Star Gate

Chapter 792: The Demon Hunter Army (III)

Li Hao watched impassively. This was precisely the effect that he wanted. There weren’t many opportunities for two armies to clash against each other in organized combat. It proved to be highly effective for the Demon Hunters to flex their muscles.

Of the two thousand soldiers, there were several hundred Dominators within their ranks. It made for a formidable force. With ten people to a formation, they could almost ensure one Dominator per formation. One formation could suppress a Solar—two thousand people could suppress two hundred!

Outsiders simply looked at him as wasting resources on weaklings. Today, they knew if he had wasted the resources or not!

There were thousands of supernaturals standing across from them and numerous Novas, but all of them were shaking like leaves. Some Novas stepped forward and a middle-aged officer sighed, “The Judgment Guard is willing to surrender!”

Not everyone was He Liang, and not everyone was the muscular officer who stepped forward in his wake. The Hus had been kind to them, yes, but the Hus had lost! He Liang was dead and one thousand supernaturals were instantly eliminated. The enemy was completely unscathed, so the Judgment Guard collapsed. They could not overcome the Demon Hunter Army. The latter hadn’t even sent out a powerhouse yet.

Their strongest before was Liu Long, but now?

“We surrender!” shouted the Judgment Guard.

“You will be shown mercy if you kneel!” Liu Long roared.

“Mercy if you kneel!”

Expressions flickered across some of the Novas’ faces, but they sank to their knees a second later. Thousands of Judgment Guard kneeled behind them, their faces stark white with dread.

They had lost! Lost utterly!

Within the Judiciary’s seat of government, someone trembled and plopped to their knees. That started a domino effect of others capitulating as well.

“What a bunch of wusses,” He Yong snorted. “Let’s just kill them all and be done with it!”

Hou Xiaochen glared at him. Their conflict with the nine ministries was just beginning. If they killed surrendered enemies, were they to kill everyone beneath the heavens after that? These supernaturals were highly useful—at the very least, they could work in the mines much more effectively than mundanes.

He Yong was a crude martial blockhead already, he knew jack shit! Four thousand supernaturals could build a city in a single day. The hell did he know??

Idiot! Hou Xiaochen sneered inwardly. Li Hao was a bloodthirsty sort, but his intentions were clear in being willing to accept a surrender for once. Do you think Li Hao is more merciful than you? As he expected, he saw a widely beaming Li Hao when he looked at the young man.

Four thousand supernaturals! It didn’t matter that they were short on resolve. Such was a common sight in major battles. Once the main commander, vice commander, and resisters were killed, the only ones left were those who drifted with the currents of life.

These types of people were found in abundance in any era. Strictly speaking, the armies of this age were just another type of job posting. What could one expect from their soldiers? Truth be told, having one-fifth of them step forward earlier already exceeded expectations.

Li Hao had thought that the Judgment Guard would outright surrender or disband. That they could maintain their order up to this point was testament to He Liang’s leadership skills. His methods were orderly and he was popular with the troops. It was not an easy task to rush here with five thousand supernaturals given circumstances at the Ministry of the Judiciary!

That there were one thousand soldiers still willing to fight after their commander was dead and morale nonexistent... Li Hao had to say, their discipline was strict!

“Enter the complex!” he commanded softly. Liu Long and the others pushed aside the supernaturals in the way. Apart from a few still on their feet, everyone in the Ministry of the Judiciary kowtowed on the ground.

“Please enter, Commander Li!” Everyone chorused.

All was quiet on the Avenue of the Nine Ministries. Li Hao’s golden armor drew sidelong glances. Some powerhouses were stunned by the sight—golden armor from the ancient civilization! No wonder he commanded more than a thousand soldiers! So the young man was a division leader in the ancient civilization. That was incredible!

Even Qi Pingjiang was surprised; he quickly vanished after taking a look. There was no need to watch further. There was a new master at the helm of the Ministry of the Judiciary. Everyone who stood in his way was dead. Who could contend against Li Hao now?

From now on, the nine ministries would still be the nine ministries. However, the Judiciary was now the Skystar Commander Office.

Li Hao strode in and scanned the scene of people cowering on the ground, punctuated by a few still on their feet.

One of the ones standing was an extremely elderly man. He looked quietly at Li Hao for a while before asking slowly, “Commander Li, we are just regular officials of advanced age. The battle of the superhumans has nothing to do with us. May we... leave?”

Regular officials?

Li Hao smiled. They looked old, but they weren’t weak. He chuckled and inclined his head. “You may, but only if there are no crimes on your record! You will be taken in for questioning first. You may go freely so long as you are innocent. Those who are guilty of crimes... will be executed!”

Some remained composed and some became apprehensive after his response.

“Take them away and investigate them thoroughly!” Li Hao commanded. “The rest of you can get up and resume your duties. You are to scrupulously abide by your responsibilities!”

“Yes, sir!” his people yelled. Someone swiftly walked up to escort the unyielding elderly away. No one dared resist, and no one could resist.

A shaking Nova lifted his head to look at Li Hao. “Commander Li... we... are familiar with everything that the Judiciary oversees... We are willing to work for the commander... Please... take us under your banner!”

It was difficult to lay down the reins of power. Since Li Hao didn’t randomly slaughter them all, various thoughts were starting to percolate through their minds. Could they stay at their posts? Li Hao needed people to work for him, didn’t he? As for the nine ministries and royal family, who was afraid of them anymore? Could they take down Li Hao?

“Alright!” Li Hao laughed uproariously. “Get up and do your work well. Of course, the caveat is that you have not committed any major crimes. If you’ve committed regular ones, turn yourself in for some punishment at most. Your lives will be safe enough to return to work and redeem yourself through new achievements.

“But if you’ve committed grave crimes... then you cannot blame me for showing no mercy! I am the law enforcer, after all!”

Someone heaved a sigh of relief. This was good. It looked like this one wasn’t as belligerent as rumors said he was.

They weren’t the only ones to relax—some observing outside sagged with relief as well. These people not from the Ministry of the Judiciary were wondering, could they do the same and surrender when Li Hao came for them next?

Some, however, were less than pleased by this development.

......

Inside the palace.

“This Li Hao... is not the picture that he is painted to be,” frowned a prince. “He didn’t wildly rampage through the defeated. It would be good if he killed indiscriminately as uncontrolled cruelty will only lead to fear and no one daring to surrender or join him...”

It was easy to tell from the reactions on the scene that some people were relaxing. This was not good for the royal family!

The Skystar King simply watched; he didn’t offer any commentary. It was surprising that Li Hao had eliminated all of his powerful opponents, and it was equally surprising that he chose to seize the headquarters of one of the nine ministries. The Demon Hunter Army was a further surprise, and Li Hao’s decision to show mercy was the surprise of surprises.

This was not the mark of a rogue of the martial world! Those from the martial world took pleasure in exacting revenge. Wasn’t it thrilling to put all of them to the sword?

And yet... Li Hao had not done so.

The Skystar King closed his eyes, trying to wrap his mind around these moves. Li Hao, do you seek to be a king? Only a king would do what you’ve done. A real wandering hero would not engage in such actions. We would be more than willing to see you rise to lead the martial world, but to rise as a king? That will not be permitted!

The king vanished from his spot.

The rear yard.

The Skystar King looked at a little tree. “Why is Li Hao improving so quickly?” he intoned. “He can even exchange blows with Qi Pingjiang now. Although he is the heir of the Lis and can utilize a heritage weapon, he should still not be improving so quickly!”

And he was so strong! That didn’t make sense! The king was equal parts jealous, furious, and begrudging.

The Skystar King understood that perhaps the royal family had raised a tiger that had turned on them, but who would’ve anticipated that Li Hao would improve so quickly?

“I’m not sure, perhaps a heavyweight has modified his body.” The little tree swayed. “Or perhaps a powerful plant spirit has bequeathed him a large quantity of Water of Life. Maybe he has extraordinary potential...”

How was it to explain Li Hao’s rise? It was impossible to.

“Does he not have any bottlenecks?” demanded the king.

“Don’t worry, no one can exceed six elements in this age without the second awakening taking place. Any who reach seven elements will be ripped apart by the void in their moment of breakthrough!”

“What if they advance in a ruin? They can stabilize their cultivation level and retract their strength before emerging...”

“Are you thinking of your royal father?” laughed the little tree. “That is the path he has chosen. Nothing can be seen from it thus far, not until he breaks the seal imposed by the nine ministries. However, I still think that it won’t be possible! Although you are natives to this time period and may be able to set foot back in the world if you retract your strength, your powerhouses have a very weak control over their power. Martial masters are slightly stronger in this regard, but there’s almost no hope for supernaturals to do so.”

“So you mean that martial masters that exceed seven elements stand a chance of not being churned to pieces by the void?”

“Yes.”

The Skystar King frowned. Could martial masters reach the seven element level? Was that even possible? They were on par with only two or three element Arcanus after saturating eleven locks. Breaking them would mean that they were no longer martial masters.

Therefore... it was impossible!

“I understand!” The king nodded after a heavy sigh. In that case, there would be no appearance of a heavyweight on par with an ancient Apex before the second awakening took place. That was good! It meant that no matter how fast Li Hao improved, six element Arcanus was the limit of his reach. That set the Skystar King at ease.