Chapter 1146: Tranquil Star Ruins (IV)

Just as Jadelight Sword hesitated over whether she should wait, the void trembled and the world split open. Six figures appeared. Li Hao was inscrutable, but presences billowed from the others.

Jadelight Sword raised an eyebrow. They’d all set foot into Sun and Moon! That was too fast! Even she had only barely managed to cross into that cultivation level, and she'd been with Yuan Shuo before and received quite a lot of benefits for it. She’d also been present for each instance of closed door cultivation, apart from the ten that visited Earthflare. Despite all those advantages, she was only just at Sun and Moon.

“Martial Uncle Hong.” Li Hao smiled faintly and looked at Wu Hongshan. “What brings you here today?”

He was much more affable when facing her. His teacher had brought Jadelight Sword with him everywhere before; everyone was well aware of what Yuan Shuo thought about Wu Hongshan. The old man hadn’t had a chance to speak of it before he was gone.

And now, Li Hao wasn’t at liberty to speak of it. But his gesture of giving the northern commander position to Wu Hongshan was laden with a great deal of meaning.

Wu Hongshan set aside her questions of why these people had grown so strong—it likely had something to do with the five elemental dao meridians. Li Hao had mentioned it once before.

“There is news from the east,” she quickly reported. “The Xu family has produced three mid Sun and Moon. They’ve been killed, but it has something to do with the Tranquil Star ruins!

“There should be a powerhouse within them that Director General Zhao guesses has something to do with the Zhengs. They must be strong to outright raise three cultivators to fourth level Sun and Moon...”

If everything was as if before, Li Hao would’ve been the only one who could stand against that cultivation level. There had been three of them!

If it wasn’t for the world changing too quickly, the Xus might really have been able to stage a comeback from their dire straits.

“The Xus... Tranquil Star...” Li Hao raised an eyebrow. He’d almost forgotten about this family. Their patriarch had mentioned Tranquil Star to him before, but the young man hadn’t known much about the ancient city then, so ignored that line of conversation. After he knew more about it, he felt that the Xu patriarch was bullshitting.

What Tranquil Star? That was the sacred land of many exalted emperors, how could it be here!

But now, multiple Sun and Moons had suddenly appeared among the Xus.

Li Hao knew that his Sun and Moons had barely attained that level only after being bequeathed with numerous benefits. It was either from absorbing vast sums of Red Moon power or being modified by a Saint. Earthflare had not gone easy when he worked on the Silver Moon denizens.

For three Sun and Moon to suddenly appear... that meant the existence in the ruins was at least a Saint, or even stronger!

Li Hao furrowed his brows and quickly said, “Tell them not to go in just yet. Wait for my cue, I’ll go there in person!”

So this had something to do with the Zhengs?

A cold look flashed through Li Hao’s eyes and he frowned again. Did the Tranquil Star ruins... really have something to do with the fabled Tranquil Star?

Jadelight Sword nodded.

“Martial aunt has also set foot into Sun and Moon...” Li Hao remarked. “You walk the path of the Jadelight Sword. Sword dao is not easy to train, has martial aunt ever considered changing to...”

“No!” The woman promptly responded. Li Hao chuckled wryly.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Sword dao really wasn’t an easy path to take! There was no shortage of sword cultivators, but this dao was very difficult.

“Very well, then I will teach martial aunt the supernatural ability of sword dao.” Li Hao didn’t force Jadelight Sword into changing her mind. “There is also great difficulty in opening 360 dao meridians!”

Jadelight Sword was on the verge of a response, but held her tongue in the end. She wanted to refuse, but didn’t after some consideration.

“The other ancient cities still stand.” Li Hao turned to the five standing next to him. “But Tranquil Star has popped up. That’s just as well, bring the Demon Hunter Guards with you. We might bring our full force to bear this time. I’d also like to see how strong five Sun and Moon in charge of the five elements, as well as five thousand Dominators and up, can be!”

The group was excited by the prospects; Li Hao simply smiled at their enthusiasm. If the enemy was too strong... he wouldn’t have his people make a move. He couldn’t bear to lose anyone anymore.

As for Tranquil Star...

The Zhengs!

Light flashed through his eyes and his thoughts turned to Barren Dynasty. Perhaps it was indeed time that he visited the eastern continent.

Since the young man had relinquished the five elemental daos, he was down five dao meridians. That made his total meridians fewer than the thirty-eight he’d tallied before. At the same time, he’d made several gains from organizing the great dao over the past couple of days.

He’d opened thirty-two of the thirty-six dao meridians, plus another five meridians outside of the five elements. It was a grand total of thirty-seven, which didn’t make him much weaker than before.

If Tranquil Star really did have something to do with the Zhengs, then he would have to take the field.

Li Hao quickly sent his warship aloft and directed it at the eastern continent. He had some plans this time. If the Tranquil Star powerhouse was too strong, then he wouldn’t brashly attack either. He might summon Battle Heaven!

If Battle Heaven was still unwilling to send out troops, if its two Saints still held reservations, then he could leave that city behind in some of his affairs to come. He’d already proved that the Zhengs were the traitors. It was up to the two Saints of Battle Heaven how they would decide—including the Ninth Division leader.

As for Zhang An, Li Hao didn’t care about that man anymore. There was a tattered Empyrean King body lying around unused, however. If Zhang An had no need for it, Li Hao might be able to use it. If the Ninth Division leader was willing, he could take up residence in it.

And even if it ended up completely battered and broken, it could be further recycled to resurrect those of Battle Heaven and Evenround Martial.

......

The eastern continent.

All of Skystar’s external threats were gathered here—Barren Dynasty and the Xu family.

The Xu family was no more, but their backer of Tranquil Star was still at large. Li Hao had brought a particular person with him this time—Director General Wang.

The director general was more knowledgeable about New Martial; it was a pity that Jiang Yingli and the other students were asleep. Otherwise, they would be even more familiar with the situation since they were descendants of Tranquil Star.

Li Hao had asked them before, they’d responded that the city was not in the minor world and there were no satellite cities established here. Apart from troublemakers, why would direct lineal descendants of exalted emperors run off to a minor world? There was already an exalted emperor in residence; Tranquil Star would not think it was worth their time.

Aboard the warship.

“Tranquil Star really shouldn’t be here,” Director General Wang was saying to Li Hao. “Some of the old guys and exalted emperors in that city weren’t on good terms with the Sword Sovereign.”

Li Hao raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“This has to do with some old history,” whispered the director general. “There were thirteen families in Tranquil Sea during New Martial. The Yang family was one of them. Their forefather died early on, so a Yang ancestor and the Sword Sovereign went to find their forefather’s corpse. However, something unpleasant happened between them. After that, the Sword Sovereign killed everyone in that family...”

Li Hao started. So that has happened before?

“Therefore, although Tranquil Star and the Sword Sovereign are the Human King’s right hand men, the Sword Sovereign is closer to exalted emperors not from Tranquil Star. Meanwhile, the city formed their own clique, so the two sides aren’t on the best of terms.

“Apart from the troublemakers of Evenround Martial following Principal Fang here, none of the others at Tranquil Star would come. This includes the three traitor families of the eight main cities. Only the side branches that weren’t valued would come here to try and make a name for themselves.”

“So this means to say that these Tranquil Star ruins must be fake?” asked Li Hao.

“Yes, more likely than not.” Director General Wang frowned slightly. “There was no Tranquil Star before the world collapsed. These ruins might have appeared later on!”

“Doesn’t everyone say that no one could emerge in the world when everything was sealed away?”

“That is indeed what we say, but with the world having recovered somewhat these years, it’s possible that some powerhouses have been able to walk out of the ruins. Or perhaps their replicas had freedom of movement... The turncoats don’t lack energy, remember?”

Li Hao nodded as the reminder struck him. In that regard, it was very likely that the traitors had created these ruins. But what was the point in walking out of the ancient city to create a fake Tranquil Star and its ruins?

He didn’t understand it!

And why had they strengthened the Xus to have them notify the three cities? If they could send out replicas, why not notify the three cities themselves?

If they claimed that they couldn’t find those three cities... Well, that was possible. The cities of the Zhengs, Lius, and Zhous were highly concealed. But if they came from the Zhengs, they should be able to find that city. Why were they unable to?

Various thoughts danced in Li Hao’s mind. He bade them to be quiet as all would be revealed with this visit.

......

Calm Borders province.

With the elimination of the highest echelon of Xu family members, the family’s army surrendered as well. Its generals did not dare resist at all.

Eight hundred thousand Steadfast troops were surrounded by one hundred thousand Skystar Commander Office’s eastern commander troops. The former shook with trepidation and didn’t bear the slightest hint of disrespect in their hearts.

The warship broke through the air. Light Sword and the rest of her highly expectant cohorts breathed out in relief to see Li Hao part of the crew. Not only was the young man present, but so were numerous important personages of the eastern continent waiting on the ground.

Apart from the Xus, other notable characters of the eastern continent included Yu Qiao of Firebright province, the East Pole Marquis of East Pole province, and the Helios organization. These three factions had been the bulk of the force against the Xus.

Yu Qiao was also present—he was a familiar face. Li Hao had once met him when he visited the then-Steadfast Duke’s manor and even used the man to create an opportunity for himself.

Yu Qiao greeted Li Hao’s arrival with a complicated look in his eyes; he quickly ducked his head. They were once able to look down on Li Hao—the young man had been a minor character here to beg for some money. But now, the young man was a noble and lofty existence far beyond their reach.

Li Hao jumped down from the warship.

“Your Lordship!” greeted the crowd. While Li Hao had not announced that he was titling himself the Silver Moon Marquis, this was what everyone called him.

Yu Qiao and the others quickly followed suit.