I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 995 A Life-or-Death Choice!

high platform

Chen Sanliang lowered his head and looked down at the dead master. His face turned ugly and his expression became extremely ugly. The other party would rather die than do anything for him and would never integrate his Dao into Chen Sanliang's Dao. How much of a failure was Chen Sanliang as a person?
Most importantly, the noble attitude of the Master in facing death will surely inspire countless Confucian scholars, who will follow suit and take the Master as their role model.

"You deserve to die! Do you know how many scholars of the human race will die because of you?" Chen Sanliang's eyes were blazing with anger.

He led the demon race into the pass not only for his own revenge, but also to make the human race steal the demon race's destiny and make the human and demon race the supreme one.

"Damn it! They deserve to die!" Chen Sanliang cursed inwardly, then his eyes swept over all the scholars in the arena: "Is there anyone else who wants to come up and discuss the Dao? If not, your human race is going to lose a round."

Upon hearing Chen Sanliang's words, everyone in the room looked at each other, and the faces of everyone in the academy darkened, but no one spoke.

"Since that's the case, today's debate is over, and your human race has lost the first round!" Chen Sanliang stood on the high platform, full of pride and joy, his face beaming with the satisfaction of avenging his great grudge.

Back then, he was demoted to the north by the academy for proposing the view that human nature is inherently evil, which conflicted with the view that human nature is inherently good. Later, when his theory was perfected, his knowledge was stolen by the Sixth Master, who also forced his wife to death. The anger in his heart had long been like a raging fire, constantly tormenting his heart. Now, he finally stood up and trampled the entire academy under his feet. How wonderful!
This proves that Chen Sanliang was right, and that the academy and even the entire Confucian and Taoist traditions were wrong.

Chen Sanliang's voice was full of smugness as he turned to walk off the stage, but at that moment a voice suddenly rang out: "Wait! Who said that my human race lost? I will discuss Confucianism and Taoism with you."

A figure slowly walked down from below the arena. The figure was old and frail, with a full head of white hair. He was so old that he needed a servant to help him up the platform.

"Who dares to climb this high platform...?" Upon hearing this, Chen Sanliang turned around, about to shout a curse, but all his words caught in his throat. His eyes were fixed on the old, frail figure before him, filled with disbelief. He blurted out, "Father?"

The elderly figure was his father.

Since he was banished to the north, the father and son had not seen each other for sixty years, and the old patriarch of the Chen family had aged terribly.

"Dad, why do you look like this?" Chen Sanliang stared intently at his old man, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Ever since you left Kyoto, because of your doctrines, the academy has implicated my Chen family, constantly suppressing all of our businesses and the new generation of talent..." Old Master Chen stopped there, because Chen Sanliang already knew what was coming next.

The entire academy's pent-up anger extended to the Chen family, causing them to suffer. As the head of the Chen family, Old Master Chen racked his brains day and night to figure out how to break through the academy's suppression, which is why he aged so quickly.

Chen Sanliang lifted his robe and knelt down on the ground, his eyes filled with tears and his voice trembling: "Father, your son is unfilial and has caused you to suffer."

"We haven't seen each other for decades, and I'm so happy to see you achieve what you have today!" The old man reached out and helped Chen Sanliang up. "With your achievements today, how can the Chen family not prosper in the future? All the hardships the Chen family has endured over the past sixty years have been worthwhile."

Chen Sanliang was helped up by the old man and was about to speak when he heard the old man say, "Sanliang, stop! As long as you return to the human race, the human king will allow you to take charge of the academy, become the leader of literature, and in the future, you will rule over all humanity in the world and enjoy all the fortune of literature."

Chen Sanliang was taken aback upon hearing this, and subconsciously retorted, "That's impossible! I have already defeated the academy and trampled all the literary paths under my feet. I can already be considered the number one person in the literary path. I am only one step away from taking control of the literary path. Why do I need the Human King's decree? After the bet war, the world will belong to the demon race. With the Chen family becoming the number one family of the human race, the Chai family will have to act according to our wishes and live by our whims."

Upon hearing this, the old man's face darkened: "I'm afraid we have no choice but to admit defeat today and return to the human race."

Chen Sanliang stared at the old man, his eyes filled with disbelief: "Why?"

They were just one step away from unifying the world with the human and demon races, and only one step away from the Chen family becoming the number one human family and crushing the Chai family under their feet. Was his father confused? How could he not know what to choose?
Upon hearing the other party's explanation, the old patriarch stood on the arena, turned to look behind him, and pointed to the distant crowd. He saw thousands of people being pressed to the ground by the Imperial Guards, with gleaming guillotines hanging from their necks. "Your own brothers, your newborn grandnephew, your mother—all of them have been taken to the guillotine by the Great Victory Royal Family. At a single command, their heads will all roll. Why do you say that?" The old patriarch's voice was full of bitterness. "Then, the entire Chen family will be left with only you. What will become of the Chen family? And now that your cultivation has broken through to the twelfth level and your internal energy has been refined, it will be impossible for you to have offspring! My Chen family will be extinct. What good is any glory then? Do you know what it means to be extinct?"

The old man stared intently at Chen Sanliang: "Back then, you were demoted by the academy, and the family was unable to protect you. It was the family's fault. If you choose to continue winning today, we will have no complaints."

Looking at his father's sorrowful face, Chen Sanliang felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood there blankly, his eyes filled with confusion, completely at a loss as he stood there in the night wind.

If the old master forced him to submit, he would definitely resent it in his heart, and might even be able to justify choosing to disregard the lives of the Chen family for the sake of his own future. However, looking at his father with tears streaming down his face, and at the pairs of eyes in the distance looking at him with hopeful eyes under the guillotine, he was filled with reluctance.

What can he do?
He saw a toddler, about three years old, blinking his eyes and looking at him with a face full of fear, snot and tears streaming down his face, but he didn't cry out.

And the baby, just a month old, stretched its head out and chuckled under the guillotine, seemingly oblivious to the impending danger.

He saw his elder brother, who, after sixty years, had aged just like their father. Kneeling before the guillotine, the elder brother's eyes met his, and he grinned, as if praising his own achievement.

He remembered that his elder brother used to be the closest to him. Back when he was suppressed and demoted by the Master, his elder brother once stormed into the academy to argue with the Master on his behalf.

He saw his younger sister, that old and frail woman, who, because of his involvement, had no one dared to marry her and was destined to live out her days alone.

The Chen family suffered because of him, but no one ever complained about him. In fact, he was able to avoid starvation in the north because of the family's legacy. How could he bear to hurt them again?
But if he concedes defeat in the first round, the demon soldiers will be no match for the human race in the second round, and the demon race's grand plan will be ruined. How will he explain this to his demon tribe?
What is a dilemma?
At this moment, Chen Sanliang sensed it!
He was indeed faced with a difficult choice.

"Great Victory King, you are so despicable!" Chen Sanliang turned his head and looked at the Great Victory King with murderous intent in his eyes. A flame was burning in his chest, and it seemed that the flame was about to set him on fire.

Upon hearing this, the Great Victory King was not angry. He simply smiled calmly and said, "Although it is despicable, it does not exceed the scope of the bet, does it? Besides, I am doing this for the sake of humanity. Since it is for the sake of humanity, I will do whatever it takes. Even if the world criticizes me in the future, I will never regret it and will be willing to bear all the infamy."

Chen Sanliang clenched his fists in anger upon hearing this, but he was helpless because what the other party said made sense. He could only blame himself for not setting rules and restrictions beforehand. Who would have thought that the Dasheng royal family would be so despicable?

"Do you think you can make me submit like this?" Chen Sanliang glared at the Great Victory King, his words filled with coldness.

"Of course, I don't expect you to submit just like that. But I have something to tell you. If your father fails in the debate, I will cut off his head. Then your brothers will take their place. Once your brothers are all dead, your nephews and nieces will take their place. I will not stop until every bloodline of your Chen family is wiped out!" King Dasheng said slowly.

"You heartless, two-legged sheep, your heart is rotten!" Tiger Power Immortal shouted angrily, jumping up and down in rage.

He had already realized that something was wrong.

"I am merely acting within the rules. If you're so capable, then try to find loopholes," the Great Victory King said slowly.

Seeing Chen Sanliang standing silently on the high platform, unable to make a decision, Old Master Chen looked at Chen Sanliang and sighed softly: "My son, I am very happy that you have achieved what you have today. The entire Chen family is proud of you. Don't worry, our Chen family will never hold you back, we will never make things difficult for you. The pride of the Chen family is engraved in our bones, and we will never submit, even if it means death."

After speaking, Old Master Chen suddenly coughed up black blood, smiled at Chen Sanliang, and slowly fell to the ground: "Don't worry, we men have never complained about you. You can move forward with peace of mind. Our Chen family will never be a stumbling block for you, and will never hold you back. Your success is the result of our ancestors' good fortune."

(End of this chapter)