Star Gate

Chapter 821: All in Readiness (III)

“That is fine too!” Li Hao smiled.

That was fine... too? Chen Zhongtian blinked.

“I need you to keep someone preoccupied for me,” the young man chuckled. “Obstructing them for three minutes will change your price to ten thousand stones a drop. Four minutes will update it to eight thousand stones. Five minutes to five thousand. The battle should be over at five minutes, and I’ll put you down for ten thousand stones a drop if you hold past one minute, but not to three...”

Chen Zhongtian blinked, then couldn’t help but laugh. You know that I’m a six element Arcanus. Who in our modern society can exceed my strength by so much? I’m just distracting the target, do you think so little of me?

To put it plainly, those stronger than him in this age could be counted with one hand. And any who were greater were limited in how much stronger they were. They could at most somewhat suppress him a little; he would still have the ability to fight back. Li Hao’s words were certainly interesting.

“Then if the enemy is killed within a minute...” Chen Zhongtian laughed.

“Then we’ll proceed according to the best price!” Li Hao grinned. “Five thousand stones a drop for five hundred drops!”

“Who... are you going against?” Chen Zhongtian stopped midway between throwing his head back with laughter. Li Hao wasn’t weak and knew that he wasn’t weak either, yet he still made this kind of request. Truth be told, it was... unsettling.

“I’m not at liberty to say.” Li Hao grinned.

Chen Zhongtian frowned and looked at the young man. “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion?”

“I’m not at liberty to say!”

“......” Your ass you aren’t! Chen Zhongtian’s frown deepened. I’m just here to feed my family, not to die. You aren’t going to throw me against premier powerhouses, are you? Like the existences in the ruins?

But... the young man should know how great the difference between their strengths would be. It would be an impossible undertaking and just the entertainment of a death wish.

“Will you be fighting with me?”

“Of course!”

“You’re not... going to run off, are you? Or lead me to my death?”

“......” Li Hao sighed. “I, Li Hao, would never do that to a fellow comrade. Who would ever trust me if I did so? Of this, you can rest assured!” The young man gave it some more thought before saying, “Let’s forget it. I’m afraid of exposing too much...” n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Don’t!” Chen Zhongtian laughed. “I can... agree to this, but I want an advance of one hundred drops.”

Li Hao stared at him.

“Although I don’t know who you’re up against, for you to approach it so earnestly means that they aren’t an ordinary opponent. Can it be Ying Hongyue? That would make sense. He’s your enemy and very strong, so he’s worthy of such attention!”

Indeed, he was thinking of Ying Hongyue. That was a terrifying fellow and truly dangerous. However, Chen Zhongtian felt that he could handle Ying Hongyue for a few minutes. The guy couldn’t erupt with seven elements. All he would need for five hundred drops at five thousand stones a drop was 2.5 million. If he went to a plant spirit for the same sum, he would need twenty-five million!

The difference was enormous and would save him approximately two million stones compared to the previous prices. Was that not money??

“An advance?” Li Hao furrowed his brows, then agreed, “That’s not out of the question! But I’ll give them to you only just before we set off!”

The more powerhouses he had against the big tree, the better. The only drawback was that he might expose a lot of his secrets, but... so what? It was better than more people die during this attempt.

He wouldn’t care about Chen Zhongtian if the man was only a five element Arcanus, but he was listed as peak six element on the Divine Masters Ranking. That was terrifying; Li Hao wasn’t sure if he’d come out on top in a fight. Having such a powerhouse on his side would decrease a lot of his losses and maybe even save some lives.

As for the risk of the guy deserting the battlefield... Once they were there and ready to kill their target, would the plant spirit show him mercy? There was no way back after he entered!

Chen Zhongtian suddenly felt uneasy that Li Hao had agreed so swiftly. It wasn’t a good proposal from his son that he should come here to work. In fact, he wants to refuse! This was growing decidedly unsettling.

At the same time, the massive temptation truly called out to him. He wanted to turn down Li Hao as he was accustomed to playing it safe. However, he was torn by the seduction of the very cheap prices. The Inspectorate was truly too poor these days and his son didn’t even have enough resources to ascend to four element Arcanus.

After repeatedly turning the matter over in his mind and weighing up the pros and cons, he ultimately nodded. “I agree! When do we move out?”

Li Hao was also debating whether to move against the Wind and Cloud Pavilion first—but they might not appear immediately—or if he should go against the coconut tree first. If Chen Zhongtian was joining the team... that made for ample hands. So he would take down the plant spirit first! The little tree wanted to devour its replica as well. The stronger the little tree was, the better, and the faster they achieved that, the better.

Li Hao quickly took stock of everyone else’s whereabouts when his thoughts traveled here. Kong Jie and the rest had almost arrived; one day was sufficient for everyone to form their supernatural characters. The Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s timeline wouldn’t arrive until the day after tomorrow.

“Tomorrow night!”

“Huh?” Chen Zhongtian blinked again. “Are we going against Red Moon or the Wind and Cloud Pavilion? That’s really fast!”

They were going to take action tomorrow night?

“Yep, tomorrow night.” Li Hao grinned. “I won’t speak of our target, just in case word gets out! Don’t worry, Inspector Chen, it won’t be just you and I on this operation. The people I’ve summoned will all be with us. Everything is foolproof, so there is no need to worry!

“Additionally, it’s best if you can bring your ultimate trump card with you... that divine weapon that’s suppressing the old Skystar King. Just in case!”

“......” Chen Zhongtian’s scalp crawled with numbness! “Don’t... do anything crazy. I don’t want to die just because I’m trying to earn some money. and who... is your target?”

He was starting to shake from the possibilities! The kid didn’t want to enter the ruins to take down an ancient powerhouse, did he? The knees of a hundred-year-old man were starting to knock in terror. “Are we heading into the ruins?”

“Maybe...” Li Hao laughed.

Horror skittered up Chen Zhongtian’s spine and even his voice shook! “We are unable to go against the ancient powerhouses. They’re at least the Apex level once they awaken! It’s better in our age because of various restrictions, but in the past, one hundred six element Arcanus might not be able to defeat one Apex...”

“That was then, like you say,” Li Hao chuckled. “Now they are simply obsolete characters. Are modern humans to be ruled by ancient humans if we do not shatter the fear occupying our hearts? You will find that once you kill an ancient heavyweight, a transformation will come upon your mind, will, heart, and soul! Otherwise, we are doomed to eternally live beneath the shadows of the ancient civilization!”

“You’re crazy!” Chen Zhongtian shrilled. “You really are going to...”

The icy clench of fear closed around his heart. For modern powerhouses, the stronger one was, the more one understood how mighty and powerful the ancient civilization and its heavyweights were. Weaklings did not sense it as much. A premier expert such as him felt it most keenly. He hadn’t thought that Li Hao would set his sights on such a goal.

“Then forget it, we do not need Minister Chen’s help!” Li Hao looked at him. “You were not part of my plans to begin with.”

“You... have gathered the Silver Moon martial masters together not for the Wind and Cloud Pavilion, have you?” Color drained from Chen Zhongtian’s face. “You made up your mind early on that you wanted to eliminate ancient powerhouses. You’re pushing Silver Moon into a fire pit!”

He finally understood now. Li Hao didn’t just have his eyes locked on the Wind and Cloud Pavilion—all of that was just a cover. He’d summoned so many people to fight ancient powerhouses; the Wind and Cloud Pavilion was simply the best pretext. Otherwise, everyone would speculate about his intentions if he gathered so many people in an ordinary time. But now, people would say that Li Hao was a lunatic and that the Wind and Cloud Pavilion was so very unlucky. The young man was plainly going to pursue them to the ends of the world!

No one would give thought to the possibility or even dare let their thoughts wander in the direction of Li Hao turning to aim at an awakened existence in the ruins.

“Does this not suit your preferences?” Li Hao stated calmly. “If we trip over ourselves and die, the rest of you will be at peace! But if we succeed in killing ancient powerhouses, we’ll be infallible and our strength and hearts will improve in a tangible manner. Once I emerge then, I’ll make sure that everyone who’s against me won’t live to see the second awakening!

“You can think it over, Minister Chen, but you may not tell anyone else!” The young man stared steadily at him. “You’re the only one I’m talking to about this. If I dare go after an ancient powerhouse, that means I’m fifty percent confident in my chances. Does Minister Chen think the Inspectorate is stronger, or the ancient civilization?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word!” Chen Zhongtian promised solemnly, suddenly wanting to run away. What a bunch of complete lunatics!

“The opportunity is right in front of you and may not come around again if you pass it by. Have a good day, minister. I won’t be seeing you out!”

A variety of changes flickered across Chen Zhongtian’s face before he swiftly departed. He was going to go back to... beat his son to death! Damn you to hell! You wanted me to pick up a job, but does this look like a simple job to you?! It was more cruel than extracting his own blood to sell it!

Li Hao chuckled to see the old minister run away. It didn’t matter if the man didn’t show up tomorrow, whereas it would be quite interesting if he did. The young man continued studying the ranking and sneered after a long moment, “Ying Hongyue!”

Li Hao was ranked number one, whereas Ying Hongyue was number two! There must be a certain degree of inflation in his ranking, but there should be none for Ying Hongyue’s. What a terrifying fellow!

“He’s the real number one... so Ying Hongyue is the strongest in all of Silver Moon Territory!” Li Hao could barely believe his eyes. The guy who didn’t dare come close to him was number one! He knew that Ying Hongyue was strong, but never thought that he would be this strong.

Ying Hongyue was peak six element, not yet seven. There was an additional line next to him name—incredibly strong life force that can break through at any time.

What did that mean? That Ying Hongyue could set foot into seven element Arcanus whenever possible?