Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

In the early summer, the humans and demons had fought a grandiose battle around Mount Nuorilang.

The Divine Domain experts of each side stepped onto stage one after the other. The demons suffered grievous casualties and the humans also paid a hefty price.

In no other battle after it did so many Divine Domain experts appear at the same time on the battlefield.

A great array was buried under Mount Nuorilang, and the demon armies had used it to launch a surprise attack and then completely withdraw.

Mao Qiuyu and Daoist Siyuan, who were the two with the greatest understanding of divine arts, had personally inspected the array and confirmed that it could no longer be used.

Many human troops had passed through this valley to reach the north in the aftermath, and none of them had encountered any problems.

No one could have ever expected that the demon armies had not completely retreated.

The battlefield had been in complete chaos as Wang Po and the Demon Commander fought, and two thousand wolf cavalry had used this opportunity to hide in the western foothills.

The western foothills had been affected by the watery clouds drifting from the Western Sea for a longer period of time than the rest of the mountains, and after millions of years of erosion, they had become pockmarked with caves of all sizes.

These wolf cavalry had hidden themselves in the deepest reaches of these caves, avoiding the sharp eyes of the Red Falcons and the scouting spiritual senses of the humans.

Of course, it also had to do with Divine General He Ming's demand that the army advance quickly to break through the second line of defense, causing the clean-up of the battlefield to be less attentive.

As the human armies traveled through the valley to the highlands in the north so as to continue the fight, the two thousand wolf cavalry remained in the caves, not once poking out their heads. When they were hungry, they would eat dried meat, and when they were thirsty, they would eat the snow on the mountains, living an abnormally excruciating life.

If they had not prepared themselves for this, they might have already starved to death.

Even so, the wolf cavalry had suffered great losses in their many days of concealment, the number of wounded and ill beginning to pile up.

Any wolf cavalry who had injuries too difficult to treat were executed on the spot. The ill were stripped of their armor and weapons and thrown into the caves to see if they would improve or die.

In the end, twelve hundred wolf cavalry survived.

They were thin and tired, but also determined and fearless. The dark green light in their eyes made them seem like actual wolves.

It was truly difficult to endure this long concealment, but the most difficult to endure was the temptation.

Human supply convoys would often pass through the plains below, and the protection of these convoys was not very strong. Coupled with the fact that no one would have expected demons to be hiding in the mountains, the wolf cavalry would just need to charge down the mountain to guarantee an easy victory and loot those supplies. But they knew that they had not hidden here for so many days just so that they could rob some ordinary supply convoy. Rather, at the most critical moment of the war, they would deliver the heaviest blow to the human army.

The reasoning was very simple, but an extremely unusual leader was still necessary to prevent these cruel wolf cavalry from falling to temptation.

His order was also very unusual.

"Burn all of their provisions and then kill them in the final charge."

There was no fear in the eyes of the demon soldiers, only excitement and passion. But they made no sound, and even the giant wolves only began to pant a little faster.

This had also been an order, one that had been in place for many days, so long that the soldiers had even begun to doubt that they could speak.

Twelve hundred wolf cavalry descended down the mountain.

The leader's gaze followed them, ultimately resting on the distant plains, on that supply convoy that extended for several dozen li.

He had already confirmed the relevant information: the number of human cavalry, human experts, and most importantly… the quantity of supplies.

He knew that Xuelao City had already begun its counterattack so as to divert the attention of the humans and to keep their main force of cavalry around the city.

All of it was to provide him the necessary conditions to burn all the supplies in this convoy.

If he succeeded, the demon armies outside Xuelao City would withdraw into the city as quickly as possible.

As for the twenty thousand tribal warriors outside, they would be callously abandoned.

In his view, these lower-class demons of inferior intelligence were no different from beasts, so it didn't matter how many of them died.

In any case, these lower-class demons were not particularly loyal, nor were they particularly brave in battle, unless they had eaten that medicine.

He had brought back insufficient quantities of medicine from the Longevity Sect, or else this war would not have been so difficult.

If this attack succeeded, unless the human armies were willing to eat the bodies of the lower-class demons, they would have to retreat before the winter set in.

Based on his understanding of the Human race, such a hypocritical and argumentative species could never do such a thing.

This would buy half a year for Xuelao City.

Half a year was enough for many things to happen.

And the momentum of the humans would be dealt a massive blow.

He truly did understand the Human race.

He was confident that internal problems in the Human race would slowly begin to emerge.

Thus…

This was the final battle.

As he gazed at the convoy on the plains, he silently thought to himself:

If we win, we will continue to exist.

If we lose, we will no longer exist.

……

……

This young leader was called Gao Huan, and he was over one thousand years old.

Seven hundred years ago, he was serving as the Chief Elder of the Demon Council of Elders.

He had been the youngest Chief Elder in demon history.

But on the day that he became Chief Elder, he was imprisoned by that powerful Demon Lord in the abyss.

He had been imprisoned in the abyss for seven hundred years.

It was only this year that he was released by the newly enthroned Demon Lord.

His face had been pale and emaciated, but he was still alive, and just like he did seven hundred years ago, he looked like a youth.

Plume after plume of dust began to rise from the plains.

The wolf cavalry had begun to attack the supply convoy.

It was too far for the sounds of fighting to reach the summit, so it was still very quiet.

He gazed at the battle on the plains and began to sing.

This song was sung in one of the oldest languages of the Demon race. It was timeworn and lonesome, and the meaning was very simple.

"The Moon had been there, shining upon her returning like a drifting cloud1."

The singing voice gradually faded, and when it finally stopped, it was obvious that he had not reached the end of the song.

A hint of focus appeared on his tender face as he gazed at the distant plains, an intense killing intent appearing in his clean and stainless eyes.

'Cruel innocence' was a description that perfectly matched him.

The assault of the wolf cavalry had not proceeded as smoothly as had been imagined. They quickly encountered obstructions, even challenges.

At the start, the humans had panicked, surprised to see so many wolf cavalry around Mount Nuorilang. But this disorder was quickly pacified, the convoy extending for several dozen li swiftly breaking into ten-some segments, the large wagons working as quickly as possible to bring the head and tail together, forming round circles of wagons. The several thousand cavalry, on the other hand, split into three groups and worked with the circles of carriages to block the assault of the wolf cavalry. Everything proceeded smoothly, calmly, and steadily.

For the human armies to possess this quality was not surprising to Gao Huan. Although this army was completely different from the one he had seen at Luoyang, if the human armies were not even capable of this feat, how could they have dealt successive defeats to the armies of the Divine race and besieged Xuelao City?

What truly made him wary was how easygoing the human soldiers had appeared in this process. Even a commander of many victories would find it hard to nurture such a trait, especially when suddenly attacked by more than a thousand wolf cavalry. This easygoing nature seemed more like preparations had been made in advance.

The wolf cavalry madly attacked the supply convoy with no thoughts of retreat. The defense lines set up by the several thousand human cavalry instantly became rather thin, and swiftly began to totter. An opening was made in the northwest and the battle quickly became a bloody melee.

A heavy black axe silently flew through the sky, cleaving a supply wagon in half and cutting off the head of a peasant. Ten-some Sacred Light crossbow bolts shot out from the cracks in the circle of wagons, all of them striking the chest of a burly demon soldier. His body began to burn with sacred flames that left him a caramelized shell. The entire process occurred without a single noise.

Deaths were happening at every moment, and different shades of blood carrying identical wills sprinkled over the world. In a short time, around three hundred wolf cavalry had fallen on the plains, and even more human cavalry and members of the supply convoy had stopped breathing.

Such a desperate battle had no effect on Gao Huan.

He stood on a mountain to the west, watching the plains, quietly waiting, his young face devoid of emotion.

To him, both the human soldiers and the demon cavalry who had accompanied him for so many days were all ants.

He seemed like a youth, but he was already incredibly old.

And he had spent seven hundred years in the evil world that was the bottom of the abyss. His body had already begun to rot from the inside, and he could not last for much longer.

In other words, the number of times he could strike with all his strength was limited, so he had to be sure that the one he attacked was the most worthwhile target.

He was currently observing, wanting to find the human commander and those experts hidden in their carriages who were still not willing to fight.

Time slowly passed, and as the sun sank into the west, the shadow cast by the mountain on the plains began to extend. It was on the verge of engulfing all the beings engaged in pitched battle.

The defenses of the human convoy had been broken time and time again, and many of the supply wagons had been burned. From a distance, they appeared to be stars of fire. The one in the most dangerous situation was the first circle of wagons to the north. It was about to be completely broken through by the wolf cavalry, and the minor officials and peasants seemed ready to escape. It seemed like they wanted to surrender.

But the wolf cavalry were already at their limits and met them with certain death. Their sustained frenzied assault had finally managed to break one circle of wagons, but the humans still had ten-some more. Crucially, too many of their comrades and brothers had fallen on the plains, and not even half of the wolf cavalry remained.

On the battlefield, when both sides were reaching their breaking point, it often meant that something was about to change. This was what the situation and willpower demanded, and today was no exception.

Today was a clear day, the sky blue and free of clouds. At this moment, the light of the setting sun was beginning to redden when a white line was suddenly drawn across it.

This white line was straight, stretching from a cliff on a westward mountain to the plains.

The winds howled, stirring grass and rocks, and chilling the atmosphere.

Several thousand drops of rain suddenly dropped from the sky. It was rather chilly as it fell on the faces of the people in the wagon circles, but its taste was perplexingly dull.

A youth had suddenly appeared atop a tent.

His clothes were rather dirty, but they were made of gorgeous materials. On the outside, he wore a suit of flexible armor woven from the thorns of a Monster Bull's tail, which was free of any other adornments. His helmet, however, had a dazzling jewel embedded in its center, but it could not conceal the brilliance exuded by his young face.

"A Divine Domain expert!"

Someone cried out in shock and despair.

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1. This line originates from a poem by Yan Jidao called "临江仙·梦后楼台高锁". In the poem, Yan Jidao is waxing nostalgic over his relationship with a singing girl. In the past, he was able to watch as the singing girl came back under the moonlight, but now he can no longer see her.