Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 783 – The Cry of the Surpassing Bird

The darkness arrived, descending over Chen Changsheng’s head.

Countless sword glows shone, traveling to and fro across the darkness as if attempting to cut everything into pieces.

No one knew if the darkness would be cut apart or the sword glows drowned out, and perhaps no one would ever know.

Because without any warning, a mighty and shocking explosion burst through the snowbound ruins of the courtyard!

It was like that star in the star region to the extreme north really had become a shooting star.

It was like that shooting star really had chosen to descend here.

It was falling right here.

The earth quaked, mud and ice were tossed up into the sky, and a green light flitted between them like bolts of lightning.

Two straight and clear sword slashes appeared in the darkness. One horizontal, one vertical, they formed a cross that was just beginning to slowly fade away.

The explosion and the two sword slashes had come from Nanke.

She stood beneath several willow trees, her hands holding the two absurdly long Southern Cross Swords, her eyes fixed on the nearby Demon Lord.

A stream of blood trickled from the corners of her lips, and her small body was covered in the terrifying marks left by corrosive Demon Qi. She had clearly suffered heavy injuries.

The Demon Lord’s face was pale and the grisly wound on his abdomen had deepened. A deep green light twinkled within.

He had also suffered significant injuries, and he had also been poisoned by the toxin that was the Peacock Plume.

No one had expected for Nanke to suddenly strike, much less strike at the Demon Lord.

Chen Changsheng had also not expected this. She was not the helper that he had been thinking of.

The Demon Lord stared into Nanke’s eyes, his slightly hoarse voice unable to conceal his shock and anger. “Have you gone crazy?”

In the past two years, Nanke had followed her father as they fled. From this aspect, she and the young Demon Lord were naturally irreconcilable foes. However, the Demon race was one that placed the most emphasis on respect for the strong. Tonight, the previous Demon Lord had died and had recognized the present Demon Lord’s status before dying. The situation was set, and as a member of the Demon race, especially as a member of the Imperial clan, she had absolutely no reason to continue opposing the Demon Lord. It must not be forgotten that the Demon Lord was her older brother and that Black Robe was her teacher.

The Demon Lord suppressed his emotions and said to her, “Of all my sisters, I loved you the most. You should also know very well that after the chaos in Xuelao City, all of my sisters are still alive. I didn’t even kill them, so I certainly won’t harm you, and yet…why do you insist on opposing me?”

Nanke’s expression remained wooden, as if she had not been the one to strike just now, but when she spoke, it was akin to the snow falling over Xuelao City, frigid and hard.

“My sisters are still alive, but all the males were killed by you. In your view, this was benevolence and familial love, but in my view, this was pity and contempt. In your eyes, we women are very weak and of no threat to your throne.

“This is what I hate the most.”

Nanke spoke to the Demon Lord, but she was also speaking to her father on the ground. She looked at the crystalline corpse left behind by her father and spoke, her voice carrying an extremely complex mixture of emotions. “Father, it turns out that you never once thought about letting me lead the Divine race.”

The space between her eyes was somewhat wide, and the expression in her eyes still seemed rather dull, but she could also show an incredibly complex mixture of emotions. It was because her voice was slightly shaking, her lips slightly trembling, and perhaps also because her Demon heart was also slightly trembling.

“When I was very young, I displayed the blood of the Surpassing Bird, for which you were very happy, bringing me out for every banquet. Later on, when Xu Yourong proved that her talent was better than mine, you stopped liking me. I always felt that Sir had been preparing to raise me into Sir’s successor, to have me become the future ruler of the Divine race, but realized that I was too weak to bear this responsibility, and thus was disappointed.”

Nanke gazed at the deceased Demon Lord and continued, “I did not want Sir to be disappointed, so I worked hard to make myself stronger. After innumerable trials, I was finally able to take the Military Advisor as my teacher, I entered the Garden of Zhou with the intention of killing of Xu Yourong, I did many things…even when Teacher and the others betrayed Sir, I still did not give up on Sir. I risked the annihilation of my body and soul, suffered unimaginable pain, to rescue Sir from the abyss. I believed that in this way, I could prove my power and loyalty to Sir. In this way, Sir would like me again, value me again, but in the end…”

She raised her head to that dim star in the north, her expression indifferent. “At the very end, Sir was not even willing to glance at me.”

Only tonight, only at this very moment, did the young Demon Lord come to know that his younger sister actually thought this way. Although she had the blood of the Surpassing Bird, although she was extremely talented, with a fighting intent that was rarely seen in their snowy domain, although she was actually incredibly intelligent despite her dull appearance…

“In the end, you are still a woman,” the Demon Lord harshly said.

He believed that this was one of the reasons his father had never once considered letting Nanke inherit the throne.

“Who said that women can’t become the Demon Lord?”

Nanke drew back her gaze, staring once more into the young Demon Lord’s eyes.

Her gaze was still rather dull, yet there was also a burning fervor in her eyes, as if something was blazing in their depths.

“Was Tianhai not a woman? Do you dare say that you will do more than she did in the future?”

No person could answer this question.

The Demon Lord also found himself incapable of speaking out against his own beliefs.

Nanke continued, “Since women are also capable, why did Teacher pick you, why did Father pick you?”

The Demon Lord gazed at her silhouette for a very long time, and then smiled.

“Because I’m stronger than you, and my Divine race emphasizes respect for the strong, so Teacher and Royal Father ultimately chose me.”

Nanke looked into his eyes, her voice somewhat mechanical. “If I kill you, I will naturally prove that I am stronger than you.”

The Demon Lord had a serene expression as he replied, “You will die. Even if you manage to win one or two exchanges by a fluke, just who are you trying to prove yourself to?”

“Although he can no longer see, I still want to try.”

The Southern Cross Swords in Nanke’s hands tilted forward like two spears piercing through the darkness.

The crazed howling of the wind instantly swallowed up all conversation as green lines of light representing her wings traced through the darkness.

Darkness imbued with a thick Demon Qi and the starlight cleaved out by the Southern Cross Swords incessantly clashed in the valley.

In an extremely brief period of time, the Demon Lord and Nanke exchanged several dozen blows, after which they parted.

The Demon Lord was still standing, golden blood spreading along his chest, but he did not totter, seemingly imbued with a great power.

Nanke lay fallen on the cracked earth of the lakebed, one hand propping her up from the ground. It was already very difficult for her to stand.

The Demon Lord had clearly won, but there was no pride on his face. On the contrary, he appeared very grave.

“So your divine soul actually went through its second awakening…no wonder you could leave the abyss.”

Nanke did not reply, only stared at the golden blood flowing out of his body.

In this exchange, she had received heavy injuries, her right wing even showing a tear.

From that tear, grief-stricken weeping could be heard.