Star Gate

It was another day in the blink of an eye.

September 14th. A sunny day. With the arrival of sixteen martial masters from the Inspectorate, the Demon Hunters suddenly had fifty-one members.

In the training plaza.

All fifty martial masters of the team were present and feeling a bit of trepidation. The Demon Hunters team could be split into two factions—the Silver City faction and the Sword Sect faction. Those from the Inspectorate were Liu Long’s old acquaintances. Some were even his former law enforcement members who’d left with Wang Henggang many years ago.

Whether it was the Sword Sect martial masters or Inspectorate martial masters, everyone was slightly apprehensive. They were unfamiliar with Li Hao and hadn’t personally requested this opportunity to join his team. It was their sect master or inspector general who’d recommended the action. Both Hong Yitang and Wang Henggang spoke very highly of Li Hao—but the group in the plaza felt the young man might be overrated.

There were many other martial masters on the sidelines watching the show. No one had thought that Li Hao would so quickly collect his team. Although he hadn’t filled out a full complement of one hundred, it’d only been a few days! Already recruiting fifty was an immense surprise.

Other than the Silver Moon Guards, there really weren’t that many martial masters in the wild anymore. The Sword Sect might be the province’s largest martial dao sect these days, even though their sect master was a supernatural.

Li Hao was yet to arrive; gossip flurried through some of the martial masters.

“A bunch of rookie plebes!”

“But honestly, they’re decent enough. Apparently, both the Sword Sect and Inspectorate think highly of that one. There’s quite a few Sunderers and one Dominator among them.”

“Liu Long?”

“Mmhmm, that’s him.”

“That’s not bad, but it’s not like he’s that strong since he’s just set foot into Dominator.”

“Do you think that guy will transfer some of us? There’s only fifty in his team at the moment. Sir Golden Spear apparently said that he can pull three from each team and ten from his bodyguards.”

“Are you going?”

“Hells no!”

“Then that’s it. I’m not going if he wants me to go either. They’re just a bunch of rookies. They may be strong, but so many of them relied on mysterious power to get where they are. They’re even less than those supernaturals with a variety of measures to get stronger!”

“......”

Comments flew thick and fast. The martial masters kept their voices down, but so many people were discussing the newcomers that it created quite some pressure for the Demon Hunters team. There were almost one hundred half step Dominators in the area. The congregation of so much aura made the subjects of discussion nervous. After all, their strongest was late Sunderer. Liu Long was a Dominator, but he was as still as a Buddha statue at the moment. He was so unmoving that no one knew what he was thinking.

The martial masters from the other teams weren’t the only observers—Dominators on the stage near the center of the plaza were also watching. They just weren’t as overt as the martial masters crowding the Demon Hunters.

“He’s fast enough,” snorted the ferocious Chen Jin. “He’s got so many people after just a few days. Earthturner Sword’s willing enough—he even sent his own daughter!”

The sight of Li Hao deeply irked Chen Jin as he was the heir of Mountain Ax. That feeling remained even after being beaten up by the young man. Next to him, the towering heir of the Luo spear—Luo Qizhao of the slender arms—laughed at those words.

“You should talk more softly,” he said in a low voice. “Or have you not been beaten up enough?”

Chen Jin flicked a glance at him. “And were you not beaten up yourself?” Who are you laughing at!

Out of the nine centurions, five had lost to the young man and the remaining four didn’t even have the chance to take the field.

“Couldn’t help it, we were no match for him.” Instead of flying into a rage, Luo Qizhao smiled. “But he’s brought in Liu Long... Silver Spear’s heir. He’s got some strength. What do you guys think, will we be able to handle Liu Long if he wants to fight?”

“Him?”

“He’s a fresh Dominator, all of us have been at this stage for several years. We’ve spent a lot of time with various dao comprehension weapons and absorbed mysterious power stones... There’s been a large share of treasures coming our way. Liu Long falls short in this regard.”

“Don’t forget though, Silver City people are freaks. Setting aside the Five Styles King, how long has it been since Li Hao set foot onto the path of martial dao? Liu Long might be the same as them.”

Silver City’s Dominators had progressed this year, but each was stronger and more terrifying than the rest. They improved at an unbelievable speed.

As one of the few female martial masters, Xie Lan interrupted their discussion with a frown. “Is Li Hao officially establishing his team by assembling his people here? He hasn’t filled out his ranks yet and they don’t know the Guards’ Skyjade Formation... It won’t be convenient for him if he starts practicing first and slowly fills in the gaps after.”

The Silver Moon Guards possessed an army formation called the Skyjade Formation. It could be fielded with one thousand or one hundred people. They usually trained one hundred to a formation, but the entire army unit trained together every five days to familiarize themselves with the formation. This ensured they would be able to respond adequately in the case of meeting with a strong enemy.

Li Hao did not have a full one hundred yet and his people were all new. It would be difficult for them to learn the formation.

“I don’t want to train with him,” Chen Jin snorted. “Not to mention, the formation can only host one thousand people. We already have 980 of us. They would put us over the limit...”

“Chen Jin!” rebuked a martial master off to the side. “Enough! We know that his master killed your master, so it’s normal for you to be irritated at the sight of him. But don’t forget that this is the Silver Moon Guards. No one will say anything in normal times, but be careful of problems developing if you continue to nurse resentment!”

Grudges abounded among martial masters. In the martial world, those on opposing sides either never crossed paths again, took revenge, or forsook their hatred. But after joining the Silver Moon Guards, all of that was left in the past. Enormous trouble would develop if martial masters pursued their feuds to the bitter end.

Although Chen Jin spoke no more, bitterness overflowed from his eyes. The others didn’t try to speak more sense into him. If this was out in the world, the two would have to fight to the death if they met. It was good enough that they could coexist peacefully.

Li Hao approached from a distance as the group chatted. He was followed by Golden Spear and Mu Lin. Upon seeing the latter, everyone knew that the young man was truly establishing his team today.

......

“Li Hao,” Mu Lin transmitted. “You don’t have a full contingent yet and you’re not willing to transfer the veterans... Isn’t it too early to formally establish your team? Both boss and the director mean for you to do this at the end of the year...”

“It’s about time!” Li Hao replied without a change in expression. “Establishing it early means getting to work early. That means we earn money earlier! I’m almost too poor to live.”

Mu Lin didn’t have a response for that, neither did the young man say anything else. He swiftly walked ahead, parting the way through the observing martial masters. This one was not a kind soul and was not someone to provoke.

Li Hao walked very, very quickly until he reached his people. He cut straight to the chase without pleasantries or greetings. “I won’t bother with extraneous words. Everyone’s here because we want to grow stronger! I, Li Hao, am a rookie who doesn’t know anything about operations or partnership. Thus, the Demon Hunters need everyone to work together with utmost sincerity so that we can make a name for ourselves!

“I don’t have that many merits, but neither do I have that many demerits. If I am to prove myself to you, I speak only of strength!” He pointed at the centurions standing in the distance. “I defeated five of those nine Dominators a few days ago and the remaining four didn’t dare fight me together. If that still doesn’t prove my strength, all of you can attack me in however many numbers you want. What you say goes if you defeat me, if not, my word is law!”

He spoke loudly enough that unpleasant expressions appeared on the centurions’ faces, but they didn’t say anything. They had indeed been defeated, what could they say about that? Li Hao was stepping on them in public, but they had to resign themselves to their fates.

Over on the Demon Hunters side, not everyone knew about what his spoke of. Some of them looked at the centurions with strange looks, shock reverberating in their hearts. What their leader said was real! None of the nine was a match for him. So this disciple of the Five Styles is very, very strong—at least among martial masters!

No wonder the sect master (inspector general) praised him so effusively. Martial masters spoke of strength; all the rest could be spoken of later. So long as Li Hao led with a relatively fair hand and didn’t nitpick at his people or purposefully send them to death, he would be a good leader in their eyes. Martial masters were that simple at times. These words were easy to say, but hard to execute.

“There are only fifty in our hundred person team at the moment,” Li Hao continued. “If I’m not included, we happen to have precisely half of the amount we need. I don’t intend to recruit more for the moment as too many people makes it inconvenient. Fifty is enough, and we’ll be called the Demon Hunters in the future!

“Just call me leader—centurion is too small of a title!”

“......” Golden Spear and Mu Lin watched silently from behind. The title was too small? Was this boy even listening to himself?

“Our deputy is Liu Long. He used to be my chief in Silver City and he’s also a Dominator!” Li Hao chuckled. “We’re all martial masters, so let’s be more direct. Speak of any dissatisfaction openly, don’t complain or whisper behind someone’s back. That just harms the ties that bind us together. I’m close with martial uncle Hong and big brother Wang. They’re willing to let you come naturally because they trust me, and I won’t let their trust be given in vain!

“The Demon Hunters are officially established today. What does that mean? It means we will be executing missions from now on and getting to work. We’ll be growing stronger, earning money, and growing stronger again. We won’t be waiting for retirement in the base!”

Some martial masters on the outskirts were unhappy at the last pronouncement. What was he insinuating? Martial masters didn’t have to run missions everyday to be properly living life—rest and labor went hand in hand. They conducted missions every month to every three months. Their lives were on the line each time!

Why did it turn into waiting for retirement from Li Hao’s mouth?

“I see you looking around, Hong Qing.” Li Hao suddenly pointed at the girl. “Do you have something to say? Just yell out ‘question’!”

“Huh?”

“Say you have a question! Have you never been to school?”

“......” The awkward Hong Qing really hadn’t gone to school before. The Sword Sect had a private school, but that was different from a regular school.

She was embarrassed to be singled out and it felt that everyone on all sides was looking at her. Her face grew even redder. She usually carried herself with carefree poise, but was now nervous beyond belief.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺