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Chapter 602: Savages from the North (III)

Skystar would be able to neutralize Hou Xiaochen if he unsealed himself in the capital, but if then came along Sky Sword, Northern Fist, then Tyrant Blade, Kong Jie, and Huang Yu...

Who wanted to stick their neck out to be the first to handle all of these characters? There was also Earthturner Sword and Light Sword to consider!

Not to mention, Hou Xiaochen was operating within the confines of his duties. He hadn’t violated a single regulation, so what right did anyone have to move against him?

The nine ministries were not of one heart. Under such circumstances, Hou Xiaochen had the ability to be this overweening. Silver Moon was beginning to show its brilliance.

“Hmph! I bet that Demon Sword dies in Calm Borders this time! Let’s see if this bunch can still strut around afterward! Once the Xus kill that Demon Sword and find their footing again, they’ll kill as many of these Silver Moon brats as they wish!”

The old man still didn’t say a word. His eyes widened as he abruptly grunted and punched out with a flash of golden light. The light scattered with a loud rumble when a fiery spear sailed through the firmament and pierced through the speaker!

“Shut up if you have no strength!” came Hou Xiaochen’s voice. “Those with strength do not speak, but those without bounce up and down for all their might. Brother Zhao, this person openly says to kill a deputy director of the Night Watcher Silver Moon branch. You have no opinion about me killing him, do you?

“You should stay away from mutinous sorts like these!”

The old man was at a loss for words. Blood trickled down his hand and dripped on the ground as the voice vanished. He looked into the distance with a complicated expression of shock. Hou Xiaochen must have broken through! Not in terms of cultivation level, but number of supernatural locks saturated. There must be more than when he killed Elder Red Hair!

The old man was a metamorphosis expert, not an initial Nova, but his hand had been run through all the same! Had Hou Xiaochen concealed his strength before, or had he improved recently? When the old man looked at the dead initial Nova and the trembling academy experts around him, he sighed and left.

There was no prestige left to the Skystar Academy after this occurrence. As he thought, it was unfeasible to imitate the martial universities of old. The student body was a motley crew, the teachers were a motley crew, there were too few powerhouses, and everyone was afraid of death. It was a far cry from what could be found in the ancient times.

......

At the same time.

The coastline of East Shore province.

Yuan Shuo smiled at the towering waves in the distance and flew toward the center of the bridge with the stone blade in hand. Such a massive disturbance should be felt throughout the entire sea. Do you feel it, little Li Hao? Even if you don’t, Xu Qing should be aware. Will you come, Xu Qing? Or will the experts you command come?

Yuan Shuo smashed his hand forward like it was a missile! The blade cut through the void and executed the few survivors of the towering waves. Their blood sprayed over the East Sea.

......

“Bastard!” Xu Qing snarled. He’d received a lot of news in a split second.

The East Sea Bridge had been bombed out of existence, the East Sea pirates had suffered heavy losses, his manor was being searched and property confiscated, Hou Xiaochen killed his younger brother at the front doors, and the Inspectorate had sent notice to the dynasty to demote him from duke to marquis!

Right and wrong, as well as legitimacy, were still needed in this world. Due to his unilateral action in haphazardly firing city annihilation missiles, it created a similar threat to all provinces in the land. People would soon follow in his footsteps if he wasn’t made an example of, which would throw the world into chaos!

Demoting him by one rank didn’t affect his influence, but it was a greater loss than anything to the Steadfast Duke. He gnashed his teeth and howled at the sky. How dare they!! Was the Inspectorate crazy?! How dare they publicly reduce his rank?!

The key thing was, the royal family had agreed and the other eight ministries tacitly approved of what they’d done! Plainly, they all felt that he’d set an undesirable precedent and couldn’t be allowed to continue in this vein.

“Damn it!” he cursed, incensed. He hadn’t given much thought to utilizing the city annihilation missiles—it turned out that the consequences were much more than he wanted to bear.

Xu Qing tamped down the violent rage in his heart and looked at a little black dot in the distance. Li Hao was getting ever further away. While the du—marquis was being harassed by these infuriating matters, the young man was making his getaway. These Silver Moon bastards were all crazy!

Indeed, Xu Qing felt that they were all nuts. It was Li Hao who’d called upon him with nefarious intentions, it was Li Hao who acted first! But these Silver Moon crazies declared war on him for another crazy!

The marquis set his jaw. He had to swiftly kill Li Hao to quell this matter. The young man would be worthless when he was dead. Didn’t Silver Moon want to protect him at all costs? Then Xu Qing would kill him! That would make all of his losses and effort worth it.

His blood qi rose with a muffled grunt and fortified his presence. The man reluctantly swallowed one drop of Water of Life. Even he didn’t have much of it; each usage was a waste of life itself. But now, he needed to conclude the battle as soon as possible!

Xu Qing slightly undid the locks of his five organs. Newly enhanced, he broke through the air and shot straight at Li Hao. The young man couldn’t be allowed to run so brazenly any further. He would lose his quarry if this chase kept up!

......

Up ahead, the look in Li Hao’s eyes sharpened. He turned back for a look and saw that the Steadfast Duke that he’d almost entirely thrown off had accelerated again. The panting young man cursed to himself. That old codger had really partially unsealed himself, hadn’t he?? He was crazy! If the strain on his body went beyond the capabilities of Water of Life, he would waste all of his previous efforts!

Li Hao had judged Xu Qing to be someone who didn’t easily unseal himself. Reality had proven to be a surprise again...

He must be backed into a corner and want to kill me as fast as possible, the young man mused to himself. Perhaps someone was forcing the old fart’s hand. Who? Silver Moon?

It could only be Silver Moon. Those old geezers truly had some skill to their name to force Xu Qing to these straits from so far away. However... you guys are bringing too much pressure down on him! He’s gone crazy! I could’ve lost him if you waited just a bit longer! He might’ve felt that he had plenty of time before and thus didn’t lose his mind so quickly.

You guys are gonna be the death of me, this wasn’t the right time!

Silver Moon must have taken action from the shadows, but their timing was off. They were too early as Li Hao had yet to draw close to the sea. If they’d waited until then, he stood a very large chance of outright escape.

And yet, there was no helping it. They didn’t have firsthand information, so they could only make the best judgment call possible.

Li Hao grit his teeth and swallowed Stellaris with a surge of blood qi. He operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles to its utmost and directed endless sword energy into his body. He zipped across the sky with a new burst of speed.

Xu Qing cursed behind him. The boy had more power to draw on?? What the hell was Li Hao made of?!

The young man was as white as a sheet, but he leered. Surprised? There’s more where that came from!

The supernatural lock of his sword was saturated, so he tried partially breaking it. It proved too hard to manage, so he had to use the sword aura against the formidable lock. I’ll just snap half of it for now and see if I can bring even more strength to bear. If I can, I’ll pick up speed again! Choke on your own spit, old fart!

Li Hao was flying in the direction of the East Bridge. He hadn’t heard the massive explosion, but sensed a surge of energy erupting and churning over from that direction!

Given the amount of commotion, he guessed that perhaps reinforcements had arrived. As for who they were, he didn’t know. He would have to take a look first. It would either be Hong Yitang or Light Sword. Light Sword would help him because she wanted him to suppress the energy within her body, and Hong Yitang would help him because he... was a good guy, right?

Those two were the only possible candidates—Li Hao didn’t even consider the possibility of his own teacher. There’d been news of his teacher at first when he entered the central region, but there’d been none recently. Perhaps watchers had lost sight of him, perhaps he’d run off with Jadelight Sword, or perhaps he was digging up graves. Who knew?

His teacher was so weak that it was useless if he came!

......

Hunter and quarry panted heavily. Li Hao fled in the direction of the East Sea Bridge for all his worth. He was chased by a brooding Xu Qing.

Despite having somewhat unsealed himself, the marquis still couldn’t immediately catch up to Li Hao. His face darkened as he looked in the direction where Li Hao was running. The East Sea Bridge had collapsed from the missiles. Whether it was unexpected developments in East Shore or something else... Xu Qing did not yet know. Perhaps there was someone on the East Shore side waiting to rescue Li Hao.

If Li Hao convened with his rescuers, that might create a lot more trouble for Xu Qing. Everything was on the table at this point of the chase. He grit his teeth and cracked his locks a bit more, then swallowed two more drops of Water of Life. A surge of vitality entered his organs and circulated swiftly through them.

However, the energy could not be directed to heal damage at this point in time. All his efforts would be for naught if that occurred. And yet, that growing sense of being cut apart deepened the longer he refused to repair his locks. It was a terrifying notion.

He ultimately stood strong against the fear and shot forward, his legs propelling him as if two rockets. Xu Qing covered one thousand meters in the blink of an eye. Sonic booms abounded as the marquis picked up speed.

Up ahead, Li Hao’s jaw dropped. The guy had truly gone crazy! The rich and noble did not sit under the eaves, for fear of falling tiles. You’re not a pure martial master, you’re a duke! A hotshot! Why are you trying so hard?

Seeing that the gap was closing between them, a crystalline root suddenly appeared in Li Hao’s hand. He roared and tossed it at his pursuer. “Eat this and die!”

Xu Qing’s pupils contracted violently! He immediately ground to a halt and climbed higher in the sky, horror in his face. That thing had killed Red Beard with one move—he’d seen it with his own eyes! He’d been guarding against this possibility all this time, but almost forgotten about it when Li Hao continuously failed to use it.