Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

As the magical artifact shattered, a strand of Qi emerged from the squad leader's hand, spreading with remarkable speed across the entire cliff.

The corpses of the human soldiers, whether on the ground, or on the spears of the demon soldiers, or in the mouths of their wolves, responded to this Qi, and a weaker Qi, almost like a scent, emerged from their bodies.

This Qi was like an invisible flame that was now igniting a long-hidden kindling.

The demon soldiers seemed to sense something, and a smear of shock appeared in their green eyes. With a set of sharp shouts, they waved their spears to cast those human corpses far away, at the same time jerking on the leather reins around the necks of their wolves, intending to turn and retreat.

But it was too late.

These strange wolves were very dimwitted and had no inkling of what was going on, so they were somewhat unwilling to throw away the human corpses in their mouths. At this moment, a bright yellow ball of light emerged from the deceased humans. Simultaneously, more balls of yellow light lit up all across the cliff.

Boomboomboomboom!

Terrifying explosions rumbled through the mountains like claps of thunder. Then a fire began to blaze, almost instantly transforming the area into a sea of flames.

The hard rock was exploded into chunks and then melted by the blazing flames into lava that splashed onto the demon soldiers.

The wolves met an even more miserable fate. Their heads were immediately blown to bits, transforming into mangled piles of flesh and meat bearing no resemblance to their original appearance.

Howls of misery continuously rose up from the disorderly mountains, but they were unable to pass through the sea of flames and surging waves of Qi, and quickly died away.

Just like this, the demon soldiers and their wolf mounts died.

The surging waves of Qi carved out a smooth slope on the mountain cliffs before mixing into the heavens and earth.

The sea of flames, however, persisted for a very long time as the flames gradually lost their energy.

The squad leader released his hold on the scorched black item on his forearm that was once a small shield, and began to slowly crawl to the back.

His right arm had been completely destroyed by the explosive might of the magical artifact and his chest was also a bloody mess, with bones faintly visible. He had suffered severe injuries, but he was still not dead.

Before he died, he still had one task that he had to complete: killing the array master.

He deeply respected the young array master, who would assuredly have had the best prospects if he survived, and such an outstanding human should not be frozen or starved to death. And also…the day before yesterday, he had received an order. By no means could he let this young array master fall into the hands of the demons. If it was necessary, he could kill him.

With some difficulty, he crawled up to the stretcher. As he gasped a few tired breaths, he looked at the young array master on the stretcher with a rather complex and sorrowful expression.

The magical artifact he had used to kill the five demon soldiers had naturally been no ordinary magical artifact, but a very strange sort that was more similar to an array. This sort of magical artifact that used the power of an array was extremely rare, and its method of use was excessively cruel. The Great Zhou Army had essentially never used them before.

It was said that this set of magical artifacts came from the Wenshui Tangs. He could possess this sort of magical artifact because he was the general's trusted subordinate, and also because the small squad of the Mount Song Army that he led was often entrusted with very important missions, like protecting or killing this young array master.

Even at the moment of their deaths, the soldiers under him never knew that this magical artifact had been planted in their bodies long ago.

When he thought of the order the general gave to him before the battle, the squad leader revealed a rather perplexed expression.

For this person, the important figures of the Mount Song Army had clearly made many arrangements in advance, even preparing to bury this small squad.

"Just who are you?" he muttered to the unconscious young array master on the stretcher.

Before he killed this person, he had a deep desire to know his name and surname. Perhaps it was only this way that he could feel a little consolation.

Regretfully, this person had suffered a backlash on the battlefield and been severely wounded. It was utterly impossible for him to awaken and answer his question.

He laboriously pulled out a dagger, aimed it at the young array master's throat, and then closed his eyes. After taking a deep breath, he pushed down.

But he did not hear the sound of the throat breaking, nor did he feel the dagger puncture through flesh.

He opened his eyes and saw to his astonishment that the dagger was being clutched between two fingers, utterly incapable of pressing forward.

Even more astonishingly, these two fingers belonged to the young array master.

At some point, the array master had awakened and opened his eyes, and was now quietly watching.

His eyes were very cold, completely devoid of emotion. They were like the ice covering these mountains, but there were bloodstains beneath this ice that exuded a faint stench of blood.

The squad leader came to his senses and felt an inexplicable fear upon looking at the array master's eyes.

The young array master lightly flicked his fingers, taking the dagger, but doing nothing after that.

The squad leader quickly explained what had just occurred.

The young array master seemed to be in deep thought.

The squad leader had no more strength. Exhausted, he sat on the ground and said in gratitude, "You're still alive, so the deaths of my brothers will not have been wasted."

The young array master's voice seemed particularly cold. "Do you really think that any of you pieces of trash can decide whether I live or die? I just didn't want to act."

"What?" The squad leader froze, not daring to believe what he had just heard.

What did this mean? After spending a few moments in amazed stupefaction, he became furious, pointing at the burned corpses on the cliffs and wanting to reprimand the array master.

The young array master did not give him a chance. A terrifying Qi emerged from those cold and cruel eyes, instantly jolting him to death, transforming him into a blood-covered corpse. Then, this corpse began to blaze from the remaining flames left behind by the magical artifact, producing an unpleasant smell.

"Regardless of whether it was out of kindness or to carry out an order, you still attempted to kill me."

The young array master apathetically stared at the burning corpse and declared, "So you needed to die."

The howling of the cold wind gradually extinguished the embers on the cliff, dispersing those mixed and unpleasant scents.

The demon soldiers and their wolf mounts had been at the very center of the attacks of ten-some magical artifacts, and they were burned by a sea of flames. The only thing that remained of them was a rough outline, and it was impossible to make out their original appearances. Then ten-some bodies of the human soldiers were also in an awful state. In short, it was a dismal scene, a cruel environment.

But the young array master did not leave, instead lying back down on the stretcher.

He closed his eyes as if unable to see the hellish mountainside, unable to smell the charred bodies, unable to feel the chill of the wind. Just like that, he fell asleep.