Chapter 39: Dominator of Thousands! (I)
Within the small yard.
Li Hao looked on with expectation.
“Do you have any old injuries on you, teacher?”
“Heh!” Yuan Shuo threw his head back with brazen laughter. “Are you joking? Injuries? Me? I was invincible beneath the heavens before the supernatural domain appeared! I am the guest of honor for the Night Watchers after it is part of our world. While that organization can’t be deemed to be the whole of the otherworldly field, they are still the largest faction. So you tell me, who can hurt me?”
“......”
This wasn’t the answer that Li Hao wanted. He couldn’t help but follow up, “Teacher, Captain Liu says that every Sunderer of Hundreds accumulates various wounds. You were once a premier martial master—are you unable to break through because you’ve collected too many injuries?”
“That’s only for trash like him!”
“......” Man you’re a tough nut to crack! Li Hao wanted to cry. His teacher was wonderful in all aspects, but he constantly acted tough. This refusal to admit that he was anything less than perfect health was very vexing.
“Then...” The young man changed to a more direct tack. “Teacher, there has to be a reason why you’ve yet to ascend to Starlight, right?”
“Because I’m too strong!” Yuan Shuo suddenly found his student impudent. What did the young man mean by this?? Does he want to poke at my pain points?
Heh! It’s impossible for him to! Of course, it was also pointless to say too much to Li Hao. What could the kid do with the truth?
Li Hao was truly growing frantic. His teacher kept too stiff of an upper lip!
“Teacher, would you have a chance of ascending to Starlight if you fully recovered from your injuries?”
“Is this what you came to me for?”
“Mmhmm.”
“You’ve got too much time on your hands!” Yuan Shuo huffed with resignation. “Don’t think so much. My crossover hasn’t happened for a variety of reasons. External, internal, they’re all there!”
“Can you be more specific, teacher?”
“......” Yuan Shuo frowned and looked at his pupil for a long while before saying slowly, “I have the Breathing Method of the Five Styles and absorbed some of the mysterious power that the Night Watchers once supplied. But I was too strong then and needed too much energy—this was one of the reasons why I failed.”Continue reading on No_veLbIn
Li Hao nodded, so there hadn’t been enough mysterious power for his teacher’s ascension.
“I am old now and my health has declined, that is another reason!”
Li Hao nodded again. So his teacher’s constitution was no longer strong enough to withstand the breakthrough to Dominator?
“I made a few powerful enemies back in my day and some are now supernatural. There are even a few who are leaders of supernatural organizations. They’ve exerted pressure on the Night Watchers, this is a third and external reason!
“As for the fourth...” Yuan Shuo suddenly smiled and looked lazily at the young man. “I don’t want to.”
“What I said before still stands—you can hide out with me if you’re afraid. They won’t easily trespass on my territory because I’m still useful to the Night Watchers and various excavations still need me...”
Li Hao scratched his head, finally displaying the anxiousness of youth.
“Teacher... I...” He didn’t know how to say it. After thinking of a while, he suddenly headed into the house. “Teacher, I got my hands on something good. Try it and see if it works for you!”
“Something good?” Yuan Shuo almost broke into laughter. The kid was fun! What was this he’d found? How good was it?
I’ve seen so many treasures in my lifetime, too many to be recounted. My problems won’t be resolved so easily because they touch upon my core essence!
It hadn’t been that many years—just three, when he ran into misfortune in an ancient ruin. They’d reacted too slowly and many Night Watchers had died while he, a half-step Dominator grandmaster, thoroughly lost all hope of becoming greater.
Otherwise, he might’ve secretly crossed over a long time ago and sought out his “old friends” for a nice conversation or two.
Lost in thought, the professor didn’t mind Li Hao entering the house. He gently rubbed the spot over his heart, thinking back to an injury so severe that his heart had been pierced clean through. He wouldn’t have made it out alive if not for his vigorous life force. He was more than seventy years old, after all. And while he survived, his path as a martial master was forever severed.
Perhaps... I still need to seek out an opportunity to rise to the supernatural field. There might be hope to be found there.
It appeared that he’d given up on the surface, but he hadn’t, not really. He still wished to ascend if he could! It was just much harder to with a broken body. The turtle boxing method that his student saw him practicing all the time was precisely what it appeared to be. Turtles possess longevity and good health!
It was a boxing method for good health that he’d reconstructed through perusing numerous ancient tomes. Rather than a bid to improve his battle strength, he practiced it to fortify his body. He wanted to give it another try—whether ascending to the supernatural world or breaking through to Dominator of Thousands!
He had to try again, even upon pain of death, or he’d never be content in life!
There was no need to speak of this to others. Even the Night Watchers thought that he’d given up and weren’t willing to give him any precious resources anymore.
If I succeed... hmph!
He’d called the shots and raised wind and rain twenty years ago. Many of the local supernatural kings of their field respectfully hailed him as an elder brother! All of them looked down their noses at him now; he’d have to teach them a good lesson! All these years hiding out in Silver City and depending on the Night Watchers for a gasp at life... harrumph!
Yuan Shuo wandered down memory lane— a rare occurrence of rummaging through history and past glories. As for Li Hao? He knew the place well, he could do whatever he wanted.
The professor leaned back against the chair and let his thoughts run wildly.
The young man came out before long, holding a cup of water.
Yuan Shuo smiled. “There’s water out here, what did you go inside for?”
“Have a sip, teacher.”
The old man blinked and cast a sidelong glance at Li Hao, then at the water. “Did you... poison this? Do you want me dead so you can have my inheritance? I have a will and all of it goes to the Night Watchers. You’re playing with fire if you take it!”
“......”
His teacher really liked to talk about the most random things sometimes.
“Have a sip, teacher!”