Chapter 1205: Tranquil Star Ruins (II)

“Let’s take a breather here so you can familiarize yourself with the strength of the Mountain and Sea level,” said Li Hao. “Entering Sun and Moon is the work of a blink of an eye. But if you guys clear acupoints too quickly right now, you won’t understand much of the Mountain and Sea level. While this level is less than the Apex level, this is a new dao. You can’t go wrong with taking some time to experience more of it.”

The others didn’t say anything; Jiang Yingli looked around and had her attention held by a certain place in the distance. There seemed to be a large city there.

“What’s that...?”

“Battle Heaven.”

“What?!” The students jerked backward with astonishment. Battle Heaven was inside the dao universe?? How was that possible?!

“I moved it in here!”

Alright then. This guy was seriously impressive to move even a main city around. This also meant that Battle Heaven had completely thrown its lot with Li Hao.

“Have you taken Boundless?” Jiang Yingli and the rest swiftly drew near Li Hao. They’d fallen asleep before the conclusion of battle, so they didn’t know what the results were.

“Yes.” Li Hao inclined his head. “Not only that, but Battle Heaven as you see. In addition, we killed someone from a fake Tranquil Star ruin—Zheng Hongyuan of the Zheng family.”

The students blinked. Hadn’t they only been asleep for about a month? Why was even Zheng Hongyuan dead?

“Let’s head out first!” Li Hao summoned a massive dragon from his body that opened the passageway. He led the group out of the Hao Cosmos.

......

Boundless.

Jiang Yingli stiffened as the group reappeared in the real world. She took a deep breath and assessed the surroundings. Presences fluctuated wildly around her. Why did it feel like there were a lot of powerhouses around?

She soon saw others in the vicinity. Their presences billowed and were much stronger than when she saw them last. The key was, she also saw some New Martial heavyweights.

In fact, Jiang Yingli noticeably paused when she saw the golden cow. Wasn’t that... Capsize Sea from the Sea Pacification Envoy family? That was a Saint!

It was the direct descendant of an exalted emperor, hailing from a family that matched her Jiang family in strength. Apart from the heavenly dog, this could be considered the strongest family among monster spirits.

“Sea Pacification Envoy Capsize Sea?” Jiang Yingli studied the monster spirit, as did the cow look at them in return.

“You lot have great fortune in being able to survive! If the Star Gate opens and we are able to return to New Martial, this will have been a wondrous opportunity for you...” Here, the cow’s tones changed like he was talking to juniors. “But as imperial descendants and with nine of you in the field, how could you fail to suppress a city lord seal? It seems that you’ve declined by quite a bit these years.”

“......” The students found themselves at a loss; they did not care for this line of conversation. This cow talked to them like it was their parent, and they couldn’t say anything back to it!

General Pagoda wouldn’t talk to them like this because they were imperial descendants, whereas the general and the rest were not. The cow, however, was a true third generation descendant of exalted emperors.

When it came to status, only Zhang An in all of Silver Moon world could barely manage to outrank the Sea Pacification Envoy. However, his position wasn’t that high, so it came down to strength if they wished to compare whose status was higher.

The students remained quiet and looked around innocently after the lecture. The old turtle and others exchanged glances among themselves, suppressing the urge to laugh.

These Evenround students were of such high status that those from Battle Heaven normally treated them with extreme politeness. It was quite a nice show to see them receive a dressing down for once.

“I think that’s enough cultivation for now!” Li Hao interrupted the conversation and scanned the crowd. “Not bad, there was value in killing nine Saints. However, it’s still a bit of a pity that we only produced one Saint after killing nine of them...”

Only the redwood tree had advanced to the Saint level.

Of the rest from Silver Moon, Lin Hongyu had somehow progressed to seventh level Sun and Moon! That was likely due to covert help from the redwood again. After it decided to focus on chaos dao, it’d left some marks behind in the chaos sector despite not connecting to the great dao yet.

This meant that it could absorb chaos presence at a faster rate and convert it to other energy. This was to Lin Hongyu’s great fortune as the redwood was willing to secretly share some with the woman. She was the second seventh level Sun and Moon after Director General Zhao—Director General Wang didn’t count.

The rest, such as Sky Sword, Huang Yu, Gan Wuliang, Hong Yitang... were mid Sun and Moon. On the bright side, they were sixth level Sun and Moon and not too far from seventh level. That wasn’t bad.

Some more people had entered the Sun and Moon level after this cultivation round. Latecomers such as Dao Sword were almost all part of this cultivation level, bolstering Li Hao’s ranks.

In contrast, Deputy Zhou had continued with his New Martial body all this time; Li Hao didn’t try to convince him otherwise. Judging from his presence, he’d made quite the improvement and entered the ranks of Immortals.

The young man had always been slightly puzzled about the deputy’s insistence on keeping his golden body. The new dao was much easier to cultivate than core origin dao. The core origin universe was no longer present, but the deputy still insisted on his previous path...

Perhaps the one who’d helped him convert his body had formed a different relationship with Deputy Zhou. Maybe the deputy felt the same way about the ancient like Li Hao did toward his master, making it impossible for the deputy to give up the body that a senior had traded his life for. Thus, he insisted on walking the core origin path.

If Deputy Zhou had changed his body early on... he might be just as strong as Director General Zhao by now. He’d been very strong before, far outstripping Lin Hongyu and the rest.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Liu Yan and the rest of the old Demon Hunters were stronger than before, but hadn’t set foot into mid Sun and Moon. They were only third level Sun and Moon, making them a bit weaker than veteran martial masters.

However, these five walked the path of the five elements. They would be very strong whenever they acted in tandem.

It was only now that Li Hao started smiling. Mid Sun and Moon was also the Immortal level. This would do! Silver Moon martial masters had improved immensely in a short period of time. His ranks had filled out enormously!

Jiang Yingli and her fellow students were awake, the Battle Heaven troop leaders that’d previously converted to the new dao showed noticeable improvement, and even the original Silver Armors had taken some steps forward. All of this was very good!

“This battle can be recorded as a massive victory!” Li Hao looked at the rest. “Next, Commander Lin and the others will go back to their duties. The commanders of the four directions will coordinate with the Demon Hunter Guard to safeguard the other ancient cities!

“We can ignore Galewind for the moment. Our sights are set on Divine Nation in the west! In addition, I will go meet the Barren king and other Barren leaders. They will be permitted freedom of movement. However, the white horse is not to leave Boundless.

“Therefore, a premier powerhouse is needed to hold down the fort at Boundless!” The young man looked around the group and turned to Capsize Sea after a long moment. “Senior Capsize Sea, will you stay in residence at the ancient city?”

“I hear and obey!” Capsize Sea called out crispy. It knew what was on Li Hao’s mind—the white horse could not be permitted to run out and die as a result. That would instantly start the second awakening.

The golden cow was a Saint, with it in place at Boundless, the horse would be safe as could be since the outside world did not support Saints at present. It would be able to handle anyone else who came knocking at the doors.

Li Hao nodded and did not make further arrangements. He wanted to end the conversation, but saw Gan Wuliang look expectantly at him. The guy had indeed taken quite a few risks this time and seen his strength improve as a result, but he hadn’t made it to seventh level Sun and Moon.

That kind of reward did not measure up the dangers he’d endured.

It would be one thing if he entered seventh level Sun and Moon, but now... the outcome was clearly lacking. Whether it was his excursion to Great Li, impersonating Li Hao, or facing several Saints in the battlefield... he’d risked his life each time.

Li Hao had been annoyed at him, but now didn’t bother to remain angry. Seeing the man continue to look tentatively, Li Hao thought for a bit before saying, “Additionally, Gan Wuliang...”

“This subordinate is here!” Gan Wuliang quickly stepped forward. After the last victorious battle, Li Hao had installed his people in the positions of commanders of the four directions, Skystar commander, governor general, and others. He remained all by his lonesome and lacked a position when the dust settled.

“Those who are competent must bear a heavier load.” Li Hao smiled at him. “I need to determine if we need to attack or ignore Martial Alliance of the Zhaos, Thunderblast of the Hongs, and Steadfast Sky of the Zhangs. I need you to be my envoy to those three cities!

“I am also unable to be certain whether Star River of the Zhous is part of the traitors. If possible, I will send you there as well.

“You will be the acting Pacification Commissioner for now! Whether we attack, raze, negotiate, or ally with them will be your decision to make after you visit them!” [1]

Gan Wuliang’s eyes widened. Being Pacification Commissioner or an envoy didn’t mean much—the key was, he could call the shots in deciding what they did! Now that meant quite a great deal!

Li Hao was giving him the power to either march against or coexist peacefully with New Martial...

Gan Wuliang’s eyes flicked to the old turtle and other New Martial heavyweights.

Oh my heavens, this is another huge headache! Will these guys play ball with me if I advocate razing an ancient city?

Will the Silver Moon martial masters show me a friendly face if I advocate for peace?

Heavens above! Does this count as the marquis valuing me heavily or not? I’ll offend someone no matter what I choose!

Silver Moon martial masters wanted nothing more than to raze all of the ancient cities. Meanwhile, the old turtle and other New Martial denizens would not want to march into battle if the ancient cities had not betrayed New Martial. They would seek to negotiate instead.

No matter how Gan Wuliang chose, he would be hated by one of the sides. This would isolate him again!

Deep in his heart, Gan Wuliang understood that Li Hao valued him a great deal, but that he was doomed to walk his path alone.

Gan Wuliang suppressed the thoughts in his mind and quickly said, “Don’t worry, my lord! I will perform my responsibilities well and investigate the situation. If they are traitors, we will fight! If they are not, I will curtail them all the same...”

“There is a certain degree of danger in this mission as there are Saints in the main cities, after all.” Li Hao nodded. “You are only sixth level Sun and Moon, not yet seventh! How about this, I’ll bequeath you a set of gold armor to defend yourself with!”

Gold armor!

Both Boundless and Battle Heaven possessed stores of gold armor, but Li Hao was yet to give it to anyone till now. Apart from him using Wu Peng’s commander-in-chief armor, the highest level of armor among Silver Moon martial masters was silver.

Gan Wuliang’s eyes widened again. Gold armor... was reserved for division leaders of the first rank. There were a variety of people in a variety of positions under Li Hao at present, but the highest of the military ranks was troop leader. There were no division leaders. Although Li Hao didn’t say that he was giving Gan Wuliang that position... didn’t that mean he was the first among the military with the gold armor?

“My thanks to the marquis for your bequeathment!” Gan Wuliang quickly said when a set of gold armor landed in his hands.

“Your deeds in battle were tremendous, this is what you deserve!”

1. This was one of the highest ranking military ranks in battle during ancient China. ☜