134: Chapter 134 Youthful Spirit is an Irreplaceable Thing

Jiang Hao completely restrained his Imperial Might and aura, which were enough to make the myriad daos tremble, transforming into the most ordinary traveling Cultivator.

He strolled aimlessly among the stars, his gaze calmly surveying this world he had protected for nearly eighty thousand years.

For the first part of his journey, he deliberately passed through some prosperous Star Domains under the direct jurisdiction or profound influence of the Heavenly Court.

The scenes before him were already different from the starry sky in the depths of his memory before the establishment of the Heavenly Court.

On the shipping lanes between the stars, all kinds of starships and Magic Treasure light-streaks moved in an orderly fashion; the atmosphere of vigilance and killing from the past was no longer present.

Around some important hub stars, one could see Star Lighthouses uniformly supervised and constructed by the Heavenly Court's Ministry of Works, emitting stable spatial fluctuations to guide travelers and calm chaotic spatial turbulence.

In the massive Star Domain markets, Cultivators of different races and from different worlds mingled, conversing, trading, and discussing the Dao.

Though disputes still occurred, most were restrained within the bounds of law and reason; scenes of drawing blades at the slightest disagreement or using power to suppress others were rarely seen.

Many stars themselves were vibrant with life; mortal kingdoms lived and worked in peace, and cultivation Sects each had their own Legacy, presenting a scene of orderly competition and vigorous growth.

The prosperity under this order, while still far from the golden age of his ideals, was indeed flourishing day by day.

It was much better than the peace brought solely by the suppression of personal martial force after he first attained the Dao.

Jiang Hao watched all of this silently, feeling quite a sense of accomplishment in his heart.

Establishing laws, organizing order, and setting up rewards and punishments allowed this world to operate healthily on its own through rules.

The sight before him proved that this path was the right one.

Now traveling through the sea of stars, Jiang Hao could intuitively feel that the overbearing air of those who relied on their background or cultivation to blatantly bully the weak and treat rules as nothing had diminished significantly.

Even if there were still strong and weak, even if there was still injustice, at least the four words 'Heavenly Court Law' had truly become a sharp sword hanging over everyone's heads.

When the children of powerful clans went out, their elders would mostly sternly warn them to strictly observe the heavenly lawss.

When weak ethnic groups mentioned the Heavenly Court, their eyes held a touch of genuine trust and respect.

The dream of young people was to join the Heavenly Court, becoming a Heavenly Soldier or a member of the Law Enforcement Team.

If one could join the Heavenly Court, it would truly bring honor to their ancestors.

"Killing one to warn a hundred—the value lies in perseverance." This thought flashed through Jiang Hao's mind.

He walked to a transit star serving as a transportation hub and landed on one of the floating islands provided for travelers to rest.

There was a tea stall by the edge of the island, where several youths who looked to be about ten years old were sitting around a stone table, talking with great animation.

They were all wearing uniform light-blue Daoist robes, appearing to be low-level Disciples of a nearby Sect, with cultivation roughly around the Wheel-Sea Realm.

"Anyway, I'm definitely going to take the exam for the Heavenly Court Law Enforcement Team!" a youth with thick eyebrows and big eyes said, slapping the table, his eyes shining.

"Once you put on that Profound Vault Battle Armor, patrolling the sea of stars and upholding the heavenly lawss, how majestic!"

A slightly thinner youth next to him gave a snort:

"Zhao Meng, with the way you can't even speak straight when you see a pretty Senior Sister, you want to join the Law Enforcement Team? I think even getting into the Logistics Guard Team is a long shot for you. If you ask me, being able to enter the Heavenly Court as an ordinary Heavenly Soldier would be a blessing from the heavens; that's a proper Heavenly Court position. When you go back to your hometown, even the Star Lord would have to come out personally to welcome you!"

"No ambition!" The third youth, who had a few freckles on his cheeks, lowered his voice but couldn't hide his excitement.

"The Law Enforcement Team is definitely hard to get into, who doesn't know that? But have you forgotten the most crucial part?"

He looked left and right before saying mysteriously, "Once you enter the Law Enforcement Team, you have a chance to learn the 'Heavenly Judgment Technique'!"

The breathing of the other two youths suddenly became heavy.

"Is that for real? You mean the legendary..." Zhao Meng's throat felt a bit dry.

"How could it be fake?" The freckled youth said with a look of certainty.

"My third great-uncle's neighbor's cousin is a clerk in a branch hall in the Northern Heaven Domain. He said it himself: this 'Heavenly Judgment Technique' was created by His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor himself after he established the Heavenly Court. It was created specifically for the Law Enforcement Team to execute heavenly punishment and judge right from wrong. It's even stronger than those Imperial Scriptures or Heavenly Venerate Techniques people talk about outside."

"Personally created by His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor..." the thin youth murmured, his eyes full of yearning. "Just how powerful must that Cultivation Technique be..."

Zhao Meng stood up abruptly, his face flushed with excitement:

"For that alone, I'll risk my life to test into the Law Enforcement Team. To learn a technique personally passed down by the Heavenly Emperor—that's truly bringing honor to my ancestors; no, it'll bring glory to eighteen generations of ancestors!"

The youths all chuckled, as if they could already see themselves wearing the Profound Vault Battle Armor and operating the supreme Cultivation Technique.

In a corner of the tea stall not far away, Jiang Hao held a coarse ceramic bowl, the spirit tea inside emitting a faint steam.

Listening to the uninhibited dreams and boasting of those youths, his face remained expressionless, but his heart stirred slightly.

The 'Heavenly Judgment Technique'... he had indeed created it.

Back then, when the Heavenly Court was first established, the Law Enforcement Team faced the greatest pressure. Without a set of techniques that could hold down the fort and allow for rapid growth, it wouldn't have worked.

He had put some thought into it, fusing the intent of astral punishment and Lightning Tribulation to create this set of techniques.

In his eyes, the technique was just okay; after all, at his current Realm, something he created casually wouldn't be weak.

But for these little fellows in the Wheel-Sea Realm, and even for many so-called experts, it was indeed a peerless Legacy that people would fight to the death over.

The excited discussions of the youths drifted over. That pure, unpolished yearning made him suddenly daze off.

Many, many years ago, in another place called Earth, he seemed to have heard and spoken similar words.

Except back then, they weren't talking about the Heavenly Court and Cultivation Techniques.

It was a group of half-grown kids, gathered by the edge of the playground or the entrance of an alley, gesturing and saying:

"I'm going to get into Tsinghua in the future!"

"Peking University is the best!"

"I want to be a scientist when I grow up."

Their voices were just as bright, their eyes flashed with the same light, feeling that the future held infinite possibilities and that the best things could surely be reached if they just stood on their tiptoes.

And later?

Jiang Hao took a sip of tea; the taste was a bit astringent.

Later, they grew up and found that Tsinghua and Peking University were too far away, and being a scientist was also out of reach.

They found they could only roast sweet potatoes.

He himself back then had only managed to attend an ordinary university and become an ordinary beast of burden, separated from the dreams he shouted as a child by an unknown distance.

"Youthful spirit..." Jiang Hao sighed softly in his heart.

That was a non-renewable thing.

Once it was worn away by reality, that confidence and heat could never be found again.

These few little fellows might fail their assessments in the future, or perhaps their sharp edges would be smoothed over by life, but at least for this moment, there was light in their eyes and fire in their hearts.

That was enough.

He put down the ceramic bowl and stood up, walking past the youths who were still discussing heatedly like an ordinary traveler.

His sleeve casually brushed past the edge of the table.

No one noticed.

Except Zhao Meng suddenly felt his spirits lift; a sluggish Meridian from his earlier cultivation seemed to have cleared up a bit.

The thin youth felt a wave of coolness in his Sea of Consciousness, and a segment of a Dao formula he could never remember clearly surfaced vividly.

The freckled youth felt his Dantian grow slightly warm, and his Wheel-Sea expanded by a tiny fraction.

They paused for a moment and looked at each other, but found nothing unusual, assuming it was just due to their own excitement, and so they resumed their cheerful discussion.

Jiang Hao's figure had already vanished.