Star Gate

Chapter 836: Harvest, Ranking (III)

This shouldn’t be the case! thought the rose. They might’ve judged the situation incorrectly. As opposed to Chen Zhongtian dying, perhaps he was killing someone and his great dao wavering too wildly to maintain his portion of the seal. It would seem that the weapon of a Saint was still useful in the current world. Judging from the old Skystar King’s condition, Chen Zhongtian might have broken his weapon that’d belonged to a Saint.

“If Chen Zhongtian is dead, then his weapon must be broken too!” The Skystar King was quite happy. “I don’t think those two fellows behind the two strongest seals will hold me for long!”

The rose didn’t say anything; it simply continued looking into the darkness. There were nine strategic points within the city that had been some of the most important locations back in the day. Plant spirits stood guard over all of them, and they’d betrayed the rose after awakening. It constantly wished to open the Skystar mine, but they prevented its attempts each time...

Of course, those nine fellows weren’t the key. The key was that there was another one at the entrance of the mines. Too bad those nine bastards weren’t willing to join forces with the rose. Would there be a need for all this otherwise? n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Were the other nine worried that it would devour them all?

New Martial was over and the divisive nature of the monster spirits was coming to the fore. The humans weren’t much better off either. This was what happened in the absence of a strong character keeping the world in check.

The plant spirits at Skystar were unable to come together as one. They might’ve occupied first mover advantage otherwise and broken through to the mine. A full recovery would already be in their grasp.

What a bunch of idiots! cursed the rose. It sighed imperceptibly when it looked at the old Skystar King. What a pity! It’d chosen the Jiangs back in the day because it thought they were very strong and possessed the requisite decisiveness to execute their decisions. With its support, they would be able to swiftly dominate and subdue their opponents. In return, the rose would receive a large amount of resources despite being cut off from the outside world. It would recover at first light and eliminate those of its kind that stood in its way.

Who would’ve thought that the Jiang trash wouldn’t be able to overcome their nine opponents!

“Break your seal as soon as possible! The second awakening is upon us and the large mine cannot be kept under wraps even without action from us. Too much energy has accumulated and it is about to explode!

“You are useful before then and completely useless after the second awakening!” the rose said brusquely without care for the listener’s feelings.

The old Skystar King’s expression flickered as he quickly responded, “Don’t worry, I’m almost there. Li Hao is a shit stirrer alright. I would’ve found it difficult to break free without him, but with him.... If anything further happens to the old farts of Armed Forces of Administration, I’ll be able to break right out!”

It was also fine if nothing happened to them. He would be able to force his way out all the same if the divine weapons stabilizing the seal were removed. The old Skystar King didn’t dare openly show his thoughts, but in the depths of his heart, he felt that if it wasn’t for the rose being unwilling to help, he would’ve been freed a long time ago.

The rose was worried that the nine weapons might turn on it or somehow harm it. The divine weapons would have a difficult time recovering their usual strength in the outside world, but they could be very strong inside the ruins if they awakened. Nine of them attacking at once was a nigh impossible proposition for the rose as well.

The rose ignored the old king’s mood. It had absolutely no desire to endure an offensive from nine weapons for the sake of a piece of trash. Those weapons had once been divine weapons of the human race. As a monster spirit that’d turned traitor, its course of action would provoke the weapons’ will. They would gravely harm it, if not kill it altogether.

Perhaps those nine plant bastards nearby would join forces to devour it then.

But... now that one of them was broken... was the Golden Coconut injured?

After some thought, the rose felt that the Golden Coconut might be fine since it was just one singular divine weapon. If it chose to attack now, that might cause the others to rise up in joint defense.

The rose vanished, not wanting to think about this any further. A rose vine once more swayed in the void, but it looked in a certain direction.

The second awakening is inevitable and you cannot possibly hold us back then. You are already dead, so why be so stubborn?

......

At the same time, day broke in the outside world. It was the third day. The Wind and Cloud Pavilion had announced that they would publish their Arcanus ranking today, so many people were watching and waiting.

A pale Chen Yao sat in the Inspectorate. He’d been watching the Ministry of the Judiciary all night long, but did not see his old man coming back. Was he dead? Was he really dead? He’d said that Chen Yao should make a run for it if he hadn’t returned by dawn, to send the others to Administration and ask the Zhaos for protection.

But... his old man was so strong, could he possibly die?

Chen Yao was on pins and needles; the world was hazy around him. As for the ranking that everyone waited for with bated breath, he didn’t care about it at all.

“Attend to me!” he growled. A subordinate quickly came through the door. “I had you call the Skystar Commander Office so we could discuss how to respond to the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Did you not notify them?”

“We did, sir, but they said that Commander Li led a group out of Skystar City yesterday because they discovered traces of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. All of the Skystar Commander Office’s powerhouses are away for the moment...”

Chen Yao didn’t say a word. The Wind and Cloud Pavilion? No, that wasn’t the case. His old man wouldn’t have told him to run away if that was the target. It must be something even more frightening!

On this day, everyone learned that there were no heavyweights in residence at the Skystar Commander Office. Even Yao Si of the Night Watchers was gone. There seemed to have been traces of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion discovered.

......

An Arcanus ranking was swiftly disseminated throughout the land before Li Hao’s group reappeared. It was quickly made general knowledge. Everyone who saw it paused, unable to believe their eyes. This was a ranking that Li Hao had modified with careful thought and based off of the real ranking.

Number one, Ying Hongyue. Seven element Arcanus.

Number two, the old Skystar King Jiang Chen. Seven element Arcanus.

Number three, the old minister of Administration. Seven element Arcanus!

Number four, the old minister of Armed Forces. Peak six element Arcanus.

Number five, Li Hao. Peak six element Arcanus.

Number six, the current Skystar King. Peak six element Arcanus.

......

Li Hao had made a great number of changes, but he’d also put himself in as peak six elements. Many who obtained a copy blinked with consternation. Apart from a few whose strength had been changed, everyone else’s was accurate. The three seven element Arcanus was the most stunning of all.

Wasn’t that impossible before the second awakening? Whether it was the City of Supernaturals or Celestial and Yama, all factions were taken aback. Three seven elements?

......

Red Moon headquarters.

Ying Hongyue had also obtained a copy of the ranking at first light and frowned silently at it. What was... the Wind and Cloud Pavilion after? Everyone had thought that Li Hao would be number one. Even if that wasn’t an accurate placement, it would be Li Hao all the same. Otherwise, there would be no need to create that disturbance during the Skystar Commander Office’s inauguration ceremony.

But now?

Although there were multiple Silver Moon martial masters on the ranking, including Yao Si and others, why was he number one? And seven elements!

A vicious look entered Ying Hongyue’s eyes. His concealed strength had been revealed! How was that possible?? Did they really have the powerful Mirror of Wind and Cloud?

Damn it!

“Congratulations to Leader Ying!” A scarlet cloak fluttered in the void. “Seven element Arcanus places you first among Silver Moon! It looks like Leader Ying has some special methods that I am in the dark about.”

“This ranking is complete nonsense.” Ying Hongyue frowned. “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion is targeting me!”

But why?

“Can it... have something to do with you guys?” His eyes narrowed. “They’re not targeting me, but doing this because they’ve learned of your existence? Why else would they list me as number one for no reason?”

The scarlet cloak sank into deep thought. That was true. The two sides hadn’t had any dealings before this and Red Moon didn’t bear any enmity toward the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. It was Li Hao who’d made up his mind to eliminate the other. It was a colossal joke to list Ying Hongyue as number one during this time.

“I don’t know either...” the scarlet cloak offered after a long moment. “We don’t know much about the Wind and Cloud Pavilion, they’re rather mysterious. I thought it might be that group of people, but now it looks like it might not. Do they really have the heritage of Daoist Wind and Cloud?

“I’ll have people look into it. Be on the alert these days!” The scarlet cloak vanished.

Ying Hongyue frowned and scanned the ranking again. This ranking... listed a lot of Silver Moon cultivators, so it did seem aimed at Silver Moon. But... what the hell was all this! Li Hao wasn’t in the top three!

Ying Hongyue, the royal family, and the nine ministries were widely acknowledged as the three strongest factions beneath the heavens. Wasn’t it a joke to list the three of them? They were already the strongest in everyone’s hearts!

Of course, this was just confirmation to the rest of the world. It further verified the truth of the ranking.

“Bastards!” The unflappable Ying Hongyue was frowning ferociously. This ranking was ridiculous! What was the Wind and Cloud Pavilion thinking of—did they want to offend the rest of the strongest factions in the world so that everyone joined hands against them?

......

At the same time, within a ruin.

A loud crash traveled out of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion as a frosty voice demanded, “Why did this happen?!”

They’d known that something was wrong the moment the ranking appeared. A lot of people weren’t on it and the order had been changed. Deputy Zhou was nowhere to be found, Director General Zhao’s placement had decreased significantly. Yao Si and Hong Yitang were still present, but they were lower than twenty. There were fifty people on Li Hao’s modified ranking and his changes made it seem that the organization was targeting Ying Hongyue.

Although Ying Hongyue was indeed number one in their real ranking, this wasn’t the result that they wanted to see.

“Pavilion master, we... we don’t know either. We gave the ranking to Wu...”

“Idiots!” A black shadow came into view and jerked with angry movements. “Look into it! Exercise some care! Damn it, it was such a small matter, but you still managed to mess it up!”

Could they come out and say that this ranking was a fake? That there was another version they wanted to publish? They really would be a laughingstock then!

The black shadow was infuriated, truly incensed beyond words. Utilizing distribution channels was just a small matter, nothing had ever gone wrong before. But this mess developed in a most critical moment! This threw all of his plans into disarray!

“Understood!” Someone swiftly sped off outside while the pavilion master brooded over the development.

Ying Hongyue might think that the Wind and Cloud Pavilion was targeting him. He wasn’t afraid of Ying Hongyue—it was the forces behind Ying Hongyue that were a headache.