Zhou Qiucheng’s words were like startling thunder, exploding in the hearts of everyone present. Those who wavered were now becoming more resolute.
"This moment is one of a kind. Now that the chief villain Zhou Qiucheng is about to be executed, my great path requires more companions to help propagate it. If any of you have the will, now is the last chance to surrender," Chen Sanliang stood there, unmoving like a mountain. "Things have come to this point, I won’t explain further. If you submit, your family young and old, disciples and followers, can all continue to live. But if you resist stubbornly, today will be your death day. Not only you will die, but even your family behind you will vanish like smoke."
Chen Sanliang’s voice was calm, yet every word seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, pressing heavily on everyone’s chest.
The scholars among them had some backbone, but not much.
As Chen Sanliang finished speaking, someone finally couldn’t bear the pressure, knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and surrendered: "Disciple has long heard of your lofty great path, the Universal Education enlightening all beings, has admired it for a long time. Today, hearing the Righteous Technique, am overjoyed. Disciple wishes to submit to the gentleman and follow him in studying the supreme Righteous Technique."
With someone taking the lead in surrendering, the remaining waverers were instantly flustered. Anywhere, the first to take the plunge always gets the most advantage.
Moreover, with knives against their necks now, how could everyone still have a chance to resist?
In the next moment, people began to kneel in succession, immediately a wide area of kneeling appeared, everyone loudly declared: "We pay respects to the gentleman, we wish to learn the gentleman’s great path, and be under the gentleman’s guidance."
"The gentleman’s merit is immeasurable, his virtue so high it rivals the sun, moon, and stars. I wish to join the gentleman’s ranks as a polishing servant child!"
"The gentleman is talented, it is a fortune accumulated through lifetimes that a humble person like me gets a chance to join the gentleman. Please don’t despise my dullness, accept me!"
...
A group kneeled incessantly flattering, the situation instantly reversed. Those who were earlier calling to fight and kill on both sides suddenly became one, leaving Zhou Qiucheng completely isolated and forsaken.
Nearby, Zhang Chen witnessed this amusing scene, and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, silently thinking: "Indeed, loyalty often is found among the dog killers, the faithless often among the scholars. Scholars have the least backbone due to their opened wisdom, being most adept at shedding disadvantage and seeking benefit. For scholars, they understand family and country are merely forms, only the rulers change... From now on, facing scholars, I must be extremely cautious, daring not to be careless, lest I get stabbed one day, that would be troubling."
"You... how can you do this!" Zhou Qiucheng spitting blood, angrily staring at the kneeling scholars: "You ought to be renowned nobles, yet you’re doing something so shameless, truly inconceivable! Betraying trust and allegiances to enemies, how are you different from beasts?"
"Even beasts seek survival by instinct! We just want to survive, what has opposing camps to do with us? No matter which camp, we can live well. Why should we accompany the Human Race in burial? Why for Jinling City?" a scholar retorted Zhou Qiucheng’s words.
"Indeed, we only seek survival, what wrong is there?"
"Exactly, you wish to die to fulfil your heart’s great path, why morally bind and drag us along?"
"Exactly, exactly, the lives of millions of race members, what has it to do with us?"
"Indeed, those people are neither our relatives nor our friends, their life and death has nothing to do with us? Don’t mention those unrelated, even those related, as long as they’re not our parents or children, they die so be it, what has it to do with us?"
"Zhou Qiucheng, you may face death peacefully! But don’t use your high moral standards to demand us!"
"Indeed, we’re unrelated, why use your moral standards to demand us? Why should we listen to you? Are you my son? Just wanting us to listen to you."
...
Everyone kept debating, now the wall pushes everyone, continuously criticizing Zhou Qiucheng.
Zhou Qiucheng, hearing this, trembled with rage, blood constantly spurting from his mouth, momentarily choked by the blood, unable to speak.
At this moment, someone drew a long knife from their waist, knelt before Chen Sanliang, pledging allegiance to Chen Sanliang: "Ancestor, I wish to personally cut off Zhou Qiucheng’s head and help you level Jinling City."
The rest kneeling looked at the flatterer, silently slapped their thighs, angrily lamenting: "Damned, why didn’t I think of gaining Chen Sanliang’s trust by killing Zhou Qiucheng."
"Brother Wang, just a mere Zhou Qiucheng, why trouble you, avoid dirtying your hands, this should fall upon me as duty, I’m not afraid of dirt!" Another person, shamelessly, approached wanting to seize the chance to show loyalty and achieve merit.
"Nonsense, it should be handed to me!"
"You all stop arguing, this Chen Sanliang daring to oppose the gentleman, cutting him in one stroke is too cheap for him. Best everyone give him a cut, letting him die a death by a thousand cuts." Another person stepped forward expressing loyalty.
Hearing these words, everyone’s hearts were shocked, watching the speaker fearfully, not expecting the person to be so vicious. For a moment, everyone was stunned, but the next moment, after realizing, they all spoke up:
"What is a thousand cuts and slices? I suggest burning him little by little with fire."
"Setting him aflame is too lenient; how about having insects bite him to death!"
...
For a moment, there was a flurry of discussion, various vicious strategies spilling from their mouths, causing Zhang Chen on the side to be dumbfounded, looking at each face vying to fawn, momentarily not knowing what to say.
At this moment, Chen Sanliang waved his hand, silencing the crowd, then his eyes turned to Zhou Qiucheng, full of mockery in his voice: "Old Zhou, you say you... tsk tsk... you say you... have really failed at being a person."
"Today, I’ve had my eyes opened and truly gained knowledge. I’ve finally understood what it means to be shameless." Zhou Qiucheng gritted his teeth in hatred, his face ashen looking at Chen Sanliang: "You traitors of the human race will get your comeuppance sooner or later."
Chen Sanliang shook his head upon hearing this: "Whether we receive retribution, I do not know, but I do know you are about to. Have you thought about how you want to die?"
Zhou Qiucheng smiled coldly: "Just dying, is that all? Why fear it? Besides, I’ve already refined my soul into the Exquisite Tower, you cannot kill me!"
"Can’t kill you? Heh, drag him off and feed him to dogs! The blood of a Great Scholar, if fed to dogs, might just make them gain intelligence and become a Dog Demon!" Chen Sanliang’s voice was full of coldness.
As for scholars of the Divine Land, Chen Sanliang longs to exterminate them completely.
Because scholars all come from the Academy, all scholars in the Divine Land have connections, direct or indirect, with the Academy, and Chen Sanliang craves to destroy everything related to the Academy. Were it not a hassle to personally nurture disciples, with too lengthy a timeline, and the Demon Race was difficult to educate, he would never have subdued the human race’s academies.
How hard is it to personally cultivate seeds of study? It starts with at least ten years, even twenty or thirty years to achieve anything.
Additionally, the wild nature of the Demon Race is difficult to tame, making the cultivation of Demon Race scholars extremely difficult, thus subduing human race academies was a helpless choice.
Seeing Chen Sanliang’s guards stepping forward, grabbing hold of Zhou Qiucheng, about to bind him and feed him to dogs, Zhang Chen finally could not sit still: "Wait!"
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, the guards paused, and all eyes gathered toward Zhang Chen. Onlookers around Zhang Chen feared being affected, instantly scattering like facing a flood or beast.
"Who are you..." A guard wanted to step forward to question, but was stopped by Chen Sanliang, his gaze falling on Zhang Chen, with a flicker of some indescribable meaning: "How do you intend to proceed?"
"Zhou Qiucheng is benevolent to me; he must not die here!" Zhang Chen said.
With these words, the onlookers around were all stunned. Daring to speak up for Zhou Qiucheng in front of Chen Sanliang, the person must either be foolish or have genuine ability.
All eyes were on Zhang Chen, showing complex and inscrutable expressions, but all chose to coldly observe, not hastily jumping out to intervene, as they hadn’t yet grasped Zhang Chen’s background. Offending the wrong person could cause great trouble.
After all, this is not a brainless novel, and they are not brainless villains. To have studied to this level, none of them were fools, and for a moment, they looked at Zhang Chen with an indescribable expression.
Zhou Qiucheng looked at Zhang Chen, eyes full of astonishment, never expecting at this critical moment, Zhang Chen would stand up to defend him.
Most importantly, accompanying Zhang Chen’s words, Chen Sanliang fell into a state of hesitation, even causing the onlooking crowd’s hearts to be filled with uncertainty.
"Zhou Qiucheng, as the Jiangnan literary leader, if he does not die, I cannot fully grasp the Jiangnan literary circles. So, if you want to save Zhou Qiucheng, you must convince him to join my ranks. I can grant you this favor." Chen Sanliang looked at Zhang Chen, his voice full of seriousness.
Zhang Chen heard this and looked at Zhou Qiucheng, only to see Zhou Qiucheng raised his hand to interrupt Zhang Chen’s words: "Do not try to persuade me; I would rather die than betray the human race, than betray the Great Victory Royal Family."
Zhang Chen upon hearing this, said helplessly: "I didn’t expect, sir, you are indeed a hard bone."
"You shouldn’t try to persuade me! If I weren’t such a hard bone, I would have already fled with the Exquisite Tower. After all, with my level of cultivation, if I solely intended to escape, Chen Sanliang absolutely could not stop me." Zhou Qiucheng said.
Zhang Chen wanted to save Zhou Qiucheng, but this fellow unfortunately did not appreciate it.