Star Gate

Ying Hongyue had once employed the mighty mallet of the Hongs and inflicted untold damage to ancient plant spirits. He was personally familiar with its immense capabilities, so he was confident in sending it with the scarlet shadow. This combination might not lose even when facing the little tree as the mallet served a similar function to the Broken Will Spear. Both could tear apart mental strength and core origin.

If the little tree’s replica met the weapon in battle, it might come away very worse for the wear. Instead, the scarlet shadow had run into Li Hao. The young man glared coldly at his best friend. Did Ying Hongyue think this would make him hesitate?

No!

When the scarlet shadow took Zhang Yuan’s form, all Li Hao could think about was how Little Yuan had wanted his best friend to flee when he was devoured by the scarlet shadow. He spent his last moments of life to warn Li Hao…

As his friend, Zhang Yuan would not kill him. He would only have Li Hao run so that the latter would be safe. Only Ying Hongyue would want to kill him!

“Kill!”

Lifeless sword intent destroyed everything. Supernatural abilities erupted with Li Hao’s blow, fire and water exploded. Word characters circled the surroundings as if formations, raising explosive rumbles!

A series of sword techniques erupted as Li Hao moved swiftly like a ghost, bringing down blow after blow. Multiple Li Haos appeared amid a bewildering dazzle that disoriented onlookers. Fire sparked over one of the Li Haos, another overflowed with water, one appeared like thunder and lightning, a fourth rushed around like a storm, and a fifth emanated aureate light…

Numerous copies of the young man attacked as Stellaris swung again and again, never seeming to grow fatigued.

Zhuang Huang continuously backed away, shock on his red face. Despite his incredible strength, he was being suppressed to the point where he could not return blow! The bloodline of the Hongs in his body was fading away; the powerful family mallet could not bring about any safety for him.

“Don’t come near!” Li Hao shouted when he sensed that Sky Sword and the others wanted to help him. “Kill the plant spirits!”

The three vanished without further word. Boom! Fierce battle erupted in the sky again, more intense than before. Hong Yitang, Hou Xiaochen, and Sky Sword combined took on one plant spirit. That freed up the little tree to focus on the remaining three, which instantly helped it gain the advantage.

The corner of the imperial palace reappeared.

BOOM!

A plant spirit was instantly crushed to smithereens; the little tree dimmed slightly as well. The corner of the palace disappeared, but the battle was easier than before. The remaining three plant spirits despaired. Although they wouldn’t truly die in the ruins, the loss from this expedition was too great. They couldn’t even pass information back to their main bodies.

Crunch!

A clear snap came not from the sky, but on the ground. Something seemed to break when Li Hao stabbed his sword into the scarlet shadow! The little sword furiously absorbed the shadow’s power; the latter struggled violently.

“Ah Hao, it’s me… It’s me, Little Yuan!” The scarlet shadow trembled like a leaf as a powerful devouring force erupted from Stellaris. Li Hao looked silently at the scarlet shadow, at Little Yuan who swiftly transformed into his father’s face.

“Little Hao!” His father’s kind face was contorted with a grimace. “Are you attempting patricide?! You unfilial son!”

He morphed into Li Hao’s mother next. “Ah Hao, why have you changed? You’re so cruel… we’re still alive, we’re not dead! We’re just trapped inside this monster… Ah Hao, are you going to kill us?”

A red light flashed through Li Hao’s eyes! His eyes were bloodshot as they pierced through everything. All illusion, every bit of mental interference immediately broke apart! It was in this moment that he realized the functionality of his eyes. It penetrated all falsehood! It was a pair of eyes from the heavens, the true heavenly eye!

It wasn’t until today that Li Hao fully understood what his eyes could be used for. Being able to determine a target’s strength and assorted minutiae was just an added bonus. Its true purpose was to present the truth of all matters to him.

That might seem like a useless feature, but Li Hao knew that it might be what he needed the most. This moment was ample proof! Everything he saw was fake. The true situation was that Orange Moon was glaring resentfully at him. Li Hao suddenly understood why Ying Hongyue had sent her.

She was the Black Widow, the Black Spider! She was most able to see through a person’s heart. The scarlet shadow was just a puppet used to confuse the mind. It was Orange Moon manipulating everything!

This character on the Record of Thirty-Six in Silver Moon may not be among the strongest, but the reason why she was part of the ranking was apparent to Li Hao today.

“Ah Hao…” Orange Moon was still wailing mournfully.

A pair of hands wrapped around her throat like a steel vice and squeezed with a deadly crunch!

“Are you done yet, Black Widow?” Li Hao had almost snapped her neck into two. He plunged his sword into her heart. The scarlet shadow flailed about wildly, but to no avail. The young man smiled. “Thank Ying Hongyue for me. The power of a scarlet shadow is sweet indeed. This is very good!”

Incredulity appeared on Orange Moon’s face, as well as shock and despair. How was this possible?!

“You know what? I think you’re the only one among the thirty-six who isn’t worthy to be present on the ranking. You’re such a bitch!” Li Hao rarely cursed at people in this manner, but he gave full vent to his emotions now. “So cheap!”

Crunch!

Sword intent flared as he flexed his hands with all of his strength. He outright snapped her neck, stabbed a hole through her heart, and pulverized her organs!

The scarlet shadow shrieked, vaporized as the little sword swallowed it whole. The mallet fell to the ground with a clang.

Li Hao picked it up and seized Orange Moon’s storage ring before looking at the woman again. Without the previous illusions enshrouding her, she showed only a beguiling face to the world. Except, it was particularly contorted in its final moments.

There was bitterness and a refusal to accept this outcome. She’d come armed with a scarlet shadow and the mallet of the Hongs. In other words, she’d been invincible! She could pound the other to death even if she met a five element Arcanus.

Unfortunately for her, she encountered Li Hao.

Her methods to manipulate the human heart were immediately dismantled by his eyes. All of her capabilities were thoroughly suppressed by the young man. There was no room for her to bring her immense strength to bear.

BOOM!

The world shook from another massive explosion.

KABOOM!

The little tree had brought the imperial palace forward again in another usage of its greatest technique. Another plant spirit replica was obliterated, leaving two. Li Hao’s longsword sailed through the air as five elements erupted with a screech!

WHAM!

Lightning danced out of clear skies as thunder boomed. The fading rose battling the three powerhouses abruptly shrieked as Stellaris stabbed into the void!

“AH!!” was the only sound before the void exploded with a dull roar!

The little tree ignored its low stamina when it saw the development. It seemed to wish to end its battle before Li Hao and the others arrived, so as to demonstrate its value. The imperial palace manifested again, causing a corresponding fading of the little tree. It ignored such consequences, bringing the palace down!

Li Hao watched with wide eyes. The little tree was indeed stronger than them in terms of absolute strength, but not to this degree. It was the image of the imperial palace that elevated it to unfathomable heights.

RUMBLE!

The final plant spirit replica flew part in pieces!

All seven plant spirit replicas were dead; a dense collection of core origin power wafted through the air. The little tree sent thousands of branches crisscrossing through the void. “Li Hao, I have great use for this power…”

“Please absorb all that you want, senior!” Li Hao nodded without a word. This was something they’d agreed on beforehand. One had to say, the little tree had been of such a great help in this battle. It’d suppressed seven plant spirits by itself! Li Hao wouldn’t have had such an easy time even if he’d been a six or seven element Arcanus, much less a five element one.

Hong Yitang and the others bore certain wounds on their bodies, particularly Hou Xiaochen. He didn’t mind the mysterious power emanating from his body. He swept a glance over Li Hao, then at Hong Yitang, coughing a few times to get the young man’s attention.

“Director Hou, I’ll explain when we get back!”

Hou Xiaochen nodded with satisfaction and dropped the subject. It was so nice dealing with smart people! He only needed to cough once before Li Hao understood.

Now was not the time to relax. Qian Wanhao had escaped with the rest. The campus was small with just four buildings to it, but Li Hao was on guard. This… was not an idyllic place. Panther suddenly ran in from the distance and closed its mouth on Li Hao’s arm, wanting to drag the young man away!

Li Hao blinked, then spun on his heel without another word. “Run!”

The others didn’t sense anything untoward, but subconsciously followed the young man’s instructions. Even the little tree halted halfway through its frenzied collection and attached itself to Li Hao.

Four humans, one dog, and one tree fled for the gates. Even if they couldn’t depart the ruins, they had to put some distance between themselves and this place. Something seemed to be awakening beneath the little lake that held the mysterious power stones in the back of school grounds.

Panther didn’t know how to talk, or it would surely tell Li Hao that it’d only had time to collect half of the one hundred million stones. The remaining half had become empty shells in a short period of time!

Not only that, but ghastly shrieks traveled from the four buildings. A mental ripple swept the campus.

“All students are to assemble at the athletic field in one minute. Any who are late will be executed!”

Dismay crossed Li Hao’s face and he turned to see that a terrifying existence had appeared on the field. He was about to make his getaway when the adorable puppet at the school gates, one that looked like a cat, slapped him back with a paw!

The powerful Li Hao bounced back and collapsed like a sack of potatoes. His injuries weren’t severe, but the cat puppet said robotically, “The school has been sealed. Assemble at the field. No students are permitted to leave!”

etvolare’s Thoughts

We certainly aren’t in Kansas anymore lol.