Star Gate

Chapter 55: Strange Attributed Mysterious Power (II)

Darkmoons were the equivalent of Sunderer of Hundreds! They were stronger than regular Sunderers. Even though Liu Long was the main offense and Liu Yan secondary support, it was still a testament to their strength that they’d brought such an opponent down.

Li Hao was suddenly reminded of a few unsolved cases in Classified Affairs that had to do with electricity. They likely stemmed from this one, yet he said nothing. The supernaturals that the team killed were all likely well-deserving of death!

“Earth energy is found under the third cover!” Liu Long picked up the conversation. “That guy was probably the hardest one to kill. He was a new Darkmoon, but incredibly difficult to corner because he could travel underground. We incurred our greatest losses due to his ambushes from below. Twelve of our comrades died in that operation!”

Li Hao regarded the captain solemnly. Liu Long shook his head.

“I didn’t really do it. He was so arrogant that he thought nothing of us. It was incredibly difficult because he came and went like a ghost, popping up anywhere and everywhere. We finally buried a thousand kilograms of explosives in a certain area and lured him over to blow him up! We didn’t extract much mysterious power after that, more’s the pity.”

Blew him up with a thousand kilograms of explosives!

Li Hao started, he’d almost forgotten about hot weapons. This Darkmoon supernatural could move through the earth. A martial master like Liu Long without special ability could only meet the opponent head-on, but not touch him. The team captain had to resort to outside weapons instead!

Indeed, what they said was true, that Darkmoons weren’t infallible and mortals could kill them if they had a proper plan.

“Of the three attributed mysterious powers, fire and lightning are extremely combative. Earth is more suited for auxiliary support—the caveat being that the attribute is a good match for you. Otherwise, any attribute is similar to regular mysterious power and will only slightly enhance your offensive capabilities!” Liu Long clenched his hand and punched forward, giving off faint sparks.

He knew that the young man didn’t understand. “I once absorbed fire energy, so my attacks contain a tiny hint of fire. However, I’m not sure if this means that fire suits me. Sometimes it’s hard to determine what attribute is the right fit without crossing over.”

Li Hao nodded—the power of fire! So Liu Long could utilize fiery punches? If the captain possessed some special powers, what about the others?

They might all have special abilities—particularly Chen Jian. Li Hao strongly suspected that the rotund man commanded defensive ability of earth as his defense was ridiculously masterful.

If the Demon Hunters counted five supernaturals in their track record, that meant two types of energy had been completely absorbed. I wonder what abilities the other two contain and who absorbed them?

Yun Yao also offered a few words of explanation for non-attributed power. This kind of energy was distilled from attributed energy; it didn’t exist independently.

“Which do you wish to choose, Li Hao?” Liu Long looked solemnly at the young man. “Since you’ve already experienced mysterious power, let me put it this way. The force of attributed mysterious power is several times greater than that, yet its benefits are on par with regular unattributed energy! Therefore, it’s a massive loss if the attributed energy you absorb is not a good match. Not only will you not obtain additional benefits, but you have to endure greater danger!

“If you succeed in digesting it, however, you’ll gain a little bit of its characteristics even if you don’t cross over. Such are the potential benefits!”

Li Hao hesitated over the three energies in front of him. Which should he choose?

“Chief, if I get two cubes, why don’t I choose two different ones…?”

“Don’t even think about it!” Liu Long shook his head. “With sufficient buffer time, sure, but if you absorb two different types together, the impact will blast your brains out. I don’t want to clean up after your corpse!”

Very well then, Li Hao understood. He looked at the three ice crystal covers again. Which should he choose? Fire and lightning sounded good. His attacks would be stronger if he could gain a little bit of their characteristics, but earth also sounded good!

Earth gave the impression of defense as weighty as a mountain. Being able to move through the ground was a prime lifesaving method in current circumstances. Granted, it was also possible that it was nothing more than regular mysterious power to him.

“I want the earth attributed one!” Li Hao decided.

“Not bad!” Liu Long nodded with a rare smile. “It’s safer and there happens to be only two cubes of earth left!”

It was the least plentiful out of the three types, likely because of how its owner died. There might not have been any part of the supernatural left, so harvesting any energy was already a boon. There was more fire and lightning in the team’s reserves.

“Come absorb it!” A thought suddenly struck Liu Long. “And use the way that Yuan Shuo taught you, don’t use my Energy Induction Method.”

Awkwardness crept into Li Hao’s face; the team captain knew what he was thinking of.

“Alright, everybody out! Don’t worry, no one will peek.” He turned and left, followed by the rest of the smiling Demon Hunters.

“Absorb as much as you can, Little Hao Hao,” Liu Yan chuckled. “If you can digest it all, big sis has claims to two of the remaining eight in the treasury. If you come chat with big sis tonight, I’ll give you those too!”

Li Hao laughed drily, but was inwardly surprised. Liu Yan owned some of the energy in the vaults? Why didn’t she absorb them? Was it not a match? But unattributed power could be absorbed without risk, why hadn’t the rest of the team taken the energy?

Bringing up the rear, Yun Yao seemed to understand the young man’s confusion.

“The rest of the mysterious power is either not a good fit, or we can’t absorb anymore,” she explained in a calm, soft tone. “If we continue to take in more energy while failing to cross over, we might ascend to Sunderer of Hundreds instead. Once we make Sunderer, the supernatural will be almost impossible to reach!”

Li Hao understood! So this meant that Liu Yan was very close to peak Slayer? This was something he hadn’t considered. Everyone on the team was Slayer of Tens; it made sense if vice captain Liu Yan was a peak Slayer. What about the team doctor in front of him?

New questions rose in his heart, but Yun Yao was already gone. He was the only one left in the secret chamber once the door closed. It was just him and ten cubes of mysterious power—aren’t these guys worried I’ll take it all?!

Of course, he would never do so.

……

Earth attributed mysterious power was yellowish-brown in Li Hao’s eyes. It looked different from cosmic power.

“Mysterious power… attributes… energy…” He was unversed in the supernatural domain, but unique in that he could truly see mysterious power. He didn’t have to rely on Yun Yao dyeing the energy to make it visible.

Her ability only manifested the energy and didn’t reveal its core. Li Hao, however, could glimpse what made it different.

“Why can mysterious power possess different attributes?” Upon closer observation, the young man realized that the three energies in front of him were mostly the same. The major difference came from their core. Various colors corresponding to fire, lightning, and earth continuously emanated from the center, creating a muddled combination of energy.

“If I strip that from the energy, I’ll create pure unattributed mysterious power!”

The major benefit of unattributed power was that it was far safer and less painful. The major drawback was that it only enhanced the physique and did not help with the crossover.

Li Hao gave it some thought, then stretched his hand into one of the ice crystal covers. He utilized the Breathing Method of the Five Styles—it was faster and more effective. The side effect was that he drew upon Stellaris at the same time. This was the only way that energy could be summoned from the jade sword. Regular breathing methods were ineffective, a point that was both pro and con. Those who didn’t know this breathing method wouldn’t find any use for the family weapon even if they laid hands on it.

Two currents of mysterious power surged into his body at the same time. When the expected pain assailed him, the young man also noticed something different.

“Cosmic power is stripping out the earth attribute!” Li Hao saw with surprise. The energy from Stellaris was dissecting the earth energy! Most of it was mysterious power—only a portion was attributed energy. Both entered his body at the same time, but were separated upon entry!

Before long, a ball of pure yellowish-brown hovered in his body. Instead of following his blood vessels or muscles, it beelined for one location. Li Hao quickly clutched the upper left portion of his belly—there was an important organ there. The spleen!

“The five elements… earth… the spleen?”

The spleen could be found in the left abdominal cavity below the stomach. It served a vital function as the body’s blood bank. Normally stored in the spleen, blood was delivered when needed. Death was not far behind once the organ hemorrhaged. The collapse of the body’s blood bank meant swift blood loss and impending demise.

The spleen was also exceedingly fragile—more than the stomach or heart. It was much more likely to be damaged from a heavy blow compared to the other two. Therefore, even martial masters knew defeat was at hand once their spleen was hit—if not death.

Hence, Li Hao purpled with dismay when the energy surged into his spleen. That organ was incredibly weak and mysterious power enormously powerful! Attributed power also delivered a greater punch than regular power. Once it rampaged through the spleen and ripped it to pieces, he’d die!

“Damn it!” He swiftly directed vast sums of cosmic power to the spleen so they could contain the yellowish ball.

Oh fuck!

He was in for it this time, why was this happening?? Mysterious power didn’t usually touch the organs because they were too fragile. It kept to the blood vessels, muscles, and skin. Why were things suddenly different?!

The breathing method could redirect energy, but when cosmic power approached the spleen, it flowed right past instead of attacking the foreign mysterious power. Li Hao paled with horror!

The yellowish energy shot into his spleen—he needed to call for help! He would require immediate medical attention once his spleen broke apart, hopefully Yun Yao would prove useful and be able to save him before he bled to death!

“Hel—” Li Hao blinked before he finished the word. The hell? It didn’t hurt!

There was no pain after the yellow melded into his spleen. It only felt a bit bloated like it’d eaten too much. Something peculiar crept into the young man the next moment—all of the blood normally stored in that organ surged out!