Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 616 - 616 0404 Refusing the Opportunity

Chapter 616: Chapter 0404: Refusing the Opportunity Chapter 616: Chapter 0404: Refusing the Opportunity Chapter 0404 Taking No Chances

After emerging from the underground cave of the barefooted male cultivator, Qi Tian and Gao Jinmei set off back home. With their major enemy now defeated and Chen Wenbo eliminated after his transformation into a Zombie Slave, there was virtually no one left in Great Zhao who could pose a threat to Qi Tian. His mindset become much more relaxed, and he no longer felt the urgency to rush back. After all, everyone needs a break; constant tension can cause problems. The key to both civil and military matters is balance.

The underground lair of the barefooted male cultivator was located in Chi Di territory. To get back to Great Zhao, they’d need to cross the border between Great Zhao and Chi Di. They could have flown straight through the sky but Qi Tian took a fancy to visit Tongmen West Pass, where he had been stationed for a while. For one, he had spent some time there, and on the other hand, he wanted to see if his current gathering of a half-million-strong army in Great Zhao, intending to replace the Crown Prince with Prince Zhao, had affected the border.

Riding the Immortal Crane Statue, Qi Tian headed towards Tongmen West Pass. Gao Jinmei was indifferent about where they went. After all, since she signed a Servant Pact with Qi Tian, it wasn’t up to her to decide their destination. She just needed to follow.

Before reaching Tongmen West Pass, Qi Tian saw dust clouds in the distance and countless silhouettes on the horizon. An endless flood of soldiers and horses was converging on the direction of Tongmen West Pass.

Qi Tian’s face changed. It was the army of the Chi Di people. He had spent several months in Tongmen West Pass and had even infiltrated the Chi Di military camp on a mission. He wouldn’t mistake the Chi Di soldiers.

“Master, should we kill them all?” Gao Jinmei suggested upon seeing Qi Tian’s grave expression. “They’re just a bunch of ants. Don’t bother yourself with them; I can handle it.”

Usually, Gold Core cultivators aren’t too interested in massacring mortals en masse. On one hand, there’s no great benefit in killing these mortals. Just like humans have no particular interest in slaughtering ants. On the other hand, large scale massacres of mortals could easily draw the scorn and ridicule of fellow cultivators. After all, mortals form the base of the Cultivation World—if all mortals are killed, how would cultivators replenish their ranks?

Of course, if a Gold Core cultivator has some perverse preference or insists on killing mortals, generally no one would interfere. The cost to restrain a Gold Core cultivator is simply too high, and no one would be willing to bear that burden.

Right now, Gao Jinmei proposing to massacre the Chi Di army was justifiable: she intended to please her master, Qi Tian. So, she didn’t think she would be in the wrong.

However, Qi Tian shook his head. Although he didn’t like the Chi Di people, he had no intention of slaying them without cause—even if every Chi Di person killed could provide a bit more fuel for the Heavenly Dao Engine.

Qi Tian steered the Immortal Crane Statue to fly over the Chi Di people. From his vantage point, he watched the Chi Di charge eastward. It seemed very likely that they were heading for Tongmen West Pass. He estimated their numbers to be at least a hundred thousand.

With so many of them charging towards Tongmen West Pass, it was unthinkable to assume that they were heading there for sightseeing.

Qi Tian’s expression turned somber. He flew over the Chi Di people and entered Tongmen West Pass ahead of them. Instead of landing immediately, he piloted the Immortal Crane Statue to fly a circle around Tongmen West Pass. To his surprise, he found that the number of border troops at Tongmen West Pass was off. In normal circumstances, it should have been home to roughly a hundred thousand soldiers, and during war times, this figure could even rise to two to three hundred thousand or more.

But now, he discovered that the number of soldiers at Tongmen West Pass was significantly reduced, with only about ten thousand left. This number was far too low. How could such a meager force hold Tongmen West Pass?

Qi Tian descended to the ground on the Immortal Crane Statue. The border troops at Tongmen West Pass had noticed Qi Tian. Seeing him approach on the statue, they immediately knew he was an immortal master. The military commander hurried over, not daring to slack off, and saluted Qi Tian. “Immortal master, I beg your pardon for my incomplete salute as I am in armor,” he said.

Qi Tian looked at the military officer, searching his memory, and indeed, found some recollections. “Liu Weizhen, where is Huang Zhiwei? Have him see me.”

Huang Zhiwei was the commander of Tongguan Left Guard Station and also the head officer at Tongmen West Pass. For a while, Huang Zhiwei had led the army to guard Tongmen West Pass, while Liu Weizhen was one of his assistants.

Liu Weizhen had never thought an immortal master would know his name. He took a closer look at Qi Tian. The last time Qi Tian had been to Tongmen West Pass was over a year ago, and although he had grown taller and his demeanor had greatly changed, his face hadn’t changed much.

If one could control the formidable Immortal Crane Statue, they certainly wouldn’t be a low-ranking immortal master. Initially, Liu Weizhen hadn’t even given Qi Tian thought, but when Qi Tian mentioned his and Huang Zhiwei’s names directly, Liu Weizhen immediately recognized him.

“So it’s you, Qi…”

Before Liu Weizhen could utter the word “Tian”, he remembered that Qi Tian had recently stirred up trouble in all of Great Zhao, even publicly proclaiming that he would abolish the Crown Prince in favor of Prince Zhao. It wasn’t his place to call such a person by his name now.