My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1184 Dark clouds threaten to destroy the city

Escape requires only a thought; to stay, however, means facing the ever-approaching shadow of death from thousands of miles away.

But he knew very well that he had no choice—in order to compete for that elusive "favor" from the Heavenly Dao, and in order to prevent the fortune from flowing back to the Chan Sect, he had to continue playing the role of the "hero who sacrificed himself for the people," even if beneath this "heroic" facade lay a heart that wanted to escape.

In the sky, the Heavenly Dao vortex continued to spin, lightning flashed but no tribulation struck; a thousand miles away, the Chaos Realm, like a slowly advancing shadow of death, continued to leave ruins and wails in the Southern Continent.

The evacuation and rescue efforts in Liberty City finally came to an end two hours later—the last spaceship, fully loaded with civilians, took off and flew towards a safe haven. The eastern airport was left with only empty berths and teleportation devices that had not yet been retracted, and the entire Liberty City became a silent "ghost town."

Wen Rui stood on the hill outside Freedom City, watching the tail flames of the departing warships, his mind still in turmoil.

Even if there were a city full of people behind him, given Wen Rui's true moral bottom line, he would not hesitate to run away when the time came.

"Silly child, what are you daydreaming about!"

A streak of light flew from afar and landed beside him; it was none other than the Tongtian Sect Leader.

He looked at the empty Free City, then at Wen Rui standing alone, his brows furrowed, his tone urgent: "The people have already been evacuated, why haven't you left yet? The Chaos Realm may be far away, but it will arrive sooner or later. With your strength, resisting the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation is like throwing an egg against a rock! Quickly leave with your grandfather. As long as we're alive, there will always be a chance to turn the tide in the future!"

Wen Rui took a deep breath and slowly turned around.

He deliberately straightened his back, his eyes revealing a firm resolve to "sacrifice himself for righteousness," and even his voice carried a deliberately cultivated heaviness—only he knew that his heart was pounding wildly in his chest, feeling weak and anxious.

"Leave? If I leave, what will happen to all these technological creations in the city?"

Wen Rui said in a heavy tone, "It's because of the urgency to evacuate people—after all, human life is priceless, and the massive amount of research files and data from the Liberty City Science Center hasn't been transferred yet."

“Today I retreat from Freedom City, and the Primordial Celestial Lord destroys Freedom City. Tomorrow I will retreat from Coastal City, and let him destroy Coastal City again. I will retreat step by step until he destroys all the technological creations of the beings I have educated, forcing them back to caves to eat raw meat and drink blood.”

"When all the technologically advanced cities in the mortal world are reduced to ruins, are we to expect future generations to conduct archaeological research from these ruins?"

"If we do not stop the Primordial Celestial Venerable, the vast Three Realms will no longer be able to accommodate a quiet desk!"

He changed the subject, his gaze falling on the Tongtian Sect Leader, his tone tinged with a sense of understanding: "Grandmaster, back then when you set up the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation, facing the encirclement of the four saints Laozi, Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti, with the formation on the verge of collapse, did you ever think of retreating?"

The Tongtian Sect Leader was stunned. The scene in front of Biyou Palace back then instantly flooded his mind—the four saints' power was as heavy as a mountain, the four swords of Zhuxian were taken away, and the disciples of the Jie Sect suffered heavy casualties. Even when he was all alone, he never thought of retreating even half a step.

He blurted out instinctively, "We, the Jie Sect, have no reason to back down in the face of battle!"

"Exactly!"

Wen Rui suddenly raised his voice, his eyes "igniting" with fighting spirit: "I am a disciple of the Jie Sect. Even if I am the only disciple left in this world, I will fight to the end against the heavy oppression of the Chan Sect! I cannot back down on this step!"

Looking into Wen Rui's determined eyes and listening to his words about "sacrificing oneself for the sake of all beings," which resonated with the spirit of the Jie Sect, the Tongtian Sect Leader felt a surge of pride. "Young people really do have drive!" he thought.
Many of his own disciples were originally like that, but after dying once and being listed on the Investiture of the Gods, they seemed to have become different people, no longer having the courage to fight against heaven and earth and dare to attack the saints.

If others said this, the Tongtian Sect Leader might have thought it was somewhat untrue, but when Wen Rui said it, he was convinced that the person in front of him was true to his word.

To judge a person, one must not only listen to their words but also observe their actions; one must not only observe their choices at crucial moments but also their perseverance during low points.

The Jie Sect once truly fell to a point where there was almost only one genuine disciple left in the world. At that time, the Old Mother of Lishan constantly gravitated towards the Western Sect and became very close to several bodhisattvas who had once slaughtered her fellow disciples.

Only Wen Rui persevered silently, accumulating strength and secretly planning the great cause of reviving the Jie Sect, putting it into practice. After seven hundred years of biding his time, he finally achieved the glorious status of the Jie Sect, which is now recognized by hundreds of millions of people.

This is a true disciple who understands the Way of the Intercepting Sect. He is unyielding, never backs down, and has an indomitable spirit. He is truly his "successor"!
The more he looked at him, the more pleasing he found him. He couldn't help but compare them in his mind: Wen Zhong was loyal, but he lacked the courage to stand up to the sage; the other disciples were either indecisive or timid, and none of them had the ruthlessness of Wen Rui who "knew it was impossible but did it anyway"!

I only regret that Wen Rui is not my biological son!
"Okay! Well said!"

The Tongtian Sect Leader laughed loudly, his saintly aura no longer restrained, exuding an aura of dominance over heaven and earth: "Since my grandson has such courage, how can I, as his grandfather, let you fight alone! Today I will accompany you here and meet the Primordial Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation! We, the Jie Sect, have always fought side by side; how can we let our comrades fight the enemy alone!"

After saying that, he walked to Wen Rui's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

Two figures stood atop the hill, with the silent Free City behind them and the Chaos Realm slowly approaching from a thousand miles away. Despite the vast difference in their strength, they exuded an aura of "I will go even if there are thousands of people against me."

Wen Rui caught a glimpse of the resolute profile of the Tongtian Sect Leader out of the corner of his eye and secretly breathed a sigh of relief—thankfully, this "righteous and awe-inspiring" act hadn't backfired. Not only had he maintained his persona, but he had also brought in a saintly cannon fodder, or rather, a comrade-in-arms.

Even if a saint cannot break the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation, which is "unbreakable without the gathering of four saints", at least he can hold out for a while longer.

……

Several days later, the Chaos Realm, like a dark cloud carrying death, slowly spread across the sky of Jambudvipa. This moving nightmare finally crossed thousands of miles of mountains and rivers and arrived above Free City.

A black, malevolent aura enveloped the entire sky, completely blocking out the sunlight. The city's skyscrapers gleamed with an eerie gray light amidst the chaotic energy, and even the air seemed to freeze, as if time itself had slowed down.

At the heart of the formation, the Primordial Celestial Venerable stood in the center of the Immortal Slaughtering Formation Diagram, his eyes slightly closed, his divine sense spreading out like a tide, covering the entire Free City.

When he sensed that the city was completely empty, and that even the most basic energy fluctuations were reduced to the residual warmth of the buildings themselves, his tense back relaxed slightly, and the pressure on his fingertips hovering over the array diagram lessened a bit.

"Thank goodness..." he thought to himself.

Even if Heaven does not send down the tribulation lightning for a long time, he is, after all, a saint who has achieved the Dao and coexists with Heaven. How can he really ignore cause and effect?
If, in order to destroy Wen Rui, the millions of mortals of Free City were dragged into the Chaos Realm, even if nothing happened in the present, the karmic debt of these indiscriminate killings would be like a malignant tumor, and sooner or later it would backfire on the Chan Sect in a more tragic way at some point in the future.

Now that the city is empty, it saves him one worry.

(End of this chapter)