Chapter 1166: Ways of Fighting (I)

Li Hao didn’t make a move from beginning to end. It quite surprised him that a traitor had appeared within Battle Heaven, and one with such a high rank. This threw some of his original plans into disarray, but that was alright.

One less Saint did not make a difference to the overall picture. The plant spirits could fill in for one.

Li Hao didn’t interfere with the fight, he simply collected the presence, core origin power, energy, and even blood qi that Wu Peng emanated. All the young man wanted to know was whether Wu Peng was with Red Moon or Red Dust?

If he was with Red Moon, then the man wasn’t very useful.

Wu Peng snarled after a while and ripped through the void next to a star. His eyes widened with panic when he saw that... there was only more empty void in the fissure!

“You lied to me?!” he roared.

“Even Guardian Turtle is out here, of course I lied to you,” Li Hao sighed. “Do you understand that only now?”

Your reaction is too slow!

Wu Peng howled with indignation and flared immense blood qi. In response, a gigantic sword formed in the void, one that filled the universe. Endless energy, great dao power, and the thunder tribulation around it surged into the sword.

It finished taking shape, whereupon Li Hao chuckled. “Receive one of my blows, Commander Wu!”

The sword seemed to contain all of the strength from the universe and broke through the world when it swung down!

Wu Peng reacted with great incredulity and dismay!

The old turtle’s expression shifted as well; Li Hao locked onto the other with his sword and slashed the Saint-level body into two with one stroke. Despite the devastating stroke, Wu Peng was already seeking to recover from his wound.

Li Hao only attacked once and didn’t take action again. The old turtle sighed and summoned its massive shield, smashing it down with finality. A surge of mental strength materialized when Wu Peng’s body was in tatters. The old turtle shouted, bringing its shield down once more to obliterate the mental strength!

“Old turtle, I did not become a turncoat early on,” Wu Peng’s furious voice echoed through the void. “We simply had no place to turn to when we left the cities that year, only to find the Star Gate sealed away. In that case, what wrong did I commit to ensure survival for myself? As fellow comrades, you break my body and shatter my mental strength for the sake of an outsider...”

Li Hao manipulated the great dao power and summoned a great avenue in the void. Core origin dao trembled violently, colliding with the dao universe.

The old turtle whipped its head around at Li Hao; the young man looked impassively back at it.

All traitors... are to be shown no mercy! I’m not the one who said that.

A variety of expressions flickered through the old turtle's face, as did a myriad of thoughts. Li Hao really was different from before! He’d struck once with his sword, shattering Wu Peng’s body. After that, he manifested the man’s core origin dao. That was all he did from beginning to end.

Li Hao did not say anything.

After a moment, the old turtle sighed softly before roaring with intent. It darted into the void with an upraised shield. A ghastly scream reverberated throughout the universe after a massive collision and the great dao crumbled away.

“You... have shattered... my core origin...” rang Wu Peng’s voice. “You... are... too vicious... old turtle!”

......

The old turtle returned to human form when he reappeared next to Li Hao.

“Commander Li... are you satisfied with this?” The look in its eyes was complicated.

“Please do not misunderstand, senior.” Li Hao bent at the waist. “This is how we should treat traitors. Otherwise, there is no difference to me whether they die or not. But it might inspire imitators if they are shown mercy.”

“Ai!” The sigh echoed through the universe as the world spun around him and the two were deposited in front of the rest.

General Pagoda’s expression shifted slightly; Capsize Sea was indifferent. The Eighth and Ninth Division leaders quickly rushed to the scene with incredulity. Their commander... had fallen!

He had completely fallen!

As division leaders, they were notified of such changes in personnel through the system. But how could this be? And it was the guardian who’d killed the commander! They could sense that too, and the fact that there was a bit of resentment wrapped around the turtle.

Capsize Sea didn’t say anything—the cow looked at the young man poking and prodding the orange armor.

This kid... appears gentle and refined, like a scholar. But damn he’s ruthless! He outright executed that guy, and not only that, but he somehow claimed the armor in one piece!

Li Hao raised his head at this moment and displayed a simple and honest smile. He inclined his head at Capsize Sea and quickly permitted a hint of tragedy to drift onto his face.

“Who would’ve thought that the commander would come under Red Moon’s sway? What a pity...” he said softly.

The golden cow cursed softly to itself.

Hot damn, humans are terrifying creatures! These new age humans can produce guys like this one, no wonder monster spirits can’t win against them! Even the old turtle is getting run around in circles. This kid’s scary as hell!

Eighth Division Leader Yang Wei couldn’t believe what he heard. He looked at the group with shock. “The commander was a traitor?”

Li Hao didn’t respond.

I don’t know if he was, the old turtle was the one who killed him!

The young man had brought along the old turtle for this purpose, so that he would have nothing to do with the outcome. It wasn’t in interest of absolving himself of responsibility, but that he knew New Martial citizens too well!

If he was the one to kill the commander, these New Martial denizens would feel uncomfortable, no matter if the commander was a traitor or not. A kind of nausea would come to their mind when they thought of Li Hao as they would find the young man too vicious for having killed their ranking officer.

He’d finally struck a partnership with Battle Heaven, so Li Hao didn’t want further trouble in this matter. The old turtle’s mind was clear and its wits sharp, which made it easier to converse with the monster spirit. There was no communication to be had with a bumbling fool of mediocre talent like the Eighth Division leader. He might hate Li Hao even though he knew full well that the commander needed to die.

Reality was this simple at times.

“Indeed, Wu Peng said that he was dissatisfied at Li Daozong becoming the commander of the third army,” sighed the old turtle. “It rankled that he was stuck with the reserve defenders. Hence, he was recruited by the enemy when he ventured out last time.”

“But...” Yang Wei still couldn’t accept it. “What’s so bad about the reserve defenders?”

He thought theirs was a fine assignment!

We’re all soldiers, just in different positions. Does it matter? The front lines do battle while the rear protects the camp. Isn’t that a kind of fighting as well?

No one answered him. This was hard to say and difficult to assess. For some people, being commander of the main force was far more superior to being commander of the reserve defenders. There was never a reserve commander who was eventually promoted to commander-in-chief, but plenty of main force commanders who reached that position!

Such was the difference between the two assignments!

The Ninth Division leader’s physical body was yet to fully recover—some veins writhed beneath his skin. “This is because of me?” he asked with a complex mix of emotions.

The old turtle didn’t say anything. It wasn’t just that, but also because Wu Peng was dissatisfied that those of the eight families started off at a higher placement in life. Take someone like Li Hao, for example. The young man was untold generations away from his ancestor who’d achieved great merit, but if Li Daozong had not held him back, Li Hao would’ve started as a division leader. It was normal for such preferential treatment to spark discontentment.

Li Hao would understand the feeling, so he changed the topic with a lost note in his voice. “Actually... I have the same question. Second generation descendants start at a very high level—I don’t know if this is good or bad. Isn’t this kind of preferential treatment precisely the fortune and glory that their fathers fought for? But if their starting point is too high, that’s very unfair to others. Was New Martial unable to resolve this issue as well?”

This had ever been a problem since the ancient times. The son of an emperor would not have the same starting place as the son of a beggar. The two were destined to be different!

How could one resolve this conflict? New Martial didn’t seem to have handled it well.

If everyone was treated the same, then wouldn’t that be unfair to those who contributed and fought for their entire lives?

“It’s only their starting point that is high.” The old turtle frowned. “New Martial was a meritocracy at the end of the day. Those who did not perform well were soon booted from their positions. Just because you start elevated doesn’t mean you’ll always be elevated.

“Bequeathing such benefits was also to comfort the mainstays of the civilization, letting them know that their sacrifices meant something. But if one’s future descendants were incompetent, then it was their fault for not making full use of the opportunities they were given.”

“But there will always be people like Wu Peng who think this is unfair, right?” Li Hao nodded.

“Certainly, and that is unavoidable,” sighed the turtle. “This is a kind of test as well, a trial of mentality and the ability to withstand pressure. After all, we can’t disappoint those who’ve contributed greatly to New Martial just because some people are unable, right?”

“Then what if we give their descendants some titles or badges of honor instead?” asked Li Hao.

“That’s an option too, but sometimes it’s just not that simple. Even just simple recognition might cause dissatisfaction as others will think nothing should be conferred to the second generation. But just as the commander says, they are the descendants of those who have contributed greatly to New Martial. Their family members have fought their entire lives, either falling in battle or retiring in old age. Are we to completely ignore them after that?

“In that case, they might think that they’ll receive nothing after a lifetime’s worth of hard work. They’ll be thrown out in old age when they can’t fight anymore or when their strength declines. How will that affect their motivation then?”

That was also true!

“This is indeed a tricky problem.” Li Hao nodded again. “It’s a good thing that we have long lifespans in a world of cultivation. I’m starting to understand why the Human King didn’t make plans for those that came after him—it was impossible to! It’s hard enough to take care of those who fought side by side with him.”

The young man was simply changing the topic, he didn’t intend on actually discussing it further. There was no proper conclusion to certain issues. Heavily rewarding those of merit was one solution, but how could their descendants start from scratch again when they were heavily titled and richly rewarded?

The issue was too complicated and it was impossible to satisfy everyone.

“I have to worry about the rest of the Battle Heaven Army, now that we’ve seen something was wrong with Commander Wu,” Li Hao changed the subject yet again. “Thankfully, Guardian Turtle was in place all these years. Even if the enemy wanted to, they wouldn’t have had the chance to invade en masse. My fear is that some people were affected all the same.”

Worry appeared on their faces. If that was the case, would they have to kill more comrades? They truly did not wish for this scene to come to pass.

“It won’t matter much if they aren’t that influenced,” Li Hao continued. “My concern is when they’re overly influenced, so I propose investigating all of the powerhouses that have awakened at this point. We can temporarily ignore those still asleep! Also, if they are only slightly affected by Red Moon power, we can just place them under surveillance after erasing the energy.

“There is no need to kill people if they haven’t done anything wrong. Even if Wu Peng managed to recruit some people, they might not have known about his intentions. Not to mention, Battle Heaven has been asleep all these years. Wu Peng might not have had a chance to set his plans in motion. There is no need to worry, everyone.”