Chapter 69: What Was An Thinking?

Nine Dragon Valley!

A large group of people suddenly burst out, leaving the various sect powerhouses waiting outside the teleportation vortex completely dumbfounded.

Was the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield... already over?

So many people were coming out—an entire mass of them, from every sect.

Wait, hadn’t the final three layers of the battlefield only just opened less than a day ago? And it was already over?

“What’s going on? Why are you all coming out?” A senior elder of Jie Sect grabbed one of his disciples and demanded.

“Greetings, Elder.”

“We came out on the advice of Bai Qiulan from the Grand Dao Sect. She said that a supreme demon had appeared inside the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield, and that he would kill all of us. Her tone was very firm and urgent. We followed her advice and chose to withdraw.”

“What supreme demon?”

“Did you even try the Eternal Heaven’s Chosen Ranking?”

“We don’t know what demon she was talking about—and we didn’t even get the chance to try the Eternal Heaven’s Chosen Ranking!”

“Absurd!”

The Jie Sect elder’s expression changed drastically. He roared in fury.

“You quit the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield just because of one warning? Do you not realize how precious this battlefield is for you? What an incredible opportunity it is?”

His voice rumbled like thunder, shaking the ears of everyone nearby.

“On the path of cultivation, have you not encountered demons before? If you run away every time a demon shows up, then what the hell are you even cultivating for? Why don’t you go home and grow crops?! You’ll never run into a demon in the fields!”

“Shameful! Absolutely shameful! Why the hell are we called Jie Sect? Do you even know where our name comes from?”

“We’re the ones who transcend tribulations! We fear neither great tribulations nor calamities! We’ve survived countless dangers, and now you’re telling me you turned tail and ran without even seeing this so-called demon?!”

“Grand Dao Sect! You owe my Jie Sect a damn explanation for this!”

And it wasn’t just Jie Sect. The other sects, upon hearing the news, were equally dumbfounded.

All this just because Bai Qiulan said a supreme demon might appear—and so many people withdrew?

Seriously, since when did cultivators become so cowardly?

“Are there still people who haven’t come out? Don’t let them out!”

“Do whatever it takes to keep them inside!”

“This is infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!”

Because the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield existed in a separate dimension, it was quite difficult to communicate across that space. Normal transmission stones couldn’t reach that far.

Thankfully, the Mountain River Pagoda Sect had a Heaven’s Chosen carrying a special treasure—

A Winged Communication Scroll.

“I’ll notify them!”

A Mountain River Pagoda Sect elder spoke urgently.

Meanwhile, more and more people kept pouring out from the battlefield. With each one, the various sects felt a deep, gut-wrenching pain.

What a waste!

Such a golden opportunity—just thrown away like that!

The Mountain River Pagoda Sect elder took out one half of the Winged Communication Scroll and began writing on it.

The characters on the scroll turned into golden light and vanished—while the matching scroll within the battlefield would display the exact same writing.

“Why is there no reply yet?”

The elder was almost beside himself with anxiety.

Buzz...

Golden light appeared—Mountain River Pagoda Sect’s disciples from inside had replied. They would stop exiting the battlefield.

“Fellow Daoist Cheng, let me borrow that Winged Scroll—just for a moment!”

“Please help me notify our Jie Sect disciples. They are absolutely forbidden from leaving the Heaven’s Chosen Battlefield! Demons? Who cares! Fight them! This isn’t a suggestion—it’s a direct order! They are not to leave!”

“Fellow Daoist Cheng, help notify my Supreme Sword Sect as well...”

Even the Supreme Sword Sect wasn’t willing to have their disciples withdraw now. Sword Dao always emphasized pressing forward without fear. How could they possibly turn and run?

“Fellow Daoist Langya, think twice! From what we know of Junior Sister Bai, she is not someone who speaks without reason. If she claims a peerless demon has appeared, then it must be an irresistible force. Please reconsider, Fellow Daoist Langya!”

The people of the Grand Dao Sect spoke up.

They were the ones who knew Bai Qiulan best, and there was no way they believed she was trying to deliberately frighten others.

She must have truly believed that staying in the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield meant certain death—only then would she urge everyone to withdraw.

Langya Sword hesitated.

His face was full of conflict; this was a difficult decision to make.

“If you won’t listen to me, then Fellow Daoist Cheng, please ask the people of the Jiuli Heavenly Dynasty to stop exiting as well. Opportunities in the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield are far too rare—we absolutely can’t give them up so lightly!”

Cheng Liang didn’t hesitate either—he helped contact Jiuli Heavenly Dynasty. The more people who stayed inside, the higher the chances of survival when facing the demon.

He didn’t believe it. Just how strong could one demon be?

As time passed, second by second—

More and more people poured out.

The disciples of the Supreme Sword Sect and Grand Dao Sect had almost all exited. The cultivators of the Jiuzhou Dynasty followed suit.

Other sects did the same, leaving one group after another. Eventually, loose cultivators exited in droves too. They were more inclined to trust the judgment of Grand Dao Sect’s experts.

However, about one-third still remained inside—most of them high-level cultivators.

The Yin-Yang Law Sect had almost all stayed behind.

Chu Ling had run out alone.

When Bai Qiulan, Yue Hongling, and Sun Ruowei came out afterward, Bai Qiulan immediately counted how many people had left.

Her expression changed.

“Why are there still so many people who haven’t come out?” Bai Qiulan asked anxiously.

“Bai Qiulan, what exactly are you planning? You clearly know the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield is an unimaginable opportunity for everyone, yet you urged them to give it up!”

The Yin-Yang Law Sect was the first to lash out, shouting harshly.

“That’s right, Bai Qiulan, today you must give us an explanation!”

“Damn it! So many Heaven’s Chosen missed out on their chance because of you. You—you—you... Grand Dao Sect, you owe us an ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) explanation!”

Bai Qiulan took a deep breath.

“Then I’ll say it again. A temporarily demonized cultivator has appeared in the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield. His power is monstrous. Killing Unity Dao cultivators is as easy for him as slaughtering chickens and dogs. He is currently in a state of endless killing intent. Any living being he encounters will be killed. I swear on my own Dao—every word I’ve said is true. Get everyone out of there now!”

To swear on one’s Dao—

That was an incredibly serious oath.

Many people’s expressions changed slightly.

Killing Unity Dao cultivators as easily as slaughtering chickens?

And Bai Qiulan had sworn on her Dao?

“Fear-mongering! Tell me—who is this so-called demon?” barked a Yin-Yang Law Sect elder.

Bai Qiulan...

“I—I don’t know his name.”

“Hahaha! You don’t even know his name? And if he’s as powerful as you say—”

He didn’t even finish his sentence—

When suddenly, from the direction of the Supreme Empire, a mournful cry rang out.

“Second Prince!”

All eyes turned toward the Supreme Empire’s camp—

And what they saw made their scalps go numb.

The soul stones were shattering.

Crack... crack... crack...

With almost no pause between them, the soul stones broke one after another, frantically, one by one. Each shattering stone meant the death of a cultivator.