Star Gate

Chapter 267: Three Warriors Slaying A Solar (I)

Chapter 267: Three Warriors Slaying A Solar (I)

“It’s too dangerous inside the city,” Li Hao said softly as he stood at the city gates. “We can just wait here, what’s the rush?”

The Yama Sunflare next to them hadn’t gone inside either. He looked quietly at them, frowning when Li Hao and Wang Ming showed no signs of moving. He’d wanted to wait for everyone to leave so he could attack Liu Long...

But now? Forget it! There was no time to waste, treasure awaited! He rushed inside with a snort. He could come back later to take them to task for their crimes.

Over on the Night Watcher side, the Darkmoons that’d stayed behind also stirred restlessly. They didn’t have to go fight for treasure either. Surely they could just walk around and take a look inside? Wouldn’t it be very odd to remain in the ruins and not visit the inner city?

Thus, they took their leave of Wang Ming and the others before filing into the city themselves.

Only familiar faces were left in the blink of an eye. Li Hao looked at Zhang Ting. “Is Sis Zhang not going to look around?”

“I’m in charge of healing and I’m a Darkmoon.” Zhang Ting shook her head. “I’ll be in grave trouble if I come across other people. Not to mention, I can’t fly since I didn’t go through the second passageway...”

She was fine just watching from the city gates. Of course, if a fight broke out and left both sides heavily injured, she couldn’t be blamed for attacking a hapless Solar that stumbled out then, could she!

Standing by a tree stump to await the hare that would show up was also a good course of action. It was at this time that the young man sighed!

“What is it?” Zhang Ting found his reaction odd.

Li Hao shook his head. Nothing, just... what are you doing here when everyone else has left? To be honest, he had no interest in attacking a Solar after depleting the sword energy; it was too dangerous! But... can I get in the mood to observe those two characters if you don’t leave?

He’d already urged her to go, so why wasn’t she leaving? Mid Solar was very strong, but playing the pig for so long would really turn one into a pig!

Li Hao looked at the inner city; the vast premises quickly swallowed less than thirty people. This wasn’t a small metropolis as it could hold at least one million denizens back in its day. Although the expedition team could glimpse the towering pagoda from the gates, it should be at least twenty kilometers away from them. Even Solars would take a while to reach it.

The young man gazed silently into the inner city.

“Are we really going to just stay outside?” Wang Ming asked anxiously. “Li Hao, the city’s huge. We can go to a more remote location if you’re scared. It’s such a pity to miss out on this opportunity!”

Hadn’t they stayed behind for the potential benefits to be gained? He was going out of his mind with impatience!

“I said that I’m staying just to wait for the director and others.” Li Hao frowned. “What are you in a hurry for? Go inside yourself if you’re in such a rush!”

“But...” Wang Ming protested with resignation. “Aren’t we a team? How can I go if you don’t? Not to mention, that Yama fellow has his sights set on us. If I go and he suddenly comes back, will Director Liu be able to handle the situation by himself?”

The handsome supernatural chose this moment to grow a conscience. “Forget it,” he sighed. “It’s just a... such a damned pity!”

He wouldn’t go if these two didn’t. Liu Long might not be able to defend himself if the Yama Sunflare came rushing back. Solars weren’t interested in petty revenge; thoughts of treasure occupied their minds. But that Sunflare seemed very narrow-minded.

“Treasure isn’t necessarily limited to the city!” Li Hao suddenly said. Everyone looked at him. He tilted his head up at the sky, averting his eyes from the air over the city gates. “I think that... these two characters are quite extraordinary. Do you guys think they’re treasure?”

The group raised their eyes to the “Battle Heaven” characters, not making out anything after close scrutiny. Zhang Ting studied them as well, but didn’t glean anything. They couldn’t read ancient characters and thus didn’t identify particular meaning from them. The writing just appeared to be very natural in a flowy script. But a treasure? They really didn’t think so.

“It’s not like we can fly up for a look either. Forget it... let’s just wait here!” The height of regret draped over Wang Ming.

“That’s not necessarily the case,” Li Hao chuckled. “I feel like this place might not impose the same air restrictions on martial masters! Or rather, the prohibition against flight is applicable to energy ripples only. Otherwise, were people of the ancient civilization all mundanes? Were they punished just because they jumped a bit higher?

“There were martial masters in the ancient civilization as well. Were they supposed to die just because they flew a bit higher during training? Therefore, I think the flight restriction targets those that exude energy ripples.

“We see tall buildings in the city as well. Did anyone that want to access a floor higher than five meters have to take the second passageway?”

“......” Wang Ming frowned, then glanced at Li Hao. “So you want to go up for a look?”

“I do.”

“Don’t do anything reckless!” Wang Ming cautioned. This was nonsense, he’d be the death of himself! What was a Sunderer supposed to do against something that not even a Solar could withstand?

“Isn’t Sis Zhang right here?” Li Hao chuckled. “I might only suffer some cuts and scrapes if I’m hit. I’ll be fine after Sis Zhang patches me up!”

“Bullshit!” Wang Ming rolled his eyes. “Sis Zhang is just a Darkmoon—and I’m not looking down on you, Sis Zhang—she won’t be able to do anything about the injuries you’ll receive. What kind of crazy thoughts are you entertaining? You might as well enter the city for a look if this is what you’re going to get up to.”

“Wang Ming’s right,” Zhang Ting interjected. “I don’t think you should try this, it’s too dangerous!”

Instead of responding, Li Hao looked at the city gates once more. He walked a lot closer this time. As he carefully studied the characters in the sky, he had a hunch that there might be unexpected gains if he was to approach them further or even touch them.

It didn’t matter that Wang Ming was by his side—the key was Zhang Ting. It was hard not to grow irritated when she was constantly hovering. A mid Solar with an origin weapon... her defenses would be hard to break. At this stage, Li Hao didn’t want to take any risks that he didn’t have to take.

The gap between them was too great!

If he was Yuan Shuo and had ascended with five melded auras, he’d throw himself into an offensive right now. But he was only a Dominator with two fused auras!

So instead, Li Hao said nothing and continued observing the two characters. Disturbances sounded from the inner city after a while—possibly people fighting again. He ignored it since it had nothing to do with him.

Zhang Ting, on the other hand, looked curiously inside. It was a pity they were too far away, so she couldn’t tell if it was Solars crossing paths or not. But judging from the scale of the disturbance, it was highly likely that Solars were fighting.

“Why don’t you wait outside, Sis Zhang?” Li Hao asked again. “Looks like it’s still a bit dangerous here.”

“Are you not going inside?” asked the woman instead. “I should stay with you if you’re not. I’m a Plenilune, after all, so I should be able to help a little.”

Liu Long frowned. This woman... was sticking by Li Hao no matter what. He knew her identity—a mid Solar possibly carrying an origin weapon. She would be an exceedingly tough nut to crack! He didn’t want to provoke her if possible!

Zhang Ting had indeed made up her mind to stay with the young man. She was very curious about Li Hao at the moment—he said the two characters were special and looked like he wanted to bring them down. Hence, she also wanted to know what made them so special.

Li Hao suddenly relaxed with a smile. “It doesn’t matter if Sis Zhang stays, we’re all on the same side here. I’m going to tell you a secret, Ole Wang. You know how I sprayed my blood over the gates just now?”

“I did, what of it?”

Zhang Ting perked up her ears. Did Li Hao’s blood actually have an effect?

“I already thought those two characters were special at that time.” Li Hao raised his head. “There seemed to be a special ripple coming from it—there might be a concealed treasure tied to my bloodline. Or to be more precise, the eight families of Silver City might truly have something to do with these ruins!

“This city of Battle Heaven could be the home city for the Wang family!”

“Seriously??” Wang Ming sucked in a sharp breath. “I know about the eight families too, but if just one of them has such a massive city and so many strong soldiers... Would you have been a prince in the ancient civilization?”

It was incredible and very likely true since Li Hao spoke of it. But... what was he revealing this for with Zhang Ting present?

Wang Ming suppressed the urge to shake the other young man. Li Hao’s brains were a bit befuddled sometimes. You and me count as fellow disciples and Liu Long’s with us too, but even I’m not too familiar with Zhang Ting. Do you know her well? Do you trust other people that easily? You should’ve just not spoken it at all. What are you doing, spilling your secrets in front of strangers?

And that Zhang Ting should’ve known better and walked off when she realized Li Hao was talking about secret knowledge! Wang Ming kept up an internal litany of grumbles.

It was as if Zhang Ting didn’t hear the young man or see Wang Ming’s expression. She remained quiet, as if she didn’t exist.

Li Hao glanced at Liu Long. The captain was a bit nervous!

Liu Long was truly nervous. When he first broke through to Dominator, he felt that he could take on Solars with aplomb. What’s there to be afraid of? If Yuan Shuo can do it, I can do it! But now, the more he knew, the more timid he became. This also wasn’t an initial Solar they were eyeing up!

He understood the look in Li Hao’s eyes. The young man had made up his mind to eliminate the woman. The problem was... Liu Long was confident, not even with a newly ascended Li Hao by his side. While the young man was slightly stronger than him, there were limits to his strength. Could he break the defenses of a Solar?

Liu Long took a deep breath, drawing an odd look from Wang Ming. What was with the director? He seemed... very nervous!

Zhang Ting also sensed it and looked over. Liu Long seemed extremely nervous as he kept taking large breaths. This wasn’t normal. She paid more attention to the man, slightly confused. The possibility of being attacked didn’t register to her at all because it didn’t make sense. There was no reason for him to attack a Night Watcher if he didn’t know her identity. And if he did... why would a Dominator attack a mid Solar?

That made even less sense!

“Chief, are you worried about that guy from Yama?” Li Hao chuckled. “What are you concerned about? I’m also a Sunderer and we have Plenilune Sis Zhang here. Is a Dominator and a Sunflare supposed to be afraid of him?”