Many organizations raised martial masters—the three great organizations were no exception. Crossing over as a martial master made for a much stronger supernatural. Thus, certain people agitated into a frenzy when they heard that a cultivation level above Dominator was possible, that it rivaled the Solar or Nova level.
It was common knowledge that martial masters generally advanced an additional level when they crossed over. So if they ascended as a Summoner, wouldn’t that make them a Nova or even stronger??
If the stories were true and Yuan Shuo matched a Nova, didn’t that mean he’d be greater than a Nova when he ascended and reach an ultimate peak that was yet to appear in the current supernatural world?
This was a possibility that no organization would let slip through their fingers. Chaos descended, the aftereffects officially rippled through society!
Yuan Shuo, Red Moon, blood pearls... These were the keywords for powerhouses of all localities. Much of the momentum was secretly incited by Hou Xiaochen. Countless organizations began inquiring into the accuracy of the news. They utilized agents planted in Silver Moon or the Night Watchers in hopes of obtaining the real facts.
What Hou Xiaochen leaked was... particularly true, especially as Yuan Shuo had improved rapidly after setting foot into Dominator of Thousands and killing Brokensky. Hou Xiaochen had indeed sent over a Solar level blood pearl. After a few days in seclusion, Yuan Shuo met Sun Yifei in battle as soon as he emerged. All of this was as real as could be!
No matter who it was, no one could find any problems with the information that circulated.
Yuan Shuo’s disciple Li Hao was a student of martial dao for three years and entered half step Dominator after taking a Sunflare level blood pearl. He then killed Sun Moxian—a martial master who’d grasped the aura. This piece of intelligence quickly appeared in many factions as well.
A rookie of three years swiftly advancing to half step Dominator further confirmed the veracity of the information!
Due to this, Li Hao received a great deal of attention. If they couldn’t find Yuan Shuo, then they could go to Li Hao. The prerequisite was that they killed a Red Moon powerhouse and extracted a blood pearl first. Otherwise, what could they do if he told them the method after they went to him?
Li Hao plainly didn’t have any more—he would’ve used it a long time ago if he did. How could these organizations make the trip empty-handed?
Further confusion engulfed the already disorderly Skystar Dynasty. Multiple Red Moon powerhouses vanished before the organization had a chance to react to the latest developments. Not dead—vanished. Their powerhouses vanished without a trace!
It was one thing if it was weaklings that went missing, but several Solars also disappeared without ceremony. There were no hints whatsoever as to their whereabouts or condition. It was only less than an hour since the information was publicized—a clear sign of how strong some organizations were in the shadows.
In a secret locale, an exceedingly handsome man with a slightly feminine cast to his looks narrowed his eyes.
“Bastard!” Ying Hongyue raged. If Yuan Shuo was here to see him, he’d laugh at the man for being too uptight. It’d been so many years, but Ying Hongyue still maintained the same appearance he always had. He was plainly an old geezer, but still played the part of young fresh meat.
As furious as he was, Ying Hongyue quickly hollered, “Hurry and withdraw all of our power in the various provinces. Everyone is to destroy our strongholds and go into hiding to await further orders!”
Damn it! His liver hurt from the force of his wrath. He’d simply responded a bit slower, but there was already no answer from several Solars in residence at other provinces. Why was that?
Did that bear asking??
Much of this had to do with the various larger organizations and the Night Watchers. How else would Solars disappear so easily? Origin weapons were also required, of which the small organizations didn’t have any!
Yuan Shuo’s matter enticed many powerhouses to set course for Silver Moon. There would’ve been more to make the journey, but Red Moon suffered from their fair share of trouble as word spread. A portion of the heavyweights sought to hunt down Red Moon members, so fewer than expected came for the province.
Still, numerous martial masters set out for Silver Moon.
Greater than Dominator of Thousands!
Those yet to reach Dominator came with a reverential attitude. Dominators visited because the road ahead was broken for them. There was no path to walk! They could not cross over to the supernatural and there was nothing ahead of them. So now, even if there was only the slightest bit of opportunity, they desired a glance no matter how indistinct it was.
Yuan Shuo was gone—who knew if he’d actually gone to the central region? What they did know, however, was that his final disciple Li Hao was in Silver Moon. His whereabouts were publicly known and martial masters such as Yuan Shuo typically passed on his legacy.
Such was what was meant to be a martial master! They were afraid that they might die in the next second, so they passed all of their legacy onto one person. Rarely did one hoard experience and knowledge. Martial dao had declined, after all.
Rift Canyon. The Night Watcher campsite.
Many people were nervous as they’d realized the issues at hand after the duel concluded. Yuan Shuo had broken the limits of martial dao. Just that secret alone would send countless people into a frenzy, to say nothing of Red Moon’s revenge.
Hao Lianchuan’s brows were deeply etched with a frown. The director said everything was fine when he contacted headquarters, but was everything really that under control? Did they move forward with the expedition? If they didn’t, would the ruins remain theirs given the growing number of powerhouses that set their eyes on Silver Moon?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. He knew Yuan Shuo shouldn’t have answered the letter of challenge! Now look at this mess! That old demon was born a troublemaker!
Hao Lianchuan glanced at the docile Li Hao. Will this little guy be a second Yuan Shuo? Is he a tiny demon in the making? Docile? Hah, he’d never believe that. The young man demonstrated some of the flair from a young Yuan Shuo when he fought Sun Moxian. He was quick, decisive, ruthless, and vicious. Sun Moxian was outstanding among martial masters, but he’d still fallen at Li Hao’s hand.
Who would believe this quiet, biddable act now?
They stood in silence for a bit, until Hao Lianchuan broke it. “The director should be coming soon. Just us was enough at first, but looks like that’s not the case anymore!”
“Should we enter the ruins ahead of time?” asked a handsome middle-aged man. He wore a longsword on his back and was another Night Watcher deputy director. His surname was Zhou and he was a metal supernatural.
“We can’t!” Hao Lianchuan shook his head. “You weren’t here for the previous explorations, so you don’t know that we didn’t choose the 28th simply because it’s an auspicious day. It’s due to the fact that danger is most minimized on this date. It will be a lot more hazardous if we enter ahead of time! When we failed to pick the best time on prior excursions, it led to massive losses!”
“The 28th?” Director Zhou asked with surprise. “Is there something special about it?”
“Moonlight!” Hao Lianchuan hadn’t planned to keep it a secret. He only refrained from speaking about this to prevent it from becoming common knowledge. “The 28th is when Silver Moon sees the weakest production of moonlight. Some of the ruins’ mechanisms are possibly activated by moonlight! The weaker the moonlight is, the safer they are. You have a death wish if you choose to explore when the moon is full!
“The ancient city in the ruins has been buried for countless eons, but it still stands in pristine condition. Therefore, it cannot be drawing on internal stores of energy. Our joint consensus is that its inner workings are powered by moonlight.”
“Why not the sun? Wang Ming asked curiously. “The moon isn’t necessarily seen everyday, but the sun is. Shouldn’t the ancients have considered using the sun more when they designed these mechanisms?”
Indeed, why was it the moon? It was a very normal question, but anything from this fellow’s mouth bore hints of arguing for arguing’s sake.
Hao Lianchuan flicked a glance at him, but still explained, “Because the sun doesn’t come out at night. The ancients set guards on the city in the day and rest at night. Mechanisms are activated at this time to prevent trouble at night!”
That was why they needed a nighttime source of energy.
“Then are we free from the moon’s interference when we enter in the day?” Wang Ming still didn’t understand.
“Energy is accumulated.” Hao Lianchuan shook his head.
“So isn’t the sun better? It accumulates during the day, which makes its energy available at night!” He was really digging his heels in, but his rebuttals made sense. Hao Lianchuan’s theory of needing an energy source at night didn’t make sense.
The deputy director was stymied by the response. This kid has grown bolder after becoming a Sunflare!
“That’s just the way it is. Moonlight is most scattered on the 28th, which means the traps inside the ruins are at their weakest!”
Wang Ming wanted to continue, but quickly fell quiet when he saw an unfriendly look from Hao Lianchuan. Fine, you’re the big guy, whatever you say is right.
The group understood the 28th to be the most suitable time period. They would have to wait until the next 28th otherwise. However, it was difficult to say if the ruins would still belong to the Night Watchers after a month. Dismayed expressions spread across everyone’s face.
“Red Moon’s delegation is pretty much all dead.” Liu Long had been keeping quiet as he didn’t quite understand the situation. “Light Island is no more. Neither Yama, Celestial, nor the Sword Sect are stronger than us on an individual basis. We should be in a better state than before. Even if they can call upon reinforcements, so can we!
“The Night Watchers holding our own against them in the central region means that we are still very capable in battle! If they redeploy people from the central region, our headquarters can do the same.”
Since they could maintain a balance before, there was no reason to think that their circumstances were more dangerous after killing some people, right?”
“The central region wants nothing more than for the major organizations to withdraw their people from the central region,” bit off the metal supernatural Director Zhou before Hao Lianchuan could say anything. “The borders being unstable is a border thing! The more people that die here, the better!”
Liu Long started and Hao Lianchuan rebuked, “Nonsense!”
“We’re all of Silver Moon, so what’s not to say?” Director Zhou replied coolly. “The dynasty has lost control over the border and has no time to devote to it. In the same vein, they need to worry about the border provinces declaring independence. Therefore, the more of a mess we are, the better! That gives them enough time to pacify the central unrest and slowly put their affairs in order here.
“The attitude from the central region is quite clear. It doesn’t matter how chaotic we get so long as we impede the enemy. However many and much we lose is not within their consideration.”
Liu Long looked on, dazed. He hadn’t heard of this before, so it was quite a blow to his worldview. The central region... wouldn’t support the borderlands?