Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

If the question arose from anger or derision, it would be easy to answer, but Chen Changsheng had asked with sincerity.

He truly did want to know the answer.

From the moment he saw Daoist Wu in the stone chamber and knew that Wang Zhice had appeared, he began to ponder this question, but he had never been able to find an answer.

Since one side needed to yield, why couldn’t it be their side?

If retreat meant falling into the abyss and death, then why couldn’t they be the ones to die?

Why could these idealists who were willing to lose their heads and spill their blood for the sake of all living beings not make this choice?

Wang Zhice did not know how he should answer.

In his long life, he had never believed himself to have accomplished nothing. He had made many contributions, done many things for the Human race.

And he believed that he held a great compassion for this world.

So whenever he turned to look back on the past, he did not feel any remorse or shame, only serenity and self-confidence.

Only today, upon hearing this question, did he realize that this had just been wind blowing across the hard dumpling skin, that none of the true flavor had been boiled out from within.

......

......

Wang Zhice had found himself unable to answer Chen Changsheng’s question because he knew that this was a real question.

Others did not know that this was an actual question, so they naturally believed that Chen Changsheng was shaming Wang Zhice.

Angry retorts and sharp criticisms rose one after the other.

"Then why don’t you die?"

"Your Holiness, you can also die!"

"Can you and the Holy Maiden combined be more important than the venerable Daoist? Be more important than Lord Wang?"

From a realistic perspective, these criticisms were very reasonable.

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were both extremely talented, but they were still very young and still needed a great deal of time to enter the Divine Domain.

Shang Xingzhou and Wang Zhice, on the other hand, were legendary experts with long-established reputations.

If the humans wanted to defeat the demons, the latter pair were more important.

"My words have only to do with reason, not with strong or weak, or else Zhou Dufu would not have died back then."

Chen Changsheng’s comment caused the crowd to gradually fall silent.

Until today, the entire continent could not be sure whether Zhou Dufu was dead or alive, but countless theories had circulated around the continent over the centuries.

Those rumors often involved Wang Zhice, and they were all extremely dark.

Wang Zhice seemed to think of something, and his expression slightly darkened.

Chen Changsheng continued, "Some people believe that all the living beings of the world are important and are worth the sacrifice of countless people, and then they come to demand this of me, which brings me to my question. As for myself, I do not believe this is right, so I naturally don’t need to answer this question."

He was both responding to the criticisms and speaking so that Wang Zhice could hear.

Wang Zhice was quiet for a very long time and finally gave a rueful sigh. "In the end, it’s just out of selfishness."

Everyone fell silent.

After some time, Chen Changsheng said, "So it was really just selfishness."

Xu Yourong calmly looked at him, knowing that he was deeply anguished.

This was not the answer that Chen Changsheng wanted, even though he already knew this might be the answer before he had even asked the question.

From the Hundred Herb Garden to the Mausoleum of Books, the characters on stage were constantly changing, but the plays being staged were still those trite and banal plots.

There had never been anything new beneath the starry sky.

But how would the story end this time?

If... alas, there was no ’if’.

After several hundred years, Wang Zhice had once more appeared before the people of the world.

How many people would still be willing to support Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong?

The experts from the south were quiet, while the Mutuo clan’s Old Lady and the head of the Wu clan seemed to have disappeared.

How many of those Li Palace priests and Orthodoxy cavalry so loyal to Chen Changsheng would still have the courage to raise their weapons once they knew that they were fighting Wang Zhice?

The Prince of Zhongshan snorted, displeasure appearing on his face, but the other princes, ministers, and several Divine Generals were clearly rather relieved.

In their view, the outcome today was already obvious.

At this moment, several youths walked into the Mausoleum of Books.

They came to the front of the Divine Path, met up with the Sword Hall elders, and then stood behind Xu Yourong.

There was no hesitation in the entire process, no discussion. Both movement and expression were extremely natural.

Xu Yourong faintly smiled at them.

Chen Changsheng nodded in greeting.

Wang Zhice had never met these youths, but he could guess that they were Gou Hanshi, Guan Feibai, and Bai Cai.

The Mount Li Sword Sect was the Human race’s vanguard against the demons over the last several hundred years. They had a superb reputation and wielded powerful influence.

Wang Zhice still knew of this despite living far away from society, but he did not know of the events taking place in the last few years.

When he saw the Mount Li Sword Sect so firmly standing behind Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong, he couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

The experts of the southern sects, princes, and ministers were shocked, or perhaps they were uneasy.

Gou Hanshi and the others were part of the acclaimed Divine Kingdom’s Seven Laws, but they were still young. The Sword Hall elders were the true elite experts.

More importantly, their actions represented the will of the Mount Li Sword Sect Master.

The will of an expert of the Divine Domain had to be respected, even by Wang Zhice and Shang Xingzhou.

Soon after, another expert of the Divine Domain came forward.

The chilly breeze sent snow onto the pitch-black blade. The snow did not melt, but stuck to its surface.

Hugging his blade, Wang Po said, "Chen Changsheng spoke correctly. If one has to yield, it should be your side."

Even if Mao Qiuyu and Cao Yunping were present, they would have found it very difficult to endure the pressure given off by Wang Zhice.

This was also perhaps why the Mount Li Sword Sect Master had not personally appeared.

But Wang Po had chosen without hesitation to express his support for Chen Changsheng, and he even seemed to be revealing some of his edge.

The generation of blooming wildflowers had begun with Wang Po.

It was perhaps for this reason that the senior experts of humanity had always admired him.

Excepting Zhu Luo and Su Li.

Wang Zhice also admired Wang Po, so he was even more confused.

He asked, "Why?"

Wang Po replied, "Because he is younger than you."

Wang Zhice arched his brows. "Younger?"

"To be young is to be correct."

Wang Po added, "To put it another way, when people get old, they’re liable to become senile."

Wang Zhice said, "Excessive thought truly does make one lose some edge, but one must be cautious when considering the overarching situation."

Wang Po said, "When my clan was being eradicated under Emperor Taizong’s decree, you said nothing. Was this also for the overarching situation?"

Wang Zhice’s brows rose again. He wanted to explain that Taizong was already suspicious of him back then and he had no power in the court, and... But when he saw those impoverished brows, he suddenly felt that explanations were meaningless. He could only chuckle bitterly.

At this moment, Shang Xingzhou suddenly spoke to Chen Changsheng.

"If you want to see your teacher’s heart, just these words alone are not enough."

These words were somewhat incomprehensible.

But Chen Changsheng understood, because this had always been his intention.

"Yes, so I’ve thought of a method which will help us clearly see just what we want."

"What method?"

"None of us is willing to yield or willing to die, and we also want to prove that we’re right, so let’s fight a battle."

"I believed that we were fighting this entire time."

"No, there are too many people in this fight."

"Every person has their own reason to fight."

"In the end, however, this is a matter between the two of us, so why drag the entire world in?"

Chen Changsheng looked at Shang Xingzhou and sincerely said, "Master, let’s fight. The loser will follow the orders of the winner."