Chapter 732: Wu Tie's Stubbornness

Peaceful Prefecture.

Here, the distance to the Northern Frontier is already quite a stretch; speaking only of straight-line distance, from the barbaric mountains and ridges of the Northern Frontier to Peaceful Prefecture, one must cross the territory of roughly twenty prefectures.

From the Northern Frontier to Peaceful Prefecture, more than half of the prefectures along the way have already fallen.

Wu Tie transferred a large force from Wuguo, even commandeering the White Egret Merchant Guild's transport fleet, exerting all efforts to evacuate the populace along the way, but it was still a drop in the bucket……

Even if Wu Tie used the Five Elements Divine Light to sweep away swaths of the populace along the way, countless Qingqiu civilians still fell into the hands of the Snow Plains Tribe.

Men were killed, women were plundered.

These Snow Plains Tribe people don't even have the concept of keeping slaves.

Group after group of men were thus mercilessly slaughtered by them, offered as sacrifices to the gods.

In the most urgent moments, Wu Tie even had his transferred personnel evacuate only the men along the way, leaving the women in place.

After this matter spread, everyone who heard it cursed it.

Facing a strong enemy, evacuating the men and leaving the women…… such an act undoubtedly violates the most basic social ethics of humanity, and further arouses the blood‑courage of countless hot‑blooded youths of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom.

Countless people attacked and vilified Wu Tie.

But Wu Tie…… pretended not to know.

The power he wielded could not resist the Snow Plains Tribe's encroachment; the power he wielded could not relocate all the populace. No matter how incapable, how stifled, how contrary to human ethics this seemed, Wu Tie still did it.

Leaving those men, the Snow Plains Tribe, which has no tradition of slavery, would kill them all; Wu Tie could only prioritize evacuating them.

Leaving those women…… they would suffer humiliation, great humiliation.

But Wu Tie, who came from the Underworld, firmly believed that only life is most important. Apart from life, everything else is merely an adjunct. These people of the Surface World, especially those who attacked and vilified Wu Tie, have never lived in that dark rocky world.

They still have not truly understood the preciousness of life.

"Martial King…… you scoundrel!"

Peaceful Prefecture City, on the north gate tower, Wu Tie leaned on the railing and gazed into the distance at a faintly visible expanse of icy blue crystal.

Below the city walls, dozens of elders and scholars from Brocade Prefecture City spat blood as they loudly cursed Wu Tie. Wu Tie had already issued the evacuation order, and outside the city hundreds of large and small warships awaited.

But these hundreds of large and small warships could only evacuate the men of Brocade Prefecture City and the two or three nearby cities.

Women, however, still had to be left behind……

Wu Tie's controlled resources were limited; the warships and transport ships he could muster were only this many. With so many prefectures' populace needing evacuation and resettlement, his fleet was already stretched thin, insufficient for use.

He had already done his utmost; he could only exert all his strength to preserve these people's lives.

But the number of ships was insufficient…… each day, many ships were sunk by surprise attacks from Snow Plains Warriors.

Transport capacity dwindled each day…… moreover, to guard against surprise attacks by the Profound Dark Old Ancestors, the spatial gates everywhere were being shut one after another, making it increasingly difficult and dangerous to move the populace of the northern prefectures southward.

Wu Tie appeared calm and composed, but in fact his mouth was full of blood blisters, all expelled by his heart‑fire.

But these elders and scholars could not understand Wu Tie's actions.

"You all go to die, you all go to die ah……" Apart from those old people standing below the city walls, cursing loudly and spitting blood, the city interior continually sees tragic scenes unfold.

In household after household, there are elders holding sharp blades, threatening the women of the family to either hang themselves or drown in a well.

Furthermore, the masters of wealthy great households had people brew pot after pot of lethal poisonous concoction, gathered the women of the clan, and forced them to each drink a bowl of the brew, even pouring it down their throats by force.

"Martial King, you lack virtue and ability, unfit to be king…… where is your 'martial'? A martial artist should protect home and country—where is your 'martial'?" A long‑robed, high‑crowned, full‑of‑vigor scholar from Peaceful Prefecture City stood below the city walls, screaming hoarsely: "You have left the women of every household to those Snow Plains barbarians…… you, you, you……"

"You have placed the honor of every family and clan where?"

Wu Tie stood on the gate tower, his body stiff as a mountain, merely coldly gazing at the incessantly approaching ice crystals to the north.

The honor of every family and clan?

Is it the honor of you, the leaders of every family and clan?

Wu Tie raised his right hand and lightly waved: "Strictly investigate; anyone daring to kill women of the clan shall be executed without exception."

Wu Tie's voice echoed through Peaceful Prefecture City: "I, the king, am unable; I cannot defend the territory, resist the strong enemy, and can only resort to this inferior plan…… Those who consider themselves capable, who can turn the tide and resist the strong enemy, may don armor, bear arms, and fight side by side with me."

He gave a cold, grim smile, and Wu Tie said faintly: "Perhaps you can delay the enemy's steps a little…… perhaps it is precisely the time you risk your lives to hold them off that I can find a way to transport your clan's women southward."

The whole city fell into deadly silence.

The elders who had spat blood in their curses, the scholars who cited classics, all shut their mouths.

The women of the clan concern reputation; damage to reputation, they absolutely cannot tolerate.

But compared to life and death of one's own family…… how could the reputation of those little women of the clan be weighed against the lives of the men who uphold the household?

After a long while, after a long while, in a certain manor, a handsome scholar wielding a steel blade, who was forcing his wife to drink a bowl of medicinal concoction, suddenly fiercely threw the blade to the ground.

"Geez, from now on, don't say you're someone's wife…… gee, what true man lacks a wife?" The handsome scholar flicked his hand nonchalantly, turned and strode madly toward the door: "Come on, escort me, hurry aboard…… this Martial King is utterly unreasonable, I, the old gentleman, actually have to mix with those country bumpkins and rot in the granary?"

"Geez, I, the old gentleman, a well‑read scholar with the talent to govern the world, shouldn't I enjoy a private cabin?"

"Geez, the Martial King is simply brain‑damaged, my lady relatives…… cannot, cannot receive even the slightest favor."

"In this world, what if those country bumpkins die off thirty or fifty thousand? Let my lady relatives…… not, not receive even a little favor."

Wu Tie stood on the gate tower, his soul power enveloping the vast Peaceful Prefecture City; inside and out, every word and deed of everyone was clearly seen and heard by him.

Hearing the words of that handsome scholar who enjoys considerable prestige in Peaceful Prefecture City, whose family has served as officials there for generations, Wu Tie could not help but feel a wave of powerlessness throughout his body.

What, exactly, is he meant to protect?

What, exactly, is he meant to guard?

What he is doing—is it right or wrong?

Both hands gripping the gate tower's rail, his ten fingers dug deep into the metal‑cast railing; countless patterns surged across Wu Tie's body, turning him entirely black, and a terrifying aura emanated from him.

The entire gate tower, together with a large section of the northern city wall, suddenly vanished without a sound or trace.

All the bricks and tiles, all the railings, were devoured and transformed by Wu Tie's body into heavenly‑earth primordial energy, becoming threads of pure magical power.

Life.

Chastity.

Human relations.

Morality.

The ice crystals to the north are getting closer and closer.

They will kill all the men and capture all the women. Men who fall into their hands will surely die. Women who fall into their hands will suffer humiliation, but their lives are generally safe.

Wu Tie's choice — is it right or wrong?

This is a hundred times greater pressure on Wu Tie than fighting the Six Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors at the same time.

A low, cracking sound came from within his body, uncontrolled magical power raged and surged, Wu Tie opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Heavy plasma fell to the ground with a boom, blasting open a pit a hundred li in diameter and several li deep in the plains north of Jingzhou City. The townsfolk and scholars inside the city shrank their necks and tiptoed away.

They had already seen the ice crystals approaching from the north, and they had already heard the shouts of the snowplain warriors dragging the ice sculptures.

Or… run for your lives!

Wu Tie shook his head vigorously and asked in a deep voice: "Qingqiu City, any reply? I've sent military updates for days, yet not a single reply. What about Linghu Qingqing? Gongyang Sanlü? Have their brains gone bad? What evil scheme are they hatching now?"

In Wu Tie's roar, there was added a measure of brutality and cruelty that had never existed before.

Countless lives and deaths, countless honors and disgraces.

And, this battle that offers no hope at all.

Moreover, after this battle, Wu Tie may face condemnation from all under heaven.

Wu Tie's state of mind was rapidly changing, boundless pressure, boundless anger, boundless anxiety, the seven emotions running rampant, the six desires overflowing, forging and scorching his heart over and over, making it increasingly sharp-edged and increasingly hard and unfeeling.

This is a world utterly devoid of reason.

To keep the people around you alive, you must be even more ruthless than this damned world.

To lead a flock of sheep in rebellion against a pack of wolves, you must be even more vicious and cruel than the wolves, or else the first to die will be you.

A gust of wind howled in, and the messenger Wu Tie had sent to Qingqiu City, Dao Jian of the Great Wei Bandit Clan, came running back, his face ashen.

"My lord… my lord…"

Dao Jian fell to his knees with a thud, his face as white as paper, his body trembling, cold sweat dripping from him, utterly exhausted and on the verge of fainting.

"My lord… Your Majesty… not… the former emperor… not… that traitor Linghu Qingqing, he abandoned the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom and fled!"

He sacrificed the people of his fiefdom of dozens of prefectures, looted the national treasury and the treasuries of over a thousand prefectures, took the Linghu clan's people, his own Linghu clan's private troops, and all their families… and fled.

"He, he abdicated the throne of the Divine Sovereign of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom in favor of Gongyang Sanlü."

"Gongyang Sanlü refused to take the throne, he argued with the Generals' Gate Ancestors in Qingqiu City for days, now the Qingqiu court is in utter chaos… leaderless… completely in disarray."

Wu Tie widened his eyes, turned his head, and glared fiercely at Dao Jian.

Knowing full well that Dao Jian was innocent, Wu Tie still let out a roar, charged forward, and stomped hard on his chest, instantly shattering a large area of his ribs and sending a mouthful of blood flying far away.

Wu Tie, his heart ablaze, likewise spat out a mouthful of blood, and while panting, he hoarsely asked: "Linghu Qingqing, did you flee?"

"Gongyang Sanlü, you refuse to take the throne?"

"Please, inside the city, leaderless?"

"Damn it, that bunch of bastards, do they even count as 'leaderless'? A pack of clowns, a pack of grass snakes, a pack of meaningless bastards!"

Wu Tie pointed to heaven and earth, cursing loudly.

Wu Tie had originally hoped that Linghu Qingqing might have some hidden trump card.

Quite fine, Linghu Qingqing has fled.

Wu Tie had originally thought that Gongyang Sanlü might have some brilliant stratagem.

But this guy actually lacks any sense of responsibility.

One fled, one passed the buck—given your characters, after all these years of scheming for power and profit, of framing each other, and of joining forces to sideline Sima Wuyou… what exactly are you after?

A ball of flame spurted from his throat, burning the blood rising to his gums into blue smoke; Wu Tie, his voice hoarse, said in a deep tone: "Tell me in detail, what exactly happened inside Qingqiu City?"

In the distance, a towering ice sculpture ten thousand zhang high had already come howling, now less than three hundred li from Jingzhou City.

Wu Tie suddenly let out a great shout, the celestial eye on his brow opened, and thousands of strands of chaos divine thunder in the void turned into a vast raging torrent that blasted out. His internal magical power drained completely, that ice sculpture radiated blinding cold light from head to toe, transforming into a hundred-li-wide dome of light that slammed into the ground.

The chaos divine thunder howled down, the tremendous explosion shaking the earth and moving the mountains.

Tens of thousands of snowplain warriors hauling the ice sculpture were shaken until their legs went weak and they collapsed; on the road behind the ice sculpture, millions of snowplain folk following close behind were engulfed by Wu Tie's wild lightning, lightning flashing, countless snowplain warriors instantly turned to ash.

Cold light flickered on the ice sculpture, and three Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors instantaneously appeared, waving their claws as they howled at Wu Tie.

These past days, they had fought Wu Tie repeatedly, and seeing him block the road again, the three Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors hesitated in the void.

After a few breaths, the other three Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors also appeared, the six Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors gathered together, their morale soaring and their courage rising, they shouldered each other and strode forward in large strides to assault Jingzhou City.

"Martial King Huo Xiong, you will surely die here today!" The Six Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors, having fought Wu Tie many times and learned his name and origin, suddenly roared his name aloud in a public challenge.

Dao Jian knelt on the ground and, at top speed, explained the situation in Qingqiu City over the past few days.

Wu Tie's face was extremely grim; he turned his body and gave the six Venerable Profound Dark Ancestors a cold stare as they charged.

Wu Tie alone could barely hold his own against those six old fogies; neither side could truly defeat the other, but Wu Tie was often at a disadvantage, suffering injuries and retreating.

Elsewhere, along the long northern front, there are twelve more elders of equal cultivation and strength, directing countless snowplain warriors in a frenzied assault. Before them, the Divine Realm Elders of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom cannot withstand a single blow; the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom's army has long been smashed to pieces, and aside from the fleet Wu Tie sent to aid the retreat, there is no longer any intact military unit.

Wu Tie drew a deep breath.

"Go help with the retreat… Linghu Qingqing has fled, Gongyang Sanlü is scared… this mess of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom, I, the king, will bear it."

"Even if it brings heaven‑shaking infamy… heh… if you want to play, I'll play with you to the end."

Wu Tie lifted his head and stared hard at the exceedingly high firmament.