Star Gate

At the same time.

Mu Lin swiftly rushed to the officers’ living quarters and looked at a building in the distance with a foreboding expression. What in the blazes?? Had an expert trespassed into their territory to assassinate Li Hao?

He’d drawn near because he sensed two incomparably strong auras clashing with each other. Martial masters were very sensitive to aura. One of them was Li Hao’s tiger aura and the other seemed like a fire aura, or more like a bird aura...

It gave him the perception that Yuan Shuo had come. Was this an internal conflict between the Five Styles discipline? The bird style against the tiger style? The deputy hesitated because of this. Had Yuan Shuo come back and was instructing his disciple?

It was quite a thorny issue for Mu Lin. After momentary dithering, he decided to rush in. Even if Yuan Shuo had come back, it wouldn’t do to start a fight here without notifying them first! Would the Guards have any shred of dignity left if he misjudged and accidentally killed his disciple?

A figure landed from the sky just as he was about to rush into the building! A towering man stood in front of him and grabbed Mu Lin. The newcomer stood ramrod straight, like he was a spear. He looked to be in his fifties and possessed a particularly sharp glint in his eyes. He gave one the feeling of a spear ready to strike at any time.

“Boss!” Mu Lin blinked. What was the boss doing back?

It was Golden Spear!

The man’s eyes blazed with an intent look as he stared at the little building hundreds of meters out. He seemed to see right through it. It wasn’t the building’s reflection in his eyes, but a tiger and a phoenix tangled in battle!

Golden Spear’s gaze was intensely keen; he thought for a moment. “Li Hao?”

“Yes, boss, he seems to be under attack...”

“He’s not!” Golden Spear stood unmoving, the sharp look in his eyes slowly fading away. “It’s an origin weapon!”

“What?”

“You don’t get it.” Golden Spear didn’t explain too much. It wasn’t that Mu Lin didn’t understand, but that he hadn’t experienced it before. It was Director Hou’s weapon, the Flaming Phoenix Spear!

Li Hao... He’d heard Hou Xiaochen mention this person before, this was Yuan Shuo’s disciple. The lad was very bold! And very strong, of course. He was very adept with the tiger style. Director Hou was also a ruthless sort to truly lend out the Flaming Phoenix Spear. Wasn’t he concerned about the weapon revitalizing and killing Li Hao?

Golden Spear watched silently, as if seeing the Yuan Shuo of years past. Tiger Roar Through Mountain and Woods... Dominating the four corners of the land... Can this disciple of yours suppress the Flaming Phoenix Spear?

“It’s not Yuan Shuo, boss?” Mu Lin asked nervously.

“No shit, of course not!” Golden Spear barked out coldly. “It’s a phoenix. Li Hao is very daring as to use the Flaming Phoenix Spear to temper himself. I wonder if he’s trying to deepen his understanding of the Five Styles or to probe Director Hou’s will... This is only the beginning. Let’s see how he handles this as the will of the phoenix is only the first stage!”

Li Hao was either idiotic, crazy, or supremely confident to use the director’s weapon as his whetstone. When you defeat the phoenix, that’s when you’ll access the true beginning! It’s up to your skill as to whether or not you can see Director Hou’s will in the second stage.

Apart from Golden Spear, only Mu Lin had a slight chance of succeeding. The caveat was that Mu Lin had to avoid being reduced to ashes by the phoenix first.

......

Inside the room.

Li Hao wasn’t thinking of killing the phoenix. After employing the tiger aura for a while, he suddenly jerked with realization. I’m not doing this to kill the phoenix, I’m doing this to learn! The phoenix... The bird style! I didn’t spend a mysterious power stone to kill the beast.

The tiger returned to the mountain with this change in mentality. A mountainous armor materialized around the young man as he abruptly imitated the phoenix, swaying in the wind and spreading his wings to soar through the sky. The scene suddenly morphed into one of a phoenix flapping after an indistinct little bird.

The bird was buffeted by the wind and rain! It couldn’t fly—or, at least, didn’t seem to be able to fly. It didn’t reach too high in the sky and appeared more like a chick harried by an eagle!

Yes, that was precisely the feeling. Li Hao found himself a chicken in the grass while the phoenix was an eagle overhead. He fled for his life instead of clashing against the origin weapon!

He used Birdshot to escape, discovering that imitation might help him enhance the skill. Birdshot needed to witness a real bird soaring and hunting from the air. What kind of bird was more powerful than a phoenix? It would have to be more ferocious than an eagle!

Li Hao twisted his body and extended his arms, evading the phoenix’s sharp claws and pointed beak. His movements were ugly and ungainly.

The phoenix beak fractured Li Hao’s mountain armor with a loud bam. The armor immediately recovered—armor of the earth! He didn’t dare really be pecked. That was the equivalent of being run through by the Flaming Phoenix Spear. He’d be gravely injured, if not outright dead.

The phoenix continuously gave chase in the tiny room while Li Hao ducked and dodged for all his worth. After a while, he set his jaw and barreled outside. When the place was too small, it wasn’t conducive for him to evade.

He seemed to transform into a bird, one that flew proudly through the sky. A phoenix followed behind him in hot pursuit.

Mu Lin soon saw this scene as well. His jaw dropped at the sight of a phoenix chasing after a very, very small bird. Golden Spear saw it too. There were some mundanes around them—what they saw was entirely different. They saw a person walking through the air in a crooked pattern while being chased by a flaming-red spear.

Others in the distance saw it too. Those who had comprehended the aura saw the animal manifestations. Those who hadn’t saw a spear in pursuit. The differences in vision separated the Silver Moon Guards into two levels.

......

Within the air.

Li Hao circled around as the phoenix pursued him doggedly. He suddenly imitated the beast and stretched his arms out, reaching ahead of him and rising into the air like an arrow.

Upon the ground, Golden Spear’s eyes widened when he raised his head for a look. The kid was a fast learner. He was imitating the phoenix! Instead of fighting head-on with it, he wanted to copy it. Those of the Five Styles were full of surprises, alright. But... would imitation result in one’s own path?

Yuan Shuo had also imitated the five animals, but ultimately found his own path. Outright copying the phoenix may not result in a bird aura. What was the core of the bird aura? Golden Spear knew a little about it. It wasn’t speed or flight, but freedom!

At the very least, that was what Yuan Shuo’s bird aura felt like. It wasn’t offense or defense, but a free and comfortable state of bliss. Like a small bird, one could fly wherever they wished and go wherever they wished without constraint.

Meanwhile, Li Hao seemed to be only pursuing speed. The look in Golden Spear’s eyes changed rapidly.

In the air, the young man wasn’t thinking that much. His only thought at the moment was to be faster, a little faster! Be faster than the phoenix! If he deployed his sword fast enough, that would be a kind of aura as well.

He cut through the void like an arrow and shot into the sky. The spear chased him relentlessly. Human and weapon disappeared within the complex. Golden Spear pushed off his feet and bounded upward when he saw this, launching himself like a cannonball and vanishing on the spot.

Mu Lin’s eyes shone and he threw himself forward as well, his speed as fast as lightning as he also followed the weapons! He, too, wanted to see what the final result was.

Several centurions swiftly arrived on the premises, confusion and expectation in their eyes. They wanted to see the results. What was that? Li Hao was being chased around by a spear. It... seemed to be the Flaming Phoenix Spear! ......

Over the jungle.

The spear turned when Li Hao turned. The spear flew in a straight path when the young man flew in a straight path. An occasional wave of fire roiled over as well.

The beak descended!

Li Hao’s heel ached—the spear had caught up to him and pecked him. He turned into an ape the next second and darted into the jungle, swinging from one tree to another.

Bam!

The spear ran through a large tree with a massive boom. Li Hao was still debating, what was the core of the bird style? Was it to be fast? The height of speed? He looked at the phoenix—it was fast, but also immensely powerful. Was that the bird style and the key to the bird aura?

“No... not necessarily... Not to mention that everyone’s aura is different. Whether it’s speed or enormous offensive power, the extremity of speed is an advantage!” Li Hao suddenly thought of water. When a droplet of water was accelerated to the utmost, it was keen without end. The phoenix’s beak was so ferocious and instantly pierced through his body and defenses because it was too quick! It was the same case for its claws.

Eagles dove from the sky to hunt their prey because that gave them speed. A quick descent provided a stronger destructive force... The Five Styles was a secret art of destruction, the bird style was no exception!

“Therefore, the core of the bird style isn’t to flee or speed, but that moment of eruption resulting from the extremity of speed!”

A droplet of water could break through steel if it was fast enough. Then, did the bird style mean that any part of the body could be a vicious weapon at high enough speeds?

Li Hao looked back again and abruptly slowed down. The phoenix grasped the chance and pecked once more. Li Hao moved slowly enough that his arm was run clean through. Blood didn’t even have time to drip because it’d been so fast! The beak had gone right through the body!

Golden Spear’s eyes widened with dismay. What’d just happened?

Li Hao’s movements had suddenly slowed down, allowing the Flaming Phoenix Spear to injure him substantially. His arm had been drilled through—which was the spear piercing the young man’s body!

Mu Lin’s expression changed below as well. Why had Li Hao suddenly slowed down? Was his store of internal force not deep enough?

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