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Chapter 281: Comprehending the Sword (III)

“Is... this appropriate then?” Li Hao asked with embarrassment.

Hao Lianchuan rolled his eyes again. Why do I feel like this guy is putting on an act to defraud me of a stone? But him vomiting blood doesn’t seem fake...

This is such a headache!

“It’s appropriate, have it!” Hao Lianchuan said casually. “Don’t worry, It won’t come out of your five thousand cubes! While we need to show a bit of face to Hu Dingfang, you don’t. One mysterious power stone cannot be traded for the breathing method either...”

Hu Dingfang furrowed his brows and glanced at the deputy director before walking off without a word. He tried to stay away from this topic and didn’t like it when others mentioned it either. If it’d been twenty years ago... heads would be bashed in for leaking martial secrets. It would be extremely harmful to his wife’s reputation if word of this spread. Yuan Shuo might not take her to task for divulging the core method of the Five Styles, but veteran martial masters would absolutely be enraged.

Li Hao said nothing else and picked up the wood energy stone to attempt absorbing its energy. A peculiar surge of power rushed into his body when he operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles. The young man contained himself with effort—this energy felt similar to sword energy!

Of course, it was slightly inferior and not as gentle as sword energy. Its effects weren’t as exceptional, but it was far better than violent mysterious power.

Tender wood energy surged into his body, repairing the spleen that’d almost ruptured moments ago. Li Hao’s decision to focus on the sword aura caused extreme agitation from the giant mountain. It’d almost shattered his organ.

The young man could perceive that this energy was very useful, particularly for the spleen. The organ was being nurtured by the wood element. However, he still felt a certain regret as the energy was truly a step below sword energy. Sword energy could also extract even purer and better wood energy!

But if sword energy could distill mysterious power, could it do the same to this wood energy stone? If it could, wouldn’t the energy be made purer then?

Can this item replenish sword energy?

Li Hao wondered, but didn’t have a chance to experiment. These mysterious power stones would be a true ultimate treasure if they could!

His organs were strengthening and his body being enhanced, but the effects weren’t noticeable.

Hao Lianchuan frowned and gave a reminder when he saw the stone grow dim. “Don’t absorb it all, it can recover so long as the color hasn’t fully faded away. That is the key point of this treasure!”

What? It can recover??

“Will it recover quickly?” asked the young man.

“Not that quick, but most of its energy will return after three to five years. That’s why mysterious power stones are a great treasure. Fifty stones can form a small mine...”

Li Hao was completely speechless! Fifty small stones as a mine? You’re joking! They’re not even the size of a ball when they’re added together.

“Kid,” Hao Lianchuan abruptly transmitted when he finished talking. “You absorb energy so quickly that you must have taken in one hundred cubes already. How come there’s no change in you? You should be undergoing some sort of qualitative change under normal circumstances. Is something wrong?”

“What?” Li Hao said aloud with obvious confusion.

A morose Hao Lianchuan transmitted, “Logically speaking, a Sunderer shouldn’t be absorbing so much energy so quickly and be completely unaffected. Have you secretly advanced to Dominator?”

“What are you talking about, Director Hao?” Li Hao yelped.

“......” Hao Lianchuan decided to stay quiet.

Off in the distance, Hu Dingfang frowned at Hao Lianchuan and transmitted, “What are you blathering on about?”

Hao Lianchuan must be talking about him behind his back! He must be! Why else would Li Hao have looked at him a few times?

Hao Lianchuan wanted to vomit blood from pure frustration. I wasn’t talking shit about you! Forget it, the little bastard is incredibly cunning. All he did was look at Hu Dingfang to set the guy on me.

Li Hao ignored the two. Why ask so many questions? You’re interfering with me absorbing wood energy.

The young man inwardly delighted at the wood energy stone. His reserve of wood energy was being further added to as well. It’d been the least before—fire and water had stood at six hundred cubes, wood at only three hundred. Another one hundred was swiftly added to its numbers from the stone.

This thing is great! Li Hao scanned his memory to find that there weren’t many wood energy stones in the stones that he’d collected either. Getting one for free was just as good!

Of course, this was just an accidental gain. The true harvest was the conversation with Hong Yitang leading to new understanding. It was another step forward in his own path of martial dao.

Martial dao became quite disorganized after peak Sunderer. Everyone was lost as to what the path was after Dominator. Yuan Shuo was perfecting it, but his path wasn’t necessarily suitable for everyone. Li Hao was also starting to debate what his road should be. Of course, he was young and had seen too little of the world thus far. He could only obtain a bit of inspiration from other people.

He seemed to have gained quite a bit in terms of sword dao today. He’d been very lost before, having seen powerhouses from the ancient civilization deploy moves such as severing the self, forging bravely forward without looking back, and marching on the heavens... The young man was uncertain how to proceed after witnessing all that.

Today, he gained additional enlightenment. A myriad of changes did not depart from the original principle! The core meaning was still sword intent and the aura. As for how to project the aura, that depended on the situation, the battle, and the adaptation.

Li Hao considered these concepts as he absorbed energy. Others did not register particular sensations, but Hong Yitang took a few more glances at the young man. There was a unique sword intent emanating from the fellow!

Liu Long and Hu Dingfang also looked at Li Hao. Liu Long, of course, remained silent. Hu Dingfang was also slightly confused.

Is that... aura?

He wasn’t familiar with Li Hao, but he knew a bit about the Five Styles. As Yuan Shuo’s final disciple, it was... surprising that Li Hao did not practice the auras of the Five Styles. He... really didn’t know what to say.

......

Li Hao didn’t care what anyone else thought or saw. It wasn’t that he looked down on the Five Styles—his teacher’s path wasn’t necessarily his.

Alright, fine, it was indeed that he didn’t think that highly of the method. He didn’t want to lie to himself. His forefather’s stroke had cast the Five Styles in a different light!

Other people may not understand, but his teacher surely would. Yuan Shuo had been the one encouraging Li Hao to comprehend that sword. He knew as well that his Five Styles did not measure up to that formidable move! This was why his final disciple did not study the auras of the Five Styles.

......

Time passed, bit by bit. Li Hao absorbed abundant wood energy and could vaguely sense that wood, fire, and water were balanced in his body. There were roughly six hundred cubes of each and the wood energy stone was much dimmer than before. As of now, he possessed the least of earth and metal. There were only four hundred cubes of them as the other three had caught up.

The giant mountain was being compressed in the spleen. Li Hao was consuming so much energy not just to nurture his organs, but also to convert the earth aura into an earth sword aura. The mountain began shrinking; it was now just a little bigger than a pillar. The young man felt that he stood a chance of completing the compression before they left the ruins.

Once he succeeded, his earth aura would undergo further changes and strengthen him even more!

One hour... two hours...

Hao Lianchuan had to interrupt his training when black shone through the wood energy stone in Li Hao’s hands. “Are your organs still not recovered?” He looked at the stone with heartache. “You’ve emptied the wood energy stone!”

“It’s... a fake stone, isn’t it?” Hu Dingfang asked with surprise from a distance. “Or it was mostly depleted already? Li Hao wouldn’t deplete it no matter how he pulled from it otherwise. Even you and I wouldn’t exhaust it so quickly.”

“It must have been used before...” offered a speechless Hao Lianchuan. “Or that a lot of energy has been lost through so much time.”

He was lost too! The wood energy stone wasn’t that big, but it ought to contain five hundred cubes, no? It was all gone! Li Hao wouldn’t be able to digest it all even if he was a cow!

The young man opened his eyes and looked at the stone in his hand with embarrassment. “So it’s empty? I wondered why there was no more energy. Here, you can have it back, Director Hao. My injuries are much better, though they’re not fully healed...”

“Cough cough cough!” Hao Lianchuan nearly spat blood. Not fully healed yet?!

Li Hao sighed with regret, he’d almost fully compressed the mountain. He’d stopped out of concern that it’d cause too great of a disturbance, but he was almost there. What would result when the earth aura turned into an earth sword aura?

Hao Lianchuan didn’t have the strength to jeer at the young man. He picked up the wood energy stone. “Come on, let’s leave the city and wait at the ruin doors. It should be soon!”

The doors should be opening soon. They would have to wait until next month if they didn’t leave today. However, how many of them would be alive next month?

Li Hao didn’t have opinions otherwise—the group quickly walked outside.

......

At the same time, the inner city.

The tortoise hovering in the air seemed to open its eyes, looking in the direction where Li Hao and the others were leaving. An heir of the eight families... sword intent... Was that an heir of the Lis?

So weak... so weak that one could not believe this was a representative of the eight families! Did the Lis’ Eternal Sword discipline still exist?

Countless thoughts filtered into its mind and were swiftly dismissed. Its line of sight fell downward and rested upon a little black dog...

The tortoise looked at it silently. Had the descendants of those who quelled the monster spirits for the human race become so ordinary?

A certain scene floated up from its memories, but quickly dispersed. It was too long ago, it did not bear thinking. Disaster was upon it if it reawakened. The line of sight vanished a moment later.

Whether it was the heritage of the eight families or the descendant of those who quelled the monster spirits, all were fragments of memory!

The ancient city sank into silence once more and lost its luster.