Published at 25th of May 2024 8:42 am

Chapter 796: Martyr

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When Tang Jie walked back in from outside, he had regained his composure.

Standing in front of Chu Xitong, Tang Jie spoke in a genial tone. "The defeat of Godhead Palace is certain, and attempting to preserve everything you have is a delusion. Human King Chu, I still suggest that you face reality."

Chu Xitong stared at him. "Were these the only words you could think of in the time you went out?"

She coldly laughed. "An hour isn't that long, and my Godhead Palace's Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation is about to hit its limit. Freedom Celestial Sovereign, if you continue to delay, I'm afraid there won't be anything left to think about."

That slender hand placed on the statue began to glow with spiritual energy.

Before this, every blow to the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation felt like a nail in her heart, but now, she wanted nothing more than for the formation to shatter so that she could destroy the ancestral statue.

Tang Jie was unhurried, smiling. "It's still holding for now. Human King Chu, there's no need to be so quick to die."

Chu Xitong smiled. "It is my honor to die for Godhead Palace. It's not something someone as selfish as you can understand."

Tang Jie nodded. "In other words, you are a loyal subject?"

"Yes, so what about it?" Chu Xitong proudly replied.

To her surprise, Tang Jie grinned. "Great, great."

It seemed like his only fear was that she lacked loyalty.

Chu Xitong was stunned, but Tang Jie said no more.

He closed his eyes as if thinking or waiting, leaving Chu Xitong baffled.

Eventually, Chu Xitong lost her patience and said, "Tang Jie, just what are you trying to do? Let me tell you: if you can't make the two sects withdraw before the formation breaks, then you can say goodbye to the ancestral statue."

Tang Jie's unfathomable actions had finally made Chu Xitong lose her composure.

When a person was repeatedly emphasizing their threats, it meant that they had nothing else.

Chu Xitong was in just such a situation.

Chu Xitong's state had a playful light twinkling in Tang Jie's eyes.

Chu Xitong's sharp eyes quickly noticed, and she vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out where her mistake was.

She watched as Tang Jie waved his hand and summoned a tea table, upon which were arrayed a teapot and several cups.

Tang Jie created a stool and sat down, and then he began to enjoy his tea.

While sipping on his tea, Tang Jie said, "The attack of the two sects won't stop, and they won't retreat. I will say again that if you hand over the Divine Will Golden Body, then everyone except Shi Wunian can walk away from this alive."

"I refuse!" Chu Xitong answered through gritted teeth.

"I don't need you to agree, only to execute," Tang Jie casually replied.

What?

Chu Xitong was startled. What did Tang Jie mean by this?

What made him think he could order her around?

Tang Jie smiled. "Do you take yourself for the master of Godhead Palace, able to make decisions on its behalf?"

Chu Xitong suddenly paled as she realized something.

Tang Jie stood up and poured out the cup of tea in his hand. As the tea fell, it began to coalesce into the form of a human.

From the form, it was clearly Ye Yun!

"Martial Ancestor!" Chu Xitong shouted.

The Ye Yun formed from the tea sighed. "I know about what's going on over there. Xitong, you've done very well, but with Godhead Palace threatened by calamity, keeping everything is impossible. Immediately pass on my order. All Godhead Palace disciples are to abandon Godhead Mountain and retreat to Nadir Hill Island. Everything here is to be abandoned, including… the ancestor's divine statue."

"Martial Ancestor!" Chu Xitong cried.

Ye Yun sighed once more. "You don't really think that the ancestral statue can get back everything, do you? You seized this chance for the sake of Godhead Palace, but if your ambitions are too great, you might end up with nothing. Xitong, the survival of Godhead Palace is at stake, so we can't be too greedy. Go—carry out my order."

Hearing this, Chu Xitong finally understood Tang Jie's plan: this bastard had gone around her and negotiated directly with Ye Yun.

When he found that his opponent couldn't be reasoned with, Tang Jie had sharply made the wisest choice: I won't negotiate with you, but with your manager!

Ye Yun was also no fool, but the biggest difference between him and Chu Xitong was that he wasn't present.

He couldn't see Tang Jie's desperate need for the Divine Will Golden Body, nor could he understand Chu Xitong's resolve to have the two sects withdraw.

On the contrary, he was being constantly pushed back under Yun Tianlan's formidable pressure and was slowly reaching his limit.

If this continued, there was a high likelihood that he would be killed.

It was then that Tang Jie contacted him with an offer to talk peace through Little Three.

His conditions were very simple: if the Divine Will Golden Body were given to him and Godhead Palace retreated from its current territory, everyone except Shi Wunian could live.

For Godhead Palace, people were ultimately more important. From Ye Yun all the way down to the up-and-coming disciples, none of them could be replaced in a day. If he refused, it would be a fight to the death, and there was no winning against the combined forces of two sects. If he agreed, he could get a temporary reprieve, and in the future, if they worked together with the Beast Refining Gate, they might be able to get back everything they had lost.

In these circumstances, Ye Yun had no reason to refuse.

Chu Xitong's biggest problem was that she wasn't the master of Godhead Palace.

She could die for Godhead Palace, but she could never make decisions for it!

Tang Jie had made his move, and it was right at her weakness.

The Earth Immortal ancestor's agreement was the agreement of Godhead Palace. Even Jin Wuyu couldn't overturn it, and as for Chu Xitong… her opinion wasn't important.

She might have been smart, wise, and perceptive, and she had seized the opportunity and had almost seized Tang Jie's weakness, but Tang Jie had easily undone it all and forced her into a dead end.

Her loyalty to Godhead Palace was precisely her weakness!

At that moment, Tang Jie looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "Human King Chu, did you hear that? Hand the Divine Will Golden Body to me."

Chu Xitong didn't move.

Seeing this, Ye Yun's projection furiously said, "Xitong, are you disobeying my orders? Do you not realize that every second you delay, more Godhead Palace disciples die? Xitong, Yun Tianlan has already sworn a Heavenly Dao Oath. So long as you hand over the ancestor's golden body, he will have everyone stop attacking. You were the one who got us this opportunity, so you are Godhead Palace's most meritorious subject. But if you continue to hesitate or destroy the golden body, you will turn into a sinner!"

The word "sinner" was spoken with particular harshness.

Chu Xitong remained cold and silent.

Her slender hand still placed on the statue, Chu Xitong softly said, "Xitong would not dare to disobey Martial Ancestor's orders. But is Martial Ancestor truly not willing to bargain a little more for Aspirational Lord Wunian?"

Ye Yun shook his head. "It is not that I am unwilling, but I am unable. The grudge between Tang Jie and Wunian is too deep, and coexistence became impossible long ago. I cannot give up on a chance for all the people of Godhead Palace to survive just for him alone."

"But Tang Jie clearly places a high value on the ancestor's golden body. With it, he might grow even more powerful and once more threaten us!"

"So what?" Ye Yun casually replied. "The ancestor's golden body has existed for a long time, and we have comprehended all that there is to comprehend. Even this old man finds it hard to gain any more progress from it. No matter how much Tang Jie benefits from it, he can never surpass me. So long as I am around, Godhead Palace will survive."

These last words finally exposed his fear of death.

For Ye Yun, the calculations were very simple. It was all fine so long as he didn't die. Moreover, in his eyes, Tang Jie couldn't possibly gain that much from the ancestor's Divine Will. But he could never have imagined that the real person using the Divine Will wasn't Tang Jie, but Yun Tianlan. If not for that, Yun Tianlan would never have agreed to peace so easily.

Chu Xitong despaired.

She knew that Ye Yun was determined to reach a ceasefire with Tang Jie, and nothing she said could convince him otherwise. For Earth Immortals, all else was immaterial, and only their lives and cultivation were eternal.

It was not her place to question, alter, or object to Ye Yun's orders.

Even if it was wrong, she had to carry it out, or else she would be a traitor of Godhead Palace, an eternal sinner.

But she was unwilling, indignant, and grief-stricken, and also faintly disappointed.

It was like a devoted general in the middle of a battlefield being abandoned by the very person they were protecting.

This sorrow and anger had nowhere to go, so it became a flame of hatred that poured out of her eyes as she glared at Tang Jie.

The fiery gaze threatened to melt Tang Jie away.

Tang Jie looked back at her and said, "Tang Jie admires the Human King's righteousness. But this is the will of the heavens, so do not try and force yourself."

"You! Are not the will of the heavens!" Chu Xitong squeezed out from between clenched teeth.

She angrily glared at Tang Jie, speaking with all the strength she had. "Tang Jie, today, because of you, my Godhead Palace suffered countless losses, and its lands were shattered. My Godhead Palace has a grudge with you as deep as the sea, and if you let us go, in the future, my Godhead Palace will annihilate your Basking Moon Sect!"

As she spoke, she erupted with light, her body surging with energy. With just a light push, she could obliterate the statue.

The two elders were aghast, shouting in unison, "Human King, don't!"

Alarmed, Tang Jie thrust a palm at Chu Xitong.

Tang Jie had no confidence that this palm could keep the statue safe from Chu Xitong, but he at least had to try.

As he attacked, the light radiating from Chu Xitong's body abruptly dimmed.

Tang Jie's hand pressed against Chu Xitong's back.

Chu Xitong raised her head, throwing up blood.

The statue was painted red.

"Ugh," Chu Xitong moaned in pain, dropping to her knees before the ancestral statue.

"Xitong!" The elders hastily moved to help her, but they found that Tang Jie's palm had obliterated her life force, and not even a Boundless Gold Immortal would be able to save her.

Tang Jie shook his head. He knew that his attack hadn't been strong. This had happened because Chu Xitong had withdrawn all her defenses.

She didn't want to destroy the statue, only to die!

Chu Xitong called out, "Martial Ancestor! Xitong obeyed your order and handed over the statue. It was Tang Jie who went back on his word and killed me. The Heavenly Dao is not blind! Tang Jie has broken the oath, so the Basking Moon ancestor will be punished!"

Tang Jie and Ye Yun were both taken aback, and at the same time, Yun Tianlan grunted, a trickle of blood seeping out from his left eye.

Ye Yun sighed, "There was no need for that."

Tang Jie's face twitched. In the end, he had fallen for one of her ploys.

Chu Xitong faintly smiled, and as she gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes eerily glowed.

She muttered, "Yingjie, I'm coming to see you."

Her body went limp.

Her breathing stopped.

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