Chapter 1135: Arrangements (III)

“It’s a good idea, commander, but,” Director General Zhao began with a frown when he saw that no one else dared say a word. “It will take very high battle capabilities to keep the ancient cities under control and forbid their powerhouses from entering and exiting their homes.

“Those of New Martial are proud and self-assured. I’m afraid that conflicts will break out if we conduct ourselves this way! Even if they’re just replicas, those of the Sun and Moon level can emerge from the ruins now.”

The five assigned to sit in residence at the ancient cities were too weak.

“No worries, I will think of something!” Li Hao smiled. “The ones I’ve selected have all entered Mountain and Sea. As such, their physical bodies ought to be sufficient to endure the strain of opening a few more dao meridians. Most critical of all is that Liu Yan, Hong Qing, and Mu Lin have grasped the aura. While Wang Ming and Hao Lianchuan lack it, that’s not a big problem...

“My master has gone to sleep and nearly all of the others have had their dao meridians of the five elements eradicated. In that case, I will have them wield the elemental dao meridians through the five supernatural characters. And with us executing some divine spirits of the five elements in Divine Nation...”

Understanding dawned on the group. No one said a word. These people would be placed in charge of the five elements then. They happened to number five...

Hou Xiaochen and Yuan Shuo’s deaths in battle had greased Li Hao’s mental wheels. Liu Long also dying made Li Hao feel that those who’d been with him every step of the way needed to be strengthened. He no longer cared if people said that he was abusing his power for personal gain.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

That was precisely what he wished to do!

He was even going to give the divine corpses of the five elements, the five supernatural characters, and the five elemental dao meridians to these people. It was both compensation and a testament to his deep-seated fear.

Would these people also leave him in death?

It was apparent from the name of the Demon Hunter Guards that the faction was a combination of the Demon Hunter Army and the Silver Moon Guards. Perhaps... Li Hao wanted to create his personal guards, just as the Human King had his Demonic Guards. These would be his direct troops.

Li Hao hadn’t cared about any of this at first; he’d viewed everyone equally, including those who joined later. But now, there’d been some changes in the young man.

No one knew if this change was good or bad.

No one else said a word at this time. Lin Hongyu looked around her and saw that no one was putting forth any questions. She had no choice but to step forward.

“Ah, commander, there are a lot of New Martial citizens in the Skystar Town ruins. There’s also some ancient Skystar Army soldiers there and some Evenround Martial students. What should we... do with them and the numerous plant spirits on site?”

Director General Wang also looked at the young man.

“Some of the troop leaders of the ancient Skystar Army are still alive!” replied Li Hao. “Have them move to Battle Heaven for now. I will resurrect each of the Evenround Martial students—this is what I promised Dean Zhang!

“I will also revive the ten thousand from the Battle Heaven army. Once the mine is emptied, Skystar Town can become a base for plant spirits. The imperial guard will lead all of the plant spirits into forming the Imperial Guard Army!”

The imperial guard swayed outside of the great hall, indicating its acceptance.

“Are you still going to resurrect the Evenround Martial students?” Sky Sword frowned.

“Mmhmm.”

“But...”

“I promised them!” Li Hao rebutted. “Since I promised, I must keep my word! It’s only a few hundred people. Not to mention, we shouldn’t forget that Jiang Yingli and her fellow students paid a grievous price to stop the city lord seal from landing. So no matter what, this is what I should do!”

As disgruntled as some were by the young man’s decisions, no one could say anything after his latest response. All of them were infuriated by Zhang An’s lack of support.

Although Li Hao hadn’t asked him for reinforcement, surely Zhang An had been aware of everything. Jiang Yingli and the other students had participated in pre-battle meetings. Director General Wang had also been a participant. Zhang An could not have been oblivious to them.

And yet, he was absent from everything!

Everyone understood that it was his freedom to join them in battle or not. But if he had, he would’ve disposed of a Saint by himself since he was one as well. There would’ve been no need for so many to die in that fight.

Whether it was misplaced anger or genuine irritation, they were full of hostility toward Zhang An now. Many were unwilling when Li Hao spoke of reviving the New Martial citizens, but there was nothing else they could say on the matter.

Northern Fist was contemplating that if Southern Fist was still alive, he probably would’ve started cursing up a storm a long, long time ago. Without him, there was very little objection or questioning when Li Hao held meetings.

If Southern Fist was present, he’d likely be greeting Zhang An’s ancestors by now. There was nothing that Li Hao could do about it.

Of those still alive, Hong Yitang was the closest to Li Hao, but he was a man of few words. He was accustomed to silence instead.

“Then that will be all, everyone is dismissed!” Li Hao smiled. “Collect resources and accelerate your cultivation. I’ve given you your responsibilities and will stay out of your hair. We should’ve all harvested something from this battle—some reflections or comprehensions. I hope to see everyone in the Hao Cosmos soon, and not have to rely on me to shuttle you in!

“I need to cultivate as well, so I may not have that much time to spare for everyone. You are all my seniors and don’t need too much input from me.”

“Don’t worry, commander,” Lin Hongyu began.

“Don’t call me commander anymore, you’re the commander. Call me the Silver Moon Marquis or Li Hao. Do whatever you’d like!”

Lin Hongyu would never dare to use Li Hao’s name. “Don’t worry, Your Grace!” she immediately changed the honorific.

“Director Hou always wanted to be the Silver Moon Marquis. I wonder if he’ll be sad that I’ve taken it from him,” Li Hao laughed.

No one continued that line of conversation; the young man found their reaction boring.

“Go about your business.” He waved them off. “This is not my world, but ours. Everyone should expend a little more effort on it.”

The crowd didn’t say anything and dispersed, knowing that Li Hao didn’t want to say more on the topic. The vast hall quickly emptied out, leaving the young man sitting alone in it.

He breathed out. Everything was developing in a good direction and those who’d survived happened to be sufficient to take over the various administrative, political, military, financial, and martial dao affairs. The government operated more smoothly than before.

But... why did his heart feel empty?

Everything was a bit of a mess before, but now there was a perfect amount of people aptly suited for their positions.

“Did you guys... even calculate for me how many to leave behind?” murmured Li Hao before he suddenly kicked the table in front of him. “Do I need you guys to arrange my affairs for me?!”

The table cracked and fell apart.

“Barren Dynasty, Divine Nation, New Martial, the traitors, Red Moon, three great organizations...” The look in Li Hao’s eyes grew cold and he set his jaw. “The good days end here for them!”

If the Great Li king and Watercloud empress dowager hadn’t joined him for the battle, they wouldn’t be able to enjoy peace in the days to come either.

Li Hao looked in the direction of Silver City. The Red Moon exalted emperor had probably loosened his seal somewhat, hadn’t him? How many in the province were contaminated with Red Moon power?

However, he did not choose to head back.

Instead, he waited silently to give that one time. The exalted emperor hadn’t broken the seal. If he had, someone of his cultivation level wouldn’t be so quiet. He would be without reservation or fear, and long turned the world over.

All was fine if the seal still existed!

In that case, he would only be able to influence a few people—the Demon Hunters stationed there would be his priority target. Li Hao would wait for the exalted emperor to infect the troops. The more the merrier, it would also strengthen the Demon Hunters for him.

He didn’t head back yet because he was also concerned that the guy would’ve sensed something and be unwilling to expend more Red Moon power.

“One day should be enough...” Li Hao ran some calculations. One day should be enough for him to infect some weaklings.

I wonder if he’ll detect anything if I erase all of that Red Moon power at the same time?

The young man vanished. He didn’t need to oversee anyone or bring anyone with him for this task. Just he alone was enough.

......

Silver City.

The diagram of the eight trigrams in the sky had dimmed somewhat. Tendrils of red power that outsiders could not see had enshrouded the area. There were several million soldiers stationed at Silver City, and of them, the Demon Hunter Army was the strongest.

No one sensed anything for the moment, they simply shifted restlessly. The Great Li army in front of them seemed to be retreating. The Skystar soldiers didn’t know if they should stop that since there were no powerhouses or commanding officers on site.

The night of bloody rain had caused unease in all of them.

There wasn’t a single powerhouse holding down the fort in such a massive army. There were only a few weaklings—Liu Yan, Hu Dingfang, Mu Lin—calling out commands and the presence of some Battle Heaven troop leaders that prevented mass confusion from developing.

A figure materialized—Li Hao. He addressed the crowd. “Liu Yan, Hong Qing... select five thousand elites from the troops. Make sure to include the original members of the Demon Hunters and Silver Moon Guards. Choose some experts from the army and form the Demon Hunter Guards. You have one day to make your preparations. Meet me in White Moon City after that!”

Those tapped for duty blinked. Why was this troop being formed?

“Where’s Chief Liu?” A nodding Liu Yan asked, her heart feeling empty.

“Busy with other matters that are very important!”

Liu Yan looked blankly at the young man. Busy with other matters? Although Liu Long had grown a lot stronger, what affairs were there that he needed to conduct in secret?

“When... will he come back?”

“It’ll be soon,” Li Hao laughed. “Alright, this is classified military information. I’m only telling you this much because you’re an old friend. Don’t ask too much, your clearance is too low! I’ll debrief you once you set foot into Sun and Moon and become a commander. You guys are improving too slowly!”

Liu Yan squeezed out a smile and didn’t ask further.

“That’s it then, and be quick about it! We convene at the old Silver Moon Guard headquarters at White Moon City in one day!”

“Then what about the Great Li army in front of us...” Hu Dingfang couldn’t help ask.

“Ignore them. We’ve spent a while training troops with them, those skirmishes are enough. Are we really going to keep going until both armies are done for? The Great Li king is taking them back to his nation.”

Hu Dingfang said nothing further as well.

“Keep a tight hold over the army and don’t let any disorder develop,” Li Hao continued. “We won’t be withdrawing our army for a while, even if Great Li has. The commanders of the four directions, Skystar Commander Office, and even Inspectorate will be coming to select people to fill out their ranks. They’ll be choosing the elites and disqualifying the weak. The latter will be sent out on other jobs. There will be people handling this!”

Those assembled blinked. Li Hao was reducing the size of the military? But... why?

There was nothing they could do but nod, however. The young man quickly vanished on the spot.