Save them?

Everyone was stunned.

The Senior Elder's eyes widened. He thought he had heard wrongly.

The two sides had tried so hard to kill each other and had suffered such severe losses. And now Jiang Ning was saying that he wanted to save them?

It wasn't even a matter of how they were going to save them. Both sides had such a deep seated feud between them that was impossible to resolve. Even if Jiang Ning said he wanted to save them, the other party wouldn't believe it.

"Did you just say save them?" Liu Chuandao frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

He didn't get it, and neither did the people present in the hall.

"What's their ultimate reason for attacking Qingshan Sect?" asked Jiang Ning.

"They want to go out of the mountain." Liu Chuandao glanced at Jiang Ning. Didn't Jiang Ning already know this?

That was precisely why they had fought back so fiercely. They didn't want the other sects to be able to leave the mountain.

Qingshan Sect's responsibility was to guard the mountain gate.

"That's only the reason on the surface," said Jiang Ning. "The various sects have lived for centuries within the mountain with no issues at all. The environment here is the most suitable for the advancement and development of these sects, as well as their pursuit of martial arts. Going outside the mountain is even worse for them."

"But that's not what they think," said Liu Chuandao helplessly.

The environment outside the mountain gate had changed a long time ago. It didn't look like what it did centuries ago, and it was no longer suitable for martial artists.

If these people left the mountain, they would only end up creating trouble. The ancestors of Qingshan Sect had already made this very clear, so the existence of Qingshan Sect was to guard the mountain gate so that these people would never go outside and upset the balance or stir up more trouble.

But now, things had come to a point where it was impossible to turn back.

"They're just trying to survive," said Jiang Ning.

Survive?

Liu Chuandao and the Senior Elder exchanged glances.

"Are you saying that the spread of the gray area is forcing them to leave the mountain?"

They knew about this matter. But because Qingshan Sect was at the southernmost part of the mountain and the gray matter was spreading from the northernmost part, they would be the last to be affected. Besides, the spread had slowed down over time, so it might even stop someday.

Jiang Ning looked at them and knew that these men had lived in the mountains for too long and were stuck in their way of thinking, so they wouldn't think about so much, and they didn't need to anyway. Guarding Qingshan Sect and the mountain gate was their mission. They didn't need to think about anything else.

"Everyone wants to live on, and the

closer they are are to death, the more they will struggle and put up a fight," said Jiang Ning. "They might have other motives in mind, but let's just talk about now. If we continue fighting, who will stand to lose the most?"

Liu Chuandao and the rest remained silent.

Without a doubt, the biggest loser would be Qingshan Sect. They might even be wiped out.

Even if Jiang Ning was around, he

might be able to protect his own life and some others, but there was no way he could protect the entire sect. After all, even though the six sects werent that huge in number, if they really decided to go all out and were bent on exterminating Qingshan Sect, then there was only one result awaiting them.

Qingshan Sect would be completely destroyed and cease to exist.

That was a result they didn't want. Nobody wanted to see Qingshan Sect completely vanish from the face of this earth.

"I know all of you feel terrible inside, and so do I. But there are no winners in a war."

Jiang Ning looked at all of them. "If we continue fighting, more people will die. And if the gray matter eventually reaches this place, then Qingshan Sect is still doomed." Jiang Ning had been part of countless wars, and he knew well that there were no winners.

Even if one survived the war, one had to carry a great burden after that. Jiang Ning had experienced it first hand, so he while he seemed very calm about it, he was also very well aware of the implications.

Liu Chuandao didn't say anything and just pursed his lips like he was thinking about something.

The Senior Elder also sat with his head bowed as he thought in silence. © 2024.