Star Gate

Chapter 381: The Demon Hunters Assemble (II)

“Say whatever you want to say!” Li Hao declared loudly. “What are you afraid of? I used to be afraid of crowds too and got uncomfortable in front of them. But then I realized there’s nothing to a crowd. They won’t dare laugh at you if you’re stronger than them or talk louder than them. They won’t even dare talk badly about you behind your back—they’ll be afraid of you hearing them!”

Hong Qing burst out laughing and quickly calmed herself. “Question! L... leader... You mentioned executing missions. W-what kind of missions are we going to be doing?”

“Killing people!”

“Huh?”

“Killing people!” Li Hao frowned. “Whether it’s soldiers or martial masters, the only goal in this war-torn era is to kill people! It’s my first time being a soldier, so I don’t know much about it or understand this role, but at the very least I know that we should kill those cretins who commit wrongful acts, disturb the people, kill others for their goods, or cause disturbances. It’s not like we have a good understanding right now of defending home and country or safeguarding the nation, but we might in the future. That can wait until later!”

Since the Silver Moon Guards had the word “guard” in it, that also made them soldiers. When Li Hao said he didn’t understand concept, he really didn’t understand. The duties, obligations, and mission of protecting the nation or defending home and country were beyond his reach. They also didn’t seem necessary to grasp at this time.

Hong Qing seemed to understand. She nodded without further question. The answer was to just kill! Li Hao’s answer was very simple.

Over on the Inspectorate delegation side, someone squirmed awkwardly before opening their mouth, “Question, leader!”

“Go ahead!”

“I’d like to ask if we have any rules or a code of conduct, or standards throughout the course of conducting missions. Do we have a reward and punishment system, a set period of missions, an officer who records accomplishments, and a system to go along with that...”

Li Hao stared back at the man. His mind was a complete blank. It wasn’t that he didn’t know anything about these concepts, but that he hadn’t given any thought to it.

“What’s your name?” He smiled.

“Milord, I’m...”

“I am your leader!”

“Leader, my name is Li Heng!”

“So we’re from the same family!” Li Hao smiled. “We’re both from Silver City and the same family... Good, I have high hopes for you. Write up a detailed analysis and description of what you mentioned. Since you asked, you must have some understanding of these ideas. You can ask other people and teams for what you don’t. I’ll make you the examination officer if you finish this report!”

“......” The speaker wasn’t that old—in his thirties at most. He was at a loss for words and glanced at Liu Long. The man didn’t say anything; there was no issue with what Li Hao had said.

There weren’t that many among the Demon Hunters—just fifty people—so there wasn’t much meaning in creating too many systems. Those that were necessary could be formed. He wouldn’t bother with this if this was the Demon Hunters of old, but they were no longer in these times.

It was normal that Li Hao didn’t really understand them—neither did Liu Long. Hence, his Demon Hunters hadn’t cared about them at all. It was all up to his personal authority that merits and rewards were doled out.

......

“Boss!” transmitted a pained Mu Lin. “I think Li Hao is less reliable than me! If it comes down to it, I can be a centurion and he can be the deputy of the Guards. I’m worried that his Demon Hunters will all be dead in a few days!”

Golden Spear watched, unmoved. He transmitted in response to Mu Lin’s nagging, “We’ll know his mettle once he showcases his abilities! Li Hao said that he wants to take his people out to practice for a few days and help the team adjust to each other. After that, he’ll hunt down the three great organizations alongside the four institutions. Let’s just wait a few days.”

“What? He wants to bring out his people right now?” Mu Lin blinked. They’d only just established the team. Li Hao didn’t even know all of them yet, did he? Wasn’t he worried about a myriad of issues cropping up?

On the other hand, the man smiled when a new thought struck him. “That’s just as well. A certain degree of safety is ensured around White Moon City. Although a lot of Red Moon supernaturals have come to the province lately, they don’t dare approach the capital. A lot of them have gathered near Rift Canyon, however.”

It was good to take the team out to temper the members. Safety wouldn’t be a concern with Li Hao around. Not to mention, one wouldn’t necessarily run into the three great organizations just because one was in the field. The organizations weren’t staffed by idiots. Who would take the risk of poking their heads out knowing full well that they were being targeted, unless they were confident of being victorious?

They were all deep in hiding.

The Night Watchers might not encounter a single one of their members when they went on patrol. There were hundreds of millions of people in Silver Moon. How was one supposed to locate a thousand supernaturals if they hid themselves well and retracted their mysterious power?

Such were Golden Spear’s thoughts. Hence, he didn’t refuse Li Hao’s proposal. It was fine if the young man didn’t seek to walk the beaten path and wasn’t willing to slowly forge his team. If he wanted to just bring his team into the field... that could be done as well.

There were the ruins that he wanted to explore with Li Hao—those could wait for a few days. The other ruins of Battle Heaven wouldn’t open until the 28th—that was another half month. They might not even open this time. If they didn’t, everyone would have to wait for next month. It was still very early.

......

“There are many powerhouses in the Silver Moon Guards!” Li Hao spoke in a ringing voice. “We have fifty-one members in the Demon Hunters. Two Dominators, twenty Sunderers, and the rest of Slayers. We’re very weak without even a half step Dominator!

“Therefore, our first goal is simple. The entire team needs to reach Sunderer! The rise of the supernatural is not without benefits to martial masters. I’ve decided that we will head out of the city tomorrow to search for the three great organizations and kill their people! Mysterious power, blood pearls, and mysterious power stones will fuel our transformation!

“Red Moon members in particular carry blood pearls on nearly all of them. I’ll find a way to borrow an origin weapon to extract them. So long as we kill more of them, everyone will become a late Sunderer!

“I hear that Red Moon has sent a batch of powerhouses to Silver Moon!” his voice rang like a bell. “These people are the basis for our strength and rise! Once everyone quickly becomes a late Sunderer, I have a dao comprehension weapon that will allow ten people to comprehend the aura. The ten Sunderers who kill and accomplish the most can perceive the aura. Succeeding is another matter entirely, but at least you stand a chance!

“If you’re lucky like me, you’ll be a Sunderer today, a late Sunderer tomorrow, comprehend the aura a day after that, and perhaps be a Dominator in a few days. Everything is possible!”

His logic was simple and raised excitement in a group of young martial masters. The older ones, however, remained unfazed. I know how to paint a picture in the sky just as well, it’s not that easy. Red Moon members are part of the three great organizations—they have a lot of powerhouses among them. You might not even find any, but you speak of them like they’re apples ripe from the picking. That’s a little too full of it.

Plus, who knew who’d do the killing if the two sides ran into each other? As strong as Li Hao was, a Dominator was on par with a Sunflare. So maybe he was extraordinarily strong and could compare to a Solar—did Red Moon not have Solars?

Therefore, only a few Sword Sect disciples were caught up in the speech. Those like Hong Qing were young and rarely conducted missions, so they agitated with expectation. Others from the Inspectorate were old hats and completely unmoved.

A full complement of Sunderers? He spoke of that so easily. Advancement would be much easier with the aid of mysterious power, but it wasn’t like that would lead to automatic breakthroughs. And for blood pearls... they would require one per person, at least. Twenty-nine Slayers meant that twenty-nine Darkmoon blood pearls were necessary. They’d have to kill twenty-nine Red Moon Darkmoons, or even more than that!

Not all of their members seemed equipped with blood pearls. Not to mention, would there be no Sunflares or Solars around them? Were the Darkmoons just standing around, waiting to be killed?

The more they thought about it, the more they felt that Li Hao was just empty talk. And this was his first goal? So he had more and stronger ones?

......

The other martial masters on the scene watched with amused expressions. Someone kept his voice low, “This one... has quite the charisma! The Silver Moon Guards have been established for so many years, yet still have nearly half our number as Slayers.”

The Demon Hunters were just forming, but aimed for all of their people to be Sunderers. They were Sunderers today, Dominators tomorrow! If it was that easy, then wouldn’t there be more Dominators in the Guards?

There were many half step Dominators among them, but that was also a threshold that one could be stuck at. They’d grasped the aura, but usually through the ancient weapons. There was an inherent drawback to those as auras comprehended from them weren’t easily strengthened!

A lack of deeper understanding of the aura caused nearly one hundred half step Dominators to fail to take the final step.

......

Li Hao didn’t care whether people believed him or not. He just wanted to speak of his goals. They would believe him when he accomplished them. If not, his eyes were completely useless. If he couldn’t help even twenty-nine Slayers bridge the gap to Sunderer, then what use were the Guards? A martial kindergarten?

People would know that he wasn’t boasting when he accomplished his words.

“I now proclaim that the Demon Hunters are officially established! Ranking officer Golden Spear and Deputy Mu Lin are in attendance as witnesses. I am your commanding officer from henceforth!”

Golden Spear and Mu Lin inclined their heads behind him. Golden Spear wanted to say a few words... but Li Hao didn’t give him a chance to. The young man felt that there was no need to say anything, and that perhaps the experienced senior Golden Spear didn’t want to waste time in long-winded fluff.

“My thanks to the two esteemed personages for witnessing our formation today, we send you off in style!”

Clap clap clap! The young man began applauding. Martial masters around them started rolling their eyes. What a... perfunctory establishment ceremony. Golden Spear and Mu Lin found themselves at a loss for words. This guy...

What could they say now? Forget it, he’d recruited the Demon Hunters himself and hadn’t taken one single coin from the Guards yet. It wasn’t time for the monthly salary to be paid, so he could do whatever he wished. If the young man went to the trouble of causing all of his people’s deaths, then Wang Henggang and Hong Yitang would naturally come for his head.

The two of them wouldn’t permit him to be so reckless if he’d taken some of their people. Golden Spear and Mu Lin left, unwilling to accompany Li Hao in this farce. In their eyes, the young man wasn’t taking this seriously enough. Taking the team out to train? He was going on a leisure jaunt, wasn’t he?

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