Star Gate

Chapter 347: Joining the Silver Moon Guards (II)

Mu Lin’s jaw dropped; Manager Yu was also startled. Li Hao wasn’t employing the sword aura, but the Five Styles! The young man wasn’t bringing his strongest aura to bear and had disposed of three Dominators through just the Five Styles and Nine Forged Force. It quite astonished the secretary.

She knew that Li Hao was very strong and that he’d killed Yu Xiao, but she’d thought that he’d employed the sword aura and put his life on the line to accomplish the deed. But today, he didn’t even have a chance to use the sword aura yet.

Within the plaza.

Li Hao exhaled and looked off to the side. He beckoned with a smile. “All four of you together may not make it past thirty moves, do you still want to try? Or maybe you can bring Deputy Mu with you!”

He thought nothing of the four remaining centurions. Mu Lin grinned so widely that his eyes disappeared in the folds of his face. So cocky!

The four being addressed looked gravely at the five people on the ground. Five of their brethren had been defeated in the blink of an eye! The rest of them together might not put up a fight to Li Hao—what a terrifying fellow! When had such a monster appeared in the martial world? He’d only trained for a few years! Was this supposed to be Sunderer of Hundreds?

Everyone looked at Mu Lin. There was no option but for the fatty to walk forward with a smile.

“Well done, Li Hao, very impressive! Let’s stop here. Everyone, let us welcome...”

“No, that’s not enough!” Li Hao looked at the fatty with a smile. “Deputy Mu, I’d like to see how strong your Iron Shirt or Golden Bell Shield is! I would be too disappointed if the second in command of the Silver Moon Guards is as weak as the rest of them!”

“We’re all on the same team here...” laughed Mu Lin.

The young man punched without a second word. Tiger Roar Through Mountain and Woods! At this point in the game, how am I going to agree to joining you guys if I don’t suss out what you’re capable of?

BAM!

Mu Lin took one step back at the loud collision, but his expression remained the same. He grinned at the sight of the young man’s fist resting against his chest. “Will this do? Why don’t we stop here?”

Li Hao was slightly surprised. He looked at the man, then at Mu Lin’s chest. The deputy had taken one of his direct punches and was completely fine for it! It was like he’d punched a slab of metal! Mu Lin was many times stronger than Chen Jian of the team in Silver City. Chen Jian was also a defensive martial master and trained a secret art called the Earth Dragon Shield. He was very strong, but not worth mentioning when compared to this person!

Li Hao raised an eyebrow and took a step back. All of the other martial masters in the plaza heave sighs of relief. It would be mortifying if the young man really beat all of them! Thank goodness their deputy was reliable in critical moments, that his Iron Shirt was incomparably strong! He wasn’t at all shaken by one of Li Hao’s punches—those punches could send a Dominator flying.

“Impressive!” Li Hao laughed. “I wonder who’s stronger—you or Inspector General Kong? I mean in terms of Iron Shirt skill. He’s become a supernatural now and might have given up his practice of the Iron Shirt...”

“I may be less than him in terms of supernatural abilities,” chuckled Mu Lin. “If that’s off the table, he crossed over as a half step Dominator. How does that compare to me?”

“Then does Deputy Mu know that my teacher once broke the most famous Iron Shirt with his bare hands?” Li Hao laughed uproariously. That martial master had used Iron Shirt as his moniker! That was true strength as it meant he represented all powerhouses practicing the method in that era. No one was greater than him, and Yuan Shuo trounced him all the same.

“I know, but you’re not Yuan Shuo!” Mu Lin smiled. “That’s enough, Li Hao, it’s enough for everyone to know that you’re very capable...”

“No, it’s not enough! Powerhouses don’t need to prove to weaklings how capable they are. I just need to show my might to the strong !” Li Hao’s presence abruptly shifted and he raised his hand as a sword!

His sword was as if a mountain, or was it a mountain as if a sword? It crashed upon Mu Lin! The earth sword aura!

The deputy’s expression shifted slightly. So strong! He roared ferociously and threw himself at Li Hao, golden light emanated from his body. The Iron Shirt wasn’t just used for defense, it could also be employed in offense! Ramming the enemy was the best attack!

The sword qi loomed like a mountain!

Li Hao’s right hand swung down like a sword and thunderously collided with his opponent’s first.

Bam!

A crash between two bodies somehow gave rise to fiery sparks, as if two chunks of metal had hacked each other. Li Hao rapidly backed away, light on his feet like a startled deer and immediately drifted into the distance.

Golden light sparkled over Mu Lin’s fist—it’d been punctured. A bloody scrape could be found on it, but it vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Li Hao, you’re pretty ruthless, I shan’t hold back then...” Mu Lin rumbled. Though he was rotund, he was exceedingly agile. He launched himself from the ground and hurtled at Li Hao. He didn’t bear the slightest reservation whatsoever. The Iron Shirt was an incredible method!

Numerous iron doors seem to manifest over his body—this was his mind intent. His defenses were invincible, he did not fear attacks!

Li Hao raised an eyebrow and continued to wield his hand as a sword. He stabbed forth several hundred times in the span of a breath. The Ghost Shadow Sword!

Plink plink plink!

The two figures continuously tangled with each other as the sword attacked the Iron Shirt. It wasn’t until now that the crowd realized their deputy was also ridiculously powerful. It was hardly apparent in regular times.

The other centurions, including the ones that’d been defeated, watched with bated breath. Nervous and excited, they ignored their wounds. Hopefully Mu Lin could defeat Li Hao!

Mu Lin was indeed very strong, but he usually avoided fighting when he could. Today, he was forced to take a stand and the longer Li Hao fought, the more alarmed he was.

Incredible! This guy was stronger than Yu Xiao! Was this the strength of a premier Dominator? His words would become hot air if the fight continued.

The young man snorted. Mu Lin’s expression shifted as a streak of fiery light appeared. Li Hao’s aura was changing again!

The earth sword aura melded into the fire sword aura and the sword aura outline manifested! Three swords as one!

“Kill!” Li Hao shouted and rushed forward. The longsword broke through the void.

Mu Lin’s eyes widened and he cursed to himself, shit! This guy is supposed to be a Sunderer? My dear little brother, why didn’t mom and dad drown you in a manure pit when you were born?? Your report is going to be the death of me!

As he kept up a litany of insults, he decided to discard the tough response. There was no way he was going to take this head-on, running away was in order!

Li Hao stomped his foot on the ground at this time.

Boom!

The ground collapsed. A mountain peak loomed overhead with a ferocious tiger trapped inside. It seemed to have been released from its cage and now raged out of the mountain!

“Stop!” Mu Lin shouted, golden light sparkling over his body. A ray of sword light broke over him with a loud roar!

RUMBLE!!

It took a while for the scene to clear up after sword light careened through the scene. When the dust settled, the group saw that Mu Lin had been shoved into the sunken ground. His clothes were in tatters, revealing strands of wiry muscle. Blood splattered his body; the crisscrossing sword marks were a horrific sight!

Li Hao stepped through the air to avoid the cave-in, he was breathing slightly heavier.

“Deputy Mu is quite strong,” he said after a long moment of regarding Mu Lin. “My sword once heavily injured a late Solar, but to think that the deputy would be able to block it!”

“Pfft!” Mu Lin spat out a mouthful of blood and crawled out of the hole. He stared at Li Hao with wide-open eyes and exhorted, “I told you to stop!”

So why the fuck did you continue with that stroke?! Thank heavens my Iron Shirt really is invincible, or that would’ve been the death of me!

“I would’ve been the one injured had I stopped at that time.” Li Hao frowned. “You jest, Deputy Mu!”

Mu Lin was at a loss for words! His wounds looked terrible, but they weren’t that bad. He was truly much stronger than most people imagined.

“You are... too ruthless!” He spat out another mouthful of blood. “Too vicious!”

The young man didn’t say anything and continued to regard the man oddly. He’s really strong! I didn’t expect that.

Granted, Li Hao hadn’t brought his full strength to bear either. He hadn’t used the Incantation of the Blade of Blood, nor had he absorbed energy from Stellaris. He hadn’t tried nine layers with his punches either... but the combination of two sword auras was his current peak strength. Not only had that not killed his opponent, it hadn’t even caused heavy injuries. Just that alone made Li Hao think that Mu Lin might not be weaker than Huang Jie.

Was he closer to peak Solar? That would be terrifying! How was he a martial master? Did Mu Lin walk the path of the physical body?

He strengthened his body again and again... and his fatty appearance wasn’t true fat. It was an accumulation of energy in his body and highly fortified blood. Blood qi and internal force built within him...

Li Hao suddenly understood this person’s path, he wasn’t an ordinary Dominator! He couldn’t truly be called a Dominator at all. Yuan Shuo called his way a summoning of spirits, He Yong focused on blood transfusion. Tyrant Blade might be labeled as gathering intent, whereas this Mu Lin could be categorized as body refinement?

No matter what, it was another path entirely. He was a Dominator! To think that there would be such a person in Silver Moon’s martial world, and he was just a deputy. What of the overall leader of the Silver Moon Guards?

Li Hao narrowed his eyes, spontaneously dismissing his inclination to look down on the Guards. Their deputy rivaled a peak Solar. Would his superior officer rival a Nova? Manager Yu had said that the goal of the Guards was to fight Novas. Li Hao had originally thought it would come about from joint effort, but maybe she meant that their officers alone could take on Novas?

That would be terrifying!

No wonder Hou Xiaochen didn’t care about Hao Lianchuan being too weak. If the two strongest of the Guards worked together, they might be able to stand against the initial Solar Hao Lianchuan. If three fought together, they might rival the current Hao Lianchuan.

How much time, effort, and resources had Hao Lianchuan expended to reach this stage with this faction of martial masters? Ordinary people could not afford to raise this caliber of troops. If Li Hao’s guess was right, they’d very possibly used mysterious power stones!

Indeed, mysterious power stones! Mysterious power had a limited effect on Dominators and blood pearls weren’t available everywhere. That left only mysterious power stones to fortify these Dominators.

Hou Xiaochen... most likely controls a ruin that contains a lot of stones! Li Hao connected numerous dots in a split second.