Star Gate

Chapter 713: Entering Battle Heaven Once More (I)

The Seventh Troop leader quickly changed the subject. “Are you going to visit the commander? He’s at the barracks...”

“There’s no rush, I’ll pay a visit to Director General Wang first,” Li Hao said sheepishly. Forget him, I still remember that one hitting me. “Then I’ll head into the city. Will you come with me, troop leaders?”

“No, we have a mission at hand and cannot easily leave our posts.”

Alright then, Li Hao ended the conversation. These were all soldiers, so it was already quite a feat that they spent some time in idle chit chat with him. He walked into the city with Panther. He didn’t jump in—the city gates opened of their own accord to let him in.

The massive characters of “Battle Heaven” were still clear to read over his head. He didn’t rashly look at them as there wasn’t much he could understand from them. It would be a waste of an opportunity.

The Seventh Troop leader turned back for a look when the young man was gone. “There seems to have been a great change in the Twelfth Troop leader. Do you two feel it?”

The other two didn’t respond audibly, but inclined their heads. There was indeed a very big change in Li Hao. It hadn’t been long, but the young man of prior had shown a bit of glum reticence. There’d also been impulses of naive killing intent. There was something different about him this time, but they couldn’t immediately identify where or how. They just felt that he’d suddenly matured by quite a bit.

“Perhaps he’s improved after going out to see the world,” came the Ninth Troop leader’s ripples. “He’s plainly undergone some trials since he’s become part of the path of energy. That is just as well!”

The troop leaders fell silent after discussing their colleague. Quiet once more returned to the city walls.

......

Li Hao was in the mood to take in the sights as he walked around. Battle Heaven wasn’t big at the moment, but it was laid out in a very ideal way. The sectors were clearly delineated and there was no doubt in one’s mind between the commercial, industrial, and military areas. He hadn’t noticed the number of schools before. It was only after Hong Yitang mentioned it that he paid attention.

This time, he made sure to take a closer look. There were indeed a lot of schools, and with that enormous library... perhaps everyone in the city could read.

Li Hao paused at various points along the way, taking a good look around. It was slow going to the middle of the city. The massive turtle pagoda was as usual, standing upright in the city center. Panther shook in this place, recalling unhappy memories. It stuck close to Li Hao’s legs and refused to strike out on its own.

“Li Hao, leader of the Twelfth Troop of the Ninth Division in the Reserve Defenders requests to meet with Director General Wang!”

The doors to the city lord’s manor creaked open.

“You may enter!”

Li Hao strode in; the doors led straight to the manor’s great hall. There were almost no obstacles in between. He could even see the golden splendor emanating from the director general as he walked in. Perhaps the young man would see him busy at his desk if he stood outside the door.

Inside the great hall.

Director General Wang sat on a chair and sized up the young man. “You seem not bad.” He inclined his head.

“You praise me too highly, director general!” Li Hao laughed.

The director general wore gold armor and his features were impossible to discern. However, Li Hao could easily identify the differences between him and the commander. The commander was coldly aloof, whereas this one was much more warm-hearted. If he was to strike up a simile, the director general was as if Hao Lianchuan and the commander was similar to Golden Spear.

It made sense as this one was the chief of city security and the other a major commander in the army. It seemed that all military officers were distant and proud.

“You got the Windchaser Boots?” The director general was surprised when he glanced at the boots.

“Mmhmm.”

“It looks like your travels have been fruitful,” the director general waxed eloquent. “These boots... the Windchaser Boots are somewhat famous in themselves. They were once utilized by the Battle King’s family, then came to the Human King, who then gave them to your ancestors. They eventually found themselves to the Lius, and now you grasp them...”

“These boots have something to do with my ancestors?” Li Hao was rather startled. The Battle King’s family... He recalled the “break” incantation of one of the golden booklets. It broke anything and everything.

“Yes.” Director General Wang nodded. “None of this is important. Do you have business to take care of with this trip?”

“I do have some small matters that I’m hoping the director general can help me with.” Li Hao nodded.

“Speak of them.”

“I am curious about the ancient civilization, particularly its societal structure. There are certain things that I find hard to understand.” The young man furrowed his brows. “There were powerhouses in the ancient civilization, as well as supreme powerhouses! Was the hierarchy of power strictly adhered to? Did those in higher positions oppress the people and exploit them? How did they manage conflicts between superhumans and mundanes? How were communications handled and status and ranks determined?”

Director General Wang blinked. He’d thought that the young man would ask about the path of energy, but these were his questions instead? He was silent for a while before asking, “Why do you wish to know about this?”

“I would just like to understand them more.” Li Hao thought for a bit. “I’m very confused! For example, if a mundane offends a powerhouse and then I kill the mundane, does the mundane deserve it? How were the laws of the ancient civilization established?”

“There was division of labor in society, powerhouses were not the one and only!” the director general answered faintly. “Powerhouses were invincible only in terms of martial might, they weren’t omnipotent! Keep in mind that dao rules the world, no matter how major or minor it was.

“If only pure strength is left, then this world will fall! If everyone is a powerhouse, there would be no one working the fields, no one raising children, no one building cities... Civilization would be very quickly destroyed!

“You started in the wrong direction to begin with. It is not a division of weak versus strong, but a difference in delegation of tasks and how to balance them. Society labels according to division of labor and function, not weak and strong.”

Li Hao seemed to understand—so the profession was the key!

“As for how to manage the strong, that is even simpler. The same treatment is extended to all, the law is the law! Of course, powerhouses paid quite a price to reach the heights they are at, so they receive more special privileges. However, with that comes more duties and obligations!

“For example, when it comes to war, the strong must join the army and obey orders. Neither can ordinary people use the law to bully powerhouses. The necessary respect must be there. They cannot make use of the fact that there are no exceptions to insult and humiliate the strong. That is not permitted either...’

Director General Wang spoke of a lot, but he was only the head of security, so he could only give a general overview. He wasn’t able to go into the details because he wasn’t familiar with them either. This was due to a delegation of labor. He was not the city lord. The director general was also rather surprised by Li Hao’s questions.

“Director General, why do you think the ancient civilization was so strong?”

“Why?” The Gold Armor thought for a while. “It’s hard for me to say, but there were many reasons. The most fundamental can be found in the four major areas of culture and education, economy and infrastructure, military, and technology.

“The strong belonged to the area of the military. Whether or not they served in the army, they were part of the military’s foundations. You would be wrong to think that having a lot of heavyweights is the key to success. It’s just one part of the four areas.”

“One part?” Li Hao raised an eyebrow with surprise.

“Correct, but it is also the core!” the director general continued. “One does not grow stronger without a strong army, but control must be maintained over it. An army that is out of control may be strong, but it is also useless. It will only result in greater harm!”

“Education, economy, technology...” Li Hao committed these terms to memory. “Was the literacy rate in the ancient civilization high?”

“Hmm?”

“I see that there’s a lot of schools inside the city...”

“Isn’t that a fundamental basic of life?” asked the confused director general. “How is one supposed to cultivate without knowing how to read? How does one do work? How does one invent, think, receive more technology and knowledge? A universal literacy rate was present at the start of the New Martial era and it was developed to a further extreme in the later stage. Can there be anyone who doesn’t know how to read? You must know that New Martial was strong because of education!

“The education department was most important in New Martial. Whether it was martial dao, technology, or others, the amount of resources and capital poured into this area exceeded what we invested in the military!

“There were a lot of martial universities back in the day and there were even more to be found after a period of expansion. This was to create a batch of well-rounded talent that was both promising in military aspects while possessing immense knowledge capabilities...”

Li Hao understood! This was a common core curriculum.

“Then what of food?” the young man continued. “If so many people ran off to learn martial dao, that means significant consumption of resources. They’ll eat more than regular people, so how do you satisfy their needs?”

“The agriculture department was in charge of this. They later modified crops and raised animals that could be eaten. The more meat that people ate, the less they needed of grain. Added to that raising vast quantities of plant spirits that collected the essence of heaven and earth as their primary function...”

A light danced in Li Hao’s eyes. “The director general is referring to... modified seeds?”

“That’s just one aspect!” explained Director General Wang. “All sorts of modern technology are employed in tending the fields and superhuman methods are used to nurture the seedlings. With plant spirits as the base... How is food an issue when all of this is employed in conjunction?”

He found the line of conversation odd, why were they spending so much time talking about this?

“Isn’t this how it is in the outside world? I see that you have superhuman cultivators too. You can control the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. Under such circumstances, how are these matters an issue? Just arrange for some energy martial masters to summon the wind and rain. That easily takes care of life’s necessities. You are no primitive society!”