Star Gate

Chapter 537: Tree Spirit (I)

The eastern expanses were in an uproar, but they were so far away from Silver Moon that the latest news wouldn’t reach Li Hao for a while. Skystar Dynasty was too big even for certain special communication systems. The young man didn’t have his own intelligence network either. Silver Moon did, but they wouldn’t share what they knew since he wasn’t part of their core personnel.

......

The Divine Kun Ship flew for roughly two hours, covering approximately three hundred kilometers. Li Hao landed on a mountain covered with greenery and rivers. It was a beautiful environment that was far from a bleak, uninhabited expanse. There was a small town at the foot of the mountain; some lights were still on despite the late hour.

The ship landed soundlessly. A group of people swiftly disembarked. Being a deputy director for many years, Hao Lianchuan immediately recognized the place.

“This is Mount Cat Head because it is shaped like a cat’s head. It’s a local spot of interest and often drew tourists before the world was engulfed in chaos.”

“It’s not just because it’s shaped like a cat’s head, but also because there are a lot of stray cats here. We’re less than fifty kilometers from Flare City and within its jurisdiction.”

Hao Lianchuan flicked a sidelong glance at him. Not to be outdone, Wang Ming stared back. I was the one who introduced places before! You’ve stolen my job, fatty!

Li Meng opened her third eye and looked directly at the mountain—she’d always been a reckless soul. “I don’t see anything. There seems to be wild animals inside, but not the great monster spirits of legend.”

The various supernaturals all wanted to showcase their abilities. Yun Yao was the only one who remained quiet, she simply looked around. She was an ordinary water supernatural and her main mission was to heal the martial masters instead of fighting.

Li Hao took out a map without responding to the supernaturals. It depicted the mountain in front of them and had the ruins labeled with a red dot.

“Let’s go!” Li Hao led the way; the Demon Hunters were close on his heels.

Mount Cat Head wasn’t a steep mountain. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a big mountain. The elegant surroundings didn’t speak of danger at all. Was there really a ruin here? Granted, this location wouldn’t be fake since Golden Spear and the others had indeed explored one.

Li Hao found the marked spot on the other side of the mountain after looking for a while. There was a small mountain cave halfway up the mountain. A dense overlay of vines covered it. One could easily overlook the cave if they weren’t paying attention.

Li Hao sprang into the air; the rest followed him in climbing up the mountain. He brushed past the vines to reveal a pitch-black mountain cave. This method of access seemed to indicate... that this ruin wouldn’t amount to much. It appeared quite ordinary compared to the magnificent sophistication of Battle Heaven. There was no entrance that transformed into a wall, just a dark hole that even vaguely stunk.

Some bats also followed them in, raising a series of startled yelps.

Snap!

Fire rose with a crisp finger snap and illuminated the cave—Hao Lianchuan’s work. A random gesture from this fire Solar created a fireball that rose up to throw light on the premises.

“It’s the middle of the night.” Wang Ming rolled his eyes. “You’ll raise people’s attention if there’s light here.”

“What’s the big deal? We’re inside Silver Moon,” Hao Lianchuan retorted and stared intently at Wang Ming. Kid, don’t forget that I’m the director. Even though I’m only an acting director, I’m still your superior officer! You’re part of the Night Watchers! How dare you show such disrespect to me!

The rest of the Demon Hunters pretended to be deaf. Liu Long looked around. This... didn’t seem to be a ruin. The martial masters on their first expedition looked at each other in puzzlement. They could see the mountain cave in its full, messy glory. There were bird droppings on the ground and the stench was overpowering.

Was this supposed to be an ancient ruin?

The group didn’t know what to say. Li Hao didn’t voice anything after looking around for a bit and headed further into the cave’s depths. There was no stone or iron door at the end. Instead, there were clear signs of manmade marks from an ax. A small hole in an unobtrusive corner of the cave led straight down; it looked like it’d been dug out of the ground.

“Based on information from Senior Golden Spear, we’ll reach the ruins when we enter the hole and land on the ground below. However, earth supernaturals may not find any signs of the ruins if they fly through the ground...”

Earth types were uniquely suited to ruin exploration, but some ruins could not be located even if one turned over every inch of the earth. They were right there, but they could not be seen. Take Battle Heaven, for example. Entering the cliff face from the Rift Canyon side would... take one straight through the canyon wall, as if the entrance didn’t exist. Some ruins didn’t seem to exist in the same plane as the rest of the world.

The Demon Hunters looked curiously at the hole. It was too dark to see anything, but it looked rather deep. It was roughly one meter across, which was fine for most of the team. Hao Lianchuan peered into it, then took stock of his own body shape and nodded. He... wouldn’t get stuck in the hole, would he?

His actions brought muffled laughter from Hong Qing and the others.

“Director Hao’s body is wide,” Wang Ming took advantage of the opportunity to say. “It would be inconvenient if he were to get stuck. Why don’t you wait for us up here? We happen to need a guard at the entrance. There will be no one to look to for rescue if we all go in and are trapped inside.”

Li Hao felt that he rather made sense.

“I’m a fire type,” Hao Lianchuan rebutted before the young man could say anything. “I can provide light if I go down. I’m also a late Solar. If there really is a tree monster spirit down there, fire is more effective against it!

“There’s actually not much use for metal types in an underground ruin.”

“......” Li Hao laughed and gave his orders. “All of you wait up here for me, I’ll go take a look... with Deputy Liu. It’ll just be the two of us. The presence of supernaturals sometimes causes certain reactions.”

He couldn’t just lead the team down into the depths without first gaining an understanding of the area. That would be too dangerous. Li Hao didn’t give them a chance to protest before waving at Liu Long and jumping down the hole.

“Kid, are you sure you want to pit yourself against me?” Hao Lianchuan transmitted to Wang Ming as soon as the troop leaders were gone.

“Director Hao, it’s you pitting yourself against me. It’s already a tough world out here, but you want to get involved too. Just be the Night Watcher director! What are you going after my job for?”

“......” Hao Lianchuan was nonplussed. Who was going after Wang Ming’s job? I just want to get closer to Li Hao!

His fifth lock had appeared, propelling him to later Solar. It wasn’t a difficult step from late Solar to peak Solar, but going from peak Solar to Nova was a significant hurdle. He still hoped for Li Hao to help him in that regard.

......

While the two bickered on land, Li Hao fell down through the hole. It remained as dark as night as even he couldn’t see clearly. He only felt that the hole seemed like a tunnel that led straight to the center of the earth.

They fell continuously, endlessly. The sensation persisted for a minute or two before Li Hao finally landed on the ground. It felt insubstantial, like he’d set foot into cotton. If landing took so long to achieve, did that mean they were one thousand meters below the ground? Wouldn’t that place them in the outer shell of the planet?

The thought flashed through his mind moments before Li Hao felt a slight tremor next to him. Liu Long had also landed.

It was still dark around them, but they were growing accustomed to the gloom. The young man could make out some contours after a while. There seemed to be a castle in the distance. This locale wasn’t sealed off by dirt. Rather, something existed overhead that blocked off everything above, leaving a modestly sized space below.

Ruins were divided into levels, this kind passed muster. Some without any protection had long been buried by mud and water. Ruins that still existed in a complete whole already counted as very well preserved.

Liu Long could also peer into the distance after spending a while to acclimate to the surroundings.

“Is that a castle ahead?” he transmitted.

Golden Spear hadn’t been able to enter it. He was forced to retreat when he encountered trouble outside. Li Hao looked around, able to capture details with increasing clarity. There was a haze on the outskirts of all sides, as if there was a formation or origin weapon defending the perimeter to secure this humble clearing.

There wasn’t much in front of the castle, no trees, flora, or sunlight. It was a barren place with the outline of the structure behind it. Golden Spear had not been able to draw near to explore.

“Be careful!” Li Hao reminded. Silver armor materialized around him to protect his body and Stellaris manifested in his hand. He looked around alert. At the very least, Golden Spear was a Nova. That meant he was not weak, but he had not managed to enter the core of the ruins.

A hole was located overhead from where they landed. That seemed to be the exit, or the man would not have been able to get away either. Were there other exits in these ruins?

The two advanced gingerly, stepping on soft soil that didn’t seem like soil. It appeared more like cotton.

Golden Spear hadn’t left more information due to his limited explorations. The Silver Moon Guards had discovered these ruins by accident. It wasn’t one supplied by Hou Xiaochen.

They drew closer to the castle after advancing for one hundred meters. Li Hao’s ears twitched and he slashed to his left!

Clang! rang out, like two weapons had collided. Stellaris’ keen edge revealed itself and seemed to break through something with a crunch. The young man didn’t have time to take a close look before he hastily waved his sword again.

Clang clang clang!

A series of collisions and even fiery sparks broke out. Li Hao continued to hack and slash at the air, Liu Long joined in with his fists, but incredible pain traveled up his arms. He took a close look—something like a tree branch had pierced through his fist. The man widened his eyes with alarm. How was this unknown object that durable?

He’d thought it was mediocre because Li Hao could easily sever it. But after a while of pounding his fists, the branch ran through his hand instead!