Chapter 418: One Step to Heaven, One Step to Hell (III)

Chapter 418: One Step to Heaven, One Step to Hell (III)

When Li Hao collected the mysterious power stones, Hong Yitang gestured to the wind chime with a jerk of his chin. “Take that too!”

The young man stowed the wind chime with his belongings and rose to his feet. He silently considered the two men, a calm gaze in his eyes and one hand behind his back. No one could tell what he was thinking

He Yong looked at Hong Yitang, who laughed and breathed out. “You walk your path however it should be walked. Southern Fist and I will cultivate here for a day and have a chat with these monster spirit brothers.”

He Yong pursed his lips, but didn’t object.

Li Hao took another look at the two and quietly walked off. Hong Yitang watched him and called out, “Don’t forget the corpses on the ground! You can gather mysterious power from them. We have no use for it, but you should.”

Although much of it had dissipated, two dead Novas and seventeen Solars still produced a flabbergasting amount of mysterious power. Solars typically supplied one thousand cubes. Novas, being known as three times the suns of a Solar, held at least three times the mysterious power within their bodies. Thus, even the weakest Nova would produce roughly five thousand cubes. The fiercer ones could hold ten thousand cubes. It would take at least ten times that for a Nova to train from Starlight to Nova.

Li Hao didn’t reply; he swiftly threaded through the woods and quickly extracted mysterious power, as well as a large pile of energy rings. The four monster spirits were watching warily from the mountain valley. They kept a sharp eye on the two humans, wondering if they’d brought themselves under control. They relaxed at seeing that the humans weren’t erupting with the same presence as before.

The situation was finally over and done with!

“Hong, you’re not waiting for me to leave before going back for him, are you?” He Yong suddenly asked. Hong Yitang ignored him. He Yong snuck a few glances at him. “It’s that little sword, right?” Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

Hong Yitang continued to ignore him.

“Since you’re a swordsman, you might be invincible with it in your hand!”

“Is that so?” Hong Yitang chuckled. “Will a pair of boxing gloves make you invincible? Is it just the weapon that makes one strong and not the person themselves?

“Does the weapon come first, or the person? We have the weapon, but was it not forged by man? The ancients crafted them, so are we stuck to using only their creations as we seek to dominate the world?”

He Yong didn’t have an appropriate response.

“He Yong, do you think that he was prepared to... cut us down just now?” Hong Yitang looked in the direction that Li Hao had disappeared in. “Did his brain short circuit for him to take the foolish path of saving us? Can you believe that he’s Yuan Shuo’s disciple?”

That might’ve been the most dangerous moment that Li Hao had encountered thus far in life. It was more dangerous than any time! The young man had already drawn his sword and was ready to throw himself into battle against two powerhouses. What was laughable was that he’d been saving both of them seconds ago.

The three martial masters were all well aware that this was a gamble—a gamble with Li Hao’s life as forfeit. Most hilarious of all was that the forfeit had come knocking on their doors.

“I didn’t think anything like that!” He Yong said irritably. “You’d be the one taking any action! I’m not as strong as you—you might even attack me if you’re of the mind to!”

“I don’t need to.” Hong Yitang flicked a glance at him. “Not to mention, can we utilize the weapons of the eight families without their bloodline? Isn’t this so much better—we can ask him for help so long as we bring some mysterious power stones to him. Any action you take would be killing the goose for its golden eggs. Wouldn’t you weep to find out that you’re unable to use it?”

The two powerhouses stooped on the ground and began roasting monster spirit flesh. The great snake’s tail had been hacked off in the earlier battle. They were hungry, so they availed themselves of what was nearby.

A violent glint shone out of the snake’s eyes when it looked upon its severed tail, but the radiance quickly faded away. It could not afford to provoke those two. As for why the two humans hadn’t left, the monster spirits knew that they were waiting for the weak human to put some distance between them.

“Did any of you...” came a ripple from the ape. “See how the weak one left?”

The golden eagle didn’t respond. It had indeed observed something. Meanwhile, the tiger looked into the distance. “He’s... that one’s disciple!”

“So it was the two of you!” the ape exclaimed.

“......” His two comrades did not respond, they couldn’t be bothered to. So what if it was? What are you going to do about it?

“That person really isn’t dead! The one that left also grasped some unique auras, but they don’t seem to be like the ones that person knew.”

“That’s normal. Based on what they say, one person walks one dao. A myriad of changes exists in martial dao. Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die. Martial dao should be a journey of one’s own undertaking.”

The monster spirits fell silent; the great snake attempted to speak a few times, but didn’t say anything. There were four petals and three seeds left. Did they split that up? The petals could be evenly divided, but there was one less seed to go around. It... was more likely than not that the snake would go shorthanded.

None of the other monster spirits said a word, plainly wanting the snake to come to its own understanding and acceptance. They wanted it to volunteer a relinquishment of the entire flower. Only then would they possibly give one petal to it...

The snake lowered its head dejectedly. Those guys were truly one clique. It wasn’t part of them since it’d never been beaten by that human.

......

At the same time.

Drenched with sweat, Li Hao quickly fled without a word. He was soaked through and had almost unsheathed his sword in the final moments. He didn’t regret his own actions, it’d just been a solemn moment.

However, they’d stayed their hands in the final moment. Was it out of consideration that he’d saved their lives? Or thinking that the two of them wouldn’t be able to properly divide the loot? Regardless, he’d escaped from sure death, and with a hefty harvest himself.

Li Hao had witnessed a magnificent battle and saw with his own eyes the moves of multiple premier powerhouses. It hadn’t taken place through an illusory realm or other obstruction. He’d obtained many treasures—the lotus petal and seed resting in the storage ring that Hong Yitang had given him was immensely valuable.

There were approximately one hundred mysterious power stones—a number on par with what he’d collected from the corpses himself. Seventeen Solars and two Novas had also yielded thirty thousand cubes of mysterious power. His energy rings were almost out of space.

There were also many energy rings rattling in his pockets. He hadn’t taken inventory of them, but it would be tens of thousands of cubes even if each person carried just a few hundred on them. Combined with what was left... Li Hao estimated that he held nearly fifty thousand cubes!

It was a staggering figure that was an underestimation. Half Mountain and the Revolution King had been the leaders of their faction in the province. They wouldn’t possibly only have a few hundred cubes on them. That would be belittling the three great organizations. Tidal Wave would be the poorest among them.