Star Gate

The Tranquil Duke had been alive just now, but he was completely dead in the blink of an eye. Everyone had eyes and could see for themselves. Even if they hadn’t caught felt or sight of anything, they could more or less guess at what had happened. Hou Xiaochen had acted from the shadows!

Damned if the man wasn’t brazen to the extreme!

The hulking Valiant Duke stood to the side. He didn’t say a word and simply looked at Li Hao and Hou Xiaochen. These Silver Moon madmen were completely crazy! They killed a three element Arcanus at the drop of a hat—and that had been a duke! Were they not going to stop until they offended everyone in the world?!

The Steadfast Duke and Tranquil Duke each represented a continent, as did he for the southern continent! Did Li Hao care about that?

Not at all!

The Valiant Duke felt a grave threat staring at him in the face. These madmen would set aside all considerations if he ever enraged them!

After a long moment.

Zhao Huaimin looked at Li Hao and asked faintly, “Commander Li… what… happened just now?”

Six masked villains had abruptly taken a stand. They were all close to one or two element Arcanus. However, the Tranquil Duke had demonstrated the strength of at least three element Arcanus, he wouldn’t have fallen to just one strike!

Li Hao had brought the strength of five elements to bear. Those six were supposedly dead—were they really? The audience watched the Demon Hunters swiftly drag the men away, their expressions gradually turning livid.

Do you think we’re blind?! Some of those masked men are cracking open their eyes right now. The fuck! Li Hao, this goes beyond the pale! Aren’t these six the six geezers who were watching the show outside earlier? They’re the freaking old guard from Silver Moon! Do you really think we don’t recognize them?? We’ll chop off our own heads for you if you aren’t behind this with transmitted instructions!

So the Tranquil Duke was dead… just like that? It was too hard to believe!

Hong Yitang and the rest locked onto the powerhouses in the complex. Anyone who dared move would be met with thunderous retribution.

Li Hao had deliberately misrepresented the situation in front of more than one hundred people and put on a show to misdirect everyone! Damn it, this is Li Hao?? The one who speaks endlessly about law and order?! It’s just blatant double standards!

The Tranquil Duke might have had his own reason to be confident and felt that Li Hao wouldn’t do anything to him without evidence. Perhaps he’d reached an agreement with the Valiant Duke or perhaps other situations would crop up…

Whatever it was, the duke likely never anticipated that Li Hao would outright kill him in front of everyone with such blatant lies! Six masked men, people from the Wind and Cloud Pavilion… Li Hao even had the perfect scapegoat!

These people had just announced their presence to the entire city, made a mockery of the proceedings, and then left. Once word of this got out, who would believe that it was Li Hao behind the Tranquil Duke’s assassination?

Yang Shan was struggling to keep his composure. Dead? The mighty Tranquil Duke was dead so easily??

Li Hao’s palm strike had seemed to be aimed at the six ‘villains’, but the audience was well aware of whether or not it truly had been. An explosion had thrown the area into disarray. That palm strike must have directly hit the duke. A three element Arcanus wouldn’t have died so easily under any other circumstances!

Three elements were absolutely a premier heavyweight of the day! How could six martial masters that hadn’t crossed over, their strongest the equivalent of two elements, kill a three element so quickly??

Utter bullshit!

“Commander Li…” the Valiant Duke raised with an unpleasant expression. “It’s one thing for you to dispose of the criminals’ bodies, but the Tranquil Duke was a duke, after all. Let his people take him back for burial!”

Li Hao’s people were dragging the Tranquil Duke’s corpse away too! What did he mean by that?

“I need to investigate how he died,” Li Hao answered calmly. “Depending on what method, supernatural ability, or internal force… I may be able to find some clues and uproot the Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s headquarters in one go! It’s fine that the Valiant Duke does not understand how an investigation should be conducted. The Skystar Commander Office is most familiar with this job and I was once an inspector at the Inspectorate. I handled many cases and even received banners of commendation. Go ask around Silver City if you don’t believe me!

“I will naturally bury the body properly once the investigation is complete. If the duke’s household finds that inappropriate, we will return his body to their residence in Skystar City after three days. Don’t worry and trust the professionals!

“Alas, I was inept!” the young man sighed. “I did not detect the Wind and Cloud Pavilion hiding so many powerhouses nearby. As the Skystar commander, I failed to adequately protect my guests and a duke was killed under my watch…

“The Wind and Cloud Pavilion is hereby recognized as the fourth evil supernatural organization!” His voice rang throughout the city after a heat sigh. “They deserve death and destruction! They sent six Arcanus to waylay my guests and killed the Tranquil Duke! Although I have exterminated the villains, my incompetence permitted the duke to perish.

“A pillar of the nation has fallen today and we grieve deeply over the late duke! These are my sins, so today, Li Hao requests to be demoted three ranks and have my wages confiscated for ten years. I will be acting commander instead and will utilize all of my strength to hunt down this Wind and Cloud Pavilion. I request the Skystar King’s approval and will not rest before eradicating them!”

“……” The people blinked at the information conveyed through his resonant tones. They were just wondering what a Wind and Cloud Pavilion was when Li Hao’s voice enlightened them. What a surprising turn of events!

“So Commander Li was… ambushed by this evil organization?”

“Probably? He must have been too careless!”

“Where’s this Wind and Cloud Pavilion from? I know about the Divine Masters Ranking, but who would’ve thought that they would have so many heavyweights? Six Arcanus and lying in wait for guests… They’re really bold and deserve their deaths! It’s just that the Tranquil Duke… Er, who’s the Tranquil Duke?”

“He’s from the western continent, don’t you know? One of the three founding dukes!”

“Oh I see, what a pity. I don’t really know him, but he was killed after coming to the capital to offer congratulations to Li Hao. Do you think… you know what I mean. Do you think those groups wanting to slap the commander’s face made up this Wind and Cloud Pavilion?”

“Ooh, that’s possible. Six Arcanus is no small sum. I’ve never heard of this pavilion thing before, so where would they get so many experts from? I bet those ministries and others are still unwilling to accept the commander’s authority and want to humiliate him!”

“Will he really be demoted and have his wages confiscated?”

“I don’t know. The Tranquil Duke was probably on the commander’s side. What a pity that he’s dead just like this. Apparently there’s a lot of heavyweights present today, but no one tried to help him. That’s not normal. I bet you that he especially traveled here to offer his congratulations and join the commander’s banner. What a damn shame!”

“Seriously. The Tranquil Duke… ai! Commander Li’s also in a tough spot. He’s killed so many of their strongest, but it still doesn’t put them in their places…”

“I know, right?”

“……” Discussion and gossip flurried as the entire city discussed the events with sadness. In their eyes, the Tranquil Duke must have personally made the trip from the far off west specifically to offer his services to Li Hao. There was no other possible explanation.

So many people survived that attack; he was the only one dead. The nine ministries must be behind this to set an example to everyone present! They wanted to send a message that whoever dared join Li Hao’s camp would die!

What Wind and Cloud Pavilion? That must be a front for the nine ministries! The Tranquil Duke must have been one of Li Hao’s. What a pity that even a local overlord would be killed for his intentions. These people were too much and too bold in their attempts to suppress Commander Li!

……

The Skystar Commander Office.

All was quiet. The audience was familiar with shameless tendencies, but they’d never met someone who insisted on bald-faced lies in front of several hundred and the various leaders of their factions. The young man twisted falsehood into the truth. Was… he even human??

This wasn’t just being shameless, this was treating everyone like an idiot! Many people turned toward the Prince of Southern Conciliation, awaiting the royal family’s response.

A sigh traveled from the palace after a while. “To think that the Tranquil Duke would fall… this is indeed a grave loss to the nation! However, this has nothing to do with the Skystar Marquis. No one wished for this accident to take place!

“The Tranquil Duke is to be buried according to the appropriate pomp and circumstance of a duke. The Skystar Marquis should be rewarded for exterminating members of an evil supernatural organization, but that shall be waived in light of the nation’s tragic loss today. The Skystar Marquis must eliminate all of these evil organizations!”

“Li Hao will most certainly eradicate these animals down to the very last!” Li Hao declared portentously with a solemn expression. “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion will be the first target on the Skystar Commander Office’s list. That they dare slaughter whoever they will on this day and kill an important subject of the dynasty… I, Li Hao, will turn them into dust!”

Everyone could sense his anger in his fading tones. An outpouring of sympathy rose from the people. It looked like this Tranquil Duke truly had come to join Li Hao. Look at how angry the commander was! They could sense it from his voice that he was infuriated!

……

Back at the Skystar Commander Office.

Of the quiet crowd, some were inwardly sneering to themselves while others cursed madly. What a grand show!

“Let us end things here,” Li Hao said tiredly. “My apologies and thank goodness everyone else is alright. The Wind and Cloud Pavilion will not be getting away with their deeds. I will most assuredly kill them all as a proper accounting to you!”

“……” No one responded to him and figures soon turned to leave.

etvolare’s Thoughts

Okay, this might be the most egregious case of turning white to black and black to white in the series...