Star Gate

“In order to prevent shockwaves from damaging buildings and harming innocents, the city lord manor will be enshrouded by a divine weapon as well. This will also prevent those on the other side from spying on us!” Black cubes appeared in Lin Hongyu’s hands.

“Is there a need for that?” Someone frowned.

“And why not?” she questioned peremptorily. “The Skystar Commander Office is determined to conquer the Skystar Commander Office. This is to prevent Li Hao’s side from throwing a wrench in our works and also to keep them from plumbing the depths of our strength! Must you really showcase your abilities to everyone in the world?”

No one said a word, but neither did anyone display signs of disagreement. There were too many Arcanus present. Lin Hongyu could seal off the premises if she wished. They could break it open anytime.

The city lord flung out the black cubes; they melded into the void and gradually formed a defensive shield. Those from the nine ministries and royal family studied it, with someone transmitting, “This is similar to our Sky Gander fragments. It looks like the Lin family’s foundations run deep…”

A sheen of light enveloped the surroundings. The crowd watched without protest. It felt like the plaza was isolated from the rest of the world when the barrier of light was complete and the power of the five elements wafted through the air.

“This is a shield of the five elements that even Arcanus will find it hard to break,” Lin Hongyu said calmly. “It is sufficient to endure the clashes between Arcanus and prevent aftershocks from reaching others!”

Nods rose and fell in the crowd. This was a wondrous treasure to be able to defend against an Arcanus attack. Next to Li Hao, Chen Zhongtian could barely believe his eyes. These guys were all fools, weren’t they? They were just letting Lin Hongyu set all of this up as she would.

Of course, overconfidence was a factor. There was no helping it, there were too many Arcanus present. Everyone was highly assured of their abilities. They could fight a seven element by themselves, to say nothing of the fact that some had core origin replicas or ultimate weapons on them.

Meanwhile, Li Hao was directing his supernatural characters to seal off the area. The black cubes were indeed the mirror fragments he’d collected from others. His loot combined with the Inspectorate’s property made for six pieces. Hence, there was one in each cardinal direction as well as one above and below. With his supernatural characters working in conjunction, one could say that this area had spontaneously turned into a cage.

Of course, in the eyes of the powerhouses, they could easily break an ancient defensive weapon with the one hundred Arcanus on the scene. And so, they simply watched as the barrier of light vanished and the power of the five elements faded away. With the seal complete, the surroundings were isolated from the rest of the city.

“The City of Supernaturals is building a cabinet of ministers not to vie for supremacy,” Lin Hongyu intoned when someone else wanted to offer their opinion. “But to withstand potential attacks from the Skystar Commander Office!

“The ministers will not be chosen for a life of luxury. I will call upon all sides to levy an offensive at the Skystar Commander Office. If there are any who are unwilling or afraid of death, you can step forward now. We do not need those of two minds!”

The crowd erupted with laughter at her words. The muscular man who’d spoken earlier roared with mirth. “This is right up my alley! The Skystar Commander Office is arrogant and cocky—they even want to establish rules for all supernaturals in the world! Li Hao has yet to finish growing, but he talks quite the talk!”

“This is good, the Skystar Commander Office has a great reputation these days. If the City of Supernaturals can defeat them, we will surely rise to greater heights!”

“Precisely, we should start with them. But Silver Moon has plenty of powerhouses and they’re very strong overall. With the nine ministries, royal family, and three great organizations in attendance today, we should all ally together! We have countless heavyweights as well! How can we let Li Hao throw around his weight like this?”

“Those guys in Silver Moon cultivate the secret arts we don’t want and proclaim themselves as the legitimate rulers of the martial world. How ludicrous!”

“……” One patriarch after another of the eleven families spoke up in loud agreement. Attacking the Skystar Commander Office was good! Of course, the caveat was that they could bring others into the fold. Otherwise, the City of Supernaturals would be the only one to suffer heavy losses in this operation.

“Does anyone wish to withdraw?” Lin Hongyu asked amid heated discussion. “No blame will be assigned if you withdraw now. Otherwise, desertion from the battlefield will be punished by death!”

She looked at the wandering cultivator side, where there were a dozen cultivators standing. “All of you are wandering cultivators and as such, free and unfettered. There will be no retreat available if you insist on participating in the cabinet minister election!”

“The city lord thinks too little of us,” beamed an ethereal old man. “That Li Hao knows not the heavenly dao or the meaning of death, yet seeks to enact rules for supernaturals! What a joke! We are wandering cultivators and unwilling to be subject to his fetters. If we really do become one of the ministers, we will naturally charge at the forefront. Executing Li Hao is a task that all supernaturals are willing to undertake.”

“The world’s miseries have long been inflicted by Li Hao!” sighed a person in the crowd. “Would so many supernatural powerhouses have died if not for him? They are our forefathers, but that demon killed them all! What a shame that we lacked sufficient strength to right this wrong. We would’ve killed that animal long ago!”

“……” Various wandering cultivators brimmed with righteous indignation. Everyone would have their actions curtailed if Li Hao didn’t die, who wanted that? A strong faction such as the City of Supernaturals being willing to take a step forward was something they were all delighted to see.

Lin Hongyu, however, sighed to herself. You guys all have a death wish! I gave you a chance, especially to the wandering cultivators. Some of you rushed here from other places and aren’t a resident of the City of Supernaturals. I gave you a chance to withdraw. You might not have gotten away, but at least you wouldn’t die.

But now… you no longer have that chance.

She inclined her head and looked at Li Hao. I’ve done everything you wanted me to do, it’s up to you now. I’d wanted to bring some people over to our side, but you said there was no need, so I wash my hands of this.

……

Li Hao was scanning the crowd and sighing to himself how many Arcanus there were. Of the twelve ancient aristocracies, the Lins boasted the highest number of Arcanus within their ranks—ten total. There were roughly fifty wandering cultivators and ten Arcanus on their side as well. Li Hao was astonished—how had they cultivated to this level?

Had they entered ruins or become the pawns of certain factions? Did they seek to infiltrate the City of Supernaturals?

When it came to the other eleven aristocracies, the more numerous ones possessed eight Arcanus while the lesser ones possessed five. They averaged five Arcanus per family, making for a total of nearly sixty.

Those in attendance to observe from other major factions were nearly all Arcanus—there were a dozen of them. There was a sum of one hundred Arcanus on the scene! One had to say, these people did have the right to be so confident.

Apart from these Arcanus, there were also some followers and family members that numbered approximately one hundred people. The grand total of nearly three hundred people on the scene was all very powerful. If he took all of them out in one fell swoop, wouldn’t that exterminate nearly all of the heavyweights in the supernatural world, apart from the major factions?

The crowd agitated with impatience when Lin Hongyu still didn’t speak of rules or procedure.

“Are we not starting yet, City Lord Lin?”

“Yeah!”

Lin Hongyu looked at Li Hao again; her gaze was followed by many others. The young man smiled and looked at various parts of the plaza.

“The world’s miseries have long been inflicted by Li Hao… This is… something truly unexpected!”

Someone’s eyes widened in the crowd as a streak of sword light illuminated the world!

“Kill them all!” An arctic yell sounded. Certain people hidden in the crowd made their moves, as did Li Hao draw his sword.

Swish!

An Arcanus was run clean through, a blank look on his face.

“Li Hao, that’s Li Hao!” someone yelled!

The twelve families were still at a loss, coming back to their senses with incredulity only when they heard the shout. The senior Lin elder purpled with fury as he roared, “Lin Hongyu, you traitor!”

The strongest of his family had colluded with Li Hao! The city lord of the City of Supernaturals had ushered the wolf into the house and permitted Li Hao to come to this locale! It was unbelievable!

The elder wanted to escape as soon as he denounced Lin Hongyu, but a pain in his chest commanded his attention. He looked down to see the boy toy having punched through his chest.

“We’re not the ones who want to kill the Lin elders.” Chen Zhongtian smiled meaningfully.

Lin Hongyu stood off to the side with an impassive expression. She’d given the order to kill all of these antiques, just in case they caused trouble later on. Having reached the position of city lord, she wasn’t someone who overflowed with mercy. These family members hemmed her in at every turn and treated her as a tool to facilitate the family’s expansion. They were best at getting in her way.

In that case, all of them could die!

She saw some family members fleeing madly for their lives. A curved blade appeared in her hand and vanished to behead a running youngster. Resentment and fury filled the youngster’s eyes, but Lin Hongyu didn’t care. Dead was dead, what was the point of hate?

The other families came to their senses and shouted with fury. “This is a trap! These bastards!”

“Kill them!”

Clashes sounded through the wandering cultivators as Sky Sword, Earthturner Sword, Hou Xiaochen, and Deputy Zhou erupted in unison. Sword light flashed, golden fists manifested, and a spear split the void as rumbles rang out!

Explosions detonated, instantly wiping out half of the wandering cultivators. Some of the Arcanus were dead on the spot—the survivors tried to run, but a blow that overturned heaven and earth churned their way!

The wandering cultivators were all dead after two swords swept through the area. Of their four powerhouses, the weakest was six element Arcanus. The gap was too great between them and their attackers. Although there were a dozen of them, they all passed to the underworld in the blink of an eye!

It only took the span of a breath.

Over on the Lin family side, Lin Hongyu and Chen Zhongtian attacked in tandem. Although some elders mourned a furious resistance, two peak six elements made quick work of them. The Lin elders were the first to die, but there was one survivor apart from Lin Hongyu—an elder that looked at the city lord with eyes of horror.

“Third elder, watch the show with me,” Lin Hongyu said calmly. “You are the only one who says a word in my defense in normal times. Today, you can be spared!”

“Hongyu…” The third elder was ashen-faced as he looked incredulously around him. Even now, the scene happening in front of his eyes was impossible to believe. Lin Hongyu never resisted the family, so they could safely ignore her indignation. Although she’d lost her temper yesterday, there hadn’t been much killing intent in her. Who would’ve thought that she’d kill everyone today!

etvolare’s Thoughts

No one these guys are all going down like chickens... are they?