The peak of Mt. White Moon.
Hou Xiaochen was drinking tea in the gazebo at the mountain’s summit when Manager Yu hastily brought a screen to him. “An urgent report from Director Hao!”
“Put him through!” Hou Xiaochen already knew something was amiss. He sensed it when Violet Moon and the Revolution King left. What was it that set them off in such a hurry? Had Hao Lianchuan taken out the Flaming Phoenix Spear and they were on their way to seize it?
This possibility had been among his calculations, so it was fine that they left! An origin weapon wasn’t that easy to snatch; Hou Xiaochen wasn’t that worried.
He still had the peace of mind to smile when his subordinate’s face appeared on the screen. “How come you’re not running yet?” What are you still doing there after the origin weapon’s been exposed?
“Run?” Hao Lianchuan blinked, then hastily asked, “Should we retreat, director?”
“But...” Hao Lianchuan protested. “This is great timing. Red Moon has suffered heavy losses, so this is an opportunity for us.”
“Give me a brief overview.” Hou Xiaochen seemed to be in complete control. He’d predicted a lot of things, so he had arrangements in place even if the unexpected happened.
“Director, Yuan Shuo has advanced to Summoner of Spirit and located the martial path beyond Dominator. He killed Sun Yifei, exterminated the Red Moon delegation, obliterated Light Island...”
A tea cup snapped to pieces.
“Director?” Hao Lianchuan asked with confusion. Didn’t the director already know about this?
“Mmhmm.” Hou Xiaochen inclined his head without a change in expression. “What else?”
Shock roiled in his heart. What was this? Yuan Shuo... a Summoner of Spirit?
The professor triumphing over Sun Yifei hadn’t been entirely out of his expectations. He’d considered Yuan Shuo being able to draw on tremendous power with the Flaming Phoenix Spear in hand. That was a very real possibility.
Yuan Shuo erupting with one of the mysterious weapons of the eight families and defeating Sun Yifei was also a possibility.
On the other hand, Yuan Shuo falling in defeat and having to run for his life had also been a consideration.
The only eventuality that Hou Xiaochen hadn’t given thought to was that Yuan Shuo would kill Sun Yifei on the basis of pure strength. Indeed, no one, not even the gods, would’ve regarded it as a viable likelihood. The professor had only just progressed and somehow swiftly found the path beyond Dominator a month later, then set foot in it!
Hou Xiaochen was truly astonished, shocked, and incredulous. How was this possible?! And yet... he’d been so coolly unconcerned earlier that he couldn’t display how taken aback he was now.
Only Manager Yu could see that the normally composed director had almost crushed his tea cup to dust.
“Director, Yuan Shuo has fled with grave wounds after he eradicated the Red Moon delegation. Do we give up the ruins, abandon the expedition, and retreat right now?”
Rift Canyon would soon become the center of attention. They couldn’t leave now—that would be the end of the ruins. There would be vast numbers of powerhouses coming along shortly to explore the secrets of the canyon. The Night Watchers had to complete their own excavation before outsiders arrived, and Hou Xiaochen needed to be there in person!
He had to give up even White Moon City. It wasn’t just him—none of the three great organizations or his superiors had effort to spare for the capital now. Who in the world would care about White Moon City after all that?
They needed to find Yuan Shuo, or barring the professor, his disciple would do too!
“I’ll be there immediately!” Hou Xiaochen hung up and barrelled down the mountain. “Contact the local army headquarters!”
Manager Yu swiftly dialed the communicator and gave it to her superior when it connected. “Set everything aside. Move your camp to Rift Canyon and cordon it off. Cover the canyon with your weapons! In addition, go to level one combat readiness. You can use those things at critical moments and lay down a wide range of attacks!”
“Trust me. There’s going to be some trouble this time.”
“Alright, understood, but... it’s just that if we do this, it might lead to negative consequences.”
“It’s fine, we’re ready. If worst comes to worst... we’ll just follow that particular plan.”
Hou Xiaochen turned things over in his mind and contemplated for a bit. He dialed another number. “Make it widely known and publicized in all avenues that Yuan Shuo has broken through to Summoner of Spirit. He has set foot beyond Dominator and killed late Solar Sun Yifei with three moves! He is now headed to the central region to slay Ying Hongyue with the strength of a Summoner. Ying Hongyue is to clean his neck and scrub behind his ears so Yuan Shuo can take his head off!
“Also, Yuan Shuo is of the mind to re-form Silver Moon’s martial world. He is willing to pass on his knowledge to any who share his path and is willing to kill Red Moon members. He will accept them all...”
Manager Yu’s eyes darted around rapidly as she listened. Was this... appropriate? Of course, this would more than likely ensure that Ying Hongyue and his people would keep their eyes fixed on Yuan Shuo and wait for him in the central region. Most of the martial masters in the lands would also seek out the professor there. Whether their goal was to kill Yuan Shuo or Red Moon members... that would be a tough call.
As for whether or not people would believe what they heard... why wouldn’t they? This tone was straight out of Old Demon Yuan’s playbook. Anyone who was familiar with him wouldn’t suspect a thing.
Having fired off a series of instructions, Hou Xiaochen regained his calm. He wasn’t as astounded or disbelieving as before.
“Patch me through to the central region!” he said after some more thought. “Tell them we need backup and have them send a couple Novas with origin weapons. We won’t be able to hold off the onslaught otherwise!”
“Are we really going to send that kind of report?” Manager Yu shook with surprise.
“Yes!” Hou Xiaochen smiled. “Make the report just like that! Also notify them to support Yuan Shuo when he’s in the central region. He’s secretly sworn fealty to the Night Watchers. Tell headquarters that he’s agreed to give us the complete method for Summoner of Spirit if we help him kill Ying Hongyue. Not only that, but he’ll resolve some supernatural problems for us and teach us the more advanced version of the Breathing Method of the Five Styles...”
It was a bunch of random bullshit, but it sounded exceedingly like what Yuan Shuo would say.
“As for me, I am forced to travel to Rift Canyon in my injured state. Tell headquarters to bring a Nascent Soul Pill for my wounds when they come or I won’t be able to hold on for long!”
Manager Yu swiftly took note of all of the commands; her veneration for the director deepened the more she heard. He was incredible!
“Finally...” Hou Xiaochen looked into the distance as he stopped halfway down the mountain. “Publicize another piece of news that the blood pearls of Red Moon are the key to Yuan Shuo breaking through. Anyone with an origin weapon can extract it—announce the method of how they can do so!”
He grinned widely as Manager Yu shivered with horror. Once this word traveled, any organization with an origin weapon would be tempted, no matter supernatural or martial master. Whether it was for study or hoarding, they would absolutely be enticed by the notion of the blood pearls.
This piece of news wouldn’t have been useful before because no one would believe it. But now? Everyone would!
“Make sure you’ve got the details straight. He killed Brokensky first, seized the blood pearl, then quickly advanced. After his grave injuries from the duel, he killed Hao Kong for another blood pearl. Yuan Shuo might be an even stronger powerhouse the next time he reappears in the public eye. All of this must be leaked. From the trajectory and speed of his improvement, this is the treasure that is most suitable for his breakthrough!”
Hou Xiaochen’s mind spun rapidly, creating scheme after scheme in a split second. They were impervious and could stand up to close scrutiny.
“Also, let it be known that the Night Watchers gifted him a Solar level blood pearl before. He went into closed door cultivation for many days after receiving it. All of this needs to be shared in great detail through the plants and covert agents we have in place!”
“Understood!” Manager Yu’s respect continued to reach new levels, as did her silent sorrow for Red Moon. Even if the organization could withstand the pressure, they wouldn’t be able to cause trouble for Silver Moon or Silver City in the short term. They needed to take care of themselves first!
Li Hao was blithely unaware of everything, or he would’ve considered his teacher with even greater admiration. No wonder his teacher had said that the ensuing trouble would be Hou Xiaochen’s to clean up. Plainly, his teacher felt that Hou Xiaochen was able to resolve these difficulties and lower danger to the greatest degree possible.
Hou Xiaochen lived up to expectations. It took only the blink of an eye for him to rattle off several courses of action. After all of the news was made public, it wouldn’t be Yuan Shuo or Li Hao in the hot seat, but Red Moon.
Blood pearls helped one break through and killing Red Moon members would reap the method to advance. Anyone with ambition would take some action. How would they be willing to let Red Moon members go without killing some to experiment?
Even if the information was possibly false, there would still be powerhouses willing to experiment. There absolutely would be! It might turn out that Red Moon experts wouldn’t be able to right the ship either.
The news spread in certain circles before Hou Xiaochen arrived at Rift Canyon.
“Yuan Shuo has broken through to Summoner of Spirit and become greater than Dominator. He killed Sun Yifei who was almost a Nova!”
“Big news, huge news! The old demon of Silver Moon—Yuan Shuo who dominated the martial world twenty years ago—has risen above Dominator. He killed the Nova level Sun Yifei with one stroke! His breakthrough was facilitated by Red Moon themselves—their divine shadows are the key to martial masters taking a step forward!”
“No wonder! Didn’t I say long ago that Red Moon’s divine shadows are different? Ying Hongyue raises them, but never lets martial masters touch them. It’s always his supernatural members, and the shadows are withdrawn after a period of time. Can it be that he’s retained his internal force?”
“The world is changing! There’s a martial master above Dominator, which puts him on par with a Nova supernatural! The most critical part of his ascension is the divine shadows of Red Moon. They’re treasures that carry humongous power! Many Red Moon members have them—we only need three Solar level ones to break through to Summoner of Spirit!”
“Absolutely, it’s known through all of the provinces by now!”
“Just their Solars are enough? C’mon, let’s get ready. We need the origin weapon, right? Bring that with us. We’ll kill a few before other people do the same!”
All of Skystar Dynasty was in an uproar. It wasn’t a notable feat to kill a late Solar—it wasn't as if that level of powerhouse hadn’t died in the central region before. Even Novas died in battle.
But a martial master behind the deed? That was tremendous news. Not to mention, the martial master had broken the limits of martial dao. Many people and organizations hadn’t fully forsaken martial masters because they knew how strong this group was after they made the crossover!