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Chapter 258: The Terrifying Sight of One’s Back (III)

Hao Lianchuan patted the young man on the shoulder. “Don’t voice nonsense. If you’d offered this information to the Night Watchers, we would’ve counted it as an achievement of great merit. How can you go around talking about it with such a lackadaisical manner!”

What a pity! Although the effects were pretty good in this assembly, Director Hou might’ve used the knowledge to greater effect. Little fella, you lack the proper venues. This could’ve caused a greater splash!

If it was disseminated to the wider public, all of the big guys in the central region would want a blood pearl. They can give it to their children if they have no use for it. Who wants their descendants to be ordinary mundanes? Practicing martial dao is so tiring!

One blood pearl could save years of effort and enhance one’s foundations. All that was needed was to kill a few Red Moon members!

“Director, I...” Li Hao kept his head down. “Either I say nothing, or I speak only the truth!”

“......” Very well then, pretend I didn’t say anything. Hao Lianchuan coughed in lieu of responding. “Everyone, consider the matter of Li Hao’s injuries settled! Hu Dingfang, stop creating trouble for Violet Moon at the drop of a hat. Who knows how irritated she might be right now? If you kill her, people might think that we’ve gotten our hands on a peak Sunflare blood pearl. What will you do when they come to you for it?”

Hu Dingfang flicked a glance at the deputy director and didn’t say anything. He naturally wouldn’t raise a fuss after Li Hao was much recovered.

It was only now that the young man had the strength to look at the inner city gates. As he expected, there was a turtle to be found! Not terribly big, it shimmered in and out of sight over the inner city. It was a very vivid, lifelike turtle!

Li Hao then looked at two characters hovering in the air over the city. He recognized the ancient characters.

Battle Heaven!

The two words floated over the city gates. His blood boiled and emotions frothed at seeing the name.

The big turtle kept by the Wangs... He thought of the line from the folk song. The Wangs hadn’t seemed all that strong in the lyrics and didn’t seem to possess any offensive capabilities. But when he saw the characters of “Battle Heaven”, a surge of valor rushed into his brain. This was at odds with the Wangs of the folk song. To battle heaven... Hearken this boldness of vision and breadth of spirit!

The city of Battle Heaven?

Li Hao had the urge to throw his head back and howl at the sky as he considered the two characters.

“Do you know those two words?” Hu Dingfang suddenly asked the young man. He didn’t. Not many present did. Hao Lianchuan did because they’d dug into old records after previous expeditions. Only powerhouses skilled in battle could reach this stopping point, it was beyond the capabilities of excavation members versed only in knowledge.

Li Hao nodded and took a deep breath. “Battle Heaven!”

Battle Heaven?

The group mulled over the response and frowned faintly. Just listen to that conceit, yet also remarkable intrepidity! The city of Battle Heaven! Did its residents vie with the heavens themselves?

Li Hao took another look; he stared fixedly at the characters. Who’d written them? He didn’t know, but it must have been a hero with grand aspirations and vision. The young man even vaguely sensed that their writer really had been ready to declare war on the heavens when he wrote them!

Arrogant and strong!

Was this the city of the Wangs? Li Hao didn’t know, but it was very possible. The Wang family wasn’t ranked too highly out of the eight, weren’t they? The young man considered the characters with slight confusion. If a Wang family had such a formidable city, then what about my Lis? They didn’t just leave a sword behind, did they?

Various questions swirled in his mind as he studied the gate again. It was tall, very tall and at least one hundred meters. It would be hard to open it if they couldn’t fly. Battlements topped the city walls, but they were difficult to make out through the darkness. He seemed to catch a glimpse of white on the ramparts.

Was the Silver Armor up there? Were the gates impossible to open if it didn’t come down?

“Li Hao,” Violet Moon raised noncommittally. “You are Yuan Shuo’s student and he’s explored countless ruins in his lifetime. He knows much about these, so can you determine anything?”

Li Hao didn’t say anything. He simply drew near the city gates and looked upward. The two characters in the sky still sent his heart pounding.

Battle Heaven!

His gaze fell on the gates after a while and he touched them gently, feeling the cool touch of metal. He gave a light push—they were completely still. Indestructible!

The city gates seemed to be one solid hole, but a very thin crack could be made out with careful observation. There was another tiny crack in the air—this was possibly where a key could go. These gates could only be opened from behind, or through this crack. However, there were fifty meters up to the crack. Would they be attacked if they flew up there?

It was a dead end!

Of course, the Solars could stay in the air for a bit if they used their origin weapons to defend against the airstrikes.

Li Hao took in the details and looked at the city walls—they were also very tall. When he touched them, he sensed that they were a similar material to the ground. They were truly one whole with the city walls! As opposed to breaking the walls, they might as well try the city gates.

“I’m just a rookie and can’t read much from this.” Li Hao turned back with a shake of his head. “It might be better for Solar powerhouses to fly up there and use their powerful weapons to defend against the attacks in the air. The gates might be able to be opened from the back. That will save us a lot of trouble.”

His suggestion was greeted with partial eye rolls. They’d considered this proposal, but who was willing to make the trip? There was the Silver Armor on the city walls and who knew what else behind the gates? The attacks in the air might shatter their origin weapons and inflict enormous injuries. Who was willing to pay such a massive price?

This wasn’t a solo operation, it was supposed to be a joint expedition!

“Let’s set this aside for now and have everyone come together.” Hao Lianchuan broke the silence. “The Black Armors should be mostly eliminated. Whatever’s left won’t be much of a problem!”

It’d been almost three hours since the fighting started in the city. That was enough!

There was indeed much less of a disturbance coming from the city, just some scuffles here and there. Either the weak were all dead or people were moving in packs throughout the city and forestalling any opportunities for ambush.

When no one objected, Hao Lianchuan called out, “All supernaturals in the city will convene at the city gates!”

People rushed to the meeting point a few moments later. Some were injured, some dragged their broken bodies in. There were people with broken arms and legs. One... two...

More and more supernaturals filtered in. The Solars silently watched as the crowd grew bigger; no more was forthcoming after twenty minutes.

Li Hao swept a look at the assembly. There’d been more than one hundred of the expedition before, but now there were barely sixty with the Solars included. Another half had died!

Apart from the Solars, there were roughly fifty supernaturals surviving. Twenty Night Watchers remained. They’d plainly suffered some setbacks, but still possessed a sizable contingent. On the other hand, there were... three Yama members!

Indeed, only three Sunflares remained apart from the Revolution King. They made for a lonely sight.

Less than ten stood with Red Moon. At the end of the counting, it turned out that Celestial was the strongest of the three greats. With the Solar inside the city, they still numbered thirteen members under their banner.

There were only ten left of the Sword Sect, and there were no independent supernaturals to be seen! The wandering supernaturals that’d moved alone were all gone.

Li Hao counted silently. It was expected that Yama had so few people left since he’d killed quite a few. It was normal that Red Moon didn\'t have many left either. But the Sword Sect had had a Solar with them. Why were they so short on people as well?

Hao Lianchuan was also surprised by the results. There were fewer people left than he thought and the Night Watchers had lost a few. Can it be... He looked at the hidden Solars from Celestial and the Sword Sect. They’d done their fair share of killing, hadn’t they?

If not, how would so many have died in one fell swoop?

He wasn’t the only one to think so because there were really too many Celestial survivors. There were fifteen of them!

Indeed, fifteen included the two Solars. How many had they sent into the ruins? Twenty-two! That meant they’d retained two-thirds of their people and ninety percent of their battle strength. How was it possible for so many of the others to die if it wasn’t for the concealed Celestial Solar rampaging through the city?

Meanwhile, Ding Chen was also startled by the results. All of the other factions had lost too many, including the Night Watchers. The government agency had numbered more than thirty before and was greatly diminished at this point. Celestial had only lost three in the last round of bloodshed—that really wasn’t a lot!

“How many did you kill, Kong Qi?” Ding Chen transmitted with a pained tone. Why had so many died? Everyone would absolutely think Celestial was behind everything since they’d lost the fewest members. They would think that the organization had assassinated too many! How else could each organization suddenly losing so many be explained?

The Solar named Kong Qi was likewise dejected. “I... I didn’t kill that many! I ambushed three Night Watchers, a few Sword Sect supernaturals, two Yama Sunflares, and a Red Moon Sunflare... and then I came back!”

He had indeed killed people, but he hadn’t exceeded ten. It was almost fifty that’d died in the last round—the woman from the Sword Sect must be behind it!

Ding Chen’s shoulders slumped slightly. That was still a lot. If the one from the Sword Sect had done similar, then some infighting, as well as a portion being killed by Black Armors, ambushed by Bronze Armors... These results were only to be expected.

If they hadn’t recalled the two Solars ahead of time, the pitiful amount left now would be truly awkward indeed.