Chapter 1153: Reaching An Accord (III)

Within the Hao Cosmos.

The Ninth Division leader looked around; no Red Moon power rose from the man. He considered the dao universe around him, then turned his gaze to the various sectors. His eyes ultimately rested on the sword sector as he took in the presence lingering there.

“Is this the new dao universe?” he asked. “It is quite desolate. Stars abounded in the core origin universe, filling the cosmos with sparkling splendor. This new dao universe is very weak as of now, but that also represents an opportunity!”

“It is indeed quite weak.” Li Hao nodded with some confusion. “The new dao does not reject the core origin dao that strongly, but it was very much repelled by Red Moon. Does the Ninth Division leader know why this is so?”

“The new dao might have been born with the new world—it is potentially a case of one world having one dao. It is normal for Silver Moon to not overly reject core origin because it is born of New Martial,” the Ninth Division leader hypothesized. “In that case, we might find shadows of the core origin universe at the end of the new dao.”

“That I don’t know about, it’s too far away to consider!” Li Hao shook his head. “I am unable to plumb its depths myself. Ninth Division leader, if there are people within Battle Heaven who are contaminated by Red Moon power, they might come back to themselves after that power is expelled. What should be done about them then?”

“They should die!”

“Huh?” Li Hao looked at the man.

“Whether it is a passive or active betrayal, betrayal is betrayal,” the Ninth Division leader said calmly. “Does it need to be categorized so clearly? There is an adage of becoming a Buddha when one puts down their blade. That applies only to the martial world.

“As soldiers, all we know is that traitors are to be executed. It is not enough to simply turn over a new leaf! Thus, you do not need to think too much. Whether they recover their own selves or not, their only outcome is death!”

“I see.” Li Hao smiled after looking deeply at his colleague for a while. “I understand then.”

The two returned to Battle Heaven and the young man turned to the old turtle.

“Guardian Turtle, I must take your primary into the dao universe. A replica... may be hard to judge.”

The old turtle smiled and didn’t say anything else. The Tortoise Pagoda near the city lord manor began trembling, swiftly turning into a small Black Tortoise Seal. It then took humanoid form and combined with its replica.

Li Hao once more tore through the void and brought the guardian into the dao universe. There was also a lack of Red Moon power from the entity.

The young man was able to slightly relax at this point. At the very least, there was no problem with the guardian. The old turtle had been awake all this time. If there was nothing wrong with it, then nothing severe should’ve developed with Battle Heaven even if there were indeed some issues with the city.

If Red Moon truly had invaded Battle Heaven, they wouldn’t have dared do anything under the old turtle’s nose. The worst case scenario would’ve been if the old turtle had been contaminated. It was the one who’d controlled Battle Heaven all these years!

......

Li Hao probed those assembled one by one. There was nothing wrong with General Pagoda or Zhang Liang. When it came to the Eighth Division leader’s turn, the young man viewed his comrade with suspicion.

While Li Hao held the view that everything was fine with Battle Heaven, his true thoughts were that this fellow had very likely been contaminated.

But when he brought the Eighth Division leader into the dao universe, there was no response whatsoever. The young man couldn’t help but wonder, was the Hao Cosmos malfunctioning?

He looked the Eighth Division leader up and down—the Gold Armor glared angrily back at him. Although the latter lacked a physical body, one could sense from his mental state that he was very dissatisfied with how Li Hao was staring at him!

......

The great hall of the city lord manor.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Li Hao walked out with the Eighth Division leader and smiled broadly.

“There are no issues with Battle Heaven. At least, none with anyone present. That means there won’t be that big of a problem with the entire city! Granted, this can’t rule out some people turning traitor of their own volition, even when lacking Red Moon power. It’s impossible for me to uncover that then!”

“You might as well come out and say that you suspect me!” erupted the Eighth Division leader.

“Don’t misunderstand me!” Li Hao chuckled. “In that case I’d like to further clarify the situation. Does anyone here know more about the Zheng father and sons in detail? If we set aside Zheng Gong and the departed Zheng Ke, what of third son Zheng Yu and their patriarch Zheng Hongyuan?”

“We did not know much about Zheng Yu,” said the old turtle after some thought. “He was only the third son of the Zhengs, after all. As for Zheng Hongyuan, I met him a few times. He’s a very shrewd person who was peak Saint back in the day. It’s said that he later advanced to Empyrean King, which makes him quite a notable character of our age!

“Rumor has it that he departed from the Zhengs of Tranquil Star and moved to the minor world because the Zheng patriarch of the main family branch didn’t give him enough support. While Zheng Hongyuan possessed good potential, the Zhengs of Tranquil Star didn’t give him additional resources. He hails from the early days of New Martial and achieved many deeds of merit in Tranquil Star...”

“Is there a big gap between Empyrean Kings and Saints?” Li Hao asked after digesting the Zheng family background.

“Not that much,” the old turtle continued its explanation. “Let’s put it this way. The core origin cultivators back in the day relied on core origin to enhance their strength. Without that, it comes down to a difference in mental strength, blood qi, and physical body between the two cultivation levels.

“That kind of difference can be brought to parity with numbers! When core origin was still present, one Empyrean King could fight eight Saints with no difficulty at all. In the absence of core origin, perhaps one can handle only four Saints.”

“What about initial and peak Saint?”

“It is the same logic,” sighed the turtle. “There isn’t much of a difference between initial and peak Saint either. The key lies in the strength of the great dao. Therefore, we are all greatly weakened. Otherwise, Saints are very strong when they can utilize core origin dao! Erasing a city off the face of a world is an easy task.”

“Then might I ask, is the senior able to determine the Zhengs’ identities if you come across them?” Li Hao nodded again.

“Their primary bodies?”

“Replicas.”

“No!” The old turtle shook its head. “Replicas are too hard to read. Core origin presence remains stable only with primary bodies—that is how we are able to identify them!”

Alright then!

The young man had wanted the old turtle to identify if Yu Hai was part of the Zhengs.

“Does the senior know of Vice Captain Yu Hai of the Shen family guards in Tranquil Star?”

“Yu Hai...” The old turtle shook its head after some thought.

Just as Li Hao sagged with disappointment, General Pagoda interjected, "I know a thing or two about him. Yu Hai was once a peak Saint and participated in the battles of the early days in New Martial...

“Have you met him, since you suddenly brought him up? Are you unable to identify if you’ve met the real Yu Hai or not? Or do you suspect that he’s the Zheng father and son in disguise?”

A few words were sufficient for the plant spirit to determine certain things. Once had to say, although General Pagoda had been asleep for multiple years, its mind remained clear and sharp.

Li Hao nodded with a smile.

“You don’t need to identify whoever that person is, he’s bound to be fake!”

“Why is that?” Li Hao was perplexed. “Did he die a long term ago?”

“That’s not it,” explained the general. “Yu Hai had a relationship with my forefather’s generation and participated in many battles. He could have been sent out to be a local official, but the Shens didn’t release their bond. They kept him as the vice captain of their family guard.

“Being appointed a local official elsewhere meant that one would stand a chance of becoming an Empyrean King. This was a cultivation level difficult to obtain if he stayed with the Shens! Yet, it wasn’t the Shens purposefully picking a bone with him, but that Yu Hai suffered a grave injury to his great dao early on.

“He was constantly resting from it and had not fully recovered when the world changed. The Shens could not have possibly sent him to Silver Moon minor world. They only needed to say the word to have the Human King or Supreme Zhang show them face when it came to Yu Hai. The august figures would never give them any trouble.”

“The Shens commanded this much respect?” Li Hao’s interest was piqued by this family’s background.

“Of the thirteen families of Tranquil Star, the Lis were the strongest if we set aside the Yangs who were obliterated. The Shens weren’t that strong, but the Shens and Chens enjoyed very high status!

“Their forefathers pioneered the New Martial era! Supreme Zhang made the era prosperous and the Human King inherited it. One could say that they were of the same lineage!” explained the pagoda tree. “As such, the Shens were very highly placed. With Yu Hai injured, it would’ve been the Shen patriarch who came to Silver Moon first before sending an injured vice captain.”

Li Hao nodded in understanding. So this was the case! Then the Yu Hai he met was certainly a fake. That saved him the trouble of having to go through the verification process. There was no need to identify who the fake was.

The only question remaining was how strong he might be.

“That person is not willing to leave the ruin or even send out a replica. Why is that?”

“Not willing to leave?” The old turtle realized what was at hand with that question. “You’ve come to us to go against the fake Yu Hai, haven’t you? In that case, we are in difficult straits.”

“Why do you say that?” They hadn’t even met the man in battle yet.

“If we consider this disinclination to emerge in the world with other news that we received before, such as the Red Moon exalted emperor being sealed away... Then there is only one possibility—the imposter is too strong. Even just sending out a replica will cause enormous changes in the world!

“He will be even less inclined to walk out of the ruins during these times. The seal is now very fragile with the shattering of Stellaris, his presence might easily cause it to break entirely...

“But since he’s not even willing to send out a replica, he’s very possibly on guard against all possibilities of releasing that exalted emperor. In that case, the imposter is at least an Empyrean King! A Saint would not have these reservations!

“The imposter has most likely had previous dealings with the exalted emperor as well. None of us know about the Red Moon exalted emperor—we learned about his presence from you. Non-traitors within the eight main cities should not be aware of this development.”

An Empyrean King!

“Can we handle him?” Li Hao exhaled explosively.