Chapter 1084: Awakening, A Myriad of Changes (III)

Zhang An floated away, coming to a place within the ancient town where many student puppets dwelled. Some were playing cards, others were idly chatting, and a couple were reading. They had nothing else to do while trapped in their puppet bodies. Life was too boring!

“Teacher!” Everyone rose when they saw Zhang An.

“All of you know of my thoughts on this matter,” Zhang An said calmly. “Li Hao will be crafting bodies of modern humans today. There are four spots available to us in this first batch. That’s not a lot, so who is willing to have a body of the new age?

“I’ve mentioned it before, but I will explain it again. If you accept a body of new humanity, Li Hao is the discoverer of the new dao. He knows best how many and where the dao meridians are. He might be making that knowledge public now, but he may not be willing to announce newly discovered dao meridians in the future.

“He will not display all of his secrets indefinitely! Therefore, the only way to keep up with the times is to set the past behind!” intoned the dean. “Step forward if you are ready to make the decision. If not, do not put yourself up for the opportunity! Save it for those who need it.”

“Then if we are to attack New Martial...” asked one of the student puppets after a prolonged silence.

“Then attack!” Zhang An answered. “The modern age is your side since you have pledged yourself to it. Are you to withdraw from your own path? Blowing hot and cold, being of two minds about a decision is the most dangerous and wicked!”

“Then... if we meet those of our father or ancestor’s generation...”

“There will be no pointless fighting,” Zhang An frowned. “Li Hao is not that kind of person! If there really comes a day in which that occurs... then choose your family! I recommend choosing your family over loyalty, and choosing loyalty over affiliation. Family is greater than loyalty, loyalty is greater than affiliation. That is what is meant to be a human being!”

Some breathed out with relief at his words.

“Then teacher means that if... battle doesn’t involve our family, just the modern remnants of New Martial, then... we can let loose and really fight?”

“That is correct.” Zhang An nodded. “It has been one hundred thousand years, we all have our own paths and own decisions to make. In the same vein, we cannot fault anyone if we fall in battle. Who is willing to accept this opportunity?”

Thirty students immediately walked out without hesitation, shaking Zhang An’s heart. That was a large amount. Some people were still hesitating, but these students did not. Could he say they were cold-hearted? Or decisive?

He himself didn’t know what he made of the situation. Such resolution and complete lack of hesitation meant that they’d already thought things through. But if regarded from New Martial’s perspective, this degree of purpose might be... difficult to accept.

Zhang An didn’t voice his thoughts, but a robot cat in front of him said, “Teacher, you might think that we’re... heartless! But New Martial is no longer. At least, it no longer exists in this age! What is left of New Martial, the cities, and the people have all changed. We are people too and we change. We... no longer wish to be puppets!

“Of course, there is no need for any reasons or justification. They’re all excuses no matter what we say. If teacher meets us on the battlefield in days to come, just kill us!” The speaker was particularly calm. “Teacher keeps telling us to choose, so we have chosen this today! Teacher yourself may not have made a choice yet...

“A fair-weather ally has always been the most dangerous. No matter what, we hope that teacher makes a decision soon and that you see good results.”

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The robot cat didn’t seem as comical as it usually did. It turned to the rest that had stepped forward. “Of us volunteers, only four of us will receive a new body today. We need the four that are the strongest and with the best potential! They will cultivate the new martial dao first. If there are gains in the battles in come, the rest of you will be the next batch. By that time, we’ll be able to pass on our experience. For now, those who were Immortals back in the day shall step forward.”

Eight people separated themselves from the group.

“With me makes nine...” The robot cat looked at the other puppets. “That’s five more than we have space for. I’ll talk to Li Hao. He said four only because he doesn’t want to spend too much time here. It doesn’t necessarily have to be four. Teacher might be too embarrassed to ask for more spots, but I can go! Another person in the field is another source of help to him!”

Zhang An wanted to say something, but stopped himself. The robot cat hadn’t been asking for his opinion. It seemed to be saying that since they had made their decisions, they would vie for their own existence from this day forth. They would not have their teacher be caught in the middle.

The nine puppets didn’t say anything else. They bent at the waist to their fellow students and left.

Zhang An watched them go with a complicated mix of emotions. They’d grown up! Or rather, they were tired and fed up after one hundred thousand years. They were too tired to continue this way of life.

Should he be happy? Or be pained about their decision? These students should have been the Human King’s Demonic Guard, but now...

......

Outside the mine.

Nine student puppets walked over. Li Hao recognized their leader.

“Jiang Yingli of Evenround Martial University greets Commander Li!” the leading robot cat said crisply before the young man had a chance to speak. “I would like to discuss with the commander if we can resurrect nine people at once. They were all geniuses back in the day of the Immortal level!”

Li Hao blinked.

“All of us came from the main world and don’t have much to do with Silver Moon world. Apart from our old classmates and teacher, we don’t have any other ties to the minor world! We enjoy more freedom compared to the eight main cities.

“Of us nine Immortals, each of us are skilled in exceedingly powerful battle methods. Even if we cannot employ our full strength in modern times, we are far greater than the regular Immortal!”

“That’s right! We stand a great chance of quickly reaching the limits of the modern world. Our mental strength is strong enough that we will be able to swiftly open large numbers of unattributed dao meridians, even though we haven’t comprehended the aura!”

“We’ve received rigorous training and know how to fight together!”

“......” The students began making cases for their usefulness. This had never happened before. They’d only viewed themselves as mercenaries and outright addressed Li Hao by name. Some changes had plainly occurred today.

“You want new bodies of modern humans?” Li Hao was quiet for a while.

“Yes!”

“I’m going to attack some of the plant spirits in the ruins...”

“We will do our best with the new bodies that we have!”

“Will you not regret anything?” Li Hao took a deep breath.

“After one hundred thousand years, we have been through everything we regret, hate, and miss. Teacher thinks that we have been asleep for the past one hundred thousand years, but we do awaken occasionally. Even so, being awake at least once every one thousand years for three to five years... means we’ve endured at least three to five hundred years of darkness and loneliness in one go!”

“But then you won’t be of New Martial anymore...” Li Hao smiled.

“Is that identity important? What has been vital has never been New Martial itself, but it's mindset of standing up against justice and refusing to wrongly bend the knee. We stand against darkness and everything else!” Jiang Yingli responded loudly. “The commander doesn’t know what it means to be of New Martial!

“To be of New Martial is to resist! The Human King and Supreme Zhang led the rest in defying the unfairness of our fate. One’s identity has never been the most important!”

“Very well, then... I will revive all nine of you!” Li Hao laughed.

“Our thanks to the commander for satisfying our wishes!”

“Then fifteen of you will be given bodies of new humanity today,” Li Hao smiled. “We will be investing more than expected—I will be using the elements within the divine corpse as catalysts and the energy of the Empyrean King body as the source. You can choose from the elements of fire, earth, and wood. We have divine corpses of these elements, so I can summon some of great dao’s strength to me.”

“Isn’t there one for the divine spirit of misfortune? What dao meridian does it contain?”

“I don’t know, so I’m not offering that as a choice. It might be very hard to control if anyone chooses that for their meridian, so I don’t recommend choosing an unknown dao.”

The group nodded. Li Hao said nothing further and let the moment brew for a bit.

“It’s the same process as before. We will be transplanting your great dao and stabilizing the passage. In addition, you can choose to reforge your puppet bodies into weapons to further stabilize the passageway.

“They are made of fine materials and can be refined into the primary dao meridian. They will then pierce through core origin dao and become the medium through which you can endure greater strength!”

The puppet bodies were indeed good treasures, but Li Hao’s suggestion made the students look at each other with difficulty.

“It’s difficult to refine these items because they were personally forged by the principal...”

Someone sighed in the distance and flew over. “I’ll refine them for you.”

“Teacher...”

“It will be the same as before. The imperial guard and I will stabilize your great dao, sever it, and transplant it. The puppet bodies will be refined into your personal weapons! They will serve to stabilize the passageway and extract more strength from the Hao Cosmos. That will hasten your recovery and grant you the possibility of returning to an Immortal battle strength sooner!

“Today, they chose to join your age. I hope that the commander can extend the same treatment to everyone!” Zhang An turned to the young man. “The conversion of great dao and rebirth of the body is a brand new beginning. So long as the combatants do not contain their families, those of Evenround Martial will not shy away from battle!”

“Of course!” Li Hao nodded and said no more. Energy from the Hao Cosmos surged as he sent out supernatural characters.

The process of crafting new bodies was a bit simpler than before, thanks to the completed general categorization of the new dao. He could quickly complete their conversion, so long as these people chose a main attribute, be it one of the body or an element.

It was a much less involved process compared to when Director General Wang underwent the process. After that, it was much to the cultivator themselves what heights they could reach and how many dao meridians they could open.

But with their foundations ready-made and a stabilized passageway to the Hao Cosmos after transplanting their great dao, their cultivation speed would be much faster than others. Take Director General Wang, for example, he’d easily made his way to eighteen dao meridians. Initial Immortal had been his cultivation level back in the day.

These students might have been stronger than the director general back in those times. While they were all Initial Immortal, the students were direct descendants of exalted emperors. Their battle strength might be greater. It might take them only a day or two to reach eighteen dao meridians.

Such were the benefits of a strong foundation. In contrast, Silver Moon martial masters had to make their way step by step. A cultivation level of twelve meridians made for a solid cultivation level at present.

There was still a gap between the two sides.

Li Hao set that out of his mind. Whether it was twelve or eighteen dao meridians, those who walked the new dao were hard pressed to surpass him. He would only grow stronger as more people walked this path.

The young man grabbed some chunks of divine flesh and blood, as well as the Empyrean King body. He set it aflame with his fire abilities in order to refine it. Zhang An did something similar with the student puppet bodies, leaving a few shadows standing in place.

A mallet appeared in the dean’s hand as opposed to flames. He started banging away at the stoutly forged constructs, turning them into weapons.

Zhang An had once received pointers from the greatest refiner in the world—the Divine Forge Emperor. He was a jack-of-all-trades, yet a master of none.

On this day, Li Hao and Zhang An joined hands to create the best bodies and weapons for the first batch of fifteen.