Star Gate

Chapter 203: Old Friends Meet (II)

“Master...”

“Listen to me. The ruins are not important. Do not be the blade in another’s hand,” Sun Yifei said calmly. “Although I am fully confident, my opponent is Yuan Shuo. Necessary preparations must be made. There is a ninety-nine percent chance that only one of us walks off the battlefield tomorrow. Whether it is him or me... it doesn’t matter!

“My greatest regret back in the day was that I could not advance to Dominator. I hope you will complete that dream for me! If you cannot overcome Li Hao, forfeit in a timely manner! It is no shame to lose—martial masters are not afraid of loss. No one wins forever and I will not send you to your death so easily...”

“I will defeat him, master!”

“It is good to be confident.” Sun Yifei nodded with a smile. “Regardless, leave as quickly as you can if I am defeated! Yuan Shuo will not stop you. Our grudge is one of our generation. The rules of the martial world are that disaster does not extend to the family! As long as you do not die to Li Hao, I will not target Li Hao after my battle concludes with Yuan Shuo. Neither will he come for you...”

The three disciples listened worriedly, but also didn’t quite believe that their master would lose. How was that even a possibility? He was a late Solar, one crossed over from a martial master! Only those above Solar could defeat him even in the central region. They were in Silver Moon province, yet a Dominator was inspiring their master to arrange his final affairs!

“Master, then... why don’t we go back to the central region!” The female disciple couldn’t bear it. They didn’t have to fight!

“Nonsense!” Sun Yifei snorted. “I came here to do battle with Yuan Shuo! Whether I live or die, it is what I seek. Remember that as martial masters, you can lose, but you cannot withdraw without a fight! Unless you are a Sunderer against a Solar, the difference between you and the enemy will not be too great. When that is the case or if you are even in an advantageous position, choosing to retreat marks the end of your road!

“The path of a martial master is more difficult to walk. If you cannot accept that, you can choose to be a supernatural when you return. Your path will be your own then.”

With that, he closed his eyes and ignored his disciples. Rest was in order so he could meet Yuan Shuo in the field.

Worry and unease filled the faces of Sun Moxian and his junior brother and sister. They couldn’t sleep after their master’s speech. They weren’t the only ones tonight—sleep was elusive for many.

......

August 27.

The sky had just brightened. Hao Lianchuan might not have slept all night as he rushed to the Silver City tent first thing in the morning. Yuan Shuo puttered around inside, feeling no sense of urgency at all. He briefly washed up, ate breakfast, and cleaned himself up again before walking outside.

Hao Lianchuan looked at him with reddened eyes. “Must you battle?” He’d wanted to come to the professor all night long, but held himself back. He really couldn’t help the urge when morning came.

“Are you a martial master?” Yuan Shuo looked at him.

“I’m... not?” Hao Lianchuan answered after a long beat.

“So you won’t do!” Yuan Shuo walked past him and pressed forward. “Silver Moon martial masters rarely avoid battle. Those who do are either truly much weaker than their opponent, or they’re a lily-livered weakling.

“Martial masters bravely forge ahead. They do not avoid battle if they think they will not lose, that they can fight. Such is the case at any time, any place! Hong Yitang of the Sword Sect refrained from battling me back in the day because he knew he was less than me. He admitted that he was a wimp, so I couldn’t be bothered challenging him a third time when he avoided me two times.

“Hao Lianchuan, you’re a decent person. What a pity that you did not ascend as a martial master. If you had, you would be stronger than you are now!”

Hao Lianchuan looked on wordlessly. There were plenty of supernaturals who did not ascend from martial dao. Who said that those who used to be martial masters must be stronger?

“But Sun Yifei is a late Solar...”

“I can beat him all the same!” Yuan Shuo brimmed with confidence.

“In that case, stop at first blood...” Hao Lianchuan changed tactics upon seeing that he was making no headway.

“There’s no such thing in our battles, unless we’re teaching our disciples. I will stop at first blood if Sun Yifei admits he’s my disciple!”

This is complete bullshit! Hao Lianchuan nearly lost his mind. “I’m doing this for your own good!”

“There’s a kind of love called ‘for your own good’. But you’re not my parents, so I don’t need your love. Hao Lianchuan, as opposed to wasting your efforts on this, you should consider what the consequences might be if I kill Sun Yifei.”

Hao Lianchuan utterly gave up! This was hopeless!

“What consequences?” he said weakly. “You’ll be the strongest of the gathering if you kill Sun Yifei. The other organizations will not give up the excavation, but they’ll likely band together. They’ll start off scattered, then unite the more we explore. We’ll just need to be on guard against alliances once we enter the ruins.”

Give up?

That wasn’t a possibility. If the other factions did so and the Night Watchers took the defensive origin weapon, the organizations wouldn’t be able to sleep at night anymore. Thus, they wouldn’t leave. They would just tighten what was a loose alliance.

Of course, this wasn’t important. What did matter was the potential consequences of Hao Lianchuan taking a stand and preventing Sun Yifei from killing Yuan Shuo. This was what had kept Hao Lianchuan up all night. He thought of Director Hou’s arrangements when his thoughts traveled here—he could lend the Flaming Phoenix Spear to Yuan Shuo!

“You don’t have any weapons do you?” He caught up to the professor and lowered his voice. “I can lend you a spear... Do you know how to use spears?”

“Don’t need it!” Yuan Shuo turned him down.

Hao Lianchuan was extremely close to stamping his foot with indignation. “This weapon is different!” He clenched his teeth and kept his voice down with effort. It was an origin weapon!

“Don’t need it, we’ll have greater trouble if it’s exposed. If we’re to use it, we should wait until we’re inside the ruins.” Yuan Shuo still turned the man down. He knew what the spear was, but he didn’t need it.

The Flaming Phoenix Spear was Silver Moon’s only origin weapon. It might result in greater trouble if it was unmasked. It might even attract uninvolved personnel—they’d come solely to take the origin weapon. It was the weapon’s first departure from Hou Xiaochen. No one dared attack the director, but it was another case entirely with the Silver Moon Night Watchers.

“But...” Hao Lianchuan said worriedly. “Really, you don’t stand a chance. You’ll have some hope with it in your hands.”

“I don’t need it, don’t worry, You can lend it to me after I win and we enter the ruins. You’ll witness some unexpected surprises then,” Yuan Shuo chuckled.

It was an unexpected surprise when the enemy realized they hadn’t fully seen through you. Yuan Shuo was only going to utilize the fire heart ape against Sun Yifei. He didn’t even want to expose the stone blade. As for whether or not he can match his old opponent, that would be apparent once they exchanged blows.

Yuan Shuo wasn’t willing to use these powerful weapons against Sun Yifei; neither was he concerned that the man might use underhanded tactics against him. Such was the unspoken accord of martial masters.

It would be an open and aboveboard battle!

Of course, it was normal to see vicious techniques being employed. Some specialized in this arena, so ruthless or brutal moves were acceptable. On the other hand, would Sun Yifei have a scarlet shadow with him?

Yuan Shuo deemed it unlikely. If the man knew about the shadows, his first reaction would be to kill and eat it. He wouldn’t nurture it. Ying Hongyue would be aware of that as well, so even though Yuan Shuo could not see the entities, he knew that his opponent wouldn’t have one.

In that case, what was the point of bringing to the Flaming Phoenix Spear?

The others caught up to them as the two spoke. Some were anxious and others excited. They were about to watch a battle between Solars! Most of them had never seen such a high level battle before.

Some tents stirred with activity in the distance. A few supernaturals kept pace from afar, also anticipating the battle.

......

Only shattered remains could be found where the bridge once stood. A group of Ghostfaces hovered in and out of sight around Sun Yifei. The man was cleaning up the premises, creating a clearing beneath the bridge. He didn’t seem to take note of the Ghostfaces behind him.

“Senior Sun,” Hao Kong spoke up when it was apparent that Sun Yifei wouldn’t address him. “Do you insist on fighting Yuan Shuo?”

Sun Yifei sent a large rock flying with a sweep of his staff. He tilted his head with a side glance. “Is there a problem?”

“Not at all!” Hao Kong answered in a muffled voice. “We just hope for the senior to show mercy and not to kill Yuan Shuo. That will easily cause conflict between Red Moon and the Night Watchers.”

“Fists and legs have no eyes. Life and death are not of consideration in the ring! Whoever shows mercy is always the one to die!” Sun Yifei was obviously declining Hao Kong.

The Solar in charge of the campsite kept a firm grip on his temper. “Senior, this is also Violet Moon’s inclination.”

“Violet Moon?” Sun Yifei turned back with a smile. “When Red Moon was established, the seven moons of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet soared into the sky! The Violet Moon now is not who she was before. To me, Violet Moon is still the little girl from that year. She died, and the one who inherited her position is trash. You threaten me with her??”

Supernatural power surged around him as many Ghostfaces raised their heads with anger. Whether it was real or fake anger, Violet Moon was their leader in Silver Moon. If they didn’t stir to indignation when she was being insulted, they would be in for it if she found out.

“All of you, stay away from me.” Sun Yifei flicked another glance at Hao Kong. “You rather disgust me. It is ever harder to see through Ying Hongyue after he founded Red Moon, especially those things beside you. I may not be able to see them, but I can more or less sense them. Don’t get too close to me, or I’ll want to kill you and take one of them to see if I can eat it.”

Hao Kong’s eyes widened with dismay and he fell silent.

“In that case, as you wish, senior! But I hope you do not take the bit in your own mouth too much when we enter the ruins. We’ve made arrangements, so please do not ruin the entire plan.”

“We’ll see!” Sun Yifei laughed and flapped his hand, as if shooing them away.