Chapter 1195: Chapter 49: Imperial Longsword, Breaking Through the Gap of Helan Mountain (Part 2)
The voice of the Palace Master of Heavenly Cang Palace, the top sect in the Northern Domain, Chi Chang Palace Master, was loud, "How can you guarantee that the Nightmare Demon Clan isn’t secretly accumulating some huge conspiracy?"
"I refuse to believe that with such large movements from the War Demon, Giant Spirit, and Heart Demon clans, the other five Holy Demon Clans would remain completely indifferent."
"Perhaps while we are shifting a large number of personnel to the Central Spirit Domain, the Nightmare Demon Clan will seize the opportunity and lead the Demon Race army to attack."
"By then, how could the under-strength Zhijing Pass withstand the assault of the Demon Race?"
"We’ve already lost Dragon City Pass; do we have to lose Zhijing Pass as well?"
"But do you intend to sit back and watch the Central Spirit Domain be slaughtered by the Heart Demon Clan?" Huang Yang, the Grand Supreme, suppressed his indignation and retorted, "With Yumen Pass besieged, even the Sword Sect can unhesitatingly rush to aid the Central Spirit Domain, so why can’t we at Zhijing Pass?"
"You already said it’s the Sword Sect, not Yumen Pass." Another sect master from the top sect Sanquan Mansion in the Northern Domain, the Water Ripples Mansion Master, spoke coldly.
This remark suddenly brought a chill to the already tense atmosphere of Cangyuan Palace.
It is the Sword Sect, not Yumen Pass, which is the core of the problem.
"The Sword Sect is full of madmen who act without considering the consequences, which is why they would aid the Central Spirit Domain under such circumstances, but that’s an exception, not a norm."
"Moreover, even in the Sword Sect, only half of the sect makes the westward expedition, while most of the cultivators and Qingyun Sword Immortal still stay behind at Yumen Pass."
"You all should know as well, that under such conditions of the Sword Sect’s westward expedition, they absolutely cannot change the situation in the Central Spirit Domain."
This is a fact.
There are no cultivators of the region joining them, just a half-sect westward expedition, and although the Sword Sect is powerful, it still remains a force enough to make any sect in the world tremble.
But they are not facing any single sect or any single force at the moment, but an entire domain’s Demon Race.
What could such strength count for?
In the face of such a formidable situation, anyone might give rise to thoughts of abandonment.
Many years ago, the Human Race faced such a situation, not just one domain, but seven domains.
The seven domains were simultaneously facing impending downfall.
But at that time, the Human Race had Ancestral Daoist Xia.
And now, Ancestral Daoist Xia had disappeared for twenty thousand years.
The sentiment at Zhijing Pass is complex.
If it were possible, they would certainly want to rush to the aid of the Central Spirit Domain.
On one hand, as Human Cultivators, genuinely watching the Heart Demon Clan ravage the Central Spirit Domain is something utterly unimaginable to them.
Moreover, having reached this level of cultivation, these High Realm cultivators are acutely aware of the principle that if the lips die, the teeth will feel cold.
If the Central Spirit Domain falls, it won’t just be an issue for that domain alone, it will inevitably affect them as well.
On the other hand, however, they really do not have the resources to aid the Central Spirit Domain.
Sending out too many cultivators would leave Zhijing Pass vulnerable, facing a crisis.
Yet, sending too few might mean they would simply be swept away in the grand situation of the Central Spirit Domain, being utterly defenseless, essentially serving themselves up.
It is a dead end.
"Grand Supreme Huang Yang, I understand your intentions," Palace Master Chi Chang glanced around before continuing, "If it were possible, which one of us here would not want to aid the Central Spirit Domain?"
"But it’s not a matter of reluctance, rather of inability."
"Since Dragon City Pass has already fallen, we cannot let Zhijing Pass descend into chaos."
"Even at Yumen Pass, under the leadership of the Sword Sect, they dared not decide to dispatch large forces to assist the Central Spirit Domain, so how could we at Zhijing Pass take such a big risk?"
"Moreover, everyone here knows the peril of the Central Spirit Domain.
I’ll ask this, who among you is willing to expend all of your sect’s strength in the Central Spirit Domain?"
After Palace Master Chi Chang said his part, the other cultivators were all silent, their brows deeply furrowed.
A brutally realistic question indeed.
They defend Zhijing Pass, stopping the Demon Race outside the pass, and even if they spent all of the sect’s strength, they would die without regret, with no hesitation.
But that’s because behind Zhijing Pass lies the Northern Domain, the land that birthed and raised them.
There lie their sects, their families, their Dao Companions, their friends...
The Northern Domain contains everything they have.
That is why Northern Domain cultivators are willing to hold Zhijing Pass to the death without retreating.
However, the Central Spirit Domain, other than being part of the Human Realm like the Northern Domain, what relevance does it have to them?
If it were just a matter of raising a hand, thinking of kinship, lending a hand wouldn’t be considered much.
But now, any cultivator heading to the Central Spirit Domain would be facing a situation of near certain death.
Of one hundred people going, perhaps fewer than ten would return alive, possibly even all perishing.
Beyond that, they would have to risk their homeland falling.
Under these circumstances, how many sects, how many cultivators would be willing to go to the Central Spirit Domain?
Mansion Master Water Ripples spoke at this point, "All strength at Zhijing Pass now must stay to keep an eye on the Nightmare Demon Clan, there’s no excess energy, and it’s mostly the same for other domains."
"Since Dragon City Pass has already fallen, and we’ve no surplus strength to support the Central Spirit Domain, we must make the painful decision to cut our losses."
"The principle of if the lips die, the teeth will feel cold, is known to us both."
"Since this Central Spirit Domain can no longer be held, we might as well decisively abandon it."
"According to the Sword Sect’s information, the Heart Demon Clan is currently destroying the cross-domain teleportation formations in the Central Spirit Domain."
"We might as well go along with it, assist them in severing the channels connecting the Central Spirit Domain with other domains, and peel the Central Spirit Domain out of our Human Realm."
"The Central Spirit Domain has millions of humans, and as many demon beasts, so even for a powerful clan like the Heart Demon, to completely swallow the Central Spirit Domain would take decades if not centuries.
Not to mention the vast ocean separating the Central Spirit Domain from the other six domains."
"Doing so at least buys us two hundred years."
"And with the Demon Race’s current formation, by then the second Daoist-Demon war might be over."
"If we win, we can gather the strength of the Six Domains and reclaim the Central Spirit Domain."
"If we lose, what meaning would there be in discussing the Central Spirit Domain?"
"To gain, one must lose; temporarily abandoning one domain could potentially bring about eternal peace for the Human Race, this is the wisest decision."
"Jiang Lan, what do you think?" The Water Ripples Mansion Master looked toward Jiang Lan, the Tower Master of the Armor Pavilion and the Zhijing Pass cultivator, who had been silent throughout, observing their discussion coldly.
Jiang Lan’s gaze flickered, and after a moment of silence, he answered without addressing the question, "Messages have come from Mountain Sea Pass, Hangu Pass, and Wusheng Pass, they have... decided to abandon the Central Spirit Domain."
The Water Ripples Mansion Master was stunned.
Soon, the Cangyuan Palace, which had gathered all the principal cultivators of Zhijing Pass, fell completely silent.
Their last reason for coming to the aid of the Central Spirit Domain had vanished.
"If there are no further objections, then we, Zhijing Pass, will... also abandon the Central Spirit Domain." Jiang Lan spoke slowly, his gaze wandering, making the final decision.
His expression was extremely calm, but what he truly felt was unknown to anyone.
Soon after, Daoist Jiang Lan softly continued, "Relay our decision to the Sword Sect..."
"Hopefully, this will dissuade them from their westward expedition."
"The Human Race today can no longer bear further losses."
"Sword Sect’s Sword Cultivators are best at slaughter and should be fighting on the outer domain battlefields, not headed to the Central Spirit Domain to die..."
"Imperial Longsword, breach the Helan Mountain pass..." Daoist Jiang Lan murmured once more the edict of Qingyun Sword Immortal, finally sighing and shaking his head, "Desiring to kill the enemy, with no strength to overturn the heavens."
......
Of the Human Race’s six passes, by this point, Mountain Sea Pass, Hangu Pass, Wusheng Pass, and now Zhijing Pass had chosen to abandon the Central Spirit Domain.
In contrast, at Yumen Pass, the Sword Sect had decided to undertake a westward expedition to the Central Spirit Domain.
One pass had yet to make a final decision.
—Central Heavenly Realm, Yanlan Pass!
Within the Summer Palace, the heated discussions had been ongoing for a very long time.
In fact, long ago, most people had made the same decision as the other four passes, that is, to abandon the Central Spirit Domain.
But there had always been one person who refused to give in.
The minority obeys the majority, as logic goes, rendering one person’s persistence insignificant.
But the issue is, this person... is the Lord of Great Xia, Xia Zhao.
"Xia Zhao, Yanlan Pass is absolutely unable to assist the Central Spirit Domain, with the Giant Spirit Demon Clan at the gates, how can we split our forces?" a cultivator from the faction once led by the Qing King, Yan Huo Wang, was pained beyond despair, even directly calling Xia Zhao by name.
With Yan Huo Wang at the lead, the Summer Palace was immediately in an uproar.
Xia Zhao merely sat on the thronel, quietly watching the clamor without saying a word.
After a moment, under her steady gaze, the clamor subsided.
Then, Xia Zhao spoke two sentences.
"The Sword Sect wants to let the people on that land understand that there are still those who have not abandoned them."
"Then we must let the Sword Sect know they are definitely not fighting alone."