Li Hao roared with laughter and walked toward Ying Hongyue. The latter regarded him warily, then vanished with Orange and Green Moon. He next appeared behind Yama and Celestial Sword Immortal. The man looked at the two with a frown. âI leave him to you guys.â
The two raised an eyebrow. Interesting! Ying Hongyue really did seem fearful of Li Hao.
âYour seven bloodlines are not one.â Li Hao flashed a smile. âYou should be one of the eight families, so only one of the seven is a match for you. The other six are resisting you! You havenât fully assimilated them. If you had, you wouldnât be afraid of me. But at the moment... the other six seem to be closer to me!â
âSo what if they are?â Ying Hongyue responded calmly. âYou canât kill me. You canât even get close to me, not even with those boots on.
âI may not be able to kill you either, but I can kill your master, your friends, and everyone around you. Li Hao, itâs just a simple matter of having Yuan Shuo hand over the Breathing Method of the Five Styles. Why do you have to make things so complicated?â
Ying Hongyueâs bloodlines were not one whole. They refused to be fused together and felt a closer affinity to the bloodline of the Lis. Thus, he could not fight Li Hao. That would easily cause the collapse of the six that heâd forced together.
But just as he said, he was very strong and could kill anyone apart from Li Hao. He could also negotiate with people like Yama and have them kill Li Hao. It was just a matter of determining willingness.
Li Hao opened his mouth to respond, but someone suddenly sighed with complicated resignation next to him.
âYing Hongyue, youâre still as arrogant and cocky as ever after all these years!â he said softly.
It was Earthturner Sword; he had a hand on Yuan Shuoâs shoulder. The latter seemed to want to do something, but Hong Yitang was holding him back.
âBrother Sky Sword.â Hong Yitang looked at Li Hao, then at the others. âItâs nice being a supernatural, isnât it?â
âYou can give it a try!â Sky Sword said faintly after throwing a look at him.
âAs you wish,â Hong Yitang chuckled and focused on Hou Xiaochen. âYou can forget that thought though, your nine locks arenât that stable. Or they might be ten, even eleven locks. Regardless, you have your calling, so I donât mind.â
Eyes widened at the information within his words. Li Haoâs expression shifted, but Hong Yitang cut him off again.
âThe power of strength is found in its usage. Your master has more of a future in martial dao, whereas it doesnât matter for me,â Hong Yitang laughed. âDonât let your master flounder around randomly, and neither should you do the same as well...â
Massive force erupted for his body as everyone heard crisp snaps of locks breaking. Crack crack crack sounded without pause! The smile remained on Hong Yitangâs face as he was completely unconcerned about his actions.
âIâve wanted to try this a long time ago, but only dared try the ones of my limbs. Iâve never dared take another step forward, but Iâm rather tempted after seeing Li Hao grow so much stronger after his ascension.â
A sword drifted gently through the air, but it seemed to flip heaven and earth all the same.
âThank you for supporting me with sword energy all this time, Li Hao. Itâs been of great benefit to me. I wouldnât be able to stabilize my locks so easily otherwise!â
BOOM!
An enormous rumble rang out as the Steppe Prince stared dumbly at the sword in the middle of his chest. When had it run through him? And, itâs the three great organizations after you guys. What are you killing me for?
âI kill you because you are a martial master with a broken lock. I fear that you may throw all caution to the wind now and continue to break more. That would turn you into a strong rival hard to contend against. The rest of them havenât broken their locks because they still have some reservations in mind!â Hong Yitang explained very seriously. âSteppe Prince, I kill you because I view you with great importance, not because of a personal grudge. I hope you understand!â
The prince opened his mouth, suddenly wanting to laugh. I... see! You kill me because Iâm a person of note after breaking one lock. Youâre afraid Iâll break more and turn into a threat. Should I feel honored?
Perhaps!
After all, Earthturner Sword fully broke his lock just to be able to kill me. What an honor! I trade my death for him to become supernatural. Isnât that good?
Hong Yitang pulled back his sword with a sigh. âThe Steppe Prince really is talented. Nine of his locks were fully saturatedâthere wouldnât be many who could fully match him once he completely unsealed himself. Therefore, Iâll send him on his way first. I trust that Director Hou and Commander Yu have no other opinions? He was your old supervisor.â
Hou Xiaochen narrowed his eyes without a word. Commander Yuâs expression was cold as he didnât respond either.
What kind of stupid opinions would we have??
It was rather Earthturner Sword who was a new consideration for them. Heâd fully unsealed himself and was still breaking more locks. Who knew how many heâd broken, yet he was still standing? His body was on par with Li Haoâs!
The Steppe Prince had died a very wronged death, but there was no room for thought of alternative outcomes.
Li Hao brooded, silently wielding a blood-red longsword. Hong Yitang was a full supernatural now!
âThis is nice.â Hong Yitang walked over to him with a smile. âItâs nice to feel so invincible!â He turned to face everyone else on the other side. âDo you still want the Breathing Method of the Five Styles? I think Yao Si, Hou Xiaochen, and Huang Yu can still unseal themselves to release their battle strength. Are you really going to sink to those depths?â
He addressed only the martial masters and ignored the Heavenâs Eye from the City of Supernaturals.
âAre you going to back away now, or are you going to exchange a few blows with me?â he repeated.
âBrother Hong, now this makes the situation awkward,â Yama laughed. âThis wasnât our intent, look at things now! Why donât you try sealing yourself again?â
âYou sure love to joke, Yama,â Hong Yitang laughed and swung his sword! âI remember Yuan Shuo beat you a few times for your joking back in the day. How has that not helped your memory at all?â
BAM!
A loud collision rang out as Yama stumbled a few steps back. His face was flushed red while Hong Yitang coughed a few times.
âDarn, thatâs hard! Youâve cultivated your Iron Shirt method to a maximum peak, but you ran away when Yuan Shuo beat Iron Shirt to death. I wonder if your junior brother hates you.â
The void seemed to split between the two of them. Yama looked down at his chest, a bloody cut there quickly healed. He frowned slightly and looked at Hong Yitang. âHow many locks have you broken?â
âGuess!â Hong Yitang smiled radiantly. âWell, are you going to retreat?â
Yama frowned without a word, but abruptly jerked in shock and vanished on the spot. A blood-red longsword quivered where heâd been. Li Hao said nothing and simply frowned at the manâs extreme speed.
Hong Yitang looked wordlessly at the young man. What are you being so impulsive for?n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Li Hao vanished and reappeared in front of the lord of Buddha Mountain. The manâs eyes widened with dismay and golden light immediately materialized in front of him. It broke with a crack, but created enough space for him to swiftly back away.
âDonât force my hand!â Hints of mysterious power wafted from him. âIâll leave now. Iâm no Steppe Prince. No one will get off easy if you force me to completely unseal myself!â
Li Hao simply rained down stroke after stroke in response. The mountain lord took a blow with his body, coughing up blood so that he could break through the void!
He didnât want to die, nor did he want to fully unseal himself like the others. Instead, he chose to flee. However, a massive sword descended!
BOOM!
Golden sparks sprayed from the lord of Buddha Mountain, but this time, they were followed by the red light of mysterious power. Blood gushing from his mouth, he punched the broadsword back and shot to the rear. He snapped one of the locks of his arms with a crisp crack.
The mountain lordâs face was pale as he roared and snapped more locks in quick succession. He punched at Li Hao, making the young man stumble. That bought him enough breathing space to leave, but he took a look at Sky Sword who stood close by.
âWhat are you looking at?â Sky Sword looked remotely at him. âUnseal yourself. Youâre already here, how do you think youâll be able to leave just like this?â
He was a supernatural and it seemed that those present had forgotten he was an Arcanus. None of them paid attention to him after Hong Yitang unsealed himself! In that case, they could try him!
Heâd flung his sword out to force the lord of Buddha Mountain to break a supernatural lock. A smile floated onto his aloof face.
âFully unseal yourselves, everyone. There are inherent problems with the path of martial masters sealing themselves. Itâs so boring to hide and cower in the shadows! Turn into supernaturals, everyone! There will be no retreat before one side is fully exterminated today!â
This seemed to be what Sky Sword wanted to see the most. Perhaps he wished for nothing more than to have everyone become supernatural like him.
The scene raised dread in some people. Those from Yama frowned and looked at the lord of Buddha Mountain. While the man brooded, he chose to leave.
âSky Sword, Li Hao... weâll wait and see! But itâd be for the best if you can turn all of these people into supernaturals! I await that kind of result!â
Heâd unsealed himself and thus his battle strength had ballooned, yet the lord of Buddha Mountain still chose to withdraw. He could no longer pursue his original intentions. In that case, he chose to leave more room for these Silver Moon lunatics to showcase themselves. It was best if they could force Yama and the rest into becoming supernatural. If he was to be crippled, then everyone should be crippled!
The unsealed lord of Buddha Mountain was extremely fast, so fast that he vanished in the blink of an eye. It all happened so quickly that people didnât have time to react.
Ying Hongyue sighed and shook his head. He wanted to fan himself, but remembered that his fan had shattered. He smiled and grabbed a person with one hand each, then vanished on the spot.
âLive well, Li Hao! Weâll meet again in Silver Moon! When my seven bloodlines are fully melded, I think that will be the time for the eighth!â He was already gone.
Yama and Celestial Sword Immortal also laughed to see him go. âWhat a pity... but heâs right, weâll meet again in Silver Moon. Weâll be able to take that step even without the Breathing Method of the Five Styles. Weâre almost there!â
One powerhouse after another disappeared, choosing to retreat.