Chapter 1206: Tranquil Star Ruins (III)

Li Hao looked around him and instructed, “Director General Wang, you will coordinate with Gan Wuliang to complete the mission. There needs to be someone familiar with ancient cities on the team, after all. That will prevent any misunderstandings from developing.

“I am willing to show kindness to the main cities, but the situation at present is unclear. I will not do anything to them if they are voluntarily willing to cooperate with me and eradicate the traitors. There are a lot of spies in our midst after the invasion of Red Moon power. I hope everyone understands.”

The Battle Heaven group nodded without a word. That was true enough—even Wu Peng had become a turncoat. Truth be told, the old turtle and its fellow comrades were quite dejected after that revelation and felt that the other main cities could not be trusted anymore.

Otherwise, there would have been some objections raised to Li Hao’s proposed course of action.

But if even the commander-in-chief of Battle Heaven’s reserve defenders could commit treason, who couldn’t?

It would be just as good if the other cities were willing to cooperate and identify the traitors hiding among them. If they weren’t willing... then there would be no helping it. Friend and foe were not clearly defined at the moment. They couldn’t hope for Li Hao to turn a blind eye to such an ambiguous situation.

“My lord, do we continue the matter of moving the four continents?” asked Director General Zhao.

“We do!” Li Hao nodded. “That will be led by Director General Zhao and Commander Lin. Both of you have set foot into seventh level Sun and Moon. It’s slightly difficult for you guys to shift cities... but it’s manageable if we ask Senior Capsize Sea to mobilize Boundless and render assistance from the sidelines!

“We must combine the four continents as one and also move the seawater. I only made a few simple adjustments before. If we don’t move the seawater, we’ll be creating a future threat for us to deal with!

“Recruit all of the water and earth supernaturals beneath the world to help. Also, transplanting cities to a new locale might cause shifts in climate. Adjustments in agriculture might need to be made, so Director General Zhao should send experts to oversee that!”

Finally, the young man turned to the redwood tree. “Now that the world can tolerate the appearance of Immortals, the plant spirit army needs to help stabilize the land and nurture it. The soil needs to be arable!”

“The plant spirits will certainly complete our task of stabilizing the world!” The redwood quickly accepted its orders. “We will raise more crops for the world, improve the climate, and enrich the soil. But... it will take some energy...”

“There is some ore remaining at the Skystar mine. Have someone dig it all up. Use whatever resources we have, there is no need to ration our usage!”

“Understood!” the redwood shouted joyously. This meant that the plant spirit army could move freely throughout the world as well. Well, the rest could. It’d just ascended to the Saint level and was outside the tolerance range of the world.

Freedom meant a kind of trust. Li Hao being willing to give them certain missions was another display of trust. As expected, their actions in holding back the thunder tribulation had won them the young man’s approval.

Director General Zhao and other Silver Moon locals felt a peculiar mix of emotions at the scene in front of them. These New Martial powerhouses had all... changed.

Those from New Martial couldn’t really be bothered with the natives before, but now took the initiative and sought out missions from Li Hao.

“And another thing, the portion of the Battle Heaven Army that has revitalized is not suited to remain in the city.” Li Hao wasn’t done yet. “Since they are alive again, let’s have them stretch their legs outside.

“The times and world have changed.” He turned to Li Daozong. “There is a need to let everyone get the lay of the land! We can have the resurrected Battle Heaven soldiers become the instructors, captains, and lower level management of the various Demon Hunters!

“Assimilating into one organization will help the Battle Heaven soldiers integrate into this age as well. Battle Heaven’s spirit will live on, and I wish for the million strong Demon Hunters to brim with the same dauntless spirit that the Battle Heaven Army does!”

“I don’t have any particular opinions against that idea.” The Ninth Division leader furrowed his brows. “It is tradition for veterans to mentor rookies. But... the two sides have different titles and ranks, as well as some other fundamental differences. Military reforms will need to take place if you wish for them to be fully integrated...”

The newly revived division leaders were all Immortals. How should they be arranged? Where should powerhouses such as the Eighth Division leader be assigned? Silver Moon already had some commanders of their various armies, as well as a commander-in-chief Huang Yu. What of them?

And what of the Ninth Division leader himself?

Li Daozong could understand Li Hao’s desire to integrate the Battle Heaven Army into the Demon Hunters, but the two armies possessed different organizational systems. There were also various pre-existing benefits and interests to be considered.

Battle Heaven had nearly completely come under Li Hao’s banner by now. Since they could not defy their fate, then they had to fight to secure profits for New Martial.

“Let’s integrate the rank and file first and keep the higher levels concentrated in their respective camps!” Li Hao pronounced. “Our enemies at present are powerhouses, so we don’t need to worry about military organization for now.”

“Your Lordship,” said the Watercloud empress dowager. She had kept an exceedingly low profile until this moment. “Barren has surrendered. While their one million elites are not on the same level as the Demon Hunter Army, they are an elite force all the same. What should be done about them?”

Her Watercloud army had become Skystar’s navy. But now with the four seas being filled in... She asked about Barren’s army, but was using them as the canary in the coal mine for the Watercloud army.

Li Hao sank into deep thought for a while. “Barren focuses on cavalry as their main fighting force. Divine Nation has lost their prime fighting force... In that case, Barren can set aside five hundred thousand troops and leave three hundred thousand at home. They march on Divine Nation first!”

Arrangements for Barren bore some further thought because he’d previously promised the king that he would treat Barren kindly.

“There will be no changes to the Watercloud army even if the four seas are filled in.” The young man looked at the empress dowager. “You will simply move to the perimeter of the Hao Cosmos Continent and take up defense there!

“In addition, let’s see if the research and development department can create some powerful warships!”

“Warships?” echoed a confused group. There wasn’t much use for warships; they were a waste of resources. What did Li Hao want with those?

There were some in storage at Boundless and Battle Heaven, but not that many. Most of them had been put into service as the Sword Sovereign had required ships to lead his army through the universe.

Li Hao simply raised the matter and didn’t explain further.

“Panth, come with me. I’m going to check out the Tranquil Star ruins. It will be enough for Guardian Turtle and the Sea Pacification Envoy to be with me. The others can return to your duties!”

“Alright,” said the two Saints. And so, the group of four—well, one human and three monster spirits—set out for Tranquil Star.

Li Hao didn’t bring any other humans with him because he was concerned about unexpected developments. Zheng Hongyuan had tried very hard to tempt members of the eight families inside. Perhaps something would happen once family representatives walked in.

Since Li Hao bore the bloodline of the Lis, he carried the Battle Heaven characters on him, just in case.

Panther was with him purely because the dog had just emerged from closed door cultivation. He wanted to show the dog around.

......

Tranquil Star ruins.

The tree that’d been on the verge of producing a spirit had withered away. Li Hao took a large stride in, heading straight for the entrance. The others were hot on his heels as they wanted to ensure they entered at the same time.

Once they were inside, Capsize Sea gasped with astonishment. “This is almost the same as Tranquil Star was back in the day! It looks like Zheng Hongyuan really put forth a lot of effort to create this fake Tranquil Star!”

Li Hao took a quick glance and discovered nothing noteworthy. This was a very ordinary place, albeit with more traces of age. It was different from regular New Martial ruins as it seemed older.

He stepped onto a slab of bluestone and looked around. There didn’t seem to be any other living beings here. Only Zheng Hongyuan had been present.

The city was exceedingly still and silent while brimming with energy. It was divided into twelve sectors, corresponding to the twelve families of Tranquil Star. They fanned out from a central hall in the center. According to Capsize Sea, that was based off of Tranquil Star’s Hall of Discourse. Back in the day, Tranquil Star heavyweights decided on major issues there.

Li Hao extended his senses and frowned when he didn’t discover anything unusual. Where was the separation point from which the Exalted Blood Emperor sectioned the world?

“Let’s go to the Hall of Discourse.” That was the most special place in the ruin.

The quartet swiftly walked over; several sculptures came into view outside it.

“There were originally thirteen sculptures outside the hall,” Capsize Sea explained. “They represented the thirteen families of Tranquil Star. One family perished, leaving twelve sculptures for the twelve families that ruled over Tranquil Star!”

“There’s only eight here!” Li Hao made a quick count.

Capsize Sea and the old turtle quickly verified that fact.

“Can they... represent the eight families of Silver Moon?” ventured the old turtle.

Li Hao raised an eyebrow and probed carefully once more. The sculptures were vague and indistinct, possibly on purpose or for another reason. There were only sculptures present, nothing else.

The sculptures themselves were very simplistic. One of them sparkled with a feeble radiance that seemed ready to go out at any time.

“They should represent the eight families,” said Capsize Sea after closely studying the scene. “The one sparkling might represent the Zheng family! As an Empyrean King, Zheng Hongyuan would not bother setting up something irrelevant or modify Tranquil Star’s original appearance for no reason. Therefore, there might be something usual about these eight sculptures.”

Li Hao nodded and looked at the eight sculptures surrounding the hall. Perhaps what he was looking for could be found inside the hall.

Zheng Hongyuan had come here instead of staying with his sons. There must be a reason for him building a city here.

With that in mind, Li Hao walked into the hall.

It was also very simple—eight thrones surrounded a round table. This was a place of conference for the eight families!

The eight thrones also seemed unusual. Just one glance was sufficient to relay the fact that they were high level treasures. Zheng Hongyuan might have occupied one of them often as one bore the sheen of frequent use. The others seemed pristine.

However, the young man quickly frowned and looked at a seat next to the Zhengs’. It was very opulent and very new, but... it felt like someone had sat in it before. Had Zheng Hongyuan sometimes sat in the other seats too?

The young man wondered if this was the case because there were faint marks on the throne. Regular people may not be able to tell, but Li Hao could. That kind of degradation seemed... to be the overflow of sword intent that was too strong. A high level treasure would not be so easily damaged otherwise.

“Li Daoheng, is that you?!” Li Hao’s heart abruptly skipped a beat as he flared his sword intent. His sword intent shot in all directions and nearly covered the entire city. The startled Saints quickly went on guard.