The speaker quieted and suppressed his blooming rage. He knew that to speak further was to lose more face, so he might as well stay quiet!
âAlright, the conversation can end here,â Ying Hongyue chuckled. âYou guys should keep a close eye on those fellows. Northern Fist and Tyrant Blade have all shown themselves. Sky Sword stays quiet and doesnât make a sound, but we should still be careful of him. And donât toy Hou Xiaochen to death, the consequences wonât be pretty!â
He raised a tea cup with a smile. âCheers to exterminating Silver Moon and a brighter future! Let us drink to that and go out to kill Li Hao. Remember, the young man is hard to kill. Donât think of holding back on anythingâbring out all the one-time use items you have.
âWorst comes to worst, we die. If we win, that is a lifetime of glory and riches! Iâm sure that we all have people whoâve broken their sixth lock. Ah, since weâre all here, why donât we use this opportunity to name the sixth realm?
âNova was a nod to nine sunsâIâve always thought it to be an ugly name,â laughed a merry Ying Hongyue. âLetâs go for a prettier name for the next level. This is a metamorphosis for us, so why donât we call it... Zenith? The ultimate culmination, the zenith of intent...â
âEnough, do you think we havenât read the ancient tomes ourselves?â Yama said aloofly. âWhy follow in their footsteps? Thereâs no point in that! Call it that if you want to. There will naturally be a name for it when it is officially present and more dwell within it. You donât need to worry about this detail!â
âYouâre the one who first proposed the name of Nova. Itâs such an ugly name!â Ying Hongyue teased. âThen weâre settled. We can discuss the rest later. Remember to notify me when you catch Li Hao or take the sword of the Lis.â
No one responded to him and the screens swiftly dimmed. The smile slid off Ying Hongyueâs face when all of the screens were dark and he sighed. âMisery will be upon the people... Ah I have sinned and created more trouble for Silver Moon. I wonder if there will be fewer of my old friends after this... What a pity!â
As much as he lamented, a brilliant smile spread over his face again.
âWhereâs Green Moon?â he asked. Only Green Moon was left in the vast headquarters of his, but there was no sign of her to be seen.
âLady Green Moon has gone to Skystar City...â someone quickly responded from below. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âSheâs being silly!â Ying Hongyue furrowed his brows and quickly relaxed them again. âForget it, she can do as she wishes. These people all have wild natures and donât listen. They will suffer for their impetuousness!
âShe can do as she wishes,â he smiled. âNotify the senior, second, and third elders of the elder council to go for a walk. All of them are permitted one drop of Water of Life and one peak Nova blood pearl! Donât be in a rush to do anything. Just observe. They can be happy fishermen if Earthturner Sword and Light Sword happen to be entangled by others!â
âUnderstood!â Someone quickly ran off to notify the elders.
There were many powerhouses among the elder councilâTidal Wave and Red Hair had counted among their number, though their ranking hadnât been high. Today, Ying Hongyue was sending out his three senior elders.
âAlso, notify the Ancient Guard to dig three feet underground and find that gopher Yuan Shuo! The old guyâs probably gone off to rob graves again!â Ying Hongyue frowned. âThe old thing spent the last couple of decades studying various ancient graves. If he finds any treasure, it wonât take him long to grow stronger again. Even if he doesnât, he might find something or multiple somethings to give us a huge headache!â
He shook his head with a sigh. âThe ignorant are fearless, or perhaps the guy doesnât care at all. If he runs into one or two living existences of the ancient times... Heh, weâll all be in for it then, wonât we!â
Yuan Shuo didnât care about any of that, but Ying Hongyue did. Even if they were to unearth ancient existences, now wasnât the time. It would create too much change in the world. It was one thing to encounter a friendly existence, but if they found one that was irritable, violent, or wanted to engage in widespread slaughter... That would be no fun for anyone.
âUnderstood!â Another Ghostface left. There were large numbers of Ghostfaces here, ready for orders at any time and to conduct communications.
âHave the three northern provinces grow even more chaotic. Silver Moon is too stable at the moment. Huang Yu and the rest have too much time on their hands, so letâs give them something to do! The royal familyâs been quiet this entire timeâletâs see if they still are now. If the sword of the Lis is lost, they wonât have another chance with their Skystar ruins.
âOh, darn, I forgot to say that the sword can access the Skystar ruins. Heh, letâs spread this news too and have the royal family join in the fun!â
âLeader, itâs not a good time to engage in open hostilities with the royal family,â cautioned a Ghostface. âThey might turn on us instead if this news is leaked!â
Ying Hongyue considered the suggestion and nodded with a smile. âThatâs true! Then forget it. Whatâs circulating now is sufficient for everyone to take action.â
He turned quickly and left, as dashing as ever and hardly bothered by Silver Moonâs troubles. Li Hao and the rest may be improving quickly, but... so what?
......
Silver Moon.
The provincial government.
There was a very large group of people sitting in silence.
âCan we have Light Sword take shelter?â Kong Jie asked waspishly. âI shouldâve thought of this, but in Hou Xiaochenâs absence, I completely forgot when no one reminded me. Did the director general also overlook this point? Now that the uses of the sword have been exposed, our troubles come one after another!â
He really didnât think of this beforehand because in his eyes, not that many would consider this point. Heâd always thought that supernaturals didnât understand martial masters. In doing so, he completely overlooked a few things in that some people knew martial masters all too well!
âIt did occur to me, but we still had to save her.â The director general breathed out gently. âAdditionally, I thought that people like Ying Hongyue would keep it to themselves if they knew because they wanted it for themselves. The more that know, the worse. I hadnât thought that he would make it public...â
âHadnât thought?â Kong Jie fretted. âWhy didnât you think of it? Donât we all know what kind of person he is? Heâs a typical lunatic and itâs not the first time heâs done something that harms others without benefiting himself...â
âAlright, thereâs no point in talking about any of this now!â Huang Yu interrupted. âWe were in a rush to save Light Sword, so we had to do what was most convenient and practical. Sending Li Hao to save her was the best option.â
âBut now Li Hao will be in grave, grave trouble!â Kong Jie raged. âI negotiated with him to have him mount a rescue mission. You two... Iâm thinking that you two targeted even me in your plot! You might have foreseen all of this! You two bastards schemed against me as soon as Hou Xiaochen left, didnât you??â
â......â The two ignored him.
âIâm most likely right! Out with it, what do you want?! To force Li Hao out of Silver Moon? Or to have him draw all the attention so that creates space for you guys to do something? It looks like the agreement of the four institutions is null and void and youâre shunning me, arenât you?!â
He was never one to think too much because Hou Xiaochen had been on his side all these years. Hou Xiaochen was the brains of the operation, so he listened to the man most of the time. But these two looked to have reached another agreement as soon as Hou Xiaochen left, ostracizing the inspector general.
âWe donât mean that at all.â The director general frowned. âFirst, this was indeed contrary to our expectations. Second, time was of the essence then! Third, the unknown danger was more severe than Light Sword dying.
âHaving accepted our payment, Li Hao shouldâve considered the risks within. He shouldnât have gone out just for the sake of the mission! Fourth, we will still protect him so long as he is in Silver Moon. This matter blowing up is trouble for us too, so no one is doing this on purpose. Additionally, this fallout has much to do with Li Haoâs blatant actions. He couldâve avoided the ensuing trouble if heâd bided his time in the dark and not taken an outright stand!
âTruth be told, his actions were completely beyond our expectations. Heâs always been someone who plans first before acting, and does not take action without utmost confidence. Not to mention his grudge with Light Sword. Do you think we couldâve anticipated that he would just go in with guns a-blazinâ like that?â
âBut Light Sword wouldâve died if Li Hao kept a low profile...â Kong Jie protested.
âI said so before that sending Li Hao was a choice that was our best. We left the rest to heavenâs will,â Director General Zhao shook his head. âBut I have to say, his decision was very surprising. The trouble that heâs now in has much to do with our oversight as well.â
The old man thought quietly for a while. âI can understand if you feel apologetic about it, but donât get too emotional over it. Weâre discussing how to cope with the situation, not just venting our feelings.â
âThen what do you say should be done?â Kong Jie calmed down. âYou have the most ideas, what do you think?â
The director general rubbed his temples. âWe have several options. First, we make an example out of someone. Have our powerhouses take a trip outside the province and kill some people! Second, throw out the sword of the Lis and have them dog eat dog! Third, have Li Hao himself say that all of the weapons of the eight families have this function and give Ying Hongyue a taste of his own medicine. But... people might not believe him.
âFourth, have Li Hao vanish for a while and stay out of the public eye. That will afford him greater safety. Fifth, have someone pose as Li Hao and go to the central region to raise a fuss. Draw attention to the central region!â
The director general rapidly gave out a few ideas. Kong Jie mulled them over and cursed to himself before saying, âIâll try to contact Li Hao. Additionally, give me a transmission pendant! Iâll give it to him so he can share some of our intelligence. He canât stay ignorant forever!â
Huang Yu and Director General Zhao looked at each other and nodded. The young man should indeed receive a pendant, or he was too uninformed otherwise. Who knew where the young man was at the moment? He might not even know whatâd happened recently.