Lingzhang

Chapter 817 A Choice Without a Choice
"Brother Tao—wait a minute—!"

The shimmering light that the Tao family head had raised gradually dimmed.

then.

What appeared before the heads of the various families was a simple jade pendant carved from ancient jade, its patterns filled with the colors of primitive wilderness.

Upon closer inspection, what appears to be a talisman imbued with the aura of a king is instead covered with a dense network of cracks, resembling a spiderweb, the result of the erosion of time.

It seemed as if the jade pendant would shatter immediately if a person applied even the slightest force.

But it was precisely when faced with such an antique jade pendant that...

The faces of the heads of the various noble families present suddenly changed drastically in shock.

Some people immediately spoke up and cried out.

When the head of the Tao family looked in the direction of the voice, the man spoke with an even more earnest expression.

"Brother Tao, think it over! Once you take this step, it's a lose-lose situation with no turning back!"

"We've gone too far down the path of compounding our mistakes."

Why persist down a dead-end path?

"Didn't we say back then that we would replenish the star foundation of the Ninth Star Region for him? We made a good start then, so why not continue now? No matter how burdensome things are today, there will eventually be a day when we can break free from them."

"Don't look at me like that, Brother Tao."

"To be honest, I'm terrified that he could suppress and refine even an Inner Realm Great Sage like that. If we go any further, I see absolutely no hope of winning. All I can see is a huge 'death'!"

To the end.

The man's expression was one of utter despair.

but.

The response he received was the cold, almost indifferent, almost numb gaze of the Tao family head.

Is there really any way to turn back?

"The day he broke through the destructive storm in Starfield Nine, we got off to a good start, but the question is, is today still that day?"

You think I'm not scared?

"But what good is being timid now!"

"Anyone can be terrified, anyone can turn over a new leaf, anyone can find a way to go back to the old ways."

"Everyone, only you and I cannot do it!"

As soon as the words were spoken.

All noise within the entire dojo instantly ceased.

After a moment of such deathly silence.

The Tao family head's deep voice slowly rang out.

"Some things you can say to fool others, but don't fool yourself too."

"You can be stubborn to the death and refuse to admit it when you're out in the world, but when you're reflecting on your own actions, you can still distinguish right from wrong!"

“One thing after another, we found many people to take the blame for these incidents. As a result, the Wang family of Xiguan was ruined, Wang Xiaoyu went mad, and the Sang family was forced to surrender.”

"In this process, several powerful families lost their positions in Zhenzhou, and there were also tragic cases of families being destroyed and wiped out..."

"Now that things have come to this point, there's no longer a time when we can find someone to bear this guilt."

"We need to think this through."

"From the very beginning, we made a mistake!"

"In the end, those who do wrong will pay the price!"

"We're no longer standing on dry land!"

"The word 'death' isn't on the road ahead, it's right before our eyes!"

At this point, the Tao family head's voice even became sinister.

His gaze, like that of a venomous snake, swept over all the silent family heads in the integrated training ground.

"This is not me exaggerating!"

“In my Xinghu Tao family, the direct line of the family, the third and seventh branches, three promising young talents have already emerged, and they have already exchanged for the Six Dragons Gauze Robe.”

"Now, his rapidly increasing foundation in Taoist arts has been transformed into outstanding combat power."

"What this means, you should all be very clear about."

"Once their physical form and spirit are in harmony with their Daoist foundation, it will be easy for them to reach the late stage of the Outer Realm through the tempering of bloody battles."

"Just take this one step."

"A new patriarch, new elders, a completely new leader and framework for wielding power—all are in place!"

"At that time, my life will be the pledge of allegiance of those new generation leaders of the Tao family who have never committed any crimes, representing the Xinghu Tao family, to 'repent' and 'turn back'!"

"I'm still alive, but I'm not far from death!"

"If I had struggled too much at that time, even the clan's hidden strength would have intervened to help these children kill me!"

"what about you?"

"What about your descendants?"

"I'm not blind. I can clearly identify which rising stars have emerged on the ancient battlefield recently, after a period of consolidation, and who have unleashed terrifying combat power!"

"These children are our death warrants!"

"It's not just you and me who are terrified by his fighting prowess, but the entire world!"

"Now, they have come to a conclusion: since Yue Hanzhang is unshakeable, only by killing us with their own hands can the sins committed against the stubborn aristocratic families become a thing of the past, and only then can Yue Hanzhang let go of the past and start anew."

"If we die, the aristocratic families will live!"

"So, gentlemen, who among you is willing to sit idly by and wait for death?"

As soon as the words were spoken.

Another long silence followed.

An elderly figure asked helplessly.

"What does the Tao family intend to do? How do they plan to break this hopeless predicament?"

This question was already an answer, if not a reply, from the heads of the powerful families. They didn't want to die!
then.

A somewhat indifferent expression finally appeared on the face of the Tao family head.

"I dare not say that I am confident of breaking the deadlock. After all, that is someone who can refine an Inner Realm Great Sage at the Outer Realm Venerable King level."

"However, if we don't want to sit and wait for our demise, we only have one choice left, one that we have no other option to make."

"In the territories already explored by the Dao Alliance and the Demon Clan, there is no one who can rival him."

"The momentum that he intended to stir up was no longer enough to counter the power of his decisive strike."

Even the most powerful kings who possess superhuman combat abilities are no match for him.

"Even the Great Sage in the Inner Realm met a tragic end."

"As for the Serpent Saint who is cultivating his health in the Demon Realm using the Myriad Saints Heaven and Earth Array, Yue Hanzhang has already broken his spirit. He may be able to contend with Yue Hanzhang for a while with the help of the array, but he is destined not to make a move again."

"So, regarding the matter of attacking Yue Hanzhang, their combat strength and cultivation level have been constantly increasing. Now, there's only one type of person who hasn't yet made a move against Yue Hanzhang—"

"Those Inner Realm Dao Lords and Great Sages who have been stationed in the outer star seas for countless years, truly solidifying their foundations!"

“They have already taken steps to cultivate a higher level of understanding.”

“They are far superior to the demon kings who were hastily promoted before.”

"Don't think about how powerful he is or how incredible his background is."

"Because even if we use the method of exhaustive enumeration to arrange and calculate, in the end, the only ones left who haven't made a move against Yue Hanzhang are these people."

"If they succeed."

"Then everything in the Dao Alliance territory will return to normal. The Dao Lord will set things right, and without the source of constant pressure, you and I will still be the leaders of our aristocratic families."

"If even they can't be helped."

"Then it is not our fault in fighting, but the will of Heaven that led you and me, and all the noble families, to this point of death and collapse."

"You and I are nothing more than the last struggle before we face the bleak end that we have to wait for today, even if we just sit and wait to die."

As the head of the Tao family was speaking...

All the cultivators present fell into deep thought and contemplation.

Almost exactly a few breaths after the head of the Tao family finished speaking.

The person who had first spoken up to dissuade the head of the Tao family then asked urgently after a moment of contemplation.

"However, this matter violates the ironclad rules of the Dao Alliance..."

Upon hearing this, the head of the Tao family merely gave a cold smile.

"Have our families, both openly and secretly, violated enough of the ironclad rules of the Dao Alliance?"

"Isn't this thing designed so that ordinary people can't touch it, while you and I can fiddle with it at will?"

"Like I said, it's all good that he's dead."

"If he doesn't die, in the face of life and death judgment, would our mistakes matter?"

All of a sudden.

The person was no longer confused.

The voice of the Tao family head continued to ring out, albeit at a higher pitch.

"Of course, no one wants to risk their ancestors' actions. You and I are just family heads of countless generations, and we don't have the face to persuade our ancestors to break the ironclad rules."

"But there is a way to solve this problem."

"This method is even better."

"Among the Dao Lords, there are also those who harbor anger in their hearts and wish to act without restraint."

"Wasn't the Yunbo Fu family wiped out by Yue Hanzhang? The Fu family patriarch's own younger brother also died at his hands!"

"And the Wang family of Xiguan."

"Regardless of the cause and effect, he's the one who will ultimately sentence the Wang family of Xiguan to 'death'!"

"To be precise, the two patriarchs of the Wang family were ruthless back then. When the Wang family was still in Yanzhou, it is said that the Daoist patriarch of the Su family in Wu'an was very likely assassinated by the two patriarchs of the Wang family!"

"So it's not just Tao."

"I need you to also use the ancestral edicts of your respective families!"

"Instead of letting our ancestors break the ironclad rules, we should persuade them to work together to create a coincidental opportunity for the ancestors of the Fu and Wang families."

"Among the three, surely at least one will be tempted?"

"Behind them, there are no longer the Dao Alliance's borders or the bloodline families of the mortal world to restrain them."

"Given the opportunity, the so-called ironclad rules of the Dao Alliance are nothing more than a piece of waste paper to them!"

While speaking.

The eyes of the man next to Tao the Master gradually brightened.

"In that case, why not let the previous five..."

Before the man could finish speaking, the head of the Tao family shook his head again.

"Even if the three of them move together, the noise will be less noticeable."

"If we also include the patriarchs of the other five families, with such a huge commotion, I'm afraid the matter will be impossible to keep secret even before it's started."

"Moreover, no matter how monstrous Yue Hanzhang is, he is only a late-stage Outer Realm Venerable King. There must be a limit to how far he can go in defying the Upper Realm, right?"

"Just kill the Great Sage who has just entered the inner realm."

"By this calculation, one or two patriarchs who have remained at the Inner Realm Dao Lord level for countless years are already more than capable of delivering a killing blow!"

"If his combat power is truly monstrous, even if three patriarchs couldn't kill him, no matter how many more patriarchs were added, they still couldn't accomplish such a thing!"

At this point, the head of the Tao family reached out and tugged at the mottled and cracked ancestral edict in his palm.

"Now that things have come to this point, gentlemen, is this the end of it?"

While talking.

A faint killing intent was slowly spreading from the head of the Tao family.

(End of this chapter)