Star Gate

Chapter 187: Opening Supernatural Locks (III)

A smiling Li Hao looked at Wang Ming. So what of Sunflare? He wanted to test what a newly ascended Sunflare without the aura of a martial master was capable of. There was nothing to fear about this level!

When it came to battles between Dominators and Sunflare, Li Hao was of the opinion that Dominators were more frightening. Sunflares just possessed stronger energy.

“That’s enough.” Yuan Shuo smiled to see the two young men bickering. “Little Ming, you should focus on controlling your mysterious power since you’ve just ascended. Don’t let the energy dissipate! Have you mastered the breathing method that I taught you?”

“I have!” Wang Ming hastily bobbed his head up and down. The simplified version of the Breathing Method of the Five Styles was easy to pick up, he’d learned it long ago.

“Operate the breathing method twenty-four hours a day for the next couple of days. While it’s not on par with my Breathing Method of the Five Styles, it’s better than the Night Watcher Energy Induction Method. Keep it going to reabsorb mysterious power that would otherwise dispersed. It will also somewhat suppress your supernatural ripples. If it isn’t a powerhouse or someone specifically paying attention to you, it’ll be difficult for them to discover that you’ve broken through.”

Wang Ming blinked. Operate the breathing method twenty-four hours a day? Supernaturals didn’t need to do so.

“Remember, have it in constant motion!” Yuan Shuo repeated. “Try to fashion it into muscle memory and sheer instinct, so that it operates even when you are unconscious or dead. This is something that martial masters must do. You are not one, but I hope you can do so!”

“There’s benefits to this, Ole Wang!” Li Hao quickly bobbed his head. “Continuous operation creates the same effect as holding your breath. Utilizing it through instinct will strengthen your body and keep you in a state of constant vigilance.”

“I understand, then I’ll try to do so over the next couple of days.” Wang Ming nodded.

“Stay here during that time and leave only when you exude the same amount of mysterious power as you did before. This will prevent you from being detected by others—it’s important to keep some aces in your back pocket!” Yuan Shuo’s ears suddenly twitched and he looked at Li Hao.

The young man was looking back at him. He’d also heard something; perhaps Liu Yan had arrived. They’d started off auspiciously tonight—Wang Ming had successfully ascended. If Liu Yan also made it to late Sunderer, then the weakest of the expedition team this time would be late Sunderer.

Li Hao even wondered if their group was strong enough to go head-to-head with some of the organizations joining the expedition. Two Dominators, one Sunflare, himself at peak Sunderer, and another late Sunderer... that made for a formidable squad!

“I need to leave for a bit!” Li Hao excused himself to his teacher’s nod.

Wang Ming wanted to say something, but Yuan Shuo cut him off. “Stay here and absorb some of the other four elements as well!” He plonked down a storage box. “There’s some of the others in here. Absorb them in minimal quantities.”

I’m a metal supernatural, what do I need other elements for? Wang Ming wondered with confusion. That will cause mysterious power to conflict with each other.

“Just absorb it!”

Very well then, Wang Ming recomposed his expression. He didn’t dare ignore Yuan Shuo even though they were technically of the same cultivation level now. The professor cut down Solars like he drank water. Wang Ming couldn’t do the same, not by far.

......

Outside the house.

Li Hao opened the door to see Liu Yan standing in the yard. The woman cast a quick look around and whispered, “Who’s here? I could sense a burst of cutting mysterious power from far away. Is it a Sunflare?”

“Guess!” Li Hao grinned.

She brainstormed for a moment and asked incredulously, “Has he really ascended?”

Everyone knew that Li Hao was going to help Wang Ming absorb the blood pearl, but... had the latter really succeeded in advancing? That was incredible!

“Mmhmm!” Li Hao nodded merrily. “That’s another layer of protection for exploring the ruins!”

Delight dawned on Liu Yan’s face as well. The stronger their team was, the better. At the same time, she looked oddly at Li Hao.

“You’re the same age as him and even a few months older. Li Hao... are you really not jealous?”

It seemed very strange to her sometimes. Was the young man really as indifferent as he appeared to be? He was a peak Sunderer and thus superior to Wang Ming, but now that the younger lad had progressed with Li Hao’s help, didn’t he feel overtaken and left behind in the dust?

“What am I jealous of?” Li Hao chuckled. “Sis, everyone’s path is different and we seek different goals. The more important thing is that Wang Ming is not a bad guy, he just talks too much. Plus, he’s technically my junior brother!”

What was there to be jealous of? He’d truly never envied the handsome young man—there was no need to. When Li Hao recalled the stroke of that day... that was where he set his sights at. He wouldn’t be jealous even if Wang Ming advanced to Solar, to say nothing of Sunflare.

And so what of Solar, so what if one was greater than Solar? They would only meet with one outcome if they fought against that blow. Death!

Li Hao labored strenuously so that he could one day deploy such a stroke!

Liu Yan took a deep breath and said nothing else. Li Hao kept a very low profile, one so low that not many knew he was already a peak Sunderer. But compared to that, what was so frightening was the high visibility portion of his humility.

So what of Sunflare? He meant it when he said he wasn’t jealous. If he was, he wouldn’t have helped Wang Ming advance. Meanwhile, the young man said nothing more other than to lead Liu Yan to another room.

It was much easier to combine a blood pearl with sword energy than to split out mysterious power. All he needed to do was have Liu Yan swallow the blood pearl, infuse some sword energy into her, and wait for them to naturally meld together. There was no need for other action on his part.

A Sunflare level blood pearl and sword energy was enough for Liu Yan to digest for a while. She stared at it for a long time when Li Hao took it out. She’d guessed that the young man might keep some of the blood pearl for her use when he told her to come by, but she hadn’t thought that he’d retain the entire pearl!

That indicated that Wang Ming hadn’t utilized it in his ascension.

Liu Yan lowered her head, not saying a word. A while later, she swallowed the blood pearl, still not saying a word. The Demon Hunters...

She thought through a lot in this moment. She thought of Liu Long and the others. There were very few members in the Demon Hunters, but they all cared deeply for each other.

Liu Long was a warm-hearted team captain. While he appeared coldly aloof, Liu Yan knew that was only a facade. He’d decided to exact revenge for Liu Yan the second he heard that Li Dahu was in the ruins.

And not just Liu Yan—if anyone else on the team encountered a similar situation, Liu Long would take action without extraneous speech. He silently looked after everyone and kept all of their secrets. And today, Liu Yan suddenly felt the same from Li Hao.

Trustworthy and dependable!

Liu Long was irreplaceable in the team’s hearts; he could be fully trusted. No one else knew all of the secrets, just him. He never voluntarily spoke of secret knowledge to outsiders and utilized all methods possible to help the team.

Liu Yan swallowed the blood pearl with a complicated look in her eyes. As she stared at Li Hao, she suddenly said, “Don’t be so good to me in the future, I’m afraid I might develop feelings for you. There is... no room in my heart for you!”

Li Hao started. This didn’t seem like her typical teasing or a joke. There is no room in her heart for me... The young man didn’t think much of it, just that it sounded like there was someone already occupying her heart?

Liu Yan smiled happily, but her lips were also curved with a trace of loneliness. A figure gradually materialized in her mind’s eye. He was eternally standoffish and coolly arrogant, but the more one got to know him, the more one understood that this was a true, indomitable man!

But she never voiced or even demonstrated her feelings. Liu Yan was very affectionate toward all newbies. She was thus to Li Hao and had been so to Wu Chao and Chen Jian. She’d also acted this way to their dead comrades—he was the only one that she rarely put on a coquettish act for.

The more one cared about a person, the less one would act that way.

Liu Yan closed her eyes and ceased thinking about the topic.

Li Hao seemed to have guessed something and asked carefully, “Does... the chief have a wife?”

He really didn’t know.

Liu Yan’s eyes snapped open and she looked at Li Hao.

“She’s dead!” the woman answered after a prolonged pause.

“......” Li Hao didn’t press for details. So Liu Long was also a widow? Did he occupy Liu Yan’s heart? The young man wasn’t sure of the details.

Everyone said that there was something between the two, but after entering the team, Li Hao found that there didn’t seem to be a special relationship between them. Liu Long treated everyone in the same caring manner. He didn’t pay particular attention to Liu Yan.

The young man put all of that out of his mind. If Liu Yan really did like the chief... that was just as well! The captain was a good man. Other than trying to play it cool by wearing a trench coat day in and day out, there didn’t seem to be anything bad about him.

I wonder what he does when he vanishes for a day or half a day every week? Is he taking care of a man’s needs?

Who knows!

Mm, a middle-aged widow. If that’s what he’s doing, that’d be normal too. But anyway.

Li Hao conducted some sword energy into Liu Yan’s body. There was nothing else for him to do after that. He watched and waited silently.

......

Liu Yan opened her eyes after roughly an hour.

“I’m almost there, I can almost project my internal force from my head. I’ve accumulated enough, now I need to consolidate for a bit. The eyes are the main issue...”

Li Hao gave an overview of what his teacher had taught him about strengthening the tear glands when he heard this. Soon enough, there was a crying woman in the room.

The young man swiftly backed out. It’d be impossible to explain himself if someone saw him in a room with a crying woman in the middle of the night. Outside the door, his teacher looked at him meaningfully.

“She seems... the captain...” A resigned Li Hao said softly.

“That’s normal.” Yuan Shuo inclined his head with a smile. “Someone like Liu Long is quite appealing. His brains just aren’t good for much. Other than that, there’s not much one can criticize about him.”

Li Hao laughed awkwardly. Likely everyone’s brains weren’t good for much in his teacher’s eyes, himself included.

......

No one said a word that night. Wang Ming and Liu Yan focused on consolidating their new cultivation level and growing accustomed to their new strength. Instead of resting, Li Hao and Yuan Shuo perused books of common knowledge, as opposed to martial dao. On the other hand, Li Hao strongly suspected a book from the third row hidden under his teacher’s book cover.

Liu Yan left first in the morning. Wang Ming stayed to further consolidate his level.