Star Gate

Chapter 982: The Curtains Rise (IV)

“So what... level of strength is the commander at now?”

Li Hao had the addition of supernatural abilities at his command!

“There’s only the five elements and wind and thunder that are truly useful out of the ones that I know,” Li Hao grinned. “Seven of those elements plus seventh level Mountain and Sea means I’m only fourteen elements. Strictly speaking, those seven and these seven haven’t formed a major circulation, so they’re less than one circulation of fourteen dao meridians!

“Nine meridians makes one a Mountain and Sea cultivator, and Sun and Moon is above that. Each level requires three dao meridians, so fourteen meridians is second level Sun and Moon!

“I’m a little weaker than that, but not that far off since the other seven are attributed meridians. Second level Sun and Moon can only count as a regular Apex. True peak Apexes should command the strength of ninth level Sun and Moon...” the young man spoke with regret. “I can handle weak Apexes by myself, but will struggle against the undying Immortals even though they haven’t fully recovered their strength.”

Lin Hongyu wasn’t listening toward the end. Second level Sun and Moon? That was a new level! Of course, that wasn’t key. The key was that Li Hao could handle Apexes by himself now. That was incredible!

Although the young man had taken the field against the fragile Immortals before, he hadn’t done so alone.

“And the commander wishes to share this with the rest of the world?” Lin Hongyu took a deep breath.

“That is correct!”

“That... is not appropriate!” she hastily objected. “Enemies will also obtain it that way.”

“Let them practice it!” Li Hao smiled. “That’s even better, that will consume more energy in the world. How nice!”

Lin Hongyu didn’t know what else she could say. “‘Commander, if you must, then I suggest... rolling it out slowly. Use the new system to secure some advantages from your opponents first, then publicize it. Deal a grave blow to them, but make them suffer in silence.”

“Some advantages?”

“Yes!” Lin Hongyu nodded. “You can do so with the local representatives of all of the dynasty’s territories! Have someone secretly contact them and sell this system for ten million or even one million mysterious power stones. If you’re fast enough, you can contact multiple people at once.

“Then send some Silver Moon martial masters to teach them on the spot, just as the commander has displayed to me. It will overawe them! You can charge as much as you want for it, more than ten million stones if you wish! Of course, we can also adjust it accordingly to each buyer!

“When all parties that we wish to target have purchased it, we’ll spontaneously announce it to the public. We’ll have earned our money and the gratitude of the people, while weakening the enemy and strengthening ourselves.

“The only difficulty is whether or not they’ll believe that we wish to sell them a powerful cultivation method. The best way to dispel doubts is an on-site demonstration!

“There are local tyrants in the four continents and plenty of ruins to be found. They still have mysterious power stones to spare. Apart from the north and central region, there are dozens of targets we can call upon among the ninety-nine provinces. We can price the system at three million stones for a baseline. That’s not a lot and will net us hundreds of millions in mysterious power stones!

“If the commander will send people to the City of Supernaturals to transact with me, I will publicly denounce you at first. But once the commander’s people start your demonstration, I will turn skeptical and be willing to pay a few million stones for research purposes.”

Yuan Shuo and Hong Yitang stared at her. She... has a black heart!

“Ah... this is a great idea!” Li Hao burst out laughing. “Although I’m not short on mysterious power stones, strengthening myself at the enemy’s cost is a great idea. We’ll have plenty of uses for mysterious power stones in the days to come, so this is excellent planning!”

Lin Hongyu was delighted to see her suggestion accepted. “It’s fine if there are some factions without money. We need all sorts of resources and can assign those prices of mysterious power stones. They won’t care. Cultivation resources are more important to them.

“We can trade with them for whatever the commander wants! Paper mills, local specialities, machines, supernatural cannons... There’s also the armor they’ve excavated that they have no use for! We can take as much as we want! I remember that the commander said that you can convert them?”

Li Hao hastily nodded with wide eyes. What an enormous talent City Lord Lin was! I hadn’t thought of any of this before.

“We can also trade for special attribute supernaturals,” an overjoyed Lin Hongyu continued. It was so wonderful to have her opinions acknowledged and approved! “Our targets won’t mind because special attribute supernaturals aren’t that strong. Hasn’t the commander wished to obtain more of them?

“We can even have them arrest supernaturals within their borders and send them to the central region. Whether it’s to press them into labor or to maintain peace in various locales... these are all good options! We can use someone else’s hand to complete some of the commander’s goals for the dynasty!”

Li Hao inhaled sharply and looked at her. “Continue!”

“This cultivation system will bring far more benefits than that.” Lin Hongyu was on a roll upon seeing that the young man didn’t disapprove of any of her ideas. “The commander can even use other methods to disseminate martial dao to the world, such as having them construct one hundred schools. They’ll receive the system for free if they accomplish that task!

“It doesn’t even have to be martial dao academies, it can be schools that teach purely academic subjects. Those people won’t mind. One hundred schools for a new cultivation method? What a bargain!

“It would save so much time for us and we’d be able to immediately recruit students when we take down the four continents. We can even have them arrest their scholars and technicians to exchange for the method! That will fill out the faculty ranks then!

“Their friends and family can also be sent to the central region. Who cares about mundanes? There’s only twenty-two provinces in the central region and far more people on the four continents. If everyone we want is gathered in the central region, we’ll complete our reforms in a smoother and faster fashion!’

Li Hao swallowed hard. Everything made sense. The city lord had turned a simple cultivation method into something magical!

“Also, doesn’t the commander need plant spirits to grow grain for you?” Lin Hongyu wasn’t done yet. “You can also transact with them for the location of other ruins. They know where some that can’t be excavated are. All of that can be bought with money!”

“That is logical. We can concentrate all of our strength beneath the heavens to complete my reforms ahead of schedule!”

“That’s right!” Lin Hongyu grinned. “We can even use it to have the Prince of Southern Conciliation and Prince of Western Conciliation march on the western and southern continents. A mixture of threats and bribes can be offered alike. If they’re smart, they’ll leave with the cultivation method.”

Lin Hongyu listed her ideas one by one to a rapt audience. Li Hao never imagined that a cultivation method he was preparing to simply share with people could accomplish so many things. He felt that they could give it a try!

According to what Lin Hongyu said, it wouldn’t take too long, just ten days or so. That even included travel time. Once they arrived, the negotiations and transaction would be quickly concluded. If their targets were wise, they would agree to the trade. It would be more difficult to convince a fool. The smarter one was, the more easily they would take the bait.

As for the three great organizations, Lin Hongyu would try even them. She proposed skipping Red Moon since their feud with Li Hao ran too deep. But Yama and Celestial were possibilities, they might trade for it.

A merry Li Hao kept bobbing his head up and down. “Very good! We’ll proceed as you say. This is perfect, I was thinking of bringing the Silver Moon martial masters along to demonstrate how quickly they can make the switch. This way, we can have our targets provide mysterious power stones for even that! This is so very nice!”

Lin Hongyu chuckled. It wouldn’t be a small amount of stones, but their targets would likely provide it if they wished to see the might of the new system.

Li Hao grinned broadly. He would save a lot more money this way!

......

On this day, large sums of Silver Moon martial masters began traveling in all directions. It was only the start of the new year, but they were already up to their eyebrows in assigned missions. And yet, no one found it a bad development. Instead, they were all highly excited as representatives were sent to all four continents.

It took only a few days for these people to reach some local tyrants and even those feuding with Li Hao. They were stunned that the Skystar Commander Office had sent envoys to them! Even more astonishing was that these Silver Moon martial masters wanted to offer up a new method for trade—the Breakthrough Incantation contained even the Five Styles!

Although many found the proposal unbelievable and suspected Li Hao’s true intentions, the Silver Moon martial masters were willing to engage in a display. It only required some mysterious power stones and Water of Life from their hosts. While the amount required was sizable, it was worth it to these overlords to see this new cultivation style and peek into Li Hao’s goal.

Surely the young man hadn’t sent these envoys just because he wanted some mysterious power stones and Water of Life.

Once the demonstration began, skepticism turned to awe and horror. This was earth-shattering! It was a method that led one directly to thirty-six element Arcanus! It was mind-boggling and impossible, even madness-inducing. Had someone on Li Hao’s side already cultivated to thirty-six elements? Why else would he be willing to relinquish this method?

It meant that Li Hao had even more advanced methods at his command!

But even so, this cultivation method was undeniably tempting. It was one most suited for those of this world. The various liege lords were shocked and terrified. How many thirty-six elements did Li Hao possess??

Based on what the young man said, that was ninth level Sun and Moon. But to those that his men visited, this was thirty-six element Arcanus! How unbelievable was it that he was willing to share this invincible method, and for such a small price! He was basically giving it away for free!

In return, he demanded a variety of strange requests—building schools, arresting supernaturals, buying scholars and technicians, the site locations of ruins...

None of this was particularly valuable to these local tyrants. This invincible cultivation method was the most important! They were perfectly happy to save a few mysterious power stones, even if they knew that Li Hao had future use for his demands. Anything he wanted would be used in his conquest of the world, but since the world was just about pacified, who cared?

A large quantity of resources and personnel started flowing to the central region. Many of the scholars and technicians arrived with a tragic outlook on life. This trip to the central region was likely to be their last! They were here to be slaves or even outright eaten!

Wails and sobs sounded all over the four continents. Those not in the know would think that Li Hao had suddenly decided to be a cannibal.

It was under these circumstances that a great deal of schools began to pop up throughout the central region. Sky canopies were also swiftly disseminated throughout the central region. They were an essential part of Li Hao’s plans.

In light of this, the young man had decided to visit the Lu Zhen Research Center and increase the pace in which the sky canopies were being rolled out. It was the first month of the year 1731 in the Star Era. There were yet to be major movements from the highest caliber of battle strength in the central region, but undercurrents surged madly beneath the surface.

The curtains were rising on a new age.