Chapter 58: No Choice

A fight broke out!

The shield in front of Lu Qingyan hadn’t shattered, but with a single palm strike, she activated it. Countless silver-white leaves transformed into a storm that swept toward Yue Hongling.

Yue Hongling wasn’t afraid in the slightest.

She raised a hand and unleashed a Mountain-Crashing Seal, blasting the silver leaves into fragments.

The leaves recoiled instantly, attacking Yue Hongling from all directions.

Yue Hongling drew her hands apart and then brought them together. Her true essence surged forth, and an invisible force froze the leaves in place, suspending them in the air around her.

Lu Qingyan’s hands rapidly formed seals. The silver leaves began to glow more brightly and started trembling.

“Stop! Don’t fight!”

The cultivators in the war tent rushed out in alarm.

Gu Qingtian furrowed his brow slightly and spoke up. “Junior Sister.”

“Just a measly fourth-stage Core Infant cultivator, yet able to unleash this kind of power—you of Grand Dao Sect are truly impressive,” Lu Qingyan said, gesturing as all the silver-white leaves flew back into her sleeves and vanished.

Yue Hongling glared coldly at her and spat out a threat.

“No one is allowed to disturb my shixiong’s cultivation. If you want to interfere—then step over my corpse!”

“I wasn’t even planning on going at first, but after hearing that, I have to go take a look now.”

The two women were locked in direct confrontation.

Yue Hongling’s temper flared.

“No one try to stop us! Come on then, one-on-one!”

“One-on-one it is!”

“Hongling!”

Ding Yuqing quickly stepped in to stop Yue Hongling. The attitude of the Eternal Sect was indeed infuriating, and Yue Hongling was strong—but she was still young.

And when the young faced off against someone older and more seasoned, they were bound to be at a disadvantage.

No matter how talented they were.

“In any case, you’re not going!” Yue Hongling said stubbornly.

“Whether I go or not is my decision—not yours,” Lu Qingyan replied with a cheerful smile.

“With how you are, going after my shixiong... you’re already walking the path of death!”

“Oh dear, how scary! Hearing that just makes me even more curious.”

“We just want to talk to him, that’s all, Fairy Yue. No need to get so worked up. If this Lu... Lu Ye refuses, we’re all of the human race—we can speak reasonably, can’t we?”

“Exactly, exactly. The Dao Comprehension Tree works about the same whether it’s one person cultivating or a group. We’re not infringing on his rights at all!”

“Infringing? On the contrary—we’re helping him! He hasn’t made a single move while we’ve been fighting tooth and nail against the demons and monsters. Now we’re offering to let him share in the hard-earned fruits of our battles. He’s practically benefiting # Nоvеlight # for free!”

“Indeed, well said!”

Shangguan Wuchang wore a smile on his face.

Now this was starting to get interesting.

Seeing the situation unfold, Yue Hongling looked at each of the shouting cultivators and slowly shook her head.

Some people really were just begging to die—she couldn’t stop them.

By now, Shangguan Wuchang had comfortably tucked himself behind the crowd.

Gu Qingtian stepped forward and began walking in the direction of the Dao Comprehension Tree.

The other Heaven’s Chosen of the human race followed closely behind.

Ding Yuqing bit her lip and went as well. Right now, all of Grand Dao Sect’s disciples were seething with fury. The disciples of the Supreme Sword Sect and Yi Jie Sect were also visibly displeased.

Those three sects usually had close relations.

The Mountain-River Pagoda Sect remained in a more rational and neutral position.

With so many human powerhouses mobilizing, the other races quickly grew alert.

Seeing that the human cultivators were headed straight for the Buddhist Sect’s territory, they were momentarily confused.

The Buddhist Sect immediately braced for war.

What was going on? They hadn’t clashed with the humans in the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield yet. Why were so many sects suddenly charging at them?

The monks were seriously spooked!

But midway through the march, the human group suddenly shifted direction. It seemed they weren’t heading toward the Buddhist Sect’s territory after all.

The Dao Comprehension Tree?

That was the direction of the Dao Comprehension Tree.

What were they planning?

Lu Ye had remained immersed in comprehending the Great Dao. During his meditation, he could sense that the Dao Comprehension Tree—whether intentionally or unintentionally—constantly sent gentle, intimate thoughts toward him.

He didn’t bother to dwell on it.

The Dao Comprehension Tree was still far too young. For now, it could aid him in the early stages, but at his cultivation speed, in less than five years, its assistance would become negligible.

By the time the Dao Comprehension Tree reached maturity, he would have ascended to who-knows-what realm.

Wind stirred.

Lu Ye opened his eyes calmly. Judging from the sheer number of whooshing wind sounds, things here were about to get lively.

Lively was good—his system liked lively.

A group arrived and immediately spotted the monks sprawled out across the ground.

The single-strike fatal wounds made many among them visibly flinch in surprise.

“You are Lu Ye?” Gu Qingtian asked.

“I am.”

Lu Ye scanned the group and saw that no one he particularly disliked was among them. His mood improved slightly.

“We’ve come to discuss something with you,” Gu Qingtian said.

“Go ahead.”

Yue Hongling was standing far away from the area. With so many people present, she didn’t dare to appear before Lu Ye at all, terrified that she would break down crying.

Now, seeing how calmly Lu Ye treated complete strangers—compared to how he treated her—Yue Hongling’s eyes immediately turned red.

Such obvious disparity!

She wanted to cry!

“I’ve heard that cultivating under the Dao Comprehension Tree allows one to draw closer to the Great Dao, so we were hoping to train here for a while as well. Would you be willing?” Gu Qingtian asked.

In truth, he could’ve added one more sentence.

If he had said, “In exchange, you would also be welcome to cultivate in the other blessed lands we humans have claimed”—it might have made things sound more agreeable.

But Gu Qingtian deliberately didn’t say that.

So that was their purpose.

Lu Ye understood instantly.

He actually knew a bit about Gu Qingtian.

He was an arrogant figure. In their previous life, the two had once sparred—Lu Ye had won, but only narrowly.

After that, they hadn’t had much interaction.

“Anything else?” Lu Ye asked.

“What else?” Gu Qingtian raised an eyebrow.

Lu Ye smiled faintly. Things were starting to get interesting.

“I don’t actually mind agreeing to that,” Lu Ye said. “But what I’m really curious about is—if I refuse, what exactly would you do?”

Gu Qingtian smiled too.

“Apologies. But where I come from, refusal isn’t an option.”

Just like that, in the exchange of a few words, the air instantly turned explosive.

Lu Ye looked past Gu Qingtian at the rest of the group.

“Who else here shares his view?”

Silence.

Gu Qingtian did seem a bit too overbearing. Why didn’t he just say the rest of what he meant?

“If you’re willing to let us cultivate under the Dao Comprehension Tree, then you can freely use the blessed lands humanity controls. Would that be a fair exchange?” a prince of the Jiuli Heavenly Dynasty asked.

“My question is this,” Lu Ye said. “This notion that I have no right to refuse—who here agrees with it?”

Shangguan Wuchang glanced around.

What the hell?

Why was everyone so timid all of a sudden?

He had been planning to quietly ride this one out, but now that nobody was speaking up...

“I agree!”

“I believe that as a member of the human race, you should contribute. The Dao Comprehension Tree should be shared by all human Heaven’s Chosen!” Shangguan Wuchang declared.

Once someone took the lead, others followed.

“That’s right, I agree as well. You shouldn’t refuse this!”

“I agree. If the human race were weak, then even your strength wouldn’t be enough to claim the Dao Comprehension Tree for yourself. Therefore, it rightfully belongs—at least in part—to the human race!”