So what level was the scarlet shadow at?
Thinking back on it, Li Hao didnât recall any mysterious power emanating from the shadow. Did that mean it had no level? That only its master possessed a supernatural level? But I didnât see anyone with it!
No, wait, what about Wang Ming? That oneâs mysterious power was very bright, brighter than Liu Longâs. Could Wang Ming be a Darkmoon? He shouldnât be a Sunflareâ¦
According to what his teacher said, there werenât that many Sunflares in the province. There might be only one in each city, and that didnât include minor ones like Silver City. Sunflares were on the same level as Dominators; heâd just been given a taste of how strong his teacher was. Wang Ming was noticeably weaker.
Wang Ming might be similar to the two outside, a Darkmoonâ¦
So three Darkmoon Night Watchers had come to Silver City. Two stood guard over his teacher and one stayed in the shadows. The organization plainly valued their honorable guest. When his thoughts traveled here, Li Hao quickly raised, âTeacher, a supernaturalâs arrived in Classified Affairs and he might be a Darkmoon!â
âEh?â Yuan Shuo blinked. Instead of asking his student how he knew or determined the supernaturalâs strength, he smiled. âInteresting. Looks like Zhang Yuanâs death is a complicated affair. The Night Watchers must be proceeding with such caution because they know that or have even guessed the killerâs identityâ¦â
âTeacher, what if my new colleague is one of the people behind Zhang Yuanâs death?â
âThey shouldnât be!â Yuan Shuo immediately shook his head. âDo you think just anyone can walk into the Inspectorate? The Inspectorate is able to identify whether or not someone is supernatural. Therefore, at the very least, your inspector general knows about the newcomer. Heâs definitely aware! Unless heâs a co-conspirator, the new guy is one hundred percent a Night Watcher!â
Li Hao heaved a slight sigh of relief. That was good. He really was concerned that Wang Ming was from the scarlet shadow faction.
Teacher and disciple chatted for a while longer before Li Hao prepared to leave.
âMake sure to keep the sword safe, if nothing else.â Yuan Shuo solemnly returned the jade sword. It still had reserves of energy after he absorbed so much and broke through Dominator of Thousandsâthat was incredible. It was a cornucopia!
âMmhmm.â Li Hao nodded. He fully understood the jade swordâs value now. Actually, heâd known when he absorbed the energy from the Demon Hunters.
âAnd another thing,â Yuan Shuo said after some thought. âThough I am a Dominator, it remains difficult for me to step into the otherworldly. I lack supernatural energy, and not the kind that you have. Yours isnât used to enhance battle strength. What you have reinforces the foundations and is a hundred times more precious than the kind I speak of!
âAt my level of strength, I need a few hundred, if not one thousand cubes of mysterious energy!â
Li Hao rapidly ran through some calculations. One cube went for a million coins on the black market. If his teacher needed one thousand cubes, how much would that cost?
â¦one BILLION?!
The young man swallowed hard. Holy shit, that was crazy! And his teacher didnât have that kind of money, did he? Even though it seemed like he was rich?
A matter that could be resolved with money was easily handled for Yuan Shuo. The crux of the issue was that the Night Watchers would absolutely be aware of such a large transaction, as would all other supernatural organizations.
This was not a feasible path!
The professor looked at Li Hao and intoned, âItâs not the right time for me to show myself. I still have rivals out there and though theyâre not in Silver Moon, theyâre a force to be reckoned with! We need to keep a low profile for the momentâ¦â
Didnât you just say weâd sweep the land? Li Hao grinned wryly. His teacherâs words could never be taken for face value.
âOf course, Iâll really be unstoppable if I cross over. You can do whatever you want then! So we just need to stay quiet for a little bit, donât rush!â Yuan Shuo grinned. âLet me take a close look at the crisis at hand. Iâll kill them if theyâre weak, and if theyâre too strongâ¦â
The grin deepened with mischief. âThe Night Watchers can take the fall!â
Interest appeared on Li Haoâs face.
âIf the ones behind everything are weak enough that I can take them out in one go, Iâll kill them without a second thought,â Yuan Shuo kept his voice down. âBut itâll be dicey if they have anyone beyond Sunflare. Even if I can take on one or two of them, youâll be in grave trouble!
âOf course, anyone beyond Sunflare wonât be in Silver City at the moment. We can kill anyone below that level and pin it on the Night Watchers! That organization has their fair share of experts. Half of the five stronger than me are Night Watchers!â
Li Hao nodded. His teacher had decided to tailor his response according to the type of enemy they faced. Prudence was ideal! There was also another unspoken factor that both of them were well aware of.
Wouldnât a faction thatâd laid their plans for so many years and already seized several treasures be constantly growing stronger? Just one jade sword and cosmic power alone was stunning enough. If Yuan Shuo could use it to set foot into Dominator, why couldnât the other reach greater heights?
The two didnât mention it because they were afraid of destroying their confidence. Since Yuan Shuo had deduced that anyone stronger than him wasnât in the city, or even the province, that gave them much more room to flex their muscles.
âAlso, your jade pendant is just a pendant!â Yuan Shuo added. âIâll give you a sword before you leave, one thatâs a supernatural object!â He leered savagely. âNo oneâs ever seen your sword or knows what the sword of the Lis looks like. They all have to take your word for it. What else could a supernatural object carried by a mundane be, if not the sword of the Lis?
âIn that case, we need to choose a decent itemâone that isnât scrap metal!â An agonized tone crept into Yuan Shuoâs voice. âItâs been difficult to collect treasures ever since the Night Watchers kept a close watch on me. Ah, forget it. I collected a fine sword several years ago, itâs an absolute treasure!
âActually, itâs a perfect fit for our purposes! Itâs also sealed away and doesnât exude any mysterious power. Radiance shimmers within. I found it in a larger ruin and suspect itâs a treasure tied to a bloodline legacy.â
âTeacher, your sword might be more precious than mine,â Li Hao couldnât help but say. âWonât this be a pretty big loss for you?â
He knew that Yuan Shuo intended to palm off a substitute for the real thing. But if the family treasure wasnât as expensive as that sword, thatâd be a bad trade!
âImpossible!â The professor shook his head emphatically. It went without saying that Li Haoâs sword was valuable beyond compare. However, he didnât bother to explain himself. âTake it with you when you leave! You should know how to use it without further guidance from me.
"If the enemy is too strong for me to handle, you can try throwing the sword out. If I or the Night Watchers kill the enemy, you should also throw the sword out. Throw it at the Night Watchers if you can so they take the fall!â
Teacher and disciple quickly settled on their plan. They would kill the enemy if the latter was weak or kill the scouts if they were strong, then dump it all on the Night Watchersâ head. The caveat to this was that the Night Watchers wanted the sword. Otherwise, blame would still land in Li Haoâs lap.
Would the Night Watchers want it?
Given how Yuan Shuo described it, they very likely would. As for whether or not their plan would plague the conscience, Yuan Shuo didnât feel the slightest bit guilty. To be honest, Li Hao didnât either. The Night Watchers deserved to be the scapegoat if they took the sword, it wasnât his fault.
â¦â¦
Teacher and student conversed for almost an hour. When Yuan Shuo took out the sword, he also dyed his hair white. He didnât want to expose himself for the time being.
The sword that Yuan Shuo spoke of wasnât too large. Just a bit larger than the jade pendant, it was the size of a dagger and easily identified as a sword. It could be carried on the young man as it fit into a pocket.
Li Hao glanced at it, vaguely identifying a mighty layer of mysterious power brewing inside. He was reluctant to take it as it might be the only treasure of this caliber that his teacher owned. The professor was freely handing it over just to decrease the amount of trouble that Li Hao was in!
âGo home soon!â Yuan Shuo cautioned after wrapping up matters. âDonât worry too much. I wonât follow you the entire way, but Iâll be there in short order if anything happens! All you need is to survive the first strike!â
Li Hao nodded.
âImproving yourself is crucial!â Yuan Shuo thought for a bit. âYou may be a Slayer of Tens, but that doesnât mean youâre all that impressive. The weak and strong within this level are also clearly delineated. Slayer of Ninety-Nine is still a Slayer of Tens. Thatâs a bit of an exaggeration, but the gap still exists.â
Yuan Shuo had planned on sending his student away, but stopped the young man again when he considered that Li Hao would likely find it difficult to progress in a short amount of time.
âYouâve never experienced true combat and everything I taught you before was to improve general health. Itâs not very useful in fighting, so Iâll shore up your knowledge after this incident!â
There wasnât enough time to teach the lad anything comprehensive right now. The professor thought for a bit before coming to a decision.
âIâll teach you a somewhat underhanded offensive technique! Itâs easy enough and not part of the Five Styles, but itâll be useful for ensuring survival!â
Li Hao lit up! Underhanded? Didnât hear that part! I donât care, I just want to stay alive.
Yuan Shuo stayed indoors and struck a stance in the hall, presenting a very prim and proper image.
âMartial masters need to draw in close when facing opponents, particularly third rate martial masters like you! You donât need to learn any strong attack methods because you might not have a chance to use them. If you have the ability to, then you wonât need them. So today, Iâll teach you the Hand That Brings Back Life! Itâs a technique that I found in some ancient tomes.â
The Hand That Brings Back Life!
What an upright and honest nameâit sounded like a doctorâs skill. But when Yuan Shuo deployed it, Li Hao gained a full understanding of its true meaning. The professor waved his fists around in a mad caper. He only had two hands, yet somehow, a third popped up in the next second!
Yes, three hands!
The third one snatched at Li Haoâs crotch the second it appeared. He didnât have time to react!
Monkey Stealing Peaches was a move in the ape style, but it wasnât nearly as bewildering as this one. The opponent sometimes knew that it was meant to attack the private parts as soon as it was deployed. Meanwhile, this one manifested a third hand!
Li Hao paled with horror.
âThe key to the Hand That Brings Back Life is in the hand that catches one off guard!â Yuan Shuo grinned broadly and stepped back. âThis is a skill of robbers as recorded in bygone records. Unsavory characters also existed in ancient civilizations and they used this technique to steal! I modified it slightly to be one suited for direct ambush!â
Who could guard against an extra hand that suddenly appeared in combat?
âWhere did the extra hand come from, teacher?â A baffled Li Hao considered the seemingly simple technique. His teacher only had two hands, how had there been a third one?
âThatâs the core of the technique. We only have two hands, the third one is fake!â Yuan Shuo explained the need for confounding falsehood for truth; a game of misdirection with the body was the most difficult part of this technique.
The two made a thorough study, stopping only when Li Hao more or less mastered the move and grasped its core essence.
â¦â¦
When the young man departed the residence, the middle-aged scout whoâd stopped him before was no longer present. Li Hao didnât feel eyes on him until he was a bit of a distance away, and he only sensed it because he vaguely caught sight of sparkles of starlight. Supernaturals!
It must be the man on the rooftop from before. The woman was gravely injured after their encounter and wouldnât recover for a while.
Not a flicker of change crossed Li Haoâs face; it was as if he hadnât discovered anything. He swiftly vanished into the distance on his bike.
â¦â¦
Hu Hao revealed himself after Li Hao departed. He looked at the young manâs back and then at the residence. What had Yuan Shuo taught Li Hao that theyâd stayed in there for multiple hours?
âI wonder how Elder Yuanâs injuries are doingâ¦â he sighed softly, helplessly. Please donât die, or he and Li Meng would be in for it.