âIs there anyone who wishes to try the house?â the Revolution King asked again. After momentary hesitation, four independent supernaturals walked out of the crowd.
âAre there any from Yama, Celestial, or Red Moon willing to go?â he asked. âRewards will be doubled for those of the three great organizations who make the attempt!â
Some walked out from the three greats after his latest offer. It was more than apparent that Revolution wished for his own people to come out alive. It would bring them the greatest amount of intel. He just wasnât forcing their participation.
âIâve already gone once, I donât wish to go again,â said Liu Long. âItâs useless for me, anyway!â
âAnd what if I want you to go?â Revolution replied faintly. He would bring force to bear if persuasion didnât work! The man looked at Hao Lianchuan. âIf Liu Long is unwilling, then the Night Watchers will send a few supernaturals to go inside!â
âWhy?â Hao Lianchuan frowned.
âBecause you didnât tell us about this before!â Revolution snapped back. âYou need our cooperation, Hao Lianchuan, if you want to make it into the inner city together!â
Hao Lianchuan cursed inwardly and had no choice but to look at Liu Long. âLiu Long... you... will head inside one more time! Iâll reward you with a hundred cubes on behalf of the Night Watchers when you return!â
Liu Long frowned, but still nodded. âUnderstood, I will do as ordered!â
Director Hao was his superior, so there was no denying what he requested. However, he looked at the Revolution King. âI want two hundred cubes and I want them now! I donât trust you. Also, I want water energy!â
Liu Long stared intently at the Revolution King. I want water energy! Are you going to give it to me or not? You didnât give Li Hao fire energy when he wanted it, so itâs not like youâll give that to me instead now, is it?
âYou want water energy?â chuckled the Revolution King. âI just gave the rest to Li Hao, you can trade with him for it. I only have some earth, wind, and metal energy left. Itâs all the same!â
I wonât give you anything you want! He threw out a few bones that contained vast sums of mysterious power. Some were still slick with bloodâthe Revolution King had obviously collected them from those whoâd died in the previous plaza battle. He was the strongest in the field at that time and had no use for these. It was a perfect opportunity to reuse trash that heâd obtained for free.
Liu Long frowned wordlessly. He handed the bones to Li Hao and muttered, âTake care of our other brothers in Silver City for me if I donât come out!â
The young man nodded emphatically.
With Liu Long added to the mix, a ten person team was quickly formed. Four independent supernaturals, Liu Long, one supernatural each from the three great organizations and Sword Sect, as well as another Sunderer from the Sword Sect. The Sword Sect plainly wished to experiment on the differences between supernaturals and martial masters. While they sent two, neither of the two were that strong. They didnât have many martial masters to begin with.
The group chose to enter all at once as opposed to one at a time. The latter might be safer, but also slower and harder to discern differences between the two. Would variances be a result of supernatural ability, luck, martial master, or energy system?
The ten that formed the group all possessed their own unique characteristics. Metal, earth, wood, thunder, water... Not a single attribute was repeated. The leaders of the various large organizations wished to test the differences between all traits in one go.
......
Worry lurked deep in Li Haoâs eyesâwhat if something went wrong with Liu Long? This place might be a trap! However, Hao Lianchuanâs voice sounded by his ear. âItâll be fine, we tested this passageway before! This is a special place that offers a very high rate of survival for martial masters. Itâs not low for supernaturals either, but the weaker the supernatural, the higher the chance of survival! The stronger, the lower the chance of survival!
âIf these guys are tempted and think theyâll be fine because weaker supernaturals made it back out, or if theyâre enticed by the medallion... then all the better! Itâll be good to ensure some of their deaths on this expedition, even if we donât claim the origin weapon.â
The deputy director was already preparedâhe would weaken the three great organizations if he couldnât make it to the inner city. Violet Moon and the others would have an exceedingly low rate of survival if they dared attempt the house.
Li Hao remained staring silently ahead and didnât say anything. Liu Long took the lead and entered the ancient house without a word. He possessed the courage of martial masters in spades. Since the situation was thus, he would go in. There was nothing to worry about!
He vanished soundlessly into the darkness; the others were a little more apprehensive. But when they thought of the benefits to be had, the remaining nine quickly charged into the house.
Silence!
There was no movement forthcoming. Some powerhouses found nothing when they sent their consciousnesses into the house. Just as the crowd relaxed into the quiet... a ghastly scream rang out! Frowns crossed faces. Any manner of noise should be audible from the house, but the first and only thing they heard was the scream. Was this an attempt to create a sense of danger?
That scream had belonged to an independent supernatural. He might be dead!
Expressions remained the same in the crowd. No one was fearful just because someone had died. That was just a wandering supernatural. It was within expectations even if they all died.
Another ghastly scream echoed after a while. There was no further disturbance from the house. After an indeterminate period of time, figures appeared on the street behind the ancient house. Those on the other side peered through the protective membrane with widened eyes. They were out!
The figures swiftly ran toward the plaza. These had been their previous instructions. They were to leave as soon as possible if they made it out! Some of the members of the three great organizations also bore special missions on their shoulders. They were to test the Black Armorsâ reactions!
The Revolution King headed for the plaza without a word. The others were hot on his heels. They werenât worried as the plaza wouldnât disappear, they cared more about whether the survivors had obtained the medallion or any other treasure.
Li Hao heaved a slight sigh of relief. Liu Long should be fine since he hadnât heard the captainâs voice. If only two had died, then this rate of death wasnât that high. Hao Lianchuanâs claim of a ten percent survival rate rather seemed like an exaggeration! It was further proof that the man was just in the business of scaring people away!
......
The crowd arrived outside the plaza before long. A figure leading the pack sprinted to themâLiu Long. He didnât dare linger in the city and ran back as soon as he exited the house. He wasnât the only one, there were several more figures behind him that were each faster than the rest.
When Hao Lianchuan saw that they were about to exit the plaza, he quickly said, âDonât brashly leave the outer city. The protective film that you just received will vanish as soon as you do so! Youâll have to go through the house again if you wish to conceal your supernatural ripples. This effect isnât permanent. It persists inside the city and disappears soon after you leave it!â
The supernaturals on the plaza were startled into indecision. Liu Long didnât care; he walked right out. Being a martial master, he didnât sense any protective film. What did he care about leaving the city! He didnât want to stay inside.
Another person ran out from the cityâa Red Moon Darkmoon. He was very agitated and approached the edge of the plaza. Panting, he called out in a fearful tone, âMilady!â
âGo ahead and speak.â Violet Moon inclined her head. All of the organizations had sent people inside, so there was nothing to hide.
âMilady, I.... I just approached within ten meters of a Black Armor and demonstrated some of my supernatural abilities. The soldier really didnât have a reaction!â
Eyebrows raised in the crowd. The Black Armors didnât react when someone within ten meters used supernatural abilities?
Violet Moon subconsciously wanted to enter the plaza to assess what was different about her subordinate.
âThe Silver Armor has committed your presence to memory,â Hao Lianchuan said quietly. âIt might be here shortly if you enter now!â
Violet Moon frowned, but didnât say a word as this was possible! Instead, she looked at her man. âCome out of the city!â
The man followed orders and quickly set foot outside. Violet Moon surrounded him with the power of thunder the moment he did. She immediately sensed something different. Thereâd seemed to be a layer around the man that was connected to the ground. It was broken as soon as he walked out!
âThe ground?â She looked down; Hao Lianchuan nodded.
Understanding dawned on the group. It looked like the protective film came from the ground. It might be a similar case to the Black Armors. Walking through the house gave one the protection of the earth, but setting foot outside the city meant severing this connection with the earth. Hence, the protective film vanished and the person in question needed to go through the process once more.
âWhat did it feel like?â
âThe house was pitch black and pretty much like Li Hao said. But... I didnât see a medallion.â The person looked suspiciously at the young man. The others didnât mind his findings. It was normal for Li Hao to see it and it was normal for this Darkmoon not to see it. There might really be something special about the bloodlines of the eight families.
âDid you run into danger?â
âThere was a little bit of danger...â came the frightened response. âSomeone seemed to put a cloth bag over me at one pointâmaybe that was the feeling of getting the protective film. I felt like I was going to suffocate, but it quickly dispersed and I made it out.â
âDid you discover anything else?â
âNo.â
Violet Moon frowned and continued to wait. The others emerged after a short while. Two were dead out of eightâone was an independent and the other was a Yama member. The Revolution King wanted to vomit blood. His organization, again!
âTwo are deadâone Plenilune, one Fullmoon. One fire and one thunder...â Violet Moon murmured. âWas it because their offensive abilities were too strong? But the metal supernatural is still alive...â
When it came to offense, metal was stronger than fire. The metal supernatural was still here! But it was also true that more offensive supernaturals had died. Additionally, no one had seen the medallion.
If anyone had, it might be treated as a fake. Since only Li Hao saw it, then the crowd believed it might really exist. These eight just hadnât been lucky enough or possibly possessed the right bloodline.
âSo supernatural ripples can indeed be obscured!â said the Revolution King. âWhat now? Should we all take that path?â
The danger was high at a twenty percent death rate.