Secret Records of the Leader of the Beichen Sword Sect-Chapter 874 - 450: The Weakling’s Tactics

What kind of person can be considered a hero?

The essence of grass is talent; the outstanding among beasts is strength.

Cleverness and brilliance are called talent; courage and power beyond others are called strength.

To sweep across the six directions, to unify the kingdom—does this count as being a hero?

To slaughter all beings, to massacre the world—does this count as being a hero?

To bring back the tide when it’s about to collapse, to support the tall buildings when they are about to fall—does this count as being a hero?

To not fear power and tyranny, to fulfill one’s duties—is this considered heroism?

To sacrifice one’s life for righteousness, to die generously—does this count as being a hero?

To know defeat without victory, death without life, yet knowing it’s impossible still pursuing it, dying but standing strong, perishing upon the righteous path.

Does this count as being a hero? 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Or perhaps, there’s no need to cling to those grand and empty titles.

As long as one knows why they are here, why they wield the sword, they can be considered heroes, can’t they?

Even that Demon Dragon from Hanhai, let’s not mention heroism or not, it at least knows it came for fun.

But Tie Dan felt lost.

At this moment, in this situation,

For whom should he wield his sword, and to whom should he strike?

For Huangfu Yi? For saving all beings?

But Tie Dan fundamentally didn’t care about the so-called beings, after all, when did these beings ever care about the begging and struggling Dog Boy in the icy land?

For Lady Shi Yuan? For revenge?

But Stone Dragon didn’t really have any enmity or hatred towards him, his madness was purely innate. Even if all the craziness of this family were cut off, Lady Yuan wouldn’t return.

Or perhaps, is there no other reason, purely for the sword?

For the sword in his hand, striving for strength, engaging in battle, challenging the Three Great Sects, confronting Jiuxuan Sect, seeking the title of the number one in the world, touching the supreme Heavenly Dao.

To the point where everyone together praises the Beichen Sword Sect as the number one in the world, would that be enough?

Does that lead to satisfaction?

Does that reach enlightenment?

Tie Dan didn’t understand.

In this life, someone has always been pushing him forward, rushing ahead, pushing through endless killing and death, seeking a path of life for everyone.

But after all these years of killing, the more he knows, the more he sees, the less he understands where the so-called path to life is.

Would killing the Stone Dragon bring a better future?

Would breaking the Ten Absolute Array really decrease the number of deaths?

But Taiji Heaven itself is an endless, perpetual purgatory.

Only the strong survive, only the victor is king.

Those who can survive are only the strong, only the victors, only the kings.

And the strong, just need to keep fighting.

Just need to keep killing, slaying all the defiant ones.

Becoming the last standing king in the wilderness is enough.

But if you were originally weak, what should you do?

The weak are only destined to be devoured and slaughtered by the strong?

Is there no...

...a sword that the weak can wield...

"What are you thinking with that sullen face?"

Then a familiar voice rings in his ears, Tie Dan furrows his brow, and out of the corner of his eye he sees the Blood Shadow beside him,

"How come you’re not dead?"

Chen Xuantian looks puzzled,

"Who said I’m dead?"

"If you’re not dead, return my sword?"

"Your sword, now that you’re awake, of course, I’ve returned it.

Besides, we already agreed you’d rest while I wandered around.

Why are you so eager to get up, they won’t be done fighting anytime soon."

Tie Dan rubs his brow,

"...so what did you discover on your wander."

Chen Xuantian points at the battlefield below,

"Oh, I went to check, and indeed the Divine Sect withdrew early from the ritual sites. Currently, there’s no one in the array to oversee it.

So they can neither alter the barrier nor cast the Earth Sinking Divine Power anymore, they can only use the remnants of the Earth Vein Power to revive the Divine Weapons in the array.

Now the Heavenly King’s soldiers have penetrated the Array Eye, grinding here for seven days and seven nights, and the Earth Vein Array Power will naturally exhaust gradually, then the array can be broken."

Tie Dan frowns,

"Seven days? Isn’t it ten years?"

"Without Emei, how can it last ten years, look at the water level."

Chen Xuantian points from north to south, marking the dried canal running across the battlefield. Only then does Tie Dan notice the dryness.

"Though the Divine Sect can seal forty state cities within the array, they can’t seal the canal waterway. In fact, a considerable part of the array power is borrowed from Gen River.

I’ve talked with the company, they’ve long noted the setup at Suiyang and arranged outside measures, sending engineering teams to dig and redirect the river.

Suiyang truly is a critical point in the world, extremely strategic, but once Gen River is redirected, it naturally overturns Qiankun, pulling the rug from under, directly nullifying it.

By then, Gen River floods, changing the entire Earth Vein flow in the Eastern Country, ruining Suiyang’s terrain. Even downstream Zhen Country’s boundless territory and fertile land will be affected.

At that point, not only the river transport collapses, but Southeast faces widespread flooding, likely leaving no grain to supply Central Plains.

Even if they hold on to Suiyang, it’s meaningless."

Tie Dan remains silent for the moment.

Chen Xuantian shrugs,

"The disparity between the two sides’ setup and cards is really too vast. The company governs All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds, possessing countless resources, incalculable strategic moves, treating the world as a chessboard.

No matter how Zhang Xun prepares, no matter what sacrifices are made, he can only mobilize a city and locale, defending a piece of territory. Moreover, he’s just a discarded piece of Immortal Palace.

If Emei were present, perhaps they could match the company’s move for move, but now... maybe they’ll still stop it? Given how many will die from the Gen River redirection, that bunch will certainly intervene.

Ultimately, fighting to this extent, holding Suiyang is utterly pointless.

The Divine Sect also, seeing the changing times and that the mission is impossible, retreated cleanly."

Tie Dan falls silent again, watching the old men below continuing their futile charge with spears, ending only in futile destruction and being swept away by the Demon Dragon repeatedly.

"No path in all existence?"

Chen Xuantian glances at him, pats his shoulder,

"If you feel like striking, then just strike with your sword.

Young man, when you encounter someone displeasing, just draw your sword and strike."

"Leave those matters of overthinking and scheming to the grown-ups to consider."

Tie Dan looked at him.

"But didn’t you say we don’t have many opportunities to reset?"

"Oh, you remember now, cough cough, alright. The main thing is that even if this troop I brought is wiped out, it doesn’t cost the Heavenly King’s army anything."

Chen Xuantian pointed at the Demon Dragon on the ground,

"That’s just a replica of the boss, remotely controlled, essentially just a drone. And for this battle software, the company has prepared seven or eight of them. After all, one can’t really expect the boss to lead from the front, right? What if something really happened?

And these demons and monsters, they’re just flashy and useless things, skins and toys gifted with in-game purchases. They don’t even qualify as battle software, just cannon fodder.

Therefore, in my estimation, Emei probably did spend ten years of hard effort to slaughter all the demons in the array before giving up.

It was just that the company intervened again, resurrecting the army. But at that time, the boss really was exhausted by Emei and didn’t want to play anymore..."

"Resurrection? Hundreds of thousands of troops?"

"Yes, anyway, they’re essentially grown with eggs, just feed them some hormones and medicine to grow them. When I treated your wounds before, I took quite a bit of medicine; you see, it worked pretty well, didn’t it?"

Chen Xuantian also shook his head,

"Sigh, in the end, spending money is just so unscrupulous these days. As long as one is willing to spend, anything can be bought, and poor people can’t even enjoy gaming anymore."

Tie Dan said nothing.

Chen Xuantian patted Tie Dan’s shoulder, pointed at Zhang Xun.

"But look, he still wants to continue."

Tie Dan looked up, only to see the Suiyang Governor still charging.

The old man seemed like a goat, clutching the spear and charging. Unfortunately, he looked like someone better at holding a pen, so even with the boost from the array, the charging spear strikes could hardly harm the Demon Dragon’s vital spots.

Perhaps precisely because of being unaccustomed to wielding knives and spears, he couldn’t realize how terrifying the Demon Dragon before him was, and the gap between their combat power was as vast as heaven and earth.

Yet the fireflies do not fear the brilliance of the full moon, even though the lance in hand had long been broken, the goat knight kept charging repeatedly, breaking his head and bleeding, and not looking back.

Just spear after spear, striking at the chaos-causing thief leader, striking at the Demon King who endangered beings.

"What’s the point of this?"

Tie Dan frowned,

"If you can’t beat them, run; fight when you can win, why can’t they understand this simple logic.

What’s the point of such a pointless sacrifice?"

Chen Xuantian rubbed his chin,

"If we truly fight, we can never win, but this is the way of the weak."

Tie Dan turned his head to look at him.

Chen Xuantian thought for a moment, explaining,

"When antelopes are hunted by lions, they will voluntarily abandon the old and weak. Sacrificing weak individuals to let the majority of the collective live is the strategy of the weak facing natural selection.

You find it hard to understand those who sacrifice their lives for the collective, for the country, for righteousness, for ideals, for various reasons, don’t you?

Actually, it’s quite normal because you were molded this way.

You are a predator; you don’t need the shelter of your kin; as a strong one, you can trust the power you possess; your kind is merely food and competition.

But we humans, in essence, are not natural predators; we are just weak social animals living on the earth.

Though eventually becoming the winners of natural competition, at the genetic level, we are closer to those hunted and preyed upon.

Therefore, at the moment of life and death crisis, humans will involuntarily awaken the underlying genetic codes written in their bones.

Sacrifice for righteousness, self-sacrifice, dying for the country, leaving the chance of survival, the hope of the future, to the next generation.

This is what is called humanity.

So do you understand now?

He won’t run.

Because when everyone is fleeing, someone needs to stand up, halt, to be the sacrificial lamb, standing in front of the predator.

Not retreating a single step, guarding the path of life.

Because as long as he guards here, humanity will not lose."

Tie Dan seemed to suddenly understand something.

Chen Xuantian slowly said,

"Someone told me, time is like a ball. If the ball is blown up, then no one gets to play.

The only thing we can do is to try to get that ball into the basket we want."

"Tie Dan, you don’t need to think about the weak; that’s not your duty, you can’t save everyone.

There will always be some who, to achieve the destined conclusion, must be the sacrificed.

What’s important is to choose the future you want.

Once you’ve chosen it, walk towards it, and don’t look back."

Looking at the old man’s figure, Tie Dan nodded,

"The future I want, I understand."

"Rebel—! Meet your doom!"

The goat charges! A spear strikes! Blood bursts, flesh collapses! Demon Dragon meets its doom!

Like a balloon exploding! Like a watermelon bursting!

A surging blood waterfall shoots into the sky! A torrential blood rain!

The old man with the goat beard was himself stunned, having prepared to be blown away and then get up for another stab, but who could have thought they would truly win?

No! Truly! Won! Everything exploded!

Bone shattered, flesh burst, blood painted the earth, vast stretches of land turned red.

Without any warning, the scores of demon soldiers, the hundred-feet-long demon dragon, were plunged into the earth, rolled into the array, crushed alive.

Yes, the Blood Talisman Ten Absolute Earth Sinking Formation was activated again.

Hmm, Chen Xuantian activated it; anyway, if he didn’t know it, he could learn it.

"I told you to leave, but you didn’t."

And the Sword Immortal in the scarlet robe, drenched in the blood rain, walked over the hill of flesh and corpses,

"Since you’re so unwilling to reincarnate, remain here and forge my sword."

Zhang Xun frowned,

"What do you mean? Forge a sword?"

Tie Dan picked through the scattered dragon bones, mystic iron, demon tendons,

"Indeed, I want to refine you Blood Puppet Divine Soldiers into Sword Spirits.

Use your blood spilled in Suiyang, your bones abandoned in Suiyang, to forge a sword.

Using this world as a furnace, using this Blood Talisman Absolute Array to smelt."

"Do you think I would agree? Look at the spear!"

Zhang Xun charged like a goat.

Tie Dan casually brushed aside the spear, looked at him,

"Zhang Suiyang, do you want to guard this place, become a wandering soul, and later reincarnate to be the Great Strength Dharma King of the Divine Sect?

Or do you want to come with me to slay the dragon?"