200 Mausoleum Guardian

Chen Changsheng did not know how to respond. Did he have to tell him that hehad just suddenly lost all interest in cultivation? After thinking for amoment, he said, “I have already undergone my Ethereal Opening, so I obviouslydon’t need to hurry too much.” Tang Thirty-Six stared at him and asked, “Are you being cocky?” Chen Changsheng was slightly startled and said, “I really did not mean it thatway.” Tang Thirty-Six pointed towards the woods and said, “I mentioned this on theway over here. To us cultivators, the Mausoleum of Books itself is already avery important matter, and it is infinitely more important than the Garden ofZhou. Only those who are short-sighted and can only see a few inches ahead willtreat the viewing and comprehension of the Mausoleum of Books as a condition toundergo Ethereal Opening. Look at Gou Hanshi; he may have already undergone hisEthereal Opening, but he has not wasted any time at all.” Chen Changsheng looked at where he had pointed and only saw afterimages ofshadows on the mountain path in the green woods. The loud sounds continued, andthe shadows of the four people from the Mount Li Sword Sect quickly disappeared. He turned around, looked at Tang Thirty-Six, and asked: “Aren’t you alsostanding here?” “I felt that you were acting a little strange today, so I decided to followyou.” Tang Thirty-Six said as he stared into Chen Changsheng’s eyes. Chen Changsheng looked at him and spoke earnestly, “This is a rareopportunity, so don’t waste time.” Tang Thirty-Six said, “There is still at least another month, so there is noneed to hurry.” Just at this moment, a voice appeared behind the two and interjected, “Indeed,there is no need to hurry.” The person who had arrived was Su Moyu. This young priest from the Li PalaceCollege had really encountered some bad luck in this year’s Grand Examination.He had met Zhexiu who was an extremely strong opponent in the first round.Luckily, his performance on the written examination had been extremelyoutstanding, so he just managed to squeeze into a third rank placement from thefinal decision. While staring at him, Tang Thirty-Six was confused and asked, “Chen Changshengdid not hurry today because he had some problems with his head, and I amlooking out for him. What are you doing here?” Su Moyu said, “There is a saying among the people that you cannot eat hot tofuif you are impatient. The monoliths of the mausoleum are not this easilyunderstood. The most important thing is your mentality, so the more hurried youare, the easier it is for you to encounter problems.” Tang Thirty-Six reminded him by saying, “The Garden of Zhou will open in amonth. Time will not wait for people.” Su Moyu replied calmly, “I do not plan to enter the Garden of Zhou.” Tang Thirty-Six’s expression changed slightly, and Chen Changsheng also felt abit puzzled. Who was not interested in Zhou Dufu’s legacy? Su Moyu reassured them, “Only after The Grand Examination did I learn that myfoundation was a little fragile. It’s ridiculous thinking about how arrogant Iwas before, and I plan on staying in the Mausoleum of Books for a bit longer.” Chen Changsheng asked: “We can stay for as long as we want in the Mausoleum ofBooks?” Su Moyu’s expression changed slightly: “Didn’t you hear what the monolithguardians had said before?” Chen Changsheng felt a little embarrassed and replied: “Oh, I was thinkingabout other things before.” Tang Thirty-Six felt that this kind of response was a little humiliating andrushed in to speak, “The rules for viewing the monoliths in the Mausoleum ofBooks has not changed these past few years. As long as you are able to enterthe mausoleum, you can stay for as long as you want. However, if you want toenter the mausoleum again thereafter, it is not an easy matter.” Chen Changsheng looked at Su Moyu and asked, “You have decided to give up theGarden of Zhou for the Mausoleum of Books?” Su Moyu said, “The Garden of Zhou may be good, but it is not where I want tobe.” From time to time, the green wooded mountain would echo with sounds ofstartled birds flapping. Tang Thirty-Six said, “It is very obvious that those other people do not thinkthe same way.” “How can the Garden of Zhou be compared with the Mausoleum of Books? Even ifit really contained Zhou Dufu’s legacy, it can’t be more important than thosestone monoliths on the mountain. The former is a short cut, whereas the latteris the proper way.” Su Moyu looked at the green mountain silently and explained with a sorrowfulsigh. Chen Changsheng stayed silent and did not say anything. Tang Thirty-Six laughed at him and said, “How are there so many explanationsthat seem right but are actually wrong? A straight line between two points isthe shortest; therefore, the most correct path is itself the fastest route.” The correct path was the fastest? Chen Changsheng and Su Moyu both staredblankly after what was just said, and they realized that they actually couldnot refute these words at all. “Not bad.” Chen Changsheng looked at him and praised him. “I just can’t win against you, so I will leave first.” Su Moyu shook his headand walked towards the Mausoleum of Books with his hands behind his back. “I worry for Su Moyu’s future.” Tang Thirty-Six slightly raised a brow andstared at his back as the young priest slowly disappeared into the green woods.He said, “There are many examples in the past and in the present where manypeople are still stuck in the Mausoleum of Books unable to leave. Hopefully, hewill not end up like them.” Chen Changsheng was a little surprised and asked, “Being stuck in theMausoleum of Books?” “They are unwilling to leave until the end when they become too scared toleave. They can spend several dozens of years viewing the mausoleum’s monolithsin one sitting. How is this any different from being a prisoner?” Tang Thirty-Six said, “Those people can’t bear to part with the outsidedeveloped world and are unwilling to swear a blood oath to become a MonolithGuardian. They are also are unwilling to part with the good fortune offered bythe stone monoliths of the Heavenly Tomes. To leave or to stay are both greattemptations. and facing up against these temptations, how they choose, and whenthey make their choices are all tests the Mausoleum of Books gives toeverybody.” Chen Changsheng said, “I do not consider this choice that difficult to make.” “That is because we still have not yet seen the Heavenly Tomes.” Tang Thirty-Six looked at him and said, “Of course, even if you see them, Ibelieve you have the power to clearly recognize what you want most, just likeGou Hanshi. He must have already made up his mind beforehand. If you are unableto pass even this obstacle, then how can you still have to right to continuealong the path of cultivation.” Chen Changsheng suddenly thought of something and asked, “If I can stay in theMausoleum of Books and view the monoliths, then are there meals provided?” After hearing these words, Tang Thirty-Six was somewhat speechless. He thought‘you aren’t a foodie like Xuanyuan’ and answered in an upset manner, “Of coursethere is food. If you can view the monoliths until your death, then you canalso eat until your death.” Chen Changsheng was a little embarrassed and said, “Don’t get mad. I justthought this matter was relatively important.” Tang Thirty-Six was too lazy to acknowledge his words and said while pointingto the mountain full of green trees, “The Mausoleum of Books only has one path,and those stone monoliths are all beside it. Only once you have finishedviewing one level can you move onto the next.” Chen Changsheng asked: “How many levels does the Mausoleum of Books have?” He had always been perplexed by this question. According to common practice,the Three Thousand Daoist Canons had several descriptions of the Mausoleum ofBooks, but he had never read how many levels the mausoleum had after all. “I don’t know…… oh, to be exact, nobody knows how many levels there are in theMausoleum of Books.” Tang Thirty-Six answered. After hearing what was said, Chen Changsheng was very puzzled and replied:“According to what I know, although reaching the top of the Mausoleum of Booksis extremely hard, there are still people who have accomplished it. How can theamount of levels be unknown?” Tang Thirty-Six said: “My grandfather once told me that on the day you reallyenter the Mausoleum of Books, you will understand why there are no set numberof levels.” “Why is that?” Chen Changsheng was still puzzled. Tang Thirty-Six stared into his eyes, and said deeply: “Firstly, I am not aMonolith Guardian. And secondly, I am not a tour guide, so can you not ask meso many questions? All you need to know anyway is that those stone monolithscan only be viewed one by one. In the end, how many monoliths you comprehendwill depend on your own power of understanding.” Chen Changsheng could feel that Tang Thirty-Six’s mood had worsened. Heoriginally wanted to control himself and stop asking questions, but he reallycould not hold back his curiosity. He tentatively asked Tang Thirty-Six: “Onelast question?” Tang Thirty-Six took a deep breath and said: “Speak.” Chen Changsheng began speaking, “According to the Daoist Canons, the DivineEmpress and the Pope will both reach the top of the Mausoleum of Books by theDivine Path. Is this the path you mentioned?” “No.” Tang Thirty-Six said: “The Divine Path is a different path.” “But you said earlier that the Mausoleum of Books only has one path.” “That is only for the people who come into the Mausoleum of Books to view andcomprehend the monoliths.” “If you want to go to the top, which path is closer? I feel that the DivinePath is closer.” “The Divine Path is the true path south of the mountain, and it is not ashortcut to climbing the mausoleum. You are not that type of person who fearsdifficulties, so you should know very clearly that there are no shortcuts tothe mountain. It can only be scaled with hard work.” “But you just said to Su Moyu that the shortcut is the correct path.” Tang Thirty-Six stayed silent for a very long time before saying, “Firstly, Iwas arguing with him. And secondly, whether it is the correct path or theshortcut, you cannot take that path directly to reach the top of the Mausoleumof Books anyway. You don’t need to ask me anymore, so let me tell you directly.It is because that Divine Path has a person guarding it, and there has neverbeen anybody who has successfully ascended the mausoleum by force.” “Don’t get mad.” Chen Changsheng was a little embarrassed and extended his armto pat Tang Thirty-Six’s shoulder. Tang Thirty-Six stared into his eyes and said, “This is the second time. Don’tmake it a third.” Chen Changsheng knew that Tang Thirty-Six’s current mood had already reachedthe limit before exploding into rage. He did not want to continue annoying him,so he said, “I’ll just stroll around casually.” At this time, all of the examinees in the top three grades of the ImperialExamination had already entered the Mausoleum of Books and disappeared into thegreen woods. Only the two of them remained outside. Tang Thirty-Six’s voice became slightly higher and asked, “Are you reallygoing to stroll around casually?” Chen Changsheng nodded and replied matter of factly, “The scenery within themausoleum gardens is not bad. I want to walk around and take a look.” Tang Thirty-Six stared at him like he was staring at an idiot. Only aftertrials and tribulations did everyone finally enter the top three grades of theImperial Exam. They had obtained the opportunity to enter the mausoleum forviewing and comprehending the monoliths. Yet, Chen Changsheng did not want toseek knowledge silently in front of those stone monoliths, but he actuallywanted to casually view the scenery? Did he really think he was a tourist?Tourists could not enter the Mausoleum of Books. Cheng Changsheng ignored how surprised and mad Tang Thirty-Six was andabandoned him where he was. He began to leisurely stroll around the Mausoleumof Books. The greenness of the Mausoleum of Books in early spring wasgratifying, and the vegetation in the gardens under the mausoleum were many andvaried. The scenery was indeed good. He walked, stopped within it, and placedhis two hands behind him as he viewed the scenery. He looked extraordinarilylike a tourist from the countryside. Due to the dense green tree cover, it was very difficult for the peopleoutside the Mausoleum of Books to see what the inside of the mausoleum lookedlike. However, people within the mausoleum could see the people outside veryclearly. Many of those examinees who had traveled along the mountain pathnoticed his presence and discovered that he actually did not ascend themausoleum. Instead, he went sightseeing outside. They could not help but feelvery shocked. Chen Changsheng had unexpectedly not climbed the mausoleum. Obviously,everyone was shocked. Afterwards, various different feelings blossomed withindifferent people. Some students thought that he was being purposefullyindifferent. This caused people to truly despise him to the utmost, such as theScholartree Manor’s students and the junior called Ye Xiaolian from Holy MaidenPeak. Some people thought that with his current strength and the strength hehad shown during the Grand Examination, he did not enter due to being toostrict on himself. This was despite the Mausoleum of Books being right in frontof him. For example, Guan Feibai and Liang Banhu thought as such. Gou Hanshireceived the water Qi Jian passed to him and drank a sip. He saw ChenChangsheng sitting on the edge of a pond, staring blankly. Instead, he had adifferent line of thinking compared to most other people. He felt that Chen Changsheng had a few problems, which were probably problemson a psychological level. However, he did not understand why he was like that.It had only been a few days since the battle at the Grand Examination. He hadseen Chen Changsheng’s willpower and determination, which could even beconsidered as terrifying. However, such a great change would not occur in justa few days. The Mausoleum of Books was a green mountain with a very large surface area. Ifyou had wanted to complete a lap around it by following the path below themausoleum, you would face a difficult endeavor, especially for Chen Changshengwho was walking and stopping every so often. He would stop for a moment to lookat the vegetation and then stare blankly at the pool. He walked and thoughtabout matters that may or may not exist, and only after walking for four hours,did he arrive south of the mausoleum. Chen Changsheng currently looked at the pattern on the road formed by thecolorful rocks, and he suddenly heard the sound of rushing water from above. Hesubconsciously raised his head to look, and he just saw a silver waterfall,flowing out from a certain place in the rock face. This rock face was severaldozens of zhang above, and the waterfall formed a white chain as it hit therock face. From there, the water split off in all directions, forming severaldozens of even smaller streams of water. They flowed through the rugged rocksand finally landed on the ground. After seeing such a beautiful image, Chen Changsheng’s first reaction was thatthe Mausoleum of Books’ southern face was really very steep. There were notmany trees, but how could he not see even a single stone monolith? Afterwards,his gaze followed those several dozen streams of water downwards. He only sawan extremely wide and large, black rock forming a plateau in front of him. Onthat plateau, there were man-made, shallow canals, which caused the water fromthe Mausoleum of Books to flow towards those canals. While following the canals with his eyes, he only saw that the water wasunbelievably clear inside with the white rocks at the bottom of the canalsshining brightly like pearls. Not long after, he arrived in the due south areaof the Mausoleum of Books. The sound of the waterfall slowly disappeared, andthe canals on the plateau grew even closer together. He could not help butthink that if he looked down from the top of the mausoleum, then what type ofimage would these shallow canals form? Afterwards, he saw the legendary Divine Path. It was an extremely straight path, which led directly from the plateau to thetop of the Mausoleum of Books. Just like Tang Thirty-Six had said, if youwanted to climb the Mausoleum of Books, then this Divine Path was the shortestpath. However, this path was forbidden for everybody, except for the DivineEmpress and the Pope when they performed a grand ceremony of offerings to theheavens. There was nothing at all on the Divine Path, not even any trees on eitherside. Only cliffs surrounded the path. Any person who considered the Mausoleum of Books’ zenith at the end of thisDivine Path would probably have a strong desire blossom within them to walk upthe path. However, nobody had ever succeeded before. It was because at the beginning of this Divine Path, in between the countlesscanals of water, there was a pavilion. A person sat within the pavilion. That person was clad with worn-out armor, and there were marks of rust on thefront part of the chestplate. The armor completely covered up his body fromhead to toe and did not reveal anything at all. That person carried a worn-out sword in his hand. The edge of the sword wascovered with many dents, and its tip rested on the ground. The man fully clad in armor seemed like a sculpture from afar. Sometimes, people would even suspect whether there was a person inside thearmor at all. However, Chen Changsheng knew that the figure was a person. The whole continent knew this person. This person had already sat in the pavilion for several hundreds of years. Many people were saying that if this person had not sat in boredom at theMausoleum of Books for hundreds of years, perhaps, he would have already becomea member of the Eight Storms of the Cardinal Directions. This was because hundreds of years ago, he was already the continent’s numberone divine general. He was this generation’s mausoleum guardian, Han Qing.