Chapter 1141: An Era of Revolution (II)

White Moon City, the provincial government.

This was the heart of Silver Moon province administration.

No one knew that there was another ruin beneath the provincial government—the ancient Silver Moon Martial University. These were the ruins that raised the heirs of the eight families.

Li Hao didn’t know what they originally contained, likely only Director General Zhao was aware of that. There was almost nothing left here now.

Their most important treasure of the Eight Directions Seal had been refined into the director general’s replica. The two were now one, so the seal became Director General Zhao’s weapon.

There wasn’t even a guardian plant spirit here. Perhaps it’d died, or Director General Zhao had eaten it. It would be a common occurrence for a plant spirit to die to the enemy if it never awakened.

Traces of its former grandeur were still vaguely discernible within the ruins. There were classrooms, dorms, martial dao practice rooms, and laboratories. Everything that should be present in a school could be found here.

Zhang An was seated cross-legged within the ruins. His eyes snapped open. Someone walked into the ruins from the outside world in the next second.

Li Hao.

Zhang An watched silently and did not move.

“How goes the senior’s cultivation?” Li Hao asked softly from a distance away.

“It is well,” Zhang An responded calmly. “You have grown much stronger. It looks like you have made many gains.”

“I’m alright,” Li Hao responded in kind.

The two sank into silence.

“The Zhengs should be one of the traitors,” Li Hao offered after a while. “The Lius have very likely turned traitor as well. There should be turncoats hidden among all of the families! The most likely scenario is that they were infiltrated by Red Moon power and influenced for many years until desire drowned reason. They became disciples of desire.”

Zhang An did not say a word.

“Peace for the world was hard fought!” continued Li Hao. “Since the eight main cities have been quiet for many years... I hope that the other main cities continue to remain quiet apart from Battle Heaven!

“Senior, you helped me a lot when I was weak. I, Li Hao, am not an ungrateful person. I will resurrect all Evenround Martial students! I will also repay Battle Heaven sufficiently for their help.

“But when it comes to other matters... I would like to handle them according to my thoughts.” Li Hao looked at Zhang An, Zhang An looked back at him.

“Your thoughts?” the man repeated slowly. “They can’t all be New Martial traitors. Many of them are Silver Moon protectors. What if I do not agree to this?”

Li Hao simply gazed upon him silently.

“You cannot act against all of New Martial simply because of one person’s betrayal...” Zhang An frowned.

“Senior, I cannot permit an enemy to sleep soundly by my bed...” Li Hao said softly after a long moment. “For example, let’s consider New Martial in Silver Moon’s place. I hear that there were factions from other universes in your time that did not choose to oppose New Martial. What happened to them in the end?

“I consider myself less than the Human King of the ancient times, but it is Silver Moon blood that has wrested peace for ourselves from this world! The mere name of New Martial has already caused us to pay a heavy toll. Must the senior continue in this vein?

“My teacher is gone, Director Hou is gone, Chief Liu Long is gone, Martial Uncle Southern Fist is gone,” he enunciated carefully while he looked at the ancient. “It would be as if the ancient Human King lost my ancestor Sword Sovereign, lost the Exalted Blood Emperor, and lost Supreme Zhang. Please have some understanding for me, senior!”

Zhang An blinked.

Yuan Shuo and the others...

He stayed silent and looked at Li Hao. The young man was as usual, a composed smile on his lips. He rarely grew angry and Zhang An had barely ever seen Li Hao yell at others to express his anger.

But in this moment, he could clearly feel the young man’s fury tower like a tidal wave and crash like an avalanche!

“And what if I do not agree?” Zhang An asked after exhaling softly.

Li Hao did not immediately respond, but the man understood regardless.

“Where are Jiang Yingli and the others?”

“They’ve fallen asleep.”

“Fallen asleep?”

“They exhausted everything available to them and entered their weapons to sleep.”

“Do you need my help?” Zhang An frowned.

“No,” Li Hao shook his head. “I can revive them, it’s not that hard. I just need to grasp their great dao and utilize the strength of the great dao to activate their weapons. They’ll naturally come back to life then!”

“And what do you plan to do with us?” Zhang An changed the subject.

“You should go back to Evenround Martial! That is the dean’s territory. I will send the Skystar Army at the Skystar Town ruins to Battle Heaven. When it comes to Evenround Martial, I stand by what I said before. I will give them a chance. If they make the same decision as Jiang Yingli and the others, they can join me. If they do not and want New Martial bodies, they can return to Evenround Martial. I will provide the resources necessary for your cultivation.”

“That is acceptable.” Zhang An nodded after some consideration.

“Thank you for your understanding, senior!” Li Hao smiled.

“I know you attacked Boundless,” Zhang An suddenly said when he saw Li Hao’s smile. “I knew that it was very dangerous and that you might lose your entire force if you went. I have the ability to resolve some of your dangers, but... I did not choose to do so!

“Li Hao, if the Human King was here, I would probably be the first person he executes! He does not like unexpected factors. The fact that I did not participate in battle means I am an enemy and he would’ve killed me early on...

“Why... did you not do the same? I know that if you really wanted to move against me, there’s only one of me. Or, you could’ve spontaneously withdrawn the ‘dao’ character once I entered the outside world. I would be beset on two flanks then and you might even expend less effort compared to what you had to use for Earthflare. You could easily eliminate the threat that I represented.”

“Now wouldn’t that be horribly ungrateful?” Li Hao grinned. “Not to mention, I’m not the Human King! Why does the senior put myself in his shoes? Whether the senior thinks of me as indecisive as a result or anything else is fine. Silver Moon martial masters only seek satisfaction and calmness of the heart!

“Silver Moon martial masters have battled for countless eons, killing their opponents while leaving the latter’s heritage intact. They know full well that leaving this heritage intact is just creating future disaster for themselves, but they do so all the same. In the senior’s eyes, this may not conform with the Human King’s style. A full extermination of root and branch should be undertaken instead.

“But each era is different and each time period has its own unique characteristics. These are the characteristics of Silver Moon martial masters. While it might be a bit cliche in my eyes, it is not a useless ideal. Why must we forsake it?”

Zhang An had no response forthcoming.

“I will take the senior back to Evenround Martial when I am finished with my tasks at hand!” Li Hao picked up the conversation after a beat.

Zhang An still did not make a sound.

Li Hao inclined his body and backed out of the ruins, leaving behind a quiet martial university.

Zhang An silently watched the direction he’d left in, not saying a word. Perhaps he didn’t want to say anything or wasn’t willing to, or perhaps he wanted to nurse the remains of his New Martial pride.

He didn’t want to appear too discomfited, though everyone already considered him already highly embarrassed by the situation.

......

White Moon City.

When Li Hao walked out of the ruins, he turned back for a look and lost himself in thought for a moment before departing. His body flickered before he vanished.

The Silver Moon Guard base.

There were people on guard here—supernaturals on support duty. They were astonished when Li Hao appeared and a guard quickly presented himself. He bowed with a look of worship on his face.

“Greetings to the commander!”

“Mmhmm.” Li Hao nodded with a smile. “Is everything alright here?”

“E-everything’s alright.” The supernatural was slightly nervous. The Silver Moon Guards had first sent the bulk of their army to Skystar City last year, after which Li Hao left with his Demon Hunters. Only a few had been left on guard.

The Silver Moon Guards had been renamed to the Demon Hunters and were quite renowned. Director Hou and Li Hao were now immensely illustrious and annexed all of Skystar Dynasty into their jurisdiction.

With the sky canopies today, they now knew that the invasion of the four nations was in the past. They were extremely excited by the news. Suddenly seeing Li Hao threw them into a fit of nerves and animation.

“Commander, are you...”

“I’m here for a look. Also, the veterans of the Silver Moon Guard will be returning tomorrow and rest here for a few days.”

“They’re coming back?” Another guard repeated excitedly. “Then are Director Hou and Officer Liu coming back?”

“They...” Li Hao paused. “Are not for the time being. It’s primarily the Silver Moon Guards that will be present.”

While the supernatural was disappointed at first, he quickly perked up again. “Very good, then... commander... I will have someone clean up the barracks immediately and prepare everything for their arrival.”

“Mmhmm, go about your duties. I’ll take a spin around by myself.”

“Commander...”

“Go on.”

“Alright then.” The gleeful guards didn’t dare say anything else and quickly sped off.

......

Li Hao took a leisurely stroll around the base and headed to the beach outside the base for a look. He sat on the sand and thought back to certain experiences. It was on this spot that he and Liu Long had foolishly slashed at the sea again and again.

It was also here that he led the Demon Hunters on their first major hunt. They’d gone against a band of pirates.

Everything was as if yesterday, but also seemed very far away. The man in a trench coat doggedly attacking the sea was no more. Li Hao suddenly felt that he was left in this world all by himself.

Those who protected him in Silver City—Yuan Shuo and Liu Long—were gone. There were a few left with the Demon Hunters, but they hadn’t spent as much time with him as Liu Long and Yuan Shuo had. Those he was familiar with were all absent.

His parents were gone, Little Yuan was gone, his master was gone, and even his chief was gone...

The young man had grown stronger since emerging from Silver City and he now held sway over the entire world, but he didn’t have a single person he could talk to anymore. Li Hao suddenly wished for nothing more than for someone to be by his side and chat with him.

The unbounded loneliness was suffocating.

Everything he possessed today was not what he sought. His enemy continued to roam free, there was a seal above his hometown and it imprisoned a terrifying existence. He seemed to have taken an easy road since leaving Silver City, but he’d accomplished none of his goals. He’d even lost a lot of people instead.

Li Hao took out a jug of wine from his storage ring and took a sip. The liquid wasn’t as fragrant or strong as usual, and it was marked by a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Perhaps... it’d included some of the wryness from the sea breeze.

“From today forth, I will start living for myself...” he murmured and grinned. “It’s not like any of them are around to keep me in line anymore!”

You’re the ones who gave up on watching me!

His smile deepened with mischief. Li Hao was like a child without the rules set by his parents. He threw his head back and laughed with abandon.

None of you can keep me in line. In that case, I won’t be a good boy anymore!

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

On this day, Li Hao drained jug after jug of wine. Even he didn’t know how much he drank in the end. It wasn’t like he was getting drunk off however much he imbibed.