Chapter 986 Ding Hao’s Choice
On the Mount Immortal Tao, Ding Hao held the Devil Saber and the Rusted Sword tightly in his hands. The vague image of Nalan Chu in front of him and the voice that sounded in his sea of consciousness had already made everything very clear. Ding Hao’s chest was burning with unquenchable anger as if a volcano was about to erupt.
Nalan Xingde!
The man who was worse than pigs and dogs!
Through the vague image of Nalan Chu in front of him, Ding Hao saw everything that happened in the sinful underground secret chamber. He also saw the blood slowly flowing out of Nalan Chu’s body. He saw the stubborn and thin girl saying word by word with unprecedented firmness, “I don’t want your filthy blood. I’ll give your blood back…” He also saw the always smiling and silly Nalan Youxia roaring and struggling in pain and anger…
What he was worried about the most had happened.
For that poor girl, the pain in her heart had obviously made her feel greater despair than the physical pain!
What kind of fate was this!
Why did such a kind and obedient child have such a father who was worse than pigs and dogs?
“Master, please show up quickly. You must save my brother. He knows nothing… If all of this is a punishment, let me bear it alone…”
Nalan Chu’s pleading and prayers sounded again and again in Ding Hao’s sea of consciousness.
It was really hard to believe what kind of incredible willpower such a thin and kind little girl had burst out so that her voice could pa.s.s through the blockage of s.p.a.ce, the Isolation Tactical Deployment of the secret chamber, and even the golden immortal light s.h.i.+eld on the Saint-alighting Mountain Range, all the way to his sea of consciousness!
This was already beyond the scope of martial arts magical powers.
Even a high-level G.o.d Realm Master might not be able to do this.
Ding Hao was extremely shocked that such a thin and delicate body could burst out with such powerful strength.
“It seems that you are hesitating. What do you think? Do you want to be a decent man, a qualified master, and go back to save the little girl who once saved your life and her brother, or do you want to abandon the unimportant morality and benevolence as well as the so-called principles people often mention and continue to stay here to compete with me for the Immortal Artifact?” Ding Tong teased Ding Hao.
He couldn’t see Nalan Chu’s vague image, nor could he hear her words.
...
However, from Ding Hao’s expression and the warning that flashed across the sky just now, he knew that things had happened in their plan. The Nalan family was sensible. This time they did not come to compete for the Immortal Artifact but took the initiative to cooperate with the G.o.d’s Palace to restrain the man out of their control. In the future, they could put Nalan Xingde in an important position.
Ding Hao ignored Ding Tong’s teasing.
He was a bit hesitant.
He knew that he was in a dilemma.
If he went back to save Nalan Chu and her brother, he would definitely not be able to reach Mount Immortal Tao before the next tide of the chaotic mist ebbed away. In fact, as soon as he walked out of the Saint-alighting Mountain Range, he would be blocked by the golden immortal Qi light s.h.i.+eld and could not enter again. This meant that he would have no chance to get the Immortal Artifact, and it would be impossible for him to help his father again. He could not estimate how terrible the consequences of such a chain reaction would be.
However, if he were to stay here, what awaited Nalan Chu and her brother would definitely be a miserable death.
They were such a pair of brother and sister: one was weak and naive, the other was mentally r.e.t.a.r.ded and stupid. Perhaps for most people, they had no investment potential or value, and they might even be burdens. But for Ding Hao, Nalan Chu saved his life when he first arrived in the Land of Divine Grace. At that time, he was in the weakest state and the situation was the most dangerous. She was his lifesaver. Although Nalan Youxia had always been stupid, he was always showing his trust in and dependence on Ding Hao with his pure smile. Ding Hao really regarded the brother and sister, who had experienced many hards.h.i.+ps, as family members.
It was very simple for some people to make such a decision, but for others, it had no difference from the separation between life and death.
“How is it? Haha, are you struggling? Are you hesitating?” Ding Tong laughed out loud and said, “In fact, it’s not necessary at all. You should know that there are so many people in this world who are willing to give up everything for the sake of the immortal fate, such as betraying their sects, killing their wives, abandoning their children, and killing their fathers and brothers. The masters who are laboriously climbing Mount Immortal Tao below are willing to sacrifice anything. Kindness, morality, loyalty, and faith are all cheap and useless. Only the winner who has reached the peak will be remembered and wors.h.i.+ped. Sacrificing a mere disciple is nothing. What’s more, you didn’t kill her yourself. You don’t have to blame yourself.”
“You want to shake my heart of martial arts?” Ding Hao saw through Ding Tong’s intention at a glance.
For real top masters, the heart of martial arts was even more important than the original foundation. Different people had different hearts of martial arts. It was a kind of belief. The martial arts style that Ding Hao had always stuck to was a clear distinction between kindness and enmity. He must repay kindness and take revenge. If he failed to help Nalan Chu this time, it would leave a thorn in Ding Hao’s heart. It might be insignificant, but it would take root and germinate. Sooner or later, it would erupt at the moment when Ding Hao rushed to the peak, which was enough to completely destroy Ding Hao’s Tao.
Ding Tong seemed to be consoling Ding Hao like an intimate friend, but in fact, his intention was extremely malicious.
Every word of his was like a giant hammer, fiercely hitting and interrogating Ding Hao’s heart. Every word was like a devil, releasing the most fatal and horrible temptation. All those words tried to insert the thorn into the depths of Ding Hao’s subconscious.
Once Ding Hao made a greedy choice, it meant that there would be a deep hidden danger on his road to martial arts.
After saying that, Ding Tong laughed more and more playfully.
The peerless genius of the G.o.d’s Palace had a happy expression on his face as he appreciated Ding Hao’s struggle like that of a trapped beast.
But soon, his smile somehow froze on his face.
He saw in disbelief that Ding Hao really turned around and walked down the Mount Immortal Tao.
“He has… given up?
“He has made such a choice… How… how could it be possible?”
“You want to give up the Immortal Artifact? For that ant-like little girl?” Ding Tong was astonished. The decision made by the person in front of him was far beyond his expectation. It did not conform with the logic of 99% of the masters in the world.
Ding Hao said nothing, nor did he stop walking.
After taking four or five slow steps in succession, Ding Hao put away the Devil Saber and the Rusted Sword. The surging aura around his body was slowly withdrawn, and his strong fighting desire also gradually disappeared, which showed that he had really made a choice, not a pretention.
“You… Ha, haha, hahahaha… An idiot, a fool, I thought you would be an interesting opponent, but I didn’t expect you to be so pedantic… It’s a pity that you have talent and cultivation. In this cold world where the weak are prey to the strong, you are below the standard as you are soft-hearted. You are really the No. 1 fool in the world to give up the immortal fate for a little girl. You won’t have great achievements.”
Ding Tong suddenly stood up. With complex emotions flas.h.i.+ng in his single eye, he raised his voice and shouted.
Ding Hao stopped walking.
When Ding Tong saw this, there was a trace of complacency at the corner of his mouth. “Now you regret it?”
However—
Ding Hao looked back at Ding Tong and said word by word, “Let’s have a compet.i.tion then. Let’s see who can be the s.h.i.+ning dominator in the end and who is a loser that has achieved little.”
His voice had never been so calm.
If before this, there was still a trace of struggle and hesitation and a trace of unwillingness and anger in his heart, when he said this, he suddenly felt that all the hesitation and confusion in his heart disappeared instantly. His will had never been so firm, and his mind had never been so clear.
After saying this, Ding Hao instantly turned around and turned into a flowing light that shot straight down Mount Immortal Tao. His back looked firm and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
The astral wind of Immortal Tao blew Ding Hao’s face and his long hair fluttered.
“Father, if it were you, you would also make such a choice! I’ve got the immortal medicine catalysts and will definitely find a way to hand it to my third uncle. My mother’s injury will also be cured. Now I’m going to save people. I will save the children of another mother, just like what you did in the past…”
Thinking of this, Ding Hao couldn’t help smiling.
In the distance, Ding Tong, who was standing on the mountain road of Mount Immortal Tao, was as quiet as a statue.
He had been staring at Ding Hao’s back, watching Ding Hao completely disappear into the mist in the mountains in the distance. The look in his single eye was complicated, as if there was a hint of relaxation after getting rid of a heavy burden and a kind of strange heaviness…
The man out of their control had made a choice that he could not make.
The man did something he couldn’t do.
This made him feel an inexplicable sense of frustration.
“Go, stupid guy. One day you’ll understand what you have missed today, and you’ll also pay the price for today’s choice. Those who walk their own paths will all die miserably. Benevolence out of cowardice is not allowed to exist in this world!”
Ding Tong sneered.
Then, he looked back at the top of Mount Immortal Tao.
The tide of the chaotic mist there had begun to change. The terrible chaotic force slowly dissipated like a tide, and the terrible power surrounding the Primordial Sky Pillars retreated. The light of the Immortal Artifact in the center became brighter and brighter!
It was time.
Ding Hao went down the mountain at an extremely fast speed.
Ding Hao had almost turned into a flash of lightning. Under the pull of the terrible gravity, he went down the mountain at a speed many times faster than that of going up the mountain. His body was falling at a high speed like a falling star and he was surrounded by flames because of high-speed friction with air.
He once again made his way through the places that he had been to before.