Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Deathly silence.

Black Robe stood above the stone steps, looking down on the crowd like a god looking over all living beings.

Some people did not understand the conversation from just now, and even more were perplexed by Black Robe's final statement.

Sensing the oppressive mood, Linghai Zhiwang and the others guessed that the situation seemed to have reversed, or even fallen under Black Robe's control, so they nervously looked to Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng's face was rather pale. He had already understood what Black Robe meant. "Sacred Light?"

Black Robe replied, "Correct."

The wind stirred.

The young Daoist boy fell into Ye Xiaolian's chest.

Xu Yourong's hand fell on Chen Changsheng's shoulder.

Her wings of pure white were already unfurled.

A streak of fire would soon tear through the night sky.

She would bring Chen Changsheng as far away as she could possibly could in this brief moment of time.

She had also understood what Black Robe meant.

"It's too late."

Black Robe took a step forward.

The robe raised dust, in which one could see an invisible, transparent, and extremely thin string.

This string extended from the dark demon flames all the way to Chen Changsheng's body, where it was tied to his ankle.

"You have exchanged letters with His Majesty for many years, so you should know that the demon flames are Celestial Fire. They are of the same type as Sacred Light, but even hotter, though they do not show this in their appearance."

Black Robe gazed at him and said, "In a little while, the demon flames will ignite the Sacred Light in your body…"

Before she could finish speaking, a clattering filled the hall.

It was the sound of ice crystals falling to the floor.

The frosty air along the string gradually retreated as Zhizhi roared, "What vile thing is this!"

The crowd was also shocked. Not even the breath of the Black Frost Dragon could extinguish it!

Black Robe ignored her, asking, "You might become a torch? I don't know, as I've only theorized it, but the sight should be very beautiful."

Chen Changsheng thought it over and replied, "I don't know if it will be beautiful, but it should be very bright."

"It won't just be bright. The Sacred Light came from that continent, and the two share an invisible connection."

Black Robe continued, "His Majesty is correct. The stars move, and the Sacred Light Continent and the Central Continent are also moving. Separated by the vast sea of stars, it's very difficult for either side to be sure of the other's position. If a path were forcefully opened, those descending beings would easily go astray and become forever lost in the infinite void. But as long as the Sacred Light in your body is ignited, the Sacred Light Continent will always be able to be sure of our position over any distance, thus allowing them to open a path. In other words, you are an incomparably bright lighthouse."

'Lighthouse' was a very warm and soothing term, but here it was cold and despair-inducing.

"It seems that you've been planning this for many years."

Chen Changsheng looked down at his feet, where the crumbling snowflakes had revealed that invisible string of fire.

"Back then, it was me who sent over Chen Xuanba's blood. Your birth was a result of a transaction, and I was one of the three parties taking part in it."

Black Robe turned to that small carriage and said, "Your master was another party, though he had no idea what I wanted to do."

Shang Xingzhou wanted to turn Chen Changsheng into a tempting poisoned fruit.

Anyone would want to eat him.

But anyone who ate him would be poisoned to death or eat themselves to death.

If the Tianhai Divine Empress did not eat Chen Changsheng, Shang Xingzhou could still attempt to use Chen Changsheng to invite down a divine judgment to kill Tianhai.

But now, it seemed like the divine judgment was probably just the Astral Executioner, that pillar of light piercing through the sea of stars.

When the Demon Lord killed his father, he had no idea that the most important use of this divine artifact was communicating between the two continents.

To put it another way, Chen Changsheng was a different form of the Astral Executioner.

Xu Yourong suddenly asked, "You've never been to the Sacred Light Continent, so how did you make an agreement with them?"

Black Robe replied, "I am only offering a possibility. If the Sacred Light Continent's god is truly omniscient and omnipotent, how could it miss out on this chance?"

Chen Changsheng asked, "Why do you so loathe the Human race?"

It was no longer a secret that the Demon Military Advisor Black Robe was a human.

Black Robe's answer was extremely simple and also unrelentingly persuasive.

That answer was their name.

"Because I am Zhou Yuren."

……

……

Zhou Yuren.

Once the most beautiful man in the world.

Zhou Dufu's younger brother.

If those rumors were true, then he truly had the right to loathe the Human race.

"She is also my wife."

Wang Zhice finally appeared, informing everyone of a shocking fact.

Chen Changsheng did not appear surprised, as he had speculated this long ago.

The Tang Old Master and Xu Yourong had known of this secret even earlier.

Tang Thirty-Six was astonished, asking, "Lord Wang, you like men?"

Wang Zhice explained, "She is a woman. Her maiden name is Chen'er."

Black Robe was a woman!

Chen Changsheng was more concerned with the relationship between Black Robe, Zhou Dufu, and Wang Zhice.

It was no wonder that Black Robe had possessed the Soul Pivot and was able to send Nanke and the other demon experts into the Garden of Zhou.

It was no wonder that Wang Zhice, despite his abilities, had always appeared to be in a rather intractable position whenever he encountered Black Robe.

"The descent of the Angel army from the Sacred Light Continent will result in us going extinct or becoming servants of that God. Will that make you happy?"

Wang Zhice stared into Black Robe's eyes and gravely asked.

"Yes, the worse off you are, the happier I'll be."

Black Robe took off her hood, revealing her true face. Her sickly green complexion was suffused with the aura of death, but her face was still indescribably beautiful.

She harshly said to Wang Zhice, "On the day all of you killed Big Brother, I swore an oath to exterminate the Human race! Xingshandong trusted in my hatred of the Human race, but he had no idea that the extermination of the demons was also in my plans. He thought I didn't know that he had also taken part!"

These simple words were not spoken in any sort of tearful voice, but the temperature in the hall seemed to drop.

If these words were true, then this was unquestionably the most shameful conspiracy in all of history.

The Human, Demon, and Demi-human races had mobilized all their Divine Domain experts and all their schemes, finally succeeding in killing the supreme expert under the starry sky.

One could discount the demons and demi-humans, but that the human experts had also participated in this conspiracy was truly unforgivable.

No matter how ruthless was Zhou Dufu's personality or awful his reputation, or how many experts he killed or maimed in those hundreds of years of cultivation, he had still been the guardian of the Human race. If not for him, the demons would have broken through the walls of Luoyang many years ago and ruled over the continent. The Human race might have already been rendered extinct.

In the end, he had been callously sold out and killed.

"You should be exacting your revenge on Emperor Taizong or Lord Wang, but it shouldn't be us."

Chen Changsheng looked at Black Robe and said, "Because we've done nothing to offend you and your brother."

Black Robe did not expect him to still be so calm, and mocked, "So what? I'll just let the entire world accompany him in death."

With these words, that invisible string began to burn.

No one could see the flames, but they could sense the heat.

Chen Changsheng began to burn.

To be more precise, the Sacred Light in his blood and flesh began to burn.

It was a very special flame. It couldn't even ignite his clothes, but the light it exuded was exceptionally bright and gave off a divine aura.

Chen Changsheng looked less like a torch and more like a Night Pearl.

Zhizhi's eyes glowed as she said, "Let me eat him with one gulp!"

Xu Yourong shook her head.

Ignited by the demon flames, the Sacred Light began to undergo mystical transformations, and the light emitted was able to pass through solid objects.

If not even the Pope's Divine Robe or the roof of the Demon Hall could block this strange light, neither would a dragon's body.

Chen Changsheng turned to look at the night sky, his expression solemn.

He sensed that the light had come.