Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The elder from Mount Li gazed silently at Liang Xiaoxiao for a very long time, then turned to Zhexiu under the scholar tree and asked emotionlessly, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Zhexiu closed his eyes and said, "Since he relied on the demons, anyone could kill him. If it were me that killed him, I would not need to conceal myself. But, I was not the one who killed him."

The forest grew restless. The Mount Li elder's face was like ice as he frigidly said, "Martial Nephew Liang is already dead and you actually dare to splash the departed's body with filthy water? That's really too shameless."

Only now was Zhexiu finally aware that Liang Xiaoxiao was dead. He roughly understood the entire situation and suddenly felt thoroughly exhausted.

"Take him with us to Mount Li so we can interrogate him." The Mount Li elder looked at Zhexiu like he was looking at a dead man.

At his words, more than ten Longevity Sect disciples encircled Zhexiu. Around them were even more cultivators from the south, watching Zhexiu's actions to prevent him from suddenly putting up a fight.

Just then, Zhu Luo impassively said, "Slow yourselves."

The Storms of the Eight Directions were humanity's strongest cultivators, so their status was naturally special. His words even caused that Mount Li elder whose rage had reached its peak to temporarily cool down.

"I most detest these sorts of scenes where matters are taken care of without anything being made clear."

Zhu Luo pointed at the unconscious Qi Jian and asked, "By your reasoning, the only culprits for killing Liang Xiaoxiao, besides Zhexiu, are Qi Jian and even Chen Changsheng?"

The Mount Li elder slowly said, "This is Mount Li's affair and I would ask that Sir respect it."

"This is not Mount Li's affair, it regards a matter that occurred within the Garden of Zhou." Zhu Luo gave him in an indifferent look and continued, "Because I am presiding over this year's opening of the Garden of Zhou, anything that happened within must be made clear by me."

Restraining his anger, the Mount Li elder asked, "Could it be that you still don't understand this matter?"

"Exceedingly so." Zhu Luo cared not one bit for the elder's response and casually continued, "Zhexiu has performed much military service for my Great Zhou. You accuse him of colluding with the demons? Fine. But if Qi Jian also participated in this matter, then could it be that he has also thrown his lot in with the demons? He is also a disciple of your Mount Li. For what reason would he join hands with this wolf youth and deal with his own senior brother?"

The Mount Li elder thought about the meaning behind Liang Xiaoxiao's gaze before he died. After a moment of silence, he walked over to Zhu Luo and whispered, "This matter involves the good name of Mount Li. I request Sir not to inquire any further."

Zhu Luo slightly raised his brow. It must be known that while reputation and good name seemed to have similar meanings, there was a subtle difference.

The Mount Li elder continued to suppress his voice. "Martial Nephew Qi Jian… although we temporarily don't know what happened between him and Zhexiu, we absolutely cannot inquire about it in front of all these people. Because his identity is very special."

This conversation could only be heard by the two of them. Zhu Luo was very cautious with him and asked, "His identity?"

After a moment of silence, the Mount Li elder replied, "He… is actually a girl."

Looking at Zhexiu under the scholar tree, Zhu Luo seemed to understand. "No wonder it has to do with your good name."

The Mount Li elder said, "I continue to ask Sir for your understanding."

Zhu Luo shook his head. "This is still not enough. It is true that Mount Li's reputation is important, but not more important than truth or life and death.

The Mount Li elder hesitated for a few moments, then finally clenched his teeth and said, "She is Martial Uncle's daughter."

Zhu Luo's expression became a little more severe. He looked into the elder's eyes and asked, "Which martial uncle?"

The Mount Li elder whispered, "Junior Martial Uncle."

At these three words, Zhu Luo fell into a long period of silence.

The Storms of the Eight Directions possessed a supremely majestic position in the human world, only sitting below the Five Saints. Logically, no name would make him feel fear, but there was one name that was an exception.

So she was Su Li's daughter, actually Su Li's daughter. No wonder Mount Li's Sect Master took her as his last disciple, all of Mount Li seemed to treat her as a treasure, and even Qiushan Jun and Gou Hanshi held her in the palms of their hands.

Gazing at the unconscious Qi Jian as he thought of these things, Zhu Luo shook his head.

The Mount Li elder said, "Many thanks to Sir for his understanding. Of course, if Qi Jian truly did use her sword in the Garden of Zhou, the Discipline Hall will absolutely use the rules of the sect. We will communicate the final result to Sir as speedily as possible."

Zhu Luo said nothing, indicating his approval. This truly was something that had happened in the Garden of Zhou, but the Mount Li Sword Sect had already brought up this matter, and moreover, Su Li was also involved. He no longer felt like taking on this matter.

But on this scene, besides him, there was still one other venerable elder whose words had the most power.

With a signal from the elder of the Mount Li Sword Sect, people carried away the stretchers holding Qi Jian and Liang Xiaoxiao. Zhexiu inclined his ear and heard activity from that location. His body slightly leaned forward as if he was prepared to do something, but in the end, he did not do anything.

As the Mount Li Sword Sect was prepared to also take Zhexiu away, the other venerable elder finally spoke.

From the time the Garden of Zhou had been destroyed and that green hill vanished without a trace, archbishop Mei Lisha had been staring vacantly at that place once filled with dense fog. His elderly face had further aged, his turbid eyes grown even muddier. He had not paid any attention to what was going on in the forest, until now. He turned around and expressionlessly said, "Leave him behind."

The Mount Li Sword Sect elder declared, "This is my Mount Li..."

"The one who died is a disciple of your Mount Li, the opponent is also apparently a disciple of your Mount Li. I care not for the trifling internal affairs of your Mount Li. But why do you carry away Zhexiu? Because of Liang Xiaoxiao's dying words? Are you not saying that if Chen Changsheng was still alive, you would also take him away to your Mount Li?"

Mei Lisha slowly ambled back into the forest and gazed at the Mount Li elder. "Is that your reasoning?"

That Mount Li elder said nothing, but the newly appointed lecturer from the Heavenly Dao Academy hesitantly opened his mouth. "Your Eminence, if Chen Changsheng really is involved in this matter, then he would also have to be closely questioned."

"The dead can no longer speak, allowing you people to splash filthy water on his body? I seemed to have heard someone say as such just a moment ago." Mei Lisha looked at that lecturer from the Heavenly Dao Academy and emotionlessly said, "As for questioning…Chen Changsheng is the Principal of the Orthodox Academy. What right does a mere lecturer like you have to question him? Besides His Holiness, who has the right to question him?"

He glanced at Zhexiu under the scholar tree and continued, "Your Mount Li's good name is important, but does that mean that my Orthodoxy's reputation is not important then? This matter of the wolf youth concerns the reputation of my Orthodoxy. I am taking him back with me to the capital. Are there any objections?"

Zhu Luo replied, "I have no objections."

Since not even he had an objection, no one else present had the right to have an objection, including those southern cultivators and the Mount Li elder who very clearly did have objections. Mei Lisha looked at the Mount Li elder and coldly said, "If Mount Li has an objection, let your Sect Master come and make it, or let Su Li come and make it."

The Mount Li elder could no longer restrain himself and exploded with anger. "The one who died is a disciple of my Mount Li!"

"Is a dead man so amazing? It couldn't be that just because he died, this matter is suddenly no longer riddled with errors, no longer a complete mess?" Mei Lisha's voice grew even colder. "In addition, my mood right now is very bad. His Holiness's mood is also about to be very bad; the entire Orthodoxy's mood is about to be very bad, because Chen Changsheng has died. The Principal of the Orthodox Academy, Chen Changsheng, has died!"

The old man looked out into the sky outside the forest and lamented in frustration, "What could be more important than this? Even if the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws were killed to a man, would it be more sorrowful than this?"

Chen Changsheng could imagine that everyone outside Hanqiu City would definitely think that he was already dead. This was because he did not leave through the gate of the Garden of Zhou, but was instead through some exceptionally mystical method directly transported tens of thousands of li away to the snowy plains. He could also imagine that there were would be many different reactions to news of his death. Some would be ecstatic, others would feel like there was a weight off their minds, while there would also be some that would be overcome by grief and sadness.

The final group of people were all people that truly cared for him, like Luoluo, Tang Thirty-Six, Xuanyuan Po, Guardian Jin, and perhaps Mo Yu might also feel some regret. He even felt that Gou Hanshi and Guan Feibai, these disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect, might be amongst this group. This was not even mentioning those elders in the Orthodoxy and that elf girl.

He did not want those people to feel sorrowful and anxious, so he was very worried. He was anxious to swiftly return to the human world so that he could relay the news of his survival as quickly as possible to the capital, letting everyone know that he was alive. Unfortunately, the snowy plain in the land of demons was much too far from the human world, and senior Su Li… was truly rather heavy.

Their escape through the snowy plains had truly gone rather smoothly.

A true expert in the path of the sword necessarily possessed a vast wisdom and intelligence, no matter the aspect, like the culinary arts or the art of tea. This was because the myriad paths were all interconnected. Escape could also be called a retreat, which could be considered a part of the military arts, so Su Li was also very skilled at it.

The sword move which he had used to cleave at the sky had been very carefully chosen.

The blow had cut upon a sword path several hundred li long that pointed straight south, coinciding extremely well with the true meaning of the path of the sword: the straightest is the shortest, and the shortest is the fastest. Yet who could have thought that this strike's true ending point was actually southwest in some snowy ridge?

Black Robe had vaguely sensed this, but when the demon army finally adjusted its tactics and began to surround that ridge from the east and the west, the only things remaining by the edge of the hot spring were a few bloodstains and a jasmine flower.

At that point, Su Li was four hundred li away on a glacier.

Of course, he was on Chen Changsheng's back.

Chen Changsheng's body had been washed in dragon blood. It seemed to possess a boundless energy and a mighty strength, sufficient to display astonishing speeds. For him to run four hundred li in such a short time truly was rather astonishing. Even Su Li found himself somewhat amazed. It was just that in the face of that wind and snow that cut at his face like a knife, it would often be the case that when he thought to give Chen Changsheng a few words of praise, only angry reprimands would leave his mouth.

He did not pause at the glacier. Following the cracks in the ice, Chen Changsheng continued to run southwards. He felt somewhat thirsty, so he thrust his hands into the cliff of ice by his side, scoring two clear marks through the light blue and beautiful ice and sending shards of ice flying. He stuffed a piece of ice into his mouth and felt that his body, boiling from his running, had somewhat cooled down and felt quite comfortable.

Running through glaciers and snowy plains, passing over snowy ridges and great mountains, Chen Changsheng continued to run with Su Li on his back. When he was thirsty, he would chew on some ice. When he was hungry, he would… endure. He went day and night without sleep, until one day, he finally saw the walls of a human town in the distance.

Just like this, he had crossed the ten thousand li of the snowy plains of the land of demons.

He could no longer hold on and instantly fell backwards.