Resting against Liu Long's back, Li Hao was still savoring the experience.
The most noticeable sensation upon advancing to Thousand-Battler was that momentum moved with his intent.
In other words, spirit intent!
Momentum and spirit intent were essentially the same concept.
Back when one was a Hundred-Breaker, it was only called momentum. Once one reached Thousand-Battler, however, Yuan Shuo and his peers preferred to call it spirit intent.
Momentum was like the spirit; where the mind went, the spirit followed.
Before this, Li Hao had always liked to stomp his foot whenever he unleashed the earth momentum. It was not a personal quirk, but rather because stomping allowed him to connect with the earth's momentum more effectively.
Whenever he drew his sword, he also tended to recall the strike he had witnessed that day, for only by reminiscing could he summon the sword momentum.
All of that took time.
Of course, it was an exceedingly brief moment.
Under normal circumstances, it did not cause any real delay.
Yet if an enemy knew him well enough, they could take advantage of the split second he stomped his foot to cut him off.
Now that he had crossed into Thousand-Battler, Li Hao realized that was no longer necessary.
With a single thought, the momentum rose on its own.
This was spirit intent!
Not only that, Li Hao experienced many other sensations and discoveries in this moment.
After stepping into Thousand-Battler, it felt as though a bottleneck had been shattered. Previously, topping off his inner force had been his absolute limit, but now that ceiling had broken open, and his body was generating inner force once again.
Li Hao could even faintly sense shackles within his body—the so-called supernatural locks.
He could vaguely feel them sealing away numerous parts of his physical form.
His spirit intent was still slowly undergoing a transformation.
Li Hao closed his eyes, quietly taking in every sensation.
Carrying him on his back, Liu Long moved cautiously to steer clear of other supernaturals. From the place where they had just fought, faint sounds of combat could still be heard.
They were likely fighting over the mysterious energy left behind by the shadow expert.
Neither Liu Long nor Li Hao had claimed it, partly to buy themselves time. As it turned out, no one could remain indifferent when hundreds of cubic meters of mysterious energy lay right before their eyes, nor would anyone bother pursuing an enemy through the darkness.
Who would pass up mysterious energy that was free for the taking?
The experts rushing to the scene had probably launched their attacks already and were locked in a bloodbath.
Such skirmishes were common along the outer city streets.
By the time everyone gathered at the inner city gate, there was no telling how many would still be alive.
Jogging all the way to the edge of the plaza, Liu Long stopped without approaching the center. Fewer people came here, as any fighting in this area could easily be spotted by those keeping watch outside.
"How are you holding up?" Liu Long asked in a low voice. Were his injuries really that severe?
He had harbored doubts before, but now he was starting to wonder if Li Hao had truly been hurt so badly.
A Thousand-Battler martial master possessed formidable regenerative capacity.
Li Hao did not reply. Instead, he quietly evaluated the condition of his five viscera.
Among the five internal organs, his heart was slightly stronger; coupled with the mysterious energy his teacher had given him earlier, it had absorbed roughly five hundred cubic meters of fire energy.
Next were his spleen and kidneys, representing earth and water energy. Between killing the earth-element Li Dahu and receiving one hundred and fifty cubic meters of water energy from the Wheel-Turning King, both organs had absorbed about four hundred cubic meters.
His liver and lungs, corresponding to wood and metal energy, were currently somewhat weaker, having taken in roughly three hundred cubic meters.
Counting the five viscera alone, Li Hao had consumed roughly eighteen hundred cubic meters of mysterious energy.
In addition, he had absorbed some wind and lightning energy, as well as unaligned mysterious energy, bringing the total to well over two thousand cubic meters.
It was a staggering figure!
Even for the Three Great Organizations or the Night Watchers, producing two thousand cubic meters was not too difficult, but spending it all on a single person was virtually impossible.
Of course, if that person were guaranteed to rapidly break through to Thousand-Battler, the major factions probably would not object in the slightest.
No one would complain about forging a Thousand-Battler martial master for two thousand cubic meters.
"The balance is impossible to maintain after all, and fire energy remains the strongest..."
Fire-element practitioners were simply far more common, leaving Li Hao with few options. He had run into plenty of them, such as the Three Sols expert Qiao Feilong and his Solar Radiance subordinates, most of whom were fire-element.
Even Hao Lianchuan and Sun Yifei used fire.
Li Hao opened his eyes and looked at Liu Long. "Boss, Yama gave you two hundred cubic meters of mysterious energy earlier. How much of it is metal and wood?"
When Liu Long returned, Li Hao had handed it all over to him.
The other party had provided three elements—metal, wood, and earth—withholding only water and fire. That Wheel-Turning King was truly a piece of work.
Liu Long had examined it before. The amounts were not exact, so he could only make an estimate, answering, "Around one hundred cubic meters of metal, roughly forty of wood, and about sixty of earth."
Metal made up the largest share, probably because they had scavenged the remains of a metal-element Solar Radiance expert.
"Boss, lend me two hundred cubic meters. I'll pay you back later..."
Liu Long did not need to balance his five viscera yet; he was still focused on nourishing his kidneys. Li Hao hoped to borrow the energy, especially the metal portion. His metal and earth energies were currently out of balance, which meant his sword momentum and earth momentum were not aligned either.
If he obtained this hundred cubic meters, both metal and earth would sit at roughly four hundred cubic meters, allowing him to barely reach an equilibrium.
Li Hao was different from Yuan Shuo.
Yuan Shuo had balanced his five momentums, so whether he strengthened them all or nurtured a single spirit, no major issues would arise. Li Hao, on the other hand, likely needed to nurture two momentums simultaneously.
Without a word, Liu Long tossed the bone fragments from his person to Li Hao.
Li Hao glanced into the distance. The outer city remained shrouded in darkness, but he had little interest in getting involved right now. Strengthening his five viscera came first.
Once he absorbed this batch of mysterious energy, his sword energy would likely be completely depleted.
From then on, he could only rely on slow, gradual nourishment.
Or... he could get his hands on some Blood God Seeds. Those were quite effective as well, providing overall reinforcement. While not as targeted as the five elements, they did not require sword energy and could be digested rapidly.
The small sword at his waist emitted a faint, subtle shimmer.
Li Hao began absorbing once more.
Having just broken through to Thousand-Battler, his endurance had increased, and his digestion speed was faster.
His body had grown stronger, and its load capacity was higher.
Previously, absorbing mysterious energy always left him feeling stuffed, but this time, he swallowed dozens of cubic meters of metal energy without feeling overwhelmed.
His lungs were strengthened in turn.
After about half an hour, Li Hao drained every bit of the metal energy.
He then moved on to the wood energy, temporarily leaving the earth energy untouched to avoid disrupting the fleeting balance.
Yet after absorbing less than ten cubic meters...
Li Hao opened his eyes, disappointment showing on his face.
The sword energy... was gone!
Even though he had known there was only a sliver left that would soon run dry, its sudden disappearance still left him with a pang of loss.
His rapid ascent to Thousand-Battler was inextricably tied to that sword energy. Without it, he could never have reached this stage so quickly.
And now, it was completely exhausted.
As for the stone gate ruins from before, it could replenish the energy, but... the seep rate there was slow. He had absorbed so much last time only because of years of accumulation.
Barely any time had passed since his last visit.
Though his teacher had mentioned there might be eight stone gates in total, Yuan Shuo had searched Silver City for days without finding a second set of ruins. Before he could continue his search, he had entered seclusion to nurture his spirit, and now, his teacher was nowhere to be found.
Thus, Li Hao had no reliable way to replenish it.
"Sigh!"
He let out an imperceptible sigh, but did not dwell on it.
Still, not bad!
At this moment, both his lungs and spleen had absorbed around four hundred cubic meters of energy, and his kidneys were about the same.
These three viscera had reached a minor equilibrium.
With wood energy slightly lower and fire energy slightly higher, the overall impact was not too drastic.
Li Hao began to consider... should he attempt Spirit Nourishing right now?
Nourish his sword momentum and earth momentum first—though he wasn't sure if his other three viscera could endure it.
Spirit Nourishing was a process. During this process, spirit intent could still be used, but using it could easily disrupt this balance and impose a heavy burden on the five viscera.
His teacher had absorbed over a thousand cubic meters of fire energy before successfully nurturing the Heart Fire Ape.
Li Hao did not expect immediate success, but the process of nourishment was itself a way to strengthen one's momentum.
"Teacher only had a strong heart, while his other viscera were weaker than mine... Even under those conditions, Teacher dared to forcibly nurture his tiger momentum, even letting it violently break through... Taken as a whole, my five viscera are no weaker than Teacher's!"
With this thought, he looked at Liu Long beside him. "Boss, keep watch for me for a bit. I'm going to cultivate. If anything abnormal happens, unless I speak up, don't worry about me."
Liu Long frowned slightly, but nodded nonetheless.
A moment later, Li Hao closed his eyes again.
This time, he began attempting to merge the earth momentum into his spleen. The earth was vast and accommodating, so it might prove easier.
Intent followed the mind!
As soon as the thought formed in Li Hao's mind, a wave of earth momentum emerged within his spleen. Yuan Shuo's Five Animals momentum manifested as five beasts, and Liu Long's Nine Refinements Force surging wave momentum manifested as ocean waves.
Li Hao's earth momentum, however, manifested as a mountain.
A mountain could not represent the entire earth.
One could only say that for now, Li Hao's emphasis lay here—a heavy-earth aspect rather than the vast earth in its entirety. He could not yet manifest the boundless momentum of the earth, something he could only hope to achieve at a higher level.
A mountain surged into his spleen in an instant.
Boom!
A tremendous roar echoed solely in Li Hao's ears and deep within his heart. A massive pressure erupted within his spleen, jolting the organ violently until it even began to bleed.
Li Hao's face went pale in an instant!
However, with Yuan Shuo's guidance and experience, Li Hao knew how to respond. That was the value of having a good teacher; in this moment, he did not panic.
Within his spleen, Li Hao observed with his spirit intent, and after a moment, he seemed to find what he was looking for.
With a shift of intent, the colossal mountain crashed directly toward a chain within the inner world of his spleen—the supernatural lock!
Subdue the earth momentum!
Just as Yuan Shuo had subdued the Heart Fire Ape that day—his heart alone had not been enough to tame the ape, and in the end, it was the supernatural lock working in tandem with Yuan Shuo that suppressed it: an iron chain locking the heart ape.
Now, Li Hao intended to do the same, using the might of the supernatural lock to bind this mountain.
The premise, however, was that the supernatural lock had to be stronger than one's momentum!
If the lock was weaker than the momentum and the heavy mountain shattered it, one would either die or break through to supernatural... In the past, martial masters yearned to become supernaturals, but now Li Hao was unwilling.
Even if advancing to supernatural would make him stronger... that was not his path.
Clatter!
A faint rattling of chains seemed to ring in his ears. Inside his spleen, a thick chain whipped forward to bind the mountain. Though the mountain was not as violent or as ferocious in its resistance as the Heart Fire Ape, it still shook continuously!
Every tremor caused Li Hao immense agony, and blood seeped from the corners of his mouth.
His other four viscera trembled at the same time.
No wonder his teacher said the other viscera had to be strong as well; otherwise, they ran the risk of bursting into pieces.
That day, it had taken his teacher a full week to finally subdue the Heart Fire Ape... Of course, his teacher's subdual was different from Li Hao's. Li Hao was merely locking and nurturing his momentum for now, whereas his teacher had reached the point where the momentum could break free.
Moreover, that had been his teacher's first attempt, and most of his time had been spent strengthening his heart.
Li Hao, however, had strengthened his five viscera during his everyday routine.
Right now, he was leaping straight to the final stage: locking the momentum!
...
Beside him, Liu Long watched in silence.
He seemed to understand what was happening.
As a Thousand-Battler, he could guess what Li Hao was doing: Spirit Nourishing!
Having just entered Thousand-Battler, Li Hao was already beginning Spirit Nourishing... Liu Long recalled Yuan Shuo's words: strengthen the kidneys, strengthen the five viscera.
Li Hao's five viscera had clearly reached an extraordinary level of strength.
Which meant... that bastard claiming his internal organs were injured was pure nonsense.
This kid was truly wicked!
Yet Liu Long was in no mood to dwell on that now. He watched quietly. Watching was also a form of cultivation; Li Hao asking him to guard him and attempting Spirit Nourishing right in front of him showed he had no intention of hiding anything.
"Spirit Nourishing, guiding momentum into the five viscera, faint sounds of chains... and the Heart Fire Ape was bound with chains as well..."
Chains...
He realized what they were: supernatural locks!
"Using supernatural locks to bind momentum into the five viscera? Is the earth momentum erupting now, entering the spleen?"
He looked closely. Sure enough, there was bleeding around Li Hao's spleen, seeping out through his clothes.
How strong were Li Hao's five viscera?
Liu Long did not know, but he knew they were far stronger than his own. And yet even Li Hao could barely endure it, his face deathly pale, still unable to subdue the earth momentum.
"Which means... my own five viscera probably couldn't withstand it at all!"
Liu Long frowned slightly. That made things very troublesome.
Nourishing the five viscera was a long, slow process.
"Either use Blood God Seeds to reinforce everything, or..."
He looked at Li Hao and soon shook his head.
Li Hao clearly had not strengthened them to the absolute limit.
In truth, Liu Long had guessed something: Li Hao's ability to rapidly strengthen his five viscera had to do with the sword he carried. But just now, Li Hao had absorbed wood energy for only a short while before giving up, clearly having hit a wall.
The help provided by that sword... seemed to have run out.
Otherwise, with Li Hao injured right now, he could have simply absorbed that energy to heal rapidly, just as he had done during their spar. Yet Li Hao hadn't.
"So the kid is out of that special energy and had no choice but to attempt Spirit Nourishing now. Otherwise, he would have waited until he was fully prepared to bear the load!"
Liu Long had been a squad leader for many years; basic deductions like this were second nature to him.
Yuan Shuo calling him dimwitted... that was just Yuan Shuo being arrogant.
Who dared say he, Liu Long, lacked brains?
In just a few moments, he had deduced numerous things, including the likelihood that Li Hao's life-saving energy had been exhausted. He felt a trace of pity.
It was gone!
In that case, getting injured or healing in the future would become a massive headache!
Pfft!
Just as he was thinking this, Li Hao spat out a mouthful of blood. Liu Long started forward, then remembered Li Hao's instructions not to interfere unless told to. He also held back an anxious Liu Yan, shaking his head slightly.
Right now, Li Hao was battling the mountain.
Suppress it!
The chain struggled to hold. The colossal mountain shook continuously, and with every tremor, Li Hao felt as though... if it kept shaking like this, his supernatural lock would snap.
"Teacher said... once the chains come out, suppression becomes much easier... Is my supernatural lock not strong enough?"
Li Hao thought to himself that he had indeed been too impatient.
Yet there was no alternative.
The sword energy was gone. If he didn't lock his momentum now, was he supposed to wait until the sword energy was replenished in the future?
Unnecessary!
Seeing the deadlock drag on, Li Hao realized that at this rate, he might fail to bind the mountain. His very first attempt at Spirit Nourishing would end in failure, yielding nothing while damaging all five viscera in the process.
If he successfully locked the momentum, some minor damage wouldn't matter.
But... if he failed, the loss would be catastrophic.
"The supernatural lock isn't strong enough..."
"Not strong enough... foundation is lacking... too unstable..."
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and in the next instant, surges of inner force erupted within him. In that moment, an idea struck Li Hao—an idea entirely his own, something even Yuan Shuo could not do.
Surges of inner force poured into his spleen. Everyone knew inner force strengthened supernatural locks.
But... what about the Nine Refinements Force!
Could supernatural locks also receive a ninefold stack?
Even if not nine times, what about twice, or three times? The supernatural lock was currently deadlocked with the mountain. If he used inner force to reinforce and resonate with the lock, stacking the chain's strength, could he instantly suppress the mountain?
The Nine Refinements Force... currently, only he and Liu Long knew it.
No one else could replicate this.
Of course, this path was as perilous as it was pioneering. What if the impact of the Nine Refinements Force snapped the supernatural lock instead?
Thud, thud, thud!
Muffled sounds resonated from inside his body.
Watching this, Liu Long frowned. Nine Refinements Force!
Why was Li Hao using the Nine Refinements Force right now?
"Nine Refinements Force... stacking inner force... sending inner force toward the spleen to suppress the earth momentum?"
He frowned and looked closely at Li Hao. The bleeding from Li Hao's spleen had worsened. Internal bleeding was often life-threatening.
What in the world was Li Hao doing?
The Nine Refinements Force relied on stacking, oscillating, and converging force to unleash immense destructive power in an instant... What was he trying to strengthen?
The momentum?
Impossible!
Then... strengthening the supernatural lock to suppress the earth momentum?
In that instant, Liu Long understood again, but he took a sharp breath. Was this kid truly fearless because of his ignorance?
Using the Nine Refinements Force to stack onto a supernatural lock: either the lock would snap, or the force would be so overwhelming it would shatter his spleen, or... he would successfully suppress it!
Out of the three possibilities, success seemed the least likely.
Liu Long's brow furrowed tightly. In that moment, he simulated the possibilities in his mind, then suddenly spoke in an urgent tone: "Don't be reckless, don't do that... No, I'm not saying don't use the Nine Refinements Force—split your inner force into five parts and reinforce the supernatural locks of all five viscera at the same time! The five viscera form a cycle; they are a single whole. When one strengthens, all five strengthen; when all five strengthen, the one strengthens!"
To an ordinary person, these words would sound utterly baffling.
Yet Li Hao understood instantly.
He had been looking at it the wrong way!
By reinforcing the supernatural locks of all five viscera, the spleen could be strengthened as well with far less danger. The five viscera were indeed one great cycle.
Liu Long was an experienced martial master after all, with a far stronger instinct for prudence.
Li Hao focusing solely on one organ wasn't impossible, but the risk was extraordinarily high.
After a brief thought, Li Hao decided to heed the elder's advice. Listening to an elder's words wouldn't hurt; ignoring them might cost him dearly.
Splitting inner force into five streams was also a test of Li Hao's control... In reality, martial masters rarely suffered from losing control of their inner force. Inner force was naturally generated within the body rather than imported from outside; mastering it did not require extensive preparatory cultivation—once the power was attained, control followed naturally.
Five streams of inner force poured into the five viscera. All five supernatural locks began to strengthen.
The next moment, among the five locks, the one in his spleen suddenly vibrated. Li Hao attempted to stack the lock's power... With a tremendous boom, the mountain was indeed pressed down, but in that single instant, Li Hao felt the chain's rebounding force hit so hard that it nearly ruptured his spleen.
Not only that, faint cracks began to appear on the chain itself.
Li Hao was startled. Fortunately, he had divided his inner force into five streams; otherwise, he truly might have snapped the supernatural lock.
Boom!
Li Hao reduced the power, not daring to stack it multiple times, settling on a double stack. Inner force poured in and was rapidly absorbed by the supernatural lock. In the process, the lock vibrated once more.
The mountain was suppressed again, one of its corners locked down!
Once, twice...
Li Hao continued to experiment. Inner force continuously generated within him, and Li Hao grew visibly weaker, his face turning paper-white. It was as though all the essence of his body was being drained by his five viscera.
After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by a tremendous roar, chains rattled loudly.
A moment later, within his five viscera, inside his spleen, stood a towering mountain.
By now, it was completely bound by the supernatural lock.
Li Hao opened his eyes, his head spinning with dizziness.
"How did it go?" Liu Long asked hurriedly.
Li Hao panted. "Barely managed to lock it... Spent too much. Inner force is depleted, viscera damaged... but... it was worth it!"
Extremely worth it!
When the supernatural lock fused with the earth momentum, Li Hao discovered that the lock binding the mountain was now growing alongside it. If one day his earth momentum could break out of his spleen... he would truly enter Spirit Nourishing, just like his teacher.
For now, though, he could not achieve that.
At present, Li Hao could only barely wield the earth momentum. As long as that mountain representing the earth momentum could not fly out of his spleen, he was not a true Spirit Nourishing practitioner, only a Thousand-Battler martial master catching a glimpse of the path ahead.
Even so... it was already extraordinary!
After all, Li Hao had only just stepped into Thousand-Battler.
"You're... heavily injured!" Liu Long frowned. "Can't you heal yourself?"
"Yeah." Li Hao nodded, flashing a feeble, sickly smile. "It's fine. I look weak right now, but once my inner force recovers, I'll be even stronger!"
Liu Long nodded, then after a pause, suddenly remarked, "You managed to withstand guiding momentum into your viscera, and my surging wave momentum didn't even penetrate your internal organs, yet now your internal organs are severely damaged. How are your innards weak one moment and strong the next?"
"..."
Silence.
Li Hao coughed lightly. "Boss, this time I'm really injured!"
Liu Long gave him a cold look. Little bastard, nothing to say now, huh?
Not bothering to bicker with him, Liu Long asked in a low voice, "Do you think... I could try it?"
Li Hao opened his mouth, but remained speechless for a long time.
Liu Long's expression darkened. "I can't, can I?"
Li Hao laughed dryly. "It's not that you can't... but... Boss, we should nurture our momentum and viscera slowly... My... my situation is a bit special, as you know. I'd already nurtured them to a very strong level beforehand, and even then I barely pulled it off. Don't worry, Boss, once I figure out a way and get my hands on good resources... I'll help you..."
"Forget it!" Liu Long sighed dejectedly, but quickly regained his calm. "To be honest, I'm already very satisfied to have reached Thousand-Battler! At least there's a path forward now. Thousand-Battler is only the beginning. My inner force is still growing, and my viscera are still strengthening... I haven't reached my limit yet. The true limit should at least be able to contend with the peak of Solar Radiance. I'm not in that big of a rush."
The path of a martial master had to be walked step by step.
Li Hao had taken a shortcut, which was his fortune—or rather, the fortune left behind by the ancestors of the Li family.
If he himself had an immensely powerful ancestor who left behind treasures that allowed him to effortlessly cross hurdles, he might have been even more eager and kept an even lower profile than Li Hao. In truth, Li Hao hadn't hidden many secrets from them.
"Once your injuries heal, what stage of supernatural do you think you'll match? Can you take on a late-stage Three Sols expert like your teacher?"
"..."
Li Hao looked up at Liu Long in speechlessness.
Late-stage Three Sols?
You... really think highly of me!
Besides, he was only in the momentum-nurturing stage, not true Spirit Nourishing; there was still a world of difference between him and his teacher. His teacher's momentum had already reached grand completion, whereas his own momentum was far from grand completion, and his supernatural locks were not strong enough either.
His momentum was merely at the embryonic stage, completely different from Yuan Shuo's!
The man had succeeded in nurturing his momentum decades ago!
How could they compare?
"Boss, once my momentum reaches grand completion... I'll let you know!" Li Hao smiled bitterly, then added, "Right now, I've exerted myself too much and my inner force is depleted. I can't merge a second momentum. I'll try again after I recover!"
For now, he could only set aside the sword momentum.
He would have to wait!
Moreover, Li Hao sensed that the sword momentum would be even more difficult and dangerous. It was best not to attempt it right now, because he couldn't help but recall the source of his sword momentum—that single strike... He was afraid his lungs would be sliced clean through by that strike!
A sword was innately unwilling to be bound.
Its origin stemmed from that strike he had witnessed. Li Hao had previously thought nurturing the sword would be similar to locking the earth momentum, but upon careful reflection... he felt that unless his lungs were strengthened to the level of a thousand cubic meters, he had better not attempt to nurture the sword momentum.
"That's fine too..." he muttered to himself. Sword momentum on the outside, earth momentum on the inside—defense within, offense without—it suited him well.
He stood up, his steps slightly unsteady.
Looking toward the interior of the city, Li Hao said, "Boss, let's go. We won't play along with them anymore... Let's head to the city gate. In my state, anyone can see I'm heavily injured. Backing out of the training won't shame the Five Animals Sect."
The greatest benefit within the city was obtaining mysterious energy.
Now that the sword energy was gone, Li Hao didn't crave mysterious energy nearly as much.
"Alright!" Liu Long agreed without hesitation. His objective this time was to kill Li Dahu, which was already accomplished.
Hunting supernaturals for mysterious energy wasn't as appealing once one reached Thousand-Battler and had no intention of advancing to supernatural.
That was why those Three Sols experts didn't crave mysterious energy that intensely either.
Reaching Three Sols required breaking the fifth supernatural lock. At this stage, having more mysterious energy did not necessarily increase the odds of breaking through. It required a long period of grinding, slowly wearing away the lock. Forcing it open would most likely cause one's body to explode!
Furthermore, upon reaching Three Sols, one could naturally absorb some of the mysterious energy that emerged between heaven and earth. When the Wheel-Turning King mentioned that Hao Lianchuan could generate over a hundred cubic meters of mysterious energy in two months, this was the principle at work.
...
Inside the city, chaos still reigned.
Liu Long and his group had vanished. Though Deputy Director He and the others felt helpless, they couldn't do much about it... They had failed to keep up and lost their trail, and since their targets were martial masters, tracking them was difficult, so they gave up searching.
Now that Li Hao was injured, he had no desire to interact with these supernaturals.
He could see their light orbs, so he directed Liu Long to avoid them one by one.
Within the city... the light orbs had decreased considerably.
Li Hao scanned the surroundings and faintly detected the presence of the hidden Three Sols experts from Feitian and the Sword Sect... They were probably up to no good, as Li Hao saw several light orbs vanish in their vicinity.
Who was the Sword Sect's Three Sols hunting?
Who was Feitian's hunting?
Li Hao wasn't too worried about the Night Watchers. The second team had that mid-stage Three Sols expert; if anyone dared hunt them, they had better watch out for a counter-kill—if Zhang Ting's life was threatened, she would definitely strike.
As for the first team, the metal-element Deputy Director Zhou was at the peak of Solar Radiance, possessing formidable combat strength, and was accompanied by multiple Solar Radiance experts. Even if an individual Three Sols expert dared attack, they might not gain an upper hand.
Mulling over this, Li Hao and his companions navigated through street after street, approaching the inner city gate area.
There, clusters of light orbs came into view.
From a distance, someone heard their footsteps.
In an instant, Hu Dingfang tore through the air. He did not dare fly, but his speed was still blistering. When he saw Liu Long carrying Li Hao—Li Hao deathly pale, his inner force depleted, his body covered in blood—his expression instantly darkened.
"What happened?"
Over there, Hao Lianchuan rushed over as well. Seeing this, he initially thought Li Hao was faking it... but his expression soon changed. It didn't look fake. Li Hao had even visibly thinned, as if drained from excessive exertion, his inner force completely dried up. This was not something one could fake!
"Who did this?"
They were both shocked. Liu Long was a Thousand-Battler, and they were supposed to be following the Night Watchers. Who could have injured Li Hao this badly?
They weren't the only ones concerned; in the distance, Ziyue and her companions also frowned slightly.
How had Li Hao ended up like this?
On Red Moon's side, Ziyue had instructed her subordinates that if they saw Li Hao, capture him if possible, and leave him alone if they couldn't.
Red Moon wouldn't target Li Hao... Could it be Feitian or Yama?
Li Hao coughed, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Looking at the crowd, he wheezed, "I'm fine... just sustained some damage to my five viscera, and my inner force is depleted. My foundation took a bit of a hit..."
This was called fine?
The expressions of several people turned grim. Hu Dingfang was especially agitated, asking furiously, "Who did it?"
Could this... be fatal?
Even if it could be treated, whether Li Hao could continue practicing martial arts under such conditions was questionable.
He had already led one of Old Demon Yuan's personal disciples astray; if the second personal disciple was crippled here, he would truly have no way to explain himself.
Li Hao coughed again, shaking his head. "I... I'm not sure... I didn't even see them... Too strong, and too fast..."
He gasped for breath. "I only saw a dark shadow flash past. I barely had time to muster my inner force to block, and ended up like this... The attacker was a dark-element expert..."
At these words, many turned their eyes toward Feitian's Three Sols expert present on the scene.
That man was named Dingchen.
Most dark-element supernaturals came from Feitian.
Cloaked in a hood, Dingchen remained silent.
Li Hao added, "It probably wasn't someone from Feitian... Don't misunderstand, everyone!"
"Why are you so sure?" Hu Dingfang frowned.
Li Hao explained, "That person... was too strong! With just a casual strike, I nearly died. Fortunately, Director Liu was beside me... Director Liu... has actually stepped into Thousand-Battler! An ordinary Solar Radiance couldn't possibly do that... So... that person had to be a Three Sols!"
Cough, cough...
Li Hao coughed for a moment. "A Three Sols expert ambushed me! Feitian only seems to have this one Three Sols here, and since he never left... it clearly wasn't Feitian's doing... I wonder... could someone else have arrived from the outside? Otherwise, with a Three Sols present, there's no reason everyone wouldn't have noticed them... cough, cough, cough..."
At these words, many looked on with strange expressions.
Three Sols!
And an undetected Three Sols expert at that!
Li Hao claimed it wasn't Feitian, but in that moment, countless thoughts raced through everyone's minds. Ninety-nine percent... it was Feitian!
They were adept at concealment, and if they carried supernatural artifacts, they could very well have hidden a Three Sols.
Besides, Feitian was secretive, every one of them wearing cloaks, never showing their true faces...
At this moment, Hu Dingfang also wore a grim expression as he looked toward Dingchen, saying coldly, "It seems Feitian prepared well this time! Even though Banshan didn't come, you still have confidence!"
Two Three Sols!
No question about it—it had to be Feitian.
Feitian's people were fickle and erratic; finding Li Hao an eyesore and casually throwing a punch or palm strike at him was completely within character.
Such assassins operated like this all the time.
Dingchen said in a low voice, "Commander Hu, this matter is not yet conclusive..."
Hu Dingfang replied coldly, "Fine. I'll wait for Feitian's people to regroup... If one isn't paying attention, a Three Sols might slip past, but upon closer inspection, I don't believe they wouldn't leave a single trace. If we discover a Three Sols that doesn't belong to your Feitian... shall we join hands and slaughter them on the spot?"
Since you refuse to admit it, if an unknown Three Sols appears, we'll just kill them!
Do you dare?
Dingchen felt agitated and uneasy inside, along with a surge of resentment.
Why did that person have to provoke Li Hao out of nowhere?
If you're going to strike... strike him dead!
Instead of killing Li Hao, he let him return alive. Damn it all.
At this point, anything he said would be wrong.
Once that person returned, as everyone pointed out, they might stay hidden without close inspection, but once all the Three Sols experts focused their attention on Feitian, a Three Sols would be nearly impossible to hide!
When that happened, it would be troublesome.
He chose silence.
In truth, this was a tacit admission that Feitian had a second Three Sols.
At this moment, Li Hao spoke up again in explanation: "General Hu... don't... don't make enemies for the Night Watchers! I'm really fine. I'll recover after resting for a while. I don't think it was Feitian; I have no grievances with them... they have no reason to kill me."
"You don't understand!" Hu Dingfang snapped coldly. "An organization that kills for sport, whose very creed is assassination... You're too young. As a descendant of the Eight Great Families, some people want you alive, while others naturally want you dead!"
Li Hao grew anxious, quickly saying, "No... General Hu, you're from the military, and I... Anyway, I really don't think it was Feitian..."
His tone carried urgency, pleading not to make enemies for the Night Watchers—even if it was them, act as though it wasn't.
After all, hadn't he survived?
Meanwhile, Hao Lianchuan also frowned slightly, glancing at Dingchen with a grim look. "Dingchen, whether it was you or not... since we didn't catch anyone red-handed, I can't outright say Feitian did it... But that person... shouldn't you call them over so everyone can get acquainted? The youngsters are just having fun in the city; having a Three Sols go inside is inappropriate!"
Dingchen was speechless.
He felt utterly helpless.
After a moment, he said deeply, "I believe... there must be a misunderstanding. The reason for concealing their identity... is merely Feitian's custom. We simply prefer not to expose everything to the public. There might be more to Li Hao's ambush!"
With that, he let out a sharp, piercing whistle.
Assassinating someone wasn't a huge deal in itself.
The key was that the assassin was a hidden Three Sols, which made it a major issue; furthermore, the target was Li Hao, which was another major issue. Combining the two, everyone paid close attention.
Otherwise, who would care if a Hundred-Breaker died?
Accompanied by the piercing whistle, a figure rushed over swiftly from the darkness. Seeing that Dingchen was unharmed... while everyone was staring at him, the hooded expert frowned slightly beneath his cloak.
If nothing's wrong, why call me?
"Good timing!"
Just then, a fist crashed downward out of nowhere!
It was Hu Dingfang's fist!
The strike was lightning-fast. The hooded figure was startled and immediately manifested a sword of darkness, thrusting it outward.
Bang!
With a thunderous crash, the cloaked figure was sent flying backward. Dingchen stepped forward rapidly, shouting in a deep voice, "Commander Hu!"
Having sent the man flying with a punch, Hu Dingfang asked coldly, "Were you the one who attacked Li Hao?"
The injured cloaked figure coughed, feeling utterly bewildered.
Me?
When did I attack Li Hao?
I haven't even seen Li Hao!
Dingchen quickly whispered in his ear. The man's face shifted slightly, feeling wronged. Assassins killing people was normal, but this... really wasn't him.
In the next moment, he didn't care anymore, speaking in an angry, muffled voice: "It wasn't me... If I truly wanted to act, I would have killed him without giving him a chance to escape! Someone is deliberately trying to expose me..."
Saying this, his eyes flickered, and he added in a low voice, "There is... another Three Sols inside the city! I crossed paths with them briefly; perhaps that person did it..."
At these words, nearby, Hong Yitang's expression shifted slightly, and he spoke hurriedly: "Wait... don't misunderstand, everyone! This person is definitely slandering us! I'll tell the truth: that person... that person is my wife. She only recently advanced to Three Sols and is still stabilizing her realm. She isn't dark-element either, but wood-element. How could she possibly attack Li Hao?
"I was a martial master in the same generation as Li Hao's master, Yuan Shuo. How could I bully the weak... Don't make wild accusations and slander us deliberately! My wife only went in to protect the disciples of the Sword Sect, with no other intentions..."
Just like that, two Three Sols were exposed!
And they had exposed each other themselves.
All because of Li Hao being ambushed.
Li Hao also chimed in hurriedly: "Martial Uncle Hong couldn't possibly move against me! He even gave me my Earth-Overturning Sword; it couldn't be him!"
With that, he added hastily, "It wasn't Feitian either... It's all a misunderstanding! General Hu, Deputy Director Hao, I'm fine. A few days of rest and I'll be good as new, really! Let's drop the matter here!"
Hao Lianchuan glanced at him, while Hu Dingfang remained thoroughly enraged.
The others felt... Li Hao was truly... hard to describe... naive or stupid?
Of course, not making enemies for the Night Watchers right now was probably a good thing.
This fellow was interesting—quite an old-fashioned stickler with a strong sense of the bigger picture!
Among the Night Watchers, there were many like Li Hao. At times, they adhered too strictly to rules, unwilling to pursue certain matters to avoid disrupting the grand scheme.
Li Hao certainly fit the mold of a certain type of Night Watcher.
Since the victim himself was unwilling to pursue it, what more could anyone say?
The crowd glanced at Hong Yitang. Hong Yitang's haste in confessing was also out of fear that if the investigation continued, the blame would truly fall on the Sword Sect—that would be an injustice!
At this moment, a surge of sword intent erupted from him, soaring into the sky!
It was his method of notifying his wife.
Just then, Hu Dingfang frowned slightly and asked, "Your wife... years ago, wasn't she..."
Hong Yitang coughed dryly. Beside him, Hong Qing suddenly piped up, "That's my Eldest Senior Sister, but... feelings developed between her and my father over time... so Father took her as his second wife!"
"..."
Silence descended on all sides.
Hong Yitang was so embarrassed he wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.
He had never spoken of this publicly; it was embarrassing to mention. The supernatural realm didn't care about such things, but in the martial arts world... marrying his own eldest disciple would have old martial masters laughing at him until the day they died!
It was a severe violation of martial arts etiquette!
Of course, he was no longer a martial master, so technically it didn't matter, yet he would still face censure and contempt from countless old martial masters.
Utterly mortified, Hong Yitang coughed dryly and said, "Ahem... I... everyone, I hope... I hope this matter can be kept secret..."
Hao Lianchuan and the others chuckled, while Ziyue and her companions looked somewhat derisive.
Still, two Three Sols in a single sect... truthfully, that was no weak force!
Mockery aside, no one said anything further.
At this moment, everyone felt a sense of relief. Uncovering two Three Sols in one go... one had to admit, Li Hao was truly a lucky star!
Otherwise, even if people weren't completely off guard, who could have guessed the Sword Sect would have a second Three Sols? Hong Yitang was certainly sneaky!
In the distance, Li Hao looked somewhat awkward, offering Hong Yitang an apologetic smile.
Hong Yitang returned the smile... his heart filled with bitterness.
Could he blame Li Hao?
No!
It wasn't Li Hao who exposed her; it was that Feitian bastard! Damn it all, trying to drag his wife down with them and framing the Sword Sect—truly cursed!
Ninety-nine percent, the one who ambushed Li Hao was that fellow.
It was just a pity Li Hao didn't want to make trouble; otherwise... Hong Yitang would have wanted to join forces with Hu Dingfang and the others to slaughter Feitian's people first!
What a goddamn bastard!
The more Hong Yitang thought about it, the angrier he became. It wasn't just a matter of being exposed—his personal secrets had been laid bare, and their danger level would only increase from here on out!
Beside Li Hao, Hao Lianchuan patted his shoulder, his eyes brimming with suspicion.
This injury... you didn't inflict it on yourself, did you?
Good kid. A few words, and two Three Sols showed themselves... If you say a few more, will Zhang Ting be exposed too?
You really have a knack for this!
Chapter 95