Star Gate

Ever since Li Hao came in contact with the supernatural and officially set foot into martial dao, he’d continuously grown stronger, searched for opportunities, and constantly taken risks. Whether it was killing Zhang Ting, taking a chance to hunt the powerhouses of the three great organizations, killing Yu Xiao or Huang Jie... his thoughts were simple. I don’t wish to experience that scene of impotence for a second time.

On his first occasion of killing people, he’d done so with such cold-bloodedness that Liu Yan and the others exclaimed he was a pervert. Was he afraid then?

A little.

Had he found the scene gross?

A little.

But he hadn’t been that afraid as he’d witnessed more horrifying things than that. Do you think you can scare me this time? Not happening!

The fire sword aura, earth sword aura, sword overview aura... The auras spontaneously manifested in his mind—a mountain peak, a ferocious tiger, the stroke of his ancestor, and the resplendent rise of the Silver Amor’s final strike!

What fear could the Eternal Sword not sever? If there was such a fear, that only meant one’s sword wasn’t strong enough!

“Kill!” came a cry from the mind. It erupted as Li Hao swung his sword! It contained all of his knowledge and power! All of his reflections and accumulated considerations centered on this stroke. He wanted to hack the Flaming Phoenix Spear into two and cut through the night that’d imprinted the terrors of the scarlet shadow on his mind.

Sword intent arose! It coalesced into a sword of severing the self. It struck, aiming for the Broken Will Spear that pierced through the firmament. That may be Hou Xiaochen’s will, but who cared?

The Flaming Phoenix Spear shuddered in the real world. Li Hao didn’t deploy his sword with the greatest speed; a little sword slashed out in a moment of spontaneous eruption. The Flaming Phoenix Spear was startled by the reaction and broke through the void, vanishing on the spot.

A surge of sword intent locked onto the origin weapon. The phoenix materialized over the spear, fear in its eyes. It darted behind Golden Spear when it spotted the man nearby.

It needed to flee! It was afraid!

It was afraid of Li Hao and the sword intent. It recalled such a stroke in the depths of its fragmented memories and found it terrifying to the extreme. The Flaming Phoenix Spear hadn’t planned on paying further attention to Li Hao after it brought out Hou Xiaochen’s move. But now, it was forced to run and hide behind Golden Spear!

Regardless, a domineering surge of sword intent billowed over. Golden Spear’s expression shifted minutely as well. Was Li Hao... striking back?

The young man could counter attack despite being suppressed by Director Hou, and strike with a heretofore unseen move! Golden Spear didn’t want to meet it head-on and shifted to dodge the blow, but he could sense that the sword had locked onto him!

The man threw everything to the back of his mind and summoned a spear himself, jabbing it forward with a grunt!

The spear lit up the void with a trail of fire. Spear intent was on full display! Incomparably formidable, just the internal force within the weapon sent the void shaking. The trees around them shattered—Golden Spear well deserved his reputation!

Boom!

A tremendous boom erupted as a hot wave roiled in all directions. Tightly gripping his weapon, Golden Spear focused his spear intent and smashed through Li Hao’s combined sword intent, scattering it into the air.

His spear intent collapsed at the same time.

Golden Spear stood dumbly on the spot, unmoving and staring at the young man off in the distance. He seemed to see the other spear and sword of Li Hao’s mind intent, clashing and engaging each other in a series of explosive collisions...

Li Hao’s sword intent had already dissipated. He and Golden Spear had only caused large-scale destruction of nearby flora. Nothing else was damaged.

Golden Spear stood unmoving, his hand still gripping his weapon. A tiny bloody mark appeared on his forehead after an indeterminable period of time. A single drop of blood slowly slid to the ground.

It was only now that the man gently caressed his forehead, shock hard to conceal in his eyes. When the sword dissipated, a certain resolution and extremity of speed exploded in the last possible second. They delivered some backlash that pierced the skin of his forehead.

It was just a small wound that Golden Spear could heal with a quick circulation of his internal force. And yet, peace was hard to come by his heart. His emotions were not tranquil at all.

Such a disturbance had occurred only three times in his life. The first when he was defeated by Yuan Shuo. The intent behind the Five Styles had completely overwhelmed him, preventing him from striking back. It was a defeat that tormented him for many years.

The second when Hou Xiaochen broke through the demons left by the Five Styles and helped him set foot into Dominator. He’d experienced the same scene that Li Hao had just undergone—the spear and Five Styles had fought in his mind’s eye. Hou Xiaochen had won because he was too strong.

Shock from the first two times had lingered for many years. The third time was this moment.

Li Hao wasn’t that strong, at least, not as strong as Golden Spear. However, the stroke that he struck with unsettled the man’s emotions in a way that was difficult to describe. He gained further insight into the young man in front of him the moment the sword qi exploded.

Unwillingness, refusal to submit, and refusal to give ground! It didn’t matter if Hou Xiaochen stood in front of him! I, Li Hao, will not give way to the Hou Xiaochen who killed a Nova with one move...

There were very few people like Li Hao among the younger martial masters. Or rather, it’d be more accurate to say that Golden Spear had never met one. Whether it was Wang Qing or Kong Youyun, neither of them were so determined that they were loath to concede.

Why did Li Hao possess such grim resolution?

Golden Spear knew of Li Hao’s background; the young man didn’t seem to have experienced rough sailing in his life. His had been an easy one as he smoothly became Yuan Shuo’s disciple, weathered the dangers of Silver City, walked out of Battle Heaven, killed Yu Xiao...

Li Hao’s resume spoke of an effortless journey that wasn’t filled with too many obstacles, much less setbacks. So what was the reason for what Golden Spear felt?

As the man puzzled over his findings, a clash detectable only by mind intent thoroughly unfolded.

BOOM!

It was a collision of the mental level! The scene blurred in front of Golden Spear as two people seemed to appear. Li Hao wielded a sword and Hou Xiaochen grasped a spear. Sword and spear smashed against each other in the air, both of them domineering to the extreme and giving rise to an incredible explosion!

The spear split the sword with unparalleled spear intent, but the longsword immediately flared with unprecedented fury and reluctance, like a caged tiger springing free of its prison. Fire blazed through the land and reduced the spear to ashes!

The mountain peak broke and the tiger struggled upon the verge of death!

Golden Spear saw Li Hao waving his hand, using his hand as a sword that blurred with such speed that it made one overlook space and time. There was only a pure sword stroke that swung at the firmament!

The struggling tiger melded into his arm and the broken mountain peak reappeared in a complete whole. With arm as sword, the young man swung at the broken spear.

KABOOM!

It was a cry that echoed only in the mind, one that reverberated in all directions. Golden Spear blinked dazedly, as if seeing mountains and rivers crumble away and the sky split open. What was this? He’d never seen a scene like this in his life; it seemed like the very cosmos were shattering.

“I’m not afraid of you!” A hoarse roar filled the mind. It was Li Hao, and he was saying that he wasn’t scared!

......

Li Hao vented the fury brewing in his heart. I’m not afraid of you! Little Yuan, I’m not afraid of this thing and I’ll never back away again. My legs will never shake to the point where I can’t move. I’m not afraid. I’ll crush everything!

His arm shattered as Li Hao swung at the firmament, crushing the last section of spear. He snarled again and swung once more, aiming at the scarlet shadow that could not be seen.

I’m not afraid of you either, Ying Hongyue!

“Kill!” Only this roar echoed beneath the heavens. There was just one person observing the battle; no one else sensed the skirmish. Golden Spear was the only witness—he saw Li Hao cut down the spear and obliterate Hou Xiaochen’s spear intent!

Boom!

Another loud crash rang out as the Flaming Phoenix Spear shuddered. Li Hao spat out a mouthful of blood and his arm exploded with rays of sword qi and arrows of blood.

Blood streamed down his right arm as the young man heaved for breath. He was a dying fish greedily gasping for oxygen. Blood ran from his orifices, but his lips stretched in a smile as he looked at the nearby Golden Spear.

“I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you... sir!”

“You... took too much risk!” said Golden Spear after looking at him for a while. What a crazy fellow! He’d summoned the director’s spear intent and somehow, incredibly, smashed through it!

Other than admonishment for taking such a risk, he didn’t know what to say to the young man. What are you afraid of and what are you crushing? No matter what it was, Li Hao had won.

Golden Spear suddenly grew lost in thought. If I could’ve been like Li Hao back in the day and shown just as much resolution in breaking the pressure from the Five Styles, could I have broken through to Dominator myself?

Would I be stronger today?

Some regret crept in, of which was quickly replaced by resignation. I tried, but I couldn’t break that curse! Showing further regret now would only highlight his incompetence. He knew full well that if Li Hao had been the martial master that Yuan Shuo suppressed, he might’ve been able to break the curse and walk on a new path.

It boggled the mind to consider.

Li Hao heaved for breath and wiped away the bloody traces on his face. The wounds on his arm were ghastly. He took off his shirt and wrapped his arm with it so that others wouldn’t see how bad it was.

He smiled, feeling a complete depletion of energy as he struggled to his feet. He was drained of internal force and mental spirit. It was like when he utilized the Incantation of the Blade of Blood—it might be even worse than that.

The difference was that one felt empty after deploying that method, but this time, he felt reborn. One walked toward death and the other new life.

Golden Spear returned from his memories and didn’t know what to say when he looked at Li Hao. Finally, he voiced, “Go back and rest, Li Hao. It will be a new life when you awake!”

With that, he left.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m