Star Gate

Chapter 838: Invincible! (II)

A series of dry coughs rose and fell throughout the group. Yuan Shuo had missed out on quite a great deal with his absence. A ruin? Wasn’t it plant spirits or ancient powerhouses that were the strongest existence in a ruin? What could they offer?

Water of Life? One hundred drops, maybe. What else?

Nothing else. But with Li Hao, all of them had already received a varying quantity of Water of Life. They’d also absorbed core origin strength from an ancient powerhouse and the indestructible matter used to forge golden bodies. Their auras had also undergone quantitative changes after killing an Immortal plant spirit.

With this in mind, the group rather pitied Yuan Shuo. How tragic! The old man had insisted on striking out on his own and completely missed out on these incredible gains. Although he was Li Hao’s master, he might only be peak metamorphosis at the moment or barely an Arcanus. He might even feel very proud of himself for reaching that level!

Little does he know, we’re all five and six elements now!

But they still had to go to him when it came to researching cultivation methods. Some of the ancient powerhouses might have a wide span of knowledge or be very strong, but they were not as accomplished as Yuan Shuo when it came to studying the human body and aura. The old man himself was the greatest target for research.

Even now, Li Hao was yet to meld the five auras as one. No one was able to do it other than Yuan Shuo. He had completely fused his together as opposed to utilizing them separately like Li Hao.

“Is there more indestructible matter?” Li Hao suddenly asked upon hearing the group mention his master.

Silence.

No one said a word. It was all gone, along with Water of Life! They’d truly had a grand feast. Everyone had been afraid of seeing lesser gains if they took in less than the others. They wouldn’t be able to continue advancing if their physical bodies weren’t strong enough, so who would hold back out of politeness?

All of them absorbed the available resources for all their worth! Even late-joiner Chen Zhongtian took everything he could. He was so full that he almost wanted to burp. He’d wanted to stash some away for his son, but hadn’t had the chance to do so before everyone else emptied the reserves.

The coconut tree had expended its own resources for many years, so there wasn’t as much indestructible matter within it as one might think. Although it was an Immortal, it was closer to being an Apex.

With so many near-Apex Arcanus powerhouses furiously drawing on it, as well as the little tree, Panther, and Deputy Zhou... there wasn’t anything left. Only the trunk remained on the ground. Li Hao had put the coconuts away.

“I forgot to save some for my master.” Li Hao smacked his head. “Forget it, I’ll save some for him next time we kill a plant spirit if he’s still not around.”

“......” Just listen to the young man! But everyone’s eyes brightened all the same and Chen Zhongtian swallowed hard.

“I’ve got one at home!” Indeed, his family’s ruins had a plant spirit in residence, one that was particularly arrogant and cocky. What if... they killed it?

Li Hao couldn’t be bothered to respond. He was only voicing his thoughts, he didn’t plan on killing more plant spirits at present. The group needed some time to digest their gains. He also needed to make further plans if they were to go after the Chen plant spirit. That one would be a completely whole opponent without previously splitting itself for a replica, unlike the partial target of the foolish coconut tree that they’d fought.

Of course, the Chen father and son could also try and see if they could trick a replica out of their plant spirit. These plant spirits existed by themselves at the moment. None of them could exchange information with each other.

Li Hao set the matter aside and turned his attention to the ruin in front of them. He hadn’t had time to observe it before their battle. These seemed to be the gardens of a certain building structure. It was completely pitch-black ahead without a speck of light.

“Everyone should take some time to settle down with their new gains,” Li Hao breathed out. “Improving too fast isn’t a good thing either. It’s best to temper ourselves for a bit, and this is something the seniors all know better than me. Let’s wait a while longer before we kill another plant spirit.”

No one had an opposing opinion, whereas He Yong still couldn’t help himself in the end. “Ah... is there no more Water of Life?”

“......” The group cursed to themselves. What a shameless guy!

“No, it’s all gone!” Li Hao burst out laughing. “We’re not in urgent need of it now, so we can have Senior Tree take its time with conversion. The cost will be a lot lower!”

The cost was too high when they were in a hurry for Water of Life. When it came to mysterious power stones, he had quite a lot left at thirty million. He’d been burning through mysterious power stones lately. What he’d obtained from killing the plant spirit had been used on the spot, but it also resulted in a rapid increase in strength among the group.

A slow utilization of thirty million stones would result in ten thousand drops. An urgent order would result in three thousand drops. There was no need to waste the stones on He Yong’s behalf!

Indeed, such were Li Hao’s thoughts. What are you in a hurry for, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a four or five element Arcanus!

The young man had reaped a great harvest lately—his reserve of mysterious power stones and Water of Life was truly incredible. But having to support so many people meant that he only had a few mysterious power stones left. They would soon be expended since everyone had use for them.

What terrified Li Hao was that he had too many supernatural locks! Who knew how many more stones he’d have to consume if he wanted to keep improving?

“Let’s investigate these ruins first...”

“It’s probably one of the critical parts of the city,” Chen Zhongtian didn’t really mind. “It’s not a large place and you won’t be able to probe too deep into it. There’s a barrier ahead that will block your path.

“The ruins at my home are where the ancient Hall of Education was back in those times. It’s a more important place, but also just a building. There’s nothing special about it. The Department of Education was the core of the ancient civilization, but there’s not much use to it as there aren’t many treasures left in it.

“It’s basically the same as the nine ministries. We obtained their inheritance by accident a long time ago. How should I put it... it was the plant spirits that chose us. They wanted people in the outside world to help them, so they set the revolution of the nine ministries in motion!

“The bramble rose of the royal family was the true guardian plant spirit of Skystar ruins. It’s very strong and has always wanted to devour the other nine. That was why there was the uprising eighty years ago and why the royal family was overturned. The bramble rose can individually suppress any of the plant spirits, but it cannot when all nine are allied against it.”

Chen Zhongtian was much more talkative than usual. “We hold the vital points of Skystar, but the true heart of the ruin is the entrance to the mine. However...” The man thought about his next sentence. “There is a guard at the entrance!”

“Even now?”

“Even now!” Chen Zhongtian nodded. “We’ve been waiting for the second awakening for a while, but it hasn’t begun mostly because of the guard at the mine. Skystar Fortress used to be filled with a Skystar Army of one hundred thousand strong. The guards at the mines were their elites and part of that army. There weren’t many of them, just three thousand or so, but they were the best of the best. It’s said that their leader was a vice commander in the Skystar Army!”

A leader of ten thousand made one a first rank division leader. That meant he was at least an Apex. The commander-in-chief of the Skystar Army was at least an Immortal, which meant that a vice commander was ninety-nine percent an Immortal.

So this vice commander was an Immortal, but he was sent to watch the mines?

“Were the guards humans? If so... shouldn’t they be long dead?” Li Hao was confused.

“I have no idea.” Chen Zhongtian shook his head. “It would also be normal if they aren’t dead. They are undying and indestructible, simply guarding the energy stone mines. So... wouldn’t it be expected that they’re still alive?”

“That’s true!” Li Hao laughed. He’d almost forgotten. Standing guard over a massive mine didn’t make them the same as others of the ancient civilization. The guards would have a bountiful supply of energy and their golden body was indestructible. Perhaps they were alive in the true sense of the word. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“So, they’re still watching the mines?”

“Yes!” Chen Zhongtian nodded. “I also heard it from the plant spirit, but the plant spirit said that the mines will blow sooner or later even if they’re inaccessible. Energy will sweep through the world at that time! This is because energy has recovered in the world after the first awakening, which means that the big mines in Skystar will also slowly recover and accumulate energy.

“Plant spirits were permitted to absorb this energy in the ancient civilization to prevent explosions. That was also the purpose of guardian plant spirits. But now that the ten plant spirits of Skystar Fortress are unable to siphon off that energy, a great amount is accumulating. Although that vice commander can absorb some energy, one person alone can’t alleviate the pressure on the mines. It’s only a matter of time before they explode!”

Once they did, the energy would sweep through the land and the second awakening would begin.

“Will... Skystar City still remain if the mine explodes?” Li Hao frowned.

“That won’t have an effect. It will explode only inside the ancient city and won’t affect the outside world. A large mine once exploded in Silver Moon and prompted an awakening, but that didn’t have too great an effect.”

That particular mine didn’t measure up to the one at Skystar Fortress.

Li Hao said nothing more. He reached out and stowed the towering tree’s trunk in his storage ring. He had an abundance of storage rings lately; the young man chose a big one to ensure it could hold the trunk.

The group stepped over the corpses of the Hus—well, the pieces of their remains since they’d been blown to pieces—and walked forward. When they reached the edge of the yard, the group realized where they were. Security!

Li Hao knew it to be an institution similar to the Inspectorate. It was just empty now with nothing remaining. A layer of black fog writhed ahead of them. The young man took a closer look, but didn’t recognize what it was. The little tree did; it rummaged through its memories.

“This is disordered core origin!”

“What is disordered origin of chaos?”

“When large sums of core origin heavyweights die and no one collects their core origin, it jumbles together into disordered core origin and forms a particular barrier...” The little tree fell silent for a moment.

“There were... riots and unrest in Skystar Town back in the day.”

Li Hao blinked. Now that was an abrupt change in topic.