Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

"Borrowing the effects of the defeats on the battlefield, she mobilized many resources to set up a sacrificial altar in the city."

The Demon Lord continued, "And then she convinced many elders and that senior of mine to agree to use the souls of demon soldiers lost on the battlefield as an offering to the starry sky."

Chen Changsheng felt an ill foreboding when he heard about this offering to the starry sky. "Who are you offering to, and what are you seeking?"

The Demon Lord said in a derisive tone, "Naturally, we're offering to the Sacred Light Continent on the other side of the starry sky. Those elders hope that the Sacred Light Continent can send us aid, and some of the timider nobles even hope that they can be sent to the Sacred Light Continent, naturally allowing them to escape the danger and pain of the extermination of a race."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Weren't the origins of the demons wiped away? How could they know?"

"In this half-year of continuous war, the chaotic situation meant that many rules lost effectiveness. Many secrets naturally leaked out."

The Demon Lord turned to a certain Grand Scholar.

The Grand Scholar's face suddenly went white and he began to vomit blood.

The blood was not red, gold, or green. It was black.

This Grand Scholar had clearly been poisoned. He moaned, "Even if I hadn't said it, the Military Advisor would still know everything."

The Demon Lord calmly answered, "But you still said it."

The Grand Scholar collapsed, twitching twice before ceasing to breathe.

The Demon Lord turned to the humans, primarily Xu Yourong, and apologetically said, "Please, excuse me."

Chen Changsheng did not notice, as his mind was focused on his words from just now.

If the upper layer of the Demon race had placed all their hopes on that sacrificial altar, it would naturally be very difficult for them to put their all into the battlefield, both subjectively and objectively. This being the case, the demons would fall into an even more disastrous situation, and the worse it was, the more they would entrust their hopes to the sacrificial altar. That sacrificial altar was like that swamp outside Xuelao City. If one fell in it, one would find it nigh impossible to get back up no matter how they struggled. The Demon Lord should have been able to see this, so why did he not stop Black Robe? Why did he not destroy that sacrificial altar?

The Demon Lord looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "I think that you've probably guessed. Yes, I also wanted to hold onto that last sliver of hope."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Even if that went against the will of all the Demon Lords before you?"

The Demon Lord sighed, "I didn't want to do it, but you pushed me too hard."

Chen Changsheng noted, "You already did this ten years ago."

He referred to those two Angels that had appeared in White Emperor City.

"There will be a massive difference."

The Demon Lord solemnly said, "Because the number will be different."

After saying this, he spread his arms apart.

His black cloak rose into the stagnant air.

The congealed darkness of the demon flames also swayed, objects flickering within them.

They were statues, tall and short, none of them larger than a foot. They were made of some mysterious material that was neither gold nor jade.

Some of the statues were half-crouched while some of them seemed ready to take flight. All of them were naked and lifelike, beyond the handiwork of any sculptor.

Chen Changsheng's face turned grave.

These statues gave off no Qi, yet they gave off this strange aura that made it seem like they could come to life at any moment.

Wang Po and the others felt an intense danger.

Just like Chen Changsheng, they all thought of the two Angels in White Emperor City, of Bie Yanghong.

If every one of these statues was an Angel, just how many statues were displayed before them?

The demon flames danced.

The darkness was restless, yet all was deathly still.

Many questions had been answered.

Black Robe's grudge against the Human race was truly as deep as the Western Sea. She was willing to do anything to destroy the humans. In the last several hundred years, she had hoped that she could rely on the demons to destroy the humans. Upon realizing that the momentum had shifted and this had become an impossible mission, she had immediately chosen the other path.

She callously pushed the demons along the path of defeat, forcing the demons into desperate straits as quickly as possible, compelling the demons to march to her tune. Mobilizing countless resources, she had a sacrificial altar constructed, intending to welcome the descent of an army of Angels from the Sacred Light Continent.

"Just what is your meaning in telling this story tonight?"

Chen Changsheng asked the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord drew back his smile and stared into his eyes. Calmly and firmly, he said, "Retreat from Xuelao City, or else I will agree to Black Robe's request."

"This is a good story," Wang Po commented.

The Tang Old Master agreed, "It truly is a good story."

This story, or to be more precise, the way this story was told, had made them feel that the Demon Lord was an outstanding individual.

If not for the fact that this Demon Lord had been given too little time, if the momentum of the world had not already been decided, perhaps the Demon race really might have experienced a revival.

At the start, if the Demon Lord had not invited these historians and scholars to be present as he spoke about extermination and civilization, creating a somber and tragic mood, but had chosen to go straight to telling the story, no one would have believed him. They would have thought that he was just using absurd reasons to buy time. But instead, the Demon Lord had slowly worked his way from the Sacred Light Continent to God, and then to Black Robe. By plucking on their heartstrings, he perfectly recounted this story, granting it history and weight that compelled them to believe.

"But there is one problem: what does Black Robe want from you?"

Wang Po continued, "If you have no significance to this story, then there's no meaning in telling this story, no matter how well it's told."

"She does not need me, but this."

He extended his right hand out of his sleeve.

There was no statue in his hand, but a stone pestle.

It was a very ordinary-looking stone pestle, but it was far from ordinary.

Even the stone pearls on Chen Changsheng's wrist reacted, lightly clacking against each other.

This stone pestle came from the same place as the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, and was built of the same material, but it had a completely different use.

The Astral Executioner.

The forbidden secret of the Demon race.

A supreme divine artifact that had not appeared in the world for tens of thousands of years.

In the snowy mountain range, the old Demon Lord had died beneath the starlight that it had summoned.

Chen Changsheng had seen the Astral Executioner before.

Later on, he had the Li Palace priests draw the Astral Executioner according to his description and had copies distributed throughout the counties and provinces.

Figures like the Tang Old Master and Wang Po were naturally the first to see these drawings. Thus, they needed only a glance to confirm that this truly was the Astral Executioner.

This made the Demon Lord's story seem even more authentic.

If the Demon Lord and Black Robe worked together and used the sacrificial altar and the Astral Executioner to open the spatial path, Angels from the Sacred Light Continent would descend one after the other…

The demon flames danced, the statues flickering within.

Everyone took in this sight with the gravest of expressions.

Even if these Angels were not as powerful as the two Battle Angels who had appeared in White Emperor City, based on retrospective analysis, those Angels of Sacred Light were capable of naturally comprehending the laws of the world. In other words, from the moment they began to exist, they were experts of the Divine Domain!

Of course, the Human race was not completely unprepared for the worst situation. For the last ten years, the Great Zhou Imperial Court, the Li Palace, and all the sects had often analyzed the battle of White Emperor City, seeking ways of killing the Angels of Sacred Light. Moreover, they had made some progress, but this had all been established on the prerequisite of a small number of Angels.

At present, all the Divine Domain experts of the Human race were either heavily wounded or in the middle of rebelling. If there were so many Angels, how could the humans win?

And there was an even more frightening prospect. If… the God of the Sacred Light Continent decided to descend, what could they do?

Would the Human race go extinct?

The atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

But there was still someone who did not believe the Demon Lord's story.

"Isn't this just a club made of stone? Do you really think we're just a bunch of clubs? Tian Chui1 has been dead for ten-some years now!" (TN: The Chui of Tian Chui means 'club'.)

Xiao Zhang continued, "We've prepared for so many years, fought for so long, and lost so many people, so how can one story make us retreat?"

These words touched the hearts of Divine General He Ming and a few others.

What if he was right, and the Demon Lord was just scaring them?

The wrinkles at the corners of the Tang Old Master's eyes deepened. Concern lingered within them.

He felt like the Demon Lord's words were true.

Wang Po and Xu Yourong thought the same.

Chen Changsheng had seen with his own eyes that pillar of light piercing through the sea of stars, so he should have been the one who believed in this story the most.

But he faintly recalled that the Astral Executioner could no longer be used, and then he recalled a conversation he had heard that night.

He turned to the Demon Lord and asked, "The sacrificial altar is for breaking the wall? The Astral Executioner is used to indicate the location?"

The Demon Lord replied, "I didn't expect you to remember my conversation with Father."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Ten years ago, only two Angels descended, so you could treat them as slaves. Black Robe's plans now are clearly not so limited. If too many Angels descend, what will happen to you? So you've been hesitating, struggling, and even now, you haven't decided what to do."

The Demon Lord faintly smiled. "Yes, so I leave this choice for you."

Chen Changsheng fell silent.

It now seemed like the contents of many the letters they had exchanged over the last ten years had been part of the Demon Lord's plans.

It had been a campaign of silent influence, and he now found it impossible to convince himself that there was no threat from the Sacred Light Continent.

The 'choice' here was more like a gamble, and he was betting the entire Human race.

In terms of gambling, Xu Yourong and the Tang Old Master were far more capable, but they had never read those letters.

The contents of those letters were tiles that the Demon Lord had already played.

Only through those tiles could one attempt to determine what the Demon Lord's last tile was.

Suddenly, a voice came from the back of the crowd.

It was very sickly and strengthless, yet there was a terrible smugness in it that could irritate anyone.

"Everything he wrote in those letters is true, and the majority of his story is true, but what he's saying is false."

The Demon Lord peered at the back of the crowd, his brows arched. "Why?"

"Because your face has the resolve to die and also a smear of lovesickness, but there's no spirit. Back then, I used two hours to reverse the situation in Wenshui, and when I got out of the ancestral hall, I took a bath on the street. Even if you can't reach my elegant bearing and can't pull off such a refined feat, once you've succeeded in your reversal, you should be a little more arrogant. Such calmness can only mean that you're lying!"

Ye Xiaolian pushed a wheelchair out from behind the crowd.

Tang Thirty-Six was seated upon it.

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1. The Chui of Tian Chui means 'club'.