Star Gate

Chapter 956: Rising With the Wind (I)

At the moment, ten thousand Silver Moon troops wearing Battle Heaven armor were quietly drawing close to the City of Supernaturals.

Some supernaturals glimpsed them from far away and jumped with shock, transporting themselves as far away as possible. At the same time, they were also confused by the sudden appearance of an army.

Did these guys have a death wish? What were they doing at the City of Supernaturals?

However, some glimpsed the banners that the troops were waving—the Lins! So this was a regiment from the Lin family? But where were they coming from?

Despite profound confusion, the supernaturals remained completely unaware of the situation even after Huang Yu led troops to change out the guard at several city gates. Once the Silver Moon troops completed their preparations, Huang Yu couldn’t help but look to the north.

Do you see this, Ole Zhao? I didn’t spill a drop of blood to conquer the City of Supernaturals! You’re so useless compared to Li Hao. I should’ve run off with the kid a long time ago! Only here can my talents as a great general be showcased. I was almost nurtured to be just as useless as you in Silver Moon!

......

The Silver Moon troops were in charge of the city perimeter. Meanwhile, laughter and conversation rose from the inner city. They were waiting for their newly minted generals to reemerge so that everyone could get rich together!

Inside the city lord manor.

Li Hao made a quick count—316 people. With all of them gathering one hundred people at least, these were all highly useful talents. He really did think so of them!

Whether it was good people or bad, these were all characters with great skill up their sleeves. Perhaps their strength wasn’t the greatest, but they surely had their draw in other areas.

......

Just as Li Hao rounded them all up, one of these great talents demonstrated their worth.

“I surrender, Commander Li! I am willing to serve the Skystar Commander Office,” said an earnest young man who looked like a scholar. “I gathered more than one thousand people and wanted to resolve disorder and restore order at critical moments.

"I’ve always aspired to lay down rules for the supernatural world so that the people can settle down with families and focus on their business. Peace throughout the world was my fondest wish! To think that City Lord Lin was faster than me. She indeed sees the present and future clearly...”

He continued before Li Hao had a chance to respond. “Please look closely, commander, my supernatural ability is different from the usual. I am of a special attribute and can determine people’s emotions. Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are readily observable to me. Different colors represent different emotions and I can judge their needs at any moment, given their emotions.

“I can see clearly so long as their cultivation level isn’t too far above mine,” he spoke rapidly, trying to increase his chances of survival. “This is why I was able to recruit one thousand. I exercise firm control over them because I can observe the changes in their emotions...”

Li Hao’s eyes widened. Everything was possible in the universe, but this kind of supernatural ability was truly a surprise! Observation of emotion?

“Then tell me, what mood am I in right now?”

“I wouldn’t dare!” the scholar hastily said. “This humble one would never dare observe such a great one. The commander’s great strength protects your being...”

“Cut the bullshit!” Li Hao said faintly. “If I tire of fake words, your head will hit the ground in the next second.”

The scholar threw caution to the wind in a bid to live. He quickly raised his head for a look and said slowly, “The commander is in good spirits at the moment, but killing intent weaves through your mood. There is black killing intent to be found...”

“Are you blindly guessing at this, or have you truly seen it?” Li Hao laughed. He didn’t feel anything particular in his emotions.

“I really have observed it.” The scholar decided on an impromptu display of his skills since Li Hao had started a conversation with him. He swept the crowd and pointed at a particular person. “Commander, this person is covered by black killing intent and doesn’t feel much fear. He just wants to commit violence. I’m sure he is unwilling to accept the situation and is very possibly a lurking member of the three great organizations...”

Li Hao started and looked at the person in question. The man’s jaw slacked with dismay and he grunted, “How dare you say this fake bullshit, fucking scholar!”

“Milord, this person is furious and resentful,” the scholar quickly said. “His emotions are fluctuating wildly and his killing intent remains. I must have revealed his inner thoughts!”

Li Hao reached out without a word. Although the Nova roared and struggled, he hung in Li Hao’s hand like a chicken.

“He’s falsely accusing me!” the man snarled.

“Commander, he lies,” the scholar quickly added. “Those who lie show green light in their emotions...”

The man in Li Hao’s hand panicked. The young man was equally surprised and looked at the scholar, “What is your name?”

“Gan Wuliang.”

Gan... the same character as the curse word. So that hadn’t been a random insult earlier. How interesting that such an ability existed! It was Li Hao’s first time encountering it and he was immensely curious. So one could detect lies?

That was an incredible talent! It might not be useful in the battlefield, but what he lacked least were powerhouses in the field.

“Have you ever committed wrongdoing?” Li Hao raised an eyebrow.

“Never, never!” the scholar responded joyfully. “Please seek a thorough understanding of my background, commander. Although I am a Nova, I have followed the prescribed order of the world and gradually made my way through the cultivation ranks. I was born a Sunflare and come from a family of scholars...”

“He does not have major crimes to his name, but runs a fair number of scams,” Lin Hongyu said faintly. “Many have fallen for his tricks and whenever they go to demand an explanation from him, he’s able to fob them off again. He used to say that he possessed eyes of fire, but it turns out that that’s a lie as well.”

“Honorable city lord, this one did that for self preservation...” the scholar quickly explained. “This humble one has never lied, just... explained a few concepts to people.”

Li Hao understood the undertones behind these words. The scholar was a massive fraud and swindler of the supernatural domain. He utilized his ability to observe emotions so he could say whatever was most effective for his target. It was a terrifying prospect once someone’s emotions were in the grip of another. All joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were at another’s mercy.

Li Hao waved the scholar out of line and bequeathed him a suit of armor.

“There are fifty thousand supernaturals inside the inner city. I don’t ask much of you, just to convince ten thousand people to change into the uniforms of the city defenders and administer the law. If you succeed, you will be spared from death! You can also try to run, of course, or encourage those outside to mutiny!”

“This humble one would never dare!” the scholar hastily said. “I immensely cherish the opportunity that the commander has given me. However, this humble one is but one person and my strength is insufficient. I would request that the commander send a heavyweight with me...”

“Qin Lian, you go with him!”

“Understood, sir!” Qin Lian appeared in the darkness, prompting a hard gulp from the scholar. This was an Arcanus of the dark attribute! He hadn’t detected a single sign of her before!

Qin Lian stared coldly at him while the scholar took in her pitch-black armor. “Then this humble one will be off! Please await my return, commander!”

Tense with nerves, he marched out of the courtyard.

Lin Hongyu looked at Li Hao, who smiled back at her. “The supernatural domain is certainly very interesting. There are a myriad of abilities, but most of them are of an offensive nature. These special attributes are overlooked.”

“Special attributes are weak in a chaotic era.” Lin Hongyu inclined her head. “This person’s craft is scamming and defrauding others, which has only helped him to a Nova level. He is even a Heaven Favored and started off as a Sunflare! It is too hard for special attribute supernaturals to improve.”

Li Hao nodded as well. He had some supernaturals with special abilities, such as Li Meng and her third eye that could see through falsehood. It was similar to his sword eye. She’d only barely managed to set foot into Solar even after Li Hao’s clear bias toward her and providing her with many resources.

Wang Ming was the same cultivation level as her before, but was almost a Nova now. He just didn’t want to break his supernatural locks so quickly and temporarily remained at peak Solar. Otherwise, he’d be a Nova if he wished to.

Li Meng had fallen one major cultivation level behind in a very short period of time. Hence, it was clear to see that the scholar must have swindled a lot of people to make it to Nova.

Knowing that Li Hao had likely set his eyes on the man’s ability, Lin Hongyu said nothing more. Observing emotion was a situation-dependent ability. It was useful, but also not as there was nothing to observe about a powerhouse slapping one to death.

There was nothing to observe when the other wouldn’t listen to one speak. The scholar wouldn’t have been captured otherwise. The drawbacks to his abilities were readily apparent.

Seeing that one of their number had been spared, more people were in a rush to speak up from the crowd.

“One at a time, I’ll hear you all out,” smiled Li Hao. “We’ve got time today, so those of you with interesting abilities can feel free to fully demonstrate them. Only then will you have a chance to live. You might even have a bright career ahead of you. If you keep it all to yourself... you’ll likely become a dead soul beneath the sword!”

Tension percolated through the crowd. The person that Li Hao held in his hand wanted to speak, but the young man quieted him with a surge of word intent and threw him aside. The sight sent fear through those assembled and they hastily explained their abilities.

There truly was a variety of talents gathered in the courtyard. Some people’s abilities were so unique that they rivaled the scholar’s. There was a woman who could teleport—true teleportation. However, her range was a bit limited at a thirty meter radius. That was too confining for modern day powerhouses. If that wasn’t the case, she would’ve made her escape long ago.

Even so, Li Hao’s eyes widened with appreciation. Teleportation should be a space attribute skill! This may be the first spatial supernatural that he’d discovered. Chen Zhongtian had guessed before that Zhao Tianyang might be a spatial supernatural, but there was no way of confirming since Zhao Tianyang hadn’t displayed his abilities even at the end. Perhaps the man had snapped his supernatural locks too late to acclimate himself to his new abilities.

Teleportation was slightly different from traditional spatial abilities, but it was tangentially related. Li Hao made a note to keep the woman behind. She might be of use after her background was investigated.

There was another person with an ability to hear everything within a five hundred kilometer radius. However, Li Hao was quite skeptical of what he claimed to be able to do.

“If you can hear from such a far distance away, how did you not know that this place was a trap?” Who you trying to fool!