Star Gate

“In our current cultivation system, the number of locks determines the number of elements we can wield. Whether it is martial masters or supernaturals, the four limbs are unattributed to the elements, the five organs have their own elements, the spine is of thunder and lightning, the zifu of wind, light and dark are in an unknown location, and the head is of mental strength. That makes for fourteen locks.

“Of them, the four in the limbs are foundational locks. If they’re counted in terms of strength, whether it is us, pure supernaturals, or pure martial masters, we only have the equivalent of ten element Arcanus to aspire to, is that correct?” Yao Si looked at everyone. “The destination looks far away, but it may not be that far. Therefore, I think the more critical task at hand is to locate more supernatural locks and discuss our findings with each other. The light and dark attribute locks, for example, have flown under my radar.”

He felt that since everyone focused on different aspects of cultivation, perhaps they could exchange information and see if they could discover more locks.

“You’re in such a hurry,” He Yong couldn’t help but point out. “Have you already saturated all of the known locks?”

“That’d be an exaggeration,” Yao Si laughed. “I’ve saturated eleven locks prior to today, of which four are the limbs. I’ve only just completed the circulation of my five organs and don’t plan to tackle wind or thunder at the moment. The transformation of my organ elements into five supernatural abilities is more reliable.”

The group looked at him with surprise. He’s already completed the circulation of the five organs? This old guy is… really strong. The five organs were weaker than the physical body or skeleton. Some people prioritized other attributes first because it was difficult for the five organs to endure five eruptions in succession. There was too much force brought to bear.

Although the supernatural characters contained the aura, the aura had to erupt dominatingly when used in battle. Could one guarantee that the backlash wouldn’t recoil onto the five organs? This one didn’t seem afraid.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Yao Si smiled. “I started fortifying my organs many years before you guys and I’m the oldest out of all of you. I’m at least ten years older than Yuan Shuo, which makes me a previous generation martial master.”

He was much older than the rest—Li Hao pegged him at roughly 80 years old. That was indeed old.

“The five elements gathering in the five organs… Has Director Yao sensed any peculiar changes in your body after that?”

“There still are!” Yao Si nodded after some consideration. “But… I still feel short on something. If you have your teacher publicize the Breathing Method of the Five Styles, we might be able to fully meld the elements of the five organs together. If that is accomplished, then I think an even greater change will occur in the body. How about you? Have you not finished their complete integration?”

“I wouldn’t have broken the wind and thunder locks first if I’d known.” Li Hao shook his head. “They’re weaker than the rest of my elements, for one, and they have no corresponding aura. Instead, they increase my burden as I only completed drawing the earth supernatural lock this time…”

He was slightly regretful as he wanted to give the other locks of the five organs a try. But the already present wind and thunder placed a great burden on his shoulders. He sensed an immediate surge of formidable pressure the second he tried to break the wood lock. It almost crushed him!

“We… cannot brashly enter seven element Arcanus!” he said after some thought. “According to the hierarchy of the ancient martial dao, seven elements is basically Apex and can tear through the void. But space is unstable at present and… I don’t think that our physical bodies and organs can support that breakthrough!”

“Even you can’t do it?” Sky Sword was surprised. Li Hao had an endless supply of sword energy and Water of Life at his fingertips, could he not do it either?

“The key lies with the dao of the body!” Li Hao answered after some thought. “The only way forward is to solve this problem. Nothing else will be an issue then. Everyone should think it over after they go back—two heads are better than one.”

He wasn’t a god, he’d just read more ancient tomes compared to them and knew more secret arts. But was his brain really better than the rest of them…? Not necessarily. He wanted to try coalescing the seventh element, but could sense that there would be a lot of trouble involved. It was such a helpless situation!

It also wasn’t like there was no way to strengthen himself anymore—he could comprehend the wind and thunder auras! While he’d yet to fully contain the wood aura inside himself, it’d become part of its supernatural lock and presented an utterly still facade. Most of the mysterious power in his body was completely contained within their locks, so this was a good opportunity to grasp more auras.

Once he mastered wind and thunder, he would trace two more characters. Ultimately, the ‘exterminate’ character formed by his sword aura would lead all of the characters into unified assembly. There was hope yet that he would burst forth with domineering strength and be able to kill six or even seven element Arcanus!

When it came to the wind and thunder auras, Li Hao thought of something. “There was the Wind Thunder Sword among the Seven Swords back in the day! My teacher killed Ambiguous Sword and Ghost Shadow Sword, so does Wind Thunder Sword’s secret art… still exist in the world?”

The easiest way to comprehend an aura at present was to practice the secret art that would lead to it. Anyone with slightly better potential would be able to easily grasp it. The Wind Thunder Sword was said to be most skilled with the wind and thunder auras! How fortuitous!

He was a swordsman and adept in the wind and thunder elements. However, Yuan Shuo hadn’t taught Li Hao the relevant secret art. That probably meant his teacher didn’t possess it.

“Wind Thunder Sword… does have an heir. He’s at my Sky Sword Manor!” Sky Sword said after a beat. “But… your master killed his master, so he may not be willing to teach you the secret art.”

The group fell silent. Old man Yuan Shuo had killed too many people back in the day. Karma was coming for his disciple.

“I’ll try persuading him when I return,” Sky Sword continued. “You’re right, if you can learn it and grasp the wind and thunder auras, then you’ll be able to combine six auras as one. Even if you can’t break the wood lock in the short term, a regular seven element Arcanus still won’t be a match for you!”

“Then I’ll have to trouble Senior Sky Sword!” laughed Li Hao. “There’s no need to force him to acquiesce. There are a lot of secret arts having to do with wind and thunder. It’s just that the Wind Thunder Sword might also be a secret art and it’s more convenient because it deals with two elements at once.”

It wasn’t make or break for him. Even though Li Hao’s potential was astounding, he needed at least a month to practice a secret art to the point of comprehending its aura. Two auras in the same art might require two or three months…

He couldn’t speak of this to others, it would make them pop with anger.

Practicing the Wind Thunder Sword could save him a month or two; that was the key. With the current state of the world, much could happen in one or two months.

“Since you know the Ghost Shadow Sword, I’ll teach you the Light Sword method,” Light Sword said. “This is preparation for you breaking the light and dark locks. Just one aura is enough for us…”

“Let’s trade,” Li Hao laughed. “Senior Light Sword knows the Light Sword method and I happen to know the Ghost Shadow Sword method. You need an appropriate dark attribute art anyway!”

Light Sword didn’t say anything, she did indeed need it. A trade was nice as well.

The transaction was easily conducted since both of them were in the same location. Li Hao soon received a book describing the secret art. The breathing method came via transmission. This was the limitation of the old guard—the older martial masters weren’t willing to let their breathing methods become public knowledge.

It was only to be expected! Rules that had stood for hundreds of years wouldn’t be so easily changed.

Now that he possessed the Light Sword method, Li Hao’s problems of the light and dark auras were resolved. Although he wouldn’t break those locks just yet, he would be able to use the method in the future. He could also practice them first to grasp their auras. He didn’t have to wait until after breaking the lock to comprehend the aura.

The group had made massive gains during this cultivation session. Light Sword and He Yong were both three element Arcanus. Sky Sword and Hou Xiaochen should be four elements. Hong Yitang… to be honest, Li Hao couldn’t read the man. Those permutations of his one sword aura were very baffling. It was difficult to determine anything from his supernatural character, but he was at least a four element Arcanus.

Nothing needed to be said about Yao Si. As expected of a veteran martial master with deep foundations—he vaulted straight to five element Arcanus!

Manager Yu had remained quiet all this time; Li Hao scanned her with some regret. Was she a… two element Arcanus? How could that be?

The young man furrowed his brows. Manager Yu wasn’t weak—she rivaled He Yong before. Why had He Yong set foot into three elements, but the manager was just at two? That was the most basic level of Arcanus as one element was on par with a Nova.

Manager Yu was quite calm when she registered Li Hao’s look and smiled faintly. “I’ve been a supernatural for many years and only recently converted back to martial master. My aura isn’t strong and I’ve quickly ascended to Arcanus. The rest of my capabilities are fine, but a weak aura has prevented me from entering three elements. My aura is one of slaughter!”

Li Hao blinked with understanding. The manager had killed far fewer people after all these years by Hou Xiaochen’s side. Although she occasionally made a move, she spent most of her time helping Hou Xiaochen with trivial matters. It greatly weakened both her aura and killing intent. And now, her weakened aura could not fortify a powerful supernatural character. She could only reach two element Arcanus.

“It’s fine.” Hou Xiaochen smiled indifferently. “You walk the path of slaughter and just need to kill more. The more you kill, the faster you improve. There will be plenty of chances to come. Will we be short on targets with a certain someone around?”

Manager Yu didn’t say a word—this certain someone naturally meant Li Hao. Hou Xiaochen was right, so long as there were large skirmishes and killing to come, she would improve at a rapid clip. It was just as she had done so when she left home to avenge her family. She had improved very quickly when she mowed down her enemies.

He Yong finally found comfort in someone being weaker than him. He smiled with great spirits. “Two element Arcanus is good too. You’ll be able to smack around the martial masters who haven’t snapped their supernatural locks!”

The entire group had improved; they were a very different sight from when they entered the ruins. In fact, they could not be mentioned in the same breath. However, they’d also consumed a lot of resources.

The little tree had coalesced three hundred drops of Water of Life in the past couple of days—that was all gone. There were too many who needed it. Li Hao had also supplied a lot of sword energy and generously paid the little tree three million stones for the Water of Life. The sword had consumed another one million, which left sixty million stones in his stores.

Even if this sum didn’t outright revive General Pagoda at Battle Heaven, Li Hao felt that the deed wouldn’t be far off. But at the moment, he wasn’t going to send the resources there. Whether it was him or the others, they all needed it to improve their strength. What would they utilize if he gave it all away?

Using money to earn more money was the proper path!