Star Gate

The City of Supernaturals bustled with ever more activity on this day. Some people learned that guests had arrived at the Lins’. But with Lin Hongyu leading them directly to the rear yard, no one within the family dared ask for details.

Since the Lin family themselves skirted gingerly around this topic, the rest were even less likely to inquire further. None of them sought to seize the position of city lord, so although they cared that there were strangers inside the inner city, they didn’t place too much importance on it. Perhaps the Lin family had invited helpers to join them in hopes of fighting for an additional cabinet seat or two?

The visitors had come openly, as opposed to skulking around in the shadows. No one would consider Li Hao being one of the guests—their thoughts were centered on wondering if it was powerhouses from the Jade Flute and Sunset Mountains.

And so the night passed amid a mixture of uncertainty and anticipation. The cabinet meeting of the City of Supernaturals was about to commence. It might herald the start of the city’s rise to dominion and becoming a ruling force of the world!

……

The next day, the city lord manor.

The cabinet meeting was being held here. The large plaza in front of it was filled with people early in the morning. Various heavyweights had come with their followers or family.

The twelve ancient aristocracies were once martial world tyrants, and some even hailed from Silver Moon. Silver Moon’s martial world had always been a sacred land of the martial world. It was just that it experienced such heavy infighting that families who left en masse were the ones who thrived. Those of the twelve once sent people to Silver Moon, wanting to collect their secret arts.

Their representatives didn’t meet with good ends.

And now, the twelve families each occupied a corner of the plaza. A massive ring was placed in the center. Apart from these constituents, the wandering cultivators had one small spot to themselves. There was another elevated platform to provide seats for factions present only to observe. This cabinet meeting was open to all.

……

The Lin family occupied a center spot in the plaza, thanks to their connection to Lin Hongyu. Their delegation was filled with heavyweights, elders, and the young. Many were looking for Lin Hongyu.

The family had been quiet after she lost her temper yesterday, but now that she was still nowhere to be found, some of the old men couldn’t help mutter under their breaths again. Shouldn’t Lin Hongyu be here early on such a momentous occasion?? She was the city lord! Was she going to stroll in as the last attendee?

“Is she still in the rear yard?”

“In response to the senior elder, yes.”

“Ridiculous!” the old man cursed under his breath. She was a woman at the end of the day, it was a stain to the family reputation that she’d spent the entire night in the rear yard with some strangers!

When it came to Lin Hongyu, the family was of only one mind—either she lived a solitary existence for her entire life, or her husband married into the family. As for who that might be, that was naturally up to the family elders as well.

Otherwise, Lin Hongyu would make off with the family businesses!

Some of the elders brooded as they recalled the man leading a donkey looked like he could be a bit of a boy toy. They didn’t recognize that it was a young Chen Zhongtian—he really had looked the part of a boy toy to be kept by older women when he was young.

The crowd jostled for space and snatches of conversation could be heard everywhere; the various factions had all sent representatives. Fourteen raised platforms were full of people and mysterious power drifted through the air.

Some of the watching powerhouses widened their eyes at the scene. The twelve families indeed possessed deep foundations! Not only that, but some of them had strong beast spirits as their steeds.

There weren’t many monster spirits in the world yet; their factions looked to Phoenix Mountain as their head. There weren’t powerful monster spirit factions on land. That meant a lack of places to go for large numbers of monster spirits. The City of Supernaturals was the center of supernatural commerce in the world. There were many monster spirits here—some captured, others who’d sworn fealty of their own accord.

……

On the observation platform.

The eight ministries, royal family, and three great organizations had sent representatives. Their people looked on solemnly.

“There’s a lot of them.”

“Indeed, the twelve families quietly raised a bunch of Arcanus for themselves.”

“This is all Li Hao’s fault. If he hadn’t killed so many of our experts, our Novas would’ve progressed to Arcanus. How many powerhouses of the nine ministries and three great organizations did he kill?” someone cursed through transmission.

Li Hao’s side had killed too many—a dozen Arcanus alone, to say nothing of Novas! Based on known cultivation rates, those Novas all stood a chance to become Arcanus if they received sufficient resources. If the young man hadn’t killed them all, there would be at least forty more Arcanus among the nine ministries and three great organizations today.

That was no small sum! And yet, they’d all died in Li Hao’s hands.

“Li Hao is busy going against the Wind and Cloud Pavilion these days,” someone laughed upon hearing Li Hao’s name. “He’s stayed out of our hair since. I hope the Wind and Cloud Pavilion can keep him preoccupied for longer!

“Apparently, he left Skystar City two days ago and someone saw him head to Sky Sword Manor. There’s been no word of him since. It’d be best if he can come to the City of Supernaturals!”

The group roared with laughter, meaningful looks in their eyes. The city had suffered very small losses after the most recent clashes. Some of their Arcanus had died, but not their strongest. Most of the twelve families hadn’t lost a single person.

On the contrary, as Li Hao made life more difficult for supernaturals, more of them fled to the City of Supernaturals for shelter. They threw themselves on the mercy of the ancient aristocracies, bolstering their strength instead.

It would be to everyone’s great delight if Li Hao really did show up. Whether it was the City of Supernaturals killing the young man or him killing more of the city’s powerhouses, any of these outcomes were good for the other factions.

Of course, such daydreams should not be spoken of at this moment. A group of people walked into the plaza from the rear garden as the group chatted. Lin Hongyu stood at their head! Wearing red robes today, her heroic figure was quite festive for the occasion. The group drew looks from everyone.

Some cloaked people followed by her side. No one minded their presence; some were curious, but didn’t say anything since the City of Supernaturals was the host today. Perhaps these people were Lin candidates for positions of cabinet minister.

Upon seeing Lin Hongyu appear, a muscular middle-aged man seated on the first platform to the left called out, “Everyone has been waiting for you, City Lord Lin. We’re all waiting to hear the structure and constitution of this cabinet!”

“That’s right! You’ve only talked about choosing cabinet ministers—but how? Is it through fights in the ring or what? We’ll become the butt of all jokes for other factions if the city lord doesn’t properly explain due procedure…” There were discontented members of the audience as Lin Hongyu hadn’t given them much time to prepare. She’d simply announced that a cabinet would be formed and given no further details about anything else.

She ignored the voices and sat down at the head of the Lin delegation. She glowered when she saw the elders next to her. “Move away, these are seats for honored guests!”

The elders paused, then flushed beet red! This impudence! Had Lin Hongyu gone crazy?! She humiliated her own elders in front of so many visitors! What honored guests, how were vaunted elders of the family worth less than some outsiders?!

Seeing as the senior elder’s face was mottled with anger, his young grandson next to him snapped out, “Hongyu, you…”

Lin Hongyu was of the same generation as him and, in fact, a few years younger than him. Her expression chilled and she turned to him. “You have no notion of proper etiquette. Is it your place to call me by my name?”

The man’s expression darkened as well.

Meanwhile, surprise gripped the four sides of the plaza. It quickly changed to merriment. How interesting! They were greeted with a show as soon as they arrived. Were the Lins going to fight among themselves?

Although the cabinet establishment was yet to begin, it was just as nice to watch the entertainment that the Lins were providing. The other eleven families also beamed widely. The Lins were the strongest among the twelve, with Lin Hongyu possessing utmost potential and domineering strength. Apart from her, there were nine elders that were almost all Arcanus. The senior elder seemed to still be a martial master, but could bring the strength of an Arcanus to bear.

This was why the Lins could dominate the other families. They possessed overwhelming strength! The other families also had Arcanus—seven or eight at most, three or four at worst. They were no weaklings, but their battle strength did not hold a candle to Lin Hongyu’s and they lacked Arcanus compared to the Lin elder council. It was naturally a most wonderful development to see the Lins quarrel between themselves.

Lin Hongyu looked frostily at her family’s elders; the senior elder was absolutely livid. He cursed to himself when he saw that everyone in attendance was looking at them. He would turn the family into a laughingstock if he erupted now! Lin Hongyu, you bitch, just you wait! As soon as the family produces a peak six elements and wields the family’s weapon, you’ll be the first one suppressed!

As expected, you’re an ingrate that can’t really fit into the family!

A myriad of thoughts swarmed in his mind, but he chose to back to the second row with a snort. He cast a sidelong glance at Li Hao’s group, the look in his eyes growing colder. Where had these bastards come from?

The matter settled, Lin Hongyu ignored her family and looked at the assembly. “The cabinet ministers will naturally be chosen based on strength! We will conduct the process through sparring!” she declared. “Of course, we are all powerhouses here and Arcanus. The ensuing ripples will be too strong once the fighting starts. To avoid injuring the supernaturals within the city, the city lord manor will be sealed off. No one will be allowed to approach!

“City defenders, designate a radius of one thousand meters around the city lord manor as restricted area. No one is permitted to draw near. Those who violate this order will be executed!”

There were plenty of soldiers outside the manor. Several of its generals shouted back, “Understood!”

A large number of troops rushed out to expel supernaturals in the vicinity. The factions seated in the audience had no opinions about this command. It did indeed cause a great disturbance when Arcanus fought. It was right to clear the area.

Not to mention, they didn’t want weaklings to be able to study them. Only the strong had the right to observe when the strong fought.

etvolare’s Thoughts

I am impressed at how shitty the Lin elders are, and the fact that this is being inflicted on one of the villains.