374 Polishing the Sword Before the Battle Part Two

Only avengers that were willing to die in their hearts would dare to come andkill Su Li. This was because the entire world knew that since they could notbeat him, so naturally, killing him would be even harder. By seeking to killhim, they would only invite death and disgrace. But now the situation hadchanged. He had been subjected to the attacks of demons for several days andnights and had only escaped by a fluke, walking away with grievous injuries. Tothose people that wanted to kill him, this was undoubtedly their best chance, achance that they had to grasp. When Xue He learned that Su Li was heavily injured, he had been making hispatrol through the military camp in the town. Without even having the time totake off his armor, he had been dragged off by a few old subordinates to drinkquite a few rounds of wine. While his face was red and his ears were hot, hesuddenly received this news. Without even thinking about it, he tossed away hisglowing lamp, spilled his wine, and with a single slap, knocked out twoofficers that still insisted that he keep drinking. Riding his Red Cloud Qilin,he rushed off to the snowy plains, his mind wholeheartedly fixated on findingSu Li as quickly as possible, and then killing him. Where could he find thetime to think about other things? The man that had appeared on this barren mountain was in a similar situation.Four days ago, he had been in Xunyang City acting in an opera for his ownamusement. He had invited the finest theater troupe from Lanling City and hadinvited only his closest and most influential clients. He had been singing thatmost famous ‘Spring Night Melody’, acting the part of the most charming andpleasant bride. Just as the song began its crescendo, his brows flying and eyesgentle, he suddenly saw the bishop sitting below sending a signal with hiseyes. Soon after, he heard the message in his ear. Su Li was heavily injured, possibly in the north of Tianliang County? Heexhaled a breath of cold air and looked askance to the heavens. With anindescribable air of contempt and sorrow, he calmly gazed upwards for a fewmoments. Then with a bang, he leaped off the stage, kicked off his cloud shoes,threw off his headscarf, seized one of the Xunyang City Guard's LightningHorses, then exited the provincial city, rushing off towards the county's north. Chen Changsheng had said that they did not seem like assassins, but this wasbecause they had never been assassins. In addition, it was just as Su Li hadsaid, they had come over in a rush. They feared that they would be too late—SuLi was heavily injured. They could wait for their whole lives and not see suchan opportunity again. How could they find the time to change clothes? So Xue Hecame in his shining armor while this man came in the elegant dress of a dancer,with ribbons and ruined makeup. They were wearing the clothes that they wore atthe time, so of course, they would not have the appearance of assassins. Xue He's shiny armor had been covered with dust, and this man's dancing dresswas also smeared with mud. His face was rather fatigued and haggard, the makeupthat had still not been blown off by the wind endowing him with a strangelyenchanting and beautiful feeling. As he looked at Su Li, his eyes grew increasingly bright, the happiness on hisface growing increasingly prominent. He lifted his sleeve to cover up hismouth, making him extremely charming and seemingly extremely pleased withhimself. And yet there was also a pain that seemed to originate from thedeepest depths of his soul. "With such pains, I was finally able to find you. It was truly not easy, butwhen I think about how you will soon die at my hands, the greatest painswould all be worth it. In these three thousand li of northern plains, we wereactually able to meet. I must say that my luck is not too bad." Hearing these words, Su Li was somewhat moved. He said to Chen Changsheng,"Your luck is really good. We just happened to need an opponent alittle stronger than you, but not too strong, and then one just happened toappear." With his gaze, it was very easy for him to see that this man was at theinitial level of Star Condensation. The man's slender brows perked up as he asked with astonishment, "Do you twonot know who I am?" Chen Changsheng very earnestly nodded his head. The man gently lifted his flowing sleeves and softly introduced himself. "I amLiang Hongzhuang." (TN: Hongzhuang (红妆) can variously mean 'red makeup', 'beauty', or 'splendidfeminine attire'.) Liang Hongzhuang was a very famous person. In Tianliang County, and even inthe entire northern part of the continent, he was incredibly well-known. Thiswas because of his family, because of his elder brother, because many peopleknew that he loved to act in operas and to dance, and because he was verystrong. Chen Changsheng and Su Li glanced into each other's eyes; they still did notknow who this person was. Chen Changsheng could recite the entire Daoist Canonfrom back to front, but on the true world of cultivation, he was truly veryignorant and inexperienced. As for Su Li…there were very few names he needed toremember on this continent, and Liang Hongzhuang had very obviously notachieved that distinction. This was absolutely an enormous humiliation. Liang Hongzhuang frowned, but hewas not angered. He sighed, "It somewhat hurts my pride, but if I can kill SirSu, then perhaps, even more people will know my name." Chen Changsheng asked, "Could it be… you came here to kill Senior so that youcould get famous?" Liang Hongzhuang did not answer, he only laughed. Su Li suddenly asked, "Liang Wangsun's Liang?" Liang Hongzhuang's expression grew a tad more solemn. "Liang Hongzhuang'sLiang." (TN: They actually do share the same surname, Liang (梁).) When Su Li heard this, he understood why this deranged fellow dressed in thisred bridal gown wanted to kill him. Turning to Chen Changsheng, he declared,"This person really wants to kill me, so you must kill him." Listening to this very short conversation, Chen Changsheng had not quiteunderstood its full meaning, but he had a rough idea of what was going on—thisassassin in a red dancing dress presumably had some relation to Liang Wangsun. Seeing the approaching Liang Hongzhuang, watching the silk ribbons of hisdress dance in the wind, Chen Changsheng's brain rapidly worked, continuouslyobserving, analyzing, and calculating, seeking a gap in that dancing dress. In order to obtain victory over an opponent, one must understand the opponent.Whether it was the Intellectual Sword or the most ordinary battle,all battles required this. He did not know who this dancer called LiangHongzhuang was, but he knew about Liang Wangsun. Liang Wangsun was an expert who ranked very high up in the Proclamation ofLiberation, a truly famous person. What sort of famous person could be called atruly famous person? A truly famous person was a person that even an ignorantguy like Chen Changsheng knew of them. That was a truly famous person. Chen Changsheng had very little understanding of the sects and schools of thecultivation world, but he had a very clear understanding of the Liang bloodlinebecause the Liang clan was the previous Imperial clan. Their cultivation,lifestyle, and blood legacies were all recorded in the annals of the Orthodoxy. Liang Wangsun's resplendent and extravagant manner, Liang Wangsun'sachievements, Liang Wangsun's style of swordplay, Liang Wangsun's attitudetowards Wang Po and Xiao Zhang, Liang Wangsun's age, Liang Wangsun's threewives… countless fragments of information floated up from the floor of his seaof consciousness and then flashed before his eyes. Just like the myriad stars in that star region, they descended down from thenight sky to in front of his eyes and began to flicker. In these stars, heneeded to find the most crucial space, that single path. "Can you do it?" Su Li asked. Chen Changsheng shook his head. His Intellectual Sword had still not reacheda polished edge. No, it was more appropriate to say that not even the shape ofa sword had begun to form. He couldn't even use it to see the weakness of aStar Condensation cultivator, so how could use it against his enemies? "If you can't see it, you still have to guess." "Senior, since you can do it, why can't you instruct me like before?" "As I said before, in order to block Xue He's blade, I used up all thestrength that I saved up." "Does seeing through a Star Domain require strength?" "How else?" "I always felt that it didn't make sense." "Only when you're so tired that you can't even open your eyes will you havethe qualifications to understand this reasoning." "Fine, then what should we do next?" "As I said, you have to guess." "Guess?" "It’s also a wild guess." As they were talking, Liang Hongzhuang had already arrived. Chen Changsheng could no longer hold back. His dagger flashed like lightningout of his sheath, thrusting at the dancing silk ribbons.