Star Gate

Silver Moon.

Li Hao traveled very quickly, so swiftly that his speed couldn’t be believed. Even a long journey was very enjoyable when one was in good spirits. He headed not for White Moon City or any other place, but straight to Mount Cat Head.

The ruin of the imperial palace immediately opened up to him. The little tree’s primary body swayed with befuddlement. “You’ve… come back?”

Where’s my replica?

The little tree had no way of knowing what’d taken place if its replica did not return. Only when its replica returned could the tree gain the full picture.

“I’ve come back and brought you some goodies!” Li Hao smiled. A dense current of core origin wafted out.

The tree stilled with shock!

“Ah…”

“I bumped into the replica of a redwood spirit on my way here and decided to take it out.”

The little tree was completely taken aback, the dense core origin further prevented it from regaining its composure. This all sounded so ordinary and run of the mill! There was so much core origin here that the other plant spirit was most likely just as strong as it. Its replica wasn’t with Li Hao, so how was the young man supposed to kill the replica of an Apex under such circumstances?

“You… you killed it?” The little tree couldn’t even remember to be delighted.

“Yep.”

“So your… your strength has improved? But…”

“Senior will know when you meet your replica. I hope that the senior will improve quickly. Your replica is probably on par with your primary body now. This core origin energy is my greeting gift. Please raise another crop of rations for me, the more the better!”

The little tree was stunned beyond words. My replica has improved too? What has Li Hao been doing?

Li Hao looked at the hazy outline of the imperial palace close by while the tree grappled with its shock. He was reminded of the little tree utilizing the palace’s projection to suppress everything. That was indeed a domineering move. There were likely actual traces of a great emperor’s dao in the palace. Even if it didn’t have any treasures inside, this location itself was a treasure.

The little tree grew nervous to see the young man glance at the palace. Indeed, nervous. What if Li Hao decided he wanted the palace?

It could no longer see through the young man, particularly with his casual mention of killing an Apex redwood’s replica on his way here. That was a nerve-racking development—it hadn’t thought that Li Hao would grow so strong in such a short period of time.

“Don’t worry, senior!” Li Hao smiled. “I’m just looking around, I don’t have anything else in mind. Whether it’s the imperial majesty’s palace or the Human King’s palace… they’re just ancient architecture to me. There’s not much value in them.”

He was weak, but his breadth of view had grown greater. These were just temporary, abandoned palaces! He might be a little more interested if this was the primary residence.

“Please create more rations for me, senior, I’ll be off. I’m going to visit Battle Heaven and see if I can revitalize General Pagoda with the Immortal plant spirit’s trunk…”

“Immortal?”

“Mmhmm. I coordinated with the senior’s replica a few days ago to kill an Immortal plant spirit—one of the ten guardian spirits protecting Skystar Town back in the day. It was a coconut tree—the Golden Coconut.”

The little tree physically reeled from shock and even some horror. How was this possible?! The primary body of an Immortal!

“Li… Li Hao, aren’t Apexes not tolerated by the outside world?”

“Yep.”

“Then…”

“It tolerates me!”

Fine then. The little tree had nothing to say. It didn’t know why Li Hao could operate in the world outside; only shock and inexplicable reverence filled it. It was starting to grow afraid of how the young man’s strength changed by the day.

“Then I take my leave, senior…”

“Don’t you need any more Water of Life?” came the little tree’s ripples. “With so much core origin, I can supply some Water of Life to you…”

“It’s fine!” Li Hao laughed. “Just focus on the rations. If General Pagoda awakens and converts Water of Life faster, I’ll ask him. If not, I still have the senior’s replica. It converts very quickly these days too…”

The young man disappeared on the spot, leaving behind a suddenly anxious little tree. I… don’t seem as important anymore. It didn’t know what’d taken place all this time because its replica was still journeying outside. Li Hao was no longer taking its replica along when he traveled—that was a demonstration of utmost confidence! He was certain that nothing would happen to him even without the replica by his side.

Indeed, he killed an Apex replica when he happened to encounter it along the way! That was terrifying!

“What should I do?”

The young man had gone to revive General Pagoda. Would there be a place left for it after the old general came back to life? The little tree grew frantic. It’d finally latched onto this big thigh and even severed half of its core origin for the partnership. Who would’ve thought that Li Hao would improve so quickly that even its replica might be less than useful these days? This was too panic inducing!

Such a performance had only been seen in the Human King’s era during the ancient civilization. Only that group of people had this kind of fortune and potential. Li Hao was shaping up to be even faster than them!

……

Li Hao was unaware of the little tree’s anxiety. He said all that to intimidate his plant spirit partner, to prevent any ulterior motives from developing. The second awakening might come at any time. It was one thing if he was unfamiliar with a plant spirit, but those he was familiar with and had helped him before were targets that he was very willing to talk to.

They better not start to brew other plans in their minds.

Li Hao arrived at Rift Canyon before long; there were guards posted still. It was a much quieter place these days as Silver Moon was much calmer after Li Hao started his conquest in Skystar City. Regular supernaturals didn’t dare visit Silver Moon anymore.

It was the deep of winter and white snow covered the canyon. The guards had relaxed their vigilance since all was quiet in Silver Moon these days. They blinked to see a figure appear in the void, tensing with nerves before erupting with glee and worship. “Director Li!”

“At ease, everyone!” Li Hao smiled with a nod. “You’ve worked hard!”

“Not at all!” A Night Watcher powerhouse immediately rushed over. Well, a Solar counted as a powerhouse in Silver Moon. Li Hao remembered the man—Deputy Director He, a water supernatural. “Director Li, are you planning on entering the ruin?”

“Yes!” Li Hao answered forthrightly. “There’s no need to notify anyone else. I’m just making a quick visit.”

“Understood!” The deputy director quickly nodded. Li Hao was their superior these days, no one exercised more authority than him. After all, the Night Watcher headquarters had joined the Skystar Commander Office.

The group watched Li Hao enter the ruins with mixed emotions. It’d been a short period of time since he left White Moon City, but he soared to the skies as soon as he departed. He’d brought all sides of the dynasty to heel and killed countless powerhouses. Arcanus fell like the rain. No one had anticipated any of this to happen.

……

Battle Heaven.

Director General Wang sensed something and immediately arrived at the city gates. A figure hovered in the distance.

Li Hao raised his head to look at the towering pagoda tree—it was so much bigger than the coconut tree that he couldn’t see its top.

“I’m heading into the city first, General Pagoda. I’ll come back for you in a moment!” The young man set foot forward. There was no response forthcoming from the tree. Perhaps it was in full slumber.

Li Hao immediately appeared by the city gates as soon as he set foot inside, startling the three troop leaders. So fast! A light flashed within Director General Wang’s golden armor.

“You’re back!”

“Yes!” Li Hao smiled. “Long time no see, director general!”

Had it been a long time? Director General Wang was confused. It’d… only been a month! Just about. Was that supposed to be long? “You…”

The director general couldn’t determine anything from a casual glance at the young man. Li Hao had completely retracted his five elements as he entered the ruins, sending them to the secondary dimension. He looked the same as before—two element Arcanus.

That had been his level of strength on his prior visit and he looked the same now, but the director general felt that something had changed about the fellow.

Li Hao was also much more confident than before, and much stronger. He could tell from a single glance that Director General Wang might have been an Apex or Immortal in his time, but he wasn’t that strong now. What they’d once found invincible was simply a result of themselves being too weak. Now that he looked at it, Director General Wang was at most an Apex—on par with the replica of the big tree that he’d killed earlier.

He was… a little weak.

A light suddenly shone out of Li Hao’s eyes and he looked into the city with a raised eyebrow. “Please don’t look at me like that, senior.” He smiled. “It’s uncomfortable…”

“And why can’t I look at you?” Director General Wang asked with surprise.

“Not you, director general.”

“……” Director General Wang blinked and abruptly realized something. As expected, a voice rippled through the air.

“You… quite surprise me.”

“The senior praises me too highly.” Li Hao inclined his body.

“……” Director General Wang was surprised beyond belief and turned to the pagoda. The guardian spirit was speaking to Li Hao! What was this?

“Open the doors, director general. I’m entering the city.”

“……” Director General Wang was so startled that he didn’t know what to say. My image of a mysterious senior doesn’t seem to have lasted for long. This guy doesn’t treat me with as much respect as he used to. What is this?

The city gates swung open and Li Hao raised his head to consider the two characters of ‘Battle Heaven’. Perhaps… he would have some additional gains this time. These two words hailed from an ancient exalted emperor themselves. They contained the exalted emperor’s dao. He couldn’t understand them before and only saw some mirages. But this time, he might be able to study them again. Perhaps he’d comprehend something new. If he could turn these characters into his supernatural characters… that would be a tremendous gain!

etvolare’s Thoughts

Dang, he’s grown so strong that the armored warriors are nothing to him now.