White Moon City.
Pfft!
Kong Jie spat out a mouthful of tea and gaped, then promptly shot into the sky. He wasnât the only one. Huang Yu also soared upward from the military barracks in the distance. And while Director General Zhao didnât fly, he glanced sharply at the Silver Moon Guard base in the distance and almost crushed his teeth when he gnashed them.
âGo ask where Li Hao is!â
Deputy Zhou didnât ask for further clarification before promptly vanishing.
Where was Li Hao?
Li Haoâs ship was still parked in the plaza, his Demon Hunters were in closed door cultivation. No one thought much of it as itâd only been three days. This was how the young man operated when returning from a mission.
But now, where was Li Hao? Or was there someone outside causing trouble in his name?
The more Director General Zhao thought about it, the more ludicrous he found the idea! How was this possible? He was well aware of the Steadfast Dukeâs strength and that the three generals mentioned in the report were of the metamorphosis level. Red Beard had apparently been in attendance today, he was also a metamorphosis expert. The duke himself might be one too, even without unsealing his battle strength.
That made for a five metamorphosis experts and a dozen Novas. All of Silver Moon might have to unseal themselves in order to triumph over that level of strength. But now their intelligence reports said that the Steadfast Duke had been killed??
Who would believe that?!
Two powerhouses broke through the air and landed in the skies over the Silver Moon Guard base.
âLiu Long, Hao Lianchuan, get out here!â Kong Jie roared.
Liu Long was cultivating in the main hall. He opened his eyes with a faint frown and walked out.
âInspector General Kong!â He raised a cupped fist salute to those in the air. âCommander Yu! What might the two lords need from us? The leader is in seclusion. This level of disturbance and noise might disrupt his training...
âThatâs right!â Hao Lianchuan also walked out. âIsnât it over the line that you two have directly barged into our base? Director Hou may be gone, but the Night Watchers...â
âShut up, you little fucking shit!â Kong Jie let loose, startling Hao Lianchuan into silence. âDo you take me for a fucking idiot? Li Hao is here? Do you honestly think so little of me?!â
â......â Huang Yu didnât say a word. Honestly, probably. Stop protesting. We didnât know about this matter until it was public knowledge in the east. What are we, if not idiots?
âWhat are you cursing at me for?â Hao Lianchuan coughed awkwardly. âThatâs not nice, inspector general. Whatâs going on?â
Had Li Haoâs movements been revealed? Theyâd all stayed at the barracks for the past three days without leaving. Even Hao Lianchuan knew that it was to provide cover for Li Hao. Had the young man done something?
âWhatâs going on??â Kong Jie was on the verge of losing his mind. âLi Hao ran off a long time ago, didnât he? Did he run off as soon as he came back? He went to the Steadfast Dukeâs manor in the east, turned everything upside down, seized the Windchaser Boot, killed metamorphosis experts, and apparently even killed the duke!
âHeâs definitely killed a ton of Xu family members and burned the complex down. The entire dynasty is shaking over this, particularly the twenty-one eastern provinces! Great changes will soon take place in the east with the duke dead...â
It was like Liu Long and the others were listening to a proclamation from the gods. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened with incomprehension. Huh? Are you talking about Li Hao or someone else?
âDid Li Hao leave the day he came back?â
âI... I donât know...â Hao Lianchuan didnât dare hide anything anymore. He awkwardly mumbled in a small voice, âItâs not like Director Li informs me of his movements...â
âThen shut up!â Kong Jie looked at Liu Long. The man was frowning, but inclined his head.
âThe leader said he had some business to take care of before he left.â
Fuck that! This is some business?! Well well well, these guys all keep a stiff upper lip huh?!
Kong Jie couldnât decide if he wanted to just explode with rage or strangle someone. He shouted with renewed fury when he saw someone emerge from the hall, âWang Chao, you guys come from the Inspectorate and helped conceal the fact that Li Hao is gone. Did you not even think of informing the Inspectorate?!â
Wang Chao and the rest were still reeling within the crowd. When he heard his old boss berate him, Wang Chao answered blankly, âInspector general... we didnât know!â
Did they really not know, or were they pretending? Kong Jie wanted to vomit blood. At the same time, there was nothing he could say. Heâd come to confirm whether or not Li Hao was truly gone. Now he was certain, the lad was gone. The one in the east was probably the genuine Li Hao.
He snorted before turning to leave. Huang Yu also vanished without a word. Outside the base, Light Sword had listened with glittering eyes. She shot into the sky and followed Huang Yu and Kong Jie. Despite the obvious look of skepticism, she didnât pose any questions.
Kong Jie was further irritated by that! I wanted you to help with some matters before and you ignored me, saying you wanted to wait for Li Hao. Isnât this fine and dandy, you can wait all you like now!
He tossed over a transmission pendant, which Light Sword quickly examined. The look in her eyes shifted as she murmured, âHow is this possible?!â
As the Steadfast Dukeâs former senior steward, she was all too familiar with the householdâs strength. Li Hao couldnât afford to provoke any of the three major generals, to say nothing of the duke. She couldnât fight the duke either and had done so before only because she unsealed herself.
âThis may not be true.â Light Sword furrowed her brows. âThe duke is not that easy to kill. Heâll unseal himself if heâd backed into a difficult situation. Few are those in this world who can kill him.â
His death was impossible!
The other two nodded and Kong Jie responded, âSomething must have happened even if that guy isnât dead. His manor wouldnât be reduced to ashes otherwise. If the duke isnât dead and Li Hao isnât dead, then that means the duke is chasing him. Otherwise, there would already be people out to suppress the unrest!â
He was able to deduce a thing or two upon further thought. If this was the case, then Li Hao was in high peril. How in the world had that madman thought of making trouble for the Steadfast Duke??
Light Sword vanished on the spot without a word.
âWhere are you going?â
âThe Sword Sect!â
â......â A speechless Kong Jie watched her go. Light Sword was plainly going to seek out Hong Yitang. Was she going to Li Haoâs rescue?
He looked at Huang Yu, who rumbled, âLetâs go to Ole Zhao first. If Li Hao isnât dead, heâs probably being chased down. but heâs too far away! This is a different situation from last time. Last time it was just the dukeâs son leading the group, but this time itâs likely Xu Qing himself! We may not be able to catch up to them.â
And may not be able to leave. There were large numbers of powerhouses gathered on their shared border with Near River. The White Shark Raiders and Starlight Pirates were all stirring to action. The executives of Silver Moon may not be able to set foot outside their home.
âLetâs wait for more details.â Kong Jie took a deep breath. âIt shouldnât be too long. There were a lot of people at the memorial rites today. Many of them might be dead, but not all of them. Weâll have detailed reports soon, but we need to think of a way to help. Li Hao may be in grave danger!â
Huang Yu nodded. That was a certainty.
âOld Huang,â Kong Jie laughed ruefully. âThis Li Hao can cause more trouble than his master! His master didnât dare conduct his matters like this before! In the two hundred years of Skystar history, there doesnât seem to be anyone whoâs ever directly attacked one of the three founding dukes!â
This was unprecedented in history! The young man must be the boldest beneath the heavens! If he survived this escapade, his reputation would far eclipse Yuan Shuoâs throughout the land. As well known as the old man was, did he dare attack the Steadfast Duke?
Yuan Shuo was highly regarded in the Silver Moon martial world, but there were possibly only a few veteran martial masters who remembered him in all of the world. Li Haoâs singular move would emblazon his name in the minds of all superhumans and even civilians in the world.
Heâd kicked in the door of the overlord of the east!
......
Every locale in Skystar Dynasty was discussing recent events and shaking in reaction.
Skystar City, the Night Watcher headquarters.
Hou Xiaochen had been fretting over Li Hao becoming public enemy number one, but now he sighed. It was the rest of the world who needed to fret now. They likely wouldnât be able to sleep peacefully at night if Li Hao didnât die after these events.
The Silver Moon powerhouses waited in a tiny office, waiting for more news to reach them. They soon looked at a vibrating transmission pendant. Hou Xiaochen picked it up and exhaled after a long while.
âIt wasnât a frontal attack. The kid brought his dog, hid in the dogâs stomach, posed as a Kui Mountain monster spirit that was the descendant of an ancient monster spirit. He tricked the duke into giving him the Windchaser Boot and cowed the twenty-one provinces of the east in the guise of a monster spirit.
âDuring his act, he incited conflict between Yu Qiaoâs party and Xu Qing. He then killed Xu Xing, the Yellow General, other people, raided the Xu treasury, and used a particularly unique method to kill Red Beard and three Novas under his command...
âAnd now, the Steadfast Duke is leading the Heaven and Earth Generals after him!â
Yu Luocha first heaved a sigh of relief, then grew solemn again. âSo this means he has indeed killed a metamorphosis level expert... despite using outside methods?â
âYes.â
âDoes he have more of those methods?â
Hou Xiaochen grinned. Iâd be a god if I knew.
âXu Qing is not weak...â Manager Yu said slowly.
âHeâs very strong!â Hou Xiaochenâs grin disappeared. âEven I wouldnât dare say that Iâd win against him. He might be on the same level as the Steppe Prince. Heâs very, very strong! Not to mention, he has two metamorphosis level experts with him and multiple Novas. He wants revenge, the sword of the Lis, and the full set of the Windchaser Boots!
âWith those two weapons in front of him, heâll want to kill Li Hao even if he has to unseal himself!â Hou Xiaochen breathed out explosively. âLittle Yu... you go! Be careful. Hurry and find Li Hao...â
âDirector...â
âYou can unseal yourself, Golden Spear canât!â Hou Xiaochen frowned when his thoughts traveled to this point. âThis wonât do. Here, go to Sky Sword Mountain! If Sky Sword is still in closed door cultivation, tell him to come out and that I need his help. Demon Sword Li Hao... can be considered the eighth sword of Silver Moon. No one would deny that! Have Sky Sword personally rescue the lad, hurry!â