Star Gate

Chapter 35: Discovering New Territory (I)

Within the treasury.

“Are you uncomfortable with so much mysterious power accumulated in your body?” Liu Long asked.

Li Hao nodded, that was precisely his feeling. This instance of mysterious power was harder to digest. The energy within the treasury was different compared to the energy within the jade sword—it faded more slowly.

Any sword energy that he didn’t digest quickly dissipated after absorption, benefiting Panther instead. Thus, while it looked like he took in a lot of energy from the sword last night, more than half of it had gone to waste. The dog seemed better than Li Hao at digesting energy.

Li Hao didn’t dare operate the Breathing Method of the Five Styles while he absorbed the two cubes of power, so he didn’t collect too much. If it was energy from the jade sword in his body, it would’ve already seeped out and dispersed.

On the contrary, the energy yet lingered in his body despite not being digested.

Weird! Were the two types of energy different? Was secondhand energy easier to store? I don’t get it!

Liu Long suddenly roared, breaking into Li Hao’s thoughts. “What are you standing around for if the power hasn’t been digested yet?? Get over there and start training! Are you waiting for such a precious resource to dissipate??”

Li Hao ran outside without another word. A tyrannical deputy chief was still rather intimidating. It was better not to get on his bad side.

……

The fitness area.

It was outfitted with a much more comprehensive set of equipment compared to what he had at home. Although the two cubes of mysterious power were underwhelming in terms of energy and hard to digest, Li Hao quickly settled into practicing the Five Styles. Wasting energy didn’t seem like a big deal at first, but when he considered the unknown number of times the jade sword might be good for, he quickly changed his mind.

According to what his teacher said, the energy contained within supernatural objects was very limited. Therefore, Li Hao needed to treasure what he’d just received.

It was time for the ape style again! Leaping into the air, jumping and landing, Ape Paw, swinging around on hoops, pushing off various leverage points…

Slowly, a bizarre expression draped over the young man’s face. The mysterious energy that he’d absorbed earlier seemed to stir only now!

“Hup!” he grunted. Veins throbbed on his forehead as pain suddenly wracked his body. Convulsions seized certain portions of his body. Thinking that something was wrong with him, that the mysterious power was on a fatal rampage, Li Hao opened his mouth to cry for help.

“Don’t stop, continue!” Liu Long roared. “The energy is taking effect right now! Mysterious power’s greatest effect is destruction—you will be reborn from ashes of devastation! It continuously reforges your body, blood vessels, and bones so that you live through death via the path of suffering!”

Unbearable torment strained Li Hao’s entire being!

That’s not right! The thought flashed through his head. This wasn’t right, it absolutely wasn’t right. Rebirth from ashes of devastation? That wasn’t how it worked. There was no destruction when he absorbed energy from the jade sword. Whatever excess he took in faded away. It nurtured instead of hurt the body.

These were two entirely different sensations to his senses. The jade sword’s power was pure and gentle; what he just obtained was so violent!

“Chief… it hurts… is something wrong…”

“Wrong your ass!” Liu Long roared. “This is how mysterious power is! Train well with it—two cubes of power are a priceless treasure! I’ll have your ass for it if you waste them! We paid an incredible price to acquire this energy! You’ll die in the next mission if you don’t make a noticeable improvement to your abilities!”

Li Hao screamed with agony—it hurt so much! He wasn’t afraid of suffering, he just wanted to tell Liu Long that things didn’t seem right. Why was it like this?

Bam!

Being driven crazy with torment, the young man swapped to the more ferocious tiger style. It was better able to ease this torture!

Bam!

The punching bag went flying and exploded when the next fist hit it! Li Hao erupted with strength, blood vessels bulging all over his body.

……

Off to the side.

Yun Yao inclined her head and whispered, “He has good foundations! The New Book of Five Styles is Elder Yuan’s secret art alright. Although Li Hao is yet to reach Slayer of Tens, his physical constitution is far beyond average! Ordinary people see their orifices flow with blood after absorbing two cubes of mysterious power, to say nothing of their blood vessels bursting and their organs being compressed. He seems fine apart from his blood vessels expanding.”

This level of physique absolutely placed the young man almost on par with Slayers of Tens. There was a negligible difference between the two.

Liu Long also inclined his head. “The guy is in good shape! Is the New Book of Five Styles that good? I took a look at it before and pegged it for something for general health. So it has this kind of effect on martial foundations?”

“Perhaps there’s a secret edition!” Yun Yao smiled—that was a distinct possibility. She looked strangely at Li Hao, wanting to say something, but refraining in the end.

The young man seemed to have absorbed some mysterious power—not from moments ago, but previously. But though he had, his strength hadn’t improved by much. What was key was that there were no signs of his blood vessels bursting. That was a typical indicator of absorbing energy. Even burst capillaries would be detectable.

In Yun Yao’s eyes, Li Hao might have absorbed some power before this, but just a little.

Power from a supernatural object, perhaps? And in an exceedingly small amount?

That was possible.

……

Li Hao roared nonstop in the training grounds.

“Rah!!” He was as ferocious as a tiger out of the mountains and struck with Tiger Claw, snapping a wooden dummy in half!

The result shocked him just like it would anyone else—how was this possible?! He was now experienced with two types of mysterious power. The jade sword offered more; it was purer and more gentle, possibly firsthand energy that didn’t enhance his abilities much.

What came from the Demon Hunters was exceedingly destructive and kept rampaging through his body, bolstering him to deal more lethal and ferocious blows!

Li Hao saw almost no improvement from his first night of drinking mysterious power. It was his third instance today, but it felt much more potent than the vast quantity he took in last night. Off to the side, Liu Long’s eyes lit up when he saw the young man’s condition.

“Good! Li Hao, continue! The effects seem quite pronounced for you, so two cubes of power should be able to power you to Slayer of Tens!”

Li Hao was unable to dwell on the captain’s words—he didn’t have any time to think as he was yet to fully digest the energy in his body. It still tore through him, so he needed to continue working off the excess.

“RAH!!” A shout rang out like one from a tiger shaking the mountain woods. One of the offensive techniques of the tiger style, the sound attack was normally effective for simply boosting morale. It never had a tangible effect.

Li Hao’s roar actually gave the impression of a tiger prowling through its territory and declaring sovereignty! Ears rang painfully while the young man abruptly formed his hands into fists and slammed them into the floor.

Bear Style!

The bear style among the Five Styles was most suited for deploying advantages of strength. Li Hao brought out all five animal styles at this point in time. He was most adept at the ape style and less practiced with the other styles, but that didn’t matter in this moment.

He needed to vent what was in his body!

That was the only thing on his mind!

Bam bam bam!

A series of enormous collisions sounded as he concentrated his strength into his hands. The bear style focused on the arms, the tiger style on equilibrium between the four limbs, and the ape style on the legs.

Liu Long stared fixedly at the young man, surprised once again. “This constitution… is really not bad! The little guy might really make it to Slayer of Tens after absorbing two cubes!”

It was incredible, but not wholly impossible. It was just… Li Hao’s foundations were so good that even now, there were no signs that he was about to bleed. This was very rare!

It meant that his physique was cream of the crop. Liu Long didn’t understand—was the New Book of Five Styles that incredible? Even Yuan Shuo’s constitution was just run-of-the-mill, wasn’t it?

“If the Five Styles are that good for crafting one’s foundations, why does the professor’s health decline?” Liu Long murmured. “Did he revise the New Book of Five Styles later on and Li Hao studies that edition instead?”

Yun Yao shook her head. While she didn’t know the answer, it was clear to see that Li Hao was in fine physical condition.

“What a pity!” Liu Long suddenly sighed. “If Yuan Shuo practiced this edition of the Five Styles when he was young, he would’ve crafted a solid foundation and prevented all those internal injuries that plague his well being. He might’ve set foot into Dominator of Thousands! If he can ascend from that level… he’d be a titan in the modern day supernatural domain!”

The two were more astounded the longer they watched. Liu Yan was likewise dumbfounded when she came down and saw that Li Hao was furiously punching and jumping around like a monkey.

“How long has he been at this?”

“Half an hour!”

Liu Yan’s jaw dropped. “And he’s still standing? This efficacy rate is crazy! I remember some guys before toppled over as soon as they absorbed just a little bit. They couldn’t move and their efficacy was also crazy—crazy low!”

Some people’s blood vessels burst as soon as they absorbed a tiny bit of mysterious power. They couldn’t continue taking in energy, much less digest it. But Li Hao—he was still training half an hour after being exposed to mysterious power. This conversion rate was extremely high!

Liu Long was likewise stunned. After a while, he said, “It’s not helpful for him to train without an opponent. You go, spar with him.”

“Me?” Liu Yan blinked. She looked at her captain and then at the merry Yun Yao. Bullies!

Fine, fine, woe was her.

……

Li Hao was still punching wooden dummies when a chuckle traveled into his ear. “How about big sis help you practice?”

The young man wasn’t afraid—he was only excited. Well met! It was too tiring to continue the way he’d been going. There was still mysterious power inside his body! There was just under half left, so the vice captain’s arrival was perfect!

“Be careful, vice captain!” Li Hao felt that he was much stronger than before and launched into an attack as soon as he turned around. There was no fear of hurting anyone by accident as all Demon Hunter members were very strong. He who struck first gained the advantage!

“Black Tiger Heart Gouge!” he shouted and curved his hands into tiger claws. Blood vessels bulged over them as he swung at Liu Yan.

“Where are you gouging, little Li Hao?” Liu Yan tittered and instantly broke free with a waver of her body. She pushed out her chest with a radiant smile. “We have an audience, so don’t go grabbing randomly!”

Li Hao turned a deaf ear. His teacher had said that concentration was required in training—mental distractions were not permitted. Put all nonsense out of his mind!

“Ape In Flight!” he shouted again and pushed off with both feet, leaping into the air.

“Have you forgotten the lesson we taught you earlier about not leaving the ground?” Liu Yan chuckled. The little guy had jumped up again, that was a great taboo!

She readied to yank Li Hao out of the sky when the young man suddenly made use of his momentum and flailed around wildly, lifting himself further until he grasped the fluorescent lights in the ceiling.

The tube lights were very fragile, so the young man only touched them gently to leverage them as a turning point to fling himself past Liu Yan.

“Well done!” Yun Yao called out with surprise.

Liu Long nodded as well. “A two-stage jump through outside utilization halfway. That’s very rare! However… we’re indoors right now. There’s no ceiling to use in the outdoors.”

Yun Yao chuckled and murmured, “Maybe he won’t do this outside.”

No matter what, Li Hao had committed the lesson to memory and wasn’t hauled out of the air. He leapt past his opponent and reached for her back. This kind of adaptation was quite uncommon for a rookie!