Star Gate

Li Hao was still slapping the waves by the shore. He smiled when he saw Liu Long rush back.

“Chief, this is nice, but it doesn’t seem that much different than river water. Well, seawater is salty...”

Liu Long wanted to give him a warning, but decided not to say anything when he registered the young man’s attitude. No matter how big they were, they wouldn’t kill Li Hao, right?

“Mm, they’re alright. Wait a bit longer, watch out for another surge of small waves incoming.”

“Alright!” Li Hao chuckled merrily. The wind soon picked up where he was and grew so big that it was uncomfortable to endure. When he looked up at the sky and saw that patch of thunderclouds... There was a tall white wall in the distance—no, that wasn’t a wall, but something created by the towering waves.

The look in the young man’s eyes shifted. Were these the real waves? Were they mighty? He wanted to give them a try!

Splish splash!

Water undulations abounded as Liu Long made it back to the shore. He laughed when he saw that Li Hao was still waiting. Kid, you’ll get it in a moment. You won’t think you’re all that afterward!

A clap of thunder echoed among the clouds just as Liu Long cackled!

BOOM!

A wave crashed down like thunder and lightning! Li Hao swayed in the wind and rain. He stomped down on seawater and leapt into the air, punching with a furious tiger roar that was drowned out by the waves. He wanted to see if this wave could suppress his fist!

WHAM!

Li Hao laughed as he punched straight through a wave, so that was all there was to it! He jerked his head up with astonishment the next second. There was more?

A second wave reared!

Li Hao roared as well. WHAM! Another wave scattered.

He didn’t have a chance to look before the third wave crashed down and smacked him in the face, turning him into a bedraggled drowned cat. The young man shouted and waved his fist around!

Wham!

Wham!

Wham!

Unceasing layer after layer unfurled like the Nine Forged Force. Giant waves came one after another. Li Hao was exceedingly strong to be able to break them each time they came. But once, twice, thrice...

He couldn’t keep up after several hundred times and started cursing inwardly. That’s enough!

Every wave he punched through caused subsequent waves to churn even stronger. Each wave was higher than the one before. This was when Li Hao finally realized that the power of nature was truly interminable without end!

He would’ve beaten his opponent to death a long time ago if they were human. But he faced waves, not a human. The waves were inexhaustible and tireless, growing larger the more one hit them!

Li Hao roared and sent the tiger punch outward, boom!

An even taller wave bore down on him, crashing so utterly that the ferocious tiger fell silent. Another punch and another crash!

Li Hao furiously fought the waves like a demented fool. Meanwhile, Liu Long frowned as he watched from the shore. The waves were growing stronger. They hadn’t been that big before, but the lad was smashing them into ever larger versions of themselves.

Li Hao seemed to be a mad dog who didn’t know the definition of weariness. Everything he punched out was absorbed by the sea to create even stronger waves. Would he punch a tidal wave into existence if this continued?

“He... shouldn’t! Right?”

......

“Hoo!” Li Hao panted, in an excellent mood. The waves, layered force... This was his first time sensing the layered nature of the waves, an unending motion that consecutively arrived. He was very excited and wanted to holler a few times. This place was very suited to practice the Nine Forged Force! It was a natural enemy that did not require anyone’s company to train. All one had to do was continuously punch the waves for a training partner.

Punch, punch, punch...

Nine layers overlapped each other. Li Hao’s powers of imitation were very strong. Simply perceiving the continuous interplay of force between the waves and the unending interaction between them brought him deeper understanding of the Nine Forged Force.

He didn’t want to perceive the aura yet, he just wanted to swiftly propel his understanding to eight layers. When he completed nine layers after that, it might naturally give rise to the water ripple aura.

The waves in front of him grew stronger, as if angry that a human would dare bring their strength against the heavens!

Boom!

Li Hao stumbled slightly when the waves crashed into him. This was stunning, they were starting to physically move him! These waves were growing ever stronger!

“Li Hao, come back!”

“Wait!” roared the young man. What was he going back for? This place was eminently suited for practicing the Nine Forged Force! He punched out again.

Wham!

The waves towered overhead...

Unceasing without end, the unending waves were met with Li Hao’s equally untiring fists. He was very strong. Though he couldn’t beat the waves to death, he felt that he could stand here and punch for a few hours with no problem.

The waves picked up speed as his thoughts ran wild. It wasn’t one wave this time, but a series that crashed consecutively onto the shore. There was no break between them as they slammed into Li Hao. Finally, internal force manifested over Li Hao’s body to defend against the onslaught. He could sense that eight layers of force were on the verge of manifesting. It was so nice to train here!

Bam!

Another loud collision sounded as Li Hao was slammed into the sand by an incredibly tall wave. He was plowed deep into the ground. The young man swiftly crawled out and was promptly met with another wave that slapped his face.

......

By the shore.

Liu Long sighed. That idiot... was being so childish at his first sighting of the sea. This was the sea, not a lake. There were borders to a lake that stopped even the greatest wave and prevented it from further accumulating strength. The sea, however, was boundless without end. The more one resisted, the more strength it answered with. Waves from the back propelled waves in the front. As undulations fluctuated, they sometimes sent large waves from elsewhere toward the one resisting.

You’ll come back with a face full of snot and tears after a while, kid. Liu Long sat down to quietly appreciate the show.

Li Hao tirelessly fought enormous waves in the sea, roaring and snarling with effort. The cries had a difficult time traveling—only the sounds of waves churning through the water did.

Rumble!!

The area quickly turned into one of exploding thunder and lightning. The sound reverberated so much that the nearby Silver Moon Guards felt the craziness of the waves.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes...

An incredible wave sent Li Hao flying after half an hour; the young man crashed into the water. An even stronger wave smashed down before he had a chance to crawl back up. They gave him no chance to react; waves drilled him into the water one after another.

Upon the shore, Liu Long frowned. This wouldn’t kill the kid, would it? The waves were starting to reach him on the shore.

Off in the distance, Li Hao was thrown up into the air. He quickly scampered for higher ground, but was brought down into the water again. He was quickly expending stamina and couldn’t help but yell, “Chief, when will this thing... cough cough... stop!”

Liu Long could barely make out his words and had no response. It doesn’t stop. It’s not like there’s no solution though, just stop resisting and quietly enjoy it for a bit. The sea will naturally stop when it’s had its fun.

Li Hao seemed to understand the logic this time. He stopped resisting and allowed the sea to fling him wherever it would. He was thrown out of the sea and slammed down again, then flung elsewhere...

He was buffeted back and forth like a ball by the enormous waves. It took more than ten minutes for the waves to gradually die down; no tsunami was forthcoming.

......

Half an hour later, Li Hao crawled up from the beach covered in sand. Liu Long reached out to pluck a crab off his head.

“How do you feel?” he asked with a smile.

“Damn nice!” Li Hao panted happily. “I definitely learned something new today! Nature is the most fearsome! The more I hit back, the more it came at me until I conceded! But I was also worried about affecting the Guards complex if I created an even bigger wave. Otherwise I could’ve hung on!”

Liu Long was speechless. Hadn’t this guy expended enough internal force already? Granted, he’d been able to fight for a full day when they sparred. There was nothing he could say. If he’d been the ones struck by the waves, he would’ve lost the strength to counterattack long ago.

“Let’s go, we can have some seafood when we get back...” Liu Long picked up another large crab, a sea fish, and some shellfish...

Li Hao cackled and spat out some sand. He took stock of his body and suddenly punched out, running away as he did so. The punch brought forth eight layers of force! Overjoyed, the young man continued running.

Liu Long blinked and looked at Li Hao, lost in thought. He was so distracted that he was drenched by a counterblow from the sea. He didn’t mind much and smiled at the fleeing Li Hao. The kid seriously had talent! Eight layers of force! Although it wasn’t the full Nine Forged Force, it hadn’t been long since he’d learned the method!

Even if his physique was so strong that it was ridiculous, being able to create eight layers of force in one punch within such a short period of time was immeasurable.

“Chief, I’m going to fight the sea again when I can manage nine layers!” Li Hao roared with laughter off in the distance. He couldn’t beat it now; the sea was boundless without end and the waves never stopped coming. He was tired after his earlier exertions.

Liu Long shook his head without a word. He looked at the recovering sea and suddenly punched out. Waves spread from the point of impact—boom!

A large hole appeared in the deep blue as seawater churned into a vortex. Liu Long watched for a bit, leaving only when the vortex slowly dissipated. He had some new reflections to mull over—the layering of waves and the power of a vortex...

......

At the end of the Moon Sea, upon an even greater expanse of water.

A ferocious tiger roared as it swallowed a mighty powerhouse. Its claws flashed out to rip apart the humanoid shadow in its stomach!

The tiger disassembled into a human figure. Yuan Shuo heaved for breath and cackled. The water tiger aura!

His fire heart ape had reached perfection, as had his water kidney tiger. Not only that, but his third aura was on the verge of perfection as well. When these three were melded together, he’d dare fight even a Nova—but it was unknown whether or not he’d win.

Yuan Shuo breathed out after killing the peak Solar. He slashed a scarlet shadow out of the void, it disappeared as the stone blade absorbed it with gusto. Yuan Shuo transformed back into a ferocious tiger and padded away on the water surface, vanishing on the spot.

Li Hao’s tiger was of fire, but Yuan Shuo’s was of water. A tiger was the king of the mountain, but this one was the tyrant of the seas and cavorted throughout the North Sea.

Another figure descended a long while after Yuan Shuo left. Unfortunately, all traces of fighting had been washed away by the waters. There was nothing to observe. A powerful personage looked around with a frosty look.

Yuan Shuo... really was something!

He’d thought that the Five Styles King would be powerless within the sea, but it turned out he was still as mighty as ever. The Five Styles... the five beasts... When did they start running through the sea?

“Send word that Yuan Shuo might have crossed the North Sea and entered the central region!” someone said grimly as more figures converged. Nearby Ghostfaces immediately vanished.

Yuan Shuo might be entering the central region.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m