Chapter 503 - Making a New Choice

A great battle finally came to an end.

The death of the giant Zhuhuai beast completely destroyed the fighting spirit of all the giant beasts. When that mountain of a body fell down, almost all the fierce beasts began to scream and flee. They no longer had the drive to keep fighting, and there was a tendency that an army in flight was like a landslide…

Those Surviving Species of the Untainted Land were extremely powerful and they also enjoyed having a certain amount of intelligence.

Of course, when most of them fled, others continued being loyal to the Zhuhuai; they came up with the idea of death and cried out in grief as they fought to the death, as if willing to die for its sake. They launched a death raid, but they were finally wiped out mercilessly by the supreme masters of various major forces.

The earth was cracked and everywhere had become a scene of devastation.

Countless thousand-year-old trees were burning, and the air was filled with smoke. The lava released a smell of sulfur, as if it had just experienced a destructive disaster. Fortunately, the ancient road was protected by the ancient laws of heaven and earth. Otherwise, it would have been fought to pieces by such a large scale battle.

No matter what, the strong masters of the Human Clan and the Demon Clan won a tragic victory, in the battle…

The Demon Royal Evil Heart, who had been the most arrogant before, had been pierced through by the red light as the Zhuhuai pretended to be dead and fought back with all his might. His body was almost broken; only his soul was left. His strength plummeted sharply. Finally, he was guarded by the demon masters of Evil Heart Temple and retreated to the side with hatred. He could only watch that the various treasures in the Zhuhuai’s body were being divided by others.

He was not qualified to participate in the division of spoils of war. He even lost four horns.

A person had to be humble when trapped in an inferior situation. He no longer had the previous arrogance. Among all the top masters, his injuries had been the worst and his strength was the lowest. He was no longer qualified to compete for treasures…

Evil Moon, the fat cat, was drooling, constantly looking at the Demon Royal Evil Heart.

For the fat cat, a strong master’s soul was absolutely a rare tonic. Since he had devoured the soul of the unknown ancient master in the ruins of the underground part of Western Rock Mountain Range, the fat cat had been obsessed with that kind of “food” in the ruins.

The Demon Royal Evil Heart keenly felt the fat cat Evil Moon’s malice. The way the fat cat looked at him was like looking at a fat mouse. He couldn’t help but feel a cold sweat with goosebumps all over. He felt frightened!

“Meow. There are too many supreme masters in the Demon Clan now. It’s not easy to kill and eat. I’ll launch a sudden attack in a dark and windy night… Hehe!” The fat cat was thinking while drooling.

Soon, the allotment was completed by several supreme masters.

Nothing was left in Zhuhuai’s massive body. His skin, flesh, bones, and blood were all extremely rare treasures. Some of them could enhance cultivation, and some could be made into magical weapons, even precious weapons. The mountain-like corpses were soon cut up.

Several supreme masters filled their pockets. In addition, several thousands of powerful masters who were responsible for resisting the ferocious beast hordes also got a piece of cake. Even if the supreme masters were supercilious, they knew how to appease people. Only that way could they avoid provoking the public anger!

The spoils of war were checked and sorted out. For both the Demon Clan and the Human Clan, they suffered great losses in the battle.

There were at least five thousand powerful masters from the Human Clan and the Demon Clan who had swarmed into the first section of the ancient road to the west. Other than about a hundred masters who had died in the exploration, more than two thousand had died in the battle.

Such a loss was too much for everyone to bear, equivalent to 10,000 elite disciples of the younger generation in the Northern Region. The first section of the ancient road to the west had claimed a fifth of the original numbers. It was a disaster for many small sects. Their genius disciples were killed in the battle, which meant that their sects had become hopeless. The shortage of talents would lead their decline in the near future, or their very end!

The great loss made everyone doubt whether they could reach the end of the ancient road alive.

Was it really worth it to reclaim the ancient road to the west to search for the mysterious ruins at such a heavy cost of blood and bones?

And that was only the first of the 11 sections of the ancient road. After going deeper, they would experience more difficulties. By that time, all kinds of dangers would definitely increase. The geniuses of the Human and the Demon clans may be wiped out even before they reached the mysterious ruins.

Some people thought for a while and finally woke up from the tempting dreams about the mysterious ruins. They set aside their greed and decided to leave the ancient road to the west without hesitation!

Although the divine hide was beautiful, everything was virtual if you weren’t alive to enjoy it.

The road was too dangerous, and it wasn’t quite right for them to obtain it. After they withdrew from the ancient road to the west, they could continue to cultivate in the Sage Battlefield. When they returned to the Northern Region, they would still be dominating geniuses for various sects, and they would still be well-known. They had no need to die for the illusory mysterious ruins!

They were all outstanding talents of a generation. Once they made a decision, they would not hesitate.

So more than half of two thousand survivors decided to leave.

Some of the people remaining were still hesitating, and others were disciples of various forces who had the stele map. They might harbor fear in their hearts, but they had to stay. Even if they had to die, they had to protect their most powerful masters and escort them to the mysterious ruins.

The whole process of cleaning up the mess lasted for half a day.

The corpses of many ferocious beasts of the Surviving Species of the Untainted Land were also divided among martial artists of the Human Clan and powerful masters of the Demon Clan with hatred.

To a certain extent, the greatest beneficiary of the battle was the Human Clan.

Because the Zhuhuai’s heart had been taken by Song Que from the Blue Cloud Sect, and he had finally refined it into a Zhuhuai’s Blood Essence. With Song Que’s strength, after refining it, he could use the magical power of the Beast Transform to greatly improve his strength; Bai Quanshui, the sword cultivator of the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect obtained the Zhuhuai’s head, which contained the skull, brain, and eyeballs. Those could be used to make a high-grade treasure with its value above the blood essence!

Although the supreme masters of the Silver Moon’s Ancient Demon Clan and Bu Tian Que got Zhuhuai’s fur, they were still a little inferior to the head’s blood essence.

Ding Hao obtained a fist-sized red blood bead. He didn’t know what it was used for, but it could easily penetrate the body of a Demon Royal master. It was probably also a great treasure, not any weaker than the blood essence and the head. In addition, he also got one of the Zhuhuai’s horns, which could be refined into an ultimate-grade weapon!

“Everyone, it is time for us to let go of our pride and complacency. We have to admit that we are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and strength when compared to the ferocious beasts bred by the ancient laws within these ancient roads. Therefore, after entering the second section of the ancient road, we will definitely not be like before. We will not slaughter or plunder. We will carefully lurk and proceed forward. Only then will we be able to reach the final destination!”

pensively said one of the top masters from the Silver Moon’s Ancient Demon Clan.

He had lost an arm. Although it had been reborn, his aura was a little weak and his strength was greatly reduced.

The masters of the Human Clan and the Demon Clan had made a fatal mistake. In the beginning, they didn’t put the remaining beasts of the Surviving Species of the Untainted Land on the road to the west in their eyes. They imagined themselves to be wolves that rushed into a flock of sheep, and they could carry out the killing, destroying like locusts crossing the land. The land was burnt wherever they passed, and finally what they had done aroused the counterattack of the natives. They had been almost at the brink of annihilation, suffering heavy casualties. It was a bloody lesson.

If the powerful masters of the two clans had entered in a low profile at the beginning, just hurrying on their way, picking up some divine herbs occasionally and reclaiming some mineral divine stones, the war would have probably been averted for and the loss would not have been so serious.

“There’s no point in having so many people. It’s better to let the disciples of the major sects withdraw and choose the elites among them to form a small team and move forward with light luggage. If there are too many people entering, it will instead turn out to be the opposite of the situation!” The top master from Bu Tian Que suggested.

Song Que and the others also agreed.

The battle that they had just experienced made them realize just how cruel and terrifying the ancient road to the west was. The cruelty of the endless monster tide was something that many people would never forget. Even if the grudge accumulated between the Human Clan and the Demon Clan over the past millions of years could not be resolved, under those circumstances, they had to barely work together. Otherwise, both sides would not be able to make it to the end of the ancient road.

After rounds of discussion, the various teams began to reorganize their forces.

Ding Hao gave Song Que and Bai Quanshui a notice and returned to a place 50 kilometers away. He met up with Li Yiruo, Zhang Fan, and the others and gave them a simple explanation of what had happened. Then, he sought the advice of the Three Emperors of Central Province. “This is the general situation. You decide whether to advance or to retreat. If you go further in, you may die, and I won’t be able to protect you. If you withdraw, our contract will be invalid. However, so far, you can get a third of the divine herbs, treasures, divine materials, and various kinds of mining materials obtained in the first section of the road to the west. another third will be given to the Heaven Saber and Peerless Sword Alliance. And I will take the remaining third…”

“Well…” The eldest of the Three Emperors of Central Province looked hesitant. “We’ll discuss it.”

After that, he turned to discuss with the other two brothers and the disciples of the Tianning Dynasty.

Ding Hao thought about it, and then he turned around and said, “The road ahead is dangerous and unpredictable. Even a strong man at the Royal Realm may die at any time. It’s better to go back. Yiruo and Xiaofan, you don’t have to take risks. Go back along the way we came. Go back to the Heaven Sabre – Peerless Sword Tower to practice. There will be no danger and you can take good care of Senior Martial Sister Ximen. In the remaining three months, you can comprehend the essence of the saber technique and sword technique in it. In comparison, it is more cost-effective than entering the ancient road!”

Li Yiruo wanted to say something but stopped after giving it a second thought. In the end, she nodded obediently.

She knew very well that if she forced herself to follow Ding Hao, she would become a burden to Brother Hao once the big war broke out. Although she really wanted to stay with Ding Hao all the time and go through that extraordinary time, she would rather allow Ding Hao to fight without any concerns.

Zhang Fan smiled, scratching the back of his head. “I want to fight with you, Senior Brother Ding. Now I can help you.”

“But Senior Sister Ximen needs someone to take care of her. I’m afraid there won’t be peace in the giant city of the Highest Heaven. Yiruo also needs your protection.” Ding Hao insisted on asking Zhang Fan to go back.

The hunter boy had been cultivating his physical body, and his spiritual blood was as vigorous as a divine dragon’s. In the face-to-face battle, he was indeed very strong, as powerful as a high-end Martial King. However, his Qi cultivation was too low, so he couldn’t fly in the air. Once he encountered an opponent like the Zhuhuai who was too strong to resist, he would be unable to escape, only having death as a choice.

After a pause, Zhang Fan understood that Ding Hao had high hopes for him. He had to nod and say, “Well, you can rest assured here.”

While they were talking, the Three Emperors of Central Province on the other side also drew a conclusion…

They finally decided to cancel the adventure, giving up the previous protection, and going back along the way they had come.

In the previous battle, countless supreme masters in the Martial King Realm and the Demon King Realm had died. Many of them had been crushed into meat paste by the beast tide. The strength of the Three Emperors of Central Province was far inferior to that of the most powerful masters. They thought that without incredible luck, they could not survive in endless dangers. They would be better off taking the opportunity to withdraw early and stay in the giant city of the Highest Heaven to cultivate with divine treasures that they had already obtained. It was the best choice for them.

Ding Hao nodded and according to his promise, two-thirds of the magic herbs, precious medicine, magic materials and minerals were distributed to them, and then Ding Hao disbanded the Heaven Saber and Peerless Sword Alliance.

If some people out of the eighty didn’t really fear death, and they wanted to go deeper, they would have nothing to do with Ding Hao. They could only rely on their own luck, resigning to fate.

Ding Hao and the Three Emperors of Central Province suspended the Mysterious Frost Contract between them.

For about eight hours, the Shenzhou No. 1 flew at full speed and left the first section of the ancient road to the west. Ding Hao personally escorted Ximen Qianxue, Li Yiruo and the others back to the Heaven Sabre – Peerless Sword Tower in the giant city of the Highest Heaven. After they were settled, he set off alone and continued to go further along the ancient road to the west.

When Ding Hao arrived at the end of the first section of the road to the west, there were a few people there. Most of the warriors and demons chose to leave after some rest and didn’t want to go further. Only a small number of strong men went on for their own reasons.

Other than Ding Hao, the other supreme masters had long since completed their negotiations. They had already started the second section of the ancient road. Song Que and the other members of the Top 12 in Blue Cloud Province had also entered the second section of the ancient road in advance. However, Song Que had left a disciple from the Blue Cloud Sect at the end of the road to report to Ding Hao.

After reporting, the disciple of the Blue Cloud Sect also left immediately.

The passage between the first section and the second section of the ancient road to the west was still a purple whirlpool gate.

Ding Hao stepped into the purple whirlpool gate with Evil Moon, the fat cat, and the dolphin Adorable.

A new journey began.

Ding Hao stepped into the purple whirlpool gate and felt weightless, seeming as if he were being torn apart. Then he suddenly remembered the sound of the surging waves, thunder and bolts of lightning. When he opened his eyes and looked carefully again, he was surprised to find that he had actually reached the sky above a vast sea.

Was the second section of the ancient road to the west a water country?