<h4>Chapter 168: Breaking Through (IV)</h4>


    As teacher and disciple sparred over an unknown period of time, Li Hao grew faster and steadier in his movements.


    <i>Kill!</i>


    There was no need to worry about his teacher’s safety as he couldn’t possibly harm his teacher. The memory of that stroke reverberated in his mind, as well as the swordsman who’d dered that he would tear heaven and earth asunder. As for the Divine Brokensky that his teacher had killed before... that guy was less than shit!


    Internal force abruptly erupted from the young man as he lived the stroke again and a faint sword intent blossomed from his body.


    <i>sh!</i>


    Li Hao’s speed was unparalleled and he cut through the air with a hum. Yuan Shuo pushed the sword away with his palm, but the sword light grazed his hand. The young man immediately halted his movements and looked at his teacher’s palm.


    It was slightly wounded; the injury was part of the previous bloody hole.


    Yuan Shuo also stopped and looked at his hand, then at his student. He smiled with an incline of his head. “You haven’t fully seeded, but you’ve greatly improved. If you continue onward, you’ll be a true peak Sunderer before long!”


    Li Hao beamed radiantly. <i>Worth!</i> Tonight was so worth!


    “Let’s go, we’ve pretty much fully digested the scarlet shadow energy. Let’s see if we can open the stone door. If not, we’ll have the sword and de absorb more energy,” chuckled Yuan Shuo. He didn’t have much hope for opening the stone door as he had a hunch that all eight weapons needed to be present to manage that. Qiao Feilong had tried and failed for so many years, so brute force was inly not the answer.


    ......


    Teacher and disciple returned to the great hall. The stone door stood unmoving at the end. Li Hao approached the indentation with his sword, Yuan Shuo with the de. When the young man ced the little sword into the hollow, he felt that it wasn’t a good match. Neither did the stone de fit.


    Yuan Shuo closely studied the indentation for a while and suddenly smiled. “How interesting!”


    “Hmm?”


    “<i>Qian kun zhen xun, li kan gen dui</i>,” Yuan Shuo softly recited the eight trigrams. “The sword of the Lis, de of the Zhangs, fists of the Zhaos, footwork of the Lius, the big turtle kept by the Wangs...


    “We are in the <i>li</i> fire position. Qiao Feilong and his people all received the power of fire, so there must be a weapon among the eight that corresponds to fire! ording to the folk song, it’s likely to be the turtle shell of the Wangs... But a turtle shell sounds like a defensive treasure and is most likely attributed with earth...”


    Yuan Shuo frowned. “Or is it that the turtle shell is a fire supernatural object?”


    If it wasn’t the turtle shell, was it the mallet of the Hongs or the spear of the Zhous? The professor looked intently at the indentation again.


    “Li Hao, what do you think this hollow looks like? A turtle shell or a mallet?”


    It was rounded, which meant it had to be a turtle shell or a mallet. It didn’t look like the outline of a spear.


    “A... mallet?” Li Hao bent his nose to it as well. “Teacher, do you mean...”


    “There might be eight doors like these out there!” A strange look gleamed in Yuan Shuo’s eyes. “And they’re all beneath Silver City! Of the eight stone doors, one should be a match for the sword and another for the de. Perhaps all eight of the doors need to be open for us to sessfully ess the ruins.”


    Eight doors!


    “There’s <i>eight</i> ces like these?” Li Hao gasped with shock.


    “Indeed. I thought there was only one such ruin, but now it looks like that this isn’t the case. Otherwise, the sword and de should fit. They don’t, so that proves this isn’t the only door. The convergence of all eight doors or their simultaneous opening is the key to essing the true ruins of the eight families!


    “I’ll need to study a map of Silver City when we get back and conduct some secret investigations,” Yuan Shuoughed. “For now... let’s absorb some energy and get out of here. We can’t open these ruins, but we can seal them away. We cane back when sword energy is exhausted and collect some more. It doesn’t look like much is seeping out.”


    “Why don’t I shed some blood, teacher...”


    “Hah!” Yuan Shuo snorted. “Forget it. Do you think you’re the only heir? You bled earlier—it would’ve reacted if it was going to. This ce is probably going to need all eight weapons to open.”


    Eight doors!


    Li Hao suddenly thought of something. “Teacher, can we reap more benefits from the other ces even if we can’t ess them, because the Qiaos haven’t excavated them?”


    “Probably!” Yuan Shuo smirked. They might be striking it rich soon. They wouldn’t be extremely wealthy, but they’d definitelye into a small fortune. Of course, the caveat was if they could find the other seven doors. Everything was just spection for now.


    “Heh heh...” Teacher and disciple cackled. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t open this door. If they could locate the other seven sites, they might have unexpected gains. Even Qiao Feilong could rise to Sr and raise three Sunres. If they found seven more... could they create seven Srs and twenty-one Sunre?


    Hot damn, they’d be able to dere war on the Silver Moon Night Watchers if they wanted to!


    “Hurry up and have your sword absorb energy faster. Let’s get out of here as soon as possible. Too many people have their eyes set on us these days, so I want to seal off this area in case anyone discovers anything.”


    “Alright!” Li Hao brought out the small sword and began operating the Breathing Method of the Five Styles. Yuan Shuo did the same. They should replenish their weapons before anything else.


    As for departing with the energy mixture... Li Hao didn’t have any good ideas. He needed a medium first—that couldeter. The energy mixture was a potent killing weapon whenbined with scarlet shadow energy.


    ......


    Li Hao couldn’t take in any more after a long period of time. There didn’t seem to be enough energy left to absorb, what little that wafted out from the door wasn’t sufficient to be drawn in.


    Teacher and disciple decided to call it a day. When Yuan Shuo walked out of the hall with Li Hao, he punched a massive piece of rock down from the wall. The man hauled it up and sealed off the area around the iron door. Just this precaution alone, however, would be insufficient to evade the detection of certain people.


    Yuan Shuo stared at his work and clenched his jaw. “Why don’t we blow up this ce and copse the entire mountain...”


    “Teacher, it’s not a good idea to cause too big of a disturbance, right?”


    “That’s true... Forget it, we’ll think of something when we go back or this will be easily exposed. Granted, it’s not like other people will be able to ess it even if they find it.”


    The two left without regrets, swiftly departing the karst cave with Panther in tow. Li Hao looked back at thest moment.<i> This ce... will be mine one day. No one can take it from me!</i>


    Whaty behind the door? The swordsman looked to have gone through the door in the relief. Was it this stone door? What a pity that he had no way or strength to explore it.


    <i>Red Moon... they might have six of the other eight weapons. </i>The young man increasingly hated the organization the more he thought about it. <i>Not only do they want to kill me, but they also want to steal my family’s treasures! </i>The eight families were one and with the others gone, the treasures of the eight naturally went to him.


    Red Moon stealing their treasures was actually stealing his!


    When put in these terms, a rage built in Li Hao’s heart. <i>I’ll end you guys sooner orter!</i>


    A resigned Yuan Shuo thought his student was loath to leave like this when he saw the young man gnash his teeth. <i>Why is the kid getting greedy at this time? Isn’t it enough that you set foot into peak Sunderer tonight?</i>


    <i>What an insatiable kid!</i>


    <i>But... I like that!</i>


    ......


    The two humans and dog felt like they’d been gone for an eternity when they exited the mines. It’d only been a short while, but they’d experienced so much, particrly Li Hao. His vision of that scene from an unknown point in time instantly broadened their worldview.


    Hu Hao and Chen Jian were still present outside the mine. They didn’t know that teacher and disciple had immensely improved in just a few hours.


    It was 3am and Hu Hao immediately approached them when he saw the two walk out.


    “Eld—Teacher, the dog barged in earlier. I remembered seeing it with you and Li Hao before, so I didn’t...”


    Yuan Shuo waved him off. The dog had found them inside the mine, there was nothing to be conflicted about.


    Panther wagged its tail appeasingly—it was terrified of the older human.


    “You can withdraw from this post,” Yuan Shuo said, surprising the two. Hu Hao knew what the ruins entailed, and that a few hours weren’t sufficient to excavate them.


    Yet they were to leave?


    “Teacher Yuan, are we not... exploring them anymore?”


    Yuan Shuo smiled. “The Qiaos took nearly everything, there’s nothing left. Even if there are a few areas that haven’t been excavated, they’re not ces that we can attempt at the moment. We might be able to in a few years.”


    <i>Can’t attempt at the moment? </i>Hu Hao understood. These situations urred from time to time, such as the ruins they were about to explore next. The Night Watchers had been unable to venture deep into them due to inadequate strength and had to set them aside.


    In fact, these situations weremon and also represented that the ruins beneath them were umon. They could tell just how much of the ruins had been emptied from the fact that Qiao Feilong had set foot into Sr. All of the treasures had been digested into their strength.


    “So then we just... leave it, Professor Yuan?” Chen Jian scratched his head. “Isn’t that such a pity?”


    These were ruins! Unlike supernaturals who’d explored a ruin or two in their lifetime, he’d never encountered one. All he knew was that there were supposedly treasures inside a ruin. But Li Hao and Yuan Shuo had returned empty-handed... It looked like they hadn’t found anything. Wouldn’t it be a huge pity to give up, just like this?


    “Not at all,” Li Hao exined softly. “There’s no point in insisting on explorations at this stage. We cane back when we gain enough strength.”


    “I’m worried about other people finding them...”


    “Don’t be.” Li Hao smiled. “If even my teacher can’t, will others seed, Brother Chen? Of course, it’s another story if someone stronger than Sres. But if that’s the case, we won’t be able to do anything if they just take it from us.”


    The young man made sense!


    Both Chen Jian and Hu Hao fell silent. The ruins were Li Hao and Yuan Shuo’s battle spoils. If both of them felt there was no need to continue, then there was no need for the two watchers to say anything else.


    If they didn’t need to guard the spot, then they could retreat.


    “None of us drove, why don’t I fly back with everyone...” Hu Hao offered.


    “Forget it, there’s too many of us. That’d be a huge hassle.” Yuan Shuo pped his hand. “Just fly back with the fatty. Li Hao and I will run back.”


    Flight also consumed mysterious power, Hu Hao would be tired enough flying back with Chen Jian. The fatty was as heavy as teacher and disciplebined.