Hou Xiaochen quietly perused the report. He said softly after a while, âSome of the supernaturals that made it out say Li Hao should be hailed Demon Sword. What do you think?â
What do I think? I donât think anything! Hao Lianchuan stood slack-jawed, not uttering a peep. It wasnât just facing Solars in single combat. If that was the case, heâd seen that before and wouldnât be so taken aback. It was one against six and Li Hao had killed them all! That was most terrifying about everything.
Can Li Hao challenge Novas now? Six Solars working in tandem should be able to fight a Nova, right? There should be no problem, but... Li Hao killed them all.
Regardless of how many accidents or coincidences there mightâve been in the process, it was undeniable that Li Hao had won.
âDirector... do we send reinforcements?â Hao Lianchuan wondered.
âReinforcements?â Hou Xiaochen laughed with a cough. âNope! You, on the other hand, should hurry and form a team to sweep the southern part of the province! Not only you, but Little Yu should go as well. Iâll participate when necessary and bring the others back as well. Weâll run through the entire province!â
Reinforcements? Thatâd just be following the three great organizations. If the four institutions swiftly marched through the southern part of the province, the three great organizations would be too weary to handle everything. Should they continue to hunt Li Hao on the northern side of Rift Canyon, or should they work together to defy the provincial authorities? It would be a choice they would have to make.
This was the best move that Hou Xiaochen could see!
âHave the Guards move out en masse! Li Haoâs Demon Hunters will be known throughout the land after tonight. Even the central region will learn of him and this newly established army unit soon. Golden Spear has bided his time for too long, itâs time to show his face again!â
Hou Xiaochen stood up and smiled to the north. Li Hao! You really are something! I knew that someone who could break my lingering will would not be a simple character. So you did hide most of your strength and erupted with all of it tonight. It looks like you will hide yourself no longer.
Hao Lianchuan quickly left without a word. He needed to contact all relevant parties to commence a massive sweep! They needed to force the three great organizations to keep their elites in the south of Rift Canyon. Otherwise, Li Haoâs people would find it hard to escape.
It was too dangerous to consider a rescue. The three great organizations might have sealed off the canyon area. Anyone who approached would be unexpectedly mired in the situation.
......
The provincial government.
Director General Zhao coughed weakly beneath the feeble light and smiled at Deputy Zhou. âYuan Shuoâs disciple... As we expected, like master, like disciple. Yuan Shuo is not one to provoke. If the bloodline of the eight families fully erupts, it will be beyond the capacity of ordinary people to endure...â
He coughed and asked, âWhat is your grandson being involved for?â
âHim?â Deputy Zhou grinned. âHeâs just curious and chafes under strict rules at home, so he went looking for some thrills. Those little guys are probably running as fast as they can back here...â
âThe three great organizations are all headed north to hunt Li Hao. Those little guys will be in danger.â
âItâs fine, there should be no issue.â Deputy Zhou shook his head. âI havenât heard of them being involved tonight. They probably ran off after receiving word ahead of time. Li Hao and the rest are martial masters, so they can hide. The little guys canât, so they probably started running as soon as the fighting started.â
The director general nodded. Based on Li Haoâs resume, he would consider this point as well. He was someone who acted after planning and wouldnât let his people be needlessly exposed to die.
âSomeone says that Li Hao should be hailed the Demon Sword... what do you think?â
âDemon Sword or not,â Deputy Zhou took a deep breath. âI know that Silver Moon will be the center of attention again after this battle. The master and disciple duo seem greatly fearful that weâll fall out of the spotlight and keep creating incidents.â
âIndeed, theyâre killing people in the north and south. Yuan Shuo killed a peak Solar tonight as well and ran after. He probably thought that would attract some attention, but now no one will notice. Theyâll all be focused on his disciple, the little guy who stands at the peak as soon as he emerges!â the director general waxed eloquent. This young man was truly frighteningâdo you know, Yuan Shuo? Your student has grown to terrifying heights and his battle accomplishments are starting to surpass yours. You hemmed and hawed for so many days to kill a few Solars, but Li Haoâs already taken out eight!
No, wait, maybe more than that.
Zhang Ting was dead and Hao Lianchuan said he wasnât behind it. That left Li Hao, didnât it? So... nine Solars? Were there any more unknown Solars out there?
The master and disciple duo were quiet when they didnât take any action, but when they did, lofty Solars turned into clowns they could eliminate at any time. Theyâd killed double digits worth of Solars in the blink of an eye!
......
All factions stirred with shock as news spread madly upon the wind.
Demon Sword Li Hao!
Old Demon Yuanâs final disciple killed six Solars in one battle in Silver Moon today. He trod upon the corpses of the three great organizations to make his name known beneath the heavens!
......
The central region.
The first province beyond the North Sea was called Seashore. The latest news of the day flurried over like a hurricane.
Yuan Shuo had just killed a Solar and was busy running and hiding. His hiding spot was unusualâa Celestial baseâso he casually cleaned out the area of supernaturals as well. A mirror next to him abruptly lit up with lines of text.
Busy recovering from his wounds, Yuan Shuoâs jaw dropped when he happened to glance at it. Jadelight was also attending to herself and looked at Yuan Shuo when she heard the disturbance. She found him with his mouth wide open and a wooden expression on his face. What was it? Were enemies coming?
She followed his gaze to the text on the mirror.
âEmergency report: Great happenings have taken place in Silver Moon tonight. Li Hao, disciple of Yuan Shuo, fought six Solars alone in the northern region of the province. He killed our powerhouse Yue Pu as well as Jin Jiu, Duan Chao, and Zheng Ping of Red Moon, as well as Iron Wall and Seduction of Yama.
âSilver Moonâs level of danger is hereby upgraded. Li Haoâs troops of the Demon Hunters are comprised of fifty martial masters. They have killed more than one hundred supernaturals and are a bloodthirsty crew that far exceeds Yuan Shuo!
âLi Haoâs level of danger is hereby upgraded, with a recommendation of the Nova rating. If any members accept a mission involving him, it is recommended that mid Novas and above go into the field.â
Wu Hongshanâs eyes shot wide open as she whipped her head around to stare dumbly at Yuan Shuo. This... is talking about your student, isnât it? The biddable, mature, and young man of culture Li Hao?
Indeed, that was how Yuan Shuo had always described the boy. It coincided with Wu Hongshanâs memory of a refined and elite child who was well-read, obedient, and liked to smile. So... what was this in the mirror? Someone of the same given name and surname? And someone else with the same given name and surname as Yuan Shuo, right?
Fighting six Solars by himself!
Yuan Shuo snapped out of his dazed expression and recovered his cool aplomb. He smiled at seeing Wu Hongshan look at him. âWhat are you staring at me for?â
âYour disciple?â
âYes, what about him?â
âDidnât... you say heâs obedient?â
âYes, is he not?â Yuan Shuo roared with laughter that petered out as resignation. âDonât look at me like that, I donât know how this kid is improving so quickly either. I just know he very quickly became a Dominator and could soon fight Solars. But... but... I donât have a freaking clue how he can fight six at one time! And win at that!
âThe kidâs in deep trouble now,â the old man muttered with resignation. âI finally took the heat off him when I came here, but now heâs gone and brought the spotlight back to him. Heâs even more dangerous than me now!â
What the heck did he do that for? Who was covering for who now? Also, how had the kid done it at all?
Yuan Shuo couldnât wrap his mind around it. He might be able to reach Li Haoâs level in his current condition, but that was with integrating his three auras. When that step was complete, all that was missing was an inability to deploy the Incantation of the Blade of Blood. However, there was no helping that as he lacked sword energy.
If he haphazardly employed it, he would be dead without a doubt since he hadnât had time to obtain scarlet shadows. Therefore, he would not use it without cause.
Even so, Yuan Shuo was already ridiculously strong. He may not be able to stand against Novas, but he fancied himself invincible and a domineering presence among his fellow Solars. His disciple seemed right up there with him!
âYour disciple is incredible!â Wu Hongshan took a deep breath. âBut if even Celestial is notifying all of its people, Iâm afraid that the entire dynasty will know of your discipleâs feats after tonight. Thatâs not good.â
âWhat are you afraid of?â Yuan Shuo didnât mind. What were they afraid of? Theyâd kill anyone who came! Theyâd run if they couldnât or acquiesce to fate if they could not.
âNot bad, kid!â he started chuckling. âBut your master isnât bad either. I killed a Solar tonight too, that makes for the tenth Solar so far on my trip! Mmhmm, I need to keep this up so that the kid doesnât surpass me. Jadelight, hurry and recover from your woods. Weâll continue killing when youâre healed. My disciple is almost catching up to me in terms of the number of Solars killed, but weâre the ones running to and fro everyday. Now isnât that embarrassing!â
Wu Hongshan didnât say a word, but the emotion in her heart was hard to calm. Yuan Shuoâs student, his youngest disciple, had killed six Solars tonight. It was a tough pill to swallowâsheâd just spent hours fighting an initial Solar. It had Yuan Shuo suppressing the other for her to successfully kill the target.
Compared to Li Hao, she felt her cheeks burn with mortification!
......
All parties reeled with shock as the various great organizations heatedly discussed this topic.
The southern outskirts of Silver Moon.
Southern Fist sighed with great emotion in a large manor. âDamn, heâs something! Thank goodness I didnât agree to his offer of a sparâIâd be used to wipe the floors if I did!â
It was the same woman next to him as last night, the Heartjab Daughter, now known as Madame Bai. A single woman and man sitting next to each other in the middle of the night... and the woman being married as well... If Li Hao was present, heâd deliver a litany of criticism.
The Heartsick Daughter was likewise astounded, but she quickly came back to her senses. âThis Li Hao is indeed a source of surprise! But, truth be told, it involves the Bai family as well, no? Hu Dingfang is his senior brother-in-law. Tell us, Brother He, do you think we can bring Li Hao to our side?
He Yong leered and looked meaningfully at her. âDonât even think about it. This kid is more ruthless and merciless than Yuan Shuo. Heâs also cold-blooded as well! Youâd have to worry about being eaten in return if your recruitment spiel proves unsuccessful.
âIâve met the kid once and knew from that one meeting that heâs no kind soul. He watched without the slightest flicker of change in his expression when Hou Xiaochen killed Red Hairâhe didnât even blink! He wasnât distressed at all by the deaths of innumerable powerhouses. Itâs best to stay away from these kinds of people if possible!â