Published at 23rd of September 2024 12:17 am

Chapter 810: Vote Shenanigans (1)

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Voting!

The atmosphere in the room turned terrifyingly cold. People like Yuan Qingdong had unsightly expressions. They were the representatives of the holy land. How were they supposed to vote for this?

Meanwhile, Marquis Xia who had deliberately created this situation and Silk Destroying King who had allowed it because he wanted to see the world burn looked completely relaxed, as though this matter had nothing to do with them.

With an indifferent smile on his face, Marquis Xia played with the jade talisman in his hand.

***

Among the weaponsmiths.

Zhao Tianbing looked incomparably solemn. The earth weaponsmiths started conversing through voice transmission, "What should we do?"

Marquis Xia made the whole thing sound so simple. If they voted on the first option, they would offend the Xia Family. If they voted on the second option, they would offend the eight families. If they voted on the third option, they would look unprincipled.

Zhao Tianbing asked through voice transmission, "Senior Hu, what do you think we should do? We're representing Heavenly Forge King here."

Hu Qi indifferently replied, "We also represent the weaponsmiths of humanity. Around one-sixth of the fifty-something earth weaponsmiths of humanity are present today. All of us are also well-connected individuals so we can actually represent even some of the weaponsmiths that are not here today. We will be voting for the weaponsmith field as a whole. Thus, Heavenly Forge King's personal stance does not matter. In the event of a war, the top experts will require fewer weapons than the lower-leveled cultivators."

"War!"

Their hearts thumped when they heard that word. Zhao Tianbing looked at Hu Qi solemnly. When he turned to look at the smiling Marquis Xia again, his face turned grave. Right this moment, a dark silhouette appeared outside. That silhouette seemed to be covered in complete darkness.

Right after stepping in, the newcomer said, "I think the first option is the best. In truth, these options are quite pointless. We all know that Chen Yong is the murderer. Why act like we're all clueless? And everyone also knows very well if the eight families are colluding with the cult or not. The cult is still not qualified to have the cooperation of the eight families."

The newcomer was someone with an imposing presence. Someone among the crowd recognized him. That was an old man with a powerful aura, an eighth-stage Sunmoon. He was the leader of one of the eight families of the Knowledge Seeking Realm, second son of Great Zhou King, and the younger brother of Zhou Potian. His name was Zhou Pochong.

When he entered the room, he gave the three Invincibles a slight bow as a sign of respect. He was usually a silent person who kept mostly to himself, but as of this moment, he was imposing and domineering.

Great Han King sighed and shut his eyes in silence.

Silk Destroying King grinned and asked, "Pochong, did your father send you here?"

"No. I'm here representing the Knowledge Seeking Realm."

Silk Destroying King laughed, "Interesting. Can you even represent the Knowledge Seeking Realm?"

Zhou Pochong calmly replied, "The eight families run the Knowledge Seeking Realm together. Since the world does not recognize the holy land as the holy land of humanity, then it must be the holy land of the eight families. And the eight families are fine with me as the representative."

Silk Destroying King said, "Sure. I don't care, either way."

"Thanks, Silk Destroying King."

Zhou Pochong bowed at the Invincibles again before scanning the crowd. With an apathetic voice, he said, "For murdering several military officials of humanity, Chen Yong's crime can't be pardoned. This is clear. Why make it this complicated? Meanwhile, Feng Ji has also committed a crime by giving a fake testimony. Why should we vote for the sake of a criminal? Chen Yong has already turned into a devil. Since he is a devil, he should be killed without mercy."

Hong Tan stood up and coldly said, "Zhou Pochong, are you even qualified to make this decision?"

"Yes." Zhou Pochong said, "I represent the Knowledge Seeking Realm. The holy land. The academy elders are all under the jurisdiction of the holy land. Since he has committed a crime, the Knowledge Seeking Realm has the right to punish him. Hong Tan, do not repeat your mistake again and again."

Hong Tan's aura rose while his eyes turned even colder than before. "Mistake? Me? You are the one who should stop making one mistake after another. Are you getting so used to bullying our line that you now believe it is how things should always be?

"How much have we sacrificed for the world and humanity? Others might not know this, but how can you not know? Why do you insist on a complete fallout with us? Do you really think that you can represent the world?"

Zhou Pochong countered, "Sacrifice? Everyone is making sacrifices for the sake of humanity. Hong Tan, don't make the mistake of thinking that you and those from your line are noble existences. Your teacher's stubborn attempt at a breakthrough back then had caused massive losses to humanity. Do you really want me to reveal everything about the matter from fifty years ago? Ye Batian was the one who had caused all the suffering for your line. You are suffering from the karma he sowed."

"Karma?" Hong Tan's aura erupted, "Karma? You call that karma? Without that incident, how would all of you get the chance to grow and develop in peace for fifty years? Our line had been trampled on for fifty years. Why did that happen?

"We don't owe you anything. The debt we owe due to the dead Invincibles has been cleared by Zhou Polong himself. Who the fuck are you to talk about that? Did your father die for my teacher?"

"..."

Zhou Pochong scolded furiously, "Hong Tan, watch your damn mouth! How dare you insult a prefecture founding king before three Invincibles? Back then, the prefecture founding kings had sheltered millions upon millions of humans. How dare you insult the number one cultural researcher of humanity? Hong Tan, are you courting death?"

Hong Tan's cultural weapon appeared as he said, "Do you want to kill me? Bring it on. Zhou Pochong, can a piece of trash like you even kill me? It has been decades but you're still such a piece of trash. Back then, you were beaten like a stray dog by my teacher. Why are you so arrogant now that my teacher is no longer around?"

"You're courting death!" Zhou Pochong was infuriated.

Right at that moment, Silk Destroying King said, "Alright, alright. What are you doing? I get that you're both putting on a show, but you should stop wasting everyone's time. We will focus on the voting for now. If you still want to fight after that, feel free to do it. You can even fight until one of you is dead after we leave. Just stop playing these tricks in front of us."

Silk Destroying King had a mocking smile as he said, "Even after so many years of conflict, are you guys still not done? Sure. You guys will have plenty of chances to fight in the future. Everyone, think properly and cast your vote. I don't have anything else to say."

Zhou Pochong stopped talking. Hong Tan also calmed down. They were merely putting on a show. With three Invincibles present, they wouldn't have the chance to really fight to the death.

But after a short silence, Zhou Pochong suddenly said, "Even if Chen Yong is the murderer, we can agree with sparing him death. But he must join the Vanguard Regiment with compulsory participation in every battle."

He looked at the crowd and slowly said, "Small skirmishes have been increasing in intensity on the frontlines. The divines and devils have arrived at the eastern sector. The immortals have also ended seclusion. The allied army of their eighteen schools has been deployed to the north of our frontlines. The central sector has always been chaotic, but even the allied army of the demonic beasts has been approaching the west of our frontlines. The dragons are demanding that the Human Realm release all captive dragons. An alliance of thirty-two minor realms is also demanding that the human race withdraw from all our occupied minor realms."

After reporting the situation on the frontlines, Zhou Pochong raised his voice, "A great war is coming. The myriad races are rising up. The Myriad Realms will be enveloped in chaos. Everyone, can humanity afford to sink into internal strife at this moment? For Chen Yong? For Feng Ji? For the sake of those two, are we going to fight among ourselves?"

He looked at Marquis Xia and spoke loudly, "Xia Longwu is going to affirm his dao soon. Based on what we can see, survival is impossible. I believe you're aware of the sole option he has if he really wants to survive his breakthrough."

The secrets everyone had avoided mentioning normally were all being spoken clearly. Marquis Xia remained in silence.

Zhou Pochong said, "Must he ruin his future with his own hands? Is the Human Realm capable of resisting the alliance of all the other races? This is a great crisis that will decide if the human race will continue existing. This is an even bigger crisis than what we faced over four hundred years ago!"

This was a crisis for humanity as a whole.

Many people were shaken.

***

After listening to all that, Su Yu finally understood something.

This was a crisis that would affect all humanity. And certain individuals were meant to resolve this crisis. These individuals were fated to be used as sacrifice. These people were meant to buy more time for humanity and the Human Realm with their very lives.

With a few individuals, they could buy a hundred years of peace for all humanity. Was this worth it? Yes. Su Yu couldn't help but recall what Bai Feng once asked him. Was Xia Yuwen wrong to sacrifice the lives of ordinary soldiers to kill an enemy Cloudbreach?

Wasn't a Cloudbreach worth a lot more than even a hundred regular soldiers? Initially, Su Yu did not care too much about that question. That had nothing to do with him, so he didn't feel too strongly about that.

But subsequently, Bai Feng asked him how he would feel if his father was among the ordinary soldiers to be sacrificed. Su Yu answered that Xia Yuwen should die.

And now, he was faced with the same question. Sacrificing a few individuals to buy a hundred years of peace for everyone else. Was that worth it?

Perhaps...the answer was yes. But when the individuals meant to be sacrificed were his teacher, his martial uncle, and his grandteacher...was that still worth it? No!

Whoever proposed this idea should be the one to die instead! Yes. This was double standards in action, but such was reality. If these people were outsiders who were unrelated to him, he wouldn't care. He would have a hundred years to peacefully attempt his dao affirmation. Why should he care? But these individuals were not outsiders to him.

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