Chapter 1385: Life or Death for the People of the Mountains and Seas! (1/2)

Chapter 1385: Life or Death for the People of the Mountains and Seas!

However, no one responded to Li Ling’er. Instead, more declarations of surrender began to ring out in the starry sky.

“I speak for the Heavenly Dao Sect....”

“I speak for the Sen Clan....”

In the moments before the incense stick finished burning, one voice after another spoke out within the Ninth Mountain and Sea. With the exception of the sects from the Ninth Mountain itself, and some of the staunchest sects from the other Mountains and Seas, everyone seemed to be choosing to surrender....

Every voice that spoke caused Meng Hao to sink further into silence, until... suddenly a calm voice rang out, ancient and womanly. As soon as Meng Hao heard that voice, he looked up.

“I am the will of the Ninth Sea, and I... choose to leave the Mountain and Sea Realm. I choose... to surrender.”

In total, seven sects and eleven clans chose to surrender, as well as hundreds of thousands of individual cultivators. The final number of cultivators exceeded a million.

The moment that those clans and sects chose to surrender, their only option was to follow the command of Shui Dongliu and leave the Mountain and Sea Realm. Staying behind was not a possibility.

They were betrayers, and the Mountain and Sea Realm would not tolerate their presence in the final battle.

Gradually, they began to make their way out of the Ninth Mountain, taking their resources and their experts with them.

They did not delay or move slowly; they left as quickly as was possible.

The vast number of people involved left the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm reduced by nearly thirty percent. The sight of so many cultivators taking flight caused those who remained behind to tremble inwardly; they had assumed that only a small number of people who would actually surrender.

Who could have imagined that so many would give in...? After all, even one person surrendering would be a serious blow to the morale of the Mountain and Sea Realm as a whole, especially considering that the final battle was about to be fought.

Even the Outsiders had never expected so many people to surrender. When they saw what was happening, contemptuous looks appeared on their faces, and some of them even began to laugh. A wide smile could be seen on the face of the 8-Essences male Paragon. The main reason he had attempted to drive a wedge into the forces of the Mountain and Sea Realm was because of his fear of Shui Dongliu.

Although the Outsider army seemed to have the upper hand, deep in his heart he wasn’t completely confident, so he wanted to reduce their power somehow.

And then the will of the Ninth Sea spoke out, causing the Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators’ minds to reel. The Ninth Sea was a part of the Mountain and Sea Realm, so for it to surrender....

The meaning behind such an act was profound, and many people didn't dare to even contemplate it. That was because... the Ninth Sea declaring surrender indicated that the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm as a whole had been so weakened by the destruction of the other Mountains and Seas that it was unable to maintain control over the Ninth Sea.

If you likened the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm to the commander in chief, then the Nine Mountains and Nine Seas were like generals. Now, sixteen of those generals were dead, and the commander in chief was so weak that of his remaining two generals, one of them chose to turn traitor.

Apparently, not even Shui Dongliu had considered this would happen. An intense light began to shine in his eyes as his gaze came to rest upon the Ninth Sea, and then, he sighed.

Meng Hao trembled as he stared at the Ninth Sea, at the waves lapping across its surface, and the heads of the various sea denizens sticking up out of the water. As the Ninth Sea slowly began to move off, Meng Hao suddenly shouted in a voice like thunder, “Is this because of me?!”

It was a question that perhaps should not have been asked, and yet, he couldn’t hold back from doing so.

After a long moment of silence, the will of the Ninth Sea spoke back.

“You’ve grown to the point that I regret being so stubborn back then. But... even if you didn’t exist, I would still make this choice. I am the the first and only Sea in the entire Realm to achieve self-awareness. If the Mountain and Sea Realm itself were not faced with such difficulties, then I could bow my head to its authority. But now... the Realm is about to disappear, and I don’t want to be buried along with it.” With that, the Ninth Sea flowed away from the Ninth Mountain like a retreating tide, until... the two of them were completely separated.

As traitors left, the Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators who had chosen not to surrender felt as though their hearts were being stabbed by knives. By this point, their morale had reached rock bottom.

And then, the incense stick stopped burning....

However, the final battle didn’t begin immediately. The sects and clans who had surrendered, as well as the random cultivators, flew out in various directions, keeping their distance from each other.

As they dispersed, the 8-Essences male Paragon hesitated for a moment before making the call for the final battle.

The surrender of the Ninth Sea was something he took very seriously. It was with icy eyes that he examined the remaining cultivators of the Mountain and Sea, and saw how dejected they looked.

It was in that exact same moment that someone in the Mountain and Sea Realm shouted out in rage that the traitors should be chased down and killed. Some people even began to demand of Sea Dream, Shui Dongliu, and Meng Hao, that they be allowed to do so.

Sea Dream and Meng Hao maintained bitter silence, but Shui Dongliu waved his sleeve.

“If they want to go, let them go. From now on, they have nothing to do with the Mountain and Sea Realm!” Although his voice seemed calm, the 8-Essences male Paragon could detect the pain and disappointment therein.

Then, he began to laugh.