Star Gate

Chapter 765: Simple and Crude (II)

“So this guy is also a martial master?” Mu Hai looked sternly at Deputy Zhou. “He’s worked with Zhao in Silver Moon for decades and always been as immovable as a mountain. He kept such a low profile that I thought he ascended as a supernatural long ago and set foot into the Arcanus realm. To think that he’s still a martial master!”

The rest assessed Deputy Zhou as well, seeing supernatural locks that briefly materialized and then faded away. That was indeed a sign of a martial master. As for how strong he was, exactly, that was hard to determine. At the very least, he’d started saturating his supernatural looks. Otherwise, weak martial masters would be directly exposed by the mirror fragments. There wouldn’t be anything they could do about it.

“This is good!” Hu Mingfa heaved a sigh of relief. “Li Hao and Hong Yitang are both still two element Arcanus. Li Hao really hasn’t broken any other locks! Even if he does so in the middle of a fight, three elements will be the most he can grasp. Trying to directly wield four elements will burden him beyond the limits of what he can endure.”

This was still within their scope of expectations.

“Release the word and contact Ying Hongyue. We’ll use mysterious power stones as bait first. If that doesn’t work, ask Ying Hongyue to supply one of the weapons and place it in the most obvious part of the ruins. Make it so that the kid can see and sense it as soon as he enters the place!”

......

Li Hao’s expression was ugly as he stood in the complex. It was a very uncomfortable feeling to be completely exposed to another. He looked toward the city center, drawing his brows together in a deep frown.

“The nine ministries won’t always keep their fragments combined together,” Yao Si comforted upon seeing the young man’s reaction. “They also know that nothing can remain secret in that condition. Hence, there’s a tacit agreement between all parties that have kept the fragments away from each other.

“You’re the primary reason why they’ve done so this time, and they probably won’t do so again unless they encounter another mutual enemy. Otherwise, there will be no secrets left between them if someone manages to turn the combined effect on one of them.”

“Is this a fragment of the legendary Sky Gander?” Li Hao had heard the little tree mention it before—it was the most famous mirror treasure from the ancient civilization. It was said to have been broken at one point.

“I’m not sure... I know it’s mentioned in the ancient records, but it’s hard to say if this is it or not. They describe it in such magical terms, that Sky Gander is omnipotent and can pry into everything beneath the heavens. The fragments we have now do not possess that ability.”

Li Hao said nothing further; they turned to He Yong when he walked in moments later.

“The royal family just sent word that the ruins relinquished by the Ministry of Finance will officially open tomorrow! They’ve invited me to explore it together...” He looked at Li Hao. “The deal with this set of ruins is that they automatically close once the number of people inside exceeds one hundred. The expedition team won’t be able to leave until five days later. On the other hand, people can freely come and go if there are less than one hundred inside.”

“So there are rules like that for certain ruins?” Li Hao blinked.

“Yes!” He Yong nodded. “Many ruins have rules like that, particularly martial universities. They’ve been closed off, so those who enter must stay for five days before receiving a vacation day.”

“They can only hold one hundred?”

“It’s not that they can only hold one hundred, but that the ruins will close when occupancy exceeds one hundred! That means to say it doesn’t matter if there’s one thousand or ten thousand inside. The ruins close as soon as there are more than one hundred within its grounds. Once this occurs, exit is unobtainable under normal circumstances.”

Li Hao frowned. A ruin that could close itself was the most troublesome kind of ruin there was. This one sealed itself for five days when the conditions were met! Anything could happen in five days.

“When you say close off, do you mean only entry is permitted, and not egress?” asked Li Hao. “For example, can more people head in if there’s already one hundred people inside? It’s just that people can’t leave, right?”

“That’s right, you can still go inside!” He Yong nodded. “So it’s not fully sealed away, just partially. However, no one is allowed to leave during this time period.

“The first expedition will certainly be less than one hundred to ensure that the ruins stay open. But if you enter, occupancy will probably instantly balloon over one hundred!”

The ruins would probably be sealed away the second that Li Hao set foot inside. One had to say, the royal family had picked well to invite He Yong to join the expedition.

“What’s your plan?” He Yong looked at the young man. “I’ll take a look inside if you’re determined to give it a try. They’ll probably have to set out a lot of treasures as bait, I might be able to pick something up...”

How else would they lure Li Hao inside otherwise?

The young man looked at Southern Fist. He Yong was an opportunistic fellow, but this time...

“You might not have a chance to leave after you go inside. Well, you might be able to retreat ahead of time before I go in...”

“Have you made up your mind to go inside?” He Yong frowned.

“I’m not sure, but I want to see what kind of treasure they have put up to tempt me so that I’ll ignore the dangers. What have they bought out that will make me willingly set foot in a trap? The nine ministries must be completely guaranteed of the success of their plot!” Li Hao laughed. “In that case, I’d like to satisfy my curiosity!”

“So I’ll agree to them?” He Yong looked at him with solemnity. “Also, don’t think of relying on your bloodline as part of the eight families. That’s useful only in Silver Moon. It might be completely useless here!”

“I understand.”

“Alright then!” He Yong was just as curious as the young man. What could the nine ministries have possibly put on the table? This was an exploration in which both sides knew what to expect. It wasn’t a quest to uncover the treasures within the martial university, but one to see what the nine ministries could supply. It was a ludicrous situation in some ways, but such was what was taking place.

......

Yao Si breathed out heavily after He Yong left. “I’ll go in with you!”

Since Li Hao’s mind was made up and they were on the same boat now, it was better that he follow Li Hao inside.

“We need people on the outside too.” Li Hao shook his head. “If we all head in, what should we do if someone seeks to eradicate us here?”

The Night Watchers were a force to be reckoned with. It wasn’t ideal for Yao Si to be absent as well.

“Let’s wait and see!” Li Hao smiled. “However much they’re willing to offer demonstrates the strength of their desire to kill me. I’m quite looking forward to it and hope that the nine ministries have brought out treasures that will make me lose my mind!”

No one said a word as they didn’t know if this development was good or bad.

......

He Yong entered the ruins on the second day—the fourth day according to Li Hao’s ultimatum toward the nine ministries. There were six days until the Skystar Commander Office was officially established.

If Li Hao was to enter the ruins, he had only one day left to consider his decision. Otherwise, with the five days that the ruins would be sealed off for, that wouldn’t leave him enough time to participate in the commencement ceremony.

......

In a small mountain on the western outskirts of Skystar City.

He Yong traveled with approximately eighty people. Some were from the nine ministries, some from the royal family. There were also a few mysterious people. Their numbers were controlled to less than one hundred.

A grave expression on his face, He Yong remained silent. There was a tunnel ahead and a door shrouded with energy standing at the end.

“Master He, this ruin is called Evenround Martial University,” whispered a royal prince. “It’s not that big, just a small university. Not that many treasures were found on previous expeditions. It’s been quite fully preserved, however, and the structures inside are quite intact. This must not have been an important school back in the day, just mid to lower ranking.”

He Yong inclined his head.

“The ninth prince has said that Master He should just take a look around inside,” the young man continued softly. “It’s better to not be involved in certain matters. Once you’ve assessed the situation, Master He can decide whether or not you’d like to stay.”

“I see!” He Yong walked straight inside when the door was opened via an item that looked like a stone. There was no danger here!

A simple Nova had led previous expeditions and the casualty rate had been very low. There were no plant spirits inside, just some guards. The guards were puppets, not the bodies of soldiers like those found in Battle Heaven. They were a bit of a threat to Solars and Novas, but entirely negligible to powerhouses like He Yong.

Massive school gates stood in front of him when he entered the ruins. They were gigantic! At least one hundred meters wide.

It seemed that all ancient buildings were thus magnificent—this wasn’t the important detail. There were barely any records of this university in the ancient books. Plainly, it was just a humble school. It would rock the modern world if they discovered the ruins of Demonic Martial or Capital Martial.

He Yong found several buildings that looked like puppets when he looked toward the gates. He couldn’t help an urge to laugh. Why did this place look like a toy for children? As they said, this university was truly the bottom of the barrel. No wonder the Ministry of Finance had given it up.

The gates were open, so they walked straight on in. The others followed him, all looking at him like he was the leader. He Yong knew what they had in mind, so he didn’t say anything. He simply continued walking...

The university was very small! It might be the smallest he’d ever visited out of all of his explorations. There was a rather imbalanced contrast to the massive school gates that he’d come through. One could scan the entire school with a single glance.

There were four small buildings total—the classrooms, training rooms, residences, and offices. The entire school amounted to less than one hundred acres. How was this a university?

He Yong inwardly looked down on it. A martial elementary, more like! However, he sensed energy ripples in the distance. After a moment of hesitation, he swiftly walked over. A glittering expanse came into view once he passed the buildings—his jaw dropped and he stared, dumbfounded!

“Um... does this need more investigation?” He Yong turned back to look at the people behind him. “We can just say that we found an energy mine...”

These people were being too blatant! So very incredibly blatant! Perhaps due to the small size of the school making for limited space, the nine ministries had dumped all of the mysterious power stones into the small pond in the back. Even the rest of the expedition was open-mouthed with astonishment, to say nothing of He Yong.

He snorted and wanted to draw closer for a look, but two powerhouses materialized in the air and stared quietly at him.

“I want to verify if this is real or not!” He glared at them.

No one responded, but the two powerhouses gave way after some thought. He Yong picked up a random stone and sucked in a sharp breath after further scrutiny. It was real! How many were there here? There was no end to this mountain of mysterious power stones!

So many stones in such a tiny ruin... The hell man, the nine ministries might as well just come straight out and ask me if this amount is sufficient to tempt Li Hao!