest. No one had entered a cultivation derivation or displayed the woodenness of being controlled. Everyone looked similar to how they’d always been, just a bit more energetic.

“Be careful.” The young man knew the true state of affairs. “There may be some aftereffects... Director General Wang, you guys can wait here for me.” He hesitated before transmitting, “Ignore whatever happens. Leave with Deputy Zhou if something develops beyond our control.

“Senior, let’s see what this powerhouse has up his sleeves.” Li Hao looked at Zhang An, but continued before the man could respond, “Just stand guard for me. There’s no need for you to do anything.”

“What?” Zhang An jerked with surprise. Stand guard? That was a Saint, a whole and complete Saint! Li Hao was dead without a doubt if he met the Saint in battle without seventh or even ninth level Sun and Moon. That was further predicated on the assumption that the Saint was just an initial Saint.

You are... so bold and utterly arrogant!

“It’s just a sparring match.” Li Hao smiled. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“Li Hao...”

“Let’s go, senior.”

Zhang An frowned and said no more.