Star Gate

At the same time.

Inside the alleyway.

A withered tree trunk had appeared amidst the quiet street at an unknown point in time. This was Yu Xiao’s disguise. As a wood powerhouse, wood bending and hiding in wood was a basic skill.

He quickly calculated the time again—the moment was almost upon them. That kid should be coming soon. He would have the map on him, right? He should have it, based on Yu Xiao’s understanding of the young man from the previous day. He’d refrained from retrieving it from Li Hao today because he didn’t want to raise attention. Going to the young man two days in a row was too noticeable.

He would have to remember to hold himself back in a short while. It wouldn’t do if he pulverized the boy in a few seconds. He wanted both the diagram and the complete corpse. Neither one could be relinquished!

However, Yu Xiao frowned lightly. Was that supernatural activity beneath the ground? An earth Sunflare?

That was quite irritating. These dirt rats were very annoying. Was this one following Li Hao or unintentionally passing by? Or was it protecting Li Hao?

No matter who it was, Yu Xiao decided that he’d have to kill this guy too if he was still there after Li Hao died. As for Yu Xiao himself, he wore a ghost face mask to conceal his identity. Someone else entered the short alleyway just as he rolled his eyes at the person in the ground.

The newcomer wasn’t Li Hao.

“Are you sure he’ll pass by here?” came a faint whisper.

“Of course, I’ve observed him for two days. He’s on time to a fault. There’s two more minutes, he’ll be here.”

“Are you confident? We must be fast—he’s not weak as a half step Dominator. He’s also Yuan Shuo’s disciple. We can’t think he’s weak just because he’s young...”

“No shit, we’re both half step Dominators and old hats at what we do. The kid won’t have a chance to react so long as we move fast enough.”

Yu Xiao wanted to laugh from sheer anger. What the hell, why was there more? Two martial masters? And they were both half step Dominators. Did they have Li Hao in their sights too? Damned if the kid wasn’t a hot commodity. Fine, he’d just kill a bit more when he was done with his main target.

The man’s ears twitched as his thoughts ran rapidly—Yu Xiao’s expression shifted slightly at a new finding. He could vaguely sense an aura in the area... He wasn’t unfamiliar with martial masters as he’d fought them before. Yu Xiao narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze around the surroundings. His eyes darted upward; he seemed to pick up something there. There was no one in the sky, but there seemed to be something in the air over the alleyway.

A Dominator! Yu Xiao frowned ferociously. The fuck, what kind of winds were blowing today? Why were there so many people sticking their nose into this??

There was an earth Sunflare beneath the ground, two half step Dominators on the ground, and a Dominator in the air over this tiny alley. Dominators were known throughout the lands—which one was up there?

Of course, Yu Xiao wasn’t afraid. He would only be concerned about a martial master like Yuan Shuo or one of the veteran martial masters who’d made their name decades ago. Otherwise, even a Dominator was the equivalent of a Sunflare.

He just found it odd. Had these guys all discussed it beforehand and decided to take action today? Why not any other day?

These bastards... The Dominator is the most annoying one. I’ll have to take him out first in a second to make sure that he doesn’t hold me back and ruin my plans! Yu Xiao cursed. He wouldn’t have chosen this spot if he’d known about the situation beforehand. Granted, there would be nothing left for him to do but cry if someone else killed Li Hao. All he could say was that he had to help Li Hao resolve the threat of this Dominator first to ensure that his own scheme ran smoothly.

......

Inside the alley.

Li Hao didn’t sense the martial masters before he walked in, but he knew the second he set foot inside. There was a Dominator keeping an eye on him; the other two martial masters weren’t worthy of consideration.

Weaklings! And a Dominator? So there really are martial masters with designs on me. They’ve got some nerve.

The two half step Dominators were pretending to be bystanders coming from the other end of the alley. It looked like they wanted to attack when they crossed paths with the young man. As few passersby as there were in the alley, it wasn’t strange to run into someone here.

But with Li Hao’s current eye for assessment, he could tell with a glance that these two martial masters had grasped the aura. At the same time, their auras were very weak, making them just half step Dominators. As for Yu Xiao—the rotted tree trunk in the alley was glowing so brightly that the young man would have to be blind to miss it.

There was also another earth supernatural in the ground beneath them. They weren’t too weak either at late Sunflare. Li Hao then discovered another that even Yu Xiao didn’t find. A ball of light hovered in the air one hundred meters over the small alley. It was probably a wind supernatural keeping watch from a high vantage point.

As Yu Xiao didn’t dare easily release his mysterious power, he overlooked the existence of the last person in the sky. Li Hao judged it to be late or peak Sunflare, given the brightness of that ball of light. Solars weren’t so common that they could be found by the side of the street, after all. Sunflare was already a notable existence.

So I’m treasure to all of them! Instead of being mad, Li Hao was quite happy. So many people care about me and came to escort me home. Who else gets this kind of treatment?

He continued forward. As short as the alleyway was, it wasn’t long before he clearly made out the faces of the two approaching him. They chatted with each other, as if friends happening to take this way.

Whether it was Yu Xiao or the Dominator, there was no sign of movement from either of them. It looked like they were waiting for these two to take action first. On the other hand, Li Hao couldn’t wait any longer. He picked up the pace, as if in a hurry to go home to dinner. The distance narrowed between the two parties.

Thirty meters... twenty meters...

Whether it was the Dominator above or Yu Xiao below, both tensed to spring when the three people were less than ten meters apart. The sword at Li Hao’s waist vibrated slightly at this moment.

A split second! All that was needed was a split second—no shadow, no trace, no sound, no presence! The Ghost Shadow Sword!

Li Hao didn’t wait to benefit from two parties fighting each other, there was no need! The Earthturner Sword instantly vanished and reappeared, slashing horizontally through the air!

Evening splendor still painted the White Moon skies at 6 pm. Radiance didn’t filter into the alley because the buildings on either side cast shadows between them. The two half step Dominators continued forward, still brainstorming how to instantly kill Li Hao. Their throats suddenly itched and they wanted to cough. They were less than five meters away from the young man—they needed to make a move. When they looked at each other, they discovered something amiss. Why was there a line of blood on the other’s throat?

Where had this strange line come from?

They turned to look at each other more fully, but their heads continued to swivel and swivel... until they felt lightheaded. Their heads toppled down from their necks!

Shock appeared in both of their eyes. There was no pain, this moment had come too swiftly! So swiftly that, when the line of blood expanded, there was no time for blood to spurt out.

Li Hao didn’t look at them after he slit their throats with one stroke. There was no need! He sprang into the air with a powerful push of his legs and slashed forward, his sword brilliance as if a mountain and his move parting the firmament!

A wind supernatural one hundred meters in the air didn’t have time to react before his scalp tingled with numbness. Mysterious power erupted and he wanted to run when a stroke cut him down from head to toe!

A sword stroke to sever the heavens!

The Dominator over the alley had wanted to stop the young man, but could do nothing but watch as Li Hao jumped over his head and vanished in the blink of an eye. He was still masked as he perched on top of the alley’s walls, a dazed look in his eyes. He looked upward to see Li Hao slash through the firmament, sword qi running through heaven and earth!

It was over in a heartbeat and didn’t raise much attention in the backdrop of a glorious sunset. The Dominator’s expression changed drastically as he grappled with the situation and he manifested a dragon over his body with a roar. He brandished a spear and rushed the young man!

The Dominator wielded a spear!

The descending Li Hao answered with a ferocious roar of his own—Tiger Roar Through Mountain and Woods! It was thirty percent more aggressive and furious than previous. A mountain flashed out of the Earthturner Sword—the earth sword aura! A summoned spirit had emerged from his organ with its nurture aura!

Color drained from the Dominator's face—Summoner of Spirit??

Spear and Earthturner Sword collided. The massive dragon split into two after a loud snarl and the spear clattered to the ground in halves. Li Hao cut down his opponent with the sword in his right hand and his left extending in a punch!

Bam!

The Dominator’s arm trembled after a momentous collision and it fractured into pieces. His spear was pulverized, his mind intent damaged, and he registered a punch coming toward him in a bleary haze.

A ferocious tiger roar split the air as a human watermelon exploded with a bang!

Li Hao ignored the results of his handiwork and stomped his foot. The earth trembled from his movement, everything happening so quickly that the earth supernatural beneath the ground didn’t have time to react. The earth shook around him as Li Hao stabbed his sword into the ground.

Boom!

The earth split open as overbearing sword intent filtered into the ground, making straight for the earth supernatural. Only then did the latter sense the danger. He wanted to run, but infinite pressure seemed to bear down on him in all directions. He wanted to break through the pressure, but found that the earth itself seemed to be set against him.

Sword light flashed through his mind’s eye—it was as if a mountain!

KABOOM!

A body split open beneath the ground!

Two half step Dominators, one Dominator, a wind Sunflare in the sky, an earth Sunflare in the round—five superhumans that counted as powerhouses—were executed on the spot by Li Hao’s Earthturner Sword!

The withered tree trunk vanished, revealing a Ghostface. Yu Xiao heaved for air and reeled from shock. Li Hao? Was this Li Hao??

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