Star Gate

Li Hao walked into the lobby with new thoughts swirling through his mind and headed toward the fourth floor. Manager Yu walked out of her office just when he reached his. She glanced at the young man, aloof as ever.

“Li Hao, the director has come out of seclusion. As we said before, you are to meet him after he emerges!”

Come out of seclusion? Was Hou Xiaochen not here before? Li Hao couldn’t make sense of things either. Did Hou Xiaochen want to see him because of events from yesterday?

“I understand, Manager Yu.” Li Hao refrained from letting any of his thoughts appear on his face. He decided to pay a visit later, but saw that the secretary remained staring at him. There was nothing else to do but follow behind her and head upstairs together.

When they reached the fifth floor, a Hao Lianchuan with reddened eyes happened to walk out of his office. He headed upstairs as well and nodded when he saw the young man, barely managing to squeeze out a smile.

Li Hao thought he was fretting over yesterday’s affairs, so he didn’t say anything.

The three headed to the sixth floor together—there was only one cavernous office in it. The door opened as soon as Manager Yu knocked on it. Li Hao found Hou Xiaochen sitting in a chair, the man’s eyes looking off into the distance. He seemed weaker than when Li Hao saw him last. Coughs repeatedly shook the man. He inclined his head to see his visitors and didn’t say anything.

“Cough cough...” Hou Xiaochen coughed a few more times. A handkerchief appeared in his hand and he wiped the corners of his mouth with it. A smear of red vanished as soon as it was seen, promptly Manager Yu to anxiously rise to her feet.

“Director...”

“Come, sit.” Hou Xiaochen’s smile was as gentle as ever.

Li Hao surreptitiously looked around the office out of the corner of his eye. Otherwise, he kept his eyes pointed forward. There weren’t that many objects within the office, just two that particularly stood out. One was a massive screen and the other a map so colossal that it took up an entire wall.

There was another door to the rear of the office—that was probably where Hou Xiaochen lived.

The director breathed out softly and leaned against the chair, looking weary. “Well done yesterday!” He smiled at Li Hao. “Martial masters should take action when they should. They neither kowtow to the strong nor bully the weak, and they don’t fear anyone!”

“I’ve created trouble for you, director!” Li Hao rose.

“It’s just a small matter! Hou Xiaochen smiled. “Attacking you in White Moon City shows blatant disrespect for me, so kill them if you’d like! You can kill two Novas if you have the ability to, to say nothing of two Solars. What of it?”

Li Hao was tongue-tied. I er... can’t manage that!

Hou Xiaochen coughed softly and furrowed his brows when he looked at Hao Lianchuan. “Your reaction speed was astonishingly slow. You had the Flaming Phoenix Spear with you and knew that you would have to rush to a battlefield a few thousand meters away, but you still took twenty seconds! If I sent you to a battlefield for a war, you’d miss the proper battle timing every single day!”

Resigned, Hao Lianchuan quickly rose to his feet as well. “Director, I...”

“That’s enough!” Hou Xiaochen interrupted with a cough. “You’re decent to have made it to mid Solar, but you’re still too slow.”

Slow? Hao Lianchuan rather thought he was fine, he was making fast progress! Granted, it couldn’t compare to the director.

Hou Xiaochen didn’t seem to care what’d happened yesterday. He looked at the group in front of him and said softly, “What’s past is past. Just pursue Red Moon with more fervor and thoroughness.

“Ole Hao went to the previous meeting of the four institutions,” the director changed the topic. “That didn’t go too well. Since I’m out today, the other three wish to converse again. And so we shall.

“Li Hao, you will come too.”

"Me?” Li Hao blinked. You want me with you in this? Although he was just part of the director’s entourage, shouldn’t it be the deputy directors that went with him? He was just a newcomer of a few days!

“Let’s go together!” Hou Xiaochen smiled. “You can broaden your horizons, meet more people, and see more powerhouses. Martial masters cannot look up at the sky from the bottom of a well. Silver Moon isn’t a very tall sky, but you have yet to reach its limit in your current state.

“You wouldn’t need to go if yesterday’s battle hadn’t happened. Since it has... Come along!”

Despite his surprise, Li Hao didn’t refuse. “Thank you for placing so much importance on me, director!”

“As I should. According to what you say, I should give you more opportunities after you’ve demonstrated your worth, should I not?” joked the director. Li Hao could only grin foolishly in response. Manager Yu really tells this guy everything!

“Let’s go.” Hou Xiaochen joined the group in standing up. “The meeting between the four institutions is today at the provincial government headquarters. They are the main institution of the province, after all. In Silver Moon, the Night Watchers are just a subordinate agency of the Inspectorate. Remember this well, Li Hao. The Night Watchers are not the be all and end all in the province.”

The young man hastily bobbed his head. He didn’t care about this at all. With how strong Hou Xiaochen was, who would keep to that?

The quartet walked out the front door amid a sea of admiring and worshipful gazes. A black car waited for them; the driver was quiet and of few words. Li Hao observed him for a while and concluded that the driver might be a martial master. He wasn’t a supernatural as there was no ball of light around him. Since there was no aura to be detected, the driver was likely below half step Dominator. It didn’t matter what cultivation level he was then.

Fatty Hao Lianchuan darted for the passenger seat as soon as he reached the car, leaving a wry Li Hao in his dust. How was he slower than the fatty?? Since Hao Lianchuan had taken the passenger seat, the young man had to squeeze with Hou Xiaochen and Manager Yu in the back as the car didn’t have two back rows. The damn fatty’s horrible! I want to sit up front too!

Although he’d been ferocious in killing others yesterday, Li Hao knew just how much he was worth. He was no match for Hou Xiaochen; he’d also die to a single spear jab. It was very stressful to be in close quarters with the man.

But since the situation had shaken out thus, he had no choice but to sit beside Hou Xiaochen. The director sat in the middle, flanked by Li Hao on his left and the secretary on his right. He remained coughing—Li Hao could see things more clearly at this distance. He saw a faint smear of red in a handkerchief. Weird, isn’t that supposed to be an act? There’s no one else here now, so why is he keeping that up?

But as a subordinate, he needed to express some concern. “Have your wounds still not healed, director?” he hastily asked.

“It’s fine, they’re old injuries. I’m unable to completely do away with them.” Hou Xiaochen smiled. “Little Li, how is your understanding of the Skystar Dynasty?”

“There are nine ministries, the royal family, and ninety-nine provinces in the dynasty...” Li Hao reeled off.

“Is that it?” Hou Xiaochen chuckled.

“Well... I’ve never been out of Silver City and not everything is written in books, so I...”

“Haven’t seen much of the world!” A note of criticism and blame crept into the director’s voice. “Yuan Shuo only cared about the martial world and digging up graves. He doesn’t pay attention to anything else. Although you’ve spent a few years by his side, you don’t know much about the world.

“Little Yu, give Li Hao a brief overview of the current situation in the dynasty.” With that, Hou Xiaochen closed his eyes and ignored the young man.

“The Skystar Dynasty was established in 1531,” Manager Yu began in a calm voice. “It has been 199 years since then and will be the dynasty’s 200th grand anniversary next year. In the first 120 years, the royal family ruled the world. Eighty years ago in the year 1650, the nine ministries offered up a joint petition for the royal family to abdicate their power. From then on, the nine ministries administered the land together.

“The nine ministries are divided into the Ministry of Administration, Ministry of Armed Forces, Ministry of the Inspectorate, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Judiciary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Relations, and the Ministry of Examinations that determines the promotions of officials.”

Li Hao listened silently. He’d heard about the nine ministries before, but hadn’t paid much attention then. Silver Moon didn’t have some of these institutions, or their presence wasn’t very evident if they did exist.

“The ninety-nine provinces are roughly divided into five regions of north, south, east, west, and central. The central region is extensive and highly populated. Business booms, fortunes gather. Typically, twenty-two provinces in the center are demarcated as the central region.

“Silver Moon is part of the northern region. There are nineteen provinces in the north.”

Manager Yu brought Li Hao up to speed on basic knowledge as the car drove. Few were those who would know all of this material if asked. The world was too vast! A province was many people’s heaven and earth. Who cared about matters outside their home? But as the secretary spoke on, Li Hao slowly began to grasp the enormity of the dynasty.

It was incredulously big! The nine ministries, royal family, and provinces...

Silver Moon was just one of the ninety-nine and it fell on the border. Apart from a thriving martial world back in the day, nothing else seemed to set it apart.

When the car approached the provincial government building, Hou Xiaochen opened his eyes with a cough.

“The nineteen provinces of the north operate quite independently, but three of them are a unique case. They’re closer to the central region and have been under military control for many years due to several reasons.

“The first is the province named Fog as it’s enveloped by fog year round, making it seem like a city in the sky! The second province of River Origin is home to many large rivers, piracy, and floods. The third province of North Sea hosts a large sea within its borders. It is also the boundary between the north and central region. Crossing the natural boundary that is the North Sea puts one in the central region.”

Li Hao thought back to the maps of the dynasty that he’d perused before and could roughly pinpoint where these three provinces were. They were distant from Silver Moon. Of course, they didn’t seem that far when laid out on a map. All one needed to do was to cross the neighboring province of Near River to reach River Origin province.

River Origin, Fog, and North Sea formed a triangle. North Sea was the point of the triangle, whereas River Origin and Fog was a straight line to Silver Moon. If one set out from Silver Moon and traveled through Near River, that would place them at the intersection of River Origin and Fog. Continuing some more thousands of kilometers forward would put one in North Sea. Crossing that province led one to the central region.

Li Hao didn’t quite understand why Hou Xiaochen was introducing these three provinces in detail. There were nineteen total in the northern region, were these three very special? And... military control?

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