350 Journeying Thousands of Li to Deliver a Sword

The snowy plains in the morning were very quiet. Perhaps because of thatshadow or because the cloud layer had still not dispersed, the morning lightwas very faint. The snow that fell in the morning light was also very sparse,and when it landed, it made not a single sound. This murderous scheme whichwould inevitably be recorded in the annals of history, this assassination whichwould inevitably alter the course of the continent's history, had already goneon for a long time. Although a victor had not been decided, the conclusionseemed evident. All around, the mountainous figures of the Demon Generals weresilent and austere and that shadow still hung high up in the sky. Black Robewas calmly seated at the snowy hill some ten li out. The human in the middle oftheir encirclement still stood tall and firm, but he seemed lonely and desolate. Suddenly, a wind gusted through the snowy plain, swirling the snow about. Thedeathly stillness over the scene had just been shattered by the whistling windand then was soon after completely ripped apart by a fierce explosion. With theemergence of countless powerful Qi from the snowy hill upon which Black Robesat, innumerable flakes of snow shot outwards and into the sky. Those severallife lamps that hung in the air were instantly extinguished and several silkythreads were torn out of the front of Black Robe's gown. Even more frighteningwas that the seemingly invulnerable square plate… had been rendered into a pileof scrap. Before countless pairs of eyes could make their way over to the snowy hillwhere Black Robe was located, they were cast towards a certain place on thesnowy plain. In the snowy plain, an extra person had suddenly appeared. In the present continent, who could break through that shadow and the layersof layers of defense consisting of tens of thousands of demon soldiers andnoiselessly arrive at this place? It was a youth, his right hand holding up an old umbrella and his left handgripping a dagger. His eyes were tightly shut and his clear and youthfulcountenance displayed an unswerving determination that could only be seen atthe brink of life and death. One could also make out on his face a boundlessexhaustion. After who knows how long had passed, that youth opened his eyes. This youth was naturally Chen Changsheng. He blankly looked around, seeingnothing but white snow. He simply had no clue to what had occurred, onlyvaguely understanding that he had somehow departed the Garden of Zhou. But justwhere was this? How could the sky here also have a shadow? How could the willof this shadow be even more terrifying than the great peng's shadow over thePlains of the Unsetting Sun? And what were those over ten mountainous figuresall around him? How could they emit a Qi that was just like the Qi emitted bythe Demon General couple of Teng Xiaoming and Liu Wan'er? It couldn't be thatall of these black and mountainous figures were Demon Generals? And a bit morethan ten li away on that snowy hill, just who was that man cloaked in thatblack robe? Why was the Qi that he emitted so sinister? Why was he wearing ablack robe? Chen Changsheng gazed into the distant snowy plain at the faintly discerniblesilhouette of that imposing city and thought of a certain description recordedin the Daoist Canon. His body became stiff as a board and his mouth gaped open,but no sound emerged. He thought to himself, it can't be. Could it be that thecity was the legendary Xuelao City? That he was in the snowy plains in theterritory of demons? Those mountainous and dark figures really were all DemonGenerals? That black-robed and menacing man was Black Robe? Then what about theshadow? Just a moment ago, he was in the Garden of Zhou at the peak of the mausoleum,resisting against the descent of the sky. In the next moment, he had beentransported more than ten thousand li to the snowy plains in the kingdom ofdemons and saw the legendary Xuelao City, saw the figures of the demon expertsthat previously only existed in his books and imagination. If his mind had beenjust a little weaker, his will a little more fragile, perhaps he would havebeen shocked into unconsciousness or even frightened to death, all because thisscene was truly too inconceivable. Chen Changsheng possessed an astounding willpower, so he did not faint, butthis was not necessarily a good thing. He necessarily had to soberly bear themental assault of all that he saw before him. He even felt like his spiritualworld was on the verge of collapse and his body had grown so rigid that hecould not even move a finger. An ant suddenly found itself in the world of giants, a mortal had mistakenlywandered into the Divine Kingdom of gods in the sea of stars; that was the sortof feeling he had. The countless snowflakes which had been sent flying into the sky rustled downto the ground, and then the meager snow falling from the clouds slowly drifteddown onto the canopy of the umbrella. A deathly stillness still pervaded thesnowy plain. Countless gazes separated by several li, several dozen li, andeven several thousand li, stared at Chen Changsheng, not making a single sound. To those experts, Chen Changsheng’s appearance was also extremely bizarre. If some ordinary mortal had appeared in the realm of gods, presumably thosegods up high would also be very astonished, wondering how this mere mortal hadturned up here. The snowy plain had sunk into an incredibly odd silence. Chen Changsheng's body became stiff beyond compare. At the same time as thatunimaginably enormous mental shock brought his spiritual world close tocollapse, it also caused his thoughts to swiftly work. In that very short moment of time, he thought of many things. Why he had gonefrom the Garden of Zhou to this snowy plain in the demon kingdom was obviouslynot something he could understand in such a brief span of time, so he did notponder that. Then, why could he see so many legendary demon experts? Were thesedemon experts here to assassinate him? This was impossible. Although his status as Principal of the Orthodox Academyseemed sufficient, in truth, for powerful figures such as these, an upper levelEthereal Opening youth was like an ant. There was no need for such animpressive display of force. Not even that most narcissistic Tang Thirty-Sixwould dare to claim this. The target of these demon experts should be someone else. Who was this person? That middle-aged man who had been besieged by tens of thousands of demonsoldiers for several days was already heavily injured. Confronting this plan inwhich he was certain to die, the expression on his face was still unruly asever, as if he did not care. Yet when he saw the umbrella in Chen Changsheng'shand, his expression grew solemn. As if to confirm his conjecture, he walked over to Chen Changsheng. In thesnowy plain, he was the closest to Chen Changsheng, with only a dozen or sosteps needed to arrive at his side. "Oh, there's a sword." That man extended his left hand and took the umbrella. Chen Changsheng only heard the sound of footsteps. Without any time to evenlook, he realized that the Yellow Paper Umbrella had been taken away. He looked at the man. The man was dressed in a long gown, but not too long, unlike a scholar. At hiswaist was a sword, but he did not seem like a swordsman. His overall appearancewas rather incongruous. The man's body emitted a clear and cold Qi, like a sword revealing its edge,making it impossible to look at him straight on. This was Chen Changsheng's first meeting with Su Li. He only saw Su Li's backand he felt a stabbing pain in his eyes. Only after a very long time had passed would he be able to look directly atthis man. The past him did not know that this man was Mount Li's legendaryJunior Martial Uncle, Su Li. After a while, he came to his senses and strenuously stood up. Hesubconsciously tightened his right hand, but the handle of the umbrella was notthere. That sort of empty feeling made him feel somewhat out of sorts. The Yellow Paper Umbrella was in the hands of that middle-aged man.  For somereason, they seemed to be in harmony with each other, as if the umbrella hadoriginally been his. Seeing this scene, Chen Changsheng once again fell into confusion. All of asudden, he felt that everything that had happened in the Garden of Zhou was alla dream. Leaving the Mausoleum of Books and then going from the capital toWenshui to pick up this umbrella, then entering the plain and then miraculouslyappearing in these snowy plains; these tens of thousands of li of enduringthrough hardship was all…to deliver this umbrella into the hands of this man. To return the Yellow Paper Umbrella to this man. Su Li's left hand gripped the shaft of the Yellow Paper Umbrella and calmlystared at it. After staring at it for a long time, a smile peeked out of hislips. Then, the smile broke into unrestrained laughter, a long laughter. He laughed so happily that his face was beaming. He gazed at the distant dark mountains that were the Demon Generals, at BlackRobe sitting cross-legged amidst the scattered snow, at that shadow in the sky,and said, "You said that I was lacking a sword. Yes, I really was lacking asword, but now… I have a sword. Isn't it time for you to be afraid?" Chen Changsheng did not understand. This was clearly an umbrella. Even ifthere was a strand of sword intent within, how could it be described as a sword? He did not know that this Yellow Paper Umbrella was a peerlessly famous swordcalled Heaven Shrouding. Several hundred years ago, that generation's Sect Master of the Mount Li SwordSect brought this sword and entered the Garden of Zhou. He battled for threehundred rounds with Zhou Dufu before dying, but his sword remained unbroken. This sword was the most powerful sword in the Sword Pool, and also the mostunwilling, the most desirous of recovering its freedom. This sword was originally supposed to be inherited by Su Li. This was hissword. The body of this sword had left the plain and been picked up by Su Li. It hadbeen sent to Wenshui and thus been crafted into an umbrella of a thousandmechanisms and a hundred transformations. However, there was no sword intent, so it was not the sword he wanted. The sword intent had always been in the plains, waiting for the body of thesword to return and reunite. Several hundred years later, Chen Changsheng passed through Wenshui andobtained the umbrella from the Tang clan as a gift. He carried the umbrellainto the Garden of Zhou, then into the plains. The sword body and the swordintent met, allowing him to summon the ten thousand swords to soar into the sky. It seemed that up to here, the story had finally welcomed its perfect ending,but it was not so. Only when he came to this snowy plain and handed over this umbrella to Su Licould this ending truly be perfect. Su Li grasped the Yellow Paper Umbrella as he thought about all thosecenturies ago when he first walked into that cave at the peak of Mount Li andsaw that sword hung up on the wall behind his master. He thought of the lateryears, when he intentionally suppressed his cultivation to Ethereal Opening andentered the Garden of Zhou multiple times to search for that sword, and then hesighed with emotion. This was Mount Li's sword. This was his master's sword. This was Su Li's sword. Several hundred years. It really was a long time apart. How could he not be pleased? How could he not laugh to his heart's content? As he laughed, the Yellow Paper Umbrella also seemed to laugh. But this elated laughter still contained a hint of frustration, a strand ofregret. Master, I am holding this sword once more. But… Zhou Dufu is already dead. I no longer have the chance to slay him withmy sword and avenge you. The clear and unbridled, yet frustrated and regretful laughter echoed throughthe silent snowy plain, as if it could be heard from a thousand li away. The meaning behind the laughter was clearly transmitted to the entire world,such that even Chen Changsheng could understand it. Frustration that Zhou Dufu was dead, regret that he could not fall under thissword. This was a self-confident, even arrogant way of thinking. But no one displayed any ridicule or disdain. Even Black Robe maintained hissilence. Because Su Li had already found his sword. Who knew where on the path of thesword he would end up? The clear laughter gradually died down and the sword ray on Su Li's bodygradually faded away. It looked like he had returned to being an averagemiddle-aged man. He lifted up his head and gazed all around him at those black mountains thatwere the enormous figures of the Demon Generals. His expression was calm as heextended his hand and gripped the umbrella handle. His left hand gripped the shaft of the Yellow Paper Umbrella like it was asheath. His right hand gripped the handle of the Yellow Paper Umbrella like he wasabout to pull out a sword. Chen Changsheng noticed that his fingers were long and slender, very suitablefor playing the zither. Of course, they were even more suitable for holding asword. The handle of the umbrella was the hilt of the sword. The instant that hishand landed on the handle of the umbrella, a swift and fierce sword intentenveloped the entirety of this part of the snowy plains. Several dozens of li away, one of the mountainous figures of the DemonGenerals lightly swayed, then heavily fell upon the snow-covered earth.