Chapter 1008: Changes at Ash Mountain (I)

“Sir, must we reach the point of clearing the seventy-third acupoint?”

“Yes!” nodded the Night Watcher. “You can’t be too weak as a teacher. Seventy-three acupoints puts you in the Dominator level, which is on par with the previous Solar and Novas. How is one to be a teacher without this level of strength?

“Those who are younger stand a chance of becoming a student. We’re unsure of the specifics regarding enrollment at the moment. Additionally, the Skystar Commander Office will also be recruiting teachers of unique abilities. Supernaturals of special attributes stand a great chance of being hired!

“Ah, the Skystar Commander Office has an additional arrangement for martial masters who have comprehended the aura. No matter whether or not they have started down the new dao, they can enter the academies and receive exceptional treatment!”

Martial masters who’ve comprehended the aura! This addendum didn’t raise the same level of excitement as it took at least half step Dominators to grasp the aura. Although that level wasn’t very strong, there still weren’t that many martial masters of that level.

Most of them were also in Silver Moon. Outside of Silver Moon, few were the martial masters that wielded the aura.

In this moment, the Night Watchers looked at a young woman and young man standing not too far away. Their eyes glinted with sharp aloofness.

“Sun Hongxiu, will you and your brother enroll in the martial academy?”

These two martial masters were Sagittarius citizens who’d comprehended the aura. The martial academies had also invited local powerhouses to join them. Many of them had accepted the invitation out of a desire to gain more resources. It wasn’t a dangerous post, so they were happy to join the efforts to build schools.

The look in the woman’s eyes sharpened and she tilted her head up at the sky to look at the Night Watcher. “Many thanks for your good intentions, sir. My brother and I are used to our freedom, however, so we won’t be considering your offer!”

The Night Watcher was rather regretful about the answer. These two martial masters were quite strong, particularly Sun Hongxiu. She was about to set foot into the previous Dominator level. He would earn some credit for recruiting her if she joined the martial academy. The world did not lack for supernaturals at all these days, but martial masters—and one who had comprehended the aura at that—were few and far in between.

“Think about it!” The Night Watcher left after sharing the news.

Brother and sister continued their work after he left. It wasn’t anything special, just transporting some boulders from the mountain. Most of the martial academies were built next to a mountain to facilitate resource transport.

“Senior sister...” murmured the young man with sharp features. “This cretin now holds overwhelming authority. Why don’t we join an academy first and wait for a chance to strike in the future? If we can recruit some of the students and faculty to our side, then reach out to the thousands of supernaturals here... We’ll be able to create some trouble for him, even if we can’t match him!”

Sun Hongxiu kept her head down without a word. The two of them had joined this busy team primarily to earn resources, and secondly to see if the rumors of enslaving supernaturals were true. If so, they would be able to recruit some to their side.

However, reality was immensely disappointing. None of these supernaturals had the courage or resolution to rebel. On the contrary, they were very satisfied with their current circumstances. This quite depressed the martial brother and sister!

Ever since their master and senior brother died at Silver Moon, they’d fled back to Sagittarius with a blood debt. They’d wanted to seek out Li Hao for revenge, but who would’ve thought that he would take over Skystar City in a few short months without shedding a drop of blood?

He’d defeated the nine ministries and royal family, and had now taken their place. There were so many local tyrants throughout the dynasty, but they all just watched on the sidelines as the young man made his plans for the world...

There was almost no hope of avenging their martial discipline anymore. Sun Hongxiu was rather lost. Her junior brother spoke of joining an academy, becoming a teacher, recruiting students and teachers to their cause...

But, was there still hope in that? These supernaturals didn’t want to rebel at all.

“Senior sister, joining a martial academy will grant us ten times the cultivation resources,” murmured the young man. “Only then do we have a hope of strengthening ourselves and taking revenge...”

Sun Hongxiu looked at her junior brother, seeing his eyes dart around under her stare. She laughed to herself. Joining the martial academy meant losing their spirit and conceding to Li Hao. Would they have a chance to take revenge then?

Although there was no hope in sight at the moment, not bending the knee to Li Hao was her bottom line. Her junior brother was young. It was just yesterday that he’d talked of practicing the new martial dao and using the enemy’s methods to defeat them... After all, knowing the opponent as well as knowing oneself was the key to victory.

Those were the words he voiced, but Sun Hongxiu understood that her junior brother... wanted to concede. She didn’t blame him. Their enemy was too powerful and terrifying.

The three great organizations had been forced out of the central region and the seven divine mountains were shockingly quiet these days. The nine ministries and royal family had been toppled, the Wind and Cloud Pavilion eliminated, and all twenty-two provinces of the central region hailed Li Hao as their sovereign.

Not a single ripple had been raised in his conquest of the City of Supernaturals. One million supernaturals had become his captives and the stunning talent of the age—Lin Hongyu—was willing to serve under Li Hao’s banner.

What else could one do when faced with this kind of enemy other than to despair and weep? There was nothing at all that she could do. Holding out even now was but her final struggle, her battle with herself.

Master... senior brother... I’m afraid... I can’t avenge you!

The thought still saddened her. Although Yuan Shuo and Li Hao had legitimately defeated her master and senior brother in official combat... she still wasn’t willing to just let things be bygones.

Next to her, her junior brother lowered his head and returned to work. He’d only been a peak Slayer at the beginning, but now was a half step Dominator and improving at a rapid clip. Of course, his rate of improvement was nothing compared to Li Hao.

Senior sister wants nothing more than to take revenge... but do we really have a hope of doing that?

The young man sighed to himself. His senior sister was neither willing to learn the new martial dao nor wanted to join a martial academy. Without resources or a powerful heritage, could they really kill Li Hao with just the Qimei Staff discipline that their master had taught them?

Senior sister, the times are quickly changing. If we do not become part of it now, we might not ever have a chance to later. Martial masters will become the old dao. Master was a Silver Moon martial master—who knows how many of them that Yuan Shuo killed? But look at their descendants, many of them work for Li Hao, don’t they?

Senior sister and brother were both thinking of this matter when the departed Night Watcher suddenly returned with someone else by his side. The middle-aged newcomer’s expression was so stiff that he was as if a sculpture.

The Night Watcher was immensely respectful and wore a look of adoration. He didn’t dare say a single extraneous word. The middle-aged man looked down below them, vanishing without needing the Night Watcher to point out the right direction and landing in front of Sun Hongxiu.

The woman jerked with the alarm of facing a great enemy!

The other supernaturals around them were confused. Looks of horror dawned when some of them recognized the newcomer. It was Sky Sword!

Indeed, the famed Sky Sword and master of Sky Sword Mountain had come. He was one of Li Hao’s most formidable generals now. Although Sun Hongxiu didn’t know him, she could sense an overwhelming pressure from the man.

Despair flashed through her eyes.

“I thought you two would change your names and hide somewhere,” Sky Sword said slowly. He wasn’t the type to beat around the bush. “To think that you would come here to build schools. Qimei Staff died in battle, which is a loss for Silver Moon. However, he pledged his allegiance to Ying Hongyue and died in single combat with Yuan Shuo. There is nothing more that needs to be said about that.

“Commander Li has searched for you two for a period of time, but had no word of you...”

“Do you want to kill us?” Sun Hongxiu asked coolly. “I have no need to change my name! I am an upstanding person. Li Hao can come at me if he wants to kill me!”

Sky Sword couldn’t help but laugh. “Does he need to take action to kill you two?”

Sun Hongxiu frowned without a word.

“The commander simply has a task he is yet to complete,” Sky Sword said faintly. “When Qimei Staff died, he left behind a staff that was forged out of his will. This item is far from ordinary. The commander wanted us to give it to you!”

He happened to be passing by today as Li Hao was clearing out nearby ruins. Sagittarius had handed over a list of those doing labor. Two of the martial masters had caught his eye; upon further investigation, they were Qimei Staff’s disciples. The two hadn’t settled down in a place before this, so it was difficult to find them.

Sky Sword brought out the severed segment of the Qimei Staff without further ado. He looked at Sun Hongxiu, then at the young martial master. The young man’s potential was very good; Sun Hongxiu’s was noticeably worse.

However, he still handed the item to Sun Hongxiu. “Keep it well and meditate over it. Qimei Staff’s lifetime of enlightenment is contained within this staff! You can study both the new martial dao and Qimei Staff King’s heritage... I hope you are able to pass it on.”

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Sun Hongxiu looked at him with gritted teeth and didn’t say anything.

“Such is the life of martial masters!” sighed Sky Sword. “Such is the martial world. This is why the commander wishes to forge a different martial world, one that moves this conflict, blood, and death far from Skystar! Martial masters should die not in internal squabbles, but in eliminating powerful enemies!

“The previous Silver Moon was a martial world sacred land, the marketplace of fame and gain for all sorts of characters. The Record of Thirty-Six caused a lot of bloodshed, but also made a lot of people’s reputations.

“The commander is of a mind to create a new Record, one that does not involve those of the past. We will no longer focus on fighting amongst ourselves. Yuan Shuo is currently writing new education materials as the commander wishes for there to be true heroes of the martial world!”

Sky Sword left through the air, his voice echoing in their ears. “No matter how fiercely we fight each other, that does not make us heroes! When the commander fought the Qimei Staff’s senior disciple, he said that battle was a kind of mental state and killing people was a regret. But that was the martial world then. He will wait for you anytime if you two wish to seek revenge on him, but I hope that you do not fall into the abyss of hatred and resentment!”

He was gone.