Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Two sword glows, both imbued with a monstrously terrifying Qi, viciously clashed and then refused to die out. They transformed into the sharpest rays of light in the world, drawing out countless straight lines against the curtain of the night, summoning clouds from the distant horizon and blocking out the innumerable stars.

The wind roared, grass was sheared, and the black monoliths began to crack, their splinters transforming into terrifyingly sharp arrows. Screams began to rise from the graveyard as both the woman crying for their sons and the numb nobles waking from their dazes began to flee. But it was hard to say just how many of them would be able to survive.

After some time, the wind finally stopped. Gravel and mud rained back down to the ground as the two terrifying blade glows also ceased to shine.

The clouds in the night sky dispersed, allowing the starlight to once more illuminate the graveyard. Only now was it possible to realize that the slope of the hill had sunk several feet!

In the distance, the Moon gradually rose over the horizon.

The Demon Commander stood at the top of the slope. Her body was still short, but under the light of the full Moon, she seemed large and tall.

Her rusted helmet was in tatters from the battle and was casually tossed to the ground.

Her hair was gathered into a ponytail that pointed straight at the sky, making her look rather comical, like a little girl. Yet the expression on her face was incredibly evil.

Messy hairs stuck out around the ponytail, trembling in the wind like tree branches abandoned by the birds.

If one looked carefully, they would probably be able to see the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, the streaks of white in her hair.

Wang Po stood at the bottom of the hill. There was a fine wound on the left side of his neck from which blood was seeping out.

If the Demon Commander's blade had struck just one inch deeper, his head would have been cut off and dropped down like a ripe fruit.

Wang Po was silent as he stared at that short figure at the top of the hill.

He had not expected that the monstrously powerful Demon Commander was a woman.

The Demon Commander turned to face Wang Po. "You might be stronger than me in the future, but not now."

Her face was cold and expressionless as she spoke. There was no emotion present, and none was needed for a simple statement like this.

Wang Po agreed, "Yes, I'm still a distance from you."

He did not conceal his respect for this supreme expert of the Demon race.

At Mount Nuorilang and in front of Xuelao City, Wang Po and the Demon Commander's two clashes of blades could be considered the most important points of those battles.

In both these clashes, the Demon Commander had always been just a little above him.

Although it was an extremely thin gap, it was as impassable as the vault of heaven.

In this last meeting, Wang Po had finally won, but this was because her injuries had been worse than his.

A few days ago, Xiao Zhang had used the Frost God Spear to leave a bloody hole in her chest, and up to now, it had shown no signs of improvement.

Wang Po looked to the Demon Commander and said, "Senior, please tell me where Black Robe is."

The Demon Commander sneered, "Why should I tell you?"

Wang Po asked, "This sacrificial altar is clearly a ruse. Do you not hate Black Robe for orchestrating such an end for the demons?"

The Demon Commander laughed crazily. "Hahahaha! You males always look down on us women, so how can you know how formidable the Military Advisor is? She even managed to kill the older brother that not even I dared to provoke, fooled around with this entire continent for several hundred years. How could I hate her? I only adore her.”

Wang Po didn't know what to say.

The Demon Commander turned to face the distant Moon.

Just when Wang Po thought she might recite a poem, he heard her utter a curse.

"A pack of idiots."

The Demon Commander said with a face of disgust, "They insist on learning from the humans and using starlight to replace Sacred Light, but how is it any better than moonlight! What Southern Cross? Just hearing that name stupefies me to death! Hmph!"

An arrogant snort.

That short figure scattered beneath the full moon.

Golden blood showered down, drenching the grassy slope in golden petals.

……

……

In the flickering image of Xuelao City in the demon flames, the location of the graveyard was extremely clear, because that location was extremely dark.

Suddenly, two extremely thin lights appeared in that dark region before gradually fading away.

Everyone looked toward that place, so they were able to see the golden light illuminating the dark night.

The death of an expert on the level of the Demon Commander caused the world itself to react. Everyone in the Demon Hall sensed this and couldn't help but fall quiet.

"She is my aunt, an extraordinary woman… mm, it's just that she was always short."

The Demon Lord turned to Nanke and regretfully said, "Teacher and I hoped that you could become the second her, but you were too obedient and were tricked by Royal Father into entering the abyss."

Nanke had followed Chen Changsheng's party into the Demon Hall. She had said nothing the entire time, and the helpless expression on her face made her seem like a lost and wounded pet.

The Demon Lord very quickly shook off his sorrowful mood. He calmly asked Chen Changsheng, "The sacrificial altar is destroyed and an agreement has been made, so can I leave now?"

Everyone present knew that by 'leaving', he did not mean actually leaving, but something else.

Chen Changsheng did not reply to the question, instead saying, "I don't know if I should admire you or sympathize with you."

This comment did not refer to his leaving or his surrender, but the Demon Lord's train of thought over these last few days.

The human armies were at the city walls, so what should the demons do? Silently accept it, or go against the teachings of their ancestors and engage in one last crazy gamble?

The Demon Lord had probably been in deep pain over the last few days.

……

……

"He wasn't suffering at all."

This voice was clearly heard within the Demon Hall, but it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.

"Many years ago, when Little Jiexing's troops were besieging Xuelao City, I recommended building a sacrificial altar and using the Astral Executioner to reopen the spatial path, but Xingshandong did not agree. His Majesty is just like his father, so he's in no pain whatsoever. He even gets the pleasure of dying for a just cause."

The voice disappeared for a while, and then began to speak again.

"I never sensed that God, so I do not understand their fears or where this obsession for freedom comes from."

It was a very pleasant voice, like the waters of a spring falling into a pool, or slender fingertips plucking the strings of a zither, and the hand to which those fingers were attached was also certain to be beautiful.

The black demon flames flowed once more. Like a withered tree growing out of a swamp, a piece of clothing gradually began to appear.

This clothing was black.

The demon flames, said to be capable of burning everything in the world, had failed to burn these clothes.

It was a black robe.

It turned out that she had been hiding in the abyss behind the demon flames. It was no wonder that the human armies had been unable to find any trace of her.

Zhizhi suddenly said, "They all say that your voice is very unpleasant, but this now appears to be a misrepresentation."

To be concerned about this sort of question at this sort of occasion… one could only say that her way of thinking truly was different from the rest.

The Tang Old Master said, "This is her original voice."

Upon seeing Black Robe, even he could not help but be affected, the well within his eyes rippling.

Black Robe ignored them and looked at the Demon Lord. "Even though Nanke is my student, you've always treated me as your teacher, and I've also held an extremely rare hint of pity for you. Alas, even after your ancestors' teachings struggled with the extinction of your race for so many days, you still were not willing to heed my will."

The Demon Lord was quiet for a while, then said, "That is because I love Sir and do not wish for Sir to become even uglier."

The humans were stunned by these words. Was he talking about the love toward a teacher, or…

The Demon Lord turned to Xu Yourong and smiled. "I also love you."

This referred to one of the most famous and controversial romantic scandals on the continent in the last few years. If there was one scandal that was on par with Chen Changsheng bringing out the marriage contract in the Ivy Festival ten-some years ago, it was probably when the Demon Lord made that announcement to the entire continent in his youth: "I absolutely want Xu Yourong."

Tonight, Xu Yourong had been very quiet in the Demon Hall, and the Demon Lord had also not spoken with her, so many people felt that the rumor was just a rumor, that the declaration had not been true. The demon invasion on the first year of the new era had only been to conceal the Demon race's weakness, not because the Demon Lord truly wanted to propose to Xu Yourong.

But then, they heard his words.

Chen Changsheng did not interrupt the Demon Lord, and he wasn't even angry.

In his view, this was only to be expected.

How could such an extraordinary figure like the Demon Lord possibly not love Yourong?

"But I love the Military Advisor even more, because the Military Advisor is a freak."

The Demon Lord apologetically looked at Xu Yourong as he earnestly explained, "I am also a freak, and freaks sticking together give each other strength."

"Thank you. I thought that you would never say it."

Black Robe's voice was still pleasant. Though not deliberately graceful, it had its moving aspects.

The Demon Lord replied, "Everything's about to end, so I have to leave behind the words that I want to say."

"The ending's not here yet."

Black Robe gave him a pitying look. "Not even Xingshandong knew what I was really thinking, so how could you?"

The Demon Lord bitterly smiled. "I already gave the Astral Executioner to them."

"That object is in my hands."

The Tang Old Master said to Black Robe, "Back then, even if you wanted a star, anyone in Luoyang would be willing to pluck one down for you. Alas, that was then, and this is now."

The meaning of his words was crystal-clear. No matter what, he would not give the Astral Executioner to Black Robe.

Black Robe jeered, "Back then, my eyes had no place for minor characters like you and Shang."

The Tang Old Master sighed, "That's right. At the time, you had the most glorious figure in the world at your side."

Black Robe sternly reproved, "It wasn't just back then. Even now, he is still the most glorious of all."

The Tang Old Master added, "But even if he reincarnated, he would not be able to take that object from me."

It was hard to say where he had hidden the Astral Executioner. Perhaps he had some special spatial artifact on his person.

Black Robe's lips curled into a derisive grin. "Who said I wanted the Astral Executioner?"

The Demon Lord said, "You once said to me that positions are relative, and our continent is always moving through the sea of stars."

These words naturally made Chen Changsheng recall Wang Zhice's notebook and those pictures he had calculated in the Mausoleum of Books.

The Demon Lord continued, "Even if you used the sacrificial altar to send news, the Sacred Light Continent cannot pin down our position, so how can they open the path?"

The meaning of these words seemed complicated, but it was actually very simple and clear.

If one stood on a plain and heard someone yelling at them, one could determine the direction the voice was coming from, but not the exact position.

One needed to maintain a constant connection, using a continuous exchange of information to shrink the range of error until one found the other.

Without the Astral Executioner, how could Black Robe establish a stable and persistent connection between the two continents?

Black Robe said, "As I said, I do not need the Astral Executioner."

The Demon Lord replied, "That's impossible. All the records clearly state that this is the only method to open the spatial path."

Black Robe answered, "I know of a method that can allow the Sacred Light Continent to pin down our position."

The Demon Lord asked in surprise, "What method?"

Black Robe turned to Chen Changsheng. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."