Star Gate

Chapter 313: A Fierce Tiger In the Heart (II)

Li Hao suppressed the urge to throw himself at Hao Lianchuan. Patience was required for a better eruption of power. There was no one he could trust in White Moon. His teacher was still the person he trusted the most, with the chief possibly coming in second. Those of the Demon Hunters were much more trustworthy than anyone here.

Liu Yan was part of the Night Watchers, but Li Hao had stayed away from her all this time. In the same vein, she’d kept her distance as well. They were in White Moon City! Countless people were keeping an eye on Li Hao. If she came to him, that would only draw their attention and possibly bring danger to her.

The estrangement was a demonstration of her intelligence. While Hao Lianchuan might be a good man, who knew what he was really thinking in the depths of his heart?

A good man? Would a good man think of killing a superior who was a Solar?

Just how many people were worthy of his trust in this vast White Moon? Li Hao could only rely on himself, his fists, and the sword in his hand! How was he to survive if the sword wasn’t sharp enough?

He continued punching as thoughts ran through his mind. They were weak, but killing intent lurked behind them. He wanted to smash a new world into being, like the killing fiend of that illusory realm had done! He would use one blade to silence the world and slaughter the enemy to a halt!

Red Moon, the Night Watchers...

Too complicated!

Li Hao had no desire to understand them in depth. There was no need. Even if I’m of the eight families, you should leave me alone. I was just an ordinary student, why drag me into your mess?

......

Hao Lianchuan’s expression turned solemn and he didn’t take a second sip of tea. Li Hao’s punches were coming increasingly fast and furious. What was the kid thinking about? Was he already a Dominator?

This boxing intent wasn’t the aura, but it showed hints of converting into the aura. Could it be a second aura?

The deputy director frowned; he wasn’t too familiar with martial masters. Why did Li Hao’s boxing intent seem stronger than certain auras, yet wasn’t an aura?

There was only one possibility.

He was a Dominator!

It was harder to comprehend the aura after breaking through and Li Hao already had one aura. The second one wouldn’t come about that easily. If he was still a Sunderer, he might be able to convert this boxing intent into an aura.

What a scary kid. Everyone focused on him for his special identity and ignored his potential. Not just anyone could comprehend the aura, so it would seem the public was underestimating the kid.

......

Li Hao ignored Hao Lianchuan and continued enjoying his boxing routine.

The tiger fist! Out of the Five Styles, the tiger style was the most ferocious and focused on killing. He’d once seen a tiger as a child, but just one in a cage. That seemed so similar to his current circumstances. No matter how infinitely big his cage was, he was still in a cage. He pulled his lips into hypocritical smiles and voiced words he didn’t mean.

Everyone wanted to live a life more true to themselves, but could he do that?

He couldn’t!

Breaking the cage would release his true self, but could he break the cage?

There was frustration in his heart that he could do nothing about. When Hou Xiaochen saved him, he revealed the earth sword aura because he needed to demonstrate his worth. Hou Xiaochen wanted him to come to White Moon City, so come he had despite wanting to stay in Silver City. Li Hao had no other choice.

His teacher had left because Red Moon wished to kill him, and that stemmed from the large numbers of Red Moon powerhouses than Yuan Shuo had killed before. That had been on Li Hao’s behalf as well.

People were never masters of their own fate!

Li Hao thought through quite a great deal in this moment and put the tiger style on full display. It wasn’t the delightful thrill of exulting as a ferocious tiger, but the burning desire of a highly aggrieved tiger who wished to break out of its cage!

I want to break this cage! But I can’t!

Complex emotions melded into the Five Styles as he punched and retracted his fists.

Hao Lianchuan suddenly became incredibly uncomfortable after watching for a while. These were bottled up suffering of punches that could not be followed through to their fullest. They were stopped halfway through and forcefully retracted. It made him want to vomit blood.

What kind of boxing technique was this? The tiger style?

He’d witnessed the tiger style before and watched Yuan Shuo fight. It was very strong, a triumphant celebration of force, a towering surge of killing intent like a tiger descending from the mountain and terrorizing the forests.

Yet, Li Hao’s tiger style was wholly different.

“Cough cough cough...” A coughing fit overtook Hao Lianchuan. He didn’t mean to, it was just so painful to watch that he could barely breath.

Li Hao abruptly stopped in the middle of his practice and frowned at the deputy director. He was thick in the middle of things, Director Hao should not have interrupted him.

“My apologies,” panted Hao Lianchuan as he heaved a long breath. “It was just too awful to bear. Li Hao, was that the tiger style?”

Li Hao nodded faintly.

“Why... does it feel different from your teacher’s?” Hao Lianchuan asked hesitantly after gasping for a while. “And are you only punching halfway before retracting your fists?”

“The secret arts of martial masters will differ from person to person even if it’s the same one.” Li Hao smiled. “It may not be the exact same secret art being deployed each time. As for retracting my punch halfway, there’s no need for that. I simply haven’t found the direction and target for my punches.”

Hao Lianchuan nodded slowly with understanding—or did he really understand?

“Your punches lack dominance,” he breathed out. “They feel more... suffocating instead!”

Li Hao thought of his punches from moments ago. The Five Styles was the first art that he’d started learning and it was the one that he’d practiced the most. He’d felt just now that if he was still a Sunderer, he might be able to comprehend an aura from his practice. It wouldn’t be the tiger aura that his teacher commanded, but another one entirely.

Who said that tigers in cages lacked aura?

“Director, is there a zoo nearby?” Li Hao suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Hao Lianchuan was caught off guard by the sudden jump in thought process. “Um, yeah. Ask Wang Ming, he should know.”

“Okay!” Li Hao suddenly wanted to see a tiger. He didn’t want to see a typical tamed tiger, he wanted one that desperately wanted to break out of its cage. Those that had accepted and were accustomed to their lot in life no longer wished to escape. They did not fit the meaning behind his fists.

“Then I’ll be heading downstairs, director.”

“Go on, be careful. Don’t wander around and don’t go too far. That might result in trouble.” Hao Lianchuan wanted to reel in Yu Xiao. It might make things too complicated if a group of martial masters clustered around the young man.

“I won’t go far.” Li Hao nodded. He wanted to stay close and would give up the idea if the zoo was too far away.

......

Downstairs.

Li Hao waited for a while before Wang Ming arrived. The guy hadn’t been at headquarters—he might’ve gone out for a meal as he came back with grease around his lips. He laughed heartily at seeing Li Hao. “I wanted to grab you for food, but you disappeared!”

“Is there a zoo nearby? Or rather, is there any place with a freshly caught tiger? One with a wild nature still in them?”

Wang Ming blinked. A tiger?

“Ah... let me think about it. There’s a zoo, yes, but I don’t know if they have a freshly caught tiger. Let me ask around for you. The zoo may not have one, but some of my friends might.”

Li Hao looked skeptically at him.

“Some of my friends became supernaturals after the rise of the supernatural domain,” Wang Ming laughed. “They like to have fun and some like to hunt. There are some mountains with old forests nearby. They often go there to catch a tiger or something like that. The times are different now, having a pet tiger is more impressive than a dog!”

Li Hao said nothing. Wang Ming cut his explanation short and started contacting people through his communicator. His network was vast and he knew a lot of people. A smile spread across his face after six calls and he quickly hung up.

“Got one! One of my friends just caught a multicolored tiger two days ago. It’s super wild and has refused to eat or drink the past two days. My friend’s trying to break it in. Do you want to go take a look?” Wang Ming thought Li Hao was bored and wanted to look for excitement. Granted, there was the tiger style in the Five Styles. Maybe he wanted more enlightenment in that style?

Who cared!

It was just a tiger. That might’ve been something they all needed to stay away from back in the day, but now it was an animal that any Darkmoon or Sunderer could easily take care of. Only beasts that’d started becoming monster spirits were worthy of consideration. Anything else was no threat to humans.

“Is it far?”

“Nope.” Wang Ming grinned. “Are you afraid of danger? I can have my friend bring it over, it’s not a problem.”

“That’s fine. We can go take a look if it’s not far.”

“Alright!” A merry Wang Ming dragged Li Hao outside. He had a car to use when they were in White Moon City!

He quickly drove out a flashy red car that was particularly eye-catching. He beamed at Li Hao standing by the road. “Get in, what are you waiting for? This is mine—I have lots of cars in White Moon City. I couldn’t ship any to Silver City when I was there, so I went carless.”

Li Hao hopped in without a word. Wang Ming revved the engine and sped off into the streets. His reflexes were very fast as a supernatural; he wasn’t afraid of getting into an accident. He quickly zipped past one hundred yards and steadily accelerated.

Despite thinking that this wasn’t very good, Li Hao didn’t say anything. The inhabitants of White Moon seemed used to the sight, so there was no need for him to react.

“We’ll be there soon!” Wang Ming yelled as he drove. “My friend is a supernatural too, but a Darkmoon. He’s an individual supernatural who isn’t part of the Night Watchers or any organization. His dad’s highly placed at the provincial government. Top ten I think, but we don’t need to take that into consideration. We’re not any worse than him!”

Li Hao remained quiet. He didn’t care, he just wanted to see the tiger.