Chapter 1047: A Piece of Paper (IV)

“Then... what if there are those who do not agree to these conditions?” Director General Zhao continued looking at Li Hao. “Ten thousand sets of armor isn’t much, but some people may not be willing to talk to the commander or transact like equals...”

Li Hao looked silently at the man again.

A light flashed through the director general’s eyes and he switched to transmission, “So the commander means... but the main cities are not entities to provoke.”

“So long as they aren’t the city of the traitors, the other main cities may not be that off-limits!” Li Hao smiled. “In the absence of energy, even Saints will have only recovered by a sliver with our environment. Would it really be that hard?”

Director General Zhao’s heart quailed and he spoke no further. He fully understood the young man’s sentiments in this moment. What Li Hao wanted was a public declaration of intent from the eight main cities and all of the other ruins. If they recognized the Skystar Commander Office, then it should be signed and stamped as an agreement.

The young man’s demands weren’t onerous, so those who refused to accept them or take a stance would fall within his range of those to be eliminated!

However... were things really that simple?

Director General Zhao didn’t say anything, and neither did Li Hao. The latter quietly ran through certain ideas.

Things were awry with at least one of the eight main cities. Even if they agreed to his terms, it would be a superficial assent—one difficult to assess the sincerity of. In addition, Ying Hongyue had chosen to enter Great Li instead of working with the ancient cities or scarlet cloak... Perhaps he had his own thoughts in mind.

And another, the Forbidden Sea...

Li Hao rarely mentioned that geographical feature. Based on what he knew, there was a current of the Forbidden Sea within Ash Mountain now. It might have worn its way through the land to Great Li, or perhaps it came from Great Li.

I... still haven’t exerted enough pressure on Ying Hongyue. He won’t continue his collusion with certain people if he’s not under enough stress.

Perhaps he needed to lean on his old enemy some more. Otherwise, Ying Hongyue might abandon all of his backers himself.

Li Hao raised his head and looked into the distance, at where Silver City stood. There were eight red lines in the eight trigrams diagram over the city. Seven of them were connected to Ying Hongyue and several of them were weak. That was possibly due to their heritage weapons being broken.

Could he... break a few more connections and force Ying Hongyue into more dire straits?

The seventh elder walked out of the ruins while Li Hao pondered the possibility.

“Commander Li, Martial Alliance is willing to reach an agreement with the commander.” The elder was more polite this time. “Of course, the prerequisite is that the commander won’t ask for too much. If what we have discussed today is all that you require, then Martial Alliance is very willing to be friends!”

The second elder had found it incredible with the seventh elder returned with the terms. They didn’t measure up to the second elder’s expectations at all.

Or rather, those of New Martial felt that the spokesperson of this age’s heavenly dao would not coexist with them so peacefully. Their basis for such a conclusion was that the Human King would not do so. They were used to the mindset taken by their liege.

When it came to Li Hao... to be honest, Martial Alliance felt guilty that this was all the young man wanted. Or did he have some other scheme in mind?? But since he’d laid things out so plainly, they couldn’t erupt in open hostilities just because they suspected him of ulterior motives, could they?

They would need evidence of such motives in the first place!

“Then it’s simple!” Li Hao smiled. “In that case, I wish for the heavenly dao to witness our agreement!”

He reached out with a hand and formed a supernatural character. A piece of golden paper manifested, the terms that the two sides had discussed were etched onto it. The ‘dao’ character transformed into a massive seal shimmering with the light of a myriad daos.

Li Hao brought the seal down on the paper!

His name was stamped on the agreement—simply Li Hao. There were no titles or honorifics.

The sheet of paper was as if a book of heavenly dao. The seventh elder regarded it with widened eyes.

“It is said that the city lord seals of the various main cities have imprints personally left by Supreme Zhang. If Senior Hu is not opposed to the idea, please return to the city with this document and affix the Martial Alliance seal to it!”

“Will there be any special consequences if we stamp it?” A light flickered in the seventh elder’s eyes.

“Not that many special consequences.” Li Hao smiled faintly. “Just that if Martial Alliance switches to supporting Ying Hongyue in the future, you will find it a bit uncomfortable in Silver Moon world unless the support is sanctioned by the heavens. Martial Alliance will feel a slight repulsion. Of course, it won’t exist anymore if I’m dead.”

“You... have grasped the will of heaven?” gasped the seventh elder.

“No, not that. I simply act according to heaven’s will!”

The seventh elder took a deep breath. Li Hao spoke of it so easily, but there might be disastrous consequences if they were targeted by heaven’s will.

He did not easily break his silence.

“Nothing will happen so long as you do not violate the agreement,” Li Hao added on. “If the agreement is violated—and the same goes for me—we might be punished by Supreme Zhang as well. This is a restriction on both parties and not one that just targets Martial Alliance.”

“I will... have to show the second elder this!” The seventh elder left once more.

“Will they really be targeted by heaven’s will?” transmitted a curious Director General Wang.

“Nope.”

The director general didn’t know what to say.

What are you lying for? Just to scare them?

“They’ll be rejected by the Hao Cosmos!” Li Hao grinned.

Director General Wang blinked. What did that mean?

“So long as my ‘dao’ character is still there, any cultivator who walks the path of the Hao Cosmos will bear eternal enmity toward someone who violated the agreement!” Li Hao explained calmly.

He’d stamped the paper with his ‘dao’ character. The agreement was valid so long as that character remained intact. If the counterparty violated it, when the ‘dao’ character became the coordinates of the Hao Cosmos, any of its cultivators would be hated rivals with those who violated the agreement. This would be an innate animosity from the great dao that would carry through generations of cultivators!

Of course, there was no need to explain this in great detail. The ‘dao’ character hadn’t become the coordinates of great dao yet. It was just as Li Hao said—Martial Alliance wouldn’t face too much trouble if they killed him and broke his supernatural character.

Eternal enemies!

Director General Wang’s heart shook from the revelation. The hatred of breaking the agreement would be etched in the great dao and emblazoned in the Hao Cosmos. So long as the character still shone, cultivators of the modern and future ages would bear a natural enmity toward oath breakers. It would burn through generations and never cease!

This was... so vicious!

Of course, it was also as Li Hao said. If he died and the ‘dao’ character wasn’t the coordinates of the dao universe, then there wouldn’t be much of a problem.

A complicated mix of emotions ran through Director General Wang’s heart. Li Hao was very lenient in one aspect, but exceedingly harsh in another. He wished for the other party to honor the agreement they’d reached. If Martial Alliance broke it, this enmity would forever remain unless all of Silver Moon died out or the new dao was severed!

This was a terrifying notion!

They waited longer this time. The city seemed to be struggling over this decision. Although Martial Alliance didn’t know what the effects would be, it was plain to see that Li Hao’s ‘dao’ seal was mysterious and profound. Powerhouses would be able to tell from a quick glance that there was cause and effect tied to it.

The seventh elder walked out again after another hour. He looked at Li Hao with a complicated look and offered a golden document with both hands. “The second elder has instructed me to give this to the commander. The Zhaos will not support Ying Hongyue, but our support of the commander will not exceed this agreement. As for the future... we can leave that for the future!”

The piece of paper weighed heavily in Li Hao’s hands! There was another seal stamped on it—a particularly heavy one, like there was something weighing it down.

“My thanks to the senior for understanding.” A golden light sparkled in the young man’s eyes. “I will have Director General Zhao deliver the items. I hope ties of friendship exist between us for thousands of generations!”

He flung the document into the air. A longsword slashed through the void, sending the piece of paper into another dimension.

“The Hao Cosmos bears witness!” Li Hao laughed at the seventh elder’s wide eyes. “The document will float in the new dao universe. I take my leave then!”

All three people vanished with a wave of his hand. When they were gone, the seventh elder took a deep breath and returned to the city.

“He sent the document into the new dao universe!” he said to someone waiting outside the city gates.

The second elder was silent for a very long while before saying, “It’s just a promise to not support Ying Hongyue! So we’ve given it! His demands aren’t high. Although I don’t know what the specific consequences are... we will honor the agreement!”

While the exact consequences were unknown, Supreme Zhang’s characters had shimmered when they stamped the city lord seal on the document. It’d interwoven with Li Hao’s character. The sight had stunned the second elder.

Supreme Zhang was such a lofty personage and Li Hao of such humble strength, yet the two seemed to communicate with each other and reach an accord. If Martial Alliance broke the agreement, they might suffer the wrath of both sides!

That was a terrifying consequence!

......

That Li Hao and Martial Alliance had reached an agreement did not remain secret for long. Or rather, there was no need for it to be a secret.

It was especially publicized that the ancient city only needed to trade ten thousand sets of armor and sign an agreement. There was no need to send troops or people, just an endorsement of some basic conditions to not cooperate with the traitors or Li Hao’s enemies, to not disrupt the Skystar Commander Office’s rule, and to respect Skystar laws.

Just that was sufficient for Skystar Dynasty to accept New Martial and coexist peacefully with the ancient civilization. The Skystar Commander Office would not target New Martial powerhouses and Li Hao would also pay a price for the armor.

The two parties stood on equal footing to discuss a partnership, an alliance.

In reality, this wasn’t an alliance. It was just a basic term of noninterference. Li Hao also agreed that he would help New Martial citizens open the Star Gate and search for the New Martial main world if circumstances permitted.

Were these conditions too much to ask for?

If in the past, modern humans didn’t have the right to be treated equally by New Martial. However, times were different now!

Li Hao was nearly invincible in the outside world. Thus, he had the right to speak on even footing with these ancient cities before the latter’s powerhouses fully awakened and could set foot into the world.

......

News traveled quickly. Cities that’d revitalized had their own channels of collecting information. Or, it could be said that they all had powerhouses or factions that they supported, whether in the open or in secret. No one would sit quietly and await death, particularly New Martial citizens.

Everyone paid close attention to changes in the outside world, and news of Martial Alliance reaching an agreement with Li Hao quickly became common knowledge.