Star Gate

“This is not an ideal place to converse,” Lin Hongyu smiled as Li Hao looked at her. “If the commander is willing, we can change to another location, drink some tea, and have a chat. It’s a bit chilly over the water in the dead of winter.”

Li Hao nodded with a smile. Lin Hongyu was about to say something further when it felt like the world shifted beneath her feet. An unending expanse of white flashed in front of her eyes as the power of the five elements manifested. Alarm rang in her mind—was Li Hao attacking her? Her expression shifted when she saw a large ship in front of her.

The ship broke through the ice covering the sea. Just as Lin Hongyu marveled at how far Li Hao could move in a split second, countless agonized screams sounded from the ship. Thousands upon thousands of thin swords swept through the vessel like needles of death.

There was no sound coming from the ship in the blink of an eye.

“C’mon, let’s talk aboard the ship.” Li Hao grinned. “Looks like pirates don’t take it easy in the wintertime. What are they doing breaking through ice and running around at a time like this? Come, it’s warmer aboard!”

Lin Hongyu watched with wide eyes as Li Hao soared into the air and landed in the ship’s hold. There were corpses everywhere sealed with ice. It wasn’t a bloody scene as blood was frozen inside the body. There were nearly one thousand people aboard the ship, but Li Hao had killed them all to the last!

This fellow was at times kind and at times cruel. One could not see through him at all. He was terrifying!

Li Hao reached out with a hand and sent the tables and chairs flying out of the hold. Various jugs of alcohol landed on the deck. A flame appeared in his hand to warm the cold wine.

“Sit!” He pointed at a chair. Lin Hongyu sat down with a smile. The young man plonked himself down as well and brought out two cups. Hot wine automatically filled them before he served the two.

“This is a nice place,” Li Hao laughed. “Tell me, do you think supernaturals have too much time on their hands? If they really have nothing to do in the dead of winter, they can go ashore and look for gigs, work in the fields, or the fire types can start a greenhouse… Isn’t any of that better than twiddling their thumbs on a ship and robbing others?

“It’s said that there are more than one million residents in the City of Supernaturals and they’re all superhuman!” he said with curiosity before Lin Hongyu had a chance to respond. “I have some questions about them. The city lord won’t mind answering, will you?”

“Please go ahead, commander.”

“With all these superhumans in residence, what do they do for a living?”

Do for a living? Lin Hongyu blinked with surprise. “They each have their own tasks to attend to and don’t always stay in the city. They’ll conduct some transactions and sparring inside the city. Under normal circumstances, they’ll head out as well.”

“What do they do when they depart?”

“Hmm… many things. Running some errands for major families, for example, or guarding a merchant convoy. Exploring ruins is another possibility, or attending to businesses they run outside.”

“So do they steal and loot?” mused Li Hao. “Will they seize someone’s money when they run out?”

“……” Lin Hongyu didn’t respond. Of course they would.

“Do they eat on a normal basis?”

“Of course!”

“Then what do they eat? Where does that money come from?”

“……” Lin Hongyu found Li Hao very hard to talk to sometimes. She’d thought that he’d ask about the city’s level of strength, the twelve families, or leaders among the wandering cultivators…

But he cared not about any of that, asking a bunch of questions that no one cared about.

“It’s said that the City of Supernaturals also possess quite a large number of academies. There is one from the city, ones from three great organizations and the nine ministries. They recruit some supernaturals to attend school, who then join them after graduation, correct?”

“Yes.” Lin Hongyu nodded faintly. “This was what everyone agreed on back in the day. Otherwise, even with the twelve families’ might, it is hard for them to find their footing in the central region without spilling blood.”

Li Hao smiled and sipped from his cup. “And apparently, you guys killed some of the original inhabitants who refused to leave. Of those who remained, many died as they fled for safety, didn’t they?”

“……” Lin Hongyu’s expression changed and she said after a moment, “That is true, but there are details that the commander is unaware of. It wasn’t the twelve families that built the city together in the beginning. Some of the families started first, then invited us. We were latecomers and took over their places.”

Li Hao thought back to what he knew about the City of Supernaturals—that did indeed seem to be the case. Of course, this wasn’t important. The important thing was that many had died during the course of the city’s rise.

“Let’s drink!” Li Hao raised his cup with a smile. “I’m quite surprised that you would appear in front of me again. I stayed for a while and looked around, but didn’t see anyone. I would’ve thought that I would sense the arrival of other seven elements or peak six element Arcanus, but I didn’t.”

“This is all a misunderstanding, commander!” sighed Lin Hongyu. “I am here with utmost sincerity, not to be deliberately mysterious.”

“Now that’s not possible,” Li Hao burst out laughing. “Do you take me for a fool?”

Struggles for supremacy abounded these years and every faction had a backer. No one would surrender so easily. Not to mention, the City of Supernaturals hadn’t suffered much in terms of losses yet. Only a few of their Arcanus had died, and those didn’t necessarily belong to the Lins. Lin Hongyu was the sovereign of her domain. How would she choose to surrender just because of one setback?

Li Hao didn’t believe it. He wouldn’t take this course of action if it was him. Lin Hongyu knew he didn’t believe her, so she didn’t explain herself further.

“Does the commander wish to take down the City of Supernaturals?” was the only thing she said.

“I do.”

“I will summon the twelve families and most powerful wandering cultivators in three days to discuss grave matters. I will posit the need for a cabinet in our government. If the commander wishes to take down the City of Supernaturals, that is a chance! You can arrest or kill the various powerhouses of the city’s families, as well as the rogue factions that do not belong to the twelve.

“You can also seal off the city so that one million supernaturals cannot leave or enter. Send the Demon Hunter Army to occupy the city—I will have our city guard work in tandem to pacify the denizens. That will ensure that the commander smoothly takes over the City of Supernaturals. Otherwise, greater disturbances will rock the land.

“The difficulty associated with this endeavor is very high. Perhaps the commander is wondering if this is a trap. After all, the twelve families have a great many powerhouses associated with them if they could hold their own after all of these years. Perhaps they lack premier powerhouses, but all of them have at least five Arcanus. With twelve families in total, it ought to be easy to estimate how many Arcanus there will be at minimum.

“Additionally, they will have plant spirit replicas with them, as well as the essence blood of beast spirits and supreme weapons of note. Taking into account that some of the wandering cultivators might have come across immense fortune, that means that there might be more than one hundred Arcanus present on that day!” Lin Hongyu looked at Li Hao. “Does the commander… dare attend?”

She was also curious what Li Hao would do. Would he dare? She knew of his strength. How would he handle plots from the shadows?

“Additionally, heavyweights from the nine ministries, three great organizations, and seven divine mountains are in residence at the city…”

Lin Hongyu thought Li Hao was hesitating when he stroked his chin, but the young man asked curiously, “Will they all be there?”

“Yes…”

“That’s so nice!” Li Hao exclaimed with surprise. “Don’t be lying to me, now!”

This was a fantastic opportunity! These powerhouses were scattered all over in regular times; congregating together meant a prime chance to catch them in one fell swoop. As for it being a trap or the dangers associated within… that was fine. I like taking risks. Having everyone together is the result I want.

My Demon Hunter Army can be put to great use This is also a perfect opportunity to try out the babies I got for establishing the Eleventh Division.

“Are you not worried, commander?” chuckled Lin Hongyu. “As strong as you are, the commander shouldn’t have reached the stage of being able to ignore plant spirit replicas, have you?”

Li Hao was very confident, but being too brazen wasn’t a good idea in Lin Hongyu’s eyes. It was the custom of this age that modern humans find a backer to cleave to. If Li Hao only knew to barge around like a bull in a china shop, she would have to reconsider her decision. Someone like that easily dragged his people down into hell with him due to overconfidence.

“Perhaps you guys can kill me in return.” Li Hao bared his snow-white teeth. “I like excitement! I don’t care if you’re really here to surrender or not, notify me when everyone is gathered in three days!”

I need to prepare certain plans if I dare to attend! I don’t care what you’re thinking. If this is a trap, or if there’s ruins in the City of Supernaturals that can swallow us all, I’ll be prepared for anything! I only need all of you to be present.

If I succeed, then the City of Supernaturals is mine. So are the one million supernaturals within it. Hong Yitang wants nothing more than to send them all to work in the fields. I’d been having a headache with his request, but here’s a perfect chance to fulfill it.

As for the Wind and Cloud Pavilion… who cared about them. They would be eliminated as soon as they were found. He would find the Wind and Cloud Pavilion and exterminate that faction first. If they were located after three days, then he would take care of the City of Supernaturals first.

As for the level of strength, Li Hao didn’t dare ask Lin Hongyu. Who knew the truth of what she said? He would make his own judgment call!

Lin Hongyu raised a cup and took a sip, toasting Li Hao. “In that case, I await the commander’s arrival in three days! Additionally, how will the commander treat the city, my family, and the plant spirit behind me once you have the city?

“If you genuinely surrender and have not committed villainous acts, then you can be forgiven,” Li Hao smiled. “I can set aside the matter of you trying to kill me. I am a magnanimous person! But if the blood of innocents stains your hands… I can again ignore those of supernaturals. If the blood belongs to civilians, however, I will execute you first. You can’t blame me for not warning you of this first.”

“I am the Lin clan matriarch and the lord of the City of Supernaturals,” Lin Hongyu burst out laughing. “I have no need to fall to such depths.”

“That’s good.” Li Hao considered the matter at hand as he sipped his wine. “I have my arrangements for those of the city. All those supernaturals gathered together in debauchery, no one pursuing honest work or operating a business… What use is there in that? The City of Supernaturals is a haven of criminals and doesn’t really need to exist!”

Lin Hongyu’s expression flickered slightly.

“As for you, you can choose to retire in peace or join the Skystar Commander Office. I don’t mind having more powerhouses under my banner. And your plant spirit… we can partner if that’s possible. It can return to sleep if not. If it raises a fuss, I’ll just kill it!”