All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 522 - 132: Surrender and Spare Lives (6200)

Chapter 522: Chapter 132: Surrender and Spare Lives (6200)

In his fall, Han Hao couldn’t help but recall his entire life.

The year he was born, Da Chen ceased to expand, the tribes no longer migrated north, but were able to settle around the forest tundras, moving around the Beimo River, herding moss-cattle and horned sheep, learning from Da Chen how to cultivate some key crops.

The tribe was regaining its Yuan Qi. Perhaps because the memory of being driven from their homeland by Da Chen was still fresh, or perhaps as a reversal of destiny, many geniuses and Life Holders emerged from the Iron Li Bai Bu, and Han Hao was one of them.

He was born into the ’Brave Warrior’ class of the Juguang Tribe, destined to temper his body for the future of the tribe, to cultivate the skills of warfare. His parents conceived him under the blessing of the Ancestor Spirit, and he did not disappoint, awakening the Giant Spirit Bloodline and the Fate Pattern [Shi Gandang] during his early martial arts training, hence receiving the highest quality resources for his cultivation from the tribe.

Then, following the customs of the tribe, he entered the real ’heaven’ of Dust Li, the only Upper Gate, Taiming Sect, for cultivation.

Following the swaying steps of the camels, after a three-month journey, he, like a naive country bumpkin, along with a group of boys and girls from various parts of Dust Li, became outer sect disciples of this great sect.

How should one describe that period of time?

Taiming Sect was ancient and decayed, sluggish and slow.

On the first day these newcomers arrived under the mountain gate, there was no one to meet them, let alone arrange for their accommodation. Everyone slept on the vast marble plaza, larger than their tribal camp, and only at noon the next day did someone lead these hungry, dizzy children to the dormitories floating among clouds and mist within the mountain gate.

At first, Han Hao thought it was a test, enduring steadfastly, only to learn as he grew older within the sect that it was merely due to an overabundance of welcoming procedures, slow processes, and a mishap caused by the responsible senior brother overextending his seclusion.

But Taiming Sect was also broad and tolerant, almost omnipotent.

No one discriminated against them from the borderlands of Dust Li; although there was competition within the sect factions, it was not fierce. These newcomers received the resources they deserved without deduction, and any issues they had in their cultivation were explained in detail by the sect’s extensive collection of books, far beyond their expectations.

That senior brother who had overextended his seclusion and made them wait a day and a half was a disciple of the Discipline Grand Elder of Taiming Sect. To compensate these children, this bright and generous man took them on a tour around the Netherworld Zhi Ming Sea, not only opening the eyes of these children who had never seen the ’Underworld’, but also using his own sect contributions to allow each of them to choose a cultivation technique they liked.

Han Hao cherished that relaxed period of time.

Living in the Upper Gate, there was no need to worry about food, safety. No need to worry about Monsters/Demons, spirits and monsters. There were no life or death crises, no Frost Calamity.

Here, life was truly about living, not just surviving. People studied martial arts, compared skills, either appreciating each other or competing. Senior brothers and sisters took great care of their juniors, and although the sect elders were conservative and stern, once they truly accepted someone as a disciple, they provided appropriate guidance and benefits.

The only problem was neglect.

Only those within the sect were considered their own.

They did not care whether the people of Iron Li lived or perished. Their own homeland, for the Upper Gate, was just a useful pawn at the frontier, a buffer zone to deal with the expansion of Da Chen.

"Do you really want to go back to that rural tribe?"

Even though the Juguang Tribe was now the most powerful among the Iron Li Bai Bu, having the King Bu with the True Person of Divine Repository, in the mouths of their fellow sect members, it was still a lower gate that couldn’t even compare to the edge, merely a remote force of rural natives.

Their tone carried sympathy and puzzlement, just like there will always be people who can’t understand why someone would leave a bustling big city to return to their poor and ignorant hometown: "It’s such a pity, Han, you have great talent. Although you can’t learn our Taiming Sect’s Netherworld Art of Magic, in Divine Demon Martial Arts, you are truly a genius."

"If you stayed in the sect, maybe you could become a True Person."

"It can’t be helped."

At that time, Han Hao smiled and said: "I was raised by the tribe, I have to go back."

—But do I really want to go back?

More than once, Han Hao thought so. If he wasn’t Iron Li, just a Fate Pattern Pieces appeared in any random, unknown small village within the jurisdiction of the Five Sects of Dust Li, then he could entrust everything to the sect, become part of the sect, live for the sect, die for the sect, love the sect wholeheartedly, and become the future, foundation, and strength of the sect.

He wanted so badly to dedicate himself, but he couldn’t do it.

Because he was an Iron Li.

If he wasn’t a military noble of Iron Li, he would not have received a good education, would not have had a Fate Pattern, and would not have been able to enter Taiming Sect... He couldn’t let himself down, yet he so desperately desired it.

So he had to leave.

But it didn’t matter, even within the sect, Mandated Warriors must travel the world, fulfilling their own destinies. Han Hao believed that his hometown was his destiny. He would break through, become a True Person, lead the Juguang Tribe to climb higher, becoming a member of the organizations under the sect, rather than the sect’s cannon fodder, a sideline from the frontier.

The tribe had recovered fairly well over the years, and for Han Hao, who had returned from Taiming Sect, people offered cheers and expectations, and Han Hao responded to their expectations.

He led a branch of the tribe, killed the Ferocious Beasts of the Wilderness, annihilated the nests of Man-Eating Demonic Spirits, and found new pastures and fishing grounds for the tribe.