Star Gate

Seeing as how Li Hao had his teeth gritted in fury and looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill Xu Qing, the marquis didn’t dare meet the young man head-on. He was confident that he was much stronger than Red Beard, but even so, that thing would heavily injure him or break more of his supernatural locks, even if it didn’t kill him.

Xu Qing didn’t dare take the risk, so he chose to evade the oncoming collision. The item’s effects wouldn’t last too long. One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Up ahead, Li Hao once more widened the gap between them.

The crystalline root floated upon the air… and floated… before it fell to the ground. Xu Qing froze with surprise, then looked at the running Li Hao with a vicious glint.

You lied to me, not once, but thrice!

“Li Hao!” Xu Qing roared as he broke through the air with a loud boom and shot straight at the young man. Does this little bastard take me for a fool to lie to me again and again?

Li Hao couldn’t be bothered to respond. Anyone would’ve been scared to death by what he threw out, what a pity that it only had any force the first time. If he had a second tree root, he might use it to great effect right now. His opponent might not care about the second root after falling for it once and keet charging him.

What a shame that he only had one of them.

The young man almost regretted his actions. He’d used it on Red Beard when he didn’t know how strong the item was. Red Beard was just a metamorphosis expert without the strength to unseal himself. Li Hao should’ve just ignored the pirate. He hadn’t known that the tree root of core origin was so strong that it could outright kill Red Beard! Otherwise, he would’ve saved it to use on Xu Qing. He’d thought that it could only handle superhumans around peak Nova. Killing Red Beard had exceeded his expectations.

“You won’t be getting away, Li Hao!” Xu Qing flew at an ever faster speed as his presence grew stronger. The ominous look in his eyes grew more foreboding. This brat had caused more losses to him than could be imagined! These losses would be hard to make up for if he did not kill Li Hao today!

Having just fallen for a trick, the gap between them had grown bigger. Xu Qing once more shortened it as Li Hao looked at his burden of Panther with resignation. This dog was still bald even now. Should he just leave it behind?

The black dog seemed to sense something and looked at the young man with innocent eyes of suffering. Li Hao laughed ruefully. It was quite a show of composure that he could still laugh at a time like this. He wasn’t afraid as everything that’d happened today did not measure up to the fear that the scarlet shadows had brought to him when he was a weak mundane.

After he crushed his mental demons on that day, he was no longer afraid of any of this. He could see the sea in the distance now, and a bridge that continued to collapse. At the same time, he saw lots of soldiers. There also seemed to be weapons aimed at him, but their threat wasn’t as great. They might be city annihilation missiles, but the marquis didn’t seem inclined to have his people fire them.

Xu Qing saw his people as well. The army unit ahead plainly possessed more missiles, but he didn’t give the order to fire. He couldn’t use any more of them. If he did, that might truly create great trouble. The nine ministries, royal family, and Silver Moon were all warning him and other places were getting their kicks in when he was down. If he continued to fire missiles with abandon, the east might be divvied up by various sides before he killed Li Hao.

As Xu Qing scanned the collapsing bridge, he didn’t see anything in particular. “Steadfast Army, stop Li Hao!” he roared.

In the distance.

There weren’t that many soldiers on the bridge, less than one thousand. However, many of them were sweating profusely with fear. One Nova was in residence, as were several more Solars. Mostly mundanes made up the rest of the unit and they all carried guns. At the moment… they were shuddering with dread.

The Nova struggled with his liege’s command. He’d served the Steadfast Manor for many years and became a Nova with the faction’s support. Therefore, he didn’t dare ignore orders. All the same, he was well aware of how strong Demon Sword was. He hadn’t been afraid when the Heaven and Earth Generals were present, but the two generals were now gone and he was holding down the fort by himself. It was… a truly daunting prospect.

Yet when his thoughts turned to how Li Hao must be at the end of his tether and that he only needed to delay the young man for a bit, his fear abated slightly. It was comforting to consider that his liege would be here soon.

“KILL!” yelled the general, rising into the air with three equally terrified Solars. They blocked Li Hao’s path while the soldiers beneath shot into the air with trepidation. They were so far away that they wouldn’t hit anyone.

City annihilation missiles were out of the question, but regular bombs fired at the young man! Li Hao could also vaguely sense that someone else had come. It was a peculiar perception that had him raise an eyebrow to the distance. It wasn’t Hong Yitang since there was no indicator in the armor. The red dot seemed very far from him.

It felt like… someone from the same source as him!

Li Hao’s eyes widened as he groaned to himself. Was it his teacher? You’ve got to be joking! Now? I’m being chased by a powerhouse beyond Nova, what are you here for? You’re a weakling who may not even be able to kill a Nova, what are you doing messing things up at a time like this? It’s nice to have thoughts of rescue, but… you’ve gotta be aware of your capabilities!

I might have to go rescue you instead!

No matter how dismayed he was, he couldn’t avoid his opponent any longer. The more he ran, the more his teacher would charge toward him and possibly fall right into Xu Qing’s hands.

“KILL!” Li Hao shouted instead of saying away. He punched out with a fist of a howling tiger emerging from the cage!

Although Panther was now a bald dog, it was infuriated to see weaklings dare stand in its way. It howled and opened its mouth, devouring heaven and earth like a black hole. A powerful suction force held the Solars in place, no matter how they struggled to free themselves. The appalled Nova officer found that his mysterious power was shaking, as if it wanted to break free of his body.

Color draining from his face, he held his terror in check and brought his blade down on Li Hao! The young man is just a Nova… and I’m also a Nova… There shouldn’t be that big of a difference between us, right? I just need to stop him for a while, even if it’s just two or three moves.

BOOM!

Heaven and earth shattered when the punch connected. The blade fell apart with a loud crack.

BAM!

The Nova’s arm split open. Mind intent erupted and sword aura shot into the sky. The momentary collision dazed the initial Nova. His mind seemed to be tearing apart while he saw a sword sever heaven and earth. He grunted, seeing a fist as soon as he opened his eyes.

Bam!

His head split open! The horrified Solars didn’t have time to run before Panther’s bald tail swept past them. Bam bam bam! They were pierced through and fell into the water beneath like dumplings being tossed into a pot!

One Nova and four Solars were dead in the blink of an eye. The soldiers still firing from the bridge didn’t have time to react before a bomb exploded in its chamber. This was the cue for everyone to scatter, their knees knocking together as they scrambled to throw away their equipment as fast as possible.

Faces pale, they threw down their weapons and armor, fleeing helter-skelter. Li Hao ignored them after a second glance. One couldn’t expect too much from modern troops other than the elites of the Silver Moon Guard, Black Armaturas, Skystar Army…

The other armies were mostly the same.

Granted, Li Hao had yet to see the Silver Moon Army and didn’t know its particulars. But most armies of modern times could not fight a losing battle. They quickly collapsed when morale took a hit.

Although he’d taken out the army, they’d still caused a bit of trouble for him. Xu Qing’s presence was palpable behind him. Li Hao swiftly spun around and no longer ran. He could sense Yuan Shuo’s aura. If he left, his teacher wouldn’t be making it out.

Li Hao breathed heavily. My master… still thinks the times are what they were. They are different now. This era no longer belongs to you. Xu Qing is powerful beyond imagine and you are unable to measure up to him with your current strength.

He wasn’t complaining as his master was no fool either. Yuan Shuo knew full well the gap between these powerhouses and him, but had still made the trek to save his disciple. That was all that mattered. But since his master was here, Li Hao could not leave.

“Go back!” he grunted as he watched Xu Qing rush over. “Xu Qing has unsealed himself and is greater than Nova. You cannot match him…”

He was telling Yuan Shuo to leave! Perhaps he’d be able to hold off the duke for a bit, but the unsealed Xu Qing was so strong that Li Hao could sense his dominating blood qi before the man had arrived. It was truly the end of the line.

Strictly speaking, pressure from Silver Moon and Yuan Shuo’s arrival was the real reason why Li Hao lost. He might’ve made it out otherwise. But could he blame them?

No, and he had to be thankful. They’d paid such a hefty price and risked their lives to save him. How could he blame them for it?

Unfortunately, their kind intentions would be his downfall. Li Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He was still composed, just finding that these Silver Moon geezers weren’t that reliable at times. If they still put on a mysterious act in front of me next time, I’ll bop them all where it hurts!

But… would there be a next time?

He spat out Stellaris and waved his hand, sending Panther flying. “Take my teacher with you!” The young man’s voice echoed in the dog’s ears.

Panther whined and a violent light danced in its eyes. It ultimately turned around and headed for Yuan Shuo. It would find a chance to kill Xu Qing for revenge later on!

Xu Qing registered the development, but didn’t care. He didn’t care about the dog, just Li Hao. He smiled! Li Hao had finally stopped running. He couldn’t run, in any case. Xu Qing kicked forward with unfathomable speed, almost breaking the void apart.

The thought of a tornado came to Li Hao’s mind. This was his opponent’s aura—Xu Qing was a martial master and the strongest martial master among the enemies that he’d met. It was also his first time truly fighting with a premier heavyweight. It was just a split second, but it felt like his own mind intent was about to be torn to pieces.