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Chapter 142: In A Rush To Die (I)

“There are too many rats scurrying through Silver City. Do you think one Sunderer is sufficient to keep them under control?” Yuan Shuo responded faintly. “Do whatever you want. It’s the day after tomorrow. Are you going to rush back to White Moon right now?”

“......” Hao Lianchuan was at a loss for words. “Fine! Nothing major should be happening lately as I’ve exchanged a few words with the various supernatural organizations. So don’t worry! As chaotic as the central region is, it hasn’t affected us for now. Everything is on hold until the expedition concludes.”

“Mmhmm.” Yuan Shuo waved a hand to send his visitor away. That’s enough, you can go now.

Hao Lianchuan didn’t think it was possible for him to become more speechless. I’m a Solar, alright? This guy’s getting more and more arrogant! He seems more like the Old Demon Yuan of old.

Neither could the director be bothered with further conversation. He turned on his heel and left. While he had some speculation as to why Yuan Shuo wanted mysterious power of the five elements, it was too much effort to ask. He’d absorbed a little bit of other elements like the professor had told him to—the effects were decent. Despite a lack of noticeable gain to strength, his chest pains were alleviated. This was a very important matter.

Hao Lianchuan was prepared to experiment for a period longer before making an announcement to the Night Watchers at large. If no problems cropped up for him, he wanted them to study whether a balanced system of the five elements was needed for optimal development of supernatural abilities.

It was due to Yuan Shuo furnishing this information to him that he was so responsive. He came as soon as the professor called for him.

Hao Lianchuan’s footsteps faltered when he reached the yard in front of the house. He stepped on a piece of broken tile and raised his eyebrow when he looked down at it. Being a Solar, his eye was keen.

The employment of the aura? It didn’t seem like Yuan Shuo’s—could it be that Liu Long had left it here this morning?

So this meant that Liu Long was familiarizing himself with the aura. That was good! It looked like the man stood a good chance of advancing to Dominator!

A smile traced Hao Lianchuan’s lips. This was an unexpected surprise! No one had told him about it and Liu Long hadn’t mentioned it. Was he planning on giving the Night Watchers a surprise after he broke through?

“Heh, it’ll be a good thing if he can advance. It’ll be worth it to put in a showing this time then!” A chuckling Hao Lianchuan made his way to the Inspectorate; he was in particularly high spirits. No one in Silver City was able to stir up any trouble.

......

July 30.

The last day of the month. There were no longer or shorter months in the Star era. [1] Every month was a standard thirty days. Today was a rest day. Whether it was the Inspectorate or Night Watchers, they all had their days off. There were six days of rest in a month. Being a public servant was a cushy job, comparatively speaking. Of course, there was no rest to be found if they were embroiled in work.

Li Hao woke up later on this day—not because he was lackadaisical on a day off work. After his teacher collapsed part of the mine, the professor visited Li Hao’s room and scared the living daylights out of the young man. After that, he didn’t let the young man sleep.

Yuan Shuo force fed mysterious power to Li Hao! It was truly a forced action as Li Hao had to absorb energy whether or not he could. However much he could take in was however much Yuan Shuo shoved at him.

There were one thousand cubes of mysterious power! Li Hao almost vomited blood at the abundance and managed less than one hundred cubes. That in itself was sufficient to shock anyone who heard.

Who could absorb one hundred cubes of mysterious power in one night?! Not even a Dominator like Liu Long could take in that much—he wouldn’t be able to digest it. Li Hao, however, possessed sword energy.

Mysterious power was neutralized to a gentle energy after the sword worked on it. Whatever he couldn’t digest was stored in his body. Unfortunately, both disciple and teacher sensed that the sword’s energy was dwindling. Yuan Shuo didn’t yet know how to reverse the situation. Origin weapons were top secrets of the supernatural domain and ancient books didn’t mention this term. It must be something formulated by modern supernaturals.

One hundred cubes were sufficient to help a Sunderer make the crossover. One such as Liu Yan would ascend, if being supernatural was in the cards for her. When Yuan Shuo reached peak Sunderer, he’d assessed that he needed several hundred or a thousand cubes if he wished to cross over. But Li Hao only strengthened his organs after absorbing so much; he continued to enhance his physique.

It required his own effort to project internal force from his torso. That would require some time as, strictly judging the conditions of his body, even Yuan Shuo said that the lad’s organs rivaled his own at peak Sunderer. The professor had utilized his internal force to nurture his organs whereas Li Hao relied on special energy to fortify them.

This was why Li Hao rose late on this today and felt stuffed to the brim, like he’d had too much to eat!

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was the next night—August 1st. It was a long time from now and it didn’t matter if Li Hao did no work today, so he didn’t care about waking late.

“It’s great having a big house, if a bit inconvenient!” he reflected as he digested his gains. The environment was great, but there was no place to have breakfast. No one else in this affluent neighborhood visited a breakfast stall everyday like Li Hao was accustomed to. They all had their own chefs and staff.

On the other hand, it was still a wonderful experience to wake up early, take a walk, grab some breakfast, do some stretching, and run through the Five Styles.

Li Hao grumbled as he took stock of his current condition. It felt like his organs were on fire—they were furnaces!

Blood churned through his veins, each flowing movement creating tendrils of internal force that strengthened blood vessels, skin, bones, and others.

“Thunder enhances the body, wind increases speed...” Li Hao turned glum whenever he thought of thunder. Ying Hongyue’s son was a thunder supernatural and Yuan Shuo had obtained some upon killing his opponent. Huang Yun took half of the harvest and the professor traded the rest away.

He hadn’t planned to at first, but he felt that the five elements were more important. yet with only one thousand cubes of the five elements and three useless cubes of unattributed power, Li Hao felt they’d done poorly for themselves.

What did Huang Yun want with thunder energy?? Wasn’t he a wind supernatural? Although unattributed mysterious power strengthened martial masters, they were less valuable to Li Hao than attributed power.

As much as he grumbled, Li Hao ran through a lazy boxing technique. It was the form of the Five Styles when the method wasn’t employed for battle. Hailed as the best drill for preserving one’s health, it wasn’t a fierce routine.

Li Hao focused on the increase of internal force, the reinforcement of flesh and blood, and the innate feeling of strength arising from them. He didn’t dare utilize too much force in his training as too big of a disturbance might draw his neighbor’s attention.

I wonder if Qiao Peng’s in the mood to chat me up today. Li Hao’s lips curved upward. The Qiao mines had collapsed last night and he’d sensed the Plenilune following Qiao Peng around leave. The light source was very noticeable in the dead of night.

He returned in the morning; it looked like he’d pretty much resolved the collapse.

Speak of the devil.

Li Hao couldn’t sense Qiao Peng’s presence, nor that of the Plenilune. But the supernatural was a giant walking light bulb. Li Hao was able to see him so long as he could still see. His best guess as to why he could see was his bloodline. There was no possible explanation apart from that. The Night Watchers seemed to have recruited some people like me. Are they also the bloodline of the eight families?

But that didn’t make sense. If those people are from the eight families, that meant that the Night Watchers were aware of the folk song and legend. Why then, didn’t they know about Silver City?

Some things were not easily broached. Wang Ming might know, but he wasn’t a fool. Asking too many questions might tip him off.

The matter could not be rushed. Li Hao had time to slowly pump Wang Ming for information after they fought together in the upcoming mission and formed deep ties of friendship. There would be no fear of asking too many questions then.

What’d happened to those who could see the scarlet shadow? Was the shadow a secret to the Night Watcher senior council?

Perhaps not!

Why else would they know that the shadow handlers were special as soon as they saw the scarlet shadows? There had to be powerhouses with special abilities among the agency, as well as Solars who could directly see the shadows. But it was just a guess as Li Hao didn’t have any Solar friends.

Thoughts zigzagging through his mind, Li Hao didn’t notice his neighbor’s arrival until someone knocked on the front gate.

“Who is it?” he called out.

“It’s me, Commissioner Inspector Li. Are you busy?” Qiao Peng waited outside with his Plenilune driver.

The door quickly swung open and Li Hao regarded him frostily with a frown. “I told you already, Qiao Peng, leave me alone and I’ll forget you exist! What do you mean by disturbing me so early in the morning?”

“Don’t misunderstand!” Qiao Peng chuckled. ”I truly don’t mean anything else by it. The commissioner inspector misunderstands me. I’m here on business.”

“What kind of business?” Li Hao stood at the front gate, not intending to let his visitor in.

“As things go.” Qiao Peng wasn’t angered by the treatment. “Qiao Mining Industries owns a mountain in Silver City. Commissioner Inspector Li visited two days ago, do you remember?”

“Of course!”

“We had a collapse in the mines yesterday...”

“Did people die?” Li Hao brightened. “And you want me to smooth it over? Tell me how many are dead first. If it’s more than three, handle it yourself at the Inspectorate. If it’s less than three... I don’t care about money and it holds no value for me. I want mysterious power!”

Qiao Peng’s jaw dropped. Who the hell said this kid was a good person? Heavens above! He’s only been an official for a few days, but he’s already learned how to demand bribes! Did he just not have room to flex his muscles before?

This was the last thing that Qiao Peng expected, and he really wasn’t here to ask Li Hao to make the problem go away.

“That’s not it... Qiao Mining treats our employees well and does not work at night. Only the mine shaft collapsed last night, no one was injured. The mines are closed until a new shaft is constructed.” Only now did Qiao Peng address the purpose of his visit. “Professor Yuan is the city’s most renowned geologist...”

1. Just as we are in A.D., so is this world in the era named Star. ?